Language teachers in synchronous and asynchronous online teaching: A student’s perspective

Abstract

COVID-19 fostered education to adapt from face-to-face to synchronous and asynchronous classes so that teachers and students had to migrate to a new way of teaching and learning. There was a period of adjustment (the first three weeks of online learning) for both, teachers and learners; the support provided by teachers differed from this period of adjustment to the support provided after. The perspective that students had about how much a teacher helped or how important was his or her companionship changed. This study was conducted at the Language Center Orizaba that is part of a public university in Mexico named Universidad Veracruzana; in a group of 53 participants in A2 level of English in 2020. Participants answered two questionnaires, one during the period of adjustment from face-to-face classes to synchronous and asynchronous lessons and a second questionnaire at the end of the semester. They started the semester having face-to-face classes so they did not have previous experience in taking online classes. The data collected with both questionnaires were analyzed and categorized; results showed that students need the support of a teacher to tell them how well they are doing and to promote interaction and learning. Moreover, students got strategies that are used in autonomous learning which made them to be more aware about their learning,