Pedagogical Innovations in the Post-2020 Second Language Teaching and Learning Classroom

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, which exposed the weakness of social systems and infrastructures in many parts of the world, compelled governments across the world to lock down vital public systems for several months. The worst hit was education, besides health. Educational institutions in developed countries promptly switched to online modes of teaching, while other countries shut down their institutions.Nigeria lost almost one academic session, a situation that threatened the actualisation of the country’s educational goals and, thus, national development. Educational administrators in the country were eventuallyforced to review and restructure pedagogical practices, shifting from the traditional face-to-face mode of teaching to blended and online learning platforms facilitated by information and communications technology, ICT, albeit with little or no successdue to government factors, teacher factors and learner factors. The experience triggered global thoughts towards diversity, equity, inclusion and access to education, with some international organisationsestablishing banks of open educational resources (OER). It also attracted attention to the phenomenon of learner engagement.Using Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework designed by Mishra and Koehler (2006),this study examines the post-COVID pedagogical setting. It focuses on the concept of learner engagement as a factor of personal engagement, organisational engagement and situational engagement, besides new devices and methodologies capable of assisting language teachers in their effort towards professional proficiency. TPACK framework identifies the three domains of knowledge essential for effective integration of ICT into teaching and learning as: content knowledge, pedagogical knowledgeand technological knowledge.