Brave New Digital Classroom

College‐level world language faculty background characteristics and their perceptions of online language teaching during the pandemic

“…Despite the fact that the majority of world language educators had no prior experience with online teaching, many adapted quickly to the ERLT environment, made great effort to learn and improve their knowledge and skills in online language teaching, and even became motivated to teach more online courses after the pandemic. This is a big change from the widespread suspicion and even resistance against online language teaching among language educators reported in pre‐pandemic studies (e.g., Blake & Guillén, 2020; Kessler, 2018). However, due to the difference between planned online teaching and crisis‐prompted remote teaching, many ERLT researchers (e.g., Gacs et al, 2020; Jin et al, 2021; Klimanova et al, 2021; Waldvogel & Robayna, 2022) emphasize the need for adequate training on planned online language teaching to either strengthen world language educators' competence in online teaching or mitigate misunderstandings that may have developed during the ERLT.…”

“…First, prior experience significantly shapes world language educators' perceptions about the value of online language teaching which, in turn, strongly predicts whether they are motivated to teach online courses in the future. Given that the majority of college‐level world language educators in the United States had very little experience with hybrid or online teaching before the pandemic (Blake & Guillén, 2020; Klimanova et al, 2021), well‐planned and consistent training on online language teaching should be provided to college‐level world language educators regardless of their academic rank to help them develop a deeper and fuller understanding of potentials and limitations of online language teaching. Second, given prior experience significantly shapes the self‐confidence of only two types of faculty—full‐time nontenure‐line faculty and tenured faculty, more targeted training should be provided to full‐time nontenure‐line faculty and tenured faculty who never taught hybrid or online courses before.…”

“…Online language teaching researchers have proposed various curriculum guidelines for high‐quality online language teaching (e.g., Gacs et al, 2020; Meskill & Anthony, 2015; Russell & Murphy‐Judy, 2020). Despite the increasing popularity of online language courses, the majority of college‐level language educators were not well‐trained for and had very little experience with blended or fully online teaching (Blake & Guillén, 2020; Klimanova et al, 2021). Research (Brinkley‐Ertzkorn, 2020) shows that even after receiving training, novice online educators reported lack of confidence and dissatisfaction with their online classes.…”

“…Research (Brinkley‐Ertzkorn, 2020) shows that even after receiving training, novice online educators reported lack of confidence and dissatisfaction with their online classes. It is well documented that there exists hesitation, in some cases even resistance against online teaching among world language educators (e.g., Blake & Guillén, 2020; Kessler, 2018). On the other hand, research consistently shows that online language educators with prior experience were more innovative in their pedagogical practices, felt more satisfied with their online classes, and tended to be more open to future online teaching (e.g., Codreanu & Celik, 2013; Martin et al, 2019; Muñoz Carril et al, 2013; Slaughter et al, 2019).…”

The Applicability of CALL in Teaching EFL Based on Sudanese Universities Teachers’ Attitudes

“…Teachers often recognize that their students do indeed need additional input and output activities to help them continue to improve their language skills, particularly pronunciation skills. Blake (2008) argued that if computer technology is used wisely and creatively, it could play a very significant role in enhancing EFL learners' contact with the target language, particularly in the absence of the study abroad option. Such views signify the importance of computer technology in overcoming many prevailing problems in EFL situations and have many implications both for EFL teachers and learners.…”