Research Article

The Challenges of Teaching English during the Outbreak of COVID-19

Dušica Karimanović
School for the Deaf “Miodrag V. Matić, Serbia
* Corresponding author
DOI icon 10.24018/ejedu.2021.2.5.172

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Submitted 2021-09-09
Published 2021-10-04

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Article Main Content

Coping with the new “normalities” itself was difficult a task to undergo, let alone creating a positive-enforced surrounding for young minds to flourish and develop. Teaching as a profession has gone through so many changes in such a short time that it is almost impossible to tackle all of them in one article. Be that as it may, the following one represents both a recollection of challenges that teaching English had to face and a collection of practices that might be of use to all of the teachers trying to teach English in versatile environments. We will discuss the differences of teaching English online in primary schools in towns, villages as well as schools for the disabled. Furthermore, we will take a look at the accessibility of tools, networks, equipment and competence of using it in each environment separately. Finally, we will state the benefits and drawbacks of teaching English online in these environments and state the examples of good practices and language skills that can be improved in all the target groups mentioned. This article does not offer a solution to the problems of teaching English in a challenging environment, but it could be a stepping stone to implementing some vital changes to a school curriculum and adapting them to the needs of an individual learner.

Keywords: COVID-19, foreign language, remote learning, teaching English online

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