Search

This study examined students' attitudes toward distance learning, and its relationship with the duration of using Telegram and schooling. It specifically explored students' experiences of the challenges and opportunities that distance learning created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, two null hypotheses were formulated: (1) there is no significant relationship between students' attitudes toward distance learning and the duration of using Telegram; and (2) there is no significant relationship between students' attitudes towards distance learning and the duration of schooling. Data were collected from a survey questionnaire and in-depth semi-structured interviews with students from the English Department of Herat University, Afghanistan. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS, an independent samples t-test, and ANOVA. The results of the t-test showed that the first hypothesis should be accepted, meaning there is no relationship between students' attitudes toward e-learning and years of Telegram use. Further, the one-way ANOVA test showed that the second null hypothesis was affirmed. Moreover, the qualitative findings indicated that distance learning via Telegram is associated with context-specific challenges and several opportunities.

Emphasizing the significance of students' attitudes and emotions in the learning process, this study utilized Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to investigate the roles of sapio-emotionality, angloemotionality, and sensory motivation in learners' academic accomplishments. The key aim was to devise a scale for measuring students' anglo-emotionality (a blend of native speakers' characteristics and emotionality) using SEM, while also scrutinizing the relationships between sapio-emotionality (intelligence entwined with emotionality), angloemotionality, and sensory motivation. Data was collected from 292 EFL students (156 males and 136 females) across both social and non-social sciences fields who filled in three questionnaires, namely sapio-emotionality, anglo-emotionality, and sensory motivation scales. The SEM analysis indicated that the angloemotionality scale has robust psychometric properties. Furthermore, it facilitated the revelation that sapio-emotionality is positively correlated with sensory motivation. However, no significant statistical correlations were discerned between anglo-emotionality and sensory motivation via SEM. Intriguingly, when mediated by angloemotionality, SEM revealed that sapio-emotionality cannot predict sensory motivation and English Language Acquisition (ELA). Also, none of the dependent variables emerged as predictors of ELA. The study concludes with a discussion of the results and their implications for future research, underscoring the utility of SEM in elucidating these intricate relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]