EFL Instructors Perceptions of Computer-Mediated Communication in Language Classes

With the rapid growth in technology and use of computers, a new field has come to vogue in education and teaching known as Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC). The purpose of this study was to explore EFL instructors viewpoints on the potentials and challenges of integrating CMC tools into English language classes. The participants were EFL instructors who were selected following availability sampling procedures. The instrument of the study was a questionnaire on advantages and challenges of CMC followed by two open-ended questions. With regard to advantages of CMC, the results revealed that ‘the language use and development’ category received higher agreements than the ‘classroom dynamics’ category. The results also showed that the highest challenge was slow and unstable connections in using CMC, while the best advantage was that CMC was a good instructional medium for information gathering. The findings also revealed that for the EFL instructors, the advantages of CMC integration into language classes were higher than its challenges.

Keywords:

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) , EFL instructors , integration , challenges , advantages