The perceptions of tertiary level EFL teachers and students to the tool mediation learning experience in reading skills: A case for cloud computing environment

Abstract

In this age of rapid technological development and educational reform, there is an indisputable need for a combination of mediation tools (cloud computing tools) that significantly teach language skills. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the perceptions of tertiary-level EFL teachers and students regarding the tool mediation experience in reading skills in cloud computing teaching and learning environment. Simple random sampling was employed to select 156 first-year students and 32 teachers who participated in this study at Bahir Dar University (BDU). In this study, two sets of questionnaires, comprising 47 items for each of the three parts, were distributed to collect quantitative data from students and teachers of BDU. The quantitative data from questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics, one-sample, and two-sample t-tests, and Pearson product-moment correlation. The results showed that teachers positively perceived the importance of mediation tools or parameters for reading tasks. Nevertheless, teachers' practice of mediated learning experience tools does not utterly reflect their perceptions of the application of mediation tools. The current finding also revealed that considering technology as a mediation tool in reading sessions at the university level, teachers had below-average responses in implementing mediation tools even though they had a positive perception of it. Finally, educational institutions, researchers, and academic staff in BDU should take the initiatives to equip university language teachers with mediation tools in cloud computing English classrooms and to design a national technology-based learning policy and strategy.