The COVID-19 pandemic came with its set of challenges for the tradition face-to-face instruction in the global education system. Tanzania, like so many countries, was forced to close down schools and higher learning institutions as a measure to curb the spread of the virus. As the world was coming to terms with how to minimize effects on the education system, a new era of teaching and learning for Tanzania emerged and with it a set of challenges for an unprepared developing country in general. Consequently, language teaching and learning was affected by the enhanced mode of delivery of educational programmes. This talk intends to deconstruct the new era of language teaching and learning experiences in Tanzania in response to the impact of COVID-19. It discusses findings and draws on experiences that indicate increased learner creativity in learning language despite challenges of an uneven educational landscape in terms of access to technology-assisted learning. Furthermore, the talk shall explore potential benefits of technology-assisted learning from the pandemic experience, discuss its impact on the future of language teaching and learning and rethink the role of language teaching and learning in the new learning spaces and with the current learners after the pandemic.

Dr. Rose Acen Upor

University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

upor@udsm.ac.tz