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چکیده
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This study set out to explore the efficacy of EFL teachers' digital literacy in improving language learners' speaking fluency and accuracy through the development of virtual languaculture tasks. Moreover, it scrutinized Iranian EFL teachers' digital literacy levels and the roles of gender and teaching experience as determining factors on digital literacy. To this end, 52 male and 68 female EFL teachers from different areas of Kurdistan province participated in the study by completing a digital literacy scale developed by Ng (2012). Moreover, three groups of teachers, 12 high and 12 low-digitally literate teachers who used virtual languaculture tasks and 10 teachers who used traditional teaching methods participated in semi-structured interviews, and their teachings were observed for 8 sessions. Field notes were used to record what the researcher saw and heard during the observations. Besides, by conducting an IELTS speaking test, 121 male and 122 female upper-intermediate EFL learners of the three groups of teachers were selected to participate in sixteen-session treatments, twice a week for about 60 minutes each session. American English File 2 was used in their language classes as the course book. The control group received placebo, while various languaculture tasks were used in the treatments of the experimental groups. A speaking posttest was administrated after sixteen-session instructions. The gathered qualitative and quantitative data were transcribed, coded, and entered into SPSS and MAXQDA for further analysis. The results of statistical analysis indicated that Iranian EFL teachers were moderately digitally literate. Likewise, the results of Pearson product-moment correlation showed that teachers' digital literacy negatively correlated with teaching experience, however; it did not correlate with gender. The results of one-way between-groups multivariate analysis of variance indicated the efficacy of the implementation of virtual languaculture tasks in developing students' speaking fluency and accuracy. Moreover, the qualitative phase of the study showed that being digitally literate influenced the development, implementation, variety, and complexity of languaculture tasks. Besides, the attained results supported the superiority of the languaculture tasks as mediators between instructors' digital literacy and learners' oral ability. Accordingly, enhancing teachers' digital literacy and learners' critical languaculture awareness are suggested as useful strategies to improve language learners' speaking fluency and accuracy. The findings and theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed in depth at the end of the study.
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