Computer Anxiety, Internet Self-efficacy And Computer Beliefs Of College English Teachers

Computer anxiety is a psychological phenomenon that refers to a feeling of fear when the individualsuse computers or think about using computers. Issues such as the user’s physical performance, measuringtools and treatment of computer anxiety have been major concerns for a great number of researches,previous researches found that the incidence of computer anxiety is quite extensive, but only a few peoplesuffer from serious computer anxiety. Researching on computer anxiety can help to reduce the individual’slevel of computer anxiety, improve their computer self-efficacy, and enable them to take full advantage ofcomputers to enhance teachers’ learning and working efficiency.The purpose of this study is to investigate college English teachers’ computer anxiety level, internetself-efficacy level and computer beliefs. The relationships and gender differences of these three factors arediscussed. Existing instruments from previous research are adapted to measure the following constructs:computer anxiety, internet self-efficacy and computer beliefs. Surveys are distributed to one hundred andtwenty-five college English teachers in Lanzhou, Gansu province in China. Finally,112valid responses arecollected. This paper mainly discussed four issues related to computer anxiety:1. What are the computer anxiety levels of college English teachers?2. What are the teachers’ computers beliefs and internet self-efficacy levels of college Englishteachers?3. Do the computer anxiety levels, internet self-efficacy and computer beliefs of the college Englishteachers differentiate due to their gender?4. What are the relationships between college English teachers’ computer anxiety, internetself-efficacy and computer beliefs?This paper combined quantitative research method and qualitative research method together andmainly employed quantitative research method. Sample method was used to select subjects and collectresearching data, scales with high reliability were used collect the data, and then with the help of statisticalsoftware SPSS18.0these data were analyzed. Finally, based upon the statistical results, reasonable answerswere given to the above four questions. Meanwhile, this paper also used interview to collect more concreteand vivid data. With the data gained both from the scales the interview, comprehensive and objectiveanswers were provided to these four research questions.The main conclusions of this thesis are as follows: College English teachers have a low level of computer anxiety, and computer anxiety level of maleteachers is slightly lower than that of female teachers.College English teachers have high self-efficacy of using the network and positive computer beliefs.There is no significant gender difference in college English teachers. Male teachers have higherinternet self-efficacy than female teachers, and they are more positive than female teachers on attitude.College English teachers’ computer anxiety is significantly related to internet self-efficacy which canpredict computer anxiety effectively. Also, a significant correlation exists between computer beliefs andinternet self-efficacy, and internet self-efficacy can predict computer beliefs. However, there is nosignificant relation between computer anxiety and computer beliefs.The significance of this thesis lies in the following three parts.This thesis studies the computer anxiety and other factors of college English teachers. In addition, itprovides data support for the study and application of computer anxiety, internet self-efficacy and computerefficacy in education.This thesis deeply explores the relationship between computer anxiety, internet self-efficacy andcomputer beliefs, which give supports on reducing computer anxiety, improving computer efficacy andproposing positive computer beliefs.Through refined analysis of relevant factors, this thesis finds out the relationship betweenclassification items of specific computer anxiety and those of internet self-efficacy. It can help teachers touse more effective and specific ways to overcome anxiety, and thus make better use of computer in Englishteaching. Meanwhile, it also contributes to professional development of English teachers with informationtechnology.