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Prospective EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Using CALL in the Classroom

SOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Prospective EFL teachers’ perceptions about the use of technology in EFL classrooms should be ex-
amined and acknowledged in the initial teacher training programs. Prospective EFL teachers and the
administration of the program needs to be aware of the possible preconceptions about technology and its
integration into the teacher education programs to enable its applications in real classrooms. Therefore,
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addressing the needs of the 21 Century skills for using technology will be achieved.
The primary aim of the foreign language teacher education departments is to provide the necessary
context of professional learning for the prospective teachers. However, the context of professional learn-
ing not only requires teacher educators to convey the necessary theoretical knowledge for EFL teach-
ing but also to provide the necessary opportunities for prospective teachers’ to practice their possible
classroom applications. Thus, the curriculum of the initial teacher education programs should address
the possible demands of national education. Although there are specific courses (e.g. Teaching English
to Young Learners, Foreign Language Assessment) offered by the Council of Higher Education (1998),
there are not any courses offered in the foreign language teacher education programs addressing the
use of technology in EFL classrooms which is thought-provoking. The present study, therefore, creates
the opportunity for an immediate call for the policy-makers to create opportunities for foreign language
teacher education departments to offer necessary courses focusing on the integration of technology in
EFL classrooms.

FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

The study was not designed as a psychometric analysis to examine the underlying factors of PTs’ using
CALL in their future classes. Rather, it was designed to reflect on the effectiveness of the practices of
the department that the current study was implemented. Therefore, the results of the study provide a
reflection on the effectiveness of the instruction provided in the applications of the department to train
foreign language teachers.
The study was carried out in one of the EFL teacher education programs with a limited number of
participants. Therefore, having more participants will provide a coherent understanding of the beliefs of
the PTs to use technology in their classes and their readiness to incorporate technology in their teaching
practices. It may also be worthwhile to investigate the opinions of the academic staff working at the initial
teacher education program to examine the extent to which they believe that they prepare EFL teachers
working at the schools and actively using technological resources in their classrooms.
The study investigates PTs’ definitions of technology and ways of using technology in their classes.
Thus, the study is design solely on PTs’ personal opinions. As a suggestion for the future studies, obser-
vations can be conducted during practice teaching and at PTs’ first year of teaching. Therefore, future
studies focusing on the on-site observations of using technology will display a coherent understanding
of PTs’ teaching practices.

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