Abstract:
The COVID-19 global pandemic has resulted in many countries’ moving from face-to-face to online
learning at all levels of education. This transition caused learners to change their learning styles and
teachers to adopt new teaching methods in order to redefine learning in a virtual platform where
traditional teaching methods are being supplanted. The previous studies revealed the perspectives of
teachers and learners on emergency online teaching. The current study investigates parents’
experiences and perspectives on teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) on digital platforms
during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka. A designed questionnaire with thirteen items was
distributed to seventy-five parents who have at least one child (from primary, middle, or secondary
school) who attended a physical learning classroom before school closure and started online learning
during the pandemic in Sri Lanka. The results demonstrated that learning ESL on digital platforms
has been challenging for both students and parents. It is found that parents are concerned about their
children’s decline in language skills and their lack of interest, motivation, and interaction in engaging
in online classroom activities. Parents further revealed that poor internet connection, technical
problems, lack of learning materials and digital literacy, social isolation, increased screen time and
unfamiliarity with new learning platforms cause the decline in language skills in online learning. On
the contrary, the parents stated that their children acquired self-regulated learning skills, collaborative
learning skills, and digital socialization during online language learning. The findings of this study
provide implications for the professionalism of ESL teachers’ in adopting new methods and
techniques to address the needs of ESL learners on digital platforms
