The Coping Strategies of English Instructors and Teachers with Perceived Stress While Giving Synchronous E-Lectures in the COVID-19 Era: A Non-Native EFL Context

Abstract

Stress has been ranked among the prevalent definitions in education where teachers’ time-limited duties, heavy workload, examinations, and potential administrative tasks are concerned and discussed. Particularly with the pandemic, some stress factors (or stressors), such as the sudden transition to online settings with an intense use of technology, have also seemed to impact educators’ professional contentment. By taking that into account, this study set out to examine the strategies that English teachers and instructors use to cope with their perceived stress while speaking in online classes. To that end, 83 English teachers from different education levels in distinct regions of Turkey and 96 instructors affiliated with schools of foreign languages were included in the research. First, a questionnaire developed by the researcher was administered and then, interviews were conducted with eight participants in the second data collection round. Despite having encountered stress occasionally, the majority of the attendees counter-intuitively reported not feeling the severe strain of COVID-19. It was then found that they had adopted mostly functional, approach-oriented, and cognitive strategies in the face of perceived stress. Furthermore, the participants’ adoption of approaches and avoidant styles in light of the brief COPE model also unearthed that they preferred cognitive strategies over behavioural ones. The educators’ seniority, and ways of coping with stress, however, were not significantly correlated. Yet, their digital experiences were more effective in influencing their sense of stress. In light of the findings, some suggestions and implications have been offered to educators in terms of managing stress in synchronous virtual classes.