THE STRUGGLES OF THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO COPE WITH ONLINE EFL LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC OF COVID-19

The research described here investigates the experience of the students in online learning during COVID-19 Pandemic. Methods of the investigation was qualitative case study approach involving two students from different Senior High Schools in Cimahi. This research specifically focused on the struggle of students in online EFL learning. The analysis of the students’ observation, interview and documentation revealed some strategies they used to overcome their problems. Results discovered that the Pandemic had made the students experienced uncertain learning journey. The online learning provided special challenges for the students and some strategies showed the important role of student agency in making them stay motivated.


INTRODUCTION
Senior High School students is already familiar with this digital world, yet they are still facing some obstacles in online learning, such as data plan and connectivity issue, lack of electronic devices, unconducive learning atmosphere, distraction, time management and many more. By all these difficulties, they still have to stay motivated to be successful to learn in this new condition. If students are sufficiently motivated to achieve and adequately engaged in classroom learning, their chances of succeeding academically are greatly enhanced (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012). During pandemic Covid -19, senior high school students are forced to cope with all challenges in online learning. However, it is not easy for the students to study from home because Learning atmosphere, learning method, learning media, and their learning habits are changed. While the students need time to adapt by preparing tools for online learning, accessing LMS, preparing data plan and many more. The efforts to adapt with the new habits are not easy.
"Online education is no longer a trend, but mainstream" (Kentnor, 2015). By the existence of pandemic of Covid19 todays, the world of education has changed rapidly from conventional learning into online learning. It has become a new normal today, although it is actually not a new way of learning. "Distance education was common beginning in the late 1800s, but its rapid growth began in the late 1990s with the advance of the online technical revolution. It is far from a new phenomenon, but it continues to reach new heights as the developments in technology advance." (Kentnor, 2015) Researches of online learning have been conducted by many researchers. The online learning itself have been defined in various ways. According to Anderson (2008), online learning defined as the use of internet to access learning materials; to interact with the content, instruction, and other learners; and to obtain support during the learning process, in order to acquire knowledge, to construct personal meaning, and to grow from the learning experience. Similarly, Carliner & Gery (1999) defines online learning as In this research, the researcher also conducted the informal interview and the topics were related to the students; experience while doing online learning.
In addition to interview and observation, the study reviewed the document such as photos of participants' online learning activity and screenshots or photos of participants' online tasks and learning materials.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Data from observation were the main data to figure out the students' struggle facing online learning during Covid 19. The findings reveal that the first participant (AZ) who was a third-grade student from SMAN 5 Cimahi learned English every Monday at 07.30 AM. From the researcher's point of view, AZ seemed to be reluctant to join the lesson that day. She only wore the uniform shirt and casual pants, and she said she hadn't showered yet. According to her, she used to take a bath at 05.30 AM, then she got ready, ate breakfast and went to school at 06.30 AM. However since Covid19 Pandemic, she said she never took a morning bath. "Aku gak pernah mandi pagi sekarang mah. Cuma cuci muka dan sikat gigi. Paling mandinya siangan aja". Moreover, her complete uniform was worn only when she had a virtual meeting by using ZOOM Meeting or Google Meet and it wasn't always every day. She said that she commonly studied in her bedroom but sometimes in the living room. However, every time the researcher came to her house, she always studied in the living room. She felt comfortable sitting casually on the floor. Books, stationaries and a smartphone had already been prepared. "Hape harus di cas, wajib. harus siap banget karena apa-apa di hape. Laptop buat zoom meeting aja".
When the lesson started, her teacher would sent the tasks or learning materials via Whatsapp Group (WAG) or Google Classroom (GCR). The learning materials were usually taken from Youtube or websites articles. Sometimes, the teacher done some tests by using Quiziz or Kahoot!.
