Comparative analysis of pedagogical approaches in english language teaching: Pre-Covid vs. Covid Era in Kerala

Investigated the effects on pedagogical practice by repurposing and modifying free educational materials for use in the instruction of foreign languages (including English). Results from the poll of educators have informed the development of a five-stage process for repurposing OERs. Most students recognise that the biggest challenge of studying English remotely is the absence of interaction with the instructor. It also turned out to be more difficult than the conventional method to study English over distance. Online education has recently benefited greatly from technological advancements, particularly in hitherto uncontrollable subject areas. It should be noted, nevertheless, that students with more familiarity with distant learning tools tend to feel more comfortable and less disappointed during class. The notion of learning, as well as ways of acquiring and assimilating knowledge, are profoundly impacted by distance education. According to Liu (2011), training is unaffected by student gender or classroom style, but is heavily influenced by learning desire, student status, and instructor academic title. It should be noted that a large number of research compare the efficacy of in-person and online learning. Regardless, there is a wide range of outcomes from the studies. Although some writers have drawn strong findings on the enormous potential of online education, other academics have shown that it is very ineffective, if not completely useless. For instance, Tucker (2000) found no statistically significant differences in the learning results of many groups of students who received instruction either remotely or in-person. Makes the case that distant learning becomes more efficient with time. The widespread availability of technical help and the lightning-fast advancement of current technology may have prompted such discoveries. Research by Bender et al. (2004) shows that compared to traditional classroom instruction, distant learning saves a lot of time. The time commitment of teaching remotely may seem more than that in a more conventional classroom setting if instructors are required to keep track of how much time they spend with each student.

Businesses and other activities have been compelled to close as a result of the lockdown imposed by the epidemic. Because learning must have looked insurmountable without direct one-on-one contact between instructor and student, it also had an impact on the field of education. Learning, particularly the acquisition of a new language, relies on the active engagement of both students and instructors, as pointed out by Rido and Sari (2018). Nevertheless, e-learning has been mandated for everyone due to the shutdown. The term "online learning" (Fry, 2001) describes the process of acquiring knowledge via the use of the internet and related technologies. There are two distinct varieties of this model: synchronous online learning and asynchronous online learning. Each of these may only be used to the extent that the institution and its teachers are competent, efficient, and effective. Online, distant, e-learning, or flexible learning has replaced traditional classroom instruction because of the COVID-19 lockout. Online education has also become more common in Asian schools, especially in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Institutes that attempted to maintain language physical education programmes were also forced to close as a result of the rapid spread of the disease. Institutions in Saudi Arabia have been compelled to embrace virtual language instruction due to the epidemic, despite the fact that it is difficult to teach any language in this way (Almekhlafy, 2020). Therefore, e-learning has become the new rule in Saudi Arabia and other Asian countries, and technology has come to represent both a dire need and a ray of hope for the future of education. Children today are digital natives, and although technology has made many things easier for people, it has also made many things more difficult, most notably schooling.

Abdullah Saykili et.al (2024) Modern educators have a responsibility to devise fresh strategies for implementing cutting-edge technological developments in the classroom, such as AI, MOOCs (massive open online courses), LMSs (sophisticated learning management systems), and ORE (open educational resources). The demands placed on educators by both technology advancements and global crises have prompted a reassessment of the techno-pedagogical competencies they are expected to possess. That is why providing teachers with consistent opportunities for professional growth is more crucial than ever. With a particular emphasis on second and foreign language instruction, this chapter examines the skills and knowledge that educators, in the face of global crises and changing social and technical paradigms, must cultivate to effectively teach in the modern digital era. Also covered in this chapter are the fundamentals of good professional development for teachers and an examination of massive open online courses (MOOCs) as a potentially game-changing tool for long-term, scalable professional development for educators.

Pravat Kumar Jena (2020) According to the COVID-19 pandemic report, people should stay away from each other. It has forced individuals to stay inside, which may cause emotional stress. In this way, online education may play a significant role in keeping people occupied and alleviating mental tension. In this epidemic, online education is the way to go. Because virtual classrooms provide teachers with all the resources they need to teach online, even from the comfort of their own homes, students benefit just as much as in-person lessons. A pandemic may disrupt the teaching-learning process by keeping students home for extended periods of time. The paper highlights the advantages of online learning in times of crisis, such as job absenteeism or pandemics. In light of this, we will focus on a few strategies and resources for online education that can guarantee learning completion. New initiatives by the Indian government to support distance education are detailed here. An examination of the benefits and drawbacks of online learning platforms is also included. During the lockout, views on the online learning system from both instructors and students are highlighted.

