The effect of EFL teachers' attitude and self-efficacy in using Web 2.0 tools on their professional development during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study provides an insightful look into the types of Web 2.0 tools used by EFL teachers, their purposes and methods of use, the barriers faced by them and also the demographic features of EFL teachers in İzmir/Turkey during covid-19 pandemic. More importantly, it demonstrates how EFL teachers' attitude and self-efficacy has been towards the integration of web 2.0 tools in their teaching practices and also shows how their professional development perception has been in relation to that. Additionally, it brings more ligth to the relationship between EFL teachers' attitude, self-efficacy and their professional development by providing a wider perspective of the correlation regarding EFL teachers' demographic characteristics such as age, gender and educational status. It is designed as descriptive research in the survey model, which is one of the quantitative research designs. The population and sample of the study consisted of English teachers working in secondary and high schools in İzmir, who voluntarily completed the data collection tool which was designed as an online of google form. Statistical software package SPSS 24 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences – IBM®) was used in the analysis of the data. The normal distribution curve of continuous variables was evaluated with the Skewness and Kurtosis test. Chi-square test was used for categorical variables, independent t-test and One Way Anova test were used for quantitative variables in pairwise and multiple comparisons. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to assess independent categorical demographic variables' possible effects on the dependent variables. Finally, Pearson correlation was carried out to determine the strength of a relationship between teachers' Integration of Web 2.0 Tools in EFL Teaching, their Web 2.0 Self-Efficacy and Professional development. The findings of the study showed that EFL teachers had a positive attitude towards the integration of web 2.0 tools in EFL teaching and the majority of teachers felt that using web 2.0 tools was a normal part of their teaching. It was also concluded that teachers' attitude and self-efficacy in using web 2.0 tools affected their professional development significantly. Being aware of the benefits of professional development activities, with respect to that 58% of EFL teachers in this very study actually stated to have attended seminars and courses on the integration of web 2.0 tools their teaching, which relatively paved the way to improving their self-efficacy in using these tools.