The Role of ICT in EFL Teaching

An action research project with young learners in the

Czech Republic
Neil Kisby
fut04ure07stars@yahoo.com
www.geocities.com/fut04ure07stars
INTRODUCTION
A common problem for EFL teachers is whether to take the trouble to
incorporate ICT into their teaching. Many teachers are afraid of failure for
various reasons. Will the class be noisy? Will they stay on task or take
every opportunity to go off surfing the Internet? Will they enjoy the tasks
you set? Will the hardware facilities operate as they should? What will
happen if the Internet crashes? Can I manage without the IT teacher being
around? Will my students really benefit from the use of ICT in the long
term or is it just playing around, wasting time? Can I assess what my
students do and how? This action research attempts to answer some of
these questions and to explore the problem of introducing ICT into EFL
lessons. It particularly seeks to determine the role of ICT in creating a
more motivating environment for young EFL learners. Very impressive list
of questions are you thinking of doing a doctorate in this field?
1. AIMS

To analyse and examine the effect of using CALL materials which I

have created.
To discover whether the use of my CALL materials enhances pupils
motivation.
To examine how SEN pupils react to the regular use of ICT in EFL
lessons.
To investigate how to further develop these CALL materials optimally.
To examine whether the use of the materials leads to real language
improvement. If so, what skills are improved and to what extent is
the language learning process restricted?
To prove that an extra lesson of EFL per week should be devoted to
the use of ICT. (NB: in academic language, we dont prove
anything any more we just show, demonstrate, indicate, suggest,
etc. Political correctness, I guess. Click here and type prove into
lemma and see how it is used. Line 00039 is instructive!)

2. BACKGROUND READING
Research by Ames (1992) has shown that one type of motivation goal
reached by using ICT is the performance goal, which is directed towards

achieving success in relation to the achievements of one s colleagues.

Ames has also shown that tasks that involve variety and diversity are
more likely to facilitate an interest in learning.
Motivation theories have also recognised the effects of the locus of control
of the learner. The extent to which learners see events as being under
their personal control (Blumenfeld 1992) will also affect their attitude
towards ICT.
Davis et al. (1989) developed a theory claiming that students will only
accept the use of ICT if they find it both useful and easy to use. Increased
motivation through perceived value of an activity might lead to:
A greater interest and involvement in learning;
Greater self-esteem;
Determination to achieve specific tasks;
Spending more time on the learning task;
Trying to do better than ones peers; and
Achieving more control over ones own learning.
Research by Story and Sullivan (1986) supports the idea that pupils using
ICT which is structured to provide progressive achievement in sub-tasks
are more likely to be motivated to continue their work than when the tasks
themselves are too difficult. This should be taken into consideration in
material design. Materials should enable pupils to achieve progression in
their learning and thereby be continually motivated.
According to a study by Gardner, Dukes and Discenza (1993), the ICT
experience must be pleasant, rewarding, important and without coercion.
Studies done on the use of Integrated Learning Systems claim that pupils
using this type of software are motivated to stay on task longer and that
they take pride in their achievements using the materials. However, these
types of exercises are now regarded by many people not to be a good
representation of the way in which people learn. Furthermore, there is little
substantiated evidence that this type of software improves pupils skills
other than at a very basic level. However, in a study of the use of two
different ILS in primary and secondary schools (NCET 1994), researchers
found that there was an increased commitment and dedication to
studying, shown by the higher levels of concentration when using the
systems, with fewer non-task interactions taking place, compared to the
pupils in non-ILS using classes. One secondary teacher observed These
kids are doing more in thirty-five minutes than in a whole week of
conventional lessons. But what are the long-term (an important question,
and one too infrequently addressed) contributions of ILS to pupils
learning?
To summarize, evidence from studies in education has shown that the
main aspects of pupils motivation are an enhanced sense of achievement,
increase in self-directed learning, enhanced enjoyment and interest,
enhanced self-esteem and an increased commitment to the learning task.
However, the need for teacher intervention is essential to avoid leaving
the technology to control the lessons. The teacher needs to see the real
effect ICT materials have on the learning process. Furthermore, there
should be an appropriate balance between hands-on and other work and