Aboobacker Mohammed Raf et.al (2020) All schools in Kerala, India, including medical schools, were ordered to shut in the second week of March 2020 because of the COVID-19 epidemic. As early as the third week of March, this university began offering courses online using a variety of web-based mediums. After 2.5 months of online courses, we surveyed undergraduates to find out their thoughts and feelings about the experience. There were 364 students that took part in the research and replied within a week. Google Classroom and YouTube were the most popular tools among teachers. The Impartus platform was used by the Physiology department. Of those who took the survey, 72.8% used mobile data and 17.8% made use of broadband. Jio was the most popular network provider. Three distinct web-based mediums were exclusively presented to first-year students. More over two-thirds of those students (63.6%) said they preferred Impartus over YouTube and Google Classroom. The majority of students, 69.2%, favoured recorded lessons over live ones, while 33.5% favoured the latter. Email submissions to the department (17%), the faculty (13.5%), or the online platform itself accounted for the majority of submissions (69.5%). Of the students surveyed, 47% preferred lessons lasting 30–45 minutes, while 42% said classes should be shorter, lasting less than 30 minutes. A mere 28.3% of students were in favour of the university's centralised online class. Discontinuing student education will not be sustainable in the long run. In this research, students successfully complete the Didactic component of their online courses. Even in the midst of a disaster, medical educators might step up and keep teaching.

Vaibhav Verma et.al (2022) An unfortunate epidemic occurred at the same time as the shift in the teaching-learning process. In the midst of a countrywide lockdown, India's educational system had to make the transition from classroom instruction to online learning. This study seeks to gather information from students and teachers in both urban and rural areas in order to draw conclusions about the following: the digital technologies that were commonly used, the difficulties that were encountered, the pros and cons of this method, the efficacy of digital learning and teaching, the preferred methods of digital learning and teaching, and the future possibilities of digital learning based on the experiences of digital teaching and learning during the COVID-19 era. For this, data was gathered twice, with a ten-month gap between each survey: in 2020 in August and again in 2021 in June. Its future potential and the possibilities it creates are also its primary concerns. A shift in the proportion of practical issues experienced by both students and educators as a result of digital teaching-learning is also shown in this research.

Anne Pathiranage et.al (2023) Nowadays, technology is an integral part of education and poses a threat to more traditional methods of instruction. The epidemic prompted a dramatic change in educational philosophy, moving away from more conventional approaches and towards online resources. Teachers in the modern day are increasingly defined by their proficiency with technology, since this field's responsibilities have grown at a rate no one had foreseen. In order to improve education and facilitate the development and administration of learning environments that make use of technology, it was imperative that educators had strong digital literacy skills. This paper methodically examines 59 research articles searched in EBSCO discovery services, covering 80 different databases in the default search, to learn how literature contributes to our knowledge of teachers' perceptions of digital literacy in education. Teachers are significant stakeholders in this investigation. The study is focused upon the ways in which instructors utilise technology, the obstacles they face, and the expectations they have for effective technology integration. The results showed that the experience after the lockdown was at odds with the objectives for integrating technology into schooling before to the pandemic. Despite instructors' comfort with basic tech, several have noted a gap between tech and pedagogy, highlighting the need of digital literacy. Lack of understanding, inaccessibility, expense, infrastructure, time, workload, and fear of technology are some of the reasons why teachers find it difficult to integrate technology into their lessons. Thus, educators look to institutions to help them define their position in a technology-integrated learning environment and integrate technology so that students may overcome obstacles.

New opportunities for virtual communication exchanges among the teaching force have emerged with the advent of the world wide web (www). Social networking had broadened its boundaries among educators in this situation, thanks to the backing of Web 2.0 resources. These tools made it possible for people to connect in novel ways via social internet networks, transcending physical distance and time. Teachers, like everyone else, have been making good use of social media. It encompasses personal, professional, and educational social media networks. Below, we will go over research in all these domains, with an emphasis on the field of education.

