Teachers' Strategies of Teaching English in Online Learning During Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Teaching English is a process carried out by teachers or tutors in schools or educational institutions. Teaching English is carried out from early childhood to high school. Generally teaching English is done in the classroom but since mid-2020 Indonesia has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic which has made many changes, including teaching English which is done online. This is a consideration by the teacher on how to deliver learning materials online while still meeting the needs of learning objectives. Therefore, the importance of strategies in teaching English online for teachers both in terms of material, method, and mentality. This study presents how teachers teach by using the teaching strategies they use as well as find out the instructions to the media used by teachers during online teaching during the pandemic at SMP Al Hidayah Malang. This study uses a qualitative approach and data collection methods through interviews, and data analysis techniques using the Miles, Huberman, and Saldana methods which include data reduction, data display, and drawing conclusions and verification. The participants in this study were two English teachers who teach at SMP Al Hidayah Malang. The results of this study indicate that the factors that hinder online learning are technical factors in online learning such as limited internet signal when teaching, student devices or devices that do not support certain applications, limited student quota, and lack of student motivation. In addition, there are three strategies that teachers use in teaching online. First, assigning group assignments to students with the aim of training students' cooperation. Second, the provision of ice breaking games in ongoing learning is intended to avoid student boredom in doing online learning. Third, giving individual assignments in the form of online quizzes after online learning is complete, this is intended to improve students' independent learning abilities. Based on the results of the study, the researcher hopes that the English teachers will use this research as additional information or a reference. The researcher suggest that teachers can develop interesting strategies that have been used and easily accepted by students. This research can help students majoring in English to find out more details in preparing for more optimal learning. For further researchers, it is recommended to conduct research by adding other instruments such as observation and adding participants. Keywords: Teaching English, Teaching Strategy, Online Learning, Pandemic Covid-19