To Teach or Not to Teach: An International Study of Language Teachers’ Experiences of Online Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Schools have been switching to online learning to ensure students’ learning continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is a paucity of studies examining language teachers’ motivations and decisions for continuing online teaching in the future. This study aims at investigating the significant factors influencing language teachers’ motivations and decisions on online teaching. Based on the aim of this study, three research questions guided this study: (1) What was language teachers’ experience of online teaching? (2) What motivates language teachers to teach online after the COVID-19 pandemic? (3) What demotivates language teachers to teach online after the COVID-19 pandemic? Eight language teachers coming from six countries and regions, namely, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Russia, and Taiwan, were selected to have two one-on-one semi-structured interviews. The researcher used Social Cognitive Career Theory as a theoretical framework and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis as the methodology to examine language teachers’ experiences in-depth. This study found that better time management and a positive learning environment are the reasons for continuing online language teaching, while personal beliefs on education and negative teaching outcome expectations are the reasons for stopping online language teaching. The findings can provide insights for the education institutions, school management and policy-makers to devise appropriate strategies to boost language teachers’ motivations to incorporate online teaching in the post-pandemic era.