Strategies and Approaches to Teaching English as a Foreign Language Online: Students’ Perceptions and Satisfaction.

The COVID-19 outbreak was a turning point in the history of education that permanently altered the public’s perspectives regarding learning online. Since that time, the popularity of teaching English as a Foreign Language virtually has increased and emerged as an attractive, innovative, and continuously shifting area of language education. The aim of this thesis is to research the strategies, approaches, and digital tools that can be effectively implemented in online EFL classrooms. The emphasis is on investigating students’ perceptions and levels of satisfaction with the online language learning experience in the context of language acquisition, enjoyment, and motivation factors. The first chapter begins with a brief overview of the crucial definitions and types of online courses. It also compares online and face-to-face learning and outlines the benefits and challenges that students may encounter when learning English online. Further on, the chapter discusses the role of the teacher in the process of developing foreign language skills online and covers possible assessment techniques and motivation components. Lastly, some specific activities and techniques to teach language skills online are described, and digital tools and resources are evaluated. The second chapter delineates some common methods and approaches that can be applied in an English language online classroom, focusing on its main features and benefits. Among others, techniques such as TPR, CLIL, and mind mapping are presented. The third chapter illustrates the research study designed and conducted by the author. It demonstrates the results of a questionnaire conducted among a group of students who have learned English either privately or through an educational platform online. The main purpose of the questionnaire is to measure students’ satisfaction with their online language learning experience in terms of language acquisition, enjoyment, and motivation factors and to find out which methods and resources they consider interesting or effective.