Transition into Online Education During COVID-19: The Case of Speaking-Based Courses at an English Language Teaching Program in Turkey

Abstract

During the spring semester in March 2020 and the fall semester in October 2020, tertiary-level education in Turkey underwent two different transitions into online education. This study aimed to examine the two transition periods with a focus on the course design processes of two speaking-based courses taught at a state university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two professors, and open-ended questionnaires were administered to students. The findings showed that professors could not tailor the design of the two courses in March as they did not have time, but they gained experience to supplement their course content, remove some activities and prioritize others, and they opted for performance-based assessment in October. This paper concludes that the transition in October needs to be differentiated with the suggested term; semi-planned transition into online education. This transition period is still affected by the crisis; however, time can be allocated to determine the needs and expectation of the stakeholders to better prepare for online education. Keywords: Transition into online education, Covid-19, Speaking-based course, English language teaching