How different are European and American foreign language teachers regarding the use of ICT in task-based language learning? Beliefs, attitudes and practices in the classroom

The results of a transatlantic survey on technology-mediated TaskBased Language Learning (TBLL) are presented and discussed. The study was conducted within the scope of the European-funded PanEuropean Task Activities for Language Learning (PETALL) project. The aim was to determine the teachers’ acquaintance with TBLL and with the potential of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for enhancing that approach. The survey also allowed us to characterise the teaching practices used in the language classroom in terms of this approach. As it was also possible to compare the responses from several countries, including the US, this chapter looks into the differences in beliefs, attitudes, and practices that exist between EU and US practitioners. The analysis of the data (by frequency) shows that there is a difference between the US and the EU in relation to TBLL in terms of familiarity, conceptualisation, and forms of implementation in the classroom. There are also differences in defining the benefits of technology-mediated tasks, as the EU respondents put emphasis on the teacher’s creativity and responsiveness to new challenges, whereas the US respondents underlie the importance of it providing 1. University of Algarve and CETAPS, Faro, Portugal; alopes@ualg.pt How to cite this chapter: Lopes, A. (2019). How different are European and American foreign language teachers regarding the use of ICT in task-based language learning? Beliefs, attitudes and practices in the classroom. In C. N. Giannikas, E. Kakoulli Constantinou & S. Papadima-Sophocleous (Eds), Professional development in CALL: a selection of papers (pp. 159-179). Research-publishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2019.28.877