The Advantages ofUsilng Technology 'in

Second Lanlguage Educat'ionTechwnology lntegrat'lon 'in Foreilgn ILanguage

to a Cownstructmovist Learn'lng Approach

BY Li WANGUNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

38 T.H.E. Journal I www.thejournal.com I May 2005

ith the advent of networked comrputers and lnte:rnet technology,computer-based instruction has been widely used in language class-rooms throughout the United States. Computer technologies have

dramatically changed the way people gather information, conduct researchand communicate with others worldwide. Considering the tremendous startupyVexpenses, copyright issues, objectionable materials and other potential dis-advantages of technology, much research has been conducted regarding: theeffectiveness of, and better strategies for, technology integration.Taking thecharacteristics of language learning into account, 'this article helps answer twoimportant questions: Do we need technology in language classrooms? Andwhat kinds of services do comp:uter technologies provide for :these classroomrs?

Background StudiesWeb-based writing instruction has proved to be an impor-

tant factor in enhancing the writing quality of low-abilityEnglish as a foreign language (EFL) students. In a studydesigned to examine the effectiveness of Web-based instructionin the writing of freshman EFL students, Al-Jarf (2004) foundthat the use of Web-based lessons as a supplement to tradi-tional in-class writing instruction was significantly more effec-tive than teaching which depended on the textbook alone. Theexperimental group of students received online instruction inwhich they posted their own threads, short paragraphs, storiesand poems on a discussion board. They also located informa-tion from the Internet, as well as wrote paragraphs and checkedtheir own spelling using Microsoft Word.

In another study, Hertel (2003) describes an interculturale-mail exchange at the college level where U.S. students in abeginning Spanish class and Mexican students in an interme-diate English as a Second Language class corresponded weeklyfor one semester. Survey results revealed this student-cen-tered endeavor had the potential tochange cultural attitudes, increase _knowledge and awareness of other The bestcultures, foster language acquisition, al anguagas well as boost student interest and active, aurmotivation in language and cultural ronmentistudies.

Bernhardt, Rivera and Kamil technoloeconducted a study in 2004 to exam- interetine the practicality and efficiency ful tools 1of Web-based placement testing for these apjcollege-level language programs.Qualitative analysis of the data indi- langiJagcated that students, administrators

:wi

reith

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and instructors benefited from the online placement tests. Forstudents, accessing a placement test at their convenience with-out making an extra summer trip to campus was seen as anincredible time-saver. At the same time, having students partici-pate in an academic exercise prior to arriving on campus sendsa positive message regarding the importance and prestige ofthe language program at the university. For administrators, thetime saved by eliminating this extra step throughout a summerorientation period is significant. Supervisors and instructorsreported that more effective decisions were made when theyhad time to contemplate their students' performances, whichbrought them greater confidence in their curriculum when theyencountered students at the beginning of a class session.

However, Chikamatsu (2003) conducted a study to exam-ine the effects of computers on writing efficiency and qualityamong intermediate learners of Japanese who found computeruse neither sped up nor slowed down their writing. Its use alsodid not facilitate writing efficiency in composition. Yet comput-er use did improve accuracy at the word level, indicating that

_____________________ learners benefited from computerwriting. The study also showed that

qjt to learn a possible explanation for the appar-

is in inter- ent ineffectiveness of computer use

entic en vi- was that students might not have

con_ puter been skillful typists. For logographicCu puter Slanguages such as Japanese and.. s and the Chinese, which have input processesre poiwiser- different from those of English and

r assisting other Indo-European languages,VAch6s td 0 S Hcomputer use by second language

oaches to 0 learners is relatively uncommon andteaehing. its impact on writing is uncertain.____________________ Results from many other studies

May 2005 1 www.thejoumnal.com I T.H.E. Joumal 39

Foreign Language Education

(Perez-Prado and Thirunarayanan 2002;Cooper 2001; Smith, Ferguson and Caris2001) also point out how students ben-efited from the technology-enhancedcollaborative learning methods andinteractive learning process, while con-currently finding some drawbacks withuse of the medium, such as technologyand group-work frustrations.