Over the last ten years, a number of studies have investigated the potential educational applications of social networking sites. Selwyn (2007) attempted to research Facebook's educational application in his paper "Screw Blackboard... do it on Facebook!", which investigated students' use of Facebook for educational purposes. Based on the study's findings, university authorities and educators would be better off letting Facebook continue unchecked and firmly "backstage" than trying to use it for educationally "appropriate" or valid purposes or regulating students' use through coercion or surveillance.

According to Anita, A. (2013), who conducted research on "A study of the perceived influence of internet use on social competence, emotional maturity, and general well-being of adolescents," there is another perspective. This study set out to compare how often teenagers from diverse residential circumstances, genders, academic streams, and internet connection levels felt the internet impacted their emotional maturity, social competence, and overall health.

"Impact of social network sites on perception of sociability and academic performance of college students in Bangalore city" is the title of Prasad's (2015) empirical doctoral research into the effects of social media on urban youth's perceptions and academic performance in pre-university settings. The study concluded that the topic is relevant to society today and has practical applications. This article offered empirical insights on the ways in which people's identities and beliefs are shaped by the ties that link them to institutions, particularly among today's young.

"A Survey of K-12 Educators on Social Networking and Content-Sharing Tools" (2009), "K-12 Educators' Usage and Attitudes" (2010), and "School Principals and Social Networking in Education: Practices, Policies, and Realities" (2010) are just a few of the research reports prepared by the social networking website edWeb.net. According to these studies, millions of individuals are using social media and other content-sharing technologies for both personal and professional usage, including in the classroom. Educators are no exception. An overwhelming majority of educators (61%) have joined at least one social network, and those teachers participate in more online activities than their counterparts who have not. Educators who are active on social media are more likely to see the educational benefits of this technology than their non-active counterparts. Nonetheless, they would want the option to keep their work and home lives apart.

Prior to the global pandemic, a plethora of research showed that educators throughout the globe made minimal use of online tools and applications to improve the teaching and learning process. These studies mostly focused on secondary and higher education. While smart boards and animated films were well-received in primary school, students seldom made use of other digital resource.

While the world came to a halt because to the great COVID-19 epidemic, education continued unabated at all levels because of online instruction made possible by applications and social media sites. Students as young as preschoolers were required to use electronic devices like as laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc. for their education. This new normal has to be accepted by everyone. The effectiveness, difficulties, and reactions of many stakeholders to this teaching-learning process were the subjects of several investigations. The paragraphs that follow will focus on a few of notable research.

In his paper titled "Impact of Pandemic COVID-19 on Education in India," Jena (2020), Assistant Regional Director, IGNOU, brought attention to the steps made by the Indian government to provide access to education nationwide. He went into detail on the good and bad effects of COVID-19 and offered ideas for educational events to have in the midst of the epidemic.

According to Saxena's (2020) research titled "Coronavirus accelerates the pace of Digital Education in India," professors in India have been quick on their feet to change the way they teach by ditching traditional classroom methods in favour of online resources that foster student engagement and collaboration. With schools and colleges down in an effort to contain the epidemic, many teachers have resorted to teaching from home. In India, Zoom has surpassed all of its competitors, including Google Hangouts, Skype, Adobe Connect, and others. Zoom has surpassed Instagram, WhatsApp, and TikTok to become the most popular app on Google Play.

Online learning is emphasised in Dhawan's (2020) research study "Online Learning: A Panacea in the Time of COVID-19 Crisis," which also contains a SWOC analysis of e-learning modalities during this crisis, including their advantages, disadvantages, possibilities, and threats. In addition, her study delves into the expansion of EdTech startups in the aftermath of pandemics and other natural catastrophes. In it, we find recommendations for schools on how to handle the difficulties of online education.

Is it Necessary to Provide Emergency Remote Teaching Training to Teachers? The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Lessons From April 4th, 2020, to May 10th, 2020, 325 K-12 educators from Massachusetts, US, participated in an online survey that the researchers used to gather information on their experiences with the issue. Their first findings from the poll are detailed in this article, along with suggestions on how to better equip and assist teachers to teach remotely during emergencies.

