Education

Conscious Use of Technological Aids for Language Learning in Tertiary

Level

Mirza Md. Adwit Rahman

Lecturer

Department of English

Stamford University Bangladesh

Abstract

Technological advancement has created a vast domain of knowledge for the learners of

English especially in Bangladesh. Nevertheless, the learners use technology basically for

entertainment purposes. With a few exceptions, technology has rarely been treated as a mean

of language learning. This paper focuses on how the learners can develop their aptitude for

language learning, provided that they have interest in learning the target language. As

second/foreign language learning process continues beyond classroom context, and as the

learners hardly get any chance to practice their target language in their social context,

technological support helps the learners to learn and practice independently reducing their

nervousness, shyness and dependence on teacher. This paper discusses the scopes of using

technological support a language learner can take advantage of consciously, to attain his/her

language proficiency up to globally recognized standard. Social communication sites, video

sharing sites, movies, television broadcasting and radio transmission are some of the arenas

that help the learners develop their communicative skills acculturating to a wide range of

target language community in virtual world. This paper will also help and encourage the

English language instructors in using technological aids to provide the learners with learning

autonomy and high motivation. This paper includes the result of a survey conducted on the

students of Stamford University Bangladesh. However, this paper also discusses the

limitation of using the technological support in learning English as Foreign Language

(EFL)/English as a Second Language (ESL) context, particularly in Bangladesh and some

recommendations in the light of those limitations are also provided in this paper.

Key words: Technology, Aptitude, Second/Foreign language learning, Autonomy, EFL

context

Introduction

The virtual world of information has created huge opportunities for English language learners

especially in EFL/ESL context. The use of technology provides direct contact with the target

language. Even more, technological means offer varied forms of learning material which

receive interest of the learners.

Since the Communicative Approach of language learning has emerged, the most discussed

features like increasing learners’ autonomy, lowering the affective filters of the learners,

shifting role of the teachers as instructors are yet to be addressed efficiently in the English

language classrooms in Bangladesh. Therefore, to ensure all these distinctive features of

communicative approach, use of technological means can help enhancing the learning of the

four basic skills of communication, namely, reading, listening, writing and speaking skills of

the learners.

It has been seen that language learners using technological features closely like using mobile

phone, computer, video games, watching satellite television etc. This group of students

usually has better knowledge of vocabulary and speaking ability than the rest. They use the

words learnt from using the technology in their daily life; for example, they use “Text me.”

Instead of “Give me a message/SMS” nowadays. The learners have taken this new

vocabulary ‘text’ as a verb form from the mobile phone language. Moreover, the learners

who are used to see movies and watch British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) News, Cable

News Network (CNN) News inherently improve their vocabulary and the speaking ability.

Again, I have seen Bangladeshi immigrants, not enough educated and proficient in English,

go abroad and after a certain period of time they improve their capability of communication

in the target language. It proves that the more the learners are exposed to the target language,

the better they can communicate in the target language. In EFL/ESL context, with the

conscious use of technological features, similar situation can be created to some extent. If the

learners can utilize the situation, they can communicate in the target language more easily

and efficiently.

This paper intends to show the present status of accessibility to technology by the students of

tertiary level and the scope for language learning in Bangladesh. The four basic skills have

been taken into consideration to show how technological aids can be used for developing

these skills. However, this paper also discusses the barriers to use technological support and

ends with some recommendations in light of the drawbacks are also discussed in this paper.

Literature Review

English has been widely accepted as an international language all over the world for quite

some time. Therefore, it is widely used by non-native speakers. In this modern world of

technological advancement, use of technology can help the non-native speakers to acquire

English as a foreign/second language. Graddol (1997:16) states that:

‘Technology lies at the heart of the globalization process; affecting education, work and

culture. The use of English language has increased rapidly after 1960. At present, the role

and status of English is that it is the language of social context, political, socio-cultural,

business, education, industries, media, library, communication across borders, and key

subject in curriculum and language of imparting education.’

It implies that English has immense importance in our social, cultural and economic life.

Therefore, the necessity of learning English for communication purposes should also be

regarded with utmost priority.

