EFL Teaching in a Digital Environment

Abstract

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching has, similarly to all other subjects, gone through a digital transformation that was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Quarantines and subsequent distance learning led to new paths of teaching languages that opened up new chances to facilitate language learning. This web-based survey, conducted among Austrian secondary school students, aimed to identify methods and tools used in the EFL classroom, predictors for students’ digital skills and chances that can be utilized in the future. The following key results were observed: English classes during the school year 2021/2022 offered a wide variety of tools that the students worked with and improved in. Furthermore, the analysis showed that English language skills significantly influence and predict the improvement of students’ digital skills. Finally, multiple chances for working with digital devices in the EFL classroom could be extrapolated from the results of the survey.