Impact of COVID-19 on the English language teaching among Saudi EFL learners

Abstract EN

The current research aims to provide an in-depth look at the situation of EFL learning in the Saudi context during the Covid-19 pandemic by taking the department of English Language at Najran University as a case in point.

as such, the main questions that set the study are 1) Is it possible to learn/teach English as a foreign language purely online, given the Covid-19 pandemic? is it possible for EFL teachers/students to do without in-person attendance? 2) What is the status of the English language learning and teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic? 3) What kind of challenges that English instructors have faced when using online learning platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic? 4) Is there a significant difference between the beliefs of instructors and their students concerning the possibility to learn a foreign language without traditional classroom attendance? to answer these questions, the researcher conducted a study with 403 EFL students and 18 instructors from the department of English Language, Najran University.

data were collected through a questionnaire.

the results demonstrated that both university EFL students and instructors prefer online learning more than EFL traditional classroom attendance.

interestingly, participants recognized online learning format as a good way of teaching in future and current situations.

It was also revealed that there are more advantages than disadvantages.