Remote learning on EFL reading classes during the pandemic stage: Students’ perception

In March–April 2020, the declaration of an epidemic emergency had a major influence on the psychological well-being of university students, with degrees of despair, worry, and increase stress levels. Since wide cognitive progressions are involved, in addition to the typical arrangements and procedures that are definitely elaborate in reading, it seems obvious that incorporating psychological topographies into teaching reading could give some advantages to the students, regardless of whether previous studies found that it was less effective. The aims of this research are to discover more about EFL students’ perspectives on remote learning during the contagion stage and what challenges EFL students have in reading class during remote learning. Researchers conducted a survey in the English Education program, on Academic Reading classes at an Islamic university in Bogor, Indonesia, using a descriptive-qualitative approach. Lasted four months between March and July 2021, seventy participants from three classes were involved in the study. The result of the research reveals that mostly the participants had no foremost issues during online learning because they were able to familiarize themselves with the environment and the strategy used was one, they were familiar with. Learning remotely made them also become more motivated since they required more control over what and when they read and could personalize their reading to their schedule. The challenges they experienced were mostly related to the internet connection and the delays with which they were able to access the materials. Furthermore, they occasionally encountered difficulties with the materials, which they found difficult to comprehend. Since they couldn’t discuss or ask questions with friends and lecturers, a couple of them became a bit stressed. Because reading entails a supplementary complex system of psychological mechanisms, including attitude, a respondent with a good attitude will attempt to create the best of the circumstances and create a compromise. This research aimed to provide a significant contribution to the use of remote learning during the pandemic, particularly in Reading for Academic Classes, and to learn more about the students’ challenges with distant learning in Reading for Academic classes.