COVID-19: Challenges of Online Teaching among ESL Educators of Private Higher Learning Institutions in Malaysia

Authors

  • Nalini Arumugam Universiti Teknologi MARA
  • Geraldine De Mello Universiti Teknologi MARA
  • Selvajothi Ramalingam Universiti Malaya
  • Mohammad Nor Afandi bin Ibrahim Universiti Teknologi MARA
  • Puspalata C Suppiah Universiti Teknologi MARA
  • Isai Amutan Krishnan University of Malaya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56498/74122021

Keywords:

COVID-19, ESL educators, online teaching

Abstract

The serious consequences of COVID-19 have resulted in a temporary slowdown in different sectors of daily activities including the education sector. In Malaysia, the impact of the pandemic has caused all the classes to be conducted online. The present study aims to investigate the challenges faced by English Second Language (ESL) educators in online teaching. Using a qualitative approach, in-depth phone interviews were conducted with 20 ESL educators of Private Higher Learning Institutions. The findings indicated that they encountered problems such as isolation, lack of motivation in online teaching, technical difficulties with online teaching tools, time-consuming resources and work-life imbalance. The findings further revealed that ESL educators’ work-life imbalance had emotionally impacted their families and social relations, which in turn had affected their professional lives. Thus, by understanding the problems, educational institutions can come up with short and long-term strategies to ensure that ESL educators can be productive regardless of the mode of teaching activities. Among them would be introducing pertinent courses in online teaching, Internet training, and the integration of multimedia resources that could improve online teaching.

Author Biographies

Nalini Arumugam, Universiti Teknologi MARA

Nalini Arumugam is an associate professor at the Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia. Her research areas are creative learning strategies, Material Design, and Genre Analysis.

Geraldine De Mello, Universiti Teknologi MARA

Geraldine De Mello, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Melaka. She has taught a number of English courses at the diploma and degree levels. She is also keen in innovating and producing educational tools to help educators.

Selvajothi Ramalingam, Universiti Malaya

Selvajothi Ramalingam is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. The main fields of interest are sociolinguistics, mother tongue education, indigenous study, and language use in job interviews.

Mohammad Nor Afandi bin Ibrahim, Universiti Teknologi MARA

Mohammad Nor Afandi bin Ibrahim, who obtained his B. Ed Hons. (TESL) from National University of Malaysia (UKM) and Master of Arts in English Language from Universiti Putra Malaysia, received his PhD in English Language and Linguistics at University of Wollongong, Australia. He is a senior lecturer at Universiti Teknologi MARA Melaka Malaysia.

Puspalata C Suppiah, Universiti Teknologi MARA

Puspalata C Suppiah is currently a senior lecturer at the Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. She holds a Ph.D. from University Malaya Malaysia. Her main research interest is in critical discourse analysis.

Email address: puspalata@uitm.edu.my/ puspa_ts@yahoo.com

Isai Amutan Krishnan, University of Malaya

Isai Amutan Krishnan is interested in the area of in Human Resource Development & Management, Business, English Language Teaching (ELT), and performing arts. He is also a freelance consultant locally and abroad.

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Published

2021-08-22

How to Cite

Nalini Arumugam, Geraldine De Mello, Selvajothi Ramalingam, Mohammad Nor Afandi bin Ibrahim, Puspalata C Suppiah, & Isai Amutan Krishnan. (2021). COVID-19: Challenges of Online Teaching among ESL Educators of Private Higher Learning Institutions in Malaysia. English As a Foreign Language International Journal, 1(2), 141–158. https://doi.org/10.56498/74122021

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 2 (2021)

Section

Articles

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