Problems faced by English language instructors while teaching English online during the COVID-19 pandemic

With the unexpected Covid -19 Pandemic, the educational institutions shut down and started distance education without any preparation made previously. Like many teachers, English language instructors also had difficulties while teaching online. The aim of this study was to explore the problems faced by English language instructors while teaching English online during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study was conducted in three universities in Ankara. Data were collected in 2020-2021 spring term. An online questionnaire was prepared by the researcher. The data were examined through SPSS. It was concluded from the findings that there were some problems, such as lack of standardization and lack of student-teacher interaction. Moreover, other results showed that the videoconferencing systems used were not suitable for activities and tasks. Online class management was difficult. Students could not ask questions easily in an online lesson. Trainings about technical issues were missing. The student-teacher interaction did not affect students or instructors positively. Instructors thought that online lessons did not attract students more than traditional face-to-face lessons due to lack of interest and motivation.