Undergraduate Translation Students’ Perceptions of Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Authors

  • Nijolė Burkšaitienė Institute of Humanities, Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities g. 20, LT-08303, Vilnius, Lithuania https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3806-3392

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2023.1.381.399

Keywords:

students’ perceptions, online learning, impacts of online learning, Covid-19 pandemic, Translation studies, higher education

Abstract

Aim. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented challenges at all levels of education. Higher education institutions across the globe had to move traditional campus-based learning online as it was the only available option to continue academic activities. Students’ perceptions of online learning during the Covid-19 crisis have been investigated in many fields of study, however, little known research has been conducted in the field of Translation studies. To fill in the gap, small-scale research was carried out at a University in Lithuania. It aimed to examine undergraduate translation students’ perceptions of learning online during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Methods. To carry out the research, qualitative methodology was used. The data was drawn from 23 translation students’ essays and analysed using inductive content analysis.

Results. The study resulted in the identification and description of two major categories and five subcategories that revealed the students’ experience of online learning during the pandemic and their perceptions of its positive and negative impacts.

Conclusion. The results demonstrate that all study participants perceived online learning both as a positive and negative experience with the number of the student-reported negative impacts being slightly bigger than that of the positive ones. The findings of this research are important; yet they do not allow for wide scale generalisations as the study was conducted on a small sample.

Originality. The present study contributes to the research in the field by providing new insights into the impacts of online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic as seen from the students’ perspective.

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Author Biography

  • Nijolė Burkšaitienė, Institute of Humanities, Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities g. 20, LT-08303, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Ph.D (Education Sciences), is a professor, researcher and translator, expert of the European Commission on Quality teaching in higher education and on Validation of adults’ non-formal and informal learning in higher education, expert of the Research Council of Lithuania. Her research interests: interdisciplinary research into teaching and learning ESP, creativity and translation studies, discourse analysis, assessment and evaluation in higher education, technology-enhanced teaching and learning in higher education, and validation of non-formal and informal learning in higher education.

    She is author and co-author of over 50 research articles, (co)author of six international and national books and book chapters, (co)author of five ESP workbooks, co-editor of an international volume on ESP, co-translator of three monographs from English into Lithuanian and from Lithuanian into English.

    Internships: Bibliothèque nationale de France, site François-Mitterrand (France, 2019), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain, 2017), Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic, 2017), Central Lancashire University (Preston, UK, 2016).

    EU-Awarded Grants / Internships: University of Westminster (London, UK, 2013), Institute of Education (London, UK, 2007), La Rochelle University (France, 2006), SOARS of University of London (UK, 2005), Institute of Applied Language Studies (Edinburgh University, UK, 2001).

    Awards: Letter of Commendation of  Erasmus National Agency for Strengthening the International Dimension in Higher Education in Lithuania (2012).  

    Nijolė Burkšaitienė has created, implemented and supervised a number of linguistic and lifelong learning projects supported by the EU Structural Funds and the European Commission. She also acts as a member of editorial boards and a reviewer of four research journals in Lithuania and abroad.

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Published

2023-06-20

How to Cite

Burkšaitienė, N. (2023). Undergraduate Translation Students’ Perceptions of Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Education Culture and Society, 14(1), 381-399. https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2023.1.381.399