Indian EFL Teachers Reflections On Sudden E-Adopt

International Journal of Technology Diffusion
Volume 13 • Issue 1
Indian EFL Teachers’ Reflections on

Sudden E-Adoption vis-a-vis COVID-19
Arnab Kundu, Bankura University, West Bengal, India*
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7169-7189
Asim Kumar Betal, Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Bihar, India

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2000-0369
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a mammoth impact on all spheres of human life—social, cultural,
mental, and academic—to different degrees. The current study reports the authors’ reflection on the
Indian EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers’ pedagogical challenges and opportunities on a
sudden shift towards OTL (online teaching-learning). The qualitative method used here is a content
analysis of narrative representations from 50 EFL teachers working in different schools and colleges/
universities referring to their experiences on this unforeseen teaching situation and suggestions for
improvement. In-depth analysis revealed teachers’ concerns over technical problems, lack of resources,
learner motivation, and participation in addition to online assessment. Amidst these limitations, the
participants tried to cope with this sudden shift with resilience and often with impromptu solutions—
planning, access to digital equipment, collaboration, and school policy—for improving OTL.
Keywords
Challenges, COVID-19, EFL, ELT, India, Opportunities, OTL
INTRODUCTION
India is a huge country and is globally known for its ethnic and linguistic diversities. Despite having
hundreds of regional languages, English has been evolving as the lingua franca for inter-state or
intra-state communications that bring EFL (English as Foreign Language) teaching-learning to the
core curriculum in all grades starting from primary to the tertiary levels. But the pandemic outbreak
of COVID-19 has made educational principles shift from proximity to distance, from presence to
remoteness, from traditional methods to increased digitization through language apps, virtual tutoring,
video conferencing tools, or online learning software (Kundu & Bej, 2021a). This move to online
teaching and learning (OTL) has been unprecedented yet unavoidable to most EFL teachers.
DOI: 10.4018/IJTD.317114 *Corresponding Author

