ATTITUDES, CHALLENGES AND FACTORS THAT AFFECT TEACHERS TEACHING WRITING IN PHYSICAL CLASSROOM AFTER THE PANDEMIC

Abstract

Writing is one of the four language components that EFL students should master, and it is particularly important for young students as they are required to write assignments and tasks. Also, the influence of teachers’ attitudes and factors that affected teachers' teaching writing as well as the challenges they faced can significantly influence students’ learning experiences. However, not much research has looked into teachers’ attitudes, factors and challenges teachers faced while teaching writing during and after the pandemic. Thus, the study aimed to explore and highlight attitudes, challenges, and factors that affected EFL female teachers teaching writing during online teaching and after the pandemic. This study adopts a quantitative approach and 76 EFL secondary school teachers from rural areas in Saudi Arabia were recruited for this study. An online questionnaire was the instrument in this study. The questionnaire is adapted from Ahmad (2016) focusing on teachers’ attitudes, factors and challenges toward teaching writing in both online and physical classrooms. The data were analysed thematically and using SPSS. The finding revealed that female teachers have negative attitudes toward teaching writing during online teaching. Teaching approach, time management and expectations are some of the factors that affected EFL teachers' teaching writing during the pandemic. Moreover, classroom assessment, home environment, and the role of the learners are other factors that affected teachers teaching writing in physical classrooms. Teachers in rural areas of Saudi Arabia faced serious challenges during teaching writing in both phases. Internet connections and lack of technological knowledge were the main challenges faced by EFL teachers teaching during the pandemic. Besides, the absence of family support and first language interference were found to be challenging in teaching writing in physical classrooms. Furthermore, the result of this study is expected to aid EFL teachers’ professional development in rural areas. This study hopes to provide new sights into teachers’ attitudes and challenges as well as the factors that affected teachers' teaching writing.