Investigating EFL Instructors’ Perceptions of using Blackboard in TEFL at IAU Preparatory Year

Abstract

This study set out to explore the perceptions of teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) about the use of the Blackboard learning management system (LMS) in the preparatory year at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University (IAU), Saudi Arabia. The useful Blackboard features that are not customarily exploited by EFL instructors, and the solutions EFL instructors suggested to solve the problems they countered during their EFL classes were also covered. The perceptions of the 63 EFL instructors about using Blackboard in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) teaching were collected by means of a survey. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was used for collating, analyzing, and consecutively integrating data. The findings revealed that the attitudes of teachers towards using Blackboard were significantly positive. Nevertheless, they disclosed that several effective Blackboard features are not explored for the benefit of teachers such as the electronic library, the evaluation system, the teachers’ forum, and the group conferencing. The results recommended that teachers should be provided with intensive training on all the Blackboard features to increase its efficacy in teaching. Finally, some recommendations were offered to maximize the usage of this tool in compliance with recent research findings and instructors’ proposals.