ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 01, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 50 TEACHERS' PERCEPTION ON ONLINE LEARNING OF ENGLISH FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN THE POST COVID-19 PANDEMIC Firdaus Ditya Pamungkas Universitas Soerjo Ngawi fidityapamungkas@gmail.com ABSTRACT A global pandemic caused by Coronavirus or Covid-19 gave horrible impacts toward many important sectors, including education. This global crisis including Indonesia, forced educational institutions to switch their teaching methods into online teaching and learning for around two and a half years. In the post Covid-19 pandemic, the education was back to normal where schools and university accepted students to learn in the classes. Therefore, the use of online learning that was important during Covid-19 pandemic, might be useful to give variation in learning process in the post Covid-19 pandemic. This study was conducted to explore teachers’ perception on online learning of EFL in the post Covid-19 pandemic. The participants were 21 EFL teachers from university and secondary school in Indonesia. This study used a qualitative descriptive approach with online questionnaire. From the finding and result, it showed that teachers considered EFL online learning was still important because online learning provided flexible time in scope of teaching. Furthermore, the contents or materials of online learning could be saved on the internet for long time and could be seen or accessed again. In conclusion, EFL online still gave positive impact towards students and teachers in the post Covid-19 pandemic. Keyword: Post Covid-19 pandemic, EFL, perception, online learning INTRODUCTION A global pandemic has happened in the early 2020 caused by Coronavirus or Covid-19. COVID-19 is the disease caused by a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. World Health Organization (WHO) first learned of this new virus on 31 December 2019, following a report of a cluster of cases of ‘viral pneumonia’ in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China. WHO announced the outbreak of Covid-19 as a global public health emergency on 30 January 2020.1 Since then, 21st global crisis has spread all over the world. According to WHO, in 2020 there were around 3 million global deaths in the Covid-19 pandemic. 1 Alisha Ishrath et al., “Covid-19 (Pandemic): A Review Article,” J Res Med Dent Sci, vol. 2021, 2021, www.jrmds.in. ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 01, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 51 This crisis gave horrible impacts toward many important sectors, including education. Around 1.5 billion children and youth were out of schools in 195 countries, from pre-primary to higher education. Most educational institutions in the world have decided to temporary close and switch their methods to online teaching and learning.2 In Indonesia, with the number of populations of 260 million, the Covid- 19 pandemic also affecting 4,621 universities that spread throughout Indonesia which serves 8.3 million students. 3 Regarding the prevention of covid-19, schools and colleges should be closed.4 According to Kemendagri that several actions must be taken to prevent this virus by; carrying out hand hygiene by using a hand sanitizer, washing hands with soap if the hands look dirty, avoiding eye, nose, and mouth supervision5. In Indonesia, the government obligated people to keep their distance from one to another. People also were not allowed to gather in one place, even for education. Online teaching and learning in Indonesia gave new challenges for educational institutions, teachers, and students. Educational institutions need to prepare online platform for online teaching and learning without giving much burden to students while teachers need to prepare some outstanding strategies for online teaching. Online learning is access to learning experiences via some technology. The use of online teaching and learning will be an effective solution during the pandemic6. Online learning can be referred to the use of digital tools for teaching and learning7. These digital tools can be used to study everywhere and anytime without getting restrained by time and place. 2 Huynh Thi Anh Tram, “EFL Teachers’ Perception on Challenges of Online Teaching During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study,” International Journal of Social Science and Human Research 04, no. 06 (June 30, 2021), https://doi.org/10.47191/ijsshr/v4-i6-42. 3 Dewi Padmo, Lidwina Sri Ardiasih, and Olivia Idrus, “Online Learning During the Covid-19 Pandemic and Its Effect on Future Education in Indonesia,” in The Impact Of COVID19 On The International Education System (Proud Pen, 2020), 71–86, https://doi.org/10.51432/978-1-8381524-0-6_5. 4 Hermansyah Hermansyah and Aridah Aridah, “Teachers’ Perception toward the Challenges in Online English Teaching during Covid-19 Pandemic,” Indonesian Journal of EFL and Linguistics 6, no. 1 (May 19, 2021): 63, https://doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v6i1.342. 5 Hermansyah and Aridah. Retno Puji Rahayu and Yanty Wirza, “Teachers’ Perception of Online Learning during Pandemic Covid- 19,” Jurnal Penelitian Pendidikan 20 (2020): 392–406. 