English, for non-native speakers like in Bangladesh, is a foreign/second language. The

learners should address this issue of communicating in English very carefully. In this context,

“Foreign Language Acquisition”, according to Barman, Sultana and Basu (2007:69), “is a

second, third or fourth language learned in a context where the language is not widely used in

a speech community.” So, using technological equipments for learning English in EFL/ESL

context can become very effective. As there is not much speaking in the target language

among the members of the community, they are hardly exposed to the target language. Use of

technology helps the language learners to get acquainted with the target language and thus

practice using those features. Learners can acculturate to the target language very easily with

the help of technological facilities. John Schumann in his Acculturation Model (1978) states

that “the degree to which learner acculturates to the target language group will control the

degree to which he/she acquires the second language “(1978:34) And, Barman, Sultana and

Basu (2007:103) also state:

“Acculturation and accordingly second language acquisition, is affected by social and

psychological variables, also termed as social and psychological distances, which decide

upon the quantity and quality of a contact with a target language community to which a

learner is exposed.”

This asserts the importance of using technological aids in English language learning as they

provide huge availability and authentic learning materials. As the inputs become available

and authentic, the learners can develop various skills effortlessly. The learners can ‘perceive

conceptualize, organize and recall information’ with those inputs which is called Cognitive

Style. As the learners learn from new and interesting means of technology, the inputs effect

strongly in their subconscious mind which improves their learning. Cognitive psychologists

see second language acquisition as the ‘building up knowledge system that can eventually be

called automatically’ (Lightbrown and Spada, 1993). Therefore, to get the learners involved

in automatically acquired knowledge of language, technological aids have no alternative in

EFL/ESL context.

Moreover, in EFL/ESL context it is hard to practice the target language. But, by creating a

supporting interactive community, the learners can advance to a higher level of knowledge

and performance. As Rod Ellis (1999:6) stated the term ‘Second Language Acquisition’ to be

“the subconscious or conscious process by which a language other than the mother tongue is

learnt in a natural or a tutored setting”, the learners, to acquire and practice grammar rules,

vocabulary and even speaking, need to use those modes consciously to have better result.

They need to gather input from the out-group, the target language’s social group (Howard

Giles, 1973) and practice it among in-group, the learners’ social group (Howard Giles, 1973).

Some Practical Usage of Technological Aids in EFL Context in Tertiary level

The use of technology in language learning can be discussed in two sections-in-classroom

context and beyond-classroom context. Inside the classroom, the use of technological features

helps to motivate the learners. In Bangladesh, we often find large classes. In such cases, use

of PowerPoint presentation, over-head projector, and microphone will help the learners to

break free from the traditional lecture-based class. It will also help the language practitioners

to reach to all the learners. In response, the learners will gain interest and the learning will be

affective.

However, outside the classroom, the conscious use of technological means applies to the

autonomous learning by the language learners. I believe beyond-the classroom context is the

most effective state and can be an important situation for language learning. First of all, it

will prolong the classroom learning beyond 1-2 hours to the whole day. The learners will get

accustomed to the use of technological supports and will implement the knowledge outside

the classroom at their convenient time for example, while riding a bus, while texting , e-

mailing to friends and others, and even while watching movies at midnight.

In online learning context, it should be noted that language learning through social

networking sites is termed as Social Media Language Learning (SMLL). According to

Wikipedia:

“SMLL links interactive social media channels to language learning. This enables

students to develop communication and language skills. Social Media consists of

interactive forms of media that allow users to interact with and publish o each other,

generally by means of the internet.”

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Media_Language_Learning)

Wikipedia also states that:

“The SMLL is based upon three tenets:

1. Importance of live and actual communication in the target language through

interaction and updated content comprehension and production based on social media

channels.

2. Students’ personal experience and interests play a defining role in learning, enabling

relevant usage of language during and between classes with active participation of

teachers and virtual community.