the motivational aspects of using ICT will be effective only with

appropriate planning and guidance from the teacher.
3. CLASSROOM CONTEXT
3.1 School facilities
The school is a small state primary-middle school with approximately 400
pupils aged six to fifteen. It is located in a small town in South Bohemia.
The main foreign language taught is English. German is taught only in Year
9 and as an optional subject, although German as a second foreign
language will be introduced into mainstream teaching next year. Most
classes are not split for language instruction and typical class sizes are
eighteen to twenty students (that is not too many, is it?). The school is
equipped with two computer rooms one for using local internal programs
and the other with computers connected to the Internet. There are twenty
computers in the latter, all equipped with headphones.
The school is planning to increase the number of English lessons per week
in Year Seven from three to four. Shall this extra lesson be devoted to ICT
for ELT?
3.2 Methodology
Up to now, the use of ICT in ELT has been rather limited. Some teachers
have used the Terrasoft ELT software that the school possesses, perhaps
even overused with very little planning and very little effect on pupils
overall knowledge (an impression/opinion, surely). I trust it was a way to
do something for a change and a time when both pupils and the teacher
could have a rest from the everyday classroom environment. The school
also possesses some interactive software packages for younger learners
(9-11), which are used occasionally. On the whole, ELT is mostly taught
using traditional classroom methods. Up to now, no materials have been
produced to accompany textbooks or topics used in the ELT curriculum in
the school.
3.3 Students
Age: 12 (Year Six)
Culture and Language: All students share the same culture and L1.
Level: The students are in their third year of ELT study. They have three
lessons of English a week. They use Open Doors 1 textbook, which they
begin in Year Five, reaching lesson four / five by the end of that year. Year
Six is the first year of secondary education in the school. Pupils enter this
stage with very differing levels of achievement. Three of the eighteen
pupils in the class have special educational needs. In general, the class is
mixed ability with great differences between individual pupils.
Attitude: In general, pupils show interest and cooperate well, although the
three SEN (I am not familiar with this acronym I presume it is not the
Czech word!) pupils and perhaps two others have concentration problems,
finding it difficult to stay on task for longer periods of time, of course. The
Monday lesson is lesson four before lunch. This sometimes proves to be a
time when pupils lack concentration, regularly checking their watches and
evidently thinking about what they are going to be served for lunch.

4. THE PRE-TEST
4.1 The Activity
Students are introduced to the CALL material which I have created a
suite of Hot Potatoes exercises to revise and refresh the grammar
structures, vocabulary and topics of Units One to Six of Open Doors 1. I
explained the nature and purpose of the HP exercises, the different types
of exercise and the way I wanted them to proceed, i.e. to experiment with
different exercises to find optimal ones for their own needs.
4.2 Some General Observations
None of the pupils had ever used this type of material before and many of
them had difficulty understanding the English language instructions. A
commonly reported problem.
Some pupils were confused as to what to fill in the cloze exercises,
perhaps because the items revised in the exercises had been taught
several months before. I had to give more coherent explanations to assist
them with that. (even teachers find that cloze activities they have created
in the past require considerable thinking)
Once the students had a clear understanding of what they had to do in the
exercise, I observed that all students were hard at work, heads down and
fully concentrated on the job in hand. I was amazed at their commitment
to complete the exercises.
Pupils really enjoyed working with the material. If they made a lot of
mistakes, they repeated the exercise.
Pupils worked at their own pace, all eager to complete as many exercises
as possible.
Several pupils even took down the website address to continue at home.
Pupils compared each other s achievements.
Pupils could skip exercises which they found too easy or too hard. How
gratifying!
Unfortunately, after about twenty-five minutes, the geocities site became
inaccessible, evidently overloaded by the eighteen eager users. I presume
you were using HPs. What about using them offline?
4.3 The Feedback
I had a verbal feedback session with the pupils and they were asked to fill
in a questionnaire with the aim to:
Record the pupils reactions to the activity.
Check usefulness and ease of use.
Check the degree to which pupils were conscious of why they were doing
the exercises.
Most of the pupils enjoyed using the material and thought it was useful
and would like to work with the material on a regular basis. Several pupils
used the website out of school or asked my colleague to use it during IT
lessons. The matching and crossword activities proved to be most popular.
The time limits were acknowledged as being long enough. On the other
hand, some of the pupils admitted to regularly merely guessing answers or
overusing the hint or show answer buttons rather than consciously arriving

at answers by themselves. That was true for two out of three of the SEN
pupils and two other pupils (not many ,then). Many of the students
commented that the English instructions were not really clear for them
and they had to guess what to do or ask if I had not instructed them. Most
of them found flaws in the cloze exercises as it was not clear to them
exactly what they should fill in.
5. THE DESIGN
5.1 Objectives
The focus of the lessons was on improving motivation through ICT. Pupils
are given the chance to work at their own pace and to do tasks that fit
their own abilities. Pupils should have events under their personal control
and are given the opportunity to do tasks that involve variety and
diversity. Pupils can compare their achievements with those of their peers.
Clear goals are provided and students perceive a meaningful reason for
engaging in the activity. The materials are relevant to what they have
already learned. Some of the materials provide an up-to-date crosscurricular approach with relevance to the real world the pupils live in. The
revision aspect should iron out differences between pupils which have
occurred during the first six lessons of the textbook, gradually bringing
them to a similar level. Talented pupils are provided with a new
environment that challenges their knowledge and less talented ones are
given the chance to catch up by repeating exercises which they did not
manage on their first attempt, perhaps at home. Yes, this is one of the
major plusses.
5.2 Lesson Format
Pupils went through the suite of exercises according to their own needs /
abilities, repeating or skipping exercises as they required. The teacher
provided guidance and instruction where necessary.
5.3 Materials
The materials consisted of a suite of Hot Potatoes exercises to revise
grammar, vocabulary and topics from Units One to Six of Open Doors 1
textbook.
5.4 Activities
Cloze exercises
Pupils filled in missing words into texts. Some of the exercise were
grammar-based, focusing on structures like There is / are, some / any,
ordinal numbers, have got and some were vocabulary based. Text
comprehension was an important element in this type of exercise.
Jumbled sentence exercises
These practised pupils ability to use correct word order and build
sentences with various structures like questions and negatives using there
is / are, have got.
Matching exercises