This article published as an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and production in any medium,
provided the author of the original work and original publication source are properly credited.
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Against this backdrop it would be worth assessing the performances of the Indian EFL teachers
during COVID-19, the biggest existential crisis the human race has ever faced. How did they respond
to this exigency? How was their preparation? How did they continue their teaching during the
prolonged school closure? What challenges did they face? What lessons they have learned therefrom?
What should be possible preparations for enhanced resilience to face such calamities in the future?
Based on these basic questions, the current study aimed at presenting a new teaching perspective
comparing challenges and opportunities regarding OTL during the pandemic, thereby helping the
smooth transition to digital pedagogy by analyzing teachers’ first-hand narratives and responses.
LITERATURE REVIEW
New technologies are assimilated into the academic world profusely to aid the process of learning
in many fields including English language teaching (ELT). Technology has the proven potential
to improve student motivation, engagement, and achievement thereby helping them to grow up to
their potential. EFL teaching-learning can be enhanced with technology incorporation capable of
giving new dimensions to create language learning, especially during critical situations (Patil, 2020).
Microsoft PowerPoint presentations are demonstrated to have a significant role in the improvement
of EFL learners’ vocabulary (Mahmoudzadeh, 2014). Bruff et al. (2013) said the integration of both
face-to-face interaction (offline) and online materials has shown great implications for learners as
they found it to be useful.
Bonner & Reinders (2018) found another benefit of new technologies in ELT that is encouraging
learners to actively take part in (co)-constructing their learning environment. These studies made
their observations during normal situation but how technology has been used by the EFL teachers
during the pandemic?
Like other courses of study, EFL teaching-learning had also been technology leaned during
pandemic across the globe. Several past studies investigated teachers’ and students’ experiences on this
sudden transition to remote/online teaching-learning in the pandemic. Khatoony & Nezhamehr (2020)
found the implementation of technology has provided significant opportunities for EFL teachers to
adopt online applications and instruments to enhance learners’ proficiency in complicated COVID-19
conditions. Howard et al. (2021) found there were differences in teachers’ perceptions about online
teaching depending on the resources they had and the institutional support they received. Cutri et al.
(2020) investigated readiness for online teaching during the pandemic and found that although some
areas needed attention such as assessment, they were willing to transform their teaching to online and
enrich their knowledge by sharing with their learners. One of the main factors determining teachers’
readiness and competencies was their prior experience and training (Moser et al, 2021).
Mahyoob (2020) explored that the participants were not satisfied with online learning due
to technical problems leading to poor performance in language learning. Bataineh et al. (2021)
found learners faced technical problems and issues with the design of online activities, leading to
dissatisfaction with distance learning. These technical issues are mainly related to poor internet
connections (Mayrink et al. 2021), lack of hardware and software (Kaur & Aziz, 2020), and lack of
technological equipment (Sayuti et al. 2020), problems of online assessment (Freddi, 2021), lack
of social activities (Schmied, 2021), and technical inadequacy leading to problems with internet
connection (Mayrink et al., 2021), and these led to problems in practice, which is crucial in interacting
with other speakers (Mercan Uzun et al., 2021). All these limitations led to problems in having
synchronous classes (Kundu, Bej, & Dey, 2021).
Rajat et al. (2020) found that although there were concerns about communication, assessment,
and technological tools, most participants indicated the positive impact of this transition from face-
to-face to online mode. Adedoyin and Soykan (2020) pointed out the main opportunity provided by
OTL was the flexibility provided to both teachers and learners in terms of place and time to follow the
online activities provided that stakeholders have the necessary devices and recourses. Ramadani and
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Xhaferi (2020) stated that learners’ engagement can be achieved in online learning in various ways
using different materials and tools, such as slide or online game-like activities. Research also shows
that teachers have found new ways to provide extra practice in language skills using social media and
other applications such as Messenger or WhatsApp (Fauzi & Angkasawati, 2019).
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
The previous section revealed the challenges across the globe with few silver linings for improvement
as well. COVID-19 destroyed the traditional teaching formats for a time being. Teachers have
been forced to introduce, very often provisional solutions to, the existing situation within a very
short time, often on the individual level and without systemic support (Kundu & Bej, 2021). The
adjustments to the new conditions concern not only the way of teaching but also its content. Almost
every country and its academic system got affected by this hard time and the effect had been more
acute in developing countries like India since these countries were already at the frills in respect of
e-education and needed e-infrastructure – device, skill, and attitude. Now, a probe into e-intrusion in
Indian EFL teaching during COVID-19 pandemic will help to answer a lot of questions regarding the
improvement of OTL infrastructure at the same time structuring a resilient system to defend against
any such future calamities.
A person-in-context approach has been followed for understanding EFL teaching challenges in
the pandemic. More specifically, the qualitative study presented here seeks to investigate not only
the effects of COVID-19 on EFL teaching from a multicultural perspective but also analyses the
individual person-situation factors such as teaching context and available resources affecting the
teaching environment. To achieve this objective, the study sought to find answers to the following
research questions:
RQ1: What problems did the EFL teachers encounter during the COVID-19 pandemic?
RQ2: What resources were available for teaching while facing the pandemic?
RQ3: What solutions were implemented to sustain in the new teaching environment?
METHODOLOGY
Sites and Participants

The participants of the study included 50 EFL teachers serving different government run educational
institution in India. They represented 10 federal states (5 participant from each state- West Bengal,
Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and
Kerala) with different teaching traditions, prestige, quality, and status of EFL teaching-learning, as
well as varying availability of teaching tools. The chosen states represent the whole India since before
taking this purposive sampling the whole country was divided into five division- Northern, Southern,
Eastern, Western, and Central. Two states from each division were selected as per researchers’ will.
Out of 50 teachers, 25 were from schools (both secondary or primary) and rest 25 were from higher
education arena (working in different colleges and universities). They were 20 female and 30 male
participants. To honor ethical standard all participants are kept anonymous and each of them has
been identified with a unique code (P1 to P50) where P1 to P25 represent school teachers and P26
to P50 represent college/university teachers.
Instruments and Data Collection

