Abstract
The breakthrough of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has dramatically changed the modern life in almost all the aspects. The association of ICT in our daily life is inevitable. The integration of ICT in English Language Teaching, (ELT) as Foreign Language (FL) or Second Language (SL) has made the teaching and learning easier, authentic, active and effective. It has also affected the traditional teaching and learning process and has brought changes in the traditional roles of teachers.
Objective
This paper tends to provide an overview of importance of ICT in teaching and learning of English as a second or a foreign language. It analyses the factors which make the integration of ICT in language teaching and learning successful. Moreover, it discusses the changing roles of teachers with ICT and the importance of regular teacher’s training for effective employment of ICT tools in teaching.
Methods and Materials
In order to understand and explain the contents of ICT in Teaching and Learning of English Language and the changing roles of teachers with ICT various publications, articles, journals and multimedia and internet searches were examined and acknowledged. The method used is analytical and descriptive. Both primary as well as secondary sources of information have been taken.
Results and Conclusion
Main area of concern in this study on ICT and changing roles of teachers of EFL and ESL has been helpful to know the importance of ICT in language learning and teaching, factors that make teaching and learning English effective with ICT, the need for change in the traditional roles of teachers, new roles of teachers with ICT and importance of regular training to make teachers ICT competent. In addition to this, the study highlights the point that schools and universities should not only be equipped with ICT tools but the teachers should be trained and made competent in ICT skills.
Introduction
The remarkable entry of technology has created changes in all aspects of society .The impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on the fields like tourism & travel, business, banks, medicines, engineering and architecture etc. is enormous. The inevitable impact of ICT has penetrated in such a manner that without it the system of almost field seems to get hung-up. The magic of technology has not left the field of education untouched. ICT has brought a dramatic shift of education from teacher – centered to learner- centered. Earlier, Education was a uni-directional transfer of information from the teacher to the learner but the scenario today is not the same. It has changed the nature of face-to-face teaching and enabled the rapid growth of blended and online courses. Especially, the field of ELT has been made authentic, easier, and interesting with the integration of Information and Communication Technologies ( ICTs). According to Warschauer (1996), technology and the Internet play a vital role in teaching the second and foreign language as an aid to the teacher. As evident, a large amount of resources for teaching and learning English is available through Internet these days.
Inspite of the fact that ICT makes teaching and learning easier and interesting, at the same time, it offers new challenges for both instructors and students. There is a misconception of teachers being redundant or in other words, there is a misconception that the use of ICT in teaching would replace teachers from the classroom. In fact, new educational technologies do not curb the need for teachers but they call for a redefinition of their roles and profession. According to Laurillard (2002), if there is to be innovation and change in university teaching—as the new technology requires, as the knowledge industry requires, and as students demand—then it follows that academics must become researchers in teaching. This implies that integration of ICT in ELT has not only affected the manner of teaching and learning but also has changed the roles of teachers from that of instructor to that of constructors, facilitators and creators of learning environment.
In order to understand the factors or reasons which make changes in the roles of teacher, it would be better to discuss about ICT and how does it affect teaching and learning process, especially in ELT
Definition of ICT
ICTs stand for information and communication technologies and are defined as a diverse set of technological tools, resources, and pedagogies used to communicate, and to create, disseminate, store, and manage information. These technologies include computers, the Internet, broadcasting technologies such as; radio, television, and telephony (Tinio, 2010). In general terms, ICT is any use of “computing devices such as desktop computers, laptops, softwares, or Internet for instructional purposes.” (Hew & Brush, 2007, p.225). The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 2003) defines ICTs as “basically information-handling tools- a varied set of goods, applications and services that are used to produce, store, process, distribute and exchange information. They include the `old’ ICTs of radio, television and telephone, and the `new’ ICTs of computers, satellite and wireless technology and the Internet. These different tools are now able to work together, and combine to form our `networked world’ a massive infrastructure of interconnected telephone services, standardized computing hardware, the internet, radio and television, which reaches into every corner of the globe..”
The use of ICT in Foreign Language education has developed from the earliest stages in audio tapes, word processing and CD- ROM (Becker et.al.,1999; Evelyn & Oliver, 1987) to Internet browsing, online interaction with peers and people of similar interests using Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), synchronous and asynchronous, such as chat, video teleconferencing, whiteboard, discussion forum, social networking sites, email and other forms of technology including blogs, wikis, IPod, and MP3s (Murray). According to Warschauer (1996), ICT contributes to create authentic learning environment and allows the development of language skills like listening, reading, writing and speaking at the same time .Use of ICT in classroom makes students display an enhanced sense of achievement and increase in self- directed learning, with the ability to communicate, conduct research and present ideas effectively beyond the confines of the class (Shetzer & Warschauer, 2000). Warschauer (2004), Warschauer & Healey (1998), and Warschauer & Kern (2005) suggest that microcomputers that have been integrated into language instruction, and have increasingly contributed to the enhancement of English proficiency in all language skills.
