TEACHING ENGLISH THROUGH AN ONLINE LEARNING MODEL TO EFL STUDENTS IN RURAL AREAS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: TEACHER'S REFLECTION

Theoretical and empirical grounds suggest that the discussions on teaching English through an online learning system to EFL students in rural areas are limited in numbers. The voices and challenges experienced by EFL teachers of rural areas remain unexplored. This research is thus to shed light on the difficulties of EFL teachers in teaching English through an online learning system to EFL students of rural areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research used a qualitative research method with a case study design. The research participant was a teacher teaching English at one of the senior high schools in rural area in West Java. The data collection techniques used in this research were reflective writing journals and semi-structured interviews. Three steps were used in analyzing the data: data condensation, data display, drawing, and verifying conclusion. The findings revealed two primary challenges the EFL teacher faces during online learning: technological challenges and students' self-regulated learning. Technical challenges related to an unstable internet connection, limited internet quota, and lack of appropriate devices. Meanwhile, students' self-regulated learning is related to students' motivation in online learning. Several possible suggestions were applied in facing the challenges in online education: creativity , using different methods, and learning strategies appropriate to the teaching material.


INTRODUCTION
states that Indonesia is a nation where the most population used Bahasa Indonesia as the lingua franca, and English is considered a foreign language (p. 65). As a consideration of foreign language, teaching English becomes a professional and academic field (Lin & Chien, 2010, p. 1) from primary to university (Nufus, 2018). Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) refers to teaching English to students whose first language is not English (Rohmah, 2013). More specifically, Rohmah (2013) states that TEFL usually occurs in the student's own country, either within the state school system or in private institutions, and TEFL teachers may be native or non-native speakers of English.
In Indonesia, in urban areas and rural areas, English is one of the primary subjects. Dube (2020) defines rurality as the composition of human settlements with agricultural production as the main economic activity or isolated from urban areas. Rural areas are remote places found in the countryside, in forests and mountains. Typically, rural people lack access to socio-economic amenities, such as quality of education, good health services, transport, marketing facilities, and even electricity.
Teaching English in rural areas is challenging everywhere in rural education (Holguin & Morales,. Çelebi (2016) found the troubles in teaching mother tongue and books and materials unrelated to Turkish culture, way of thought, and learning styles teaching English in rural Turkey. Previous research has shown that teaching English in the context of Indonesia has experienced significant problems. Problems such as low teachers' competence, the reduction of English language instruction time in the 2013 Curriculum, the use of poorly-written textbooks, the less than optimum amount of English conversation in the classroom, and the traditional classroom seating setting prevented from effective teaching in classes (Linnan 2014;Buyukyavuz & Inal, 2008cited in Agung, 2019Susiyanti, 2019). Besides, nowadays, in the pandemic era, teaching English in the rural area becomes more challenging.
Since the end of 2019, Coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, has become a current pandemic worldwide (Atmojo & Nugroho, 2020). The entire system that runs like a government and the economy, including education in Indonesia, is disrupted (Utami, 2020). The Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia has instructed schools to carry out online learning since 17 March 2020 for COVID-19 affected areas (Mendikbud, 2020). These policies lead students to learn from home and teachers to work from home, too. It fully replaces face-to-face learning in a classroom setting with online learning, which possibly lasts till the end of the semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Atmojo & Nugroho, 2020).
The global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic causes class suspensions, resulting in online learning needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. This online learning is because students and teachers cannot gather face-to-face (Blake, 2011 cited in Atmojo & Nugroho, 2020;Moorhouse, 2020).
In the COVID-19 pandemic era, it represents a blow to rural learners who used a traditional classroom set-up where a teacher is visible to students and the teacher monitors learning at close range (Dube, 2020). Moreover, he states that the traditional approach to teaching is no longer permissible. There is a need to invent new ways of education, such as online learning, which, unfortunately, is unique to students and teachers in rural areas.
