Technology-enhanced Self-directed Language Learning Behaviors of EFL Student Teachers

Abstract

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education not only requires students to receive in-classinstruction but also necessitates them to engage in extra practices outside the classroomby using technological or non-technological resources. Hence, this study aimed toinvestigate the self-directed language learning behaviors of the EFL student teachers andtheir use of technology in the process by employing a mixed-methods study within anexplanatory sequential research design. The quantitative data were collected from 110 EFLstudent teachers by using two distinct research instruments, whereas the qualitative datawere collected through an open-ended questionnaire form, responded by 47 of thesestudents. The results of the study indicated that technology utilization is a significantpredictor of self-directed language learning. However, the findings show that the offcampus self-directed language learning abilities of the students, with or without the use oftechnology, do not significantly differ according to gender, age, and grade levels. Thedifferences were only found in terms of unaided off-campus learning abilities of thestudents and their technology utilization frequency in language learning. The qualitativefindings also show that students engage in a variety of self-directed language learningactivities outside the classroom mostly by using technology.