7 Novrika Nartiningrum and Arif Nugroho, “Online Learning amidst Global Pandemic: EFL Students’ Challenges, Suggestions, and Needed Materials,” ENGLISH FRANCA : Academic Journal of English Language and Education 4, no. 2 (November 13, 2020): 115, https://doi.org/10.29240/ef.v4i2.1494. ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 01, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 52 Information and technology developing rapidly support online learning 8 . Technology and information also ease teachers and students to carry out their daily activities, from messages, assignments, and online communication through message and assignments to improve several things online. Mostly, online learning occurs via the internet, which is also called e-learning, different term to distance learning. Meanwhile, in online learning, there are synchronous and asynchronous approaches. Synchronous learning is defined as real conditions and situations via the internet using devices such as direct messages, shared screens by connecting data in the form of video and audio, while asynchronous learning is defined as a process of learning that can delay the time9 . So, this pandemic forced students and teachers to learn with online learning. In 2021, most countries decided to give vaccines to their people to reduce the effect of Covid-19 toward human bodies. This policy gave positive impacts towards many sectors including education. After two and a half years of Covid- 19 Pandemic, schools and universities started to re-open their institutions and accepted students to study in classes. Nowadays, English has still become foreign language in Indonesia. English is a compulsory lesson started in Junior High School but many English courses accept elementary students to teach them basic English. However, covid-19 pandemic forced both English courses and formal schools to implement online teaching and learning for their students. A study about the use of online learning among EFL students showed that students aware of the benefits of using online learning and they also have a highly positive attitude towards online learning in English10. Furthermore, he explained that online learning system can adapt to aim of improving communication and enrich students’ learning experiences. It can be said that online learning provides both advantages and challenges for teachers and students. Anyhow learning of language can be in many forms and fashions.11 Self-study is one of the most common and significant means of learning a language. In personal perspective, a learner can progress and improve his/her language knowledge and skills from as little as an hour’s self-study a week. Moreover, college students who learn EFL (English for Foreign Language) are more familiar with self-study compared to junior or senior high students. 8 Hermansyah and Aridah, “Teachers’ Perception toward the Challenges in Online English Teaching during Covid-19 Pandemic.” 9 Hermansyah and Aridah. 10 Mohammed Mohammed Nasser Hassan Ja’ashan, “The Challenges and Prospects of Using E-Learning among EFL Students in Bisha University,” Arab World English Journal 11, no. 1 (March 15, 2020): 124–37, https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol11no1.11. 11 Hermansyah and Aridah, “Teachers’ Perception toward the Challenges in Online English Teaching during Covid-19 Pandemic.” ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 01, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 53 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) was needed in online learning especially in English Foreign Language. There are three benefits of using ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in EFL (English for Foreign Language) class; helping teachers to conduct interesting and fun learning activities, promoting autonomy learning, and motivating students to learn. ICT can be a better solution than traditional method of teaching (face to face)12. However, there are more preparation and equipment in using ICT for EFL learners. The main challenge facing educators today is primarily how to effectively manage and deliver educational services and curricula to stakeholders, the education community, and the marketplace. 13 A previous study done by Ashrafzadeh and Sayadian investigated university instructors’ concerns and perceptions of technology integration14. It was discovered that the sources of the instructors’ concerns are administrative facilities, instructors’ technology literacy toward technology integration and accessibility of technology for all students which are still lacking. It can be said the use of ICT provides many interesting ways of teaching and give both teachers and learners to explore and develop their experience and abilities but ICT also need many preparations, steps, and proper equipment to facilitate process of online learning in EFL works well. According to explanation above, this paper, therefore, is conducted to observe teachers’ perception on online teaching English in the post pandemic era. Perception is thinking about what has been done and can be done with the behavior.15 Meanwhile, teacher’s perception can be described as the developed opinion after a certain experience. Teachers’ perceptions form a prominent component to describe the environment of the learning process. 