EXAMININGTHEASSOCIATIONBETWEEN GENDERAND COMPUTERASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING: THE PRESPECTIVEOF IRANIAN EFL TEACHERS

The purpose of the present study is to examine the association between gender and EFL teachers’ attitudes towards the use of computer assisted language learning.Traditional approaches to language teaching and learning have been challenged by new and innovative approaches based on the latest advances in technology. The vast resources and opportunities that the technology provides have brought about new tools, approaches, and strategies in language teaching and learning. The success of any initiatives to implement technology in an educational program depends strongly upon the support and attitudes of teachers involved. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the bond between EFL teachers’ perceptions towards the use of computers in EFL context with respect to their teaching profiles (gender, teaching experience and teaching context). To this end, 20 EFL teachers who followed their teaching career in Miyane Jahad-e Daneshgahi Language Center were chosen as the sample size. Loyed Gressard’s (1984) Computer Attitude Scale was employed as the main instrument for data collection and the reliability was estimated as 0.83 using Cronbach alpha coefficient. To analyze the data, Spearman correlation coefficient (determined by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) was used. The results indicated that there was a bond between gender and EFL teachers’ attitudes towards the integration of computers. Furthermore, Mann-Whitney test was employed to determine which gender had a stronger attitude towards the use of computers and it was found through the use of this test that male teachers had much more positive attitude towards the use of technology when compared to female teachers.