According to Abbad (2009), as cited in Utami (2020), online learning uses information as communication technologies to enable online education or teaching resources. Ally (2008) states that online learning utilizes the Internet to access materials, interact with content, teachers, and other students, and gain assistance in the learning process. Online learning can make meaning and progress through the learning experience and assist by electronic devices, such as tablets, smartphones, laptops, and computers, requiring an internet connection (Gonzalez & Louis, 2018). Dube (2020) points out that some learners in cities are already using online learning. All learners will write the same examination at the end of the year, but COVID-19 and the implementation of online learning have magnified the challenges rural learners and teachers face. Moreover, he states that rural teachers and learners lack helpful information, education, and skills essential for community development, selfdevelopment, and the fight against COVID-19.
Significant studies that related to EFL rural teachers' reflection in teaching English through online learning in the Covid-19 pandemic are limited in numbers. Most studies only focus on teachers' experiences in the classroom ecology of language teaching, selfregulated learning towards the English subject, and integrating CALL into English language learning (Paul, 2020;Sharma, 2020;Siswanto & Mbato, 2020).
Based on the background, this research will investigate EFL teachers' reflection toward voices and challenges faced by EFL rural teachers in one of the senior high schools in Jampang Kulon, Sukabumi, teaching English through online learning system EFL students of the rural area during the COVID-19 pandemic era. The problem in this research is the reflections of EFL rural teachers in teaching English to EFL students of the rural area during the COVID-19 pandemic era through an online learning system? This problem reflects two questions: What are the reflections of EFL rural teachers in teaching English through an online learning system to EFL students of the rural area during the COVID-19 pandemic era? And how does the teacher overcome the challenges?

PREVIOUS STUDY
Several studies are relevant to this research, including Saiful & Triyono (2018), who researched EFL Teachers' Reflection in Teaching English to EFL Students of Rural Areas. The study showed that patience and creativity are two vital points in teaching English to rural regions. In handling the student's needs, patience and creativity, and teaching-learning activities in the classroom. More importantly, teachers must have strategies and techniques to make students love learning English.
Besides, in terms of challenges faced by participants, these are the challenges in students' motivation, low comprehension, learning resources and materials, unsupportive environment, and accessibility of teaching preparation. The lack of facilities and learning materials can cause students to be less interested in English and lazy to learn English.
Some recommendations for English teacher candidates who intend to be English teachers in rural regions are; related to personality traits or characters, discipline, creativity, innovation, patience, and firm. The following recommendation is related to the language or "teachers' talks" when teaching English in the classroom. The last one related to times explaining the materials to the students.
The study has a similar focus with the research related to the teachers' reflection in teaching English to students of rural areas. At the same time, the difference in the study examines the teacher's reflection in teaching English through an online learning system to EFL students of rural areas. Thus, this research will focus on teachers' reflection in teaching English through online learning systems to EFL students of rural areas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sarigul (2017) clearly states that teaching the English language is a specialist discipline that requires a set of pedagogical and professional skills because English is a standard language of global communication that can guarantee the availability of opportunities to employment, travelling, higher education, and even better life (Mappiasse & Sihes, 2014;Crystal, 1997) Lin & Chien (2010) classify teaching English into several terms there are Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), and Teaching English as Other Language (TESOL).
In short, Teaching English is a non-technical term for English teachers because the English language is a specialist discipline that requires a set of pedagogical and professional skills. Teaching English can be portrayed as Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), and Teaching English as Other Language (TESOL). via the Internet. Direct interaction with teachers and students in real-time is very much like a traditional face-to-face classroom. Instant feedback and answers can help students resolve any problems they encounter in learning. Facial expressions and tones of voice can aid them to have the human feel at a broader spectrum and lead to global interaction without much cost.
