Experiences, Causes, and Solutions for Injustice in Covid-19 Online Classes: Evidence from University EFL Students in Iran

Article Sidebar

PDF
Published: Jul 12, 2022
Keywords:
classroom justice Covid-19 pandemic online EFL classes injustice experiences student perspectives

Main Article Content

Masoomeh Estaji
Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
Kiyana Zhaleh
Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Although the investigation of justice has gained momentum in in-person, traditional classes during the last two decades, not much is known about this phenomenon and its violation (known as injustice) during Covid-19 imposed online classes. To address this gap, university students’ experiences of injustice during online classes were examined, and the perspectives of 91 Iranian EFL students were explored. The data were collected by employing an open-ended questionnaire and subsequently content analyzed via MAXQDA (Version 2020) to extract the themes and subthemes on the questions under study. Results uncovered that (1) the majority of the students had experienced injustice during their online EFL classes; (2) online-, teacher-, and class-related factors were the leading causes of injustice; and (3) the suggested solutions to mitigate the experience of injustice revolved around improving teacher-student interpersonal relationships, teaching practice quality, online teaching literacy, and online-related factors, and creating an enjoyable learning environment. The findings are discussed with the prospect of developing the practices of university EFL teachers and teacher educators to enhance EFL students’ experiences of online language learning during and beyond the Covid-19 outbreak.

Article Details

How to Cite
Estaji, M., & Zhaleh, K. (2022). Experiences, Causes, and Solutions for Injustice in Covid-19 Online Classes: Evidence from University EFL Students in Iran. LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, 15(2), 436–467. Retrieved from https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/LEARN/article/view/259936
Issue
Vol. 15 No. 2 (2022): LEARN Journal (July-December)
Section
Research Articles
Author Biographies

Masoomeh Estaji, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

An Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at Allameh Tabataba’i University. She has presented and published numerous papers in Educational Assessment, Language Learning in Higher Education, Reading Psychology, English as an International Language, The Asian ESP, Asia TEFL, and Classroom Interaction. Her research interests include language testing and assessment, ESP, and teacher education.

Kiyana Zhaleh, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

A university lecturer (PhD, Allameh Tabataba’i University) in Iran for the past three years. She has published papers in System, Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, TESL-EJ, Current Psychology, Language Related Research, Polish Psychological Bulletin, and Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics. Her research interests lie mainly in the areas of Teacher Education, Instructional Communication, and Social Psychology of Justice.

References

Adams, J. S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (p. 267–299). Academic Press.

https://doi.org/10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60108-2

Baralt, M. (2012). Coding qualitative data. In A. Mackey, & S. M. Gass (Eds.), Research methods in second language acquisition (pp. 222–244). Blackwell.

Bies, R. J., & Moag, J. F. (1986). Interactional justice: Communication criteria of fairness. In R. J. Lewicki, B. H. Sheppard, & M. H. Bazerman (Eds.), Research on negotiation in organizations (Vol. 1, pp. 43–55). JAI Press.

Chory, R. M. (2007). Enhancing student perceptions of fairness: The relationship between instructor credibility and classroom justice. Communication Education, 56(1), 89–105.

https://doi.org/10.1080/03634520600994300

Chory, R. M., Horan, S. M., & Houser, M. L. (2017). Justice in the higher education classroom: Students’ perceptions of unfairness and responses to instructors. Innovative Higher Education, 42(4), 321–336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-017-9388-9

Chory, R. M., Horan, S. M., Carton, S., & Houser, M. L. (2014). Toward a further understanding of students’ emotional responses to classroom injustice. Communication Education, 63(1), 41–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2013.837496

Chory-Assad, R. M., & Paulsel, M. L. (2004). Classroom justice: Student aggression and resistance as reactions to perceived unfairness. Communication Education, 53(3), 253–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/0363452042000265189

Čiuladienė, G., & Račelytė, D. (2016). Perceived unfairness in teacher-student conflict situations: students’ point of view. Polish Journal of Applied Psychology, 14(1), 49–66.

https://doi.org/ 10.1515/pjap-2015-0049

Cropanzano, R., Fortin, M., & Kirk, J. F. (2015). How do we know when we are treated fairly? Justice rules and fairness judgments. In M. R. Buckley, A. R. Wheeler, & J. R. B. Halbesleben (Eds.), Research in personnel and human resources management (pp. 279–350). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Derakhshan, A., Kruk, M., Mehdizadeh, M., & Pawlak, M. (2021). Boredom in online classes in the Iranian EFL context: Sources and solutions. System, 101, 102556.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102556