The participating teachers took part in the project initiated by the authors aimed to create a collection
of experience-based reflections on the opportunities and challenges of EFL teaching during the
COVID-19 pandemic in India. The teachers were selected from several social media associations
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like Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, etc to finally make a social media group among all the 50
participants nationwide having a common interest. Time-to-time intimations were provided to each
participant. Participation in the project was purely voluntary.
Each participant was given a chance to write his views on the challenges and prospects they found
in his/her respective institution in EFL teaching within maximum of 2,000 words. The narratives
were all written in English and sent to any one of the two authors electronically preferably through
Email or WhatsApp who made an in-depth analysis of the views/ narrations to design the findings
of the survey on EFL teaching during the pandemic conducted in March-July 2021.
The methodological approach was qualitative and collected opinions intended to offer readers
updates on how teachers in different contexts taught English online, indicating the challenges and
opportunities faced via a series of reflections on the teachers’ own experiences.
Cleland (2017) said qualitative research is very important in education as it addresses the “how”
and “why” research questions and enables deeper understanding of experiences, phenomena, and
context. It is especially helpful for a researcher as well because here he/she get ample scope of self-
reflection (Kundu et al. 2022). It allows a researcher to ask questions that cannot be easily put into
numbers to understand human experience. Getting at the everyday realities of some social phenomenon
and studying important questions as they have really practiced helps collecting extended knowledge
and understanding.
The qualitative data collected in this study provided insights into the teaching situation as
affected by the pandemic, both in terms of officially available resources as well as individually
developed solutions to the existing problems. The participants were told to put their observations on
the following six points:
1. A brief self-introduction mentioning name, state, gender, and institution.

2. Description of the context.
3. Teaching resources available.
4. Challenges and issues faced while teaching English online.
5. Teachers’ own solutions to these issues.
6. Opportunities and benefits of teaching online.
Data Analysis
Narrative analysis technique was used for data analysis having a dual layer of interpretation particularly
developed by Johnson (2008) to understand how research participants construct stories and narratives
from their personal experience.
Delve and Limpaecher (2020) define narrative analysis as a genre of analytic frames whereby
researchers interpret stories that are told within the context of research and/or are shared in everyday
life. Researchers or Scholars who conduct this type of analysis make diverse—yet equally substantial
and meaningful—interpretations and conclusions by focusing on different elements (Parcell & Baker,
2017).
Authors coded each response and arranged in three basic categories (resources, challenges, and
solutions) responding to the formulated research questions. The stages involved in the data analysis
are reported in Figure 1.
RESULTS
In this section, results are presented following each research question.
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Figure 1. Stages of data analysis (Source: Authors)
Problems Encountered by EFL Teachers