3. Fostering of social media communication skills at the same time as the language

learning is taking place, in terms of editing, strategy, conceptualization, business insight

etc.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Media_Language_Learning)

Therefore, SMLL considers a blended learning in both in-class and out-of-class context

ensuring learner autonomy with updated learning contents. Here, I would like to focus on

some situations that I have found very effective in language learning. As learners need to

cultivate all the four skills - reading, writing, listening and speaking; I will focus on activities

helping each skill.

First of all, reading skill, one of the receptive skills, can be discussed. Learning and

improving reading skill through technology is time-saving and interesting. The instructor can

select a reading material and workout activities and can post it in social media sites such as

Facebook. The group members/class can easily look into the post and then complete the

activities. The instructor can provide feedback even not being present physically in the

classroom. In addition to that, the students can share their ideas among themselves through

the social network. It will create a two-way communication and sharing between student-

teacher and student-student. Moreover, the learners can search any online document in

Google and can discuss about it with the teacher and his/her classmates in the above

mentioned way.

Secondly, listening, the other receptive skill can be discussed. Throughout the day, the

learners are exposed to various types of listening in television, radio and computer. The

learner can listen to BBC News, Voice of America (VoA) in their mobile radio. They listen to

the sports commentaries, which provide them with various accents, and new vocabularies.

The learners, in this way can get accustomed to the out-group and acculturate accordingly.

Even while watching movies, they can consciously look out for new words, different

grammar rules and speaking styles. Actually, in EFL context, use of technology to practice

listening is the only effective way and eventually listening inputs helps them improve their

speaking skill as the learners use new vocabularies, implement new speaking styles acquired

from listening to movies, news programs, sports commentaries etc.

Listening is closely related to speaking, an important productive skill. The learners get the

input from listening materials and practice those among in-group members. The learners can

form a group where they will practice speaking. Different members will have different views,

styles. Sharing and combining all the ideas and styles, speaking skill can be improved

rapidly. Here, in EFL/ESL context, it is a great problem that the learners get hardly any

chance to practice speaking publicly. To overcome this problem, the learners can seek help

from movies and news presentations for practicing speaking. They can also use their power

of visualization or can practice in front of mirrors instead of forming groups or being public.

Though it will not result in achieving the ultimate goal of improving communication skill

through speaking, but, this process can help enhance the learner’s confidence. Even

instructors can provide the learners with online links to show them the ways of presentation

and speaking. The instructor can also make the learners practice in the classroom.

Last but, not the least; writing is another productive skill dependent on receptive skills. In the

tertiary level education, writing is one of the most important modes of communication.

Therefore, it can be developed through working on internet; for example, the instructor can

post a topic or picture or any descriptive topic in social communication network. From there,

the learners can be asked to write summaries, changing the writing format, finding errors in

writing etc. Moreover, it is easier to perform writing tasks in the computer than on the writing

script. To summarize, it can be said that, improving the language and communication skills

by means of technology makes learning easier, ensures sharing the ideas, and saves time and

most importantly makes the learners autonomous.

Research Methodology

Participants

All the participants in this study are undergraduate students from a private university, namely

Stamford University Bangladesh. The participants are from the department of Computer

Science and Engineering (CSE) and the department of Law. Private university students are

chosen because they are more oriented to the English language learning environment and

intimate with the technological features. All their classes are conducted in English and that is

why they are familiar with this mode of learning and teaching. 50 students are randomly

selected who have completed their English Composition and Public Speaking courses.

Among the participants, there are 25 from CSE department and the rest are from Law

department. All the students are from Bangla medium background and had English as

compulsory course in their Secondary and Higher Secondary levels.

Data Collection Process

The survey was conducted with a questionnaire consisting of 19 questions. All the questions

except two are close ended. (See Appendix)

Questions from 1-4 are designed to find out on what degree the participants consciously use

technological features for language learning.

Questions 5 and 6 reveal their academic level and whether they are familiar with tertiary level

leaning, or not.

Questions from 7-11 reveal if the participants think using technology in language learning is

really helpful. These questions also try to find out whether they have ever used social

networking sites for improving their writing skill, or not.

Questions from 12-17 try to find out that the participants use technological features to

improve their listening and speaking skills, or not.

