Use of Technology in English Language Teaching and Learning

Use of Technology in English Language Teaching and Learning

Introduction

With the spread and development of English around the world, English is used as a second language in a country like India and for some people the 1st language. It enjoys a high prestige in the country. At present the role and status of English in India is higher than ever as evidenced by its position as a key subject of medium of instruction, curriculum. As the number of English learners is increasing different teaching methods have been implemented to test the effectiveness of the teaching process. Use of authentic materials in the form of films, radio, TV has been there for a long time. It is true that these technologies have proved successful in replacing the traditional teaching.

The new era assigns new challenges and duties on the modern teacher. The tradition of English teaching has been drastically changed with the remarkable entry of technology. Technology provides so many options as making teaching interesting and also making teaching more productive in terms of improvements. Technology is one of the most significant drivers of both social and linguistic change (Graddol, 1997).

Use of technology in teaching english

As the use of English has increased in popularity so has the need for qualified teachers to instruct students in the language. It is true that there are teachers who use ‘cutting edge’ technology, but the majority of teachers still teach in the traditional manner. None of these traditional manners are bad or damaging the students. In fact, till date they are proving to be useful also. However, there are many more opportunities for students to gain confidence practice and extend themselves, especially for ESL students who learn the language for more than just fun. For them to keep pace with ELT and gain more confidence they have to stride into the world of multimedia technology. 

The growth of ELT through technology 

21st century is the age of globalization and is important to grasp on various foreign languages and English language comes first.English Language Teaching has been with us for many years and it's significance continues to grow, fuelled, partially by the Internet. Graddol’s study (2000) suggests that in the year 2000 there were about a billion English learners- but a decade later the numbers doubled. The forecast points to a surge in English learning, which has peaked in 2010. The same study indicates that over 80% of information stored on the internet is in English. For the first time there are more Non-Native than Native users of the language and diversity of context in terms of learners, age, nationality, learning background etcetera has become a defining characteristic of ELT today. 

Analysis on necessity of application of multimedia technology to english teaching 

1. To cultivate students' interest in study 

Nowadays, the stereotyped traditional teaching methods and environment are unpopular while multimedia technology featuring audio, visual animation effects naturally and humanely makes us more 151access to information besides, with such characteristics as abundant-information and crossing time and space, multimedia technology offers a sense of reality and functions very well, which greatly cultivates students’ interest and motivation in study and their involvement in class activities. 

2. To promote students’ communication capacity 

Traditional teaching has hampered students’ capacity to comprehend certain language and also understanding to structure, meaning and function of the language, and makes the students passive recipients of knowledge, So it is hard to achieve the target of communication. With teachers’ instructions leading students’ thought patterns and motivating students’ emotions, the multimedia technology seeks integration of teaching and learning and provides the students greater incentives. The PPT courseware activate students’ thinking; the visual and vivid courseware rand help them to transforms English learning into capacity cultivation. And such in-class activities as group discussion, subject discussion, and debates can also offer more opportunities for communication among students and between teachers and students. So multimedia technology teaching has uniquely inspired students’ positive thinking and communication skills in social practice. 

3. To Widen Students’ Knowledge to Gain an Insightful Understanding to Western Culture.

The multimedia courseware can offer the students abundant information; more plentiful than textbooks, and help them to get of displays vivid cultural background, rich content and true-to-life language materials, which are much natural and closer to life. Not only could learners improve their listening ability, but also learn the western culture. Grasping information through various channels can equip; the students with knowledge and bring about information-sharing among students and make them actively participate in class discussion and communication. 

4. To improve teaching effect

Multimedia teachings enrich teaching content and make the best of class time and break the “teacher-centered” teaching pattern and fundamentally improve class efficiency. Due to large classes it is difficult for the students to have speaking communication. The utilization of multi-media sound lab materializes the individualized and co-operative teaching.The traditional teaching model mainly emphasized on teachers’instruction, and the information provided is limited due to traditional classes. On the contrary, multimedia technology goes beyond time and space, creates more vivid, visual, authentic environment for English learning, stimulates students’ initiatives and economizes class time meanwhile increases class information.

5. To Improve Interaction Between Teacher and Student

Multimedia teaching stresses the role of students, and enhances the importance of “interaction” between teachers and students. A major feature of multimedia teaching is to train and improve students’ ability to listen and speak, and to develop their communicative competence, During this process, the teacher’s role as a facilitator is particularly prominent. Using multimedia in context creation creates a good platform for the exchange between teachers and students, while at the same time providing a language environment that improves on the traditional classroom teaching model. In this way, teachers in the classroom no longerblindly input information and force students to receive it in a passive way.

Analysis on Problems Arising from Application for Multimedia Technology to English Teaching

In spite of advantages of application of multimedia technology to English class teaching has to improve teaching effect and university students’ overall capacities, there are many problems existing in practical teaching, such as:

1. Major Means Replaced by the Assisting One

Application of multimedia technology is and assisting instrument to achieve the projected teaching effect, While if totally dependent on, multimedia devices during teaching, the teachers may be turned into slaves to the multimedia and cannot play the leading role in teaching, It is observed in practice that a lot of teachers are active in multimedia technology application but not proficient enough to handle it confidently. 

In class, they are standing by the computer and students are fixing their attention only on the screen, and therefore, there is no eye contact between teachers and students.. The trend of modern information and technology teaching appears to the extremity regardless of the essence of the traditional teaching. And hence, the notion of Creative Education is to be fully comprehended that modern educational techniques serves an assisting instrument rather than a target: and that should not dominate class.

