Integration of ICT in Language Pedagogy

R.Ragalatha
Asst.Professor of English, CVR College of Engineering, Hyderabad, Telangana

Abstract:
In the 21 st century Education System upgraded from Black board to Digital board.
Digital Literacy has brought wide dimension and drastic change in 3P i.e. Perception,
Perspective & Prosperity. What we learn in past is not sufficient in comprehending the
meaning of literacy. ICT i.e. Information and Communication Technology especially
focuses on using technological devices for different purposes to meet and fulfill needs. It
has left its impact on every aspect of human life. Technological advancement and
innovations have made a visible impact and have changed educational scenario. It
extremely highlighted over the skills for using technological devices such as computer,
mobile, tablet, radio, television, satellite system etc. and how they are connected for
betterment in Education. Moreover, operational process of technological devices and
their connection in teaching and learning is highly emphasized. This paper explains the
need and integration of ICT in Language Pedagogy.

Keywords:
Digital literacy, perception, perspective, ICT, innovations, Language pedagogy

Introduction:
ICT was launched in December, 2004 and revised in 2010 for schools of India (MHRD-
Ministry of Human Resource Development). It has become one of the important tools,
especially in an English language classroom globally. ICT plays a pivotal role in every
aspect of language education and so its role in teaching and learning process is crucial.
The role of ICT in the field of education is growing day by day because using this ICT
the information required in the teaching learning process can be “captured, processed,
stored and communicated”. The use of ICT in the classroom provides opportunities for
teachers and students to operate, store, manipulate and retrieve information. It encourages
independent and active learning, and self responsibility for learning such as distance
learning at convenient times through CDs and Videotapes .It motivates both the teachers
and students to continue learning outside school hours.
Types of ICT tools
Information and Communication Technology consists of various tools and systems that
can be exploited by capable and creative teachers to improve teaching and learning
situations. Lim and Tay (2003) classification of ICT tools as:

1) Informative tools- Internet, Network Virtual Drive, Intranet systems, Homepage,

etc.
2) Resignation devices- CD-ROM etc.
3) Constructive tools- MS Word, PowerPoint, FrontPage, Adobe Photoshop, Lego
Mind storm etc.
4) Communicative tools-E-mail, SMS etc.
5) Collaborative tools-discussion boards etc.

The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) -2005 has highlighted the importance of ICT
in school Education. UNESCO takes a holistic and comprehensive approach to promoting
ICT in education. Access, inclusion and quality are the main challenges

The WSIS process and ICT development goals

On 21 December 2001, the United Nations General Assembly approved Resolution
56/183, endorsing the holding of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing today’s information society. According
to this resolution, the General Assembly related the Summit to the United Nations
Millennium Declaration’s goal of implementing ICT to achieve Millennium
Development Goals. It also emphasized a multi-stakeholder approach to achieve these
goals, using all stakeholders including civil society and the private sector, in addition to
governments.

To help anchor and expand ICT to every habitable part of the world, “2015 is the
deadline for achievements of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which
global leaders agreed upon in the year 2000.

Role of ICT in school education and English language Teaching

Technology in school education is the efficient organization of any learning system
adapting or adopting methods, processes, and products to serve identified educational
goals. This also involves systematic identification of the goals of education, recognition
of the diversity of learners’ needs, the contexts in which learning will take place, and the
range of provisions needed for each of these (Mulay and Chaudhary). Technology
supports productive thinking and meaningful learning. In earlier days a teacher had to
take much time to draw a diagram on the board for explanation. When ICT enters into the
classroom, the teachers’ role and their working style both are changed. ICT becomes a
handy tool with the help of which the teacher can teach effectively and add extra
curriculum content. It also affects the teacher’s way of teaching.

The integration of ICT in school education has brought a revolution in teaching as well as
learning .Teaching and learning with ICT brings innovation and develops creative and
motivational environment. Richards states that ELT is an area that has changed over the
years, moving from Teacher centered approaches to Learner centered ones. Hennessy
stated that “the introduction of ICTs could act as a catalyst in stimulating teachers and
pupils to work in new ways” (quoted in Parvin and Salam 49). Also Warschauer has
mentioned different perspectives about integration of technology into classroom. These
reflect the demand of knowledge of ICT and practical aspects of ICT to ELT teachers.

