The significance of in-service teacher’s training for fully integrating CALL in the female public schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Developments in technology have influenced all areas of life, including education and in particular, language learning and teaching. The computer has become very advantageous in the teaching of foreign languages, especially with the augmentation of hardware, software and the World Wide Web. Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is beneficial, since it helps teachers to enhance their teaching and gives students the opportunity to learn in an authentic and interesting environment. The impact of CALL has led many researchers to carry out studies to explore the significance of CALL and the factors that could enhance or reduce the integration of CALL into language learning and teaching. Although CALL could be beneficial to the enhancement of English proficiency among Saudi Arabian students, the integration of CALL is still narrow in terms of quantity and quality among EFL teachers in public female secondary schools in Riyadh. So, this study aims to explore the current integration of CALL among these teachers. Furthermore, this study aims to explore some of the factors that contribute to the integration of CALL, those being computer literacy and the computer training that is available for both pre-service and in-service teachers. In addition, the study focuses on the kind of training that is vital to enhance teachers' use of CALL. Also, this study revolves around the teachers' roles when using CALL, their barriers to the integration of CALL, as well as their attitudes toward CALL. The first step in this study is a background of the history of language teaching methods, starting with the traditional methods and ending with the integration of CALL. The literature review follows in order to substantiate this study with relevant studies that have been conducted in this area and to provide the theoretical background of the study. After that, the methods that are used to carry out the study are indicated; including the questionnaire, follow-up interviews and two focus groups. Lastly, an analysis of the results is done in order to come up with the findings. The findings of the study suggest that the current levels of computer use and computer literacy among EFL teachers are still insufficient. The available computer training is inadequate for both pre-service and in-service teachers and there are no computer courses facilitated by the Ministry of Education. Moreover, in-service teachers still need ongoing computer training courses to keep them up to date with recent developments in educational technology. Recommendations to increase teachers’ computer literacy and to enhance their use of CALL are considered as well as recommendations for further Saudi Arabian studies on CALL.