Emergency Remote Language Teaching and U.S.-Based College-Level World Language Educators’ Intention to Adopt Online Teaching in Postpandemic Times

This study adopted a mixed methods approach to explore the impact of emergency remote language teaching (ERLT) in the spring of 2020 on 662 U.S.-based college-level world language educators’ intention to teach languages online in postpandemic times. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from an online questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The quantitative data were analyzed through exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural path analysis, which identified 3 factors—perceived values of online language teaching, self-confidence in online language teaching, and stress felt during ERLT—having significant positive predictions of world language educators’ intention to teach online in the future. All other ERLT-related factors had indirect effects on their intention. Typological analysis was conducted with qualitative data, which revealed primary reasons for the 3 types of intention to teach online in the future. The results indicate that U.S.-based college-level world language educators were generally positive about adopting online language teaching in postpandemic times after the ERLT experience, although many preferred hybrid teaching if given the choice