This is a short-form of the presentation, Dr. Susan Marandi and I presented at WorldCALL 2013 in Glasgow.

1. Obstacles in Implementing
CALL in Iranian EFL classes
Hora Hedayati
houra.hedayati@gmail.com
S. Susan Marandi
susanmarandi@alzahra.ac.ir
Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

2. Introduction
Positive effects of technology use on
EFL learning
 Worldwide growth of technology use in
language classes
 An increase in the number of Iranians
who use the internet for educational
purposes

Relatively slow uptake in the Iranian
context of language teaching

3. Research Question
What are some of the obstacles toward
implementing CALL in Iran as perceived
by Iranian EFL teachers?

4. Participant Selection
12 Iranian ELT teachers
• 9 females and 3 males
Purposive sampling
• their experience
• educational degrees
• the grades they were teaching
Four categories

5. Participants
• Four EFL teachers who used
technology in their classes and/or
ran online EFL classes.
• Two EFL teacher educators with long
experience in teaching EFL classes.
• Two EFL teachers who did not use
technology in or for their classes.
• Four high-achievers of a CALL
teacher education course

6. Participants’ Details
Name
Gender
Degree
Mina
Shermin
Mojgan
Ahmad
Neda
Yashar
Yasaman
Ali
Shakiba
Zahra
Nazgol
Shiva
Female
Female
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Female
Female
Female
Ph.D. candidate
Ph.D. candidate
Ph.D.
Ph.D.
M.A.
M.A.
M.A.
Ph.D. candidate
M.A.
M.A.
M.A.
M.A.
Age
28
27
44
45
35
-34
29
33
39
40
48
Teaching Attended
CALL
experience professional
(in years) development
course
2
√
7
√
16
20
15
15
10
6
6
√
5
√
16
√
11
√
Experience
implementing
technology in
the class
√
√
√
√
√

7. Obstacles in Implementing
CALL

Teacher Constraints

Facility Constraints

Learner Constraints

8. Main Barriers in Implementing
CALL
Main Barriers
Teacher
Constraints
Facility
Constraints
Learner
Constraints
Subcategories
Lack of CALL preparation (lack of formal training→ lack of
digital literacy, lack of comfort with technology, lack of
knowledge about the advantages of technology)
Teachers’ inhibiting attitudes (teacher’s resistance toward an
increased workload and/or change, difficulty in class
management)
Lack of support from stakeholders
Non-availability of technology
Limited access to technology
Lack of suitable internet connections
Level of proficiency
Level of autonomy
Age
Too much dependence on the book content
Insufficient digital literacy
Lack of easy access to technology outside class

9. Teacher Constraints

Lack of preparation in CALL

Teachers’ inhibiting attitudes

Lack of support from stakeholders

10. Facility Constraints

No access to technology

Limited access to technology

Unsuitable internet connections

11. Learner Constraints
Age
 Level of proficiency
 Students’ attitudes
 Lack of familiarity with technology
 Lack of easy access to technology
outside class


12. Conclusion
 General
lack of infrastructure for CALL
despite its necessity
• Insufficient teacher preparation in CALL
• Insufficient facilities

13. THANK YOU! 