An Analysis of High School EFL Teachers' Computer Phobia in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Min-Han Tsai, 蔡旻翰
• Other Authors: Tzu-Ching Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/87642180597435149572

碩士 === 朝陽科技大學 === 應用英語系 === 103 === The rapid development of computer technologies and novel digital devices has caused changes in various educational applications and classroom teaching methods. However, in many countries, even though computer hardware and software are available to facilitate classroom instruction, the teachers are unwilling to use or are anxious about using such technology. This psychological condition has been referred to in many ways, such as computer phobia, technostress, cyberphobia, computer aversion, technophobia, and computer anxiety (Yaghi & Abu-Saba, 1998; Choi, Ligon, & Ward, 2002; Wang, K., Shu & Tu, 2008; Thorpe & Brosnan, 2007). This study aimed to investigate the computer phobia experienced by high school EFL teachers and to identify the relationships between computer phobia and individual teachers’ demographic variables. Data were collected from different Taiwanese teachers using a revised version of the Measuring Technophobia Survey by Rosen and Weil (1992). After the data were collected, Cronbach’s Alpha, item analysis and KMO analysis were used to construct reliable measurement scales, to improve existing scales, and to evaluate the reliability and validity of scales in use. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and MANOVA for formal study. This study attempted to complete the computer phobia literature by investigating the levels of computer phobia experienced by Taiwanese EFL high school teachers and to ascertain if self-reported computer phobia is associated with their demographic variables. The results indicated that: (1) many computer facilities are available at high school, but are not being integrated into the curriculum by teachers; (2) most teachers have had a low to moderate computer phobia, with significant positive correlations found between computer phobia and three demographic variables: age, years of teaching experience, and school location. This indicated that older teachers tend to have higher levels of computer phobia and a negative attitude toward computers. The study also found that high school EFL teachers’ teaching loads are rather heavy and that this is the reason why computers are rarely used, even if there are low levels of computer phobia among high school EFL teachers.