An Insight into Online Foreign Language Learning and Teaching in the Era of COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed and transformed the traditional educational setting. Both teaching and learning have been transformed to online settings at all educational levels. The purpose of this article is to discuss students’ perception of and attitudes to online foreign language learning in the COVID-19 pandemic at the Faculty of Informatics and Management of the University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. The key method was a questionnaire survey, which was conducted among the third-year distant students. The results, based on five constructs/variables, i.e. language skills, learning materials, students’ motivation to study online, preparedness for online teaching and learning, and effectiveness of foreign online teaching, reveal that students do not feel that they have improved their language skills by studying purely online. The results also demonstrate students’ preference for printed materials because they are more suitable for taking notes and retaining new words and phrases, especially when students can highlight them. In addition, the findings confirm that both teachers and students are well prepared for performing their online instruction. Although students feel motivated to study online, these students experience social distance as those who are not stimulated to learn online. Moreover, the results confirm that students consider the online language classes effective, but face-to-face classes cannot be replaced. In this respect teacher’s role is irreplaceable. Therefore, educational institutions should invest in supporting them technically, mentally, as well as financially, in this difficult period in order to ensure and provide quality teaching for future generations.