Measuring EFL teachers' teaching anxiety in the online teaching environment

The shift towards online teaching has sparked significant discussions on how to manage teachers' emotions while delivering instruction online effectively. Through three rounds of investigation with EFL teachers, this study developed and validated a self-report scale - EFL teachers' online teaching anxiety. A total of 524 Chinese full-time college EFL teachers participated in this self-designed questionnaire survey comprising 25 items, complemented by face-to-face interviews with 10 participants. The findings reveal that the revised scale is reliable and valid for measuring EFL teachers' online teaching anxiety. Moreover, the findings also suggest that EFL teachers commonly experience moderate levels of anxiety while teaching online, stemming from factors such as fear of negative evaluation, technophobia, lack of confidence in online teaching, worry about teaching outcomes, and feelings of separation from students. Notably, the study identifies significant and positive relationships among these sources, with the fear of negative evaluation emerging as the most explanatory one. It concludes with recommendations for mitigating teachers' online anxiety, emphasizing the importance of fostering a supportive evaluation culture. This study offers valuable insights for understanding EFL teachers' online teaching anxiety and provides empirical support for the structural model of EFL teachers' online teaching anxiety.