7. Technology to support English Language

Rapid changes in the learning environment is the result of speedy developments in the information and communication technologies that have affected all areas of our life. For this reason, many educational institutions have begun looking for new teaching models to fulfil the following objectives: to meet their students’ needs parallel to new technological introductions, to provide more effective learning activities and to promote the environment that motivates the students.

Technology has accompanied the process of language teaching and learning for many years. Cassette players and television were traditional primitive technological tools, which were used in language classes as pedagogical aids. Today, when we think about technology, the first teaching aid that appears in our vision is the computer. Likewise, in the field of English language teaching, computer is a good teaching aid, especially since it has been complemented with the connection to the Internet.

The necessity of application of Multimedia Technology to English teaching are

v Offers a sense of reality and functions very well, which greatly cultivates students’ interest and motivation in study and their involvement in class activities.

v Seeks integration of teaching and learning and provides the students with greater incentives.

v Activates students’ thinking and helps them to transform English learning into capacity cultivation.

v Inspires students’ positive thinking and communication skills in social practice.

v Widens students’ knowledge to gain an insightful understanding to Western culture.

v Equips the students with knowledge and brings about information-sharing among students and makes them actively participate in class discussion and communication.

v Enriches teaching content and makes the best of class time and breaks the “teachercentered” teaching pattern and fundamentally improves the class efficiency.

v Goes beyond the time and space, creates more vivid, visual, authentic environment for English learning and economizes the class time meanwhile increases class information.

v Stresses the role of students and enhances the importance of “interaction” between teachers and students.

v Creates a good platform for the exchange between teachers and students, while at the same time provides a language environment that improves on the traditional classroom teaching model.

v Helps students to use the new technology to their advantage, such as manipulating the network to contact teachers and receiving answers by email.

English language instruction could be made easier by using the comic books, digital story telling, videos, eBooks, interactive white boards, images and online speaking avatars which are available in the Internet.

Comic books not only engage but also develop analytical and critical-thinking skills. They prompt students to decipher meaning, purpose and tone. They also provide creative possibilities for differentiated learning and expression. Today there exist a whole range of free and easy to use online comic-creation tools to provide creative opportunities to express their knowledge, their understanding and their opinions by themselves.

Storytelling dominates the study of literature, but the means through which the stories have been told has evolved with each civilization. Digital media now combines tradition with technology and allows students to tell stories through voice, text, images, audio and video.

Digital stories allow students to take a linear series of events and turn them into a multidimensional experience. It encourages them to communicate, collaborate and research as well as to infuse media into the process. A plethora of tools exists to create these projects - both in terms of software as well as hardware and all of them enable students to gain a deeper understanding of English as they explore the most effective way to retell it.

English and Language Arts teachers make their students write in various genres – narrative, creative fiction, poetry and more as they investigate stories, characters and history. With the advent of eBooks, students can not only read content electronically but produce interactive written work of their own, complete with images, audio and video and interactive hyperlinks. Collaboration is more possible than with simple word processing, and student work can be shared with anyone via the Internet, allowing students to create content for classmates and others.

A SMARTBoard and ActivBoard are examples of an Interactive Whiteboards . Major benefits of an interactive whiteboard include its versatility, interactivity, multimedia/multimodal presentation and participation potential. Interactive Whiteboards can also help students conceptualise new knowledge through representations of abstract ideas. Furthermore, IWB lessons and activities can be recorded and published in ways that facilitate sharing and collaboration. In all, IWBs are a classroom tool that can help English teachers create engaging, interactive, collaborative, and visual lessons and activities that motivate students to learn.

Images can communicate complex messages, can tell stories and can be a meeting place for students to share in learning. Online photo albums allow classrooms to connect and share with the community outside its walls. Teachers can share pictures from the class with families, or a whole community can share an album together over the course of a school year. Students can use online photo galleries to share work with a diverse audience and get comments from other students. Online image galleries will save money, a trip to the photo processing store and will keep images for as long you’d like.

Online speaking avatars are easy to create and open up many educational possibilities. They can connect visualization with spoken content and creates outlet and fun. They can embed in blogs, wikis, Web sites, or can email a link. They allow presentations to be performed by multiple members of a group and is of great use for students with social anxiety and English language learners

The recent Internet- based technologies employed in English language instruction is Web 2.0 tools. The most common tools of Web 2.0 include wiki, blog, podcast, social network and video conferencing have demonstrated the capability of the current technology in language teaching and learning. Studies have revealed that wikis are useful tools for learning and teaching as they provide collaborative writing. Likewise, blogs or text formatted journal entries by users, can improve writing skills, promote active learning, and provide feedback for students and teachers. Language learners normally use blogs in their classes to enhance both writing and reading skills. Apart from wikis and blogging, social networking is a good opportunity for language learners to improve their writing and reading ability especially when they type messages or read them.

A podcast is typically an audio file that one downloads and listens to. Podcasting has a significant potential as a modern learning tool for English learners. It can be used to record English teacher’s lesson or a student conversation. It can be used to create a homework assignment or even be part of a test. Students can use podcasts to interview each other about what they learned during the week. They can create a newscast, hold a debate, or run a radio show. Students could read their own essays or stories. Podcasts can also be used to record guest speakers and make their presentations available online. It is already widely utilized in language learning, especially for offering authentic content and the act of recording it. Myriad types of authentic podcasting are available for English language learners. For example, “Englishcaster” provides a list of podcasts specifically created for English language learners. Furthermore, in this regard some researchers like Stanley (2005) created a podcast applicable for teaching in EFL/ESL classes.

With the usage of technology, students learn basic skills - reading, writing, listening and speaking - better and faster. Students develop the technical skills required to use the Internet for communication and information gathering. They acquire geographic awareness based on understanding the global nature of Internet connections and communications. Students who have the opportunity to use technology to acquire and organize information show a higher level of comprehension and a greater likelihood of using what they learn later in their lives. Students who regularly use technology take more pride in their work, have greater confidence in their abilities and develop higher levels of self-esteem.