Research Information System
5th International Open and Distance Learning Conference, Eskişehir, Turkey, 28 - 30 September 2022, pp.785, (Summary Text)
Given the increasing trend toward online teaching all over the world, many components
of learning and teaching had to be redefined and new roles have been assigned to both
teachers and learners. For the learners who have been constantly engaged in digital
platforms and thus have developed digital competence, the transition to online teaching
seems to be smooth whereas for the teachers who have been conducting their lessons
mostly face to face such a radical change may have caused changes in the methods they
adopt, classroom management strategies they use or the way they perceive themselves
as the teacher. Just as in many areas of education, these abrupt changes have affected
language teaching, leading to a context where almost everything is digital. As a result,
language teachers have started to feel the need to redefine their roles and question their
aptitude for online teaching. Many studies have been carried out to explore language
teachers’ perceptions of online teaching and these studies have mostly dealt with
teachers’ attitudes towards teaching online. However, there seems to be little evidence of
comparative analysis of how language teachers perceive themselves in online teaching
and face-to-face teaching environments. For this very specific reason, this study
attempted to scrutinize the self-perceptions of EFL teachers both in online and faceto-face teaching contexts to contribute to the existing literature. The study specifically
dwelled on comparing teachers’ self-perceptions in two different teaching contexts with
a specific reference to their personality traits and teacher roles and thus presented a
new perspective. The mixed-method which includes both qualitative and quantitative
analyses was utilized in the current study to explore teachers’ current selves in two
different teaching environments. The participants were 50 EFL teachers employed
in various universities in Turkey. Data collected through the questionnaire were
analyzed using descriptive statistics while qualitative data collected via semi-structured
interviews were analyzed through content analysis to see the similarities and differences
in teachers’ self-perceptions in online teaching and in-person teaching. The findings
of the study revealed that regardless of such variables as age, teaching experience, and
gender, participants perceived themselves differently in online teaching and face-to-face
teaching environments. The personality traits they claimed to have and the roles they
assumed to adopt displayed significant changes. The findings of the study had some
implications both for EFL teachers and teacher trainers as it emphasized reflections
of participants regarding the “current self ” and the changes they undergo in different
teaching environments.
Keywords: Online Teaching, Face-to-Face Teaching, Teacher Perceptions.