The effects of MALL training on preservice and in-service EFL teachers’ perceptions and use of mobile technology

Abstract

Abstract Owing to the anytime-anywhere-anyhow nature of mobile learning, together with the ubiquity of affordably priced mobile phones, learning has become a mobigital practice, as termed by Şad and Göktaş (2014). Consequently, language teaching/learning is gradually shifting from computer-assisted language learning to mobile-assisted language learning (MALL). In response, the current study examined the impact of MALL training on preservice and in-service EFL teachers’ perceptions and use of mobile technology (MT). For this purpose, two groups of preservice (N = 33) and in-service (N = 31) EFL teachers were randomly selected and exposed to MALL training. The pretest-posttest experimental mixed-methods design was used as a framework for collecting and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data (using closed- and open-ended-question surveys). Quantitative results revealed that both preservice and in-service teachers had similar perceptions of MT before and after training. The only exception is that, after training, in-service teachers were more interested in MT than preservice teachers. However, both groups demonstrated an overall (and subfactor) improvement in their perceptions after MT training, except for their perceived ease of use. In-service teachers’ use also improved after training and, due to the yielded positive correlation, their perceptions were a significant predictor of use. Qualitative findings showed that in-service teachers used MT more in listening and speaking (for synchronous communication) than in reading and writing, selecting social media and translation apps as the least useful ones. Moreover, they regarded technical and digital literacy problems as the ones most challenging to the use of MT.