The ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented shifts in higher education worldwide, with some nations more adversely affected than others. Since the onset of the crisis, almost all education abruptly moved to 'emergency remote teaching and learning'. While the United Arab Emirates has been praised for its swift and effective responses, unique cultural and linguistic dynamics in this region present additional challenges for teaching and learning. This article presents empirical data from a qualitative phenomenological case study investigating female Emirati university students' (n = 69) perspectives on the use of video cameras and microphones in online classes. Students' reflective writing and researcher observations in autumn 2020 revealed discomfort using video cameras and microphones due to a range of cultural and linguistic factors. Such factors include Islamic beliefs relating to modesty, home as a gendered space, noise considerations, concerns about privacy, struggles with language in their English-medium instruction university and fear of judgement from peers. Data are interpreted thematically using intersectionality together with Goffman's theories of everyday interaction, stigma and relative deprivation, through which complexities of learner identities are explored. Practical suggestions are made on ways to adapt online learning to better suit the cultural and sociolinguistic realities of periphery and Global South contexts. It is argued that greater efforts need to be made toward inclusion of marginalized learners during the COVID-19 period.

Keywords: COVID-19; emergency remote teaching and learning; identity; inclusion; intersectionality.

© The Author(s) 2021.

当前全球的COVID-19大流行导致了世界各地高等教育前所未有的变化，有些国家受到的影响比其他国家更为严重。自从危机开始以来，几乎所有教育都突然转向“应急远程教学和学习”。虽然阿联酋因其迅速而有效的应对措施受到了赞扬，但该地区的独特文化和语言动态为教学与学习带来了额外的挑战。本文通过一项定性现象学案例研究，基于2020年秋季69名女性阿联酋大学学生的视角，探讨了她们在在线课堂中使用视频摄像头和麦克风的看法。学生们的反思写作和研究人员观察表明，由于一系列文化和语言因素，学生们对于使用视频摄像头和麦克风感到不适。这些因素包括与伊斯兰教关于谦逊的信仰有关的因素、家庭作为性别化空间的问题、噪音考虑、隐私担忧、在以英语为教学媒介的大学中使用语言方面的困难以及来自同伴评判的压力。通过使用交叉性理论结合戈夫曼的日常生活互动理论、污名和相对剥夺理论对数据进行主题分析，探讨了学习者身份的复杂性。提出了针对适应在线学习方式的具体建议，以便更好地符合边缘地区及全球南方的文化和社会语言现实。文章认为，在COVID-19期间需要做出更大的努力来包容被边缘化的学习者。

关键词：
COVID-19；应急远程教学与学习；身份认同；包容性；交叉性理论。