Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic interrupted all the activities of normal life. In order to avoid the risk of a widespread pandemic, the whole world moved towards lockdown. Pakistan was one of the first countries that announce school closure during the pandemic. It became stressful for institutions, teachers and parents to meet the educational needs of learners during the pandemic. Online teaching-learning was the best solution to continue with education. This research was done to investigate issues and problems faced by primary-level English language teachers in teaching online during the pandemic, in the context of Pakistan. The targeted population of this study was primary-level English teachers from schools located in Lahore and Faisalabad who taught during the pandemic in an online mode. Findings revealed that teachers encountered challenges like internet issues, limited time and resources, lack of digital awareness, and limited interaction. They also encountered challenges in content creation and in using pedagogical methodologies online. to 

Key Words

COVID-19 Pandemic, Primary Level English Teaching, Challenges, Online Teaching, Blended Approach

Introduction

Coronavirus is a totally new virus, and people were unaware of it before March 2019. This novel Coronavirus resulted in the spread of viral pneumonia in China  (Li et al., 2020). But the tragedy of time was that the COVID-19 pandemic did not spread to China only. It covered the whole world. Physical distancing can reduce the risk of a pandemic widespread (Prem et al. 2020). This lockdown situation shut the doors of all sections of human life, including business, industry, and education. In short, all the activities of life had been stopped. This immediate reaction can be regarded best from an epidemiological perspective, but from a pedagogical point of view, it made teachers try desperately to reformulate and retrofit their courses to avoid the loss of a large number of students (Thaheem et al., 2020). Along with other sectors, this pandemic spread proved a real-time threat to the education sector around the globe. The doors of all educational institutes, schools, colleges, and universities were closed for educational activities in the whole world. Everyone was looking for alternative measures in this challenging time. In a country like Pakistan, there is a need to develop an organised and national infrastructure for virtual teaching with developed digital resources (Abid et al., 2021). United Nations (U.N.) claimed that the pandemic significantly affected the education sector. The worse thing was that the school closure happened at a broader level in almost all countries of the world and so disturbed the educational process globally (Putrid et al. 2020).

Teaching-learning is an ongoing process that is continued for ages. It is done either physically or virtually, formally or informally. The widespread outbreak of pandemics in 2019 resulted in a shift towards online teaching globally. This has presented a real challenge to all teachers, parents, and institutions regarding how to meet the educational needs of learners. During the pandemic, teaching has gone through immense changes. This resulted in the change of teaching mode from traditional formal classroom settings to a virtual method. Pakistan was one of the first countries in the world that decide the school closure due to COVID-19 (Geven, K., & Hasan, A. 2020). There could be many problems that teachers and students encounter in a virtual classroom (Zinger et al., 2017).

No one can deny the fact that teachers have a very important role in English language acquisition. As they have to make learners unable to speak, read and write in English. So, language teaching is more than just transmitting knowledge as it enables learners to use the language fluently (Patil, 2008). The English language is being taught at all levels, from primary level to higher levels throughout the world (Baird & Baird, 2018). Teaching English at the primary level is a difficult task because it is difficult to wield when instruction should start, what approach and methodologies should have opted and what kind of assessment process should be chosen and used at this level. In normal circumstances, it becomes a real challenge to teach English to very young learners at the primary level. In online settings, during pandemics, it was very difficult for language teachers to provide children with the proper exposure to language and to make them learn the English language effectively. In an online setup during the pandemic, teachers had to establish contact with students, establish the connection through digital mode, and engage them in online activities. But they had to take all these necessary steps within no time. It was a difficult and challenging time for all teachers, especially in Pakistan.

This study was conducted to investigate the challenges faced by primary-level English teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. It also measured how the English language teachers cope with this challenging time period. Moreover, it would explore what type of challenges the primary level English language teachers have come across during this pandemic in the context of Pakistan.




Statement of Problem 

This study is basically conducted to determine the issues and challenges that primary-level teachers encounter with the online teaching method. It is also to figure out what strategies English language teachers opted to cope with all these challenges in online teaching.




Objectives of the Study

The objectives of this study were as follows:

? To explore pedagogical challenges encountered by primary-level English language teachers in teaching during the pandemic.  

? To probe into the challenges of English teachers in creating content for teachings online during the pandemic. 

? To figure out the strategies opted by teachers to overcome these challenges.




Significance of the Study

This study can be significant as follows:

? It can serve as a guideline for an educational authority to plan different programs of teacher training. 

