The Feasibility of Foreign Language Online Instruction during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Case Study of Instructors' and Students' Reflections

Canadian Center of Science and Education. 1595 Sixteenth Ave Suite 301, Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4B 3N9 Canada. Tel: 416-642-2606 Ext 206; Fax: 416-642-2608; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ies

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10

Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; Case Studies; Student Attitudes; Teacher Attitudes; English (Second Language); Austro Asiatic Languages; French; German; Chinese; Vietnamese; Language Teachers; Teaching Methods; COVID-19; Pandemics; Online Courses; College Students; College Faculty; Majors (Students); Distance Education; Feasibility Studies; Korean; Japanese; Foreign Countries

1913-9020

This small scale case study aimed at identifying the feasibility of foreign language online instruction during the abrupt change of teaching mode toward online platforms. The feasibility in this study involves the practicality and the possibility of and the concerns about language teaching and learning foreign language online as reflected by the instructors and the students. One instructor teaching as well as two students majoring each of the eight foreign languages including English, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Khmer, and Vietnamese from an autonomous university in Bangkok, Thailand, voluntarily took part in this study. Data collected via semi-structured interviews and post-interviews written reflections indicated three levels of the practicality. The data showed the conditional likeliness of the possibility to carry on online teaching. The last finding presented concerns about foreign language online instruction. Further research is needed for a more complete understanding of the effects of online foreign language instruction in different social contexts.

As Provided

2021

EJ1291383