On the Quality of an EAP Course over Four Semesters of Online Education During Covid-19 Pandemic

Upholding the same standards, if not higher, in online courses as those in the face-to-face mode is crucial particularly during the time when online education is the only possibility due to the pandemic. The present study was an attempt to evaluate and compare the quality of an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course over five consecutive academic semesters (one face-to-face and four online semesters) at Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT) to find out if the quality of the online instruction during the Covid-19 pandemic was comparable to that of the face-to-face mode before the pandemic. In so doing, three course components were checked; vocabulary, grammar, and reading comprehension. 213 students studying English I at AUT were studied. The results of SPANOVAs run indicated that for the vocabulary and grammar components, the only group experiencing a significant disadvantage was the Feb.2020 group undergoing the online instruction right after the outbreak. However, for the reading comprehension component, no online group could reach a level of performance similar to that of the face-to-face group, indicating that the quality of online instruction could not uphold the same standards as those of face-to-face instruction. The possible reasons and implications are further discussed in the rest of the article.