? 2. It can be helpful in creating the content for teachers and learners to provide them more exposure to digitalised education and make them use it to avoid challenges in future.

? 3. It can also help teachers, students and higher education authorities to implement digitalised teaching and to learn in order to prepare them for future use. 

? 4. It is useful to plan the strategies for the continuation of the proper teaching and learning process if the country faces such situations in the near future.




Delimitation of the Study

The study was delimited to the primary level English teachers in the context of primary schools in the city of Lahore and Faisalabad with a limited sample.

Literature Review

COVID-19 caused stress and challenges for the whole educational system, from primary to higher levels of studies. This pandemic crisis resulted in a shift to an online system from the traditional classroom setting for both the teachers and learners. Teachers and learners both were not familiar with this novel online mode, especially in Pakistan. In an interview, a Canadian educator of young children shared that this COVID-19 pandemic caused disruption to their teaching process, their curriculum and social connectivity (Lafave et al., 2021). Ali (2020) stated that the technology gained special attention, particularly during the pandemic. During the pandemic, the chalk-talk teaching model was transferred into the digital model in order to continue the teaching-learning (Maity et al., 2021).




Online Teaching and Teachers’ Challenges  

Putrid et al. (2020) concluded that teachers face pressure in teaching very young learners online. They are expected to provide feedback not only to the school but to the parents as well. During online teaching, it is very time-consuming to assess every single student and give proper feedback to fulfil the demands of both parents and the school. It is challenging because content creation and feedback consume much of their time. Teachers' lack of digital skills also resulted in the need for extra effort and time for content creation. Rasmitadila et al. (2020) carried out a case study in Indonesia in which they determined the perception of teachers regarding online teaching during the pandemic. They investigated the point of view of primary teachers when the teaching system changed towards online, e-learning and distance education. They concluded that some of the issues and challenges faced by the teacher in an online setting were technical issues, lack of experience, and teaching and learning conditions. All these challenges negatively impacted the high-quality learning and the achievement of instructional objectives.

Haverback (2020) pointed out that in an online classroom setting, it was difficult for teachers to know each student individually, which made them less confident in teaching online. A survey done by Learning Spiral (2021) revealed that more than 84% of teachers faced many issues in online mode. The data indicated that online teaching caused challenges for both teachers and students. Two out of five teachers lack the necessary devices to deliver education online. This survey also showed that 50% of teachers faced issues related to the internet in the form of both signal problems and data expenses. Other than technological issues, this survey found that teachers faced a hurdle in maintaining online class etiquette. It is difficult for teachers to maintain discipline online when parents are hovering during online classes because it builds pressure on teachers and has a negative impact on teaching the students.

The online synchronous instruction in virtual classes is problematic in teaching and learning. It becomes harder and harder for teachers to collect the whole class at the same time. Along with this, "time zones, internet access, bandwidth, technological breakdown, and individual student schedules" all become a real-time challenge in teaching and learning during pandemic times. In online teaching, teachers miss the face-to-face interaction with learners, so they fail to control students' affective factor that is crucial in the process of teaching-learning (Roslina et al., 2020). It has become difficult for teachers to make students perform well in face-to-online teaching.




Teachers’ Struggle with online Teaching during Pandemic

Shifting the school system to an online learning environment was not just a technical problem; it proved to be a pedagogical as well as an instructional challenge to a greater extent. This lockdown situation caused considerable challenges in terms of disruption, psychological issues and financial problems that affected education around the world (Ali & Kaur, 2020). According to teachers, the transition from traditional to virtual teaching greatly depends on the available resources, digital training and skills, age of learners etc. Teachers also highlighted the lack of digital resources as a hurdle from both teachers' and students' ends. It is also stated that on-screen teaching through digital resources is useful to a certain extent. Teachers also shared that education is not just transmitting knowledge or solving exercises; it is more than that. It depends on giving proper feedback, evaluating learners, being creative and having pedagogical competences in order to deal with all the hindrances caused by the online mode of teaching (Busuttil & Farrugia 2020). Vitale (2010) studied the challenges in online teaching and stated that redesigning the course was the major challenge in online teaching, and it became an intimidating experience for untrained teachers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was also one of the big challenges for teachers to redesign the course that could aid in online teaching.




