Abstract:

The main purpose of the study presented here was to explore the perceptions of 40 English as foreign language pre-service teachers about the benefits and challenges of the use of Tablet PCs in English Language Teaching (ELT). Data collection and analysis in the study were done mainly by qualitative means via two Tablet PC use surveys in which participants answered open-ended questions. Findings of the study showed that both benefits and challenges of the use of Tablet PCs in ELT could be categorized under four main themes: a. Instructional, b. Technological, c. Motivational, and d. Functional. In addition, based on the perceptions of the participants, the benefits of the Tablet PCs outweighed their challenges. It is recommended that both teachers and students should receive training especially in the technical aspects of Tablet PCs to increase the benefits of these devices as effective tools of instruction in English classrooms.

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