Abstract:

Language learning and teaching as an integrated process has incorporated the use of technology as virtual environments into this field. The nature of education has gained another dimension particularly after the pandemic, and the world has come to understand that it may not necessarily take place in the classroom; therefore, the use of virtual teachers has increased, which seems to open a new age of digital learning. With the issues on the agenda, the aim of this study is to describe the attitudes of the candidate teachers and those of the students towards Web 2.0 tools. The study intends to reveal the extent these tools are considered to be important by the two parties of language learning. The study also aims to underline the issue of cross-linguistic research to be considered while utilizing these virtual platforms. The participants are 152 students of a state school and 30 candidate teachers studying at the ELT Department of an Education Faculty. Four research tools, a survey, a translation test, an open-ended attitude questionnaire and a software program have been used for this mixed-methods research. According to the research findings, the majority of teacher candidates do not find the use of web 2.0 tools as the primary source for language teaching; rather, they think that these tools can be used as very effective means to engage the students into the task of learning. As for the learners; however, the virtual teacher created did the job of teaching successfully as it can be seen from the test results, and findings show that most of the learners have a positive attitude towards using Web 2.0 tools in all learning platforms.

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