Questions 18 reveals how many of the participants use grammatically correct sentences in

their daily life.

Question 19 focuses on the drawbacks of using technological features experienced by the

participants.

Data Analysis and Findings

The survey results show that all the participants are familiar with the tertiary level education

and all of them completed their Composition and Public Speaking course in traditional

classroom lecturing method. The results also show that all the participants have access to and

availability of technological features/devices in a form or other namely mobile phone,

television, computer, internet, Facebook/Twitter account, gaming experience etc. However,

the alarming revelation from the result of the survey is that most of the participants inherently

acquire communication skills like vocabulary, listening skill, speaking style though few of

them use technological applications consciously for language learning. Nevertheless, all the

participants agreed to the fact that this new mode of language learning through technological

features can be very effective.

Lastly, the participants pointed out that they get few chances to enhance their communicative

skills by practicing among the in-group members. They also noticed some problems of using

technological features/ applications.

In response to question no. 1, the participants expressed that mobile phone, television,

computer, internet, Facebook/Twitter are the most available technological features they have

access to. In response to question no. 2, 90% of the participants think technological features

can help them learn English. But, in response to question no. 3, 80% of the participants

agreed that they do not use these technological features for language learning rather they use

these mostly for entertainment purposes. Even, in response to question no. 4, we find that, 5%

of the participants listen to programs in target language daily, 10% participants listen very

often and the rest 85% participants do not listen to English programs much. But, after they

got the exposure of this new mode of learning through technology, their language proficiency

has been improved.

In response to question no. 7 to question no. 11, 60% of all the participants agreed that

writing and reading activities online can be helpful; 80% agreed that they prefer online

dictionaries and 80% of them find it easier to correct their mistakes in computer. Moreover,

30% of the participants have contact with the out-group members and among them 50%

participants share language learning process with those members.

In response to question no. 12 to question no. 17, 50% of the participants agreed that they

read subtitle while watching movies for understanding the dialogues. 100% of the

participants who do not use subtitles agreed that as they try to understand the dialogues

without the help of subtitles, it improves their listening skill. 100% of the participants agreed

that they acquire vocabularies, pronunciation from the news programs and movies they listen

to, but 40% of them use those in their practical life. Moreover, 80% of the participants agreed

that watching movies and news programs are more effective for improving listening and

speaking skills than the traditional method.

In response to question no. 18, we find that no participant always use grammatically correct

complete sentences; 5% use very often; 15% use often; 30% use sometimes and 50% of the

participants use grammatically correct complete sentences rarely. It shows that the language

learners get few chances to practice with in-group members.

In response to question no. 19, the participants pointed out some drawbacks of using

technological features i.e. electricity failure, unavailability and no-up-to-the-standard internet

connection, high price for the internet connection, addiction to using technological features

like spending less time for learning purposes than entertainment purposes, initial adaptation

problem to new mode of learning etc.

So, we can understand that language learners do not use technological applications

consciously for acquiring language skills though they inherently acquire some. It implies that

conscious use can improve their rate of learning though they might suffer from initial lack of

interest in new mode of learning.

Limitation of the Research

While conducting the research, the participants were at first less interested in this new way of

language learning. Their perceived feeling that using technology, i.e. social networking sites,

video sharing site, movies etc. is basically for entertainment purposes; was the main obstacle

of the research. For this, most of them lacked the seriousness and could not become as

successful language learners as projected.

Recommendation

In spite of the advantages of the application of technological features to language learning,

there are some problems involved in practical learning. In light of the problems,

recommendations can be suggested as follows:

1. Application of technological features is an assisting instrument to achieve the projected

learning effect. If the learners totally depend on technological devices, classroom learning

may be hampered. Therefore, classroom learning and teaching under the supervision of the

language instructor must not be neglected.

2. Sometimes the learners may lack the scope of public speaking if they depend only on

multimedia technology featuring audio and visual effect which will affect the learners in

gaining proficiency in public speaking. Therefore, language instructors and learners should

have classroom sessions for improving pronunciation, gesture, posture, oral expressions of

the learners under the supervision of the instructor.