The first research question focuses on what teaching problems the teacher-narrators encountered
during COVID-19 situation and the findings are reported in Table 1.
Student-related issues. The issues were common across India comprising all academic levels. The
aspect of the lack of student engagement was mentioned in 42 contributions from the 10 states. Lack
of students’ motivation has evolved from 37 representations of both school and college/university
levels. The online classroom disturbed the interaction between teachers and learners significantly,
partially through the inability to conduct individual work, skepticism among students at all levels
about participating in online classes, the need to ensure student participation, and switching off
cameras. Due to poor infrastructure, internet access-related problems and a lack of digital devices
among learners were identified as prominent. The problems were more acute among school students
in comparison to college/university students (in respect of several observations). School teachers have
mentioned resistance to learning online as evident in 17 representations. Thus, the students’ related
issues in EFL teaching could be understandable and these were felt by the teachers more or less the
same at the pan-Indian level.
Teacher-related pedagogical issues. Analysis of teachers’ responses revealed 10 pedagogical issues
that hampered EFL teaching including monitoring learners during teaching, dealing with a multi-level
class or teaching students of multiple grade levels at a time, progress evaluation, unpreparedness of
the teachers for new online pedagogy, timer management, online communication, individual teaching
approach, students’ interaction, and problems owing to the absence of non-verbal communications.
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Table 1. Teaching challenges in pandemic
Teaching problem States Context (university/ school)
EFL students related issues Received responses from Represented in favor (No. of
representations)
Lack of engagement West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (22) and College/
Delhi, Haryana. Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (20)
Lack of motivation West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (20) and College/
Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (17)
Initial skepticism and overt resistance to West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (15)
the introduction of remote teaching Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala
Resistance to learning online West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (14)
Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala
EFL teacher related issues
Monitoring learners during teaching West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (21) and College/
Dealing with a multi-level class West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (17)
Progress evaluation West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (16)
Unpreparedness to teach in new conditions, West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (21)
lacking knowledge about online teaching Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala
Time management West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (20)
Online communication West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (18)
Lack of ability to choose a teaching West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (21) and College/
methodology responding to different Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (19)
students’ different learning styles
(auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and mixed)
Creating an online learning context where West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (24) and College/
students can interact with each other Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (20)
effectively.
Assessment West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (22)
Lack of physical contact, gestures, facial West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (23) and College/
expressions Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (18)
Technical issues
Lack of access to digital equipment West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (17) and College/
especially in rural areas Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (11)
Poor internet connection West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (19) and College/
Problems with logging in West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (17) and College/
Switching cameras off West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (22) and College/
Participating EFL teachers considered pedagogical issues most challenging because these were directly
affecting teaching-learning at all levels.
Not only did the use of digital tools for educational purposes (“I found it difficult to fully integrate
computers in teaching some subjects, for example, Grammar”- P3) posed a difficult obstacle, but also
the appropriate choice or mixture of pedagogical strategies to facilitate and increase the efficiency of
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online EFL teaching, especially in terms of developing speaking skills and respecting different types
of learning styles. In teacher statements from Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, and Maharashtra, the aspect of
assessment was highlighted. Moreover, a lack of physical contact strongly affected the quality and
efficiency of language classes. Among other teaching-related problems there was time management
during online classes (slower pace of discussing teaching material).
Technical issues. These issues include first and foremost the lack of digital devices, especially in
rural areas, poor internet connectivity, log-in issues, and camera-off issues. All of these were mainly
due to a lack of exposure in online operations on the part of students and teachers. (“This was altogether
a new phenomenon to us and we didn’t even hear the name of WhatsApp or Google Meet”- P12). The
teachers participating in the survey also pointed out technical problems which significantly hindered
remote teaching, the most frequent of which were problems with a lack of knowledge of the platform,
on the part of both students and teachers, problems with the speed of the internet, the lack of cameras
on the part of students or their unwillingness to switch them on during classes. The availability of
resources is a topic discussed in more detail in the next section of this article.
Available Resources for Teaching

The second research question was concentrated on the resources available for EFL teachers during the
pandemic. For digital teaching-learning, the basic resources are device, skill, and attitude (Kundu &
Bej, 2022). The investigation was done following this postulate and the collected data were analyzed
in these three categories.
Referring to digital devices (the results presented in Table 2) a variety of resources have been
mentioned by the participants. Again, in this case, the dichotomous variables (state, context and
working field) have been introduced by analyzing the previous research question.
The majority of participants (from all ten states) used Google Meet, Zoom, Facebook, and
WhatsApp for communication and conducting synchronous teaching during the pandemic and this
scenario is equally pervasive in both schools and colleges/universities. Among other modes, Messenger
and Emails were also used by teachers as means of asynchronous communication in a few states both
schools and college/universities.
Besides, in the asynchronous context, the Google Classroom and Moodle platform was also used
in few states but its use is not pervasive and limited to the higher education level only. Initially teachers
were not proficient in these asynchronous communications but university training helped them get
efficient. For communication with students, social media like Facebookand WhatApp played a big
role. Concerning the hardware, almost all narrators struggled with equipment problems that directly
affected the learning and teaching process (both for students and teachers):
“While working from home in the lockdown, students and teachers used their Smart phones, PCs,
tablets and laptops. Some students’ phones/PCs don’t have cameras and at first, they entered online
classes without enabling video features.” (P22)
The resource shortage evolved in this study was acutely and omnipresent across the country. All
narrators admitted it with a positive note and this shortage was more acute in schools rather than in
colleges as evident from the opinions of few school teachers who said:
“My school arranged regular classes during this prolong school closures and we took daily classes
following school routine but the most acute problem was students’ attendance in online classes which
was always below 15% mark in average.” (P20)
“We want to take classes, our students also want to attend but the problem is of device, that the
students often don’t have and missed the classes” (P24)
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Table 2. Resources available for digital pedagogy during the pandemic
Resources State Context Special remark
Digital devices Received responses from Represented in favor (No. of

