“Physical and Psychological Isolation is Like a Barrier”: An Analysis Based on a Covid English Development Project

Abstract

Loneliness and anxiety are one of the well-researched concepts in education. Some educationalists recognise the loneliness and anxiety of students as important issues to consider (Pekrun, 2006; Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2010; Odacı & Kalkan, 2010). Admittedly, with the Covid-19 pandemic and the development of technology, language classrooms present unprecedented loneliness and anxiety, and potential changes in teaching formats, contents and pedagogy. In response to the negative emotional factor that students could encounter in Covid-19, the article, firstly, takes the context of an online course Development Project (DP) in the UK as an entry point. This is followed by introducing and explaining the teachers' measures to cope with loneliness and anxiety based on the DP, examples include discussion boards, images, FLCAS etc. Finally, an attempt will be made to criticize and analyse some points that the researchers did not consider such as the nature of the course itself and teacher anxiety. To sum up, this article may help to think richly about students' anxiety and loneliness in Covid-19 and relief about them.