Online English courses during Covid-19: a qualitative study of exploring rural students’ struggle in online learning

Abstract

This study aims to explore various barriers encountered by the tertiary level students in attending online ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. During this pandemic like many other students tertiary level students, especially students from small town and rural areas, are also attending online classes. This study, qualitative in nature, explores numerous barriers these students faced in attending online classes. Students from rural and small town often find it difficult to compete with the students from urban areas as students from urban areas enjoy various facilities. During this pandemic this situation becomes worse as rural students and students from small town are struggling to attend online classes for various reasons. However, in this study I focus only on the difficulties students from rural and small town faced in

attending online ESL classes. Data has been collected through online interviews due to Covid- 19 pandemic as it was not possible to arrange face to face interviews. The findings of this

research reveal numerous barriers students face in attending online classes. This include lack of resources, difficulty in communicating with teachers, getting necessary feedback, poor internet connection and psychological pressure in attending courses. At the end, few recommendations have been proposed to overcome the problems.