Investigating English Language Teaching Policies for Online Courses at an Iranian Language Institute

One of the first steps toward improving online English language courses should be exploring and understanding the educational policies that shape them. Accordingly, the present study examined 191 educational guidelines and plans that were issued during the COVID-19 pandemic in a well-known Iranian language institute, in order to identify the main concerns of the institute policymakers, as well as the shortcomings of the online language classes. This was done through applying qualitative content analysis to these documents. The emerging themes revealed that the focus of the institute policymakers was mainly on supporting teachers’ and learners’ technological literacy. On the other hand, some of the guidelines which were issued in response to the teachers’ questions and requests indirectly revealed their concerns, thus highlighting the shortcomings. These revealed that online teacher training can be more efficient by supporting online teachers beyond mere technology literacy support, and with more emphasis on effective technological pedagogical knowledge. Moreover, online teachers could play an influential role in the decision-making, development, and teaching of online courses. Recognizing their key role, providing them with more support as well as more freedom, dignity and respect, can lead to an improvement in teacher soft skills, such as patience and empathy with students in times of crisis. Furthermore, promoting the motivation, job satisfaction, and overall well-being of teachers is expected to similarly promote student engagement and improve their performance.