University Language Instructors’ Preparedness for Technology-Mediated Instruction and Burnout During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  1. Jesús Izquierdo 1
  2. María del Carmen Sandoval Caraveo 2
  3. Verónika De la Cruz Villegas 2
  4. Rubén Zapata Díaz 2
  1. 1 Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco
    info

    Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco

    Villahermosa, México

    ROR https://ror.org/04ee58018

  2. 2 Juárez Autonomous University of Tabasco
Journal:
Íkala

ISSN: 0123-3432

Year of publication: 2021

Volume: 26

Issue: 3

Pages: 661-695

Type: Article

DOI: 10.17533/UDEA.IKALA.V26N3A11 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

More publications in: Íkala

Abstract

This quantitative study explored the preparedness of foreign language teachers for technology-mediated instruction and the burnout conditions that characterized their transition from in-person to off-campus second/foreign language education during the covid-19 pandemic. The data were collected from 104 university instructors through a Google Forms® survey and a burnout questionnaire in a Mexican state which was severely hit by the virus in the spring of 2020. The survey elicited information about institutional conditions, teacher education and technology access and use. The burnout questionnaire explored exhaustion, depersonalization and accomplishment during off-campus technology-mediated language instruction. Both survey and questionnaire answers were subject to frequency analyses. In terms of teacher preparedness, data analyses revealed that the participants had a large number of teaching hours; they held sustained computer/Internet access but lacked technology-assisted language teaching training; thus, they independently sought out technological resources for the delivery of their lessons. With regard to burnout, data analyses indicated that many participants experienced exhaustion due to work overload, use of technology, and its proper integration in the lessons. Nonetheless, the use of technology helped them maintain interest in their learners, feel satisfaction and accomplish academic aims.