2. Loss of Speaking Communication

English language and English analysis by the teachers are effective in conveying knowledge to the students from English pronunciation to comprehension, improving students’ English thought patterns and oral expression, Whereas, the introduction of multimedia technology featuring audio, visual, textual effect fully meets audio and visual requirements of the students and enhance their interest, but it also results in lack of communication between teachers and students, replacement of teachers’ voice by computer sound, and teachers’ analysis by visual image and students have’ few chances for speaking communication.

3. The restriction of Students’ Thinking Potential

It is clear that language teaching is different from science subjects, for language teaching does not require demonstration by various steps, rather, the tense and orderly atmosphere is formed through questions and answer between teachers and students, Teachers raise impromptu and real-time questions and guide the students to think, cultivate their capacity to discover and solve problems, however, due to over demonstration and pre-arranged order, the courseware lacks real-time effect and cannot give feedback.

4. Abstract Thinking Replaced by Imaginable Thinking

The Process of cognition goes through perceptual stage and rational stage. It also applies to studying process. It is our hope that teaching makes students adopt the outlook cognition from perceptual recognition to rational apprehension, and greatly leap from perceptual thinking to rational thinking; Therefore it is the major objective in teaching. To enhance the students’ abstract thinking, the multimedia technology makes content easier, and with its unique advantages, it can clarify the emphasis in teaching.

Suggestions and Strategies to the Existing Problems

In practical teaching. It is improper to duplicate the textual material simply to the screen so that the teacher’s position is ignored In order to ensure the function of, multimedia in teaching. It should be noted that:

1. The Beauty of Courseware Is not the Sole Pursuit

It is proved through practice that adequate application of multimedia technology to teaching can make breakthroughs in class teaching. That is to say, during multimedia assisting teaching, teachers still play the leading role that their position could never be replaced by the computer. For instance, the introduction to each lesson and speaking communication are good way to improve students’ listening and speaking which the computer cannot fulfill, Therefore, teachers’ interpretation shall not be overlooked. 

Meanwhile, as a practical linguistic science, English should be used very often in class to cultivate the students’ communicative competence, Multimedia, as an instrument for assisting teaching, serves the teachers despite its extraordinary effect, So teaching determines whether to adopt multimedia technology. Otherwise, the teachers were acting as the projectionist, clicking the screen.

2. The Computer Screen can’t Substitute the Blackboard

Some teachers take the computer screen as the blackboard, They have input exercises, questions, answers and teaching plans into the computer and display them piece by piece, without taking down anything on the blackboard or even the title of a lesson. 

It is known that teachers are supposed to simulate situations based on teaching and guide the students to communicate in English. Beside traditional writing on blackboard is concise and teachers can make adjustment and amendment to it if necessary.

Furthermore, experienced teachers know well that a perfect courseware is an ideal project in mind, and that in practice, they need to enrich the content on the blackboard with emerging of new question raised by the students.

3. Power Point cannot Take the Place of Student’s Thinking and Practices

At present, most multimedia courseware mainly feature on image and animation of teaching materials in order to cause audio and visual effect, which lively displays the content of textual materials and helps the student deeply understand the texts.

A problem remains that displaying of the content of texts in the PPT courseware cannot take the place of students’ thinking or English communication in simulated circumstance, When working on and utilizing the courseware, we need to encourage the students to use their own mind and speak more, actively join in class practice, we should not overuse the courseware merely in the hope of adding the modernized feature to class teaching.

4. Traditional Teaching Instruments and Devices should not be Overlooked

The function of multimedia assisting in teaching cannot be replaced by many other instruments, which does not mean that multimedia can replace any other form of instrument; Some teachers tend to entirely depend on multimedia teaching. 

While, it should be noticed that although multimedia has its unique advantages in teaching, the characteristics functions of other forms of teaching instruments are still incomparable. For example, the recorder still plays a role in broadcasting listening material. So teachers are supposed to choose appropriate media and instrument based on the requirements of teaching and integrate multimedia instrument with traditional one and fully perform their merits, rather than merely in pursuit of trendy method.

5. Multimedia Technology should not be Overused

Some teachers may possess the improper concept that they would totally apply multimedia technology in their teaching. It is also believed that the more utilization of multimedia technology, the better class atmosphere may grow, the more actively the students get involved in class participation, the more easily the material access to the students. 

Apparently, the students show some interest in leaning, but actually, they feel like looking on. In practice, the more unconscious attention the students pay. The more interference of teaching information during transmission, the less the students take from the language materials. It is impossible to effectively train the students’ language expression in class time. It is clear that in spite of advantages of application of multimedia technology, it assists in teaching. 

Conclusion

”Ideally, the purpose of both the traditional and computer-assisted cooperative language leaningclassrooms is to provide a space in which the facilitation of learning, and learning itself, can take place” (Shi, 2008).

It is true that one of the ultimate goals of multimedia language teaching is to promote students’ motivation and learning interest, which can be a practical way to get them involved in the language learning, Context creation of ELT should be based on the openness and Accessibility of the teaching materials and information.

In conclusion, we believe that this process can fully improve students’ ideation and practical language skills, which is helpful and useful to ensure and fulfill an effective result of teaching and learning. Barring a few problem areas multimedia technology can be used effectively in classrooms of ElT with proper computer knowledge on the part of teachers, overcoming the finance problems in setting up the infrastructure and not allowing the teachers to become technophobes.

References

• Graddol: (1997:16)
• David Graddol, The future of English, Page 2
• Zhanghongling ( The development tendency of the modern foreign language teaching and the computer assisted instruction. Computer- Assisted Foreign Language Education 3.
• Brown, H.D. (2001). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
• Holec,H.(1981). Autonomy and Foreign language learning. Oxford: Pergamon.
• www.ccsenet.org/journal.html , vol.1, No 4, November 2008.