Sabtu, 27 Desember 2014

THE LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS TECHNOLOGY



THE LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS TECHNOLOGY
The strog attitudes are indicated by their conviction that language classroom should have various types of technology and that the teachers themselves should use them to develop students language skills. This is because student, as the teachers believe, will be able to learn second language  better by using technology.
For teachers who have not been skillful in using technological facilities, they need to keep up with the development by attending special courses or development programs focusing on ICT. This is because, in fact, nowadays students are also getting more familiar with the use of technology. They are going to do most of their writing and much of their reading on an electronic screen because they live now in a world of electronic text (Schultz, 2000).

Language Teachers See the Benefits of Technology
Many of the teachers believe that the use of technology will boost students’ language learning.
Some of them said that, The students will be interested to learn if I used technological facility and it has increased their achievement, or Technology can improve the language learning achievement of the students. But not all teachers agree that technology will be effective in improving students’ language learning. This is understandable because advanced instructional technology which is used without great content may be entertaining but not fully leading to learning.

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This article has shown that technology, as language teachers believe, is inseparable with the success of teaching and learning activities. Regardless of the types of the technology, either non web-based or web-based, they facilitate language learning. This article also shows that the presence of technology in language classrooms is a prerequisite for interesting language instruction and success in language learning. These findings lead to the need for considering
some action plans for language teachers. Language teachers should take the challenge to customize their language teaching activities by taking into account new development in learning theories,current teaching trends, and available types of technology in contemporary settings. Teaching language using technology poses many challenges. For instance, it is not that simple to teach listening and speaking online since teaching both skills asks for stable and excellent quality for clear voice and video image during the interaction between the teacher and the learners. Moreover, teachers must be able to solve some technical problems in the classroom, as in the reality of some schools do not have a ready technician to help in case of connection breakdown or system problems. Generally speaking, teachers should be as skilled as his/her students so that the students do not destroy the lesson or embarrass the teacher. It is expected that this can give insights to second language teachers regarding the use of technology for language learning practices and their effects on language learning achievement. In relation to the finding of research conducted by Hismanoglu (2012), it is also suggested that prospective teachers should be equipped with practical knowledge in using advanced ICT to ensure that they will be able to teach using ICT in the future.

Summary Chapter 1 of Information Communication and Technology’s Book



Summary Chapter 1 of Information Communication and Technology’s Book
Many people are afraid of new technology, and, with the increasing presence of the Internet and computer, the term tecnophobe has appeared to refer to those of us who might be wary of these new developments.  And for who have come late to he world of technology, they called digital immigrants. Although the use of ICT by language teachers is still not wisepread, the use of technology in the classroom  is becoming increasingly important, and it will become a normal part of ELT practice in the coming years.  A simple ways to overcoming the technophobia are used the technology everywhere, in classroom, at home, in internet cafes. A large part of negative teachers have towards technology is usually the result of lack of confidance, a lack of facilities or a lack of training.The doubts of teachers about using technology in classroom are because  using computer isn’t interactive, or the computer room always used, or the teachers don’t know anything about technology. And the simple solution of this problem is, try to often use technology in our personal lives, such as mp3 player, or the internet e-mail. The technophobic teachers needs to be encouraged to get started by emplementing simple, undemanding technology with leaners. As we know, teachers have varying levels of access to computer and technology and teach I all sorts of contexts to all sorts of leaners.  And computer-based that we can do with our leaners are using website, internet-based project work, a class blog with learners , using online reference tools, or electronically produced materials printed out for our learnes. And some basic skills and equipment that teachers need in order to start using technology are, at least one computer, a internet connection, a printer, an audio card and a headset in the computer, and also basic software.

Senin, 22 Desember 2014

Why is it important to intergrate ICT in ESL/EFL teaching ?

Why is it important to intergrate ICT in ESL/EFL teaching ?
      In language learning contexts a primary concern is how to maximize target language interaction both inside and outside of the classroom. With the development of digital technologies, the proliferation of language learning applications, and an increased awareness of how technology can assist in language education. Educators are being presented with new opportunities to engage learners in innovative ways.  In current digital age, the disconnection of the inside and outside  of the classroom and the importance of the promotion and development of group dynamics is increasingly being addressed  with the proliferation of interactive, communicative, and collaborative platforms, such as e-mail, instant messaging, wikis, blogs, forums, social-networking sites and virtual-learning environments (Motteram & Sharma, 2009). Furthermore, these platforms are no longer oly tethered to the desk in the form of desktop computers and language learning in labs school, but are increasingly going mobile, what Warschauer calls time and place independence (1997, p. 470), on the devices carried around by students such as laptops, standard mobile phones, smart-phones, and tablet computers. With the proliferation of student-owned devices (see Barrs, 2011), the increase in language learning related apps (see: Godwin-Jones, 2011), and the icrease in available access to Internet-enabled hardware in schools, libraries, internet-cafés and homes, there exist the possibility to be able to engage students in target language interactive communication inside and outside of the classroom (Motteram & Sharma, 2009; Warschauer, 1997). In this way students can be encouraged to take more responsibility of their learning, both inside and outside of the educational institution, which encourages the development of independent leaning skills (Gross & Wolff, 2011), a characteristic which is increasingly being seen as of great importance to foster in learners (Benson, 2006),