representations)
Smartphone West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (15) and College/ “We have bought smartphones but one 1 out
Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (24) of every 10 students have a smartphone to
attend classes online (P1)”
Internet West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (11) and College/ “We availed internet connectivity in our
Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (24) smartphones but most of our students
didn’t get a good connectivity to attend
synchronous classes (P7)”
Google Meet West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (16) and College/ “In maximum schools classes have been
Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (23) going on in Google Meet (P5)”
WhatsApp West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (10) and College/ “I feel confident in teaching WhatsApp
Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (24) (P29)”
Zoom West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (09) and College/ “Ya! it was helpful in my teaching (P32)”
Facebook West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (20) and College/ “it’s easy to engage students in continuous
Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (25) learning using Facebook(P41)”
Messenger Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala School (13) and College/ “We used to utilize it for asynchronous
universities (21) communication with our students” (P13)
E-mail Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala School (15) and College/ “This has been very popular during
universities (22) lockdown to contact students” (P22)
Digital book Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, School (05) and College/ “An important alternative of books and we
Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (22) used to share e-books or Scanned copies of
books with our students” (P33)
Google Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, School (02) and College/ “Our university arranged and trained
Classroom Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (11) teachers for Google Classroom operation
during teaching (P30)”
Moodle Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, School (01) and College/ “It was a challenge for us at the begin but
Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (14) university authority trained us (P41)”
Skill for online teaching
Communication West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (23) and College/ “I can’t make clear and concise
skill Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (20) communication with my students online
(P7)”
Technology West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (23) and College/ “I have just leant using smartphone but
literacy Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (21) I feel problems in using applications and
icons available for online teaching purposes
(P11)”
Time West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (22) and College/ “I tried but can’t present my teaching
management Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (13) within time (P9)”
E-assessment West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (23) and College/ “It is an altogether new system of
Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (11) assessment and we need to habituated with
it (P43)”
Attitude for online teaching
Interest West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (08) and College/ “I didn’t find online teaching interesting
Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (15) rather I am waiting for good old of in-class
teaching (P22)”
Commitment West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (08) and College/ “I tried to take my classes from a high
Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (14) roof of my neighbor since in my home
connectivity was not good (P25)”
Constant West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (05) and College/ “We didn’t know the basics of online
Learning Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (12) classes until pandemic so this question does
not arise (P29)”
Adaptability West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (02) and College/ “I feel our old face-t-face mode was good
Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (08) and online mode didn’t attracted me (P11)”
Creativity West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (02) and College/ “We hardly get time to think about school
Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (10) outside our school hours (P17)”
Patience West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, School (03) and College/ “Online classes are good for young aged
Delhi, Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nādu, Kerala universities (14) teachers not like us who are over 50 (P19) ”
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Only two narrators (one from an urban institution and one from a university) reported not having
problems with the lack of devices. The problem of device scarcity among school students is more
prevalent in comparison to higher education institutions as evident from this remark of a college
teacher:
“I think that my colleagues and our students were rather well-equipped with devices and Instructions
needed in digital education.” (P12)
The second major resource, skills for online teaching, revealed a poor picture that jointly points
out the lack of digital skills among Indian EFL teachers. In all the four sub-domains considered for
this analysis – communication, technology literacy, time management, and e-assessment- teachers
were found stumbling with their skills when 43 representations in online communication, 44
technology literacy, 43 time-management, and 44 e-assessment admitted that they have difficulties
in the concerned areas. The problem concentration is deeper among school teachers especially those
located in rural areas.
Teachers’ attitude has been considered the third major resource for online teaching which
further aggravates the situation and implied a cause behind this overall state of denigration. In all
six sub-domains, teachers lacked positiveness. They have a lack of interest in online teaching, lack
of commitment, learning zeal, adaptability, creativity, and patience, except few stray cases reported
in few studies like Kundu & Bej (2021b) where a school teacher is depicted in taking his class from
a tall tree in expectancy in of good Internet connectivity since he did not get it from his low roofed
residence.
Potential Solutions to Sustain Teaching Environment