Using qualitative methods, the study delves further into the evolution of ELT approaches in Kerala throughout the epidemic. Innovations and adjustments in education before and during the epidemic are the focus of this research. Five papers selected at random from Google Scholar's publication dates of 2021 and 2023 were used for this. The methods used to teach English before and during the epidemic were closely related to these topics. Academic merit, breadth of coverage, and applicability to the research questions were the determinants of article ranking. Careful reading of the papers followed this assessment. Prior to delving into the impact of the pandemic on language instruction, it was crucial to conduct a thorough literature research to provide the groundwork for comprehending the changes in ELT approaches on a global and local level.

The research carried out in-depth interviews with 10 English instructors, chosen to represent different educational institutions throughout Pakistan, to build upon the insights obtained from the literature analysis and perform a more personalised and extensive examination. These interviews were designed to delve into the instructors' day-to-day interactions, changes in pedagogical delivery, and obstacles as they transitioned from face-to-face to ELT methods impacted by the epidemic. I was able to accomplish my second research goal by collecting useful qualitative data through semi-structured interviews about technology adoption, online vs. in-class interaction, online discussions, and multi-faceted pedagogical approaches. Drawing on data collected from interviews with educators and a survey of relevant literature, this study examined how the COVID-19 epidemic affected English language teaching (ELT) in Pakistan, illuminating the resourcefulness and determination of educators in the face of adversity. After the interview, the educators gathered quantitative data on the before and post-coronavirus pedagogical practices in Kerala.

After careful consideration, the researcher chose five study publications to undergo a comprehensive examination. What follows is a qualitative overview of the findings from the analysis:

Results of Quantitative Data

The researcher discovered eight ELT approaches after completing the interviews. After that, the researcher developed a survey to gather information on ELT techniques' use before to, during, and after the COVID-19 epidemic. Ten teachers who were already part of the study filled out this survey as well. The findings are shown in the table below, based on that data.

Table 1: Evolution of ELT methods used in Kerala before and during/post-COVID-19

Table 1 is a summary of the quantitative data received from 10 instructors about the shift in ELT techniques in Kerala before, during, and after COVID-19. With a decline in usage percentages during and after the COVID-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic times, the results demonstrate a significant departure from the conventional teaching methods, which include classroom instruction, interactive language games, and group discussions, in favour of a hybrid blended learning model. Asynchronous learning, on the other hand, has advanced significantly. The shift to online and distant education began following COVID-19, and with it came the widespread usage of virtual classrooms, taped lectures, and multimedia tools. This change is in line with the current situation of quickly using technology to assist with language instruction in the midst of the worldwide pandemic crisis. These findings demonstrate that English as a Second Language (ESL) is dynamic and call attention to the fact that educators must constantly evolve to meet the challenges posed by evolving pedagogical landscapes.

Chart 1: Percentage of the Usage of ELT Methods Before and After Covid-19 Pandemic

Above, you can see Chart 1, which shows the proportion of techniques used to teach English before and after the COVID. The transition to online classrooms has increased student demand for education, which in turn has lowered the use of conventional classroom methods from 70% to 30% as a result of the pandemic's impact. Given that in-person instruction may serve as a classroom setting, this section demonstrates that we have successfully reduced the usage of this approach for instructing over 40% of instructors in this category. Because online instruction was a top priority during the COVID epidemic, 70% of all classes now take place in virtual environments. Kerala also makes use of the other approaches. The proportion of time before the epidemic is shown by the blue stack, while the proportion of time following the pandemic is shown by the orange piles.

This study aims to examine how the COVID-19 outbreak affected English language instruction. It was obvious that there had been a sea shift in the way people learned. Due to this unexpected need, traditional in-person instruction gave way to online and distant learning strategies. Because of the epidemic, things changed, and educators were inspired to find new methods to use technology and pedagogy to keep students' language skills up to date. It is evident from this research that the pandemic has caused a shakeup in the status quo, but it has also given us the opportunity to adapt and improve ELT methods. These practices are now tailored to fit the changing demands of learners and the unpredictable nature of life. The study's results suggest that many educators in Kerala have shown remarkable flexibility, ingenuity, and resilience in the face of constant change, as they analysed ELT modifications and innovations after the COVID-19 epidemic. In light of the fact that the post-COVID-19 educational environment is constantly changing and presents both possibilities and difficulties to educators, this research provides valuable insights that may be used to shape future initiatives aimed at improving language instruction in Kerala and beyond.