Engaging Students in Online Language Learning During a Pandemic

Designing a well-rounded, interesting and effective English language curriculum is important in the context of EFL/ESL, but keeping students constantly motivated and engaged in learning during the process is of equally high significance in order for learning to take place. During the Spring 2020 academic semester, schools and universities around the world were forced to close and move to online teaching and learning as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In effect, instructors were faced with the newfound challenge of transforming their face-to-face lessons into virtual lessons almost overnight. This required the simultaneous utilization of multiple platforms in engaging students both in synchronous and asynchronous learning. This qualitative case study will present my reflections as an English language instructor, as well as my students' reflections following their experience with online learning by discussing different uses of online tools for language tasks that were deemed interesting and motivating for them. A thematic analysis of the data revealed overall positive attitudes towards both the synchronous and asynchronous modes of learning used in their English language course, with particular preference towards collaborative online learning.