English Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices - A Mixed-Methods Study of 25 Countries in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aran

Investigates what English language teachers believe and do when education shifts to Emergency Remote Teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a mixed-methods design, 156 higher-education teachers across five regions reported their beliefs and practices, analyzed through quantitative frequencies and qualitative content analysis. Four themes emerged around teacher training and readiness, motivation, learner autonomy, and engagement, highlighting major challenges from insufficient technology and pedagogy preparation. Finds that technology-focused design was not adequately pedagogy-informed for effective online delivery, while adding EFL teachers’ perspectives to current COVID-19 online education knowledge.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Emergency Remote Teaching vs. Online Teaching

Challenges in the COVID-19 Shift

English teachers’ beliefs and practices: A mixed-methods study of 25 countries in the COVID-19 pandemic Kasim Koruyan, Serpil Meri-Yilan, Ali Karakaş Abstract: This study aimed to investigate what language teachers believe and practice regarding the transition to online teaching, which needs more extensive research to understand the effect of Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) on language teaching and learning. 156 teachers of English teachers in higher education across 5 regions stated their beliefs and practices regarding ERT that were studied through the analytical framework of data analysis informed by quantitative and qualitative tools. Descriptive statistics with the use of frequencies and percentages were used for the quantitative approach. As for the qualitative approach, qualitative content analysis was employed as the analytical tool for data analysis. Four main themes emerged from the analysis in which English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ beliefs and experiences gathered around the areas of teacher training and readiness for ERT, motivation, learner autonomy and engagement. Lack of training both on technological and pedagogical approaches was cited as one of the main challenges. In this sense, it was found that the pedagogy-informed design of new educational technology was not formed to deliver online teaching effectively. Therefore, this study adds to the knowledge of the current insights into online education amid the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly from EFL teachers’ perspectives. Keywords: COVID-19, emergency remote teaching, English language teaching, higher education, teachers’ beliefs Highlights What is already known about this topic: • Online education is mostly preferred during an emergency. • Teachers and students need a variety of support in online education. What this paper contributes: • In a time of crisis, teachers need more support and face a double challenge. • Teachers are positively inclined in theory towards learner autonomy and motivational boost. • There is a common-sense among teachers that their students are deprived of the ability and eagerness to utilize the opportunities that come along with remote teaching, especially in the Middle Eastern and Asian contexts. Implications for theory, practice and/or policy: • Technology should not be considered a resolution for language education but as a means that needs to be utilized appropriately. • There is a need to design the curriculum with both technology-driven and pedagogically driven teaching and learning approaches. Introduction With the widespread use of technology, the education sector has changed so much that higher education institutions (HEIs) advertised themselves as a leader to integrate online education into their programs. Furthermore, since foreign language learning requires practising and experiencing the 182 Published by Asian Society for Open and Distance Education (ASODE), Japan ISSN 1347-9008 [http://www.asianjde.com/](http://www.asianjde.com/) This is an open access article under the CC BY license language and lifestyle of the target language, learners have found online learning beneficial in receiving the information anytime and anywhere (Meri-Yilan, 2017) . In this sense, several online educational platforms have been set up for a wider group of learners in institutional settings, such as Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) and Learning Management Systems (LMSs) and/or around the world, e.g. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) . Both learners’ demand and HEIs’ supply have enabled institutions to sustain online education. However, sustainability remained as optional or region-based till the outbreak of COVID-19, which forced online teaching and learning globally and entirely. The COVID-19 pandemic, which erupted in the Wuhan district of China first in December 2019 and mushroomed across the world at the beginning of 2020, has led to a suspension in education, which gave educa

FAQs

What does the study examine about English teachers during COVID-19?

It examines what English teachers believe and how they practice when transitioning to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT), especially regarding its effects on language teaching and learning.

How was the research conducted?

It used a mixed-methods approach with quantitative descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) and qualitative content analysis to study teachers’ beliefs and practices.

What key challenges did teachers report?

Teachers cited insufficient training in both technological and pedagogical approaches, and the study found that new educational technology design was not effectively informed by pedagogy for online teaching delivery.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aran