A Narrowing Gap? English Language Teachers’ Anxiety Across Online and Face-to-Face Modes in the Post-Pandemic Context

Abstract This study compares English language teachers’ anxiety between face-to-face (F2F) classrooms and online teaching environments and identifies mode-specific factors contributing to any differences. Drawing on the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, a sequential mixed-methods investigation was conducted with 57 teachers (survey) and 6 teachers (follow-up interviews). Quantitative results showed moderate overall anxiety in both modes. Although there was no significant difference in overall anxiety between modes, item-level analyses revealed distinct mode-specific stressors. In online settings, teachers reported significantly greater anxiety concerning specific factors such as technology dependence, technical problems, and uncertainty about maintaining student attention. Qualitative findings revealed distinct anxiety triggers in each mode. In online teaching, teachers were most concerned about diminished student engagement, technology-induced disruptions to lessons, problematic student online behaviors (e.g., unauthorized recordings), and blurred boundaries between professional and personal spaces. In contrast, F2F teaching anxiety stemmed primarily from performance pressures (public speaking, being observed) and immediate classroom management challenges. The study further theorizes these mode-specific patterns by showing how two pedagogical processes, teachers’ reading of learners and their governing of the instructional space, are reconfigured across modes. These results suggest that teachers have partially adapted to post-pandemic online teaching, yet specific stressors unique to online contexts persist. The findings highlight the need for mode-specific support strategies, including practical training for online pedagogy, peer sharing of coping techniques, and institutional policies that address the unique emotional demands of online teaching.