Beyond the Pandemic: A Retrospective Analysis of Emergency Remote Teaching in English-Medium Instruction Context

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic catalysed an unprecedented global shift from traditional classroom instruction to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT), fundamentally altering educational paradigms worldwide. While extensive research has examined immediate pandemic responses, limited investigation has explored retrospective student perceptions in English-Medium Instruction (EMI) contexts. Objective: This study investigates Turkish and Turkish Cypriot students' retrospective perceptions and attitudes toward online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic within an EMI framework at Eastern Mediterranean University, Cyprus. Methods: A retrospective quantitative survey design employed a validated 28-item Likert-scale questionnaire administered to 102 EMI students aged 18-30. data was analysed utilized descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation analysis, and independent t-tests to examine demographic influences on learning perceptions. Results: Findings revealed heterogeneous student experiences characterized by moderate satisfaction levels. While 52% of participants acknowledged online education's flexibility advantage, significant challenges emerged across multiple domains. Technical literacy deficits affected 48% of students, with poor technological skills identified as the primary obstacle. Male students tended to report higher levels of satisfaction than female students related to interaction/emotional engagement (57% vs 43%), enjoyment of the online environment (58% vs 40%) and fewer technical difficulties than females. Health-related issues were significant too, with 63% reporting physical discomfort, 52% experiencing visual discomfort, and 52% having concentration difficulties. Conclusions: The current study notes that ERT implementation was imperative to maintain education during a health crisis. However, it also exposed deficiencies in digital literacy, pedagogy, and student support structures. In terms of a retrospective perspective, the results show no evidence that the outbreak of the pandemic has a lasting beneficial effect on quality of online learning and teaching, and that the time and distance since the initial disruption of education does not appear to have changed any of our initial concerns about e-learning. This study has implications for future planning related to educating in times of crisis, as well as a need for a wider digital transformation strategy in higher education.