16 A study showed that many EFL teachers have not been properly trained nor had much experience of online teaching during Covid-19 pandemic17. Many challenges 12 Nartiningrum and Nugroho, “Online Learning amidst Global Pandemic: EFL Students’ Challenges, Suggestions, and Needed Materials.” 13 Mohd Khaled Yousef Shambour and Muhannad A. Abu-Hashem, “Analysing Lecturers’ Perceptions on Traditional vs. Distance Learning: A Conceptual Study of Emergency Transferring to Distance Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic,” Education and Information Technologies, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10719-5. 14 Nartiningrum and Nugroho, “Online Learning amidst Global Pandemic: EFL Students’ Challenges, Suggestions, and Needed Materials.” 15 Hermansyah and Aridah, “Teachers’ Perception toward the Challenges in Online English Teaching during Covid-19 Pandemic.” 16 Hermansyah and Aridah. 17 Anh Tram, “EFL Teachers’ Perception on Challenges of Online Teaching During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study.” ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 01, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 54 were faced by EFL teachers, such as lack of proper training for doing online class and related issues, lack of computer and digital technology competency, lack of time for online course design and online test preparation as well as student’s learning facilitation, motivation, and interaction. In addition, a study explained that a lack of proper preparation and growth for doing online classes, teachers face difficulties in conducting online classes18. The biggest challenge for online classes is technological and network challenges. There are some opportunities that can be explore both by teachers and students in online learning. However, some challenges also face them in using ICT for online teaching and learning, especially in English as Foreign Language (EFL). Therefore, researchers wanted to know the teachers’ perception on online learning especially in English Foreign Language (EFL) in the post pandemic era and how about the challenges and the opportunities. In the post pandemic era, teachers could teach students in classes. They could tend to use face to face learning instead of online learning. This study wanted how far the use of online learning when teachers could teach students in class. 18 H D C Priyadarshani and D Jesuiya, “Teacher’s Perception on Online Teaching Method during Covid-19: With Reference to School Level Teachers at Faculty of Education, The Open University of Sri Lanka,” Shanlax International Journal of Education 9, no. 2 (March 1, 2021): 132–40, https://doi.org/10.34293/education.v9i2.3662. ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 01, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 55 METHODS This research was carried out in Indonesia which ranks second language in language diversity among other countries worldwide 19 . The participants were 21 EFL teachers from university and secondary school in Indonesia. At minimum, all the teachers own a bachelor degree in teaching English as foreign language. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, this research used survey method to investigate the teachers’ perceptions toward online teaching EFL in the post pandemic era with the challenges and the opportunities. Survey approach is used when the researcher wants to gather information, opinions, beliefs, or perceptions about a current issue from a large group of people20. The instrument used in this research was an online questionnaire. The questionnaire was formulated based on the theories portrayed in the literature review stating pros and cons of online learning speaking implementation. There were 10 items in the questionnaire. 3 statements were an open-ended statement, while the 7 other statements were closed-ended statements. An open-ended statement allows the subject of research to give further opinion about the statement. A close-ended statement requires the subject of research to only choose “agree”, “neutral”, or “disagree”. The data of this research was analysed descriptively. In this research, the online questionnaire is conducted to examine the percentage of EFL teacher who are teaching online, the frequently application used in online learning as well as the challenges face by EFL teachers when teaching during Covid 19 pandemic, and tried to find out the teachers’ perceptions towards online learning EFL in pandemic era. FINDINGS A. Teachers’ perception on EFL online teaching during the post Covid-19 Pandemic Questions Response Yes No Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage Are you teaching EFL offline classes in September 2022? 20 95,2% 1 4,8% Do you still need to teach online while you can teach offline in classes? 20 95,2% 1 4.8% 19 Subhan Zein, “English, Multilingualism and Globalisation in Indonesia,” English Today 35, no. 1 (2019): 48–53, https://doi.org/10.1017/S026607841800010X. 20 Reza Pustika, “Future English Teachers’ Perspective towards the Implementation of E-Learning in Covid-19 Pandemic Era,” Journal of English Language Teaching and Linguistics) e-ISSN, vol. 5, 2020, www.jeltl.org. ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 01, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 56 Do online teaching give advantages in your teaching? 