ICT in ELT- Why ?
Evidently, it would be justifiable to say that integration of ICT in ELT enhances the teaching and learning process. The following are the factors which make the integration of ICT in education, especially in ELT successful:
Active Learning
Use of ICT in language learning makes the process of teaching and learning active, interesting and motivating. ICTs have positive effects on student attitudes toward the language teaching and learning. It is because, different resources like audio clips, video clips in the target language and various other use of ICT like teaching through smart boards and whiteboards make the lesson more interesting and learners get motivated to learn the lesson. Moreover, the use of computer based instruction increases self-confidence and self esteem of learners. In this context Warschauer (2004) asserted that one quantifiable benefit to increase motivation is that students tend to spend more time on tasks when on the computer. Learners are no more passive with the introduction of ICT in teaching and learning process.
Authenticity
ICT, particularly the Internet provides language learners with the opportunity to use the target language in real and authentic context. The Internet makes current and authentic materials in the target language, very easily and fastly accessible. ICTs not only provide authentic materials but with computers and internet, learners can interact with the native speakers of the target language across the world. Especially, the field of ELT has been made authentic, easier, and interesting with the integration of Information and Communication Technologies ( ICTs). According to Garrett, 1982, learners get an opportunity to interact with the native speakers of the target language and this helps in the development of one or more of the four language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing because in order to interact, learners have to use or produce text meant for an audience in the target language. Confronting such challengeable situations is the touchstone for using the language in authenticity not artificially. As a result, Skinner & Austin (1999)[] claim that students’ interest, motivation and confidence will be promoted.
Availability of the Resources
The Internet – one of the important forms of ICT, gives access to an exponentially growing storehouse of information sources, almost unlimited networks of people and computers, and unprecedented learning and research opportunities. ICTs provide access to a variety of language teaching and learning resources that could help teachers and learners in teaching and learning language respectively. ICTs are very stimulating because of the availability of the learning materials whether it is computer-based or in the web; and students can learn at their own place and own time. The availability of images, animation, audio and video clips help much more in presenting and practicing new language.
Autonomy and student- centered
With the help of ICT-based tools and the constantly growing number of available authentic language resources language teachers are able to give individual and personalized guidance to the learners. At the same time, with computers, the student can easily access, manipulate, modify, store and retrieve information which promotes greater autonomy in learning. The use of several media–audio, video, authentic contexts and real-world experiences help language learners with different learning style to assimilate the content according to their needs. (Jonassen et al.1999). Inevitably, the use of ICT in the classroom will change the role of learners, enabling them to exert more choice over how they approach study, requiring less direction from teachers. In the words of Forsyth, students will be able to direct their own studies to a greater extent, with the teacher acting as a guide or moderator rather than as a director (Forsyth, 1996: 31). In addition to this, Ahmad et al. (1985, p. 116) asserts that computers can provide individual attention to learners who need to remedy and increase their ability, in order to find their own proficiency level and to choose activities or tasks that suit their individual learning styles. Use of technology or ICTs in language learning can help learners overcome the limitation of time and resources and the process of individualized learning can be maximized. Students have the opportunity to choose the elements of language, their own level, pace and time of language learning. Warschauer & Kern (2005), demonstrate that, while exposed to authentic and dynamic language tasks, learners are pushed to control their learning time and effort to communicate with their partners, peers or class. Unlike the traditional methods of language teaching, ICT in language learning supports learner- centered approach to language teaching. Learners get full exposure to the authentic target language according to his time and space of language learning. Not only this, ICT motivates the shy students to ask questions or interact with the teachers and peers through internet, who would always remain quiet in the classroom.
Collaborative learning
The use of ICT in a language classroom provides opportunities for the development of cooperation and collaboration with the fellow learners and friends. Previously, students or classes would write letters or later even e-mails to each other. Today, using ICT they can ‘skype’or chat online, where they can not only write to each other in real-time, butalso see each other and speak to each other online. Interaction with the native speakers of the target language is also very easily possible. Students are thus able to write, read, speak, listen, and react to a conversation using ICT as part of the language learning process. They are motivated to communicate and collaborate with peers to produce common products, for instance, wikis.
Multifaceted Tools
One of the advantages of ICT in language teaching and learning is that it can successfully provide teaching and learning resources in multiple ways. As for instance, the same material can be provided in the form of audio clips, video or in the form of film. Moreover, ICTs facilitate different learning activities as testing, doing exercises and performing different pedagogical tasks or games.
