A Four-Tier e-Tutor Training Model: A Novel Approach to Enhancing Teacher Agency in an EFL Context

Abstract

This article explores how online e-tutor training can be revamped to incorporate an aspect of teacher agency and autonomy. Several researchers have suggested pedagogically desirable e-tutor training models to date, but these models are only limited to a top-down perspective, and more importantly, not specific to language learning contexts. This article documents a successfully implemented e-tutor training model designed to enhance teacher agency and autonomy of those who work for EFL students. Concerned primarily with the e-tutors’ reflective voices framed with non-numerical data such as open-ended and conversational communication, we suggest a sequentially structured four-tier training model that engages e-tutors in decision-making processes. Our training model demonstrates that e-tutors negotiate their roles through reflecting moments and collaborate with one another to accommodate students’ language learning needs. The roles of trainers are then to mitigate tensions between e-tutor autonomy and the curricular structure they work within. Although much should be adjusted to local needs, this training model may be implemented as a reference for future e-tutors in an EFL context.