Adapting approaches and methods to teaching English online theory and practice

The COVID-19 pandemic has struck the world and caused serious disruption in education. Lockdown and social distancing measures have prompted a paradigm shift in delivering education, resulting in online teaching which per se has replaced face-to-face teaching. In this, language teaching has been no exception and has undergone the same radical shift. Online language instruction is totally different from onsite language instruction and requires special care and attention from those involved. Language teachers, for example, who have been overwhelmed by the abrupt shift to online instruction, need to familiarize themselves with online teaching platforms, their features, requirements, accessible tools, and efficient approaches and methods. In response to these urgent issues, Dionysios I. Psoinos puts forth a framework for synchronous and asynchronous online language teaching. More specifically, adopting a critical top-down approach to examing online language teaching, Psoinos, in Adapting Approaches and Methods to Teaching English Online Theory and Practice, elaborates on the key properties of online language teaching environments, their affordances and limitations, evaluates online applications of well-established language teaching theories and methods that have been widely in use in the onsite classroom and proposes an eclectic approach to selecting methods that meet the needs and challenges of online language teaching. Considering its online class samples and specific language activities, the book enables language teachers to adapt already existing approaches and methods to online language teaching. In this sense, although the book aims to address novice or experienced online language teachers directly, it offers implications for curriculum developers, learners, and policymakers as well.

Structurally, the book consists of four chapters, besides its introduction and conclusion. The introduction presents the problem, which is the partial integration of new technology into language teaching programs.

Chapter 1, entitled ‘Modes, Media and the Online Teaching Space’, sets the scene for online language teaching and learning. It familiarizes readers with the key terminology discussed in online language teaching and learning, introduces the variables involved, and critically examines the pedagogical value of online tools. The chapter discusses the pedagogical significance of the tools online learning platforms offer, including cameras/microphones, chatboxes, screen sharing, polls, breakout groups, annotation tools, hand raising, resource sharing, session recording, forums, virtual background options, and wikis. What seems important here is that for most of these tools only affordances are discussed. Each tool may have both merits and demerits. Hence, introducing misaffordances of online tools would also be inspiring for novice teachers. Later in this chapter, Psoinos presents the practical problems of online teaching within five categories (online classroom etiquette and protection of privacy, motivation, distractions, academic integrity and reliability of assessment, and technical problems) and suggests the ways to resolve them. Introducing these problems, along with their solutions, is very helpful to novice online teachers.

Chapter 2, entitled ‘Beyond the Online Teaching and Learning Platform’, focuses on the roles teachers and learners have to take in online classes which shape new identities for them, different to those identities shaped in physical teaching. Such roles require a set of skills for the online teacher, including flexibility, patience, persistence, technical expertise, digital media manipulation, broadcast media awareness, multi-tasking, and time management.

Chapter 3, entitled ‘Online Language Teaching Pedagogy’, broadly addresses the question of how learners learn languages better online. In this regard, the main theories that have a bearing on online language teaching and learning are succinctly presented. For each theory, online teaching practices and tools that reflect its principles are also highlighted. Next, it gives a summary of the main features of the established approaches and methods in TESOL and tests each of them with an online sample class to suggest a combination of good practices and techniques. As the samples come from digitalized classes and activities, synchronous, asynchronous, and blended teachers may find them informative and useful, especially in dealing with different age groups ranging from young learners to adults. More importantly, the samples present a description of how the approach/method is practiced online, thereby illustrating how teachers who still believe in the usefulness of these approaches/methods find them valuable. But what is important to note is that these are just examples. What is missing here is to test the pedagogical value and effectiveness of these approaches/methods in online classes based on research findings. Research studies could evaluate the application of these approaches/methods based on students’ performance or from the perspective of teachers and learners, to shed light on their merits and demerits in online language teaching and learning. If proved ineffective, this could logically lead to the adoption of an eclectic approach to online language teaching which Psoinos discusses next in this chapter. It is important to note that these features have not been put to test in empirical research to see if they have real merits in online language teaching settings. More importantly, although the model is referred to as ‘a dynamic, flexible, adaptable, personalized, and eclectic framework comprised of pedagogically sound and generally accepted teaching practices’ (p. 90), its effectiveness, as it is a combination of different features of diverse approaches/methods, is also a subject which needs to be investigated through empirical research. Yet, what is important about this model is that it reflects the personal preferences and assumptions of the author about professional identity and the nature of online language teaching. In other words, it is subject to change if proved ineffective for other online language teachers, as the author acknowledges. Hence, Psoinos offers some dimensions for online language teachers to come up with their own personalized e-clectic approach. In this sense, the term ‘e-clecticisms’ in the plural is useful, as it reflects the many variations and manifestations of online language teaching and learning.

Chapter 4, entitled ‘Theory and Practice’, brings together the previous chapters and demonstrates e-clecticism in practice by examining the use of online tools. Eleven specific examples of online language activities, ranging from beginner level to advanced, are provided and examined in terms of theoretical and methodological assumptions. Due to the importance of the screen as the online teaching setting, each example is analyzed in terms of screen layout and the philosophical and methodological assumptions it reflects. The activities are also accompanied by screenshots from online session interfaces which teachers may find very beneficial. Next, Psoinos analyzes the activities’ potential for online adaptation to offer ideas for different e-clectic approaches to online language teaching and learning. The activities seem to have been offered haphazardly without any organization in terms of skills, components, oral/written language, etc. More importantly, empirical investigations are missing for each activity. Reporting the results of empirical investigations regarding the effectiveness of these activities in online class settings would add to the value of this chapter. The book concludes by briefly arguing in favor of an updated, flexible yet intentional e-clectic approach to online language teaching that suits teachers’ and learners’ objectives, tools, affordances, and limitations in the online teaching context.

Overall, it appears that the book should also other aspects that relate to online language teaching, such as online adaptability struggle and skepticism, virtual engagement and motivation, diminished social interaction, time and class management, and boredom (e.g., Derakhshan et al., 2021). Also, the possible problems that might occur during online language teaching regarding different language skills, components, and class management seem important factors that would appeal to the readers. Moreover, the nature of the role of teacher-student interactions and the relevant interpersonal factors in online vs. face-to-face teaching merits consideration (e.g., Xie and Derakhshan, 2021). Most importantly, what is missing is the role of emotions, both positive and negative, in online language teaching. Affective factors serve as a filter for language learning and affect cognition (Schumann, 1994). Hence, considering them in online lanaguge teaching where, due to reduced social contact between the teacher and the learner, both have elevated affective filters, is necessary. Though the book is flawed in that it lacks the necessary empirical investigations to support the proposed model of e-clecticism, its thorough coverage with comparisons between online and onsite language teaching settings in terms of theory and practice stimulates diverse ideas and makes it an invaluable resource and impetus for further research in online curriculum development, language teaching, and learning.