EXPLORING TURKISH EFL TEACHERS’ ONLINE TEACHING SELF-EFFICACY DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIA

Abstract

The purpose of this research study is to investigate Turkish EFL teachers‟ self-efficacy levels for online teaching which was implemented during Covid-19 pandemia, in relation with some of their demographic characteristics (i.e. age, gender, years of teaching experience, online teaching experience, pre-service and in-service training on use of educational technologies). The study also examines EFL teachers‟ views on their online teaching self-efficacy in addition to their reflections on the pandemic online education. A mixed-method research design was implemented through two sequential data collection phases. The sample size was 160 EFL teachers working at state schools in Siirt province. The Michigan Nurse Educators‟ Sense of Efficacy for Online Teaching Scale (MNESEOTS), which was renamed as “EFL Teachers‟ Sense of Efficacy for Online Teaching Scale (ETSEOTS)” in this study‟s context, was applied for quantitative data collection, and a semi-structured interview was administered to gather qualitative data. Quantative findings showed that participant EFL teachers‟ average online teaching self-efficacy was at medium levels, not at desired levels. Moreover, qualitative findings revealed that the online education process was challenging for EFL teachers, because they had many problems and limitations, which, in turn, limited their language teaching activities and caused them to feel inefficient, exhausted, lonely and so on during online courses. On the other hand, their awareness and willingness for professional development, and interest in applied trainings about online teaching were raised. Consequently, it was implied that EFL teachers need to be supported through professional development opportunities that enable applied in-service trainings about online teaching and that the online teaching methodology needs to be incorporated into the pre-service training provided within teacher education programmes.