Findings on the third research question addresses the impromptu solutions developed by EFL teachers
in different states facing unique challenges during the pandemic as reported in Table 3.
Only one suggestion (intense teacher training on implementation of modern technologies in
teaching) has a systemic character, apart from that the ideas described are individual suggestions
made by teachers who developed them by monitoring the needs of their students and the dramatically
altered teaching situation. Most of the solutions presented concentrate on activating the teacher-
student relationship, for example, by facilitating contact, increasing motivation, and helping students
without access to modern technology. In this respect, using social media (like WeChat, WhatsApp,
Messenger, or Facebook) was useful.
Increased student activity and engagement can be achieved by introducing accessible Paddlets
(an extremely easy-to-use tool that allows learners to collaborate online by posting text, images, links,
documents, videos and voice recordings) or Blending Blackboard.
In terms of evaluation, it is essential to use alternative assessment methods instead of
comprehension questions, short answer questions or multiple-choice questions, or the available
functions of SoundCloud, Youtube or Netskoli. The essential aspect of teaching online is to increase
the approachability of the teacher, and through that also establishing contact with shy and unmotivated
students.
Few veteran narrators talked of the holistic necessity of the “shift from teacher-centred lectures to
a flipped classroom methodology” (P42), which is a type of blended learning approach that reverses
the traditional educational arrangement in which “the teacher is the primary source of information”
(Flipped Learning Network, 2014).
The solutions introduced in different states differed, but for teachers from a few economically
stronger states introducing collaborative tasks was one of the remedies for the lack of interaction with
students. The solutions refer mainly to the university level, where very often on-the-spot activities
were tested in practice, however, “Needless to say, it becomes urgent to transfer the online static
education that is based on handout downloading into the interactive transmission of knowledge.” (P44).
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Table 3. Solutions to EFL teaching challenges
Challenge Solution State Context
EFL student As follows: West Bengal, Assam, Uttar School and

related Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, College/
problems Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, universities
Tamil Nādu, Kerala
Lack of • Use of Google Form and Interviewing via Zoom, which encouraged wider
interaction involvement.
• Reaction functions of teaching platforms “Also in this case, the functions for
indicating various reactions were used. Particularly, those available in Zoom
appeared useful, for example, “go faster/go slower.” (P 33)
Increasing • Additional revision Additional exercises published on the Moodle platform.

motivation • Personalized materials.
• Expose to language “every week they were required to watch a recommended
movie by themselves at home, and then discuss its summary and their ideas about its
plot in class”. (P11)
• Student’s feedback “When students answered some tasks prepared at home, they
were asked to write all new vocabulary items in the chat and provide definitions.”
(P 26)
Cheating in Webcam and desktop sharing “I made it compulsory for the exam attendees to go into
exams a desktop sharing mode and to make themselves visible via a webcam throughout the
exam.” P 14
Access to Exercise packages prepared by teacher “I prepared self-study English packages

materials and personally distributed them among my students living in areas with poor
communications services and those completely cut off from service.” P 1
EFL teacher As follows: West Bengal, Assam, Uttar School and

related Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, College/
problems Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, universities
Tamil Nādu, Kerala
Unpreparedness Intense teacher training on implementation of modern technologies, online solutions

to use new into teaching
technological
tools
Feedback Providing constant constructive feedback and reward them verbally during online
meetings and even through written comments
Monitoring Constant monitoring of students needs
Teaching • Mixture of the CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) method and Task-based
methodology Language Learning to teach the four skills.
• Visualization Mind-mapping Graphic presentations.
• Project based learning.
• sharing sound files through the teachers’ computers, or sending these files to the
students or reading the scripts for the listening activities
Assessment • Assessing students’ listening and speaking skills using applications such as
‘SoundCloud’, ‘Youtube’, ‘Netskoli.
• Using alternative assessment methods rather than comprehension questions, short-
answer or multiple-choice questions.
Resource As follows: West Bengal, Assam, Uttar School and

problems Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, College/
Haryana, Gujrat, Maharashtra, universities
Tamil Nādu, Kerala
Device • Government and non-government agencies can work together to enhance the access
of device among students (P11).
• “if a low range smart phone can be devised for students with one or two Apps for
presenting in online classes could help immensely” (P24)
• “Parents’ awareness is a major factor here, who have smart devices and don’t allow
students for classes” (P20)
Poor internet • Early morning hours for teaching.

