Hi everyone,
we've had a look at autonomy as a way of framing the use of technology in teaching EAP and we've had a brief look at the evolution of new technologies. Now, we shall turn our attention to Second Language Acquisition, technologies and EAP.
The aim of this and the next few blog posts is to begin to explore the relationship between second language acquisition (SLA), new technologies and EAP.
These notes are here to help you think about ways in which these topics interrelate and also provide with some sources for you to explore.
These notes begin with a few comments of the demands of new technologies. By that I mean the ways in which new technologies are expected to provide a SLA rationale for their use. Then, we will consider theories of SLA and pursue one such theory. SLA theory/ies can provide evaluative guidance to assess the impact of integrating new technologies into an EAP programme.
The final part of these notes also raises some questions as to efficacy of looking to SLA research to provide fundamental rationale for the use of new technologies.
These notes are somewhat speculative and you should delve further into the literature on this as there are many points of view.
Consider the following two quotes:
‘CALL has always been viewed by some as an experiment requiring scrutiny and justification beyond what is expected of evaluation of other classroom activities’
Chapelle (2001: 51)
‘We need to examine the value added to students who pursue some or all of their language education using innovative technologies’
Tucker (2000: 217)
Key points emerge, regarding technology, from these two quotes:
Extra scrutiny of technologies is required;
Justification is demanded for their use in the classroom;
Value to students must be demonstrated.
Why do you think CALL and new technologies are subject to extra or special arguments and justifications before these technologies are used in teaching?
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Why do you think CALL and new technologies are subject to extra or special arguments and justifications before these technologies are used in teaching?
Just off the top of my head:
Expense - computers, software, creation of materials to be used in CMC cost money and, perhaps more importantly, time of experts to create, and time of learners to plough through the materials.
Fear - among teachers, course directors, language school managers of whether it's worth the investment of time and money to either create materials or use materials using the new technologies.
Accessibility. Using the media of new technologies to put stuff out there for the EFL/EAP world to see is so much easier for just about anyone to do without any vetting.
Is there also the question of intellectual property theft?
It's a bit late and I'm probably rambling, but this is just an attempt to get back into being active on the blog. Does any of this make sense?
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