Self-Evaluation
The examinations system in general, test the reading and writing skills of the students and totally neglect the listening and speaking skills, which are indispensable skills for any language. The listening capacity can be tested through computer-assisted packages like listening to a dialogue/passage and answering the questions or listening to lectures and then answering short questions or true or false statements. It will enhance their talents for taking international tests because many competitive exams follow such a pattern to test the grasping ability of the students.
Help Teachers
ICTs, especially Internet provides access to variety of teaching materials that give a vast range of exposure to the target language and could prove useful to develop the learner’s language skills. In addition to this, they help the teachers to produce, store and retrieve their materials easily and swiftly. The availability of vast range of teaching materials help in planning and developing effective teaching materials and at the same time, save the teachers time.
Reasons for the Change in the Roles of Teachers
Although, the modern technology assist in better teaching by providing a huge range of opportunities and facilities, but the fact is that technology cannot replace the teacher. In fact, use of recent technological trends in education, does not curb the need for teachers in classroom rather, they redefine the roles of teachers. So, it would be wrong to say that teachers are becoming redundant as a consequence of the use of ICT in classroom. The need for teacher’s involvement is necessary to avoid leaving the technology control the lesson. According to Brandl, 2002, ICT can be effective only with the teacher’s role as “facilitator” who plans and guides the lesson. Therefore, to use the modern technology effectively, the ELT teacher must also be prepared to assume new roles (McLaren et al, 2005). Canado (2010) asserts that the foreign language teacher functions as counselor, tutor, motivator, facilitator and observer.
Many studies and articles have identified reasons for the necessities of change in the roles of teachers must change with the proliferation of ICT. Firstly, the role of the teacher must change because ICT will cause certain existing resources to become obsolete. Resources such as overhead projectors and chalkboards may no longer be necessary if all learners have access to the same networked resource on which the teacher is presenting information, especially if students are not physically in the same location. Secondly, ICT may also make some assessment methods redundant. Low level (factual) knowledge for example, has been traditionally tested by the use of multiple choice questions. In an ICT environment, on-line tests can easily be used which instantly provide the teacher with a wide range of information associated with the learner’s score. Thirdly, the role of the teacher must change in the sense that it is no longer sufficient for teachers merely to impart content knowledge. It will however, be crucial for teachers to encourage critical thinking skills, promote information literacy, and nurture collaborative working practices to prepare children for real- life situations.. The Internet provides opportunities for inquiry-based learning where teachers and students are able to access some of the world’s largest information archives. Students and teachers are able to connect with each other, learn flexibly, and collaborate with others around the world. Teaching strategies and resources can be shared through communication with other educators and may be integrated across the curriculum. The Internet provides a wealth of information to the extent that it is now impossible to comprehensively track the amount of information available. Unfortunately, misinformation and inaccuracies are similarly present in great numbers on the Internet so one of the new roles of the teacher within the electronic classroom will be to separate out quality information from misinformation. Identification, classification and authentication of electronic information sources will be critical new tasks for teachers. (Steeve Wheeler, 2000)
ICT and Changing Roles of teachers
The above discussion highlights the points that clarify the needs and importance of change in the roles of teacher with the proliferation of ICT in education. Researchers and administrators have recognized that the introduction of the new media into educational institution calls for a change in learning and teaching patterns “Ihe Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on the Teaching of foreign Languages and on the Role of Teachers of Foreign language” a report commissioned by the Directorate General of Education and Culture of the European Commission,2003 very clearly illustrates the change in the roles of teachers with the introduction of ICT in education. Following are the roles that teachers would adopt for effective deployment of ICT in language teaching.
Facilitator and guide
Teachers today, are no more all knowing gurus who dominated the classes of yesteryears rather, the classes now have become more of learner- centered where teachers are no more leaders or monitors but have become facilitators. As facilitators, firstly, teachers have to be flexible in order to respond to the needs of the students. Secondly, he must be aware of a variety of materials available for improving students’ language skill. The language textbook is no longer the sole source of information .Authentic Multimedia programmes are available, showing how native speakers interact in the target language; electronic dictionaries and encyclopedias are available for instant reference and much more resources are available online that help develop learners language skills. Teachers need to know how to teach learners to use all this material effectively.
Integrator (of media)
Teachers must not only know and understand the functions of different modern technological tools available in ICT rich environment, they should also know when best to deploy them. Teachers using ICT tools need to guide learners in the use of word-processing; graphics and presentation programs that would help learners use ICT tools in making projects and presentations and in real life situation.
Researcher
In order to make an effective use of ICT tools, teachers need to know how and where they can access information for their own and for their learners’ use. Teachers need to have knowledge and competency in the use of search engines and reliable information source. Familiarity with the use of electronic tools for language analysis (e.g. concordances) will enable teachers to further develop their own linguistic and professional competence and increase their confidence in the use of the language.
