PRIMARY AND LOWER SECONDARY EFL TEACHERS’ TECHNOLOGY-BASED STRATEGIES FOR SUPPORTING STUDENTS’ IDEA GENERATION IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

Abstract

 Generating ideas remains a practical challenge for many EFL learners during speaking activities, even when they possess sufficient linguistic knowledge to express themselves. Although digital technologies can provide visual, linguistic, collaborative, and organizational support, less attention has been paid to how teachers use these resources specifically to facilitate students’ idea generation. This study investigates the technology-based strategies employed by primary and lower secondary EFL teachers to support students’ idea generation before and during speaking activities. A descriptive quantitative survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire, and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings indicate that technology-based strategies are used most frequently to stimulate initial ideas and provide immediate speaking support, whereas their use for developing and organizing ideas is less prominent. The study contributes to the literature by shifting attention from individual digital tools to the pedagogical functions that technology serves throughout the idea-generation process. The findings also highlight the need for more purposeful integration of technology across different stages of speaking preparation and performance.