On day one of observation and interview, she had a Google Meet, but she didn't turn the camera on. She said she rarely turn the camera on during virtual meeting because she didn't feel comfortable about it. "Zoom cameranya dimatiin karena malu kan, di rumah gitu. tapi kalo disuruh dinyalain ya nyalain". At the first time she used Google Classroom and virtual meeting apps (ZOOM Meeting and Google Meet), she didn't find significant difficulties. "Aku utak-atik sendiri. Awalnya emang bingung sih gimana cara masukin filenya, aku juga sempet salah kirim tugas, tapi akhirnya mah bisa sendiri." The completed assignments were sent over Google Classroom (GCR) According to her, since online learning she didn't dare to ask her teacher whenever she was in trouble. She felt uncomfortable and hesitant. "Sekarang kalo nanya kan harus personal chat gurunya, sedangkan kalo mau nanya tuh aku kaya canggung, dan kayanya gak sopan aja gitu, jadi takut dan ragu. Tapi kalo ketemu langsung kan bisa tau exspresi gurunya kaya gimana." Besides, from when she was in the third grade, she never met her teachers at all. "Kelas tiga kan gurunya beda semua, belum pernah ketemu, paling pas zoom aja ketemunya, tapi kan jarang juga". She also only knew some friends in the class, since the students were always been changed whenever they were moving up to the next grade. "Temen sekelas juga gak semuanya kenal, paling beberapa. Ya ngobrolnya paling di WA aja gitu." During online EFL learning, she looked very serious working on her task. Whenever she felt doubt and trouble, she would google the answer to find more explanation. "Kalo ada soal yang susah, atau ada yang ga ngerti gitu paling google aja sih, atau baca-baca lagi materi di buku pelajaran, nontonin lagi video Youtube dari guru, diputer diulang terus ampe ngerti." According to her, English lesson was not really difficult. Besides, she also liked the lesson because English accent sounded cool for her."Kalo bahasa inggris aku gak ada kesulitan, dari dulu suka karena logatnya keren gitu menurut aku apalagi yang British. Aku jadi pengen bisa ngomongnya". However, she found difficulties in reading section. "Tapi kalo ada soal cerita gitu kadang aku bingung ngejawabnya gimana. Bahasa Inggris kan kadang satu kata artinya bisa beda-beda gitu. Bahkan walaupun udah liat kamus atau cari di google translate aja aku masih bingung".
To get brief information about her behavior, the following is the observation findings of Participant 1 from day 1 to day 4: To gain deeper information about the participant asked some questions about learning English during online learning. Her statement was. "Awalnya kaget gak nyangka, seneng juga bisa libur sekolah, tapi lama-lama jengkel sama tugasnya yang bertubi-tubi". According to her, she sometimes felt bored studying at home. To change her mood, she would find another activities that made her more relaxed and happier. "Udah bosen aku mah belajar di rumah teh, jadi kadang biar semangat lagi mah suka cari hiburan gitu, ngapain we; nonton film, main game, dengerin music, ya selang-seling gitu biar semangat lagi". However, she admitted that online learning and offline learning had their own strengths and weaknesses. Her opinion is summarized and displayed in the table below: She stated that ever since the online learning started, her teachers had given her a lot of assignments. "Lebih banyak guru ngasih tugas, nerangin dikit, sisanya kita yang cari tahu sendiri. Tapi emang gitu kan ya harusnya metode belajar sekarang?". However, she said that she would try her best to understand the lesson if it was her favorite lesson. But if it wasn't, she would do as she could. "Kalo pelajaran lain yang aku gak suka ya kalo ga ngerti ya dibiarin aja semampunya aja, yang penting ada nilai masuk terus dari tugas-tugas yang dikerjain". She admitted that when she had too many assignments and she couldn't manage her time well, she would asked for permission to submit her assignments later. "Kalo pas lagi banyak tugas, terus ada yang belum beres, paling aku minta izin terlambat ngumpulinnya, terus aku pilih mana yang harus dikerjain duluan, mana yang harus dikumpulin duluan".
