A study of pre-service EFL teachers’ acceptance of online teaching and the influencing factors

Abstract

It is expected that the field of language education will see an increased need for teachers to accept online teaching. Based on the Technology Acceptance Model, this study examined pre-service EFL teachers’ acceptance of online teaching and the factors influencing them. The participants were TESOL majors at three universities in China. The data were collected from a questionnaire survey with 204 participants and semi-structured individual interviews with 12 participants. The study reveals that pre-service English teachers generally accept online teaching after completing one-semester of purely online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results also suggest that participants’ enjoyable experiences in using online technologies, perceived usefulness of online teaching, social influences, and technological pedagogical content knowledge influence their acceptance of online teaching.