Role of a Teacher and impact of ICT on Language Pedagogy

ICT has profound effects on English Language Teaching. New information and
communication technologies such as e-mail, Internet, World Wide Web and Video
conferences, Skype Interviews, Face book, Twitter, Instagram have created many new
communication possibilities for language teachers. In a classroom connected to the
Internet, communication over distance is simpler than ever before. Communication
outside the closed culture of a college can extend cultural understanding beyond the
immediate social environment. ICT enables English teachers to tap into this learning style
and the dominant youth culture. Many modern ICT texts can also be used as a starting
point for the exploration of traditional texts (Smithson, 2005).

Engineering students are learning language skills through CALL (Computer Assisted
Language Learning) Lab and excelling in their campus placements. Teachers transformed
as facilitators and counselors to support learning. Change in the content and scope of
teaching changing focus of control from teacher to learner. The integration of technology
into the English classroom represents a paradigm shift to acknowledge the importance of
the emerging technological learning style which is increasingly becoming the fourth
learning modality for students of the click and go generation.

Benefits of ICT in Classroom

● The use of ICT in the English classroom extends beyond its motivational value to
address key outcomes of the syllabus, and allow students to become competent
users as well as consumers in English.
● Development of writing skills including spelling, grammar, punctuation, editing
and redrafting, also fluency, originality and elaboration.
● Teachers can use a range of teaching tools such as discussion boards, forums,
email, raps, web quests, video and digital photography, e movies and mobile
phones as tools for delivery of class program. This opens reciprocal dialogue
 between members of the class community and school community at large through
activities such as blogs and wikis. (Kinzie, 2005, p.B01)
● ICT enables a representation of language as a symbolic system. Furthermore the
use of well designed ICT environments can help pupils grasp abstract concepts
such as imagery, literary relations, and morphology. (Interactive Education,2006).
● Initially computer based activities can provide stimulus to undertake tasks that
students may otherwise avoid. It links learning and real world situations and
experiences that reflect gender and cultural diversity.
● ICT increases opportunities for student interaction and decision making. This
interactive process has the potential to cater for individual learning styles.
● ICT makes complex tasks more manageable. In some cases these activities require
the development of new skills.
● It makes repetitive tasks more interesting, illustrates complex concepts, provides
access to resources and increases the need for students to develop critical thinking
and effective information processing skills.
● Using presentation software enables teachers to show ideas dynamically (Moseley
et al 1999), and deliver content effectively. For example, CD-ROMs make vivid
multimedia worlds available and store large amounts of information.
(McKnight,2002)
● Research suggests that incorporating ICT into the English curriculum can improve
writing and reading skills, develop speaking and listening skills, support
collaboration ,creativity , independent learning and reflection
(Becta,2003a,Becta,2003b, VTC,2003)
● ICT enabled language learning can help one to ameliorate the efficiency and
effectiveness of their learning process.
● It is a very flexible, interactive and rich platform that would provide the users a
whole new different experience Integration of ICT in teacher education should not
be only to make the teachers learn the use of technology and also made them
techno-savvy, so that they should use it with their interest and not treat it as a
burden.

Disadvantages of ICT
● Lack of Security/Privacy
Though IT may have changed and more convenient, it also brought along privacy
and security issues. From email hacking, phone signal interception etc. people are
worried that personal information may become public knowledge. IT keeps
changing almost every day which means that the individuals must be up to date in
 IT to secure their jobs. There are also risk factors with the systems computer
viruses, malware, spam, Trojans etc. attacking.
● Unemployment
While IT may have streamlined the business process, it has created job
redundancies and subcontracting. Using the computers instead of human
resources employers save huge amount of money but employees are losing their
jobs as not needed anymore.
● Cyber bullying
It is so easy now bullying and threatening others in social network pages that this
has become much easier for internet users all over the world. They don’t realize
what the consequences are to those reading/hearing unpleasant comments. In the
recent past there have been so many investigation cases regarding cyber bullying
with lethal consequences.
“Avoid hurting someone’s feelings by emails or other forms of electronic
communication; Respect other people’s online rights; avoid insulting someone; If
someone insults you be calm; Avoid ‘crashing’ discussion groups; Respect the
privacy of other people online; Be responsible online.”
● Social media
The network pages are open to everyone including teenagers and young children’s
which can affect their mental and physical health by watching and playing violent
games. They became addicted to the phones, iPods, gaming consoles forgetting
about outside activities and communication in the society.
● Cost of computers
Most important drawback to using ICT in schools is the fact that computers are
expensive. According to the IT learning exchange, in most schools ICT will be
the single largest curriculum budget cost.

