Teachers’ Practices and Perceptions of the Use of ICT in ELT Classrooms in the Pre-Covid 19 Pandemic Era and Suggestions for the 'New Normal'

Abstract

ICT is the acronym for Information and Communication Technology and refers to a varied set of technological tools and resources used communication to create, disseminate, store, and manage information. In the context of teaching and learning, the integration of ICT can assist students in acquiring English language competency as well as enhancing the quality of their learning experience. Previous research has shown that there exists barriers to implementing ICT in teaching and learning, i.e. teacher-level barriers and school-level barriers. Despite there being barriers for ICT integration in teaching and learning, the Covid 19 pandemic has fast tracked ICT integration, and today teachers and students worldwide have been forced to work online regardess of whether they are prepared in terms of knowledge, skills and resources for the 'technologisation' of teaching and learning. This study investigated teachers’ practices and perceptions in using ICT in English Language Teaching (ELT) with a focus on the obstacles faced by English language teachers in using ICT in their lessons, measures taken to increase their ICT usage and the perceptions of using ICT in the classroom. Respondents in this study were 18 teachers in a premier school with either a training in English language teaching or English background and at least 5 years' teaching experience. Using a 60-item questionnaire, data was gathered on respondent’s ICT literacy, obstacles faced, ICT usage and their perceptions of using ICT in the classroom. The findings of the research suggest the lack of ICT literacy and time allocated for teaching and learning process as the main obstacles faced by English teachers in using ICT. In addition, the overall ICT literacy of the teachers were still limited and needed to be improved especially in the use of internet so that they would gain more confidence in implementing ICT in their classroom. While the findings show that the main problems that had restricted the teachers in using ICT in their teaching is the lack of ICT skills and confidence in implementing ICT in the classroom, this study recommends that schools provide more training and ICT courses to teachers to improve teachers’ ICT literacy as a measure to embrace the new normal of the Covid 19 pandemic digitalised era.