Understanding EFL pre-service teachers’ behavioral intentions to use cloud applications

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the behavioral intentions of Turkish English as a foreign language (EFL) pre-service teachers to use a cloud application in their future classes. Preliminary data were collected from 22 senior EFL pre-service teachers via a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and an observation form. Before the questionnaire was administered, the participants were trained on the use of Voicethread in language teaching for three weeks. At the end of the training, a Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology questionnaire was used to collect the data. Semi-structured interviews were designed to have a deeper understanding why pre-service teachers accepted or rejected the use of Voicethread in language teaching. In addition, the teaching demonstrations of the pre-service teachers were observed to see how they used Voicethread in the activities they designed and whether they could carry out an activity based on incorporating Voicethread. The findings indicate that pre-service teachers in this study do not seem to intend to use Voicethread in their future classes. Given some significant potential benefits for use of the tool, this paper then considers more effective approaches to engaging pre-service teachers in exploring and applying the benefits as well as negotiating any difficulties experienced in the use of Voicethread.