Methodology
The use of multimedia while learning English could help in creating a long lasting impact
on the learners. The role of teacher will change from an instructor’s role to that of a
coordinator. Self paced independent learning methodology is what is being propagated
with the help ICT enabled English Language Teaching. The concepts, methods and
applications involved in ICT are constantly evolving on an almost daily basis. Skills
Framework for the Information Age is one of many models for describing and managing
competencies for ICT professionals for the 21st century.
ICT in Teacher Training Education
Teacher in-service training is a huge industry in most OECD (Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development) countries. California alone spends about $400 million
per year on in-service training for teachers. In the U.S., school districts contract with a
myriad of independent small contractors who operate teacher-training businesses
delivering varying quality of product. Italy spent very less amount on in-service training.

Private firms such as Sylvan quickly saw the potential of ICT as an in-service training
medium for teachers, and this now forms an important part of Sylvan’s extensive ICT
learning systems. Another example of ICT teacher training is Teachscape, another private
company that produces Web-based pedagogical training via streaming video in the form
of documentaries of model teachers. The market for this Web-based training is
U.S.school districts that pay for individual teacher access to Teachscape’s interactive the
key elements shown. They can interact with other teachers for their experiences and
critiques. The premise of the training is that better pedagogy leads to more learning and
better student outcomes.

An entirely different approach to teacher improvement is Web access to course content,

lesson plans, and networks to other teachers. This database or content, approach, is used
by Net Schools and the IBM foundation. Both of these organizations focus on using ICT
as teacher training for improving course content rather than improving pedagogy. This is
analogous to training sales people mainly by teaching them to be more knowledgeable
about the product rather than by training them to give a more polished delivery. In
countries where teachers’ knowledge of subject matter is not especially great relative to
what is required to produce world class,say,math education , access to a database full of
information about how to make subject matter understandable to students could be an
effective way to improve teaching. It is also appealing to teachers ,who are more likely to
use ICT if it save them time and simultaneously helps them perform their jobs more
effectively.

Enhancing teacher training

ICTs have been used to improve access to and the quality of teacher training at Indira
Gandhi National Open University. Satellite based one way video and two way audio
conferencing was held in 1996,supplemented by print materials and recorded video to
train 910 primary school teachers and facilitators from 20 district training institutes in
Karnataka State. The teachers interacted with remote lecturers by telephone and fax.
ICT in facilitating the acquisition of basic skills
The transmission of basic skills and concepts that are the foundation of higher order
thinking skills and creativity can be facilitated by ICTs through drill and practice.
Educational television programs such as Sesame Street use repetition and reinforcement
to teach alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes and other basic concepts. Most of the early
uses of computers were for computer based learning that focused on mastery of skills and
content through repetition and reinforcement.

Conclusion
ICT is as we have seen a tool of great value, but its effective use demands mastery of a
range of specific skills. The challenge of introducing teachers at all levels to the
necessary skills is immense, particularly at a time when technology continues to develop
fast. Effective use of ICT cannot be separated from attitudes and approaches to teaching
and learning. Today’s teacher needs to take an approach that is relatively open, to seek to
inspire, support and facilitate learning, to create an environment conducive to learning.
There needs to be a balance between using technology and traditional methods of
teaching and learning. Effective integration of ICT in English Language classroom may
thus, in the end, require the transformation of teaching culture. ICT acts as the catalyst
which stimulates new ways of thinking about teaching and learning, and finally brings
change in the classroom. Under the right conditions-where teachers are personally
comfortable and at least moderately skilled in using computers themselves , where the
schools daily class schedule permits allocating time for students to use computers as part
of class assignments, where enough equipment is available and convenient to permit
computer activities to flow seamlessly alongside other learning tasks and where the
teacher’s personal philosophies support a student –centered, constructivist pedagogy that
incorporates collaborative projects partly defined by student interest-computers are
clearly becoming a valuable and well functioning instructional tool.

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