Saudi EFL Teachers’ Self-efficacy in Technology-assisted Language Learning (TALL)

Abstract

This study employs an explanatory, convergent parallel, mixed methods design to investigate the perceived self-efficacy of 145 Saudi teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) when engaging in technology-assisted language learning (TALL). These teachers were evaluated on their technological knowledge on four subdimensions, on their pedagogical technology skills on five subcategories, and on five subdimensions related to their self-perceived ability to integrate TALL into English-language classrooms. The triangulated data were recursively collected in three consecutive phases. Self-efficacy was assessed using data obtained from a 48-item TALL survey and from classroom observations and interviews. Participants completed questionnaires on their self-perceived technological self-efficacy, 13 of whom were observed while teaching and subsequently participated in one-on-one interviews. The data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics of means and standard deviations and inferential statistics through one-way repeated-measures analysis of variances (RM ANOVA), along with some statistical tests and Stepwise regression. The data from the observed lessons were subjected to scrupulous and meticulous analysis, and the data from the interviews were recorded, transcribed, coded, and categorized. The findings culled from the survey, lesson observations, and interviews all revealed that Saudi EFL teachers have low self-efficacy in terms of language-learning technological knowledge, language-learning pedagogical technology skills, and ability to effectively integrate technology into EFL instruction. The implications emerging from this study center on the need to develop EFL teachers’ self-efficacy with technology to ensure that language-related digital tools in EFL instruction are used in the most effective pedagogical manner and to their full potential.