Remote learning during COVID-19: cognitive appraisals and perceptions of english medium of instruction (EMI) students

Many countries responded to the Covid-19 pandemic by transforming all face-to-face (F2F) courses to emergency remote teaching with a sudden decision. This rapid shift was unexpected and staggering for the university students. The purpose of the present study is to explore how students studying in English Medium Instructed (EMI) programs cognitively appraised the transformation from F2F to online learning, and to examine if there is any relation between perceived self-efficacy in academic second language (L2) use, quality of interaction, and course satisfaction. Using an online survey, data was collected from a total of 306 graduate and undergraduate students studying in different universities in Turkey. The study found that the majority of the students appraised the transformation as a threat. The students’ cognitive appraisals and perceived level of interactional quality, and satisfaction negatively correlated. There was a strong positive correlation between the perceived level of interactional quality and satisfaction. Observed gender, major and year level differences are also reported. The findings have significant implications for decision makers and instructors. Universities are likely to continue remote teaching for a while, thus institutions need to capture how students are affected by the remote learning experience to envisage short and long-term scenarios, and to optimize the quality of their services accordingly.