Language instructors on their emergency remote teaching pedagogy during the pandemic

Abstract

In this paper, we report on a study that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic and for which we interviewed ten experienced, university level, language instructors about their digital practices as they found themselves teaching in an Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) mode. The study sought to describe how, through their professional activities and experiences, they developed new and/or further online competencies and how the ERT context brought them to rethink their pedagogical practices and namely, their Written Corrective Feedback (WCF). Our results show that language instructors’ digital competencies are on a dynamic continuum of changes with some who faced challenges, while others sought opportunities or provided solutions during that unprecedented period. An adapted version of the SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) model (Puentedura, 2010) is suggested, which takes into consideration this ERT context.