connection • “We tried to avoid the rush hours and eventually work in the early morning hours
when the internet is less used” (P27)
• Switching off cameras.
• We have also learned that turning off cameras during a video task may help
stabilize the internet connection and turning off data on other devices such as phones
and tablets.” (P5) classifying students into two groups: those who accessed digital
devices (e.g., smartphone, laptop), and those who couldn’t afford.”
• Local app for the first group, including technical infrastructures conducting classes
both synchronously and asynchronously.
10
In terms of the specificity of teaching EFL in a pandemic teacher, independently of state of origin,
mentioned the recreation of traditional teaching materials and making use of digital resources, as
well as tailoring the materials to the needs and expectations of students.
DISCUSSION
The main objective of this research was to explore the major challenges and opportunities of EFL
teaching caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in India. The changes caused by the pandemic in this
field were evident and the major concerns evolved on how to link the new situation with the available
resources and a certain amount of skepticism or even fear.
In comparison to papers published in recent times, embracing similar topics (e.g., Kundu et al.
2022; Mahyoob, 2020; Bataineh et al., 2020; Howard et al. 2020), this study has a strong national
character and aims at depicting exclusively the struggles and solutions developed by Indian EFL
teachers. Additionally, the form of collecting data (in form of written narratives) is to encourage
teachers to share their opinions on the topic in a more open way than traditional surveys. It offered an
alternate avenue for them to showcase their innovations, although anonymously, yet expectations of
having a perpetuating effect in national pedagogic practices, evident in their enthusiasm throughout
this study.
It’s important to mention, most research to date has focused on the learners’ perspective, whereas
this study looks at the situation from the teacher’s perspective. The current study found that facing
generally very similar problems, EFL teachers developed very diverse solutions which were mainly
their ideas, extempore, tested in practice with their students, and based on the available teaching tools.
The first research question concentrated on the identification of the challenges in EFL teaching.
Student-related and technical problems were identified, moreover, teacher-related issues were also
mentioned by the participating teachers. The choice of the appropriate EFL teaching methodology
(adapted to the current situation) and ensuring student involvement seemed to be the problems mainly
occupying EFL teaching in the states where the study was conducted.
Among teaching skills, developing online speaking was the most challenging matter for many
teachers which was in line with the findings of the studies conducted by Bishop and Mabry (2016).
The monitoring and assessment of student progress corroborates the findings of several other studies
(e.g., Kundu & Bej, 2021c; Ramadani & Xhaferi, 2020; Cutri et al., 2021; Freddi, 2021).
Indian EFL teachers pointed out their unpreparedness for teaching in an online environment,
therefore, the choice of efficient teaching methods was also difficult. This might be attributed to the
resources that teachers had and the support provided to them by their institutions. Moreover, regarding
the methodology, skepticism towards learning English using a new medium influenced the learners’
involvement has been a similar finding following Bataineh et al. (2020).
The scope for interaction with students during class was limited partially by technical problems,
and partially by their resistance and unwillingness to cooperate (switching of cameras). In some
narratives, poor internet connections and a lack of hardware were also mentioned (Kundu, 2018;
Bishop & Mabry 2016, Kundu & Bej, 2020; Kaur & Aziz, 2020; Mayrink et al. 2021). This indicates
the interplay of several factors in EFL teaching online, among which the choice of the appropriate
methodology and increasing student participation seem to play an important role, which was also
indicated by Sayuti et al (2020).
The second research question addressed the resources and tools available in EFL teaching during
the pandemic. The findings admit a wide variety of platforms and tools used, sometimes imposed by
an institution (college/universities) and often sometimes chosen by the teachers themselves (generally
in schools). However, many participating EFL teachers appreciated the advantages of using ZOOM
for teaching online as easy to cope with and offer many useful functions (Ramadani & Xhaferi,
2020). WhatsApp was found more popular among school teachers. Teachers also used social media
to improve contact with students (WeChat, Messenger, Facebook) and some of them were also used
11
to provide students with extra exercise materials which are in line with other research findings (i. e.,
Kundu & Bej, 2021a; Fauzi & Angkasawati, 2019).
The lack of technical equipment was a nuisance for both teachers and learners, which is consistent
with the findings of the studies by Kundu, Bej, & Rice (2020), Kundu (2020), Mercan Uzun et al.
(2021), Adedoyin and Soykan (2020), Kundu, Mondal, Mandal, & Bej (2022), and Mayrink et al.
(2021). Nevertheless, respondents pointed out potential solutions based on mutual help, borrowing
equipment, or support from large companies. As far as the availability and choice of working tools is
concerned, the decisions made in this respect were rather of an individual character, based on early
experiences.
The last research question concerns the potential solutions to the challenges identified. The answer
to the identified problems lies primarily in increasing the approachability of teachers, e.g., by using
the available social networks like Facebook, WeChat, and Messenger to facilitate communication with
students on the one hand and to intensify the exercises provided to students on the other. Apart from
systemic solutions (educational programs, radio broadcasts, and support through the implementation
of teaching platforms), teachers can look for tools to support teaching online like digital books or
TED talks.
In terms of EFL teaching, the participants mention mixing of available methods by constantly
monitoring student needs and interactions, as well as providing constant constructive feedback to
the students. From the statements of the participating teachers, it results that creating an appropriate
teaching setting and taking care of the students’ involvement was far more crucial for the EFL teaching
process in the pandemic than sticking to the previously unforeseen teaching plan.
CONCLUSION
This study aimed to explore the main challenges and opportunities of EFL teaching caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Certain challenges have been noticed such as technical issues, online assessment,
and lack of interaction, in addition to opportunities such as flexibility and using extra multimedia
materials in different contexts and at varying levels in this huge country. Instructional technology has
played a crucial role during the pandemic, as technological equipment and resources served as the
only platform or place for the delivery of educational activities. As such, technological infrastructure
has become important for all stakeholders. However, as indicated by the reflections and experiences
of teachers, the main question or concern appears to be how to connect the new situation with the
(un)available resources considering both teachers’ and learners’ needs.
LIMITATIONS
There are certain limitations regarding the participants and the data collection instruments. The
participants included only 50 teachers from a limited number of states (10 out of total 28 Indian
states), and the data were based on the participants’ self-reported reflections and experiences. Their
responses might have been biased due to several reasons, such as personal experiences and institutional
support. Further research, therefore, can include underrepresented states, and learners’ voices can
also be heard in the data collection process to have a more holistic view of the problem.
12
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Arnab Kundu has received Masters’ in English and in Education, M.Phil. in Education, UGC-NET (with JRF Score),
WB-SET, PGDEMA, PGDET, & Ph. D. in Education. He stood all India Topper in CUCET-2018 (for Ph.D. Entrance
in Education). His research concentrates on different issues of teachers’ work especially in promoting technology-
integrated pedagogy at the school level. So far, he has authored more than 40 research papers, of which 25
published exclusively in SCOPUS-indexed international journals. He is the main and corresponding author in this
article may be contacted at: [email protected].
Asim Kumar Betal, Ph.D. Student, Department of English, Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Darbhanga, India.
He has received MA in English Literature, MA in Education, and M.Ed. He has been teaching at Onda Thana
Mahavidyalaya, Bankura, as a State Aided College Teacher (SACT) for the last eleven years.
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International Journal of Technology Diffusion

