Article Review: Enhancing EFL Teaching and Learning Through Technology.
Authors: Marwan S. S. Moqbel and Dr. L. V. Padmarani Rao.
Intoduction
For this article review, I have chosen a
concept paper entitled Enhancing EFL Teaching and Learning Through Technology
by Marwan S. S. Moqbel and Dr. L. V. Padmarani Rao. Both are from S. R. T. M.
University (Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University).
Marwan S. S. Moqbel is a PhD student from
the English Department, School of Languages, Literature and Cultural Studies.
Meanwhile, Dr. L. V. Padmarani Rao os an Associate Professor from the English
Department, Yeshwant College.
This article is from the International
Journal of Social Science Tomorrow (Volume 2, number 2).
Summary of the Concept Paper
Basically this article is divided into
introduction, explanation of computer and also conclusion. In the introduction,
both of the author talks about the positive effects ad functions if integrating
computers into an EFL classroom. Not only that, they highlighted about teachers’
competencies as well. In their explanation of the computer, they divided it
into three subtopics; Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), multimedia and
internet. Internet was then divided into two; synchronous and asynchronous.
The
authors intended to focus on the positive effects of using computers in an EFL
classroom. For example, they mentioned about the positive effects of using
multimedia; it can play a positive role in improving the quality of teaching. Apart
from stating the positive effects of using computers, they also give various
suggestions to teacher on how they can improve their teaching by using the
technology provided. Some suggestions are teachers can use to develop students’
ability in writing letters through using e-mail service and teachers can use
the internet to bring authentic learning
materials.
Through
this article, teachers can benefit from using the suggestions provided by the
aithor and also understand what effects can be obtained when using technology in
the classroom.
My Reaction
Based on what I read in this article, I personally
agree with the effects and usage of technology as what both of the authors had
mentioned. Despite from the positive feedbacks and findings through other
researchers cited by this article, there are drawbacks when implementing
technology in an ESL or EFL classroom. Firstly, in this generation where
technology is must, there are people who are less competent in using it; it may
be the teachers or students themselves. The students may be guided by the
teachers but the teachers who are less competent must undergo special training
in order for them to understand and accept the new learning style. According to
Lorenzetti (2004), he suggested that teachers new to technology-based learning
and teaching need to understand their changed roles and responsibilities in the
new modified of learning and teaching.
Besides
that, there are certain schools in Malaysia that fails to equip their schools
with the enough numbers of computers due to lack of financial aids. Computer
Assisted Language Learning (CALL) requires computers and software as well as
other equipment all of which are expensive (Abu Seileek & Abu Sa’aleek,
2012). This is why teachers in schools prefer to use the conventional way of
teacher that does not require the usage of technology in their classrooms.
When
it comes to incorporating technology in the classroom, the authors suggested
Facebook, a well-known social media, as a tool to cater to EFL learning. They suggested
through Facebook, teachers can easily post links of useful videos and files to
students. Not only that, they believe it can expose the students with authentic
environment where the English language is used. From what I can see, this positive
feedback may have drawbacks. When using Facebook as a medium, the students may
be distracted with all the other links or webpage in the media which has
nothing to do with English. For example, a student watching useful video about
English will be exposed to other links as well such as funny videos that
perhaps not use English.
As
for the structure of the article, I strongly disagree when the author used the
word “technology” instead of “computer” because technology is very wide
compared to computer. Smartphone and tablets can both be considered as
technology but they were not mentioned in this article. Using the word “computer”
is more acceptable as they only focus on the usage of computer in an EFL
classroom.
Apart
from that, they also provide terms related to the computer, their definitions
and also a few examples which teachers can utilize. For example, they mentioned
synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) as well as
the definition. These definitions are important because some people may not
understand what they mean but after reading the article, they can understand
and get the gist of the functions of the computers. From here, teachers can
benefit by using and searching for other resources related to the terms used that
can aid the teaching and learning process.
References:
Abu Seileek, A.,
& Abu Sa'aleek, A. (2012, April 4). Computer Assisted Language Learning:
Merits and Demerits. (M. Thirumalai, B. Mallikarjun, S. Mohanlal, B. Sharada,
A. Fatihi, L. Gusain, et al., Eds.) Strength for Today and Bright Hope for
Tomorrow, 12, 23-36.
Lorenzetti, J.
(2004). Changing Faculty Perception of Online Workload. Distance Education
Report, 8(20), 1-6.
