Towards an Understanding of Mainland Chinese Pre-Service EFL Teachers’ Intention to Use CALL 2.0

Abstract

The practice of computer assisted language learning 2.0 (CALL 2.0) has become widespread. However, recent research has suggested that acceptance of CALL 2.0 affordances by English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in mainland China is limited. Furthermore, less is known about factors influencing their adoption of CALL 2.0. Against this backdrop, this thesis focused on the intentions to use CALL 2.0 among mainland Chinese pre-service EFL teachers at one provincial university. The goal was to test the technology acceptance model (TAM) when applied to CALL 2.0 and to identify environmental and/or attitudinal factors impinging upon intentionality. Six salient factors (i.e., perceived utility, perceived ease of use, computer self-efficacy, subjective norms, facilitating conditions, and technological pedagogical and content knowledge) were used to predict intentions to use CALL 2.0. Following an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design, two surveys and an interview study were conducted to test and refine the proposed model. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were performed to establish causal path models that had good correspondence to the data. Interview results after the first survey identified additional aspects of facilitating conditions, which were used in the second survey to extend our understanding that facilitating conditions include both technical computer infrastructure and access to English-language learning resources on the Internet. Intention to use CALL 2.0 was directly predicted by perceived usefulness, facilitating conditions (access to English-medium Web 2.0 resources), and technological pedagogical and content knowledge. This result differs from the conventional TAM model in that technologyrelated facilitating conditions only predicted perceived ease of use. The results also suggest that in order to promote CALL 2.0 intentionality, greater access to English-medium Web 2.0 resources that are largely inaccessible in mainland China at present, needs to be developed. Further, because modern smartphones, apps, and tablet devices are relatively intuitive and easy to use, TAM research should focus more on content and discipline-related facilitating conditions, rather than its conventional focus on hardware. This thesis, thus, makes a contribution to the field of technology acceptance modelling and suggests that a substantial politically motivated policy challenge exists for effective implementation of CALL 2.0 in mainland China.