Indian EFL Teachers’ Reflections on

Asim Kumar Betal, Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Bihar, India

DOI: 10.4018/IJTD.317114 *Corresponding Author

Sites and Participants

Instruments and Data Collection

1. A brief self-introduction mentioning name, state, gender, and institution.

In this section, results are presented following each research question.

Figure 1. Stages of data analysis (Source: Authors)

Problems Encountered by EFL Teachers

Table 1. Teaching challenges in pandemic

Teaching problem States Context (university/ school)

EFL teacher related issues

Available Resources for Teaching

Table 2. Resources available for digital pedagogy during the pandemic

Resources State Context Special remark

Digital devices Received responses from Represented in favor (No. of

Skill for online teaching

Attitude for online teaching

Potential Solutions to Sustain Teaching Environment

Table 3. Solutions to EFL teaching challenges

Challenge Solution State Context

EFL student As follows: West Bengal, Assam, Uttar School and

Increasing • Additional revision Additional exercises published on the Moodle platform.

Access to Exercise packages prepared by teacher “I prepared self-study English packages

EFL teacher As follows: West Bengal, Assam, Uttar School and

Unpreparedness Intense teacher training on implementation of modern technologies, online solutions

Monitoring Constant monitoring of students needs

Resource As follows: West Bengal, Assam, Uttar School and

Poor internet • Early morning hours for teaching.

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