The study of Chinese EFL teachers' emotions in the digital transformation of education
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Feng Wu1,2, Youjie Hua2
1Faculty of Education, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, China.
Introduction:
The rapid and continuing development of digital technologies has significantly reshaped the educational landscape, generating diverse emotional experiences among teachers. This study examined the emotional experiences of Chinese EFL teachers and the major antecedents of those emotions.
Methods:
This study employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. First, questionnaire data collected from 296 university EFL teachers identified five primary emotions (love, joy, anger, sadness, and fear). Secondly, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 participants to explore the antecedents underlying these emotional experiences. The qualitative findings were subsequently integrated with the quantitative results and presented through a joint display.
Results:
The findings showed that EFL teachers experienced positive emotions more frequently than negative emotions. Of the five primary emotions, joy and love had the highest mean scores, followed by fear, anger, and sadness, respectively. The findings further showed that teachers' emotions were closely associated with their professional goals and students' performance. Several antecedents were found to shape these emotional experiences. The flexibility, interactivity, and innovative opportunities introduced by digital transformation enhanced EFL teachers' sense of love for their work. Likewise, the efficiency and abundance of resources provided by digital tools and platforms contributed to their sense of joy. In contrast, students' misconduct and dishonest behaviors often provoked feelings of anger. Teachers experienced sadness when confronted with students' lack of critical thinking and when they felt inadequately supported in their work. Fear was primarily driven by peer pressure, time constraints, and the threat of being replaced by artificial intelligence.
Discussion:
The study discussed the implications of these findings and proposed recommendations for emotion regulation and emotional support for EFL teachers in China and comparable educational contexts.