Analyzing Advantagesand Disadvantages

Most of the above studies showedtechnology's positive effects on languagelearning, which answered the first ques-tion: Do we really need technology inlanguage classrooms? The answer, ofcourse, is yes we do.

First, the advantages of using newtechnology in language classrooms canbe interpreted in light of the changinggoals of language education and theshifting conditions in our postindustrial

society (Warschauer and Meskill 2000).New technology was part of the socialfabric at the turn of the century. Sowhile we taught foreign language stu-dents to write essays and read magazinesa generation ago, we must now teachthem to write e-mail and conduct onlineresearch. Thus, integrating technologyinto language classrooms is inevitable.

Second, technology integration inforeign language teaching demonstratesthe shift in educational paradigms froma behavioral to a constructivist learningapproach. Language is a living thing,so the best way to learn a language isin interactive, authentic environments.Computer technologies and the Internetare powerful tools for assisting theseapproaches to language teaching. Eventhough constructivism is not a theoryassociated with using technology, con-structivist assumptions are guidepostsfor developing a vision for integrating

technology into the language curriculum(Brown 1997; Wolffe 1997). The follow-ing are summaries of these assumptions:

Learning is an active process.Learning is a natural, integral andubiquitous part of living; not some-thing handed as a package to somebodyelse (Bintz 1991; Anderson and Speck2001). In today's language classes, theteacher's role should shift from "sage onthe stage" to "guider on the side," whilestudents should actively search foi andexplore answers instead of receivingstandard interpretations. Technologyintegration helps this shifting processfor teachers and students.

Problem solving is the focus.The Internet, as well as some simula-tion software, provides a stage for thereal world where students observe,think, question, organize and test theirideas. Unlike libraries, the Internet isa living medium that offers updated -

5 Ways Technology Can Help Literacy Learninge aware that technology is just a tool, and designingcreative instruction is the key to successfully inte-grating technology into classrooms.To do this,

teachers must first know whatthetechnology can do forlanguage learning.Thefollowing are five ways teachers canuse technology to help literacy education:

1. Word processing -- Word processing is a great way forstudents to engage in writing, prewriting, drafting, revising,editing, saving, printing, inserting tables and graphics, andpublishing. In this information age, word processing is anecessityfor any language class.

2.Technology texts - Electronic books are rich supple-mentsforprintedtextbooks,thoughtheywill nevercompletelyreplace traditional books (Leu and Leu 1997). Stories on theInternet are enriched by multimedia to dramatically motivatereading-reluctantstudents, leading to better literacy results.

3. Publishing students'work - Because students aremotivated, and investthemselves in their workwhen they areengaged in authentictasks, a primary goal in teaching literacy

isforstudents to engage in meaningful andpurposefuI assign-ments (Anderson and Speck200l). Computertechnologiesmake students' work easy to publish in multiple ways, such asin newsletters, flyers,Web pages, CD-ROMs, etc.

4. Communication throughthe Internet -While languageis for communication, the Internet has broken down commu-nication's distance barrier.Therefore,students can build uppartnerships with learning peers in target languagesthroughthe Internet.The main ways of communicating on the Internetinclude e-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms and bulletinboards.With MSN and Yahoo I messengers, students cannot only send instant messages, butalso have audio andvideo conversationsthat greatly motivate andimprovetheirspeaking and listening abilities.

5. Searching for online information -The Web offers valu-able resourcesfrom around the world (e.g., databases, onlinejournals, news, instructional materials, etc.)thatenable manyteachersto use the Internetas their "virtual library."

-L.:Wang

40 T.H.E. Journal I www.thejoumal.com I May 2005

information - enriched by graphicsand animations - to help studentssolve real-life problems.

