Factors Affecting Students’ Motivation and Engagement in EFL Online Classes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought changes around the world, especially in the education field where classes were shifted to only distance learning. This radical transformation could have affected students’ level of engagement and motivation; therefore, it might also have had some influence on their performance. This study correlates English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ perceptions of their level of engagement and motivation in virtual environments with factors such as schedule, gender, and the discipline area they are studying. A two-part-survey was used. The first part includes demographic information and the second one 22 close-ended questions. It was completed by 703 EFL students in the Language Department of the University of Cuenca, Ecuador. The results revealed an important level of engagement in these students. Students’ goals and reasons for learning the language need to be considered as an opportunity to provide their teachers with some information to enhance students’ language competence, generate strategies for language learning, and promote significant learning experiences. Research is recommended to discover teachers’ views and opinions on different aspects involved in online classes and use this information to design and implement more active, engaging, and effective lessons. These specific findings can be used to improve and implement effective methodologies that can lead to better practices, not only for EFL teachers, but also for EFL students.