16 76,2% 5 23,8% Table 1: Application of Online Teaching among EFL teacher during the post Covid- 19 Pandemic The table above shows that 20 teachers or 95,2% from 21 teachers start to teach offline teaching in EFL classes. 20 teachers or 95,2% teachers still need online teaching while they can teach offline teaching in classes. In addition, 16 teachers or 76,2% from 21 teachers still feel the advantages of online teaching during the post Covid-19 Pandemic. B. Platforms or applications that used in EFL online teaching Platforms/ applications Frequency Percentage Zoom 14 70% Google Applications 16 80% Microsoft Team 5 25% Moodle 4 20% Edmodo 1 5% WhatsApp 1 5% Telegram 1 5% Kahoot, 1 5% Quizizz 1 5% Table 2. Platforms/ applications that used by teachers in EFL online learning From this table, it is found that 80% teachers from 20 teachers who used online teaching during the post Covid-19 Pandemic, used Google application. Teachers used Google Meet, Google Classroom, Google Form, etc in online learning. There are 14 teachers or 70% teachers used Zoom, 5 teachers or 25% used Microsoft team, 4 teachers or 20% used Moodle, 1 teacher or 5% used Edmodo, Quizizz, WhatsApp, Kahoot, and Telegram in online learning. C. The challenges faced by teachers in EFL online learning during post Covid- 19 Pandemic The challenges Agree Neutral Disagree Frequ ency Percen tage Frequ ency Percen tage Frequ ency Percen tage Lack of computer and digital technology competency affects the EFL online process 19 95% 1 5% 0 0% Lack of time for online course design and online test preparation 19 95% 1 5% 0 0% ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 01, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 57 affects the EFL online learning process I got difficulty in following up the students' achievement in EFL online teaching 9 45% 6 30% 5 25% Students Online Learning Facilitation (internet connection, gadget specification) affects the EFL online learning 20 100% 0 0% 0 0% Students’ motivation affects additional EFL online learning process 19 95% 0 0% 1 5% Students’ interactions affect EFL online learning process 17 85% 2 10% 1 5% Table 3. The challenges faced by teachers in EFL online learning during post Covid-19 Pandemic As can be seen from table above, 19 participants or 95% agree that lack of computer and digital technology affects the EFL online learning process and only 1 participant is neutral about that. Then, 19 participants or 95% also agree that lack of time for online course design and online test preparation affects the EFL online learning process and 1 participant is also neutral about that statement. In addition, 9 participants or 45% state that they got difficulty in following up the students’ achievements in EFL online learning although there ae 6 participants or 30% neutral about that statement and 5 participants or 25% disagree with this statement. Furthermore, 19 participants or 95% agree that students’ motivation affects additional EFL online learning process in offline learning classes and only 1 participant does not agree about that statement. 17 participants or 85% agree that students’ interactions affect EFL online learning process although 2 participants is neutral and 1 participant disagree about the statement. ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 01, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 58 DISCUSSION Based on the data of table 1, there are three conclusion that can be resumed from it. First, almost all of participants (20 participants from 21 participants) started to do offline teaching and learning in September 2022. Then, 20 participants also agree that they need to teach online while they can teach offline in classes. In addition, 16 participants from 21 participants also argue that online teaching give advantages in their teaching. Online teaching offers flexible time and can be done everywhere while offline teaching give limitation in scope of time and place. Meanwhile, from the data of table 2, 80% teachers from 20 teachers tend to use Google application in their online teaching. Teachers used Google Meet, Google Classroom, Google Form, etc in online learning. Teachers show the lesson, share the materials and exercises then directly give explanation and make interaction with students during online learning using this application. Besides, there are many other platforms or applications that is be the favourites for teachers in online learning like Microsoft team, Zoom, Moodle, Edmodo, Quizizz, WhatsApp, Kahoot, and Telegram. There are 14 teachers or 70% teachers used Zoom to make interaction with students in online learning. 5 teachers or 25% used Microsoft team. 4 teachers or 20% used Moodle that has been provided by the school or campus. 