Learning is a collaborative pro-cess. According to Anderson and Speck(2001), students prefer working witha partner over working alone on com-puter activities. Leu (1996) adds that"students often learn about complexmultimedia environments by showingeach other cool things." Thus, throughcollaborative technology activities, stu-dents benefit from working with eachother. Technology has also created agreat way to communicate with peoplein different cultures. For instance, theInternet offers a worldwide learningenvironment that makes distance conm-munication fast and affordable. By usingthe Internet, cross-cultural cooperativegroups can be built up.

Despite these advantages, potentialdrawbacks of using technology alwaysexist. Some of the main disadvantagesregarding technology integration in lan-guage dassrooms include:

A few common pitfalls of Internetuse include objectionable materials,predators, copyright violations andplagiarism, viruses and hacking, net-iquette behavior, and privacy issues.Teachers must be prepared to dealwith these issues as they use technol-ogy in their classrooms.Startup costs, which include hard-ware, software, staffing and train-ing, are expensive. Warschauer andMeskill (2000) indicate that intel-ligent use of new technologies usu-ally involves allocations of about athird each for hardware, software,and staff support and training. It isoften the case in poorly funded lan-guage programs that the hardwareitself comes in via a one-time grant(or through hand-me-downs from

science departments), with littlefunding left for staff training, main-tenance or software.

* Technology may not be good forevery language at all levels. For logo-graphic languages, computer typing

may not help improve efficiency incomposition, especially with lower-level learners. It also takes a longtime for students to become familiarwith computer typing; therefore,teachers should creatively use tech-

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Foreign Language Education

ESL Ptrogram Focuses on Improvitng Literacy Skills

s children and adults whose primary language is not English attemptto getan education, the basic tools are necessary before they can achieve theirgoals.lTking a step at ending illiteracy among Spanish-speaking students,

the new lLeamboslLet's Read) PC is an easyto-use program that enables users to

read andWrite in Spanish in less than 100 hoursT7hesoftware was designed byeTeleNext Inc. and derived from workbookswritten by the Centro Latino de

Educaci6n Popular, a LosAngeles-based nonprofit learning center.What makes

l Leamosl PCu nique isthatitteaches literacyfor Spanish speakers intheir nativelanguage, so students can use itas a stepforward in their questto learn Eng lish.

"While Einglish asa Second Language programs arefrequentlyvoffered throughadultschools, community centers and libraries, there are farfewer resources dedi-

rarmsfocused onteaching ESL,but allofs native language ' says Stephens. "Ourh speakers who had never learnedto read or

- Alx-x Roman

nology but not rely on it alone.Spending too much time on com-puters is considered harmful to achild's development of relationshipsand social skills (Roblyer 2003). TheAmerican Academy of Pediatricianscalls for limiting children's use ofmedia to only one to two hours perday.Van Dusen (1997) is optimistic that

the technology integration movementwill alter traditional professor-centeredmethods and bring about more con-structivist ones. But he also emphasizesthat this shift will not happen withoutintensive professional development. InWarschauer and M\4eskill's (2000) view,it is futile to compare use of comput-ers to nonuse of computers because acomputer is a machine, not a method.Therefore, computers and the Internetcreate a vast new medium that is com-parable, in some ways, to books andother print materials in a library.

The FutureWe can definitely agree that tech-

nology has done a great job in helpinglanguage learning, but this is just thebeginning of the age of technology-enhanced education. In the future, wire-less networks, videoconferencing andother multimedia-enhanced commu-nication methods will be more popularin the language classroom. However,teachers should always remember thattechnology is just a tool, and students'learning achievement relies on appro-priate and creative instruction. If youare aware of the pitfalls of using tech-nology to design creative activities, tech-nology will work harder and better forforeign language education. THE

To view the references cited in thisarticle, log on to www.thejournal.com.

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TITLE: The Advantages of Using Technology in SecondLanguage Education

SOURCE: T.H.E. J 32 no10 My 2005WN: 0512100462005

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