Online Teaching and Teachers’ Pedagogical and Content Related Issues

The online education system faced many challenges, from learners' issues to teachers' issues and from pedagogical issues to issues related to content. It was a challenge for schools to attract learners and engage them in online teaching-learning. It was very difficult for teachers and students to shift from offline teaching to online mode. It required a change in pedagogical methodologies and time management for online teaching. Another challenge that teachers faced was the development of content that engaged the learners and also covered the curriculum. Content development was a great challenge but handling the students in an online class was a greater challenge (Kebritchi et al., 2017).

Lassoued et al. (2020) talked about the constraints teachers and students faced in virtual learning during the pandemic. As long as pedagogical obstacles are concerned, they asserted that teachers found difficulty in the evaluation of electronic exams. Furthermore, it became challenging for teachers to achieve pedagogical activities such as conducting tests during e-learning. They also mentioned the difficulty in giving feedback to identify the strengths and weaknesses of students in online teaching settings. 




Pandemic and Technology Driven Teaching

All the educational institutions in Pakistan, a developing country, used digitalised platforms such as Google Classroom, Learning Management System (LMS), Zoom, and YouTube as means of digital teaching-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic (Mukhtar et al., 2020). In this virtual mode of education, there were certain issues that impacted the curriculum implementation, such as lack of developed technology, privacy issues, and technical and financial issues, but the issues that stand out were the lack of family support and effective feedback (Adnan &Anwar, 2020). Murgatrotd (2020) highlighted the challenges of e-learning during the pandemic in this way. Those challenges were availability and accessibility, pedagogy, flexibility, lifelong learning and educational policy. 

Flack et al. (2020) mentioned that the challenges of teachers in online teaching went beyond planning effective learning and managing the digitalised classroom as the teachers shared their issues that they were struggling to adapt classroom pedagogies to the digitalised environment. The main hurdles that teachers faced were learning how the material would be chunked effectively, the availability of delivery methods, how to utilise them effectively, induce variety in a lesson, and engaging students for effective learning.  




Problems in Teaching English during COVID-19 Pandemic

Teaching the English language at the primary level is a challenging task. The opinions vary regarding when and how the instructions should start for young language learners and which techniques and approaches work best at this level. It is also challenging for teachers to decide what kind of evaluation process should be used for the learners of this level. Children's language learning is based on the quality and quantity of language input they have. The one problem is the allocation of time for teaching language at the primary level. Because the allocated time for language teaching varies from 1 lesson per week to 5 lessons per week, this limited time is not enough for the teacher to provide proper exposure to the English language to children (Strakova, Z. 2015).

Spadafora et al. (2021) reported that the majority of educators reported they found difficulty in modifying their lesson plans that would be appropriate for online delivery of the lesson. Teachers faced difficulties in language skill teaching, termed as listening, speaking, reading and writing. Yunus et al. (2019) studied that both teachers and learners found difficulties in teaching and learning writing during the pandemic, respectively. Similarly, Sayuti et al. (2020) mentioned that hesitation in speaking during online classes made learners nervous as compared to traditional settings. Thus, it became difficult for teachers to attract and engage the learners and to make them enable to speak in an online class. The classroom setting is different from virtual teaching, in which teachers can directly communicate and can focus on all students and their individual questions and doubts (Dai & Xia, 2020). In an online setting, it became difficult for teachers to address all students and to clear their concepts as a whole.

Sevencan (2021) stated in his study language teaching shift due to coronavirus. The pandemic pushed the language teaching industry globally to adopt an alternative to in-personal instructions. The virtual mode of teaching-learning is utilised at a large scale by both teachers and learners. This presented study was based on the views of language teachers regarding teaching online during the pandemic. Teachers asserted that traditional classroom teaching is more interactive, in which it becomes easy to introduce new topics. They pointed out that online teaching is easier for adults but hard to manage with children because young learners can be engaged only for a short time. It becomes arduous for teachers to keep them attentive to online teaching and learning.

During the pandemic period, learners who had been struggling with English language learning during normal classroom settings faced more challenges when it came to learning the language online. This caused a delay in their English language learning. During the pandemic, the whole educational settings, schools, colleges and universities shifted to virtual teaching mode. It became difficult for those institutions that had limited or no experience with this online method to implement it. Teachers found it difficult to handle online teaching applications (Zaharah et al., 2020).

 In language teaching and learning, the interaction between teachers and learners is crucial. But in the online mode of teaching-learning, that interaction failed to become effective as needed. During pandemic the interaction is limited between teachers and students due to the far distance in a virtual class. In an online classroom, the interaction and communication between teachers and students are not optimum for language learning (Atmojo & Nugroho, 2020).   

