Online Learning and Motivational Strategies in the Backdrop of COVID-19: An EFL Perspective on Teachers and Students’ Perceptions at Tertiary Level in Pakistan

Abstract

Keeping in view the significant role of E-Learning during COVID-19 and psychological issues of students and teachers resulting from the abrupt shift of teaching-learning mode to online, it is imperative to have a good understanding of motivational strategies being employed in EFL classes during this period. The present research being descriptive is designed to explore the perceptions of Pakistani teachers and learners about motivational strategies used in EFL classrooms during emergency remote learning. The frameworks of Dornyei and Csize´s model of Motivation in the EFL context (1998) and for E-Learning Computer Assisted Language Learning via Videoconferencing by Davies (2008) have been adopted. Following the pragmatic paradigm, a mixed-method study was designed and data was collected through an online survey from one hundred students and interviews from five university-level teachers. The findings revealed that teachers were more inclined to adopt and favor a student-centered approach to keep the EFL learners motivated, by maintaining a cooperative E-Learning environment, through using CALL’s Web-based approach of Videoconferencing and by extracting students’ responses. Students, on the other hand, were found to be reluctant to take initiative; the reason may be the psychological trauma caused by the quarantine period during the first wave of COVID-19. The implications of the study will instill a new insight for researchers and language learners to consider the scenario of the COVID-19 Pandemic as a blessing in disguise, acting as a foundation stone towards digital advancement, in the Pakistani E-Learning context in general and in the E-EFL context in Particular.