These practised vocabulary with flashcards, drag and drop activities or

finding the right equivalent. Most were based on English-Czech translation.
Crosswords
These again provided vocabulary and spelling practice on various topics.
Quiz activities
These provided a wider context but also mostly involved the correct use of
vocabulary.
5.5 Groupings
The activities were carried out with pupils working individually one pupil
per computer.
6. THE POST-TEST
6.1 Observations
This followed the same procedure as the pre-test but I had only five pupils
working on the website at one time so that there was no risk of the
geocities site crashing again. The pupils spent the whole forty-five minute
session working hard to complete the exercises which they had not
managed previously. Pupils were concentrated and on-task for the whole
time. I asked them not to guess answers and not to use the Show Answers
button until they had tried their best using the Hint button. Observations
show that they respected this. As the pupils now knew what was expected
in each of the exercises, there was no confusion as to what they were
supposed to do.
I then experimented further by doing the exercises in a whole-group
environment using a beamer. I noticed a significant difference in pupil
commitment here. Good procedure and observation. Many pupils simply
switched off and let the others do the work, as is all too often the case in
the ordinary ELT classroom situation. This proves that the ICT environment,
where each pupil is in control of what he does, provides much greater
pupil motivation.
6.2 Drawbacks
The only drawback is that the geocities site is only able to cope with five
users at a time for a longer period. This complicated the action research
procedure. Yes, I can see that. If your lab isnt networked, it doesnt take
very long to copy a folder of HP activities on to each computer shortly
before the lesson.
7. DISCUSSION & EVALUATION
The main aim of the project was to discover whether the use of the CALL
material enhances pupils motivation. In my opinion, 1 the result is that
students are positively motivated by this kind of activity. Pupils were
committed and the amount of time spent on-task in the lesson was much
higher than in the ordinary classroom environment. After a little extra
guidance, SEN pupils found the exercises stimulating and rewarding. All
1

My observations lead me to believe

pupils seemed to take pride in their achievements. It was very pleasing to

see pupils hard at work even in the knowledge that they wouldnt be
getting a mark for it. I am convinced that an extra lesson of EFL per week
should be devoted to the use of ICT.
My main reservations are:
It is time-consuming to produce such materials and keep them up to
date so that the pupils have new challenges and can progress into
exercises constantly offering revision of new vocabulary, grammar
and other topics.
The language learning process is restricted and much of the material
is the drill and practice type. I am not convinced that such exercises
lead to real active L2 improvement and they do not involve
communication skills at all. The real long-term effect of this kind of
practice will have to be further investigated.
It is also clear that the exercises have to be further developed with
an emphasis on quality and relevance rather than quantity.
8. CONCLUSIONS
Although the Hot Potatoes activities proved to be a great success, it is
clear that some basic principles have to be respected if students are to
remain motivated:
Check beforehand that the network and software are working;
Always consider pupils previous ICT experience;
Always introduce the purpose and objectives of the lesson;
Match the task to their abilities, ensuring that it is adequately
challenging but not too difficult;
Monitor their work to ensure that they remain on task;
Allow enough time at the end to review the pupils progress.
The action research on the use of Hot Potatoes in ELT is of a very shortterm nature. Will pupils remain motivated if they are fed Hot Potatoes
every single week of the school year? Will they not become tired and
frustrated of the monotonous character of the exercises? Furthermore, Hot
Potatoes provide little opportunity for pupils to compare their knowledge
with the real world and to identify a relevance and importance to their
school work.
One of the major motivation factors was comparison of results with peers.
In the future, it may be necessary to give marks for pupils work or at least
publish a kind of league table with their results. This may help to keep up
this kind of motivation as pupils need to see that their efforts are not going
unnoticed.
It is clear that if the extra lesson of English in Year Seven is to be
dedicated to ICT for ELT, the course cannot merely consist of Hot Potatoes
exercises but must also include other types of ICT activities. Webquests or
Keebooks will bring a more cross-curricular, up-to-date real-world element
into the lessons. Word processing activities will promote active
communication skills. Multimedia packages will initiate essential listening

and speaking activities. Hot Potatoes exercises must be enhanced with

media objects such as video and audio links so that they will become more
appealing to pupils and not lose their attraction.
REFERENCES
Learning to Teach Using ICT in the Secondary School
Edited by Marilyn Leask and Norbert Pachler.
Routlege, London 1999.
Multimedia Call: Lessons to be learned from research on instructed SLA
Carol A. Chapelle
Language Learning & Technology Vol. 2, No. 1, July 1998, pp. 22-34
SOURCES
Open Doors Student s Book 1
Norman Whitney
OUP