Methodology

The Population of the Study 

The targeted population of the study was the primary-level English teachers in the context of Lahore and Faisalabad, Pakistan.




Sample of the Study

The sample of this study consisted of 30

 primary-level English teachers who taught the English language in online settings during the pandemic. Participants in this study were selected through purposive sampling technique with the only purpose of achieving research objectives as the study was conducted on primary-level English teachers who taught during the pandemic with the goal of investigating the challenges they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The targeted participants were the school teachers from two districts of Punjab, namely Lahore and Faisalabad.




Research Design 

The aim of this study was to explore the challenges that primary English language teachers came across in teaching online during the pandemic. It also explored the strategies utilised by language teachers to deal with all those challenges in a virtual setting. This descriptive study followed the pragmatic research paradigm. The quantitative method was used for the collection of data. 




Instrument of the Study

Questionnaire 

The questionnaire was based on a combination of both open-ended and closed-ended questions. The questionnaire was mainly based on two sections, the first section was about the demographic information of respondents, and the second section was based on the questions related to research objectives, i.e. a) Questions related to challenges in content creation, b) pedagogical challenges related questions and c) instructional method and teaching strategy related questions. The total number of items in the questionnaire was 25 (n=25).




The Procedure of Data Collection

The data was collected from primary-level English teachers of schools located in Lahore and Faisalabad. Quantitative data was collected by sharing questionnaires with primary-level English teachers who had teaching experience in an online setup during the COVID-19 pandemic. The responses of 30 primary-level English teachers were collected as quantitative data. The collected data were transferred to an Excel sheet in order to use for analysis.




Data Analysis

Descriptive statistics were used for the analysis of quantitative data. Analysis of quantitative data involves more than just using statistical tests to analyse numerical data. Instead, it deals with how to use those statistical tests as a tool to generate reliable conclusions from the collected data (Albers, M. J., 2017). SPSS software was used for the analysis of quantitative excel data. The analysis of that quantitative data was done through SPSS, and frequencies, percentages, graphs and tables were generated.

Results and Findings

The aim of this study was to explore all the issues, problems and challenges that primary-level English teachers came across during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study also investigated primary-level English teachers' pedagogical challenges and issues related to content creation while teaching online during the pandemic. This study also probed into all the strategies followed by teachers during virtual classroom settings in order to overcome the teaching challenges they came across. A questionnaire was used for the collection of quantitative data. The questionnaire was based on open-ended and closed-ended questions. The responses collected through the questionnaire were analysed statistically. For the analysis of quantitative data IBM SPSS, 22 was used. Analysis of quantitative data was done through descriptive statistics. For mean, standard deviation, frequencies and percentiles of collected data were generated through SPSS software. Graphs, tables and charts were generated through SPSS for the analysis of data.

The data collection and analysis were done with the purpose of achieving research objectives. The statistical analysis of quantitative data demonstrated the problems encountered by primary-level language teachers while teaching the very young learner, in a virtual mode of teaching and learning process, during pandemic. The questionnaire was divided into three sections; pedagogical challenges, challenges in content creation, and strategies opted. 

In response to -+the question about challenges faced by primary level English teachers in teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, most of them responded that it was challenging to communicate and interact online. The mean value is 2.766; the mode is 3, and the standard deviation is 1.633for N=30. 

Figure 1

English Language Teachers’ Challenges in Teaching at Primary Level during COVID-19 Pandemic



Most of the teachers faced problems in interaction and communication while teaching language online. 13.33% of teachers from the targeted sample shared that they faced teaching material-related challenges. 26.67% faced internet and technology-related challenges. Time management issues were faced by 20% of participants, and 33.33% of participants responded that they had challenges in communication and interaction with students in online teaching. Challenges related to assessment and feedback were faced by 3.33%, and understanding-related issues were the response of 3.33% of participants, as shown in figure 4.1 above. 

 

Challenges in Content Creation

Five-point Likert scale was utilised to determine the challenges of teachers in content creation, ranging from very challenging to very easy. From 1.00 to 1.80, it means very challenging; from 1.81 to 2.60, it means challenging. It is the same as earlier from 2.61 to 3.40, from 3.41 to 4.20 it is easy, and from 4.21 to 5.00 it is very easy.




