Social Constructivist Approach: A Panacea for EFL Learners’ Stress and Anxiety during Covid-19

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Sufia Sultana, Richa Rastogi, Dr. Shazia Tabassum

Abstract

COVID-19 has forced many educational institutions to shift to online learning methods. Many educational institutions have adopted methods like flipped classrooms or blended learning. Such schools have also associated it with the issues of recruitment of qualified teachers and their training during the pandemic, particularly in EFL online teaching. To build a framework,the study has adopted a social constructivist theoretical approach, which facilitated identifying online environmental tools, techniques,and instructional practices to help teachers and learners in an engaging online environment. The study explored the students’ attitudes toward online learning methods and instructors’ capabilities to useonline platforms, such as Blackboard and Microsoft Teams. The researcher administered a questionnaire with closed-ended questions about learners’ perception, attitude, and levels of anxiety or stress to a group of 60 students. While the respondents accepted having high to moderate levels of anxiety and stress, the instructors also admitted the challenges related to technology, time management, and assessment of large class size. However, respondents admitted that online learning and the emotional support from the instructors helped them to shift attention from the pandemic and focus on their education. The limitations included lack of focus, demotivation and limited availability of space at home, family distractions, and multiple assignments. The study recommends establishing a teacher-student rapport to cope with the anxiety and stress involved in online teaching.

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