An asynchronous mode of learning/teaching has been the most prevalent form of online teaching so far because of its flexible modus operandi (Hrastinski, 2008cited in Perveen, 2016. Asynchronous environments provide students with readily available audio or video lectures, handouts, articles, and PowerPoint presentations. This material is accessible anytime, anywhere via online learning tools. Therefore, asynchronous space leads to self-paced, independent, student-centred learning and interactive to keep track of online activities (Murphy, Rodríguez-Manzanares & Barbour, 2011 cited in Perveen, 2016). Some of the challenges of synchronous education can be the need for the availability of students at a given time and the necessary availability of a good bandwidth Internet. Participants can feel frustrated and thwarted due to technical problems In conducting online learning, teachers worldwide are increasingly using the "Internet" and "Technology" as tools of support in language classes (Grauss, 1999;Frizler, 1995as cited in Prasetya 2021. Significantly in facing this COVID-19 outbreak, the online learning system is to be held to accommodate the teaching and learning process from home due to COVID-19 pandemic forces study. In conducting online learning, there are several tools or applications such as Google Classroom, Zoom, Google Duo, Ruangguru, WhatsApp, Quizizz, and YouTube. Google classroom is a free web service developed for schools and various educational institutes by Google, which purely aims to simplify paperless formation, distribution, and also grading of assignments provided, which is a manually grading system (Mayne, Wilson & Kennedy, 2020). Some limitations of using Google Classroom also should be taken into account, related to the need for supporting smartphones and the availability of mobile data in using this application (Alim et al. l, 2019) Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing service that you can use to meet virtually with others-either video or audio-only, or both, all while conducting live chats-and it allows you to record those sessions for viewing later (Regier, Smith & Byers, 2020).
Google Duo is a Google-developed mobile video chat app, available on Android and iOS operating systems (Yacob et al., 2020).
Ruangguru is an Indonesian online learning application that can access learning videos, practice questions, private lessons, tryouts, and many more from a smartphone or PC. Various levels range from elementary schools to senior high schools, and it is following the national curriculum and designed by experienced master teachers.
The WhatsApp group allows its users to deliver specific announcements, share ideas and learning resources, and supports online discussions (Amry, 2014). The benefits of using the Whatsapp Messenger Group application in learning, namely (1) Whatsapp Messenger Group provides collaborative and collaborative learning facilities online between teachers and students or fellow students both at home and at school, (2) Whatsapp Messenger Group is a free application that is easy to use, (3) Whatsapp Messenger Group can share comments, texts, images, videos, sounds, and documents, (4) Whatsapp Messenger Group makes it easy to disseminate announcements and publish their work in groups, (5) Information and knowledge can be easily created and disseminated through various features of the Whatsapp Messenger Group (Susilawati & Supriyatno, 2020) Quizizz is a gamified online tool, which helps students check their knowledge and progress in learning. In Quizizz, the question order is randomized for each student. With Quizizz, teachers can also assign homework to give students additional practice. Each question ought to be multiple choices with two or four possible answers. Quizizz is a free, user-friendly online formative assessment tool that helps teachers assess students' language and curriculum knowledge (Rahayu & Purnawarman, 2018). Furthermore, Quizizz is a fun multiplayer classroom activity that allows all students to practice with their computer or smartphone and join with code/pin.
The implementation of YouTube video into the classroom displays a significant contribution to flexibility in instruction. The use of YouTube in teaching plays a leading role in helping students understand the lesson, presenting a substantial influence on students' understanding, and providing suitable teaching materials (Almurashi, 2016).
According to Peng (2019), EFL is regarded as English as a foreign language, learning English in non-English-speaking countries. Yoko Iwai (2011) states that EFL refers to those who know English in non-English speaking countries. (E.g., Indonesian people who learn English in their country are EFL learners).
Another definition comes from Carla Mortensen (2007), who defines EFL as the teaching of English taught in a country where English is not the first language. The audience of EFL are those for whom English is not the first language or the official language of the country, and English is not used for daily communication (Peng, 2019).
According to Dieltiens (2008), rural schools certainly have problems, predicaments that most require systemic effort and creative ideas. Rural areas already face tremendous barriers to high learner attainment and operate in less than favourable policy environments.