3. Extensive adaptations of the teaching and learning materials chosen for online and distant

learning should be made if the subject matter is inappropriate for learners’ age and

intellectual level, photographs and other illustrations are not culturally acceptable,

comprehension questions are too easy, not enough guidance on pronunciation is provided,

audio materials are difficult to use etc.

4. The language instructors should not only be active in using technological features but also

be proficient in operating all the features effectively in order to lead the learning process.

5. Overuse of technological features may cause physical problems like back pain, strain on

eyes, hearing problem, headache etc. Therefore, the learners must be conscious about their

health condition and use the technological features accordingly.

Conclusion

One of the ultimate goals of language learning through technological features is to promote

learners’ motivation, interest and autonomous learning. This process of language learning is

more student-centered but less time consuming. Therefore, it ensures improved learning and

teaching quality.

In conclusion, it can be said that overcoming the socio-economic problems and motivating

the learners to a new mode of learning, can ideally help the language learners to improve

their communicative competence.

References

[1] Barman, B., Sultana, Z. & Basu, B. L. (eds) (2007), ELT Theory and Practice (Appendix

edition), Bangladesh: Friends’ Book Corner

[2] Ellis, R. (1999), Understanding Second Language Acquisition (13th impression), China:

Oxford University Press

[3] Shyamlee, S. D. (2012), “Use of Technology in English Language Teaching and

Learning”, International Conference on Language, Medias and Culture, IPEDR vol. 33

[4] Social Media Language Learning, (2012), Wikipedia,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Media_Language_Learning

Appendix

Survey Questionnaire:-

This questionnaire is designed to conduct a research on “Conscious Use of Technological

Aids for Language Learning in Tertiary Level”. The major objective of this research is to

investigate how English language learners can take advantages of technological aids to learn

English inherently for communication purposes.

Please complete the following questions to reflect your opinion as accurately as possible.

Please put a tick mark on your answer or write down your opinion. The data collected

through this survey will be kept strictly confidential and will be used for the academic

research only.

Thank you very much for your time and opinion.

Demographic Information:-

Name of the Participant: ………………………………………………………………………

Name of the Institute and Department: ………………………………………………………..

Semester/Trimester: ……………………………………………………………………………

Age: ……………………………………………………………………………………………

Questionnaire:-

What kind of technological features do you come around that use English as the mode of

language?

1. …………………………………

2. …………………………………

3. …………………………………

4. …………………………………

5. …………………………………

Do you think the technological features you use can help you learn English language?

YES NO

Do you consciously use technological features to learn English?

YES NO

How often do you listen to programs in target language?

DAILY VERY OFTEN NOT MUCH

What was your marks in English Composition Course? ……………………

What was your marks in Public Speaking Course? …………………………

Suppose, there is a Facebook page created among your friends including your English

language Instructor. The Instructor uses the page for improving your writing, vocabulary and

grammar skills.

If you are taught how to write summary / essay and then asked to write a summary /

descriptive essay on a particular post on that page, will it be helpful for you?

YES NO

As there are online dictionaries, will it help you to look for meaning more easily than

using traditional paper dictionary?

YES NO

Do you think looking up for grammar rules is easier on computer than in books?

YES NO

Do you have any friend from the out-group using target language?

YES NO

If yes, do you seek help from that friend to learn communicative English?

YES NO

Suppose you are asked by your instructor to watch movies/BBC News.

Do you use subtitle for understanding the dialogues?

YES NO

If no, do you think trying to understand the dialogues without subtitle helps improving

your listening skill?

YES NO

Do you try to acquire new vocabulary from the movies?

YES NO

Do you try to acquire the accent, pronunciation and style of the speaker?

YES NO

Do you implement the new vocabulary and speaking style in real life?

YES NO

Do you think movies / BBC News are better ways to improve speaking and listening

skills than traditional situational method?

YES NO

What kind of drawbacks you may face while using technological equipments/features?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

How often do you use grammatically correct complete sentences in English in front of the

public?

ALWAYS

VERY OFTEN

OFTEN

SOMETIMES

RARELY

Thank You!