Challenges in teaching English in 5th grade at the Escuela Mixta Comunitaria 7 de

Diciembre school during the covid-19 pandemic.

Laura M. Hoyos Navarro

Licenciatura En Bilingüismo Con Énfasis En Ingles.

Fundación Universitaria Colombo Internacional

Research II
 Statement of the problem

Covid-19 has caused a change in the rhythm of people's lives, causing the cessation of

economic, social, and educational activities. In Cartagena, there is a school called Escuela

Mixta Comunitaria 7 de Diciembre. A large part of the student population lacks access to

its virtual classes, which prevents meaningful learning in English as a second language.

In schools, English teaching is summarized employing copy packages that students learn

without really having the subject clear. It is difficult for students to learn with virtuality due

to certain common inconveniences, failures on the internet, lack of technological devices.

The students of the Escuela Mixta Comunitaria 7 de Diciembre are in an environment of

poverty, children where most of their parents do not earn a minimum wage; however,

despite the scarcity, they try to make them attend the institution. According to research, the

environment indirectly affects students' teaching-learning process, and this lack of

resources causes inevitable negative consequences in this process. The lack of connectivity

of sure students affects their learning process. A survey study will make to know to learn

about the challenges faced by these fifth graders during the Covid-19 crisis.

Research Question.

What are the challenges in teaching English in 5th grade at the Escuela Mixta
Comunitaria 7 de Diciembre school during the covid-19 pandemic?
 Objectives.

GENERAL OBJCTIVE:

- To analyze the challenges in teaching English in 5th grade at the Escuela Mixta

Comunitaria 7 de Diciembre school during the covid-19 pandemic.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

- To examine the challenges in teaching English in 5th grade at the Escuela Mixta

Comunitaria 7 de Diciembre school during the covid-19 pandemic.

- To explain the challenges in teaching English in 5th grade at the Escuela Mixta

Comunitaria 7 de Diciembre school during the covid-19 pandemic.

The rationale.

The problematic situation to be investigated are the challenges in teaching English in 5th

grade at the Escuela Mixta Comunitaria 7 de Diciembre school. Also, this is topic currently

investigated problems caused pandemic need know institution faces challenges. A survey

will be conducted to analyze specific issues. Similarly, the research will provide helpful

information for the educational community to know the challenges are and create plans for

the improvement of learning in Cartagena's institutions.

 Topic Background.

More than eight months after the first Covid-19 infections were reported in China, not

much information was available on this virus. With the collapse of the health system and

the uncertainty of what was happening globally, and the high number of deaths, all the

affected nations' governments took containment and mitigation measures to reduce the

number of infected people. According to UNESCO (2020), educational institutions in more

than 190 countries closed their doors to prevent the spread and reduce its impact. As of

mid-May 2020, more than 1.2 billion students of all grades dropped out of school, and

more than 160 million were students in Latin America and the Caribbean. Also, UNESCO

estimates that 1.725 million children and adolescents worldwide have been affected in their

education process.

Theorical Framework.

Different problems may arise in virtual teaching, considering that students come from a

face-to-face modality; these problems may be poor connectivity and teaching materials.

According to Panderan and Hamdami (2020), achieving the proposed objectives has

become a challenge to integrate materials and learn ways. There are challenges to overcome

to achieve better learning in teaching English as a second language to 9-10-year-olds who

are used to conventional teaching methodology. The change of methodology, the change of

implementation of conventional activities can be common challenges that students must go

through.
Teaching English in this modality may have its advantages. However, it may have many

challenges. As mentioned by Nezhadmehr (2020), the change of methodology has been a

challenge until today. Finally, teachers have a challenge due to this pandemic. We know

that it is challenging to learn new words, recite dialogues, complete exercises, among other

activities generally done in the classroom with conventional methods.

Methodology.

Given that this research aims to analyze the Challenges in teaching English in 5th grade

at the Escuela Mixta Comunitaria 7 de Diciembre school during the covid-19 pandemic.

Likewise, the size of the population will be 70, between morning and afternoon students.

The approach will be mixed, and the techniques used for this research will be surveys and

questionnaires. Finally, the data will be analyzed and shown statistically.

Conceptual Framework

According to Cooper (2000), online education has been around for a long time, and with

the emergence of covid-19, it becomes the new domain of learning. Distance learning

involves a higher level of effort for students as it involves autonomous learning making

teaching English as a second language a bit complex. However, group communication,

independence of time makes virtual education a unique educational environment.