Teachers’ online self-efficacy, characterized as teachers’ beliefs in executing instructional tasks in online environments, is considered as an important teacher-related variable with the substantial rise in the prevalent use of online platforms in educational contexts. Accordingly, this investigation examined the strategies Iranian EFL teachers adopt to maintain their self-efficacy in online teaching. Moreover, the study probed into the components of the construct of teachers’ online self-efficacy maintenance strategies. It also sought to investigate if the developed construct of teachers’ online self-efficacy maintenance strategies fits the Iranian EFL teachers' population. Any similarities and/or differences between the strategies used by novice and experienced EFL teachers to maintain their self-efficacy in online teaching were also explored. Furthermore, another aim was to unravel any significant relationship between the strategies used by EFL teachers to maintain their self-efficacy and EFL learners’ writing performance in online contexts. Finally, the study tapped into the component(s) of Iranian EFL teachers’ strategies for self-efficacy which best predicted EFL learners’ writing performance in online contexts. The teacher participants comprised 227 EFL teachers within the age range of 24 to 41 years old (M=30.25, SD=4.12). To gather data for the construction and validation phase of the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted. Following that, the interview contents became subject to thematic analysis based on grounded theory approach and the results were used to develop teachers’ online self-efficacy maintenance strategies questionnaire. Following that, an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was given to 350 EFL learners at the intermediate level and based on the guidelines of OPT, 230 were selected. The selected learners were only those who scored between 28-36 as explicitly mentioned in OPT placement guidelines. These 230 learners were given a writing test from the Preliminary English Test (PET). The results of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) suggested a four-factor structure constituting professional development, support networks, adaptation and flexibility, and instructional strategies. Moreover, the results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) indicated that the four-factor structure fits the Iranian EFL teachers' population. The results of descriptive statistics indicated that the experienced teachers obtained higher means in all the components than their novice counterparts. The results of Pearson correlation indicated positive and significant relationships between EFL learners writing performance and the four components of EFL teachers' online self-efficacy maintenance strategies in online contexts. The results of multiple regression showed that instructional strategies component of teachers' online self-efficacy maintenance strategies was the best predictor of Iranian EFL learners' writing in online contexts. Based on the results, the questionnaire can be safely used for developing professional programs aiming at determining and promoting EFL teachers’ understanding and use of online self-efficacy maintenance strategies. Overall, the study's findings highlight the importance of targeted professional development, support networks, adaptation and flexibility, and instructional strategies for maintaining self-efficacy in online teaching, with a specific emphasis on its positive impact on EFL learners' writing performance.
