Emotions experienced by FL learners in a post-COVID classroom

Abstract

The process of returning to face-to-face education was not easy and more often than not accompanied by mixed feelings, from joy to fear and uncertainty (Witkowski et.al. 2021). The aim of this paper was to examine students’ emotions associated with FL learning in a postCOVID classroom. The sample in question constituted 103 secondary school students from the Silesian Voivodship in Poland, who had spent almost three semesters at home on distance learning, and, at the time of completing the questionnaire in September 2022, were entering the first school year of study without any COVID-19 restrictions. The emotions studied were related to the classroom environment, namely, the lesson organization, teaching materials, the person of the teacher and peers, to name a few. The findings show that a large majority are in favour of face-to-face learning and appreciate a direct language contact that is available in a real classroom setting. The data collected allowed for formulating suggestions on how to improve the postCOVID classroom learning to meet students’ expectations and deal with habits transferred from remote education.