An investigation into EFL teachers' self-efficacy beliefs, frequency of use and attitudes towards Web 2.0 tools

In a world where distances are rapidly getting closer and cultures intersect more than ever, the necessity of a foreign language, especially a universal language, is an undeniable fact. Economic, political, cultural and sociological relations between countries are now stronger and more significant than in the past. The widespread use of the internet and the accompanying Web 2.0 technologies have increased the importance of foreign languages in recent years. Teachers are expected to encourage students to use these tools, which can be easily included in many of the activities that students do in the classroom and that will facilitate students' education life. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate EFL teachers' self-efficacy beliefs, frequency of use and attitudes towards Web 2.0 tools. This study also seeks to examine the demographic variables influencing the integration of Web 2.0 tools. The study conducted a mixed method design, and the quantitative and qualitative data were collected in two phases. The study data was collected from 202 EFL teachers from 183 different public schools in Diyarbakır, Turkey. The quantitative data was gathered through a questionnaire consisting of four parts including demographic information, Web 2.0 Tools Integration Instrument (W2TII) and Web 2.0 Tools Integration Self-Efficacy Instrument (WTISEI) (Pan & Franklin, 2011), and the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour (DTPB) Model to Measure Attitudes (Ajjan & Hartshorne, 2008). In the qualitative data collection phase, a set of semi-structured interview questions developed by Farah (2011) were used to gather data in considerable detail from the 10 volunteer teachers of English who participated in the survey in the first phase. The data was analysed through SPSS edition 24.0 program and content analysis. The findings unveiled that the participants, in general, reported a medium frequency of using Web 2.0 tools. The results also revealed that there was not any significant difference between the self-efficacy beliefs, attitudes of the EFL teachers and their Web 2.0 tools usage according to the demographic variables. However, the participants aged between 21 and 24 seemed to have higher self-efficacy towards the use of Podcasts and Social Networking Sites, while the participants between the age of 40 and above had relatively low self-efficacy level. Besides, EFL teachers who attended FATIH project and Interactive Whiteboard teacher trainings had positive attitudes towards Web 2.0 tools usage, while those attended EBA and DynEd in-service teacher trainings did not show any positive attitudes towards Web 2.0 tools. In comparing the mean of the use frequency of Web 2.0 tools and EFL teachers' self-efficacy in operating these Web 2.0 tools, the results suggested that the participants' confidence in using Web 2.0 tools did not agree with the medium use of these tools in their teaching. The results revealed a significant difference between self-efficacy and attitudes of the EFL teachers towards the Web 2.0 tools. In the light of the findings, it can be concluded that the study can contribute to the English teacher training programs and in-service teacher trainings by helping raise the awareness regarding English teachers' self-efficacy beliefs, frequency of use and attitudes towards Web 2.0 tools. Keywords: Web 2.0 tools, self-efficacy beliefs, EFL teachers, attitudes, ELT