EFL teachers’ perceptions of the use of e-textbooks at secondary schools in Dong Thap province

Abstract

This descriptive quantitative study is aimed to investigate the EFL teachers’ perceptions of using e-textbooks in EFL classes at lower-secondary schools in Dong Thap province and what they perceived in terms of the benefits and challenges in using the digital version of the current textbooks. The data were collected through thirty-five Likert scale items and two open-ended questions in the form of online questionnaire from 155 EFL teachers at twelvelower-secondary schools in Dong Thap province. The findings showed that the participants’ perceptions towards applying e-textbooks in their EFL classes are highly positive. These teachers agreed that using e-textbooks is not only convenient for them in teaching but it also has positive effects on enhancinglearners’ English vocabulary, pronunciation and communication competence thanks to the vivid interactive features of the digital version of the current textbooks. In addition, teachers in urban schools have a higher tendency of using e-textbooks than those in the rural ones. Moreover, the results also showed that e-textbooks will be difficult to be applied in the case of unstable internet connection and lack of digital facilities. In addition, it is necessary for teachers to update their technological skills and prepare the lesson plans under the use of e-textbooks to make their teaching practices effectively.

Keywords

• benefits
• challenges
• e-textbooks
• EFL teachers
• lower-secondary schools