HERMANSYAH. 2021. Vocational EFL Teachers’ Perception toward the Advantages and Obstacles Faced in Emergency Remote Teaching amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic in Balikpapan. (under supervisors of Dr. Ventje Jany Kalukar, M.A. and Dr. Iwan Setiawan, M.Pd). Samarinda: Unpublished Thesis. Mulawarman University.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, all schools have closed to stop the spread of the virus. The learning process was carried out from home by utilizing various kinds of applications and learning media in Indonesia. This research aims to identify the vocational EFL teachers’ perception of the advantages, obstacles, and solutions to overcome the obstacles the vocational EFL teachers faced in Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Balikpapan.
This research employed a mixed-methods approach by using an explanatory sequential design since both quantitative and qualitative data were needed. Fifty vocational EFL teachers participated in this research. The Data were collected from an online questionnaire and analyzed by a simple descriptive statistic by using frequency distribution and percentages since no treatment was used for data collection and followed by online interviews from selected five participants, and analyzed thematically by using ATLAS.ti QDAS software.
All of the vocational EFL teachers perceived the advantages and obstacles of ERT but the top five rankings were measured based on the highest mean score about the advantages, the online classes save time spent on travel in the first place, while the highest mean score about the obstacles was students have a tendency to postpone completing work in an online course. The data from the online interviews of how did vocational EFL teachers overcome the obstacles they faced in ERT amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Balikpapan were interpreted thematically. There were six themes that emerged from online interview data, namely the mastery of digital platforms, teachers’ pedagogy, time management, creativity, motivation, and tolerance. Some of the vocational EFL teachers faced the same obstacles while some were different. Even though they faced the same obstacles, they overcame the obstacles they faced in ERT in different ways. Most of the faced obstacles have been overcome, and they were work.
By knowing the advantages, obstacles, and solutions to overcome the obstacles the vocational EFL teachers faced in ERT can be useful in the future so the vocational EFL teachers are always ready when faced with a situation like ERT or other crisis circumstances. Future researchers are suggested to extend the participant and place of the research to explore more about the advantages and obstacles of ERT at a lower or higher level of education.

Keywords: Advantages, Emergency Remote Teaching, Obstacles, Perception, the COVID-19 Pandemic, Vocational EFL Teachers.