Bibliographic References

  • Bedoya, J., Betancourt, M., & Villa, F. (2018). Creación de una comunidad de práctica para formación de docentes en la integración de las TIC a los procesos de aprendizaje y enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras. Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, 23(1), 121–139. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ikala.v23n01a09
  • Carrillo, C. & Flores, M. (2020). covid-19 and teacher education: A literature review of online teaching and learning practices. European Journal of Teacher Education, 43(4), 466–487. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1821184
  • Chambers, A., & Bax, S. (2006). Making CALL work. Towards normalisation. System, 34, 465–479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2006.08.001
  • Chapelle, C. (2001). Computer applications in second language acquisition. Foundations for teaching, testing and research (pp. 132–156). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524681
  • Cohen, L., Manion, L., y Morrison, K., (2007). Research methods in education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203029053
  • Dooly, M. & Sadler, R. (2020). If you don’t improve, what’s the point? Investigating the impact of a flipped online exchange in teacher education. ReCALL, 32, 4–24. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344019000107
  • Escudero, A. (2021). Metasíntesis sobre la narrativa educativa durante la pandemia por COVID-19. Diálogos sobre educación, 12(22), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edumed.2021.01.003
  • Felix, U. (2004). A multivariate analysis of secondary students’ experience of web-based language acquisition. ReCALL, 16(1), 237-249. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344004001715
  • Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using SPSS. Sage.
  • Freudenberger, H. J. (1974). Staff Burn-Out. Journal of Social Issues, 30(1), 159–165. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb00706.x
  • Gillespie, J. (2020). call research: Where are we now? ReCALL, 32(2), 127–144. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344020000051
  • Golonka, E., Bowles, A., Frank, V., Richardson, D., & Freynik, S. (2014). Technologies for foreign language learning: A review of technology types and their effectiveness. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 27, 70–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2012.700315
  • Harker, M., & Koutsantoni, D. (2005). Can it be as effective? Distance versus blended learning in a web-based eap programme. ReCALL, 17, 197–216. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095834400500042X
  • Hedayati, H., & Marandi, S. (2014). Iranian efl teachers’ perceptions of the difficulties of implementing call. ReCALL, 26, 298-314. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344014000172
  • Heidari, S. & Gorjian, B. (2017). The effect of the level of English teachers’ burnout on the efl learners’ general English achievement at senior high school. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Learning, 3(2), 41–47.
  • Hodge, D. & Gillespie, D. (2007). Permanency for children in foster care: A competing risks analysis. Journal of Social Service Research, 33(4), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1300/J079v33n04_04
  • Hsu, L. (2016) Examining efl teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge and the adoption of mobile-assisted language learning: A partial least square approach. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 29(8), 1287–1297. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2016.1278024
  • Izquierdo, J. (2014). Multimedia instruction in foreign language classrooms: Effects on the acquisition of the French perfective and imperfective distinction. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 70(2), 188–219. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.1697
  • Izquierdo, J., Aquino Zúñiga, S. P., & García Martínez, V. (2021). Foreign language education in rural schools: Struggles and initiatives among generalist teachers teaching English in Mexico. Studies in Second Language Teaching and Learning, 11(1),133–156. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2021.11.1.6
  • Izquierdo, J., De la Cruz, V., Aquino, S., Sandoval Caraveo, M. C., & García, V. (2017). Teachers’ use of icts in public foreign language education: Evidence from secondary schools. Comunicar. Revista de Comunicación y Educación, 50(25), 33–41. https://doi.org/10.3916/C50-2017-03
  • Izquierdo, J. García, V., Garza, G., & Aquino, S. (2016). First and target language use in public language education for young learners: Longitudinal evidence from Mexican secondary-school classrooms. System, 61, 20–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2016.07.006
  • Lord, G., & Lomicka, L., (2011). Calling on educators: Paving the way for the future of technology and call. In N. Arnold and L. Ducate (Eds.), Present and future promises of CALL: From theory and research to new directions in language teaching (pp. 441–470). CALICO.
  • Lozano, A., & Izquierdo, J. (2019). The use of technology in second language education: Overcoming the digital divide. Journal of Emerging Trends in Education, 2(3), 52–70. https://doi.org/10.19136/etie.a2n3.3250
  • MacIntyre, P., Gregersen, T., & Mercer, S. (2020). Language teachers’ coping strategies during the COVID-19 conversion to online teaching: Correlation with stress. System, 94, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102352
  • Manegre, M. & Kashif, A. (2020). Online language learning using virtual classrooms: An analysis of teacher perceptions. Computer-assisted Language Learning, 33, 1–16 https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2020.1770290
  • Maslach, C., Jackson, S. E. & Leiter, M. P. (1997). Maslach Burnout Inventory (3rd ed.). Consulting Psychologist Press.
  • Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. (2008). Early predictors of job burnout and engagement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 498–512. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.93.3.498
  • Maslach, D., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job Burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 397–442. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397
  • Meidani, E., Pishghadam, R., & Shakeebaee, G. (2019). The role of time perspectives in language teachers’ burnout. Current Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00456-x
  • Mousavy, S., Skinah, N., Mukundan. J., & Mimehchisalem, V. (2012). Burnout among low and high experienced teachers. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 1(4), 24–29. https://doi.org/10.7575/ijalel.v.1n.4p.24
  • Mukundan, J., Zare, P., Abdovahed, Z., Manaf, U., & Sahami, H. (2015). Language teacher burnout and school type. English Language Teaching, 8(9), 26–32. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v8n9p26
  • Nagamine, T. (2018). L2 teachers’ professional burnout and emotional stress: Facing frustration and demotivation toward one’s profession in Japanese efl context. In J. Martínez (Ed.), Emotions in second language teaching. Theory, research and teacher education (pp. 259–277). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75438-3_15
  • Peeters, W. & Pretorious, M. (2020). Facebook or fail-book: Exploring community in a virtual community of practice. ReCALL, 32, 291–306. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344020000099
  • Rezvani, M. & Rezvani, S. (2017). The relationship between efl teachers’ burnout and their students’ foreign language anxiety. International Journal of Research in Teacher Education, 8(3), 40–47.
  • Rotenstein, L., Torres, M., Ramos, M. A., Rosales, R., Guille, C., Sen, S. & Mata, D., (2018). Prevalence of burnout among physicians: A systematic review. JAMA—Journal of the American Medical Association, 320(11), 1131–1150. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.12777
  • Sadeghi, K. & Khezrlou, S. (2016). The experience of burnout among English language teachers in Iran: Self and other determinants, Teacher Development, 20(5), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2016.1185028
  • Sagarra, N., & Zapata, G. (2008). Blending classroom instruction with online homework: A study of student perceptions of computer-assisted L2 learning. ReCALL, 20, 208–224. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344008000621
  • Shirazizadeh, M., & Karimpour, M. (2019). An investigation of the relationships among efl teachers’ perfectionism, reflection and burnout. Cogent Education, 6, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2019.1667708
  • Yoon, S. & Gruba, P. (2019). Evaluating normalisation: An argument-based approach. System, 83, 4–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2019.04.008