English as a Foreign Language Teachers’ Pedagogical Beliefs About Teacher Roles and Their Agentic Actions Amid and After COVID-19: A Case Study

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak has seen the largest-scale emergency remote teaching in world history. Drawing on concepts of teacher belief and teacher agency, this study seeks to explore whether teachers’ beliefs about teacher roles may influence their agentive use of online technology amid and after COVID-19. By tracing four English as a Foreign Language teacher participants in both an emergency remote teaching context and a resumed face-to-face classroom setting, our study reveals a complex relationship between teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and their online teaching practices. This study highlights the role of teacher agency and calls for a closer examination of the complexity of teacher roles to better understand teachers’ agentive technology integration in teaching. The study bears significance for educational technology development and teacher education for emergency remote teaching in the post-pandemic era.

Teaching and learning languages online: Challenges and responses

“…For example, when language teachers do not find their imagined identity (e.g., an entertaining, interesting, and uplifting teacher) to be feasible in the virtual space, they necessarily take on a pragmatic identity, shifting attention to examinations and course quality ( Yuan & Liu, in press ). In a similar vein, Gao & Cui, (in press) argue that teachers’ pedagogical beliefs about teacher roles (i.e. a coach, a guide, or a caring example) have a long-lasting impact on their agentive adoption of online teaching activities, which is sustained in offline class when they resume.…”

“The Nail That Sticks Out Gets Hammered down”: The Influence Of EFL Context On The Teacher Beliefs Of A Native English-Speaking Teacher

“…The degree of connectedness makes a belief more central and less vulnerable to change (Pajares, 1992;Rokeach, 1968). Central beliefs, also called core beliefs, have been found to have a greater impact on teachers' practices than peripheral ones (Gao & Cui, 2022).…”

The moderating effect of participation in online learning activities and perceived importance of online learning on EFL teachers’ teaching ability

“…In another study, Yuan and Liu [ 49 ] contended that L2 teachers’ identity shifts from imagined identity to pragmatic identity depending on the virtual space and resources. Likewise, Gao and Cui [ 61 ], examined teachers’ pedagogical beliefs about teacher roles and asserted that the use of online teaching activities depends on teachers’ beliefs about teaching. Other studies have highlighted teachers’ emotions and competencies such as technological, classroom management, and online teacher interactional competencies [ 40 , 62 ].…”