According to her, studying at home was not comfortable for her. Besides, the learning atmosphere was absolutely different. "Kalo sekarang kayak gak sekolah. Aku teh kayak pengangguran, pengen keluar gitu, walaupun cuma ke sekolah". Moreover, she admitted that she was easily distracted when studying at home since there were a little brother and a baby cousin that sometimes bothered her at home. However she said that listening to her favorite songs with earphone could make her more focus doing her tasks. "aku kalo belajar gak suka berisik, jadi aku ngatasinnya ya belajarnya suka sambil dengerin music kalo di rumah. Tapi kalo di sekolah mah, walau ga dengerin music, aku focus-fokus aja, ga tau, mungkin karena suasananya beda." Technically, AZ didn't have many difficulties since she had wifi connection at her home and equipped with online learning tools, such as laptop and proper smartphone. However, she said that during virtual meeting, the internet connection was sometimes unstable and she ended up asking her friends the meeting results. "Aku gak ada kendala sih kalo soal quota mah, kan ada wifi, palingan kalo zoom meeting aja suka kekeresekan atau sinyalnya jelek gitu, akhirnya mah ya nanyain temen tadi ngebahas apa aja, atau izin ke gurunya kalo pas lagi gangguan banget".
So far, she could follow the lessons even though she couldn't understand the learning materials her teachers gave. To get more understanding about the lesson, she would google the internet and re-read or re-watched the learning materials her teachers gave. "Selama online ini aku belajar dari google, kalo enggak ya nontonin lagi link youtube yang dikasih, baca-baca sendiri materi dari buku paket". Besides, she had made a chat group with her close friends on Whatsapp and studied together by using Whatsapp video call. She also had studied together at her house with her friends, but she was protested by her family because she had caused a crowd. "Aku dulu pernah belajar bareng di rumah sama temen-temen tapi karena kebanyakan jadi di tegur sama keluarga, abisnya kalo belajar lewat WA gitu ya sambil video call teh malah jadi gak puguh gitu, ga efektif".
However, she admitted that she believed in her ability. "Kalo ulangan, quiz, alhamdulilah aku selalu bisa, dan nilainya bagus-bagus. Walaupun aku ga ngerti penjelasan ibu, tapi pas ada tes aku bisa ngerjainnya karena mungkin sebelumnya nyari tahu sendiri. Aku merasa bisa. Ga bodo-bodo amat". According to her, the current way of learning had made her more independent, so when she didn't understand the lesson, she would work on it by herself.
The second participant was RA, she was a second grade student from SMAN 1 Cimahi. She was also a new student in the school. She had never been going to the school since she moved in. Moreover, she had never met her teachers and her classmates.
In her school, she had two types of English lessons. "Kelas dua ini ada dua gurunya. Ada guru untuk Inggris wajib dan ada yang untuk Inggris lintas minat. Aku juga kurang tahu bedanya apa, tapi sih kayanya sama aja." Her learning schedule was different every week. On odd weeks, her English lesson was every Wednesday and Thursday at 08.00 AM, and on even weeks the schedule was every Thursday at 09.00 AM. To observe her preparation before the lesson started, the researcher came to her house every 07.30 AM on odd weeks, and 08.30 AM on even weeks.
Acccording to the researcher observation, her house was conducive to study. There are only three people in her house. Her parents and the student herself. The house was quiet and neat. The atmosphere was so fresh since it was located in the suburb. Moreover, according to the participant, she liked to study in a silent and peaceful situation, sometimes listening to her favourite songs could make her more focus on her tasks..However, the participant felt isolated since she was the only child in her family and she admitted that school was obviously the most comfortable place to learn.
Before the online learning was started, books and stationaries were already well prepared on her study table in her room. Her smartphone had already been charged at night. According to her, since online learning, there was nothing much to prepare before school, because they were already at home. "Aku cuma harus nyiapin diri sendiri aja, sama hape. Kalo dulu biasanya dari malem sebelum tidur udah disiapin buku dan tugas dikerjain juga, kalo ada. Belajar nya mah pas disekolah aja".
The learning materials and the tasks were usually shared in Whatsapp Group by a class representation. "Jadi tiap pelajaran ada perwakilannya, jadi guru ngasih tugas atau link materi ke siswa ini, baru abis itu tugasnya disebarin ke group kelas." The learning materials were usually in the form of Youtube or Website links, Google Classroom or Aplikasi Sekolah.
