The perceptions of EFL primary school teachers towards the use of educational technology in language classrooms

---

Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Uludağ Üniversitesi, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2015

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: FERİDE AKIN

Danışman: DERYA YILMAZ

Özet:

The study aims to find out the perceptions of EFL primary school teachers towards the use of educational technology in language classrooms and general classroom settings, the competence of EFL primary school teachers in terms of using educational technology tools. The study also involves the analysis of teachers' perceptions in terms of gender, teaching experience, educational technology courses attended before graduation, and inservice training, seminars or workshops variables. The participants of the study consist of 150 inservice teachers of English who work at public primary schools in Turkey. To be able to reach the participants at schools, necessary permissions were taken. Some of the participants reached the questionnaire via internet. To reveal the teachers' perceptions, mixed methods research design was used including both qualitative and quantitative methods. First, a questionnaire was employed to collect data, and the data was analyzed quantitatively using SPSS 13 statistical program. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by the evaluation of three experts and, the reliability was examined using Cronbach's Alpha, and the analysis revealed that the questionnaire was reliable. Quantitative data was supported by semi-structured, face-to-face interview protocol and the data obtained from interview was analyzed qualitatively with content analysis. In order to achieve the validity and reliability during content analysis required measures were taken. The results have revealed that participants perceive themselves as significantly competent. Additionally, it seems that the perceptions of the participants towards the use of educational technology in language classrooms and general classroom settings are very positive. The perceptions of the teachers were examined in terms of certain variables, the results show that within the scope of gender, female attendants have relatively more positive perceptions towards educational technology. According to their teaching experience, a significant difference was not observed among the perceptions of the teachers. Similarly, the perceptions of the teachers were examined in terms of educational technology courses attended before graduation, and inservice training, seminars or workshops variables however, a meaningful difference was not observed between the teachers who had attended these courses or seminars and who had not attended. As seen above, the results suggest that a great majority of teachers have positive remarks for the use of educational technology in language teaching, they also consider themselves competent in terms of using technological items. However, they get difficulty in making use of them in their instruction effectively. The unavailability of the technological tools, lack of facilities in schools, the teachers having intense syllabus may be an explanation for this difficulty. In spite of all the difficulties, the teachers are aware of the advantages and disadvantages of using technology and they are trying to do the best uses of it in learning and teaching process.