 

Table 1. Challenges in Content Creation

Statements	N	Maximum	Minimum	Mean	Std. Deviation
1. To choose material while teaching the English language online.	30	5.00	1.00	2.2000	1.21485
2. To arrange engaging content for interactive sessions.	30	4.00	1.00	2.0333	.80872
3. Create content attractive enough to engage the young language learner online.	30	4.00	1.00	1.9333	.86834
4. To organise the content for online English language teaching within a limited time constraint.	30	4.00	1.00	2.2000	.96132
5. To achieve the teaching/ learning objectives while teaching online.	30	4.00	1.00	2.1333	.68145
6. To conduct language learning activities online.	30	4.00	1.00	2.1333	1.00801

Note: Very challenging 1, Challenging 2, Same as earlier 3, Easy 4 and Very easy 5.

 




Pedagogical Challenges

Teaching English to young learners requires pedagogical expertise. Teaching language in normal classroom settings is a difficult task for teachers to do. During the pandemic, when the traditional method was changed to digital mode, it demanded teachers develop digital skills. Because teaching language in online mode is challenging for teachers, it was the first time, especially in the history of Pakistan, that the teachers came across this digitalised mode of teaching. Both teachers and students have never come across this virtual classroom setting before. It became challenging for teachers to engage learners and to teach them language online, which required a rich exposure to the language. This challenging time demanded teachers to exhibit their pedagogical competence in a totally different setting and in different dimensions. Pedagogy can be defined as the style or approaches utilised by teachers in order to transmit knowledge. It is an instructional approach that includes the utilisation of resources, teaching materials, tools, modes, content and curriculum to meet the individual needs of all the students. It is the expansion of consciousness through the transformation of basic worldview and specific capacities of the self (Gonzalez & Balderas, 2016).




 

Table 2. Pedagogical Challenges

S. No		N	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. Deviation
1.	Lack of digitalised skills.	30	1.00	4.00	1.8667	.86037
2.	Lack of structured content versus the availability of abundant online resources.	30	1.00	4.00	2.1000	.80301
3.	Stressful for teachers	30	1.00	4.00	2.1333	.86037
4.	Limited delivery of material.	30	1.00	4.00	2.1333	1.07425
5.	Limited interaction between teachers and students.	30	1.00	4.00	1.6667	.84418
6.	Online language teaching negatively impacted your motivation.	30	1.00	4.00	2.4000	1.03724
7.	Challenging for English language teachers to be creative online.	30	1.00	4.00	2.0333	.85029
8.	Challenging to assess students and give them feedback online.	30	1.00	4.00	2.0667	.86834

Note: Strongly Agree 1, Agree 2, Neutral 3, Disagree 4 and Strongly Disagree 5.

 




Strategies used by Teachers

Teachers encountered different challenges while teaching language in a virtual class. The participants were asked to share their views about the strategies effective in online teaching and which one they used and found effective. They were also asked about the instructional method they used for language teaching during the pandemic and which one they preferred as an effective source of teaching. The majority of participants preferred zoom as a media source for conducting online classes as the percentage of their responses is high for zoom, which is 63.33%. The 20.00% of participants preferred videos as instructional media for teaching language online. 10% of participants used WhatsApp, and 6.67% preferred google form as an instructional media source. 

Figure 2

Instructional Media you Prefer to use for Online English Language Teaching

Teaching English to young learners requires effective methodologies and approaches to achieve teaching-learning objectives. In response to the statement, which methodology you found more useful in online English language teaching, most of the participants preferred the communicative approach. In online English language teaching, most of the participants preferred the communicative approach. 43.33% of the participants shared their views in favour of the communicative approach as an effective approach for teaching the English language online. 23.33% of the participants used the grammar-translation method, while 33.33% preferred the direct method as an effective method for language teaching.

Figure 3

Methodology useful in Online Language Teaching



For the statement you preferred the elective approach for teaching English online, the majority of the respondents remained neutral in their response, as shown below in table 4.3.




 

Table 3. You preferred the Elective Approach for Teaching English Online

		Frequency	Per cent
	Yes	13	43.3
	No	1	3.3
	Neutral	16	53.3

 




The majority of the respondents submit their responses as being neutral. It means that neither preferred nor rejected the use of the elective approach for English language teaching. 53.3% of the respondents were neutral in response, as shown above in table 4.3. The figure below further highlights the views of respondents on this concern.

Figure 4

Preferred Elective Approach for Teaching English Online

The figure below shows that 50% of participants said "yes" to the need for a blended approach to the integration of technology in pedagogical methodology. 16.67% responded as "no". They were of the view that there was no such need. But 33.33% remained neutral; they neither said "yes" nor said "no" in response. It means they don't have any view about this. It is evident from this figure that the majority of teachers are in favour of blending technology with language teaching pedagogies.

