Exploring the relationships between EFL learners’ usage of technology and their approaches to learning English

Abstract

Objective: Nowadays, technology plays an important role in learning; hence, it is important to explore the relationships between EFL learners’ usage of technology and their approaches to learning English. Method: This study involved 186 English department undergraduates in Taiwan and utilized two questionnaires to respectively survey EFL learners’ usage of technology and their approaches to learning English. In particular, the approaches to learning English survey used in this study is a newly designed questionnaire which includes eight factors: Intrinsic Interest, Commitment to Work, Relating Ideas, Understanding, Fear of Failure, Aim for Qualification, Minimizing Scope of Study, and Memorization. Results and findings: Exploratory factor analysis revealed adequate validity of the new questionnaire. The regression analyses indicated that EFL learners’ approaches to learning English were associated with their technology usage for learning English such as recommendation, usefulness, and ease of use. Discussion: This study will contribute to our understanding of EFL learners using technology for learning in the future.