TASK 2: Article Review

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.