ARTÍCULO
The effects of online learning on EFL students’ academic achievement during coronavirus disease pandemic
Fecha
2021Registro en:
2165-8714
10.12973/eu-jer.10.4.1867
Autor
Hidalgo Camacho, Cynthia Soledad
Escudero Orozco, Gloria Isabel
Villacis Villacis, Wilma Guadalupe
Varela Solano, Karolin Lucia
Institución
Resumen
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic changed education conditions worldwide forcing all the parties involved to adapt
to a new system. This study aimed to collect information related to the effects of teaching English online on English as a Foreign
Language (EFL) students’ achievement. Data were collected from EFL teachers and students enrolled in three different Ecuadorian
Universities (Technical University of Ambato, Higher Polytechnic School of Chimborazo, and University of Cuenca) from five different
levels: A1, A2, B1, B1+, and B2. This preliminary paper reports the results of 480 students regarding four major sections: pedagogical
practice and assessment, learning outcomes, affective factors and perceptions of students about the advantages and disadvantages of
online learning during the pandemic COVID-19; considering the Hierarchy of online learning needs of Justin Shewell. An online survey
questionnaire with 17 questions and a 5-point Likert scale was applied. The Cronbach's Alpha test presented 0.84 and 0.73 level of
reliability. The Kolmogorov Smirnov’s statistic and, the Kendall's Tau_b tests, and the Levene's test for homogeneity of variances were
performed with the SPSS statistical program. The results made evident that online learning affects academic achievement in EFL
students during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was confirmed after analyzing four main areas: pedagogical practices and assessment,
learning outcomes, affective factors and students’ perceptions about the advantages and disadvantages of online learning. The
importance of online learning was highlighted since it has been understood as a tool to face the emergency produced by the COVID-19
pandemic.