Nowadays, in facing online learning, Dube (2020) add points that there are several challenges for rural schools such as unavailability of a network in rural areas, lack of devices to connect for online learning, lack of computer skills of some rural teachers, and expensive internet data.
Yuwono (2005), cited in Sulistiyo (2016), argues that English teaching and learning in Indonesia is not ideal, especially in rural areas. She states several issues such as teachers' qualifications, teachers' time availability, the number of students per class, and the availability of resources and facilities, which all significantly affect the teaching and learning of English.
Hidayah & Marhaeni (2016) also reported that due to the teachers' shortage, some school subjects are taught by those without relevant qualifications. English teachers also should decide the suitable strategies; the rural students also have fewer lessons because the students at the rural school were still challenging to study in a serious mood. Students in rural schools have not been able to use the Indonesian language correctly and adequately, so the teachers should use translation strategy during the teaching-learning process.
In conclusion, teaching English in rural areas face many challenges, such as the unavailability of a network in rural areas, lack of devices to connect for online learning, teachers' qualifications, and teachers' time availability. The number of students per class and the inability to use the Indonesian language correctly and adequately is challenges. For that, English teachers should decide the suitable strategies to obtain the English learning and teaching process in rural schools.
A quantitative approach focuses on issues or phenomena by gathering data in numerical form and analyzing with mathematical methods in particular statistics (Aliaga & Gunderson, 2002). Whereas a qualitative case study offers more extensive details on a specific phenomenon, people can share and understand others' social experience, a case study also provides a holistic interpretation and always refers to a social context (Suryani, 2008;Stake, 2005). Additionally, a case study does not involve any treatments, experiments, or manipulated social settings, and the data are natural phenomena in people's real lives (Suryani, 2008).
Qualitative research is conducted through intense and prolonged contact with participants in a naturalistic setting to investigate individuals, groups, societies, and organizations (Miles & Huberman, 2014). This research used qualitative research because qualitative research is designed to understand the phenomenon from the participants' perspectives (Merriam & Grenier, 2019). This research investigates the teachers' reflection in teaching English through an online learning system to EFL students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, qualitative research might further discuss the phenomenon related to the teachers' reflection in teaching English through an online learning system to EFL students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This research has done at a senior high school in Jampang Kulon, Sukabumi, West Java. The study was in school since school in a rural area and considering the teacher's observation. This research took place from May until June 2021. With the enactment of WFH (Work from Home), The research participant was a female EFL teacher teaching English at one of the senior high schools in Jampang Kulon, Sukabumi, West Java. During online learning, she teaches English subjects for grades XI and XII. Because this research investigates the teacher's reflection in teaching English through an online learning system to student EFL students of rural areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research needs participants who teach English to EFL students of rural areas.
This research used reflective writing journals and interviews as the research instrument. Reflective teaching is an approach to teaching and teacher education based on the assumption that teachers can improve their understanding of teaching and the quality of their teaching by reflecting critically on their teaching experiences. It tells them to relate theory and practice, to evaluate both old and new teaching experiences, and to make interpretations on the situations encountered (Qing, 2009). Thus, a reflective writing journal was used in this research as the data collection instrument to reveal EFL teacher voices and challenges in teaching English through an online learning system to EFL students of the rural area during the COVID-19 pandemic era at one of the senior high schools in Jampang Kulon, Sukabumi, West Java.

