Exploring Attitudes of Greek Teachers of Foreign Language in Secondary Education on Training in Digital Technologies in Foreign Language Teaching

Abstract

The article traces aspects of the existing training of foreign language teachers in the pedagogical use of digital technologies in foreign language teaching. Specifically, it reflects the views of teachers who teach foreign languages in secondary education in Greece on the content, objectives and methodology of training programs concerning the utilization and application of digital technologies in teaching practice. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were implemented as the research tool to gather teachers’ perspectives. The findings of the research were fed by a sample of 15 foreign language teachers (regular and contractual) selected by the method of "simple" random sampling and who were serving in the Secondary Education of the prefecture of Thessaloniki between October 20-20 November 2023. The findings show that, on the one hand, foreign language contractual teachers have not been trained in the integration of digital media in teaching, and on the other hand, although a large percentage of regular foreign language teachers have been trained in the application of digital technologies in teaching practice and express satisfaction with the training programs, they do not feel secure and often hesitate to integrate digital material into their lessons. Deterring factors include lack of teaching time, classroom management, technical support, concerns about the security of personal data, and entrenched teaching beliefs associated with the traditional model of foreign language learning. They seek systematic training that links theoretical knowledge with its application in real-life foreign language classroom situations, support and updating of their knowledge. In summary, according to the findings of the research, training programs for the use and pedagogical use of digital media in foreign language teaching should be open to all teachers (permanent and contractual), providing practices for immediate implementation, provide teaching examples and scenarios to foster digital culture and digital literacy, alongside the development of language and communication skills, which are the basis for teaching a living foreign language.