Factors intensive English program instructors perceive as playing a role in facilitating communicative language teaching activities in the emergency remote teaching environment

While the use of educational technology in online instruction has increased in higher education, it is still limited in intensive, academic English programs. Precipitated by COVID-19, U.S. Intensive English Programs (IEPs) quickly transitioned from face-to-face (F2F) instruction to the emergency remote teaching environment (ERTE) when the public health crisis occurred. The purpose of this study was to identify how University and College Intensive English Program (UCIEP) instructors used technology, to explore their perceptions of factors that played a role in using technology, and to understand how they learned to use technology.Using purposeful sampling, 10 UCIEP instructors were interviewed using the general qualitative approach (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003) served as the theoretical framework for the study and guided the development of the interview protocol.The findings indicate the influence of the CLT approach on how the instructors used technology to facilitate activities. Instructors described how the facilitator role in CLT activities changed, and how they questioned translanguaging in the remote environment. During remote teaching instructors relied on Zoom features and used various technologies, collaborative tools, and video in synchronous and asynchronous environments. Their use of technologies was influenced by several factors, including their reported prior experience with educational technology, their ease in using technology, and input from their colleagues and students. Additional perceived factors that played a role in facilitating CLT activities in the ERTE included the usefulness of technology, their effectiveness in using technology, and barriers such as the lack of access to stable internet and adequate bandwidth. In regards to how instructors learned to use technology for facilitating CLT activities, they credited the education and technology resources provided by their IEP and university. Implications for teaching with technology and instructor development in IEP programs in the United States are provided. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Factors intensive English program instructors perceive as playing a role in facilitating communicative language teaching activities in the emergency remote teaching environment

While the use of educational technology in online instruction has increased in higher education, it is still limited in intensive, academic English programs. Precipitated by COVID-19, U.S. Intensive English Programs (IEPs) quickly transitioned from face-to-face (F2F) instruction to the emergency remote teaching environment (ERTE) when the public health crisis occurred. The purpose of this study was to identify how University and College Intensive English Program (UCIEP) instructors used technology, to explore their perceptions of factors that played a role in using technology, and to understand how they learned to use technology.Using purposeful sampling, 10 UCIEP instructors were interviewed using the general qualitative approach (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003) served as the theoretical framework for the study and guided the development of the interview protocol.The findings indicate the influence of the CLT approach on how the instructors used technology to facilitate activities. Instructors described how the facilitator role in CLT activities changed, and how they questioned translanguaging in the remote environment. During remote teaching instructors relied on Zoom features and used various technologies, collaborative tools, and video in synchronous and asynchronous environments. Their use of technologies was influenced by several factors, including their reported prior experience with educational technology, their ease in using technology, and input from their colleagues and students. Additional perceived factors that played a role in facilitating CLT activities in the ERTE included the usefulness of technology, their effectiveness in using technology, and barriers such as the lack of access to stable internet and adequate bandwidth. In regards to how instructors learned to use technology for facilitating CLT activities, they credited the education and technology resources provided by their IEP and university. Implications for teaching with technology and instructor development in IEP programs in the United States are provided. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)