High School Students’ Perceptions of the Effects of Active Learning Activities in Online EFL Classes

During the Covid-19 epidemic outbreak period, universities, colleges, high schools, and secondary schools in Vietnam were required to shift direct teaching to an online mode in order to maintain students’ learning process. In this light, promoting students’ active learning in online EFL classes has drawn much attention in the context. The purpose of this paper is to explore students’ perceptions of the effects of active learning activities in online EFL classes. Built on the Constructivism approach, emphasizing student engagement in learning (Adams & Burns, 1999) and the nature of active learning (Bonwell & Eison, 1991), active learning activities (Visual activity, Game/quiz, Audio-recorded speaking activity, Writing Activity, Diagrams drawing /mind mapping) were employed in EFL classes at a high school in rural Vietnam. As participants, forty eleventh graders (20 females and 20 males) completed Google Form-delivered questionnaires after two-month period of online learning. Findings indicated that over 90% of the students thought the activities were beneficial. 80% of students expressed interest in the activities. Results also showed that the activities students enjoyed participating most were Game/quiz and Writing activities. Based on the findings, some pedagogical implications and conclusions were drawn.