ENGLISH TEACHERS’ PREPAREDNESS IN TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LANGUAGE LEARNING DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC – STUDENTS’ VOICE

Students’ voices matter because they tell us different perspectives of what happens in the classroom. This study focused on the students’ voices of the English Teachers’ technical and digital preparedness in technology-enhanced language learning. The study was designed in a descriptive quantitative method using a 4-point Likert scale questionnaire. This study recruited 105 nursing students to voice their teachers’ preparedness in the technology technology-enhanced learning during the pandemic. The result indicated the respondents’ voice expressed that their English teachers positively transformed along with the time. Teachers were found to be positively prepared in digital literacy, digital classroom, and digital assessment after a short period. Implications suggest that teachers and students adopt remote learning as it will soon be the new normal in Language Teaching. Article History: Received: October, 2020 Revised: November, 2020 Published: December, 2020


INTRODUCTION
The use of technology is inevitable and inseparable in today's teaching and learning activities since COVID-19 has triggered the emergency remote learning and forced the schools' closure for almost nine months. Both teachers and students depend on the use of technology to keep teaching and learning going. Teachers adjust the material which was once designed to be delivered in the classroom to fit the online learning. Materials are offered in many forms, such as videos, documents, projects, and many other formats. However, the delivery was not easy. Agung, Surtikanti, and OP (2020) reveal that online learning was challenging as there were limited devices and an internet connection to support online learning. Atmojo and Arif (2020) similarly find that online learning was too sudden, so the teachers lacked preparation and planning. Not only teachers but also students struggle through online learning.
Although the use of technology has long been studied in the classroom use, the overnight shift to online learning is made possible due to the pandemic which has hit the world globally since early 2020. This sudden shift is inconvenient and radical. Lestinawati and Widyantoro (2020) mention that both teachers and students are burdened due to technology limitation and their inability to organize the devices. However, no one likes the idea of sending students back to schools as everyone is aware of how deadly it could be. Hence, online learning may continue to an unprecedented time.
Regardless of the sudden shift to online learning and the pros and cons during the pandemic, the numbers of researchers in the use of technology in language learning have risen exponentially in the last decade. Technology is believed to have benefited the language learning in many ways. It is believed to support verbal skills (Moura and Carvalho, 2013), speaking and listening skills (Lys, 2013), and also grammar (Wang and Smith, 2013). These benefits are made possible because technologies are equipped with features such as multimedia interfaces that help language learning (Moura and Carvalho, 2011). As a result, most of the studies promote the use of technology in the classroom (Gomes, Lopes, and Araujo, 2016;Mondahl and Razmerita, 2014;Hartman, Townsend, and Jackson 2019). Several studies also find that technology improves learning qualities. Steele et al. (2019) indicate that learning with virtual applications can support students' cognitive and creative skills. This finding is arguably justified in how teachers are now bringing the gamification tools to the classroom to support learning. Teachers have been able to use the Quizzis, Kahoot, Menti, and the alike gamification tools to make learning fun.
Moreover, the students today are called digital natives for no arguable reasons. They were born into technology and adapt to technology integration quickly. Therefore, although the pandemic shuts down the physical class, they can quickly adjust to the use of technology at home. Genota (2018) and Swanzen (2018) report that instead of instructed in the topic students prefer to have a virtual application to learn and gain information. With that said, it is not the students who need to understand the technology but the teachers who used to teach traditionally.
There are yet spreading conceptions among teachers that it is always better to do the teaching using old traditional ways. Teaching through technology has been said to shift teacher-centered learning into student-centered education, the effect, however, is yet not salient because many are using the technology. Still, they do not necessarily change the instructional practices which have been done for years (Hartman, Townsend, and Jackson, 2019). In Indonesia, a study shows relatively negative experience from the teachers (Rachmawati, 2016); however, some research on the use of mobile phones in the classroom has been showing positive experiences (Yudhiantara & Saehu, 2017;Yudhiantara & Nasir, 2017).
To effectively evaluate whether teachers are improving and quickly adapt to technologies used during distance learning, it is vital to assess the teachers from the students' perspectives. It is to see whether the teachers have been learning and acquiring adequate knowledge and technological skills to support digital learning (Somera, 2018). This study views this matter as essential because the teachers' confidence in using and integrating the technologies guarantee the students' experience in online learning (Hartman, Townsend, and Jackson, 2019) and create an engaging language learning environment Mondahl & Razmerita, 2014;Gomes, Lopes & Araújo, (2016).
Many aspects could be evaluated in the implementation of online learning. This study, however, specifically considered the three most essential elements. First, digital literacy assessed the teachers' ability to identify the right tools to integrate the technologies in online learning. This aspect included the teachers' comfortability in using the tools they are using and their instructions when organizing online class (Nicol et al., 2018). It is vital to see because Reid (2017) assures that format and instructional appropriateness may go wrong when organizing the online class. Second, digital class organization assessed the teachers in managing online course from the perspective of the students. Since teachers have been used to traditional learning, embracing the change in a short time may be difficult. Teachers may look at themselves as incapable of using the technologies and fear of failure (Dress, 2016). Third, digital assessment assessed the students' perspective on teachers giving feedback. Feedback is one of the most vital components in teaching and learning as it improves and affirms the students about the progress they make, and thus it is compulsory (Hirsch, 2016). In online learning, the traditional assessment will not be used as it misses the higher-level of cognitive and affective skill found in online learning (Crisp, Guardia, and Hillier, 2016). Based on the essential components this study looked into three aspects of the material delivery in teachers including (1) digital literacy; (2) digital class organization, and (3) digital assessment from the students' voice. It scrutinized how the English teachers had evolved in using the technological resources to create and support the favourable situation for students to learn remotely during the pandemic.

