The COVID-19 epidemic in Slovenia led to the closure of educational institutions and consequently a shift to remote learning. This occurred during all the declared COVID-19 epidemics in Slovenia, namely during the 1st wave (March–May 2020), the 2nd wave (November 2020–February 2021), and the 3rd wave (April 1–11, 2021). The main objective of our master's thesis was to investigate the comparison of remote English teaching between the 1st and 2nd waves in the 1st educational period of primary school, to determine whether teaching during the 2nd wave, was better, based on the knowledge and experience gained from the 1st wave. We did not include the 3rd wave in the study due to its shorter duration. In the theoretical part, we focused on early English language teaching, the use of information and communication technology in education, and remote learning. In the empirical part, we compared the process of remote English teaching during the 2nd wave to the 1st wave of the COVID-19 epidemic using an online survey questionnaire completed by 83 primary school teachers and English teachers who taught English in the 1st educational period of primary school in the academic years 2019/20 and 2020/21. The results show that the surveyed teachers rated the quality of remote English teaching during the 2nd wave better than during the 1st wave, although teaching remotely was challenging and stressful for them in both periods. During the 2nd wave, teachers more frequently conducted synchronous English lessons using video conferencing tools, while during the 1st wave, an asynchronous approach prevailed, involving the provision of materials and written instructions for work. In both periods teachers used various digital technologies for remote English teaching, which contributed to their assessment of improved digital competences during the 2nd wave compared to the 1st wave. In both periods of remote English teaching listening comprehension was the most frequently developed language skill remotely by teachers, followed by speaking and oral communication, reading and reading comprehension, and least frequently, writing and written communication. Teachers developed these language skills through various activities adapted for remote teaching, most of which were more frequently implemented during the 2nd wave compared to the 1st wave. During remote English teaching in the 2nd wave, the majority of teachers used tools for synchronous electronic communication and assessed students' understanding through oral responses via video conferencing. In the 1st wave, most teachers used asynchronous electronic communication and assessed students' understanding by reviewing completed exercises in notebooks. Most teachers did not grade remote English assignments in either period. The advantages of remote English teaching frequently mentioned were: improvement of digital competences of teachers and students, flexible organization of learning, and new ways of delivering course content. The challenges or obstacles frequently mentioned were: non-participation and unresponsiveness of students and parents, technical issues, and difficulties in assessing understanding, monitoring work, and tracking students' progress.
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