Deutsch, M. (1975). Equity, equality, and need: What determines which value will be used as the basis of distributive justice? Journal of Social Issues, 31(3), 137–149.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1975.tb01000.x

Dewaele, J. M., Chen, X., Padilla, A. M., & Lake, J. (2019). The flowering of positive psychology in foreign/second language teaching and acquisition research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 21–28. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02128

Ehrhardt-Madapathi, N., Pretsch, J., & Schmitt, M. (2018). Effects of injustice in primary schools on students’ behavior and joy of learning. Social Psychology of Education, 21(2), 337–369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-017-9416-8

Estaji, M., & Zhaleh, K. (2021a). Exploring Iranian teachers’ perceptions of classroom justice and its dimensions in EFL instructional contexts. Language Related Research, 12(3), 277–314. https://doi.org/10.29252/LRR.12.3.10

Estaji, M., & Zhaleh, K. (2021b). Teachers’ perceptions, experiences, and challenges of incorporating justice in English as a foreign language classrooms. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 52(3), 251–269. https://doi.org/10.24425/ppb.2021.137889

Estaji, M., & Zhaleh, K. (2022). The enactment of classroom justice through explicit instruction: Deciphering the changes in English as a foreign language teachers’ perceptions and practices. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 821763. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.821763

Farrell, T. S. C. (2014). Reflecting on teacher-student relations in TESOL. ELT Journal, 69(1), 26–34. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccu033

Gacs, A., Goertler, S., & Spasova, S. (2020). Planned online language education versus crisis-prompted online language teaching: Lessons for the future. Foreign Language Annals, 53(2), 380–392. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12460

Gao, L. X., & Zhang, L. J. (2020). Teacher learning in difficult times: Examining foreign language teachers’ cognitions about online teaching to tide over COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 2396. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.549653

Gasser, L., Grütter, J., Buholzer, A., & Wettstein, A. (2018). Emotionally supportive classroom interactions and students’ perceptions of their teachers as caring and just. Learning and Instruction, 54, 82–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2017.08.003

Goke, R., Berndt, M., & Rocker, K. (2021). Classroom culture when students are reluctant to learn online: Student dissent behaviors explained by their self-efficacy, control of learning, and intrinsic motivation. Frontiers in Communication, 6, 641956.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.641956

Kaufmann, R., & Tatum, N. T. (2018). Examining direct and indirect effects of classroom procedural justice on online students’ willingness to talk. Distance Education, 39(3), 373–389.

https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2018.1476838

Kozar, O. (2016). Perceptions of webcam use by experienced online teachers and learners: A seeming disconnect between research and practice. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 29(4), 779–789. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2015.1061021

Mercer, S., & Dörnyei, Z. (2020). Engaging language learners in contemporary classrooms. Cambridge University Press.

Nassaji, H. (2020). Good qualitative research. Language Teaching Research, 24(4), 427–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820941288

Pishghadam, R., Derakhshan, A., Zhaleh, K., Al-Obaydi L. H. (2021). Students’ willingness to attend EFL classes with respect to teachers’ credibility, stroke, and success: A cross-cultural study of Iranian and Iraqi students’ perceptions. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01738-z

Rasooli, A., DeLuca, C., Rasegh, A., & Fathi, S. (2019). Students’ critical incidents of fairness in classroom assessment: An empirical study. Social Psychology of Education, 22(3), 701–722.

https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2019.1593105

Sabbagh, C. (2021). Self-reported academic performance and academic cheating: Exploring the role of the perceived classroom (in)justice mediators. British Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12433

Sabbagh, C., & Resh, N. (2016). Unfolding justice research in the realm of education. Social Justice Research, 29(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-016-0262-1

Sepulveda-Escobar, P., & Morrison, A. (2020). Online teaching placement during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile: Challenges and opportunities. European Journal of Teacher Education, 43(4), 587–607. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1820981

Sipior, J. C., Ward, B. T., & Marzec, J. Z., (2002). An initiative to narrow the digital divide: Preliminary results. ECIS 2002 Proceedings. 72. https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2002/72

Tyler, T. R. (1987). Procedural justice research. Social Justice Research, 1, 41–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01049383

Wallace, M. P., & Qin, C. Y. (2021). Language classroom assessment fairness: Perceptions from students. LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, 14(1), 492–521.

Yu, Z. (2018). Third-level digital divide in English teaching and learning. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, 14(3), 68–80.