RESEARCH METHOD Research Design
The study aimed to find out the students' perspective of their English teachers' preparedness in conducting online learning due to emergency remote learning. As its nature was to explain the attitudes and the characteristic of a population, this study was designed in a descriptive quantitative research design (Creswell, 2009). The descriptive quantitative research was employed because it best presented the students' voice from the classroom. It answered the objective of the study by showing the result in percentages. This quantitative descriptive offers the social phenomenon, setting, experience, and group in a detailed picture (Ruane, 2005), which helped to unveil the English teachers' preparedness in using technology in the classroom.

Population and Sample
All students learning English for Nursing during the pandemic in a private university will be the population of this study. Therefore, this study used total sampling. One hundred two higher education students who were currently under the effect of the school closures were recruited as respondents. The informed consent form and the study information were distributed along with the link of the questionnaires.

Instruments
The study employed a four-scale questionnaire where 1 (Strongly Disagree) and 4 (Strongly Agree) as the instrument of this research. There were 30 items of statements set to find the implementation of the technology-enhanced language learning in digital literacy, digital classroom, and digital assessment. The questionnaire was distributed via a google survey, including the information sheet and the informed consent forms. The link to the questionnaire was shared via Facebook Group and WhatsApp Group. The questionnaires had been tested for its reliability with 30 items result in r > 0.361Cronbach and stated valid with Cronbach Alpha 0.971.

Data Analysis
The questionnaire was distributed using the google-survey-the respondents filled in the questionnaires after they first filled in the informed consent form. The data obtained from the questionnaires were first coded and analyzed using the descriptive statistic formula. The analysis results were presented in percentages.
The procedures of analyzing the data are by first grouping the total of the Likert Scale per items; 4 (Strongly Agree), 3 (Agree), 2 (Disagree), and 1 (Strongly Disagree). The minimum score was established by applying the formula of 1xN and the maximum score of 4xN. The range score was set by finding the mean score from each question item in a category. The total mean score from each question item was then accumulated to seek the mean score of each category.

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Research Findings
The current study aimed to provide the students' voice on their teachers in commencing the technology-enhanced language learning. The study looked at three aspects in delivering online teaching, including (1) digital literacy; (2) digital class organization, and (3) digital assessment.  Table 1 indicated that almost all of the students agreed that their teachers were prepared in using the technologies. The teachers were able to use various digital tools to communicate, to teach, and to utilize the material through the online application. The highest mean was seen on the teachers' availability in online rooms for discussion (m=3.28). Meanwhile, the lowest mean was seen on the teachers' ability in using various search engines to enhance language learning (m=3.09). There was a consistent number of students who chose to disagree with their teacher preparedness strongly. Nonetheless, there total mean of the aspects reached 3.18, indicating the excellent preparedness of the English teachers in the digital apps uses.  Table 2 indicated that overall, the students demonstrated a positive experience with the digital classroom. Roughly, 80% of students stated the teachers' preparedness in utilizing and organizing the digital classroom. This finding indicated that the teachers were transforming along with the change in the teaching method. The teachers were found to be able to adapt, although it was believed that sudden changes were not easy. This finding provides enough evidence that English teachers have sufficient digital literacy before the pandemic. Therefore, when there is a sudden shift from physical to online class, the students find their teacher ready with the tools. However, there were a consistent number of 11-13% of students who found their teachers to be unprepared. Many factors may contribute to why these students consistently disagree. They could be student's unpreparedness for online learning and technology unpreparedness. Arguably, students' movements are limited because of the social distancing policy. They stay at home and only see their friends through online media if possible. Thus, this condition may affect their mentality when filling in the questionnaires. My tutor can answer the students' questions actively in synchronous and asynchronous language learning 13 (12,75) 1 (0,98) 50 (49,02) 38 (37,25) 3,11 Total Score 3.06 Table 3 indicated the students' perspectives on their teachers' preparedness in assessing through online platforms. The total mean of all the questionnaire items (mean=3.06) showed that students viewed their teachers as capable of giving feedback and returning it to them. These findings revealed that the teachers have been able to organize online assessment through online platforms. Students value the feedback as necessary as feedback measures the students' cognitive achievement, and at the same time, it can empower the students. Proper feedback with personalized comments strengthens the teacher-student relationship. With this said, the teachers have continued their roles well in giving input and enforcement to the students, although the physical class is not in place.

