The digital turn in EAP: teachers’ perspectives on transitioning to blended or hybrid teaching post-Covid-19

Abstract

This small-scale empirical study investigates English for Academic Purposes (EAP) practitioners’ perspectives on transitioning to blended or hybrid teaching after teaching online during the Covid-19 pandemic period in UK universities. The study aims to understand what this transition required of teachers, and how the adoption of the digital mode of teaching in EAP influenced their perspectives concerning the transition from fully online to hybrid or blended teaching.The study draws on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) theoretical framework, which focuses on technological knowledge (TK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), and content knowledge (CK), to explore the dilemmas and challenges teachers faced when transitioning between different modes of teaching as part of the digital transformation which took place during Covid-19 which forced the UK Higher (HE) institutions to make drastic changes to the delivery of EAP courses. Moreover, it helps to clarify how the technology they chose to integrate into their online courses communicated the content and supported their pedagogy so that their students could continue their learning experience without disruption.The study suggests that, although transitioning to blended or hybrid modes may bring about certain challenges for teachers, in terms of pedagogy and technology, the experiences gained through such transitions may equip teachers with a new set of skills and new knowledge of online teaching, affording them opportunities to develop new ways of teaching.As the phenomenon investigated in this study is recent, the findings produced offer new insights to develop the field.Keywords: EAP; hybrid; hyflex; Covid-19; digital transformation; online learning,Part of the Special Issue Teaching practices in times of digital transformation <https://doi.org/10.21428/8c225f6e.ac86609b>