Designer of (complex) learning environment
In order to construct or design successful learning scenarios, teachers need to learn how to put together tasks and materials to guide their learners to successful execution and conclusion of their projects. Unlike traditional teaching material the design of learning scenarios is much more complex, as it requires higher order skills involving researching and evaluating source materials, setting overall aims and objectives and breaking down tasks into meaningful and manageable sequences. As these tasks are taken on lesson preparation time increases and this fact must be honored in teaching contracts and they must be encouraged and cooperated to adopt this approach.
Collaborator
A teacher has to be a collaborator to make the effective use of modern trends in teaching.
Designing learning scenarios takes time and to reduce the workload, teachers need to collaborate and share responsibilities and tasks among teaching staff. Collaboration with colleagues will lighten the burden and make the efforts more fruitful and rewarding. These days internet provide possibilities for exchange between teachers across the world. Teachers of English as EFL and ESL could well profit from such internet exchanges, helping them to overcome the sense of isolation.
Learner
With the change in society and the development in teaching technology, a teacher cannot act as all knowing guru. In the protected environment of the textbook they have recourse to the authority of the authors and publishers. But in the world of internet, a teacher needs to be updated in his field and other related fields as well. Therefore, a teacher has to be a constant learner to walk hand in hand with the ever developing world. A further challenge is often presented to them by learners who possess more advanced computer skills than they do. Despite, getting discouraged they should learn together with their pupils and would find it a rewarding and fruitful experience.
Evaluator
With the growing use of technology in the process of teaching learning of language skills, models of evaluation need to be revised radically .For example, listening skills or oral skills can hardly be tested with multiple-choice examinations A portfolio-based approach to assessing language competence and skills acquired would seem to be a more appropriate way of recording progress in the target language. Teachers need to acquire the skills that would help in evaluating language skills. This form of evaluation should be practiced in initial and in- service training courses, providing teachers with first hand experience of the system and with direct relevance to their own situation.
Teacher Training- ICT competencies required of language teachers
The inevitable importance of communications and information in education in the 21st century requires teachers to upgrade their knowledge and to acquire competency in using ICT effectively and creatively. As discussed in the roles of teachers, language teachers working in a media-rich environment will need to:
• recognise the individual learning problems of learners;
• make a careful and considered choice concerning the use of the media;
• check the truth of information content offered;
• develop efficient search techniques and be capable of conducting effective research
with the help of the computer to get useful resources
• be able to use standard software confidently and competently;
• make wise and critical choices of information found.
Training for teachers especially to make teachers competent in using ICT in their classroom is the only key to make teachers walk hand in hand with the present world of globalization.
In many developing countries, however, most teachers have minimal or no ICT skills themselves and therefore cannot develop these in learners. Two of the most important supports for ICT integration into teaching and learning are effective Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Both have the greatest impact on the beliefs and practice of teachers (Venezky, 2004). These trainings would make teachers competent in ICT and they would make effective integration of ICTs in teaching and learning process.
Conclusion
The use of ICT has countless advantages in language teaching. The growth in the use of ICT like digital language lab, smartboard, whiteboard, chatting, audio- video chat through Skype, online classes and many other uses have provided teaching and learning English language in a very real and authentic context or environment. Moreover, it supports language teaching both on and off campus. The growth of the use of ICT in education demands a change in learning and teaching patterns. It changes a traditional teacher (monitor, leader) to a facilitator. Further, the importance of ICT in education, explains the necessity of a “shift of paradigm” in teachers role. In addition to this, with the growing demand of ICT in education, teachers should necessarily be trained regularly to be well acquainted with the modern technology so that they can go parallel with the change in technology. So, it can be concluded that our schools and universities should not only be equipped with ICT tools, but teacher should be regularly trained for the actual deployment of the ICT tools for effective teaching. In this way ICT and teachers as facilitators can prepare learners for successful life and careers.
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About the author
Khushboo Kuddus was born in Ranchi, Jharkhand, in 31, January, 1985. She is pursuing Ph.D. in ELT, P.G. Dept. of English, Ranchi University (RU), Ranchi and PGCTE, English and ForeignLanguageUniversity, (EFLU), Hyderabad. She holds an M.A. in English Literature, P.G. Dept. of English, (RU), Ranchi, B.Ed, Ranchi Women’s College, (RU) and B.A. in English, Ranchi Women’s College, Ranchi, (RU). She gas participated and presented papers in International Conferences and National Seminars in English language teaching and literature. She taught as Assistant Professor in Cambridge Institute of Technology, Tatisilwai, Ranchi, and as Teaching Assistant in Centre for English Language, Central University of Jharkhand, Brambe, Ranchi.
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