Abstract:

The paper reports the findings of surveys conducted at the University of West Bohemia during the summer terms of 2019/2020 and 2020/21 when teachers shifted face-to-face classes online and adjusted their pedagogical approach and course content due to COVID-19. Though it is evident that teachers struggled with the transition initially, this paper seeks to understand what methodologies were effective with the transition of online teaching over the two terms. Specifically, it aims to analyze the level of satisfaction of university students of English at the Department of Applied Linguistics at the University of West Bohemia with online learning. First, the authors present and analyze research aimed at online language teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Next, the authors describe findings of qualitative research based on analyzing 102 responses from the summer terms of the academic years 2019/20 and 2020/21 in terms of students’ opinion on the following: teaching methodology, suitability communication platforms, student feedback, learning experience, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The results show the importance of communication, instructors’ personalities, digital tools, and conditions for learning. Lastly, the authors give helpful suggestions that can improve the experience of university student language learners in an online context.

Keywords:

Online learning, remote learning, remote teaching, online learning, experience, higher education.