Figure 5

Need for Blended Approach



Discussion

This study examined the challenges faced by primary-level English teachers in teaching online during pandemics. It was very challenging for teachers to continue teaching and learning during the pandemic. Primary level teachers found it more challenging as they had to deal with very young learners. The virtual mode of language teaching was new for teachers, especially in Pakistan. Teaching in general and language teaching, in particular, had gone through immense changes during pandemic. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the whole education system totally shifted from physical to virtual classes. Teachers in Pakistan had to face a number of barriers like pedagogical, content creation, use of technology and class management etc. Teachers stated that the lack of digital awareness, proper training, and communication gap made it difficult for them to continue with language teaching and learning. The sudden transition from face-to-face to face-to-virtual brought many challenges for both teachers and students. For teachers, it was very difficult to make students practice the English language without physical appearance.

As primary-level teaching demands activity-based learning, in an online class, it was really hard for teachers to conduct language learning activities. To check the effectiveness of teaching, proper assessment, evaluation, and feedback are the necessary conditions. But in the virtual mode of teaching, teachers neither have enough time nor strategy to assess, evaluate and provide productive feedback to each learner. This made teachers stressed as they were not aware if they were able to achieve the learning needs of language learners. Teachers found it challenging to choose material for online language teaching. Primary-level language teaching demands more effort and time to design the material for effective teaching. 

Primary-level learners are too young for teachers to control; in an online class, it was one of the biggest challenges for teachers to maintain discipline online even though it was hard for them to maintain in a physical class as the learners did not take online classes seriously. Instead, they considered them just like a video call. Teachers also mentioned that during the COVID-19 pandemic, they encountered many barriers like connectivity issues, lack of resources, background noise during class, distraction, unnecessary interruption of parents' and students' laziness, which halted them from teaching properly. Children's lack of knowledge to handle digital resources proved to be a challenge for teachers in teaching online.

It was very difficult for teachers to choose a material that could effectively fulfil the learning needs of students in an online class. Teaching language at the primary level demands smart work, creativity and pedagogical competence from teachers. Because in a physical class, teachers could utilise material easily, but due to constraints of an online system, firstly, it becomes challenging to choose material and then deliver it in a limited time. It was very hard for teachers to engage young learners in an online class. They did not take the online class seriously and got distracted easily, so it proved a challenge for teachers to arrange content in order to engage them and make the online session interactive for young learners. During the pandemic, language teaching shifted from physical to an online mode which demanded more effort and creativity. Teachers found a variety of material and resources available online, but there was no structured content that teachers could utilise in virtual classes to meet the learning needs of students. Both teachers and students interacted for a short period of time during online classes. This made it stressful for teachers to exercise their pedagogical skills to attain teaching and learning objectives. Due to limited time, teachers could deliver limited material online, which negatively impacted their motivation. But primary level teachers found it very challenging to be creative online. Teachers mentioned that a blended approach is needed for the integration of technology into pedagogical methodologies.

In order to overcome these challenges, teachers tried different strategies and techniques. The teacher used WhatsApp, worksheets, videos and google forums, but most of the teachers preferred Zoom for online teaching. They found communicative competence more effective in language teaching along with the direct method and grammar translation method. Teachers mentioned that a blended approach is needed for the integration of technology into pedagogical methodologies. In order to cope with the pedagogical and content-related challenges, teachers could use A.V. aids and pictures and could teach lessons in a rhythmic way. Teachers should be provided proper training for digitalised teaching, and technology-based learning should be integrated into classroom settings. In case teachers encounter such a situation in future, they would effectively deal with this situation and could overcome all the challenges.

Conclusion

This study intended to determine the challenges faced by primary-level English teachers in teaching online during the pandemic. It aimed to highlight the pedagogical challenges, issues related to content creation and the strategies to overcome these challenges. The data was collected from the primary-level English teachers. The quantitative data was collected through a questionnaire and analysed via SPSS software by using descriptive statistics. Teachers faced internet, technology-related issues, connectivity problems, lack of digital resources, structured content and lack of digital awareness. The findings of this study showed that it was challenging for language teachers to choose a material, generate creative content, arrange interactive sessions to engage young learners online and organise the content for language teaching in the virtual mode of teaching. It was suggested that there is a need for a blended approach for the integration of technology with pedagogical methodologies. Findings also suggested that teachers should be provided proper training and knowledge regarding digitalised teaching with future concerns.  

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