Discussion
The study sought to explore the students' voice on their teachers' preparedness in conducting synchronous and asynchronous learning after emergency schools' closures. This urgency was taken because one of the ways to assess whether the teachers were prepared should be the students. The study, therefore, looked at three aspects of the teachers' preparedness, including digital literacy, digital classroom, and the digital assessment.
In digital literacy, the data indicated that the respondents displayed a positive voice toward their teachers' preparation. The teachers are found to have been able to use various digital apps and tools and are literate in using them to support the class. The interesting point is seen how the students value the teachers' presence as most important in both synchronous and asynchronous language learning. 97% of the respondents in this study value the company of the teachers during their education. This finding indicates that students still need their teachers, whether it is in an online or physical class. The teachers are expected to be there to provide the support required. This finding is, therefore, rings Somera's result (2018), which finds teachers have acquired the knowledge and skills to support digital learning. Besides, the teachers were found literate with the various search engines to compile materials and enhance language learning. This finding answers the query of the digital literacy owned by the teacher. Having been able to use various apps, the teachers are capable, and thus they are more confident when using technologies in the classroom (Hartman, Townsend, and Jackson, 2019). Thus far, the study has found that the teachers are prepared based on the respondents' feedback and are considered will be comfortable when using various apps when organizing either online or offline class during this emergency remote teaching and learning condition. Regarding 5% of respondents who consistently chose to disagree strongly, a personal approach may be needed to find out whether they have a unique connection problem during the teaching and learning process.
In terms of the digital classroom, the total mean score is 3.04. This finding indicates that the students positively find their teachers able to organize the digital classroom. Although the students are located in different areas, surprisingly, the teachers can organize the class online. The findings reveal two main items that surpassed the other items in this category. First, the teachers in organizing the course, the teachers are seen to bring engaging tools such as Kahoot, Quizziz, and Menti to the classroom. This item is found the highest than all other items which show teachers' preparedness from the students' perspectives. This finding indicates that teachers are transforming through the synchronous and asynchronous class to make the learning fun. Besides, another striking result is the words of encouragement from the teachers see to play a significant role in the digital classroom. Students find that their teacher encourages them to study remotely and independently. There are little studies which have found similar finding. Therefore, it is novel to the use of technology in the classroom organization. As it is not clear yet how the teachers deliver the words of motivation to the students in technology-enhanced language learning, this study calls for future research that will look into how teachers motivate their students through technologyenhanced language learning.
Finally, in terms of digital assessment, the findings indicate the preparedness of the teachers in using digital tools to give feedback and return the feedback on time. The respondents found the teachers to be able to organize the assessment, although they cannot monitor the students physically. This finding is closely related to how teachers can manage the digital classroom. Having been able to use various apps to organize quizzes and interactive media, the skills to grade appear almost at the same time. In this matter, the process of evaluating and affirming the students are made real-time as the online quiz encourages direct progress (Hirsch, 2016). Through the questionnaires in the digital assessment, the teachers were shown providing the feedback to students question actively. This finding indicates that though through digital platforms, students need direct input from their students to affirm that they are making progress. Besides, the respondents expressed that their teachers were able to create, assign, and score the task creatively. This finding indicates that the teachers are now able to design a higher level of cognitive and affective skill to support online learning (Crisp, Guardia, and Hillier, 2016). The teachers no longer use the traditional assessment as they evolve with the technological resources to provide feedback.
Regarding the respondents who consistently chose to firmly disagree with all the three aspects assessed in the teachers' preparedness, a different personal approach needs to be taken. As discussed earlier, students may have a mental breakdown due to the limitation in their movement. This finding could be an indication of a more personalized problem to the students. Besides, some students may experience an unpleasant experience, and this is not unique to online learning. This same finding has been echoed by Rafiee & Prufallah (2014), where Iranian students perceive online learning, making them feel uneasy and incompetent. The same thing can also happen to the respondents of this research.

CONCLUSION
This study has scrutinized the teachers' preparedness in digital literacy, digital classroom, and digital assessment in a period after the emergency remote learning. The findings have indicated that the students assess their teachers to be positively capable in the three examined aspects -pointing out the positive experiences the students have during the online learning. Reflecting nine months ago when both teachers and students were panicked and knew nothing to do; this progress needs to be applauded. Hence, in the future, the teachers will keep upgrading their digital literacy, digital classroom management, and the digital assessment used in the class. Online learning will be part of the fixed and permanent system in education, mostly in the field of teaching and learning. Therefore, both teachers and students need to embrace the current process of maturing themselves in the online learning system fully.