The Minimal Approach to Online EFL Classes in a Low-Resourced School Context

Objectives: The present investigation aims to shed light on the understudied realities of EFL teaching in low-resourced private school contexts. Methods: Employing a phenomenological case study design, we collected in-depth semi-structured interview data from six EFL teachers at a low-resourced private school in Bangladesh over a period of four months. Additionally, recorded video classes and relevant documents were utilized to supplement the interview data. By employing interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA), the data was analyzed. Results: The findings of the study highlight that some items of freeware and open sources including Open Broadcaster Software (OBS), Facebook LIVE, PowerPoint, PDF Texts, Wondershare are employable for mediating ad-hoc EFL teaching during an emergency such as COVID-19 necessitating sudden shift of teaching modality from offline to online. The above-mentioned affordable tool-mediated novel EFL pedagogy resulted in remarkable success in the continuation of EFL learning, in EFL teachers’ professional development, and in alternative assessments. However, isolation, disconnection, and uncertainty around teacher-student interaction are major challenges of minimal tool-mediated ad-hoc online teaching. Conclusions: The findings implicate that space-and time-specific minimal tool-mediated online language teaching in low-resourced schools is feasible in navigating emergencies such as COVID-19.