Investigating EFL teachers' perceptions of technology use on student engagement: A pilot study in Turkiye

Journal of Language, Literature, Social, and Cultural Studies, Volume 4 Number 1 (Mar 2026), p. 91-107 e-ISSN: 2986-4461 DOI: https://doi.org/10.58881/jllscs.v2i2 https://ympn.co.id/index.php/JLLSCS Investigating EFL teachers' perceptions of technology use on student engagement: A pilot study in Turkiye Betül Yoldaş Ankara Social Sciences University, TURKIYE Email: Abstract - The present pilot study aims to demonstrate EFL teachers’ perceptions of their own technology use on student engagement in language classrooms. 21 EFL teachers (17 females & 4 males) were reached with the snowball data collection technique. Teachers completed an online questionnaire, after they were taken their written consent by clicking a consent box on the form. Through qualitative research design, perceptions of EFL teachers towards their use of digital tools and reasons behind them were revealed. The results of the pilot study indicate that both experienced and less experienced teachers prefer to use themselves technology frequently in their language classrooms via computers or smart boards especially for listening and vocabulary acquisition exercises. Moreover, they prefer to use teaching videos before preparing their teaching content and during the class. Thus, teachers stated that students are more influenced affectively and classes become more joyful due to technological use in the class. None of the participant teachers were against the use of technology in language classrooms. Keywords: technology use in language teaching; teacher perceptions; student engagement; pilot study; Turkiye 1. Introduction In the field of applied linguistics, learner participation within language teaching environments is meaningful in terms of learner development. The concept of learner participation is interpreted as 'a readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons' by MacIntyre et al. (1998). Student participation is observed through their endeavour in classrooms with the active involvement of students in class discussions and language learning activities. This involvement not only includes verbal expressions, but also emotional and cognitive transfer (Decristan et al., 2023; Zhang et al., 2025). Despite students’ participation types can be changed, each student has her/his own type of participation in the class (Papageorgiou et al., 2025). In this respect, as students devote themselves to their language learning, they exhibit different types of engagement such as behavioural, cognitive and emotional in time (Fredricks et al., 2004). Teaching methods and strategies of EFL teachers are formed in relation to the number of students participating the lesson because these two variables are interrelated (Zhang et al, 2024). Behavioural participation of students can be observed through their actions, for example they attend their language classes physically, complete their assignments actively. Rather than relying solely on oral feedback, integrating digital tools into the classroom has become increasingly popular due to students’ behavioural responses (Teng & Wang, 2021). In cognitive participation, problem-solving, deep understanding and strategic thinking are involved (Bond et al., 2020). Lastly, emotional or social participation is defined as emotional connection among This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) 91 Journal of Language, Literature, Social, and Cultural Studies, Volume 4 Number 1 (Mar 2026), p. 91-107 e-ISSN: 2986-4461 DOI: https://doi.org/10.58881/jllscs.v2i2 https://ympn.co.id/index.php/JLLSCS student and teacher or student and their peers. In this participation type, student enjoys being in the class and learning languages (Bergdahl et al., 2024). Moreover, while some of the students are willing to sound heaps of times, others may refuse to talk or may too be late to engage in learner activities (Jacknick, 2021). Including technology-based language learning activities in language classrooms requires teachers to catch up new technological developments (Wohlfart & Wagner, 2025). For this reason, old-fashioned EFL teaching methods and tools have been revolutionized with the integration of new digital tools. Accordingly, it is crucial to integrate technology into the curriculum in terms of students’ demands and their participation in language classes (Panakaje et al., 2025). Teachers employ Technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) tools in their EFL teaching classes. It is obvious that technology is just a modern tool to transfer language information, but this cannot be a sole aim of EFL teachers. They are used to ensure that students can internalize knowledge effectively thanks to digital tools. Therefore, language teachers should take their instructional goals and principles into consideration while choosing appropriate language teaching materials (Alam et al., 2025). Studies support that the way of using technology changes students' participation in language classes (Hamarsha & Ismail, 2020). Although the use of digital tools arises curiosity and engagement among language learners, overuse of these tools without a meaningful pedagogical integration may undermine student motivation. The amount of time that teachers use technology is needed to be adjusted meticulously. It is important to acknowledge appropriate timing and real aim behind using them simultaneously (Nkomo et al, 2021). This present context-specified research (Creswell & Creswell, 2018) is a pilot study (van Teijlingen & Hundley, 2001) aims to explore the influence of teachers’ use of technology on student engagement in Turkiye. Rather than addressing a specific gap in the literature, the study was aimed to provide insights on teacher perceptions in technology use in Turkiye. After the pandemic, the use of technology in language classes has become widespread (Awee et al., 2020). Consequently, this integration has made the use of digital tools in language teaching no longer a fuss; it has been transformed into teachers’ daily instructional materials (Moorhouse, 2023). Digital technology use in language teaching positively affects students’ English academic performance through learning engagement (Shao et al., 2025). In a study of Gönen and Zeybek (2021), they enabled students reading tasks using QR codes in EFL classes. Accessing to reading material becomes easier thanks to QR code and this boosted curiosity and motivation among students, reinforcing memorization. At the end, students like the idea of distributing tasks in a unique way to change language learning environment positively. In addition to QR code-enhanced reading texts, several studies showed the benefits of integrating collaborative digital tools in language classrooms. Since these tools act as a scaffold for students in their learning process, the perception of students is shap (...truncated)