ICT Competence and Needs of Turkish EFL Instructors: The Role of Gender, Institution and Experience

Abstract

This study aimed to scrutinize Information and Communication Technology (ICT) competence of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors in Turkey and their professional development (PD) needs in ICT in relation to the variables of gender, institution, teaching experience, and their past PD experience. This study also explored the types of training sources EFL instructors preferred to further their PD in ICT. The data were collected by administering a questionnaire of ICT competence and PD needs of teachers. The participants were 193 EFL instructors teaching at various universities in Turkey. The data were analyzed by using IBM SPSS Statistics (i.e. Mean, Standard Deviation, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis test). The results indicated that EFL instructors perceived their current ICT competence as low in the seven major areas. However, gender and previous PD experience in ICT played a role in their perceived ICT competence. The study also revealed that regardless of gender, type of institution, previous PD experience in ICT, and teaching experience, EFL instructors reported a medium and higher amount of ICT training needs. The most preferred modes of PD in ICT were immersion or internship activities while the least preferred modes of PD were workshops/conferences/seminars. The implications of the study are also presented.