Student Engagement in Online ESL Classroom: A Tale of Teachers

Abstract

Online education /e-learning has become an integral part during the Covid 19 pandemic. This study aims to explore the teachers’ perceptions on online learning and student engagement, strategies and tools used in online classes to obtain high level of student engagement and the barriers they face in achieving these goals. A case study research design with five ESL teachers as the sample is used in this study. One-on-one interviews are used as the research tool and based on the data three themes are identified. They are student engagement in an online learning environment, techniques used to gain student engagement and the barriers for gaining student engagement in an online environment. There are several major findings. The novelty of teaching in an online setting and lack of exposure to online interactive tools are prominent in the selected context. Despite this, all the participants have expressed fairly a positive attitude towards online teaching even though they have faced several difficulties in gaining maximum student engagement.