AN INVESTIGATION IN INTEGRATING E-LEARNING IN CLASSROOM-BASED

TRANSLATION TEACHING

Fahim Afarinasadi, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Iran

ABSTRACT

The current paper delineates the findings of a research study at Islamic Azad University
– South Tehran Branch, Iran, which seeks to explore the cognizance of students and
teachers in terms of the using e-learning pedagogical tools in a translation classroom,
English and Persian, the challenges they encounter and some strategies to elevate the
practical application of e-learning tools. The study, following the qualitative and
quantitative research approaches, interviewed 8 translation teachers and administered
a five-point Likert scale questionnaire with 45 students. The qualitative data were
analyzed using a coding system and quantitative data were analyzed using computer
excel program to get highest and lowest percentage of subjects’ responses. The study
depicts that both teachers and learners perceive that e-learning helps students take the
ownership of their own learning, provides diversification of activities, fosters intrinsic
impetus of learning, enables introvert students to interact better, permits acquiring
valuable study and time management skills, allows teachers to have more student-
centered form of learning, etc. aHowever, reservations regarding excessive use of
technology at the cost of translation learning have also been reported. The paper
discusses the challenges that hamper ICT success under three headings: technical,
administrative and pedagogical. The major challenges reported are marginally less
technologically sophisticated faculty, unreliable technology, lack of confidence and
experience of instructors and students with technology, substantial amount of time
required for lecturers to fine-tune their instructions for electronic transmission of
knowledge, lack of e-learning resources to administer networked classes and electronic
assessments, etc. The study concludes that ICT has great potential to be integrated in
classroom-based translation teaching. However, in order to utilize the full potential of
ICT and to equip students with skills to be life-long translators, it follows that teachers
and learners’ confidence to use technology should be raised by duly facilitating them
with the required electronic equipment, training and time resources.

Key words: E-learning, translation, teaching, integration, ICT.

1. INTRODUCTION

We live in a landscape where text messages, photos, audio and video files are
transmitted from one cell phone to another in seconds and the latest mobiles and
iphones allow us to connect to the internet through wireless network; e-mails, instant
messaging, chat rooms, Usenet groups, blogs and wikis have revolutionized the way we
share information and communicate with each other (Kern, 2006). This rapid and big
change in information communication technologies (ICTs) has dramatically influenced
all fields including translation, language pedagogy, language learning and use, creating
more learning systems to be applied by instructors. Thus, it is required that the
instructors acquaint themselves with these systems for successful knowledge
transmission. In their attempt to familiarize themselves and utilize these new media in
their pedagogical instructions, “language educators are interested in research-based
evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of e-learning tools” (Chou, 2010). This
research aims at investigating the recognition of students and instructors in terms of e-
learning teaching tools.

2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The current study attempts to answer the following questions:

Q1: What are the perceptions of translation students and teachers at Islamic Azad
University – South Tehran Branch regarding the use of e-learning pedagogical tools in a
translation classroom?

Q2: What are the challenges that translation students and teachers at Islamic Azad
University – South Tehran Branch face while using e-learning pedagogical tools in a
translation classroom?

Q3: What are the possible strategies to successfully overcome the challenges that
translation students and teachers at Islamic Azad University – South Tehran Branch
face while using e-learning pedagogical tools in a translation classroom?

3. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

The setting of this investigation was the faculty of Persian literature and foreign
languages at Islamic Azad University – South Tehran Branch. 8 English Language
Translation Lecturers and 45 translation students participated who were selected
randomly from semester 1 and 2. The students, ranging in age 18 to 25, were both male
and female.

4. INSTRUMENTATION

A questionnaire with close and open-ended questions was administered with students
asking them to indicate on a five-point Likert scale their degree of agreement on 26
statements and an online interview was conducted with teachers who were asked to
answer eight questions related to their perceptions on e-learning, challenges they face
and strategies to overcome them.
5. DATA ANALYSIS

The percentage of each response was obtained using excel sheet and the qualitative
data were categorized into main themes to find out perceptions, challenges and
strategies of using e-learning pedagogical tools.

7. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The following includes a number of perceptions, challenges and strategies.

7.1. Perceptions

The comments received from the participants of this research depict positive
perceptions from translation students and instructors regarding the efficiency of e-
learning pedagogical tools in classroom based translation teaching. Both students and
teachers confirmed the fact that the process of learning gets easier to be done. Also,
ICT makes introvert students able to act freely and time management skills can be
developed with better intrinsic impetus for learning. Apart from that, teachers are
equipped with more student-centered form of learning. These comments have also
been replicated in the questionnaire data. Out of total number of the students, 89%
agreed that “the lesson is more interesting if teacher uses electronic tools” and 81.4%
agreed that “they prefer learning from a teacher who uses various e-tools while
teaching”. This shows learners’ high demand to learn from the latest digital devices
adding extra pressure and responsibility on language educators to reengineer their
selection and use of teaching materials (Arabasz et al., 2003). The results of this
research also corroborate the findings of earlier studies which conclude that “computers
will not replace teachers, but teachers who use computers will, inevitably, replace
teachers who do not” (Smith, 2000).

