INSIGHTS INTO UNIVERSITY TEACHERS’ ROLES IN ONLINEEFL CLASSES IN VIETNAM

Abstract

 Teacher roles in online language classes have been a well-researched area yielding
various insights into the potential of online technologies and the need for a consideration of
re-defining the roles of the teacher. The proliferation of research in this area has yet called
for elaborations of the roles. This paper, drawing on a study of two cases, aims to investigate
teachers’ roles in EFL classes integrating online technologies at a university. Online
classroom observations and interviews with the teachers were used as instruments for data
collection. Findings from qualitative data analysis showed major issues relating to university
teacher roles. First, online technologies helped enable the development of the teachers’ roles,
which otherwise was impossible. Second, while online technologies opened numerous
learning opportunities and avenues, the teacher role remained the fulcrum for the students in
the whole learning process. Among discussion issues, an argument that can be raised
concerns how teacher roles developed. This paper implies the need for re-defining university
teacher roles in online language classes.