Jardel Coutinho Santos
Educational Science Department, Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, Quevedo 120508, Ecuador
Badie Anneriz Cerezo-Segovia
Educational Science Department, Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, Quevedo 120508, Ecuador
Gabriel Brito Amorim
Language Department, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiás 74674300, Brazil
María Lorena Estupiñán Lince
Educational Science Department, Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, Quevedo 120508, Ecuador
Gustavo Vinicio Monge García
Educational Science Department, Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, Quevedo 120508, Ecuador
Cristopher David Herrera Navas
Educational Science Department, Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, Quevedo 120508, Ecuador
Oswaldo Paul Vera Mendoza
Educational Science Department, Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, Quevedo 120508, Ecuador
Online education has mainly been at the core of discussions after Latin America's Covid-19 sanitary crisis started in March 2020. Teachers and institutions have explored different ways to face what is now called "the new normal". This study aims to identify the perspectives of Ecuadorian university students on online English language learning in order to inform the design of strategies that allow improvements in the teaching process. This quantitative study was carried out at a university in Ecuador and encompassed 4.936 participants from different majors. An online questionnaire was administered for data collection and analyzed through the application of neural networks. The results showed that students perceive learning English online positively and that their greatest strengths are in listening and writing, while their difficulties lie in developing their reading and speaking abilities. This suggests that more attention should be given to the development of reading and speaking strategies in an attempt to fill the gap that students indicated while answering the questionnaire. Some directions in that regard are given in the conclusion.
Amorim, G. B., Có, E. P., & Finardi, K. R. (2021). Students’ perceptions of the impacts of the pandemic on education: focus on English learning (Portuguese). Revista Prâksis, 3, 4–31. https://doi.org/10.25112/rpr.v3.2563
Castells, M. (2020). Digital is the new normal (Portuguese). Available online: https://www.fronteiras.com/leia/exibir/o-digital-e-o-novo-normal (accessed on 2 January 2024).
CES. (2017). Available online: https://www.gob.ec/regulaciones/ley-organica-educacion-superior-loes (accessed on 2 January 2024).
CES. (2010). Available online: https://www.educacionsuperior.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2014/03/LEY_ORGANICA_DE_EDUCACION_SUPERIOR_LOES.pdf (accessed on 2 January 2024).
Có, E. P., Amorim, G. B., & Finardi, K. R. (2020). Language teaching in times of pandemic: Experiences with technologies in virtual environments (Portuguese). Revista Docência e Cibercultura, 4(3), 112–140. https://doi.org/10.12957/redoc.2020.53173
Ferraz, D. (2021). Five challenges for the training of language teachers/language educators in Brazil: how to proceed in the face of recent linguistic and educational policies (Portuguese)? In: Línguística Aplicada na Contemporaneidade: Temáticas e Desafios. Pontes Editores.
Finardi, K. R. (2017). Hybrid and inclusive approaches and language teacher training for the 21st century (Portuguese). Atos de Pesquisa Em Educação, 12(1), 78. https://doi.org/10.7867/1809-0354.2017v12n1p78-90
Finardi, K. R., Prebianca, G. V. V., & Schmitt, J. (2015). English distance learning: possibilities and limitations of MEO for the Flipped Classroom. Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada, 16(2), 181–208. https://doi.org/10.1590/1984639820158527
Gastaldi, M. del V., & Grimaldi, E. (2021). COVID-19-driven sudden shift to remote teaching: the case of the Languages for the Community Program at the Universidad Nacional del Litoral. In: The World Universities’ Response to COVID-19: Remote Online Language Teaching. Internet Archive. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2021.52.1267
Mayrink, M. F., Albuquerque-Costa, H., & Ferraz, D. (2021). Remote language teaching in the pandemic context at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. In: The World Universities’ Response to COVID-19: Remote Online Language Teaching. Internet Archive. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2021.52.1268
MINEDUC. (2016). Ministry of Education (Spanish). Available online: https://educacion.gob.ec/curriculo-lengua-extranjera/# (accessed on 2 January 2024).
Peng, N. (2021). Research on the effectiveness of English online learning based on neural network. Neural Computing and Applications, 34(4), 2543–2554. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00521-021-05855-5
Pratama, S. H. H., Arifin, R. A., & Widianingsih, A. W. S. (2020). The Use of Youtube as a Learning Tool in Teaching Listening Skill. International Journal of Global Operations Research, 1(3), 123–129. https://doi.org/10.47194/ijgor.v1i3.50
Ross, A. F., & DiSalvo, M. L. (2020). Negotiating displacement, regaining community: The Harvard Language Center’s response to the COVID‐19 crisis. Foreign Language Annals, 53(2), 371–379. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12463
Santos, J. C. dos, & Ramírez-Avila, M. R. (2023). Students’ perspectives on the 4/3/2 technique and self-assessment to improve English speaking fluency. Studies in English Language and Education, 10(1), 41–59. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v10i1.25700
Santos, J. C. dos, & Vélez Ruiz, M. C. (2021). Using ClassDojo to motivate kids participation in the EFL online classes during the Covid-19 pandemic: A case study. AtoZ: Novas Práticas Em Informação e Conhecimento, 10(2), 58. https://doi.org/10.5380/atoz.v10i2.78711
Simamora, M. W. B., & Oktaviani, L. (2020). What is your favorite movie? A strategy of English Education students to improve English vocabulary. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 1(2), 44-49.
Syafiq, A. N., Rahmawati, A., Anwari, A., et al. (2021). Increasing Speaking Skill through YouTube Video as English Learning Material during Online Learning in Pandemic Covid-19. Elsya : Journal of English Language Studies, 3(1), 50–55. https://doi.org/10.31849/elsya.v3i1.6206
Vieira, G. V., & Finardi, K. R. (2018). The case of EFL: does technology lead to learning? Raído, 12(30), 197–210. https://doi.org/10.30612/raido.v12i30.9390
Zboun, J. S. & Farrah, M. (2021). Students’ perspectives of online language learning during corona pandemic: Benefits and challenges. Indonesian EFL Journal, 7(1), 13-20. https://doi.org/10.25134/ieflj.v7i1.3986
Copyright © 2024 Jardel Coutinho Santos, Badie Anneriz Cerezo-Segovia, Gabriel Brito Amorim, María Lorena Estupiñán Lince, Gustavo Vinicio Monge García, Cristopher David Herrera Navas, Oswaldo Paul Vera Mendoza
This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