Respondents
The participant made the reflective writing journal. The participant could use either Bahasa Indonesia or English to write or type the journal. The participant has informed some key points, such as the experiences and challenges she had faced or obtained since teaching English through an online learning system to EFL students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instruments
For a research instrument, interviews or question and answer sessions are one of the best ways to learn or explore profound information from someone (Utami, 2020). "An interview offers the possibility of gaining insight into the interviewee's world and a deeper understanding of the nature or meaning of the interviewee's everyday experiences" (Bolderstone, 2006 p. 17). The interview was semi-structured to gain insight and gather a more profound understanding of the teachers' reflections regarding the voices and challenges in teaching English through online learning systems to EFL students of the rural area of the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Procedures
After the data had been collected, then the obtained data were analyzed and interpreted. The research used the data analysis technique based on Miles and Huberman (2018), there are data condensation, data display, and drawing and verifying conclusions. Data condensation refers to the process of selecting, focusing, simplifying, abstracting, or transforming the data that appear in the total corpus (body) of written-up field notes, interview transcripts, documents, and other empirical materials. Data condensation occurs: writing summaries, coding, generating categories, developing themes, and writing an analytic memo. In the process of data condensation, firstly, after the data about teachers' reflection in teaching English through the online learning system to EFL students of the rural area during the COVID-19 pandemic era had been collected through reflective writing journal and interview then the data were transcribed. Next, the irrelevant data which were not related to the topic and research question were discarded. After collecting and focusing the data, then the data were displayed.
Data display is an organized, condensed assembly of information that allows analytic reflection and action. The condensation process and data display were based on the formulation of the research question (Yuana, 2016). The research problem is: What are the reflections of EFL rural teachers in teaching English to EFL students of the rural areas during the COVID-19 pandemic era through an online learning system? From the start of data collection, the qualitative analysis begins to decide what things mean by noting regularities, patterns, explanations, possible configurations, causal flows, and propositions. Drawing and verifying conclusions is started after all the data were collected. In other words, the data was analyzed continuously and proved to get the accountable decision about the teachers' reflection in teaching English through an online learning system to EFL students of the rural area during the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Data Analysis
The data from reflective writing journals and interviews revealed the voices and challenges faced by EFL rural teachers in one of the senior high schools in Jampang Kulon, Sukabumi, teaching English through an online learning system to EFL students of the rural area during the COVID-19 pandemic era. The participant's participation in this distance learning experience, somehow, was influenced by several factors. As the participant mentioned in the interview session, while conducting online learning, the participant used several applications and platforms: Zoom, WhatsApp, School Website, and YouTube.
Concerning the problem in conducting online learning, one of the crucial problems faced by the participant comes from the unstable internet connection. The participant mentioned that having wrong signals or an unavailable internet connection is one of the critical problems in conducting online learning. As the participant said in her reflective journal, a stable and strong internet connection is essential for operating online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Another challenge that participants mention is that most students say they have no internet quota for online education.
The next problem mentioned by the participant was caused by the lack of appropriate devices for online learning. Online learning needs electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, computers, and laptops that require an internet connection (Gonzalez & Louis, 2018). But, in this case, based on the reflective journal participant, the participant states that: The participant expressed that the students seem to lose their interest in learning while conducting online learning. As the participant mentions in her reflective journal: This situation is called students' lack of self-regulated learning. Self-regulated learning refers to one's ability to understand and control one's learning environment (Shuy, 2010). Self-regulation abilities include goal-setting, self-monitoring, selfinstruction, and self-reinforcement (Harris & Graham, 1999;Schraw, Crippen, & Hartley, 2006;Shunk, 1996cited in Shuy, 2010. Self-regulated learning consists of three components; they are cognition, metacognition, and motivation. Motivation refers to the perceived relevance of an activity that impacts behavioural intention (Hermida, 2020). Schunk et al. (2014) argued that the success of online learning was related to students' motivation.
