Integrating internet technology into the EFL classroom: A case study
Mari Yamauchi
Kobe Kaisei College, Japan
PP: 003 - 019
Abstract
In many Japanese universities, language instructors are facing challenges associated with low academic achievement among students, mainly caused by reduced competition among students at universities. Teaching at one such university, the author has been seeking to cope with classes where students vary greatly in English ability, with those who have limited English skills and knowledge and/or have not developed basic learning habits or study skills.
This article discusses how technology can help the teacher to accommodate different learning needs and get/keep students motivated. It is based on the recent classroom practice in one of the courses the author taught, where students were supposed to learn research and presentation methods by using English in conjunction with computers and the Internet. In addition to using Moodle, an open-source learning management system, other web tools including weblogs and online materials were integrated into learning activities.
These activities helped students feel more comfortable using computers and the Internet, and encouraged them to look for better ways to express themselves. Also, the activities were utilized flexibly to accommodate students' diverse abilities and interests, helping keep them actively engaged with the course.
Keywords
language instruction, university classroom, technology integration, teaching EFL, learning needs, internet training
Article Text
Due to the continuing decline in the number of 18-year-olds in Japan, many higher education institutions (except a few leading universities), struggling to fill their student quota, are now accepting all or many of the applicants regardless of their academic achievement. The reduced competition to enter universities, along with a "more relaxed curriculum" introduced in 2002, which includes fewer class hours and simplified learning content in elementary and junior high school education, is considered responsible for the widely recognized trend of the increasing number of university students who do not have a satisfactory level of high-school English and/or Japanese (Kondo 2001; Ono 2008).
In response to this nationwide situation, the author, like many educators in Japan, has been seeking to engage more or less demotivated false beginners in learning, and to accommodate different learning needs of high and low achievers. Previous work has explored the potential of a blended learning approach using a learning management system (LMS), Moodle, in English classes and those related to basic study skills or thesis writing. Moodle is a powerful tool to flexibly organize and distribute coursework and resources. Using its interactive exercises in and outside of class is a feasible way to provide choices of varying levels of activities, which can help students of all levels to stay active in learning while working at their own pace. Forums can be used for sharing students' work in various ways, such as a forum/thread for assigning a small writing task as a preparatory activity, and a personal forum for each student to keep their research notes in Japanese, which can help weaker students perform better (Rink & Yamauchi 2008a, 2008b; Yamauchi 2007a, 2007b, 2008b, 2009a, 2009b). Meanwhile, supplementary blogging tasks have been found quite popular among students. It should be noted that writing and reading about their everyday events in English can be enjoyable activities for Japanese students who do not need English to communicate about themselves outside of class (Yamauchi 2009a, 2009c).
As part of ongoing research on effective integration of technology in university classrooms, a small-scale case study was conducted in a multi-skills course entitled 'Computer Communication', where students were supposed to learn research and presentation skills by using English in conjunction with computers and the Internet. Students taking this course tended to vary widely in their English language abilities, and, with a few exceptions, had only limited experience using computers and the Internet. Also, some students were quite inexperienced in low-context communication, even in Japanese, and needed additional training to organize information to make it easily accessible/understandable for others and themselves. Many students including relatively stronger ones tended to be passive learners (Yamauchi, 2008a).
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