A Case Study of Educators' Perceptions and Practices of Technology Integration in English Language Teaching

Abstract

With the rapid development of digital tools, technology integration has been widely recognized as an asset in teaching and learning processes. Nowadays, technology offers various opportunities for student engagement and motivation, visual support, and interactions between students and instructors in language teaching. However, there is a gap in understanding the relationship between the educators’ perceptions and actual practices in technology use in the classroom, despite the increased emphasis on technology integration. This problem is significant due to the role of the technology used at the school, which either helps or interferes with teaching. This thesis aims to explore the perceptions and practices of the instructors at a private university in Kazakhstan regarding technology integration in English language teaching. With the help of a qualitative research design, this case study collected data through pre-observation and post-observation interviews and classroom observations to analyze the gap between perceptions and practices of five participants. The findings of this case study reveal a complicated connection between the perceptions and practices of educators. Participants admit the benefits and challenges of technology use, such as engagement and motivation, accessibility, technical issues, and unreliable performance of tools. The paper also identifies the types of technology and reasons for the use of technology. This research contributes to understanding educators’ perceptions of the integration of technologies in the language learning process. The findings would be useful for instructors, researchers, and other interested people in this particular topic regarding perceptions and practices about the use of technology.