Arab Educational Information Network

The researchers investigated the advantages and disadvantages of the sudden shift to e-learning from the perspectives of Saudi EFL students during COVID-19. That shift was the only learning option for a long time to come after the existence of new variants of the virus. Studying students’ perspectives during the pandemic was important to display how they took responsibility for their learning, interact with the teachers, and collaborate. The researchers performed this study to describe: (a) EFL students’ perspectives on e-learning, (b) advantages of e-learning for EFL, and (c) disadvantages of e-learning for EFL in Saudi Arabia during Coronavirus variants. A self-devised questionnaire and individual interviews were administered virtually during COVID-19 with male EFL students while they were studying an integrated-skills English course as an intermediate-level course in the PYP of a Saudi university. Using the Constant Comparative Method to analyze the qualitative data resulted in eight benefits and four drawbacks of e-learning for the Saudi EFL context. Most students viewed that e-learning and Social Media as supporting platforms of their learning while a few of them did not think favorably of e-learning. Recommendations were offered to enhance the benefits and decrease the drawbacks. (Published abstract)