The Relationship between Iranian EFL Teachers’ Attitude towards CALL and Their Computer Competence during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The necessity of the adoption of online teaching during the spread of COVID-19 has made the researchers’ focus on computer-assisted language learning (CALL). As a preliminary for using technology in language teaching, the present study aims to find the attitude of Iranian EFL teachers towards using a computer in language instruction as well as their competence in working with computers. The existence of any relationship between these two variables has also been under investigation in the study. For this purpose, a group of 153 available EFL teachers teaching in different language contexts in Iran were selected as the participants of the study. They were asked to answer two validated questionnaires: The computer Attitude questionnaire and the Computer Competency questionnaire considering their ability in practically working with some specific software before the survey. The obtained results revealed the positive attitude of Iranian EFL teachers towards CALL and their agreement for the implementation of computers in their language teaching programs. Moreover, the participants were reported to have a moderate and appropriate level of computer competence, indicating their ability to run computer-based classes. Using Pearson correlation and regression tests, a moderate positive relationship was found between Iranian EFL teachers’ attitude towards CALL and their knowledge of computer programs. However, the teachers’ computer competence could not significantly affect their attitude towards using a computer for language teaching. The findings implicated the need for computer knowledge enhancement among Iranian EFL teachers through some training courses, in addition to teachers’ readiness for adopting technology and computer in their instructions.