On the other hand, there were some participants who demonstrated the signs of relying
heavily on traditional system of learning as one of the students stated, “I think having
book is better than having a computer for me.” Another student said, “Using books to
study seems easier.” Furthermore, participants’ endorsement of the statements
regarding computer-based assessments as well as their comments shows their lack of
enthusiasm in conducting computer-based assessment. A few subjects said,
“Computer-based exams might create more stress if a student is not good at working
with technology.”
7.2. Challenges and Strategies

While the debate rages hotly over the advantages and shortcomings of using
technology in a myriad of ways in all walks of life, language teachers struggle to catch
up or keep up with the heap of newly invented digital gadgets to effectively adopt them
for their own agenda of language pedagogy (Smith, 2000). In struggling with e-learning
tools and teaching, translation instructors also might face some challenges depicted by
the research subjects of the current study. A wide array of these challenges and
strategies can broadly be categorized in three areas: technical, administrative and
academic.

E-LEARNING CHALLENGES

TECHNICAL ADMINISTRATIVE PEDOGAGICAL

1. Lecturers' lack of
1. Lack of e-learning knowledge to design tasks
1. Crashing of system resources for all classrooms. 2. LEcturers' lack of
2. Slow internet 2. Lack of full time staff to confidence to use
3. Lack of technical skills monitor electronic equipment technology
4. Stress to operate 3. Administrating electronic 3. Added time pressure
mechanical equipment based assets. 4. Students' limited
5. Mechanical difficulties educational background
during an activity
5. Monitoring student
progress
6. Developing and integrating
quality e-contents

FIG. 1 CHALLENGES

7.2.1. Technical Challenges

The subjects mentioned some challenges creating difficulties for instructors as well as
students in an ICT learning environment. “Crashing of systems” came up as the most
frequently cited item. A few of the staff members expressed that “they feel stressed and
embarrassed even to invigilate for an exam which requires technical equipment of any
sort”. An unexpected technical issue, especially during an exam, further aggravates this
stress. “I did not know what to do when most of my students in a listening exam stared
at me and complained about the crash of the system”. Almost 70% of the students
reported the slow speed of the internet which hinders their learning. The participants
suggested arranging extra classes or training workshops for both students and teachers
to get the maximum advantage of ICT.

7.2.2. Administrative Challenges

Administering a task or an assessment requiring technological infrastructures is another

major challenge signified by the subjects. “Lack of e-learning resources for all
classrooms” and “lack of full-time staff to monitor the electronic equipments” are the
main challenges cited by the participants in this regard. In fact, the classrooms limited in
availability of resources to use e-learning creates hard time to integrate e-learning into
curriculum. As a strategy, the interviewees suggested that teachers “must make sure an
adequate amount of classroom and independent e-learning is used in advance of an
electronic-based assessment. Otherwise, it is unfair for the medium to be used as a
testing tool.”

7.2.3. Pedagogical Challenges

Apart from the above-mentioned challenges, there are some other items which must be
mentioned in terms of pedagogy. “Lecturers’ lack of knowledge to design language
tasks with technology and lack of confidence to use technology while teaching” came up
strongly as basic pedagogical challenges that need to be addressed to enhance ICT
application in classroom-based translation teaching. The subjects strongly
recommended building the lecturers’ and the learners’ ICT skills and adding up the bank
of e-learning resources in order to facilitate translation educators in multitude of ways
such as designing web-based translation activities, tailoring the required tasks to suit
module learning outcomes and assessing students’ skills electronically. When an
instructor applies e-learning tools in the classroom, a pedagogical plan is supposed to
be elaborated in advance. In other words, it should not be considered as using new toys
in the classroom. As one of the lecturers said, “Students can be overwhelmed with too
much technology, or confused by badly used or badly setup technology ”. A clear link
needs to be established between the e-learning pedagogy adopted and the learning
outcome. Also, it might be difficult for instructors to monitor the students’ progress while
they are doing an online activity. The study found that though “technology can be
integrated into any curriculum to quite a depth”, this area is yet to be explored which
presents scope for future research. The lecturers suggested a “blended form of
learning” which equips traditional translation teachers with a variety of e-learning tools
such as Discussion Boards, Classroom Response System (CRS), Voting Pads,
Moodle/Virtual Learning Environment, Blogs, etc. Students only need, in a lecturer’s
words, “quite a bit of uplifting to utilize these technological sophistications and
instructors need a bit of momentum built up on them before they become an integral
part of learning process”.

8. CONCLUSION

The result received from this research illustrates the fact that the participants have
various approaches towards applying e-learning tools in their classrooms. However,
what was mentioned by most of the students made it clear that the students were more
comfortable with a piece of mouse and screen instead of a paper book, signifying that
ICT is being increasingly called upon to address the growing demand of learning
through latest media. On the other hand, there are some challenges in terms of
technology, administration and pedagogy which might be considered as obstacles in
applying full potential of ICT. In order to enhance the efficacy of ICT learning
environment, teachers and students must be provided ample support in terms of
training, equipment and time resources.

REFERNCES

Arabasz, P., Pirani, J. A., & Fawcett, D. 2003. “Supporting E-learning in Higher
Education”, Research study from the EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, Vol. 3,
pp. 39-47

Chou, C, C. 2010. “Students’ Perceptions and Pedagogical Applications of E-learning

Tools in Online Course”, IGI Global, pp. 524-525

Kern, R. 2006. “Perspectives on Technology in Learning and Teaching Languages”,

TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 40, no. 4, P. 183

Smith, E. H. 2000. “Technology in the Classroom: Practice and Promise in the 21st
Century”, TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 40. No. 1
BIODATA

Fahim Afarinasadi is an MA student of English translation at Islamic Azad University –

South Tehran Branch, Iran. He has presented a number of papers in domestic and
international conferences in terms of translation as well as teaching English as a foreign
language. Having been teaching translation and English in different language institutes
in Tehran since 2008, Afarinasadi has translated and published five books so far. His
main areas of interest are simultaneous interpreting, sociolinguistics and language
teaching approaches.