Colleague: "What evidence is there that technology benefits language learning?"

During a recent ICT induction a colleague asked what the 'proven benefits of technology' are to learning English.  This struck me as a rather strange question as I consider ICT in the classroom as a tool to aid learning; web sites, interactive whiteboards, flip-charts, power-points, iPads, mobile phones etc, are all classroom supports which, when used judiciously and by skilled teachers, contribute towards enhancing learning.  He stated that he had asked tutors for evidence of language enhancement but this was never ever given.

I would never suggest that every lesson must incorporate ICT tools, just as I would not advocate teachers use a coursebook or cuisenaire rods in every class (Where's the evidence that they support learning?).  The teacher was a self-confessed technophobe so his misgivings regarding technology are understandable.  Some people may feel threatened by the use of technology in class.

'My approach has always been that the appropriate use of technologies can be both empowering and liberating, but what is appropriate to one person's teaching style may not be appropriate to another's. Without a full understanding of a technology or the ability and skills to employ it creatively to one's own ends, it is easy to see it as a gimmick or a threat.  Only a complete understanding allows us to reject what is inappropriate, as well as accept what may be appropriate.'
(Glenis Lambert: personal communication. Oxford Handbook for Language Teachers: Technology Enhanced Language Learning. e-book Loc 3806).

I wanted to find some research into the effect of technology on language learning.

Everest Syndrome refers to the tendency of teachers to feel the need to use technology, especially the internet, in their classrooms simply because it exists (Maddux's choice of words may have been influenced by George Mallory's answer to the question "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?" - "Because it's there").  The researcher employs this term also to include the often overwhelming effect of massive amounts of information resources and technological tools made available through the World Wide Web.


1. Mark Warschauer - A Developmental Perspective on Technology in Language Education.  TESOL Quarterly Vol.36, No. 3, Autumn 2002.

Warschauer took part in a 3-year research programme in Egypt for integrating a range of technology in language learning at K-12 and university levels.

hardware + software: humanware? 

> emphasis on human development and leadership

The goal in TESOL, and especially in considerations of how to make use of technology, should not be only development of the language but also development of the person. At the classroom level, that implies helping students not only use technology as an instructional aid but also master technology as a medium of communication, research, and knowledge production.  At the professional level, that implies developing networks of innovators with expertise in technology enhanced teaching, teaching development, and educational reform (pp.472-473).

Cultivating technological innovations for development. Electronic journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries, 2(2) 1-15.

http://www.ejisdc.org/ojs2/index.php/ejisdc/article/view/7/7 

2. Rafael Salaberry - The Use of Technology for Second Language Learning and Teaching: A Retrospective. The Modern Language Journal, 85, i, (2001) 0026-7902/01/39-56.

Salaberry proposes four major questions in his 20001 critical review of the pedagogical use of technological resources:

1. Is increased technological sophistication correlated to increased pedagogical effectiveness?
2. Which technical attributes specific to new technologies can be profitably exploited for   pedagogical purposes?
3. How can new technologies be successfully integrated into the curriculum?
4. Do new technologies provide for an efficient use of human and material resources?

Technological practice integrated with pedagogical practice:

Development - Implementation - Assessment

Lindenau, as far back as 1984, predicted that "A blackboard-and-textbook system of education in the age of microelectronics will inevitably promote detrimental and far-reaching consequences" (p. 119).

Dunkel (1987) - There will be a potential waste of resources if pedagogy does not take advantage of new technological tools.

Audiovisual media

Radio

Garfinkel (1972) Radio has "the technological resources to supply any language classroom, no matter how remote, with a wealth of stimuli from all over the world ...  radio is much closer on [the] continuum to the 'concrete' terminal than are the printed media so widely used in our foreign language classes" (p. 162).

TV, film & Video

Gottschalk (1965) "course materials and exercises . . . would profit from visual presentation," because it is "considerably easier for students to absorb both the abstract material given in lectures and the visual aids used to illustrate these abstract materials".

Teaching devices
Pond (1963) highlighted some advantages of using overhead projectors:

1. enable teachers to prepare materials in advance,
2. allow information written on overlays to be easily and quickly hidden (in contrast with information written on the blackboard),
3. enable the teacher to add, subtract, underline, and highlight information at will,
4. do not require that the lights be dimmed,
5. allow for simple creation of teaching materials,
6. enable the teacher to face the class while writing on transparencies, and
7. are not prone to failure or damage due to their technological simplicity.

3. Mark Warschauer - Computer-Mediated Collaborative Learning: Theory and Practice (1997) The Modern Language Journal, 81, iv.


Warschauer gives a review of some studies which indicate the positive and negative effects of CMC.

Positive effects

CMC has permitted, 'for the first time in history', human interaction in a text-based form.  More significantly, this computer-mediated form allows the easy transmission, storage, archiving, editing and rewriting of such text.

 

Many-to-many communication.

 

Studies have shown that CMC can permit more equal participation than face-to-face discussion.

 

A study by Sullivan and Pratt (1996) found that 100% of the students in an ESL study participated in electronic discourse and only 50% in face-to-face discussion. 

Studies by Kern (1995) and Kelm (1992) found that some students said nothing in person while all participated online.

Quality of discourse
Warschauer (1996) found that language used was more complex lexically and syntactically.

Negative effects

Reaching Consensus
Reaching a consensus is more difficult online.  Research has shown that electronic discussion reduces conformity and convergence.

Information overload
Discussants can be so overwhelmed with messages that they ignore what other write and the conversation develops into monologues (Moran - We write, but do we read? Computers and Composition, 8, 51-61, 1991).

Flaming
This is hostile language which occurs due to the same features that encourage free expression (Sproull & Kiesler, 1991)

Wondermark

The following blog post, Socrates vs the written word, on Wondermark was brilliant in highlighting the perennial debate on whether technology is a help or hindrance to learning.

References:

Dunkel, P. (1987). Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) and computer-assisted language learning (CALL): past dilemmas and future prospects for audible CALL.  MLJ, 71, 250-260.

Garfinkel, A. (1972).  Teaching languages via radio: A review of resources. MLJ, 56, 158-162.

Lindenau, S. (1984). The teacher and technology in the humanities and arts.  MLJ, 68, 1119-124.

Pond, K. (1963). A language teaching tool: The over-head projector. MLJ, 47, 30-33.