Based on the researcher observation, she was focus working on her tasks during online EFL learning. She appeared to make every effort to solve her problems on her own, and when she couldn't get the answers, she would just work on her tasks as much as she could. When she didn't understand the materials, she would google the answers to find more explanation. Since online learning, she didn't dare to ask her teacher. "Kalo gak ngerti ga pernah nanya, soalnya gurunya juga interaksinya ga langsung ke semua siswa, cuma ke perwakilan kelas doang. Jadi nanya google aja" Besides, she had just moved in so she hadn't known her teacher very well. She was also rarely asked her classmates for help. "Gak nanya temen, karena temen juga sama ga ngertinya." To get brief information about her behavior, the following is the observation findings of Participant 2 from day 1 to day 4: Stay seated at her desk, and did her task.
Stay seated at her desk and did her task.
Stay seated at her desk and did her task.
Stay seated at her desk and did her task. Work on tasks and homework The task done and finished on time.
The task done and finished on time.
The task done and finished on time.
The task done and finished on time. To get more information about RA's opinion about online learning and EFL learning, the researcher started to ask some questions through casual conversation after she finished her tasks. She stated that online learning wasn't really hard on her. "Awalawal online sih biasa aja kaya ngerjain PR aja. Tapi ga tau bakalan selama ini. Jenuh juga sekarang mah. Aku sih ga apa-apa juga." However, she said she liked both online and offline learning. She could also follow the online learning lesson very well, although there were some struggles along the way.
According to her, during EFL learning, her teacher had never explained the lesson directly. "Kalo guru-guru yang lebih tua biasanya cuma ngasih tugas aja, kalo yang masih muda sering nerangin, bikin video sendiri atau zoom meeting". However, she said she didn't find many difficulties in learning EFL online since she liked the lesson. "Aku ngerasa bisa sih kalo pelajaran bahasa Inggris mah walaupun kalo daring belum pernah nerangin. Bahasa Inggris mah ngerti, susah juga masih bisa dicari jawabannya". Furthermore, ever since the online learning started, she said google had helped her to learn a lot and tried to solve her problems by herself. "Selama daring aku belajar sendiri, kalo ada link video ya diulang-ulang, googling juga, itu jawaban dari semua petanyaan, penyelamat banget google. Tapi, gimana yah? Aku paham tapi ga paham banget kadang masih ragu, ngerasa kurang aja klo bukan guru yang jelasin." Moreover, ever since the online learning started, she said that she had more assignments than before. However, according to her, she could manage the time so that she could finish all her assignments on time. "Aku bisa ngatur waktu sih. sejauh ini. Walau banyak tugas, tapi nyantai karena kebanyakan deadline nya juga masih lama. Jadwal aku kan genap ganjil. Kalo ada tugas yang harus hari itu juga biasanya gampang-gampang sih pelajarannya. Kalo ada tugas yang bisa ditunda, aku ngerjain tugas yang lain yang ada deadline nya". For more details, the following is the difference between Online Learning and Offline Learning according to RA: Based on the findings above, the participants have some similar struggles. During online learning, they had an excessive amount of assignments each day and sometimes given with predetermined deadline. During online learning, AZ felt in a rushed doing her assignments that were back to back, and they were due on the same day. "…tapi lamalama jengkel sama tugasnya yang bertubi-tubi. Ada yang harus dikumpulin hari itu juga, jadi sering rusuh ngerjainnya" (AZ-Participant 1). Similar to AZ, RA also felt that the assignments in online learning was larger than that in offline learning. "Belajar di rumah tuh kaya PR gitu. Tugas lebih banyak. Sekarang mah kaya lagi ngerjain PR aja tapi PR nya ada tiap hari dan banyak banget ditambah belajar sendiri." (RA-Participant 2).