1 teacher or 5% used Edmodo, Quizizz, WhatsApp, Kahoot, and Telegram in online learning. Other challenges related to the teachers that EFL teachers face in online learning are also shown in table 3 above. Firstly, the problem of student online learning facilitation like internet connection and gadget specification are encountered by 19 participants. It reveals that 95% teachers agree that internet connection and gadget specification affect online learning process. Teachers and students without reliable internet access or some from disadvantaged background lack high quality learning device, they often struggle to 80% 70% 25% 20% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% Platforms/applications that used by teachers in EFL online learning Google Apps Zoom Microsoft Teams Moodle Edmodo Whatsapp Kahoot Quizizz Telegram ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 01, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 59 participate in online course. Secondly, intrinsic motivation is a big issue, since students may have difficulty in seeing the relevance of learning English. 21 From the table, 19 participants or 95% agree with statement that students’ motivation affects EFL online learning process although 1 participant or 5% disagree with those statements. Then, the statement about “Students Interactions affects EFL online learning process”, 17 participants or 85% agree with that statement, 2 participants or 10% neutral, and 1 participant or 5% disagree with this statement. It means that students’ interaction also hinders the process of online learning for all EFL teachers, so even the when the teacher prepares a well-planned online leaning but cannot encourage interaction from learners, it is still not an effective and successful. 22 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION From the finding and discussion above, the teachers’ perception on EFL online learning in the post Covid-19 pandemic are teachers have been ready and need to teach in EFL online learning although they can teach offline in classes. In September 2022, most teachers start offline teaching although there are 1 teacher from participants who still teach online. Then, they tend to use Zoom and Google applications (Google Meet, Google Classroom, Google Form, etc) as platform or application in online learning. Meanwhile, some of them also use Microsoft Team and Moodle and only 1 teacher uses Edmodo, Quizizz, WhatsApp, Kahoot, and Telegram in online learning. In addition, most teacher agree that lack of computer and digital technology affects the EFL online learning process. Furthermore, they also go along with opinion that lack of time for online course design and online test preparation affects the EFL online learning process. REFERENCES Anh Tram, Huynh Thi. “EFL Teachers’ Perception on Challenges of Online Teaching During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study.” International Journal of Social Science and Human Research 04, no. 06 (June 30, 2021). https://doi.org/10.47191/ijsshr/v4-i6-42. Hermansyah, Hermansyah, and Aridah Aridah. “Teachers’ Perception toward the Challenges in Online English Teaching during Covid-19 Pandemic.” Indonesian Journal of EFL and Linguistics 6, no. 1 (May 19, 2021): 63. https://doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v6i1.342. Ishrath, Alisha, Mohammed Mazher Ahmed, Namarata Pal, and Siri Muppidi. “Covid-19 (Pandemic): A Review Article.” J Res Med Dent Sci. Vol. 2021, 2021. www.jrmds.in. Mohammed Nasser Hassan Ja’ashan, Mohammed. “The Challenges and 21 Anh Tram, “EFL Teachers’ Perception on Challenges of Online Teaching During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study.” 22 Anh Tram. ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 01, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 60 Prospects of Using E-Learning among EFL Students in Bisha University.” Arab World English Journal 11, no. 1 (March 15, 2020): 124–37. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol11no1.11. Nartiningrum, Novrika, and Arif Nugroho. “Online Learning amidst Global Pandemic: EFL Students’ Challenges, Suggestions, and Needed Materials.” ENGLISH FRANCA : Academic Journal of English Language and Education 4, no. 2 (November 13, 2020): 115. https://doi.org/10.29240/ef.v4i2.1494. Padmo, Dewi, Lidwina Sri Ardiasih, and Olivia Idrus. “Online Learning During the Covid-19 Pandemic and Its Effect on Future Education in Indonesia.” In The Impact Of COVID19 On The International Education System, 71–86. Proud Pen, 2020. https://doi.org/10.51432/978-1-8381524-0-6_5. Priyadarshani, H D C, and D Jesuiya. “Teacher’s Perception on Online Teaching Method during Covid-19: With Reference to School Level Teachers at Faculty of Education, The Open University of Sri Lanka.” Shanlax International Journal of Education 9, no. 2 (March 1, 2021): 132–40. https://doi.org/10.34293/education.v9i2.3662. Pustika, Reza. “Future English Teachers’ Perspective towards the Implementation of E-Learning in Covid-19 Pandemic Era.” Journal of English Language Teaching and Linguistics) e-ISSN. Vol. 5, 2020. www.jeltl.org. Rahayu, Retno Puji, and Yanty Wirza. “Teachers’ Perception of Online Learning during Pandemic Covid-19.” Jurnal Penelitian Pendidikan 20 (2020): 392–406. Shambour, Mohd Khaled Yousef, and Muhannad A. Abu-Hashem. “Analysing Lecturers’ Perceptions on Traditional vs. Distance Learning: A Conceptual Study of Emergency Transferring to Distance Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic.” Education and Information Technologies, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10719-5. Zein, Subhan. “English, Multilingualism and Globalisation in Indonesia.” English Today 35, no. 1 (2019): 48–53. https://doi.org/10.1017/S026607841800010X.