During the interview session, the participant also presented possible solutions suggested in facing online learning. In the interview session, the participant states that: As participant Bulan states in the interview session, she shares several tips for facing challenges during online learning. They are creative using specific methods and certain learning strategies. Creativity needs to break the students' boredom by providing practice questions through a fun quiz form (crossword puzzles, quizzes, etc.) and using specific methods and strategies to make the students understand the material.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Transitioning face-to-face learning into online learning due to COVID-19 has been a complicated undertaking for rural areas education institutions. While online learning in other countries is easily accessible, it is different for Indonesians who live in rural areas who find it difficult (Febrianto et al., 2020). Not all the learning processes in rural areas can be conducted through face-to-face teaching and video conferencing; there are many challenges in the supporting facilities. This situation makes online learning not so applicable in several regions in Indonesia, including in Jampang Kulon, Sukabumi, West Java. Regarding the challenges faced by EFL rural teachers in teaching English through an online learning system to EFL students of the rural area during the COVID-19 pandemic era, the results of this research were divided into two categories: technological challenges and students self-regulated learning.
Technological challenges in this research are primarily related to internet connectivity, internet quota, and electronic devices. Even though the Internet is easy to access, students still face difficulty accessing the internet network because of their lives. Research carried out by Nashruddin et al. (2020) states that the Internet does not cover some students who live in remote rural areas. In addition, their cellular network is sometimes unstable due to the geographical location, which is quite far from the signal coverage. This problem also occurs in many students who do online learning, so the implementation is less effective. It was in line with the results of this research that unavailable internet connection is one of the crucial problems the participant faces in conducting online learning at one of the senior high schools in Jampang Kulon, Sukabumi West Java. This condition affected the online learning process, where the students cannot follow the online learning as expected by the teacher.
Another technological challenge was related to the limited internet quota. The problem is not only in the unstable internet connectivity but also in the absence of the internet quota. Having no internet quota affects students who cannot access the material given by the teacher. We all know that providing an internet quota requires a high cost. This difficulty is felt by students and parents from middle to lower class economies. They do not have an adequate budget to provide an internet network.
Lastly, the technological challenges were related to the lack of appropriate devices for online learning. Availability of technological devices such as desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, and tablets is vital for students to attend the online session and participate in both asynchronous and synchronous learning activities (Khlaif et al., 2021). Amounts of 18 to 20 per cent of students outside 3T areas do not have access to computers and smartphones Eloksari (, 2020). In line with the result of this research, some students face difficulty accessing online learning because they have no appropriate devices for online learning.
Self-regulated learning refers to one's ability to understand and control one's learning environment (Shuy, 2010). Self-regulation abilities include goal-setting, self-monitoring, self-instruction, and self-reinforcement (Harris & Graham, 1999;Schraw, Crippen, & Hartley, 2006;Shunk, 1996cited in Shuy, 2010. Self-regulated learning consists of three components, and they are cognition, metacognition, and motivation. Motivated students will engage in self-regulatory activities that help them achieve their goals (Kemp et al., 2019). Enhanced self-regulated learning skills enable learners to find the best solutions for challenges or obstacles facing them, thus achieving their learning goals and succeeding in their learning process (Albelbisi & Yasop, 2019). Moreover, this research has shown that a lack of self-regulation skills related to the student's motivation in online learning may result in individuals spending extra time completing assignments, turning in late charges, or even having no interest in online learning. As a result, projects that should have been submitted on time were often stretched. One occasion, a participant mentioned that the students could not meet the class session because of many excuses. For example, they forget the schedule or open other applications such as online games and social media rather than study.
A study conducted by Febrianto (2020) has explained no significant difference between online learning and conventional learning (face-to-face). Online interaction fosters closeness and a better time interacting than face-to-face interactions (Fortune, Spielman & Pangelinan, 2011;Schoenfeld-Tacher, McConnell, & Graham, 2001;Rovai & Jordan, 2004cited in Febrianto, 2020. However, this is different from the results of this research. The data results indicate that the participant prefers conventional learning (face-to-face) was better than online learning and inseparable from the various problems mentioned above.
The participant also suggested possible solutions in facing online learning. The participant mentions that as the EFL teacher teaches English through an online learning system, they have to have creativity, using specific methods and learning strategies to deal with the challenges. The invention needs to break the students' boredom by providing practice questions through a fun quiz form (crossword puzzles, quizzes, etc.). Thus, in using specific methods and learning strategies to make the students understand the material.