The communication in the participants' online learning was synchronous communication. This communication was done at the same time Romiszowsky & Mason (1996), and happens during the live lesson, where the teachers can communicate with the students directly (Vukadin, 2020). The goal of online communications is the same as the goal in face-to-face communications: to bond; to share information; to be heard, and to be understood (Kilgore, 2016). However, the engagement between the teachers and the students didn't really close and familiar, that caused a lack of communicational skill development in online students (Tamm, 2019). This is also in line with wantiknas.go.id (2020), that e-learning is lack of interaction with the teachers. This could be caused by some problems. First, according to Tamm (2019) in www.estudent.org, online student feedback is limited. So, it gave negative impact on the participants' learning process. In the participant-1 the synchronous communication didn't make a continuous feedback. It can be seen when the teacher sent the materials via Whatsapp group chat, she didn't dare to ask for more details. "Kalo ada yang mau ditanyain, mau nanya temen juga kan temennya baru karena diacak kelasnya. Cuma kenal beberapa. Gurunya juga baru dan belum ketemu sama sekali jadi sungkan, gak berani aja." (AZ-Participant 1). The feeling of afraid, awkward and hesitant made her uncomfortable to chat her teacher personally.
Meanwhile, the communication in the participant-2 was through an intermediary of a class representation. Since the teacher didn't sent the learning materials directly, she felt more complicated to ask her teacher. Also, with the fact that she was a new student at school and hadn't met her teachers before made her more hesitant to have personal chat with her teacher. "Susah komunikasi ke guru, kaya ga enak kalo ga langsung, takut salah. Soalnya gurunya juga interaksinya ga langsung ke semua siswa, cuma ke perwakilan kelas doang." (RA-Participant 2).
Second, there was absence of body language in online learning that made the participants doubt to ask for more explanation. It is in line with the statement of Tamm (2019) that one of the disadvantages of online learning is that e-learning lacks face-toface communication. "Kalo ada yang belum ngerjain tugas, Guru suka ngingetin di WAG. Tapi ga tau itu tuh lagi marah apa enggak, jadi itu bikin aku gak berani nanya juga." (AZ-Participant 1).
The online school led to miscommunication and didn't provide convenience to the participants to get more understanding about their learning materials which are affected on their participation and learning performance. At school, they could ask directly to their teachers anytime and they got the questions answered right away. "dulu kalo ada yang gak ngerti ya langsung aja nanya ke gurunya, atau enggak ke temen" (AZ-Participant 1). They could also discussed or got ideas and suggestions about the lessons with their peers as well. "kalo ada pertanyaan yang susah, dulu mah bisa langsung ngerjain bareng-bareng, diskusi gitu" (AZ-Participant 1). According to Kilgore (2016), communication is to give information or get information to gain understanding and build relationships, however the participants admitted that in online learning, they didn't gain much understanding of the lessons as mentioned before.
One of the important things in online learning is the access to internet connection. According to wantiknas.go.id (2020) limited internet access is one of the weaknesses in online learning. Based on the findings, ZA' major problem was the internet signal that sometimes was not good and impeded the virtual meeting activities. "Sinyal kalo zoom itu suka gak jelas suaranya kresek-kresek, putus-putus" (ZA-Participant 1). Meanwhile, RA had trouble in internet data package that was easily run out. "Kuota aja yang susah, sekarang lebih boros. Apalagi kalo dipake Zoom and Youtube" (RA-Participant 2). Besides, she admitted that the free internet data from school was sometimes given late. "Kuota dari sekolah kalo belum dibagi, terus ada tugas yang harus dikumpulin, kadang suka bingung" (RA-Participant 2).
Furthermore, the learning atmosphere at home was obviously different with the school. According to the participants, when they were at home, their minds weren't not really on studying or reading textbooks, they had to push themselves to be productive. "Kalo di rumah tuh beda aja, ga tau kenapa. Gak kaya lagi sekolah. Tugas juga kaya PR aja tapi lebih banyak… pengen keluar gitu, walaupun cuma ke sekolah" (AZ-Participant 1). "Kaya ga sekolah. Libur. Kaya pengangguran." (RA-Participant 2). Meanwhile, at school they had no choice than to study and they were forced to work on the tasks as an individual or as a small group. "Kalo disekolah kan kita tau disekolah itu tempat belajar. kaya udah siap aja gitu mau ga mau ke sekolah teh buat belajar" (AZ-Participant 1) Additionally, the online learning had made the participants felt bored and isolated. "Pengen sekolah, di rumah aja bosen. Ga mau online terus. kaya terisolasi" (RA-Participant 2). "Bosen teh lama-lama dirumah terus mah, pengen sekolah lagi." (AZ-Participant 1). This is similar to Tamm (2019), he claimed that online learning can cause social isolation. They hadn't met their friends since the Covid-19 outbreak was declared a global pandemic. Moreover, RA hadn't met and faced to face directly with any of her classmates nor her teachers for she was a new student at school, even she had never went to her new school before.
