Integrating Technology in EFL Classroom: Teachers' Reflections During Remote Teaching amid Covid-19 Pandemic

Dian Octavianah, Dwi Puji Hastuti, Yulinda Septianing Putri, Taufik Ahmad F., & Safitzal F. Rahmawati 

Master Program of English Education Department, Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta

Introduction

The pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is currently making its way into the educational environment. Hundreds of millions of children around the world have been forced to either learn at home or drop out of school due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has exacerbated stark socioeconomic differences. This condition has made many countries, including Indonesia, to adopt regulations that prohibit all educational activities, forcing the government and affiliated institutions to provide alternative educational processes for students. Accordingly, based on official information, the Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC) is currently prepared for all possibilities, including encouraging students to learn online (Abidah et al., 2020). Even though there is a silver lining to school closings (home-learning programs that allow students to continue learning), another problem arises due to the government’s school closing orders, specifically for students from low-income families who do not have digital devices or access to the internet. 

In this article, we would like to present two reflective stories coming from two secondary school teachers in Indonesia. Maya (pseudonym) is an EFL teacher in an Islamic Boarding School and Ryan (pseudonym) an English teacher at a Vocational School (SMK). Both teachers reside in Surakarta, a small city in Central Java. Their stories are unique since they represent the struggles and efforts in dealing with the integration of technology and learning-based applications that they use in the EFL teaching and learning process. We dive into their perspectives and see what kind of challenges teachers face and have to overcome in their classroom during remote teaching amid Covid-19. Through the lens of SLA theories and practices, we provide some suggestions and ideas to be implemented by teachers in EFL classrooms.

Maya’s story

Maya is a teacher with more than 10 years of experience in teaching EFL. She has been teaching in the school where she works since 2013. She teaches English as a Specialized Program or Bahasa Inggris Peminatan (to be differentiated with English for Specific Purpose) for tenth graders. She deals with three different classes (two female classes, one male class) with distinctive characteristics of their own. It’s not only Maya who is awkward the first time she used Google Classroom or navigated tools in Google Meet, the tenth graders were also as clueless as Maya when they initially started their remote-class online. The students have no experience before participating in such a new classroom setting where they are required to navigate their way through virtual learning. It’s a brand-new endeavor both for the teacher and the students. 

One thing that Maya struggles a lot with is the students’ participation and interaction. In a face-to-face classroom setting, Maya can create an interactive, student-centered learning environment. She often provides her students with games and fun activities that can boost student engagement and willingness to speak and practice English in the classroom. It is quite difficult to achieve it in a virtual setting since most of the students are reluctant to show themselves through their camera let alone participate in classroom discussion. Most of the time Maya does the talking, she keeps asking her students to turn on their camera so at least they can see each other’s reaction as well as to check whether the students are there in the virtual classroom.  

Maya has tried so many ways to get her students involved in the teaching and learning process, starting with the adjustment of the syllabus for ESP, to make it more ‘teenagers’ friendly with the selection of topics that her students will likely be involved in. She also enacts the use of technology to boost her students’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in her classroom. Some of the apps she has used including Book Creator, Padlet, Quizziz, and Kahoot. When she assigned her students to create a book based on their recount stories during the pandemic using Book Creator, it was such a big hit. A lot of students were eager to do the work since it was much fun getting to learn new things besides acquiring a new language. She also has a fair share of unfortunate events when the use of technology or interesting apps are no longer helpful for Maya to have a fun, interactive class. On one occasion, she even had to spend weeks familiarizing the students with a grammar tool checker. Most of the students have low digital literacy competency which is another challenge Maya has to deal with in the class. Teaching EFL is challenging enough and getting the students to participate actively in an online setting is another situation that a teacher like Maya has to overcome, especially in a tight-pack curriculum design like the one we have here in Indonesia.

Addressing the issues Maya has to face regarding students’ involvement and willingness to communicate (WTC), Long's interaction hypothesis claims that although comprehensible input is essential for L2 acquisition, the negotiations that arise as a result of interactions between the speaker and the listener are also crucial in facilitating language acquisition (Ellis, 1991). Thus, to enhance students’ involvement, language teachers must implement a learning method that enables students to engage in greater contact with their teachers and friends. In other words, teachers play a significant role in improving students’ willingness to communicate (WTC). They are in charge of planning, organizing, and deciding on the numerous types of student interactions in the classroom. By increasing the time allotment for the students to engage actively in classroom communication, the teachers provide more opportunities for the students to improve their communication skills. Furthermore, turn-taking, different types of teachers’ questions, and wait time are strategies that can encourage students to participate actively in classroom communication (Nazari & Allahyar, 2012). Poole (2005) stated that turn-taking helps teachers better grasp what students want in the classroom when speaking. Then, questioning is utilized as a powerful and valuable tool to conduct and organize classroom discussions. Wait time or a brief pause after a question enables students to have enough time to think about a response or a question (Thornbury, 1996). 

In improving students’ willingness to communicate, technology offers various features that can facilitate communication. Some studies found that WTC is higher in mediated communication through particular tools. This is most likely due to the students’ belief that communication tools can help them to communicate. Mediated communication reduces the students' anxiety so that they can speak more freely and courageously. Moreover, several communication tools give the students extra chances to consider and prepare for a response when having communication. Tai & Chen (2020) examined the use of Google Assistant in improving EFL learners' WTC. The study declared that Google Assistant increased communicative confidence and decreased speaking anxiety. The interviews showed that participants enjoyed playing games with Google Assistant and conversing with chatbots, which made them feel less apprehensive and more eager to communicate in English in a real and meaningful way.