EFL teachers’ experiences with transitioning to online instruction : A study during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Main Author: Abrahamsson, Marcus
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR) 2021
• Subjects: EFL; online instruction; Semi-structured interviews; TPACK; General Language Studies and Linguistics; Jämförande språkvetenskap och allmän lingvistik
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-100837

Teachers need to continuously develop their Information and Communication Technology (ICT) proficiency to keep up with the rapid development of technology, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made this more apparent. This study aims to understand how EFL-teachers exercise their teacher agency and adapt their teaching in an environment where ICT is the basis for their teaching. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six upper secondary school teachers and then analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed a significant decrease in professional development as a result of reduced contact between colleagues. Most teachers have focused on developing their toolspecific skills. Adaption of teaching strategies has seen the most success in the teaching of writing proficiency. Most teachers are familiar with integrating technology with writing. Most teachers have found strategies to increase the accessibility of information as well as increased clarity of tasks. However, teachers have found it difficult to motivate students who have a hard time working on their own. They have also found it difficult to follow students’ progress in more extensive tasks.