However, they could overcome some of their problems. They both tried to be able to understand the lesson by themselves. They re-watched the related videos, re-read the textbook or googled the related materials in order to understand the topics they were learning. Whenever they felt tired, bored and stressed with their overloading and frustrating tasks, they knew when to pause and continue their work.
Refer to the findings on the first section, it can be found out the struggles and the efforts of participants in online EFL learning during Pandemic Covid-19. They are stated in the table below:  She would re-watch Youtube videos her teacher sent, or google the explanation. "Selama daring aku belajar sendiri, kalo ada link video ya diulang-ulang, googling juga, itu jawaban dari semua petanyaan, penyelamat banget google". 3 She didn't dare to ask questions She would google the answers. "Kalo gak ngerti ga pernah nanya, soalnya gurunya juga interaksinya ga langsung ke semua siswa, cuma ke perwakilan kelas doang. Jadi nanya google aja" 4 The internet connection was not good during the virtual meeting If the connection was really bad that made her couldn't join the virtual meeting at all, she would ask her friends and inform her teacher about it. "Kalo sinyalnya jelek ampe ga bisa ikut zoom paling paling ngasih tahu dan minta maaf ke gurunya kalo tadi gak bisa ikutin pelajaran, terus nanya temen" 5 The learning atmosphere at home and at school were different She tried to get used to it. "Kaya ga sekolah. Libur. Kaya pengangguran. Tapi da mau gimana lagi,membiasakan diri aja" 6 She was always given tasks to write the materials during virtual meeting She would take a rest for a while "Pas daring sering nyatet, apalagi kalo lagi ZOOM. Capek sih, istirahatin bentar, lanjut lagi, nanti abis zoom istirahat lagi". 7 English speaking practice was rare She would listen English songs and sing along. "Awal daring pernah disuruh kirim VN percakapan gitu. Tapi cuma sekali itu aja. Prakteknya sendiri aja nyanyi atau dengerin lagu Bahasa Inggris." 8 The internet data was easily run out.
Tethering the internet connection through her parents' smartphone. "Kuota aja yang susah, sekarang lebih boros. Apalagi kalo dipake Zoom and Youtube. Jadi kalo tiba-tiba habis ya aku minta tethering ke mamah". 9 Free internet data from school was sometimes given late • Requested permission to submit her assignments later. "Kuota dari sekolah kalo belum dibagi, terus ada tugas yang harus dikumpulin, kadang suka bingung. Jadi minta izin ngumpulin tugasnya telat" • Requested the teacher to not to have Zoom Meeting "terus kalo gurunya mau zoom, biasanya temen-temen diskusi dan memilih untuk enggak zoom." 10 She felt a lack of focus when learning outside her house She would put off her tasks if she could and continue to do the tasks at home. "Kalo pas lagi gak di rumah gitu ngerjainnya jadi kurang fokus gitu. Akhirnya mah ga ngerjain tugas, ngerjainnya di rumah aja. Tapi kalo harus saat itu juga ya cari tempat lain yang lebih sepi biar lebih fokus" 11 Sometime she felt stressful She would stop her activities. "Kalo stress aku mah ya udah dulu, liat waktu deadline juga, kalo waktu masih lama ya nyantai aja nanti kebut lagi." 12 She hadn't meet her teachers and classmates. She also hadn't went to her new school before.
However, according to her, she could be easily adapted with the online learning. All the struggles she had didn't made her gave up on her dream. She stated that she wanted to study in Universitas Indonesia (UI). Therefore, she had to get great scores on her report card in order to enroll to the university by Jalur Prestasi Akademik. "Aku pengen masuk universitas lewat jalur undangan. Jadi aku semangat belajar. Kalo ujian berusaha biar nilai lebih dari 80. Kalo lewat SBMPTN kan harus test dulu, ngambis lagi (berambisi