Efl learners' perspectives towards online reading module of ielts: A study at tertiary level

Abstract

—This paper seeks to investigate the attitude of students towards attending IELTS (Reading) classes online. The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is a world-wide recognized test that students/ candidates have to take to assess their English language proficiency to study or work in an English-speaking context. They have to either take the IELTS Academic or the IELTS General Training modules. In recent times with the shift from face-to-face to online classes, the students face many challenges while attending online classes of IELTS, especially the reading module. This study aims to find out the problems which are faced by Saudi students while attending online classes. For this, 40 undergraduate students, both males and females of a public university in Saudi Arabia, were chosen as participants to carry out the study. A survey questionnaire was administered to the students who experienced challenges in online classes of IELTS. Based on the findings, the study concludes with some recommendations about how students can overcome the challenges they face while having online classes of the Reading module of IELTS.