Using Technology in Foreign Language Teaching [1 ed.] 9781443870047, 9781443865227

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Using Technology in Foreign Language Teaching

Using Technology in Foreign Language Teaching

Edited by

Rahma Al-Mahrooqi and Salah Troudi

Using Technology in Foreign Language Teaching, Edited by Rahma Al-Mahrooqi and Salah Troudi This book first published 2014 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2014 by Rahma Al-Mahrooqi, Salah Troudi and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-6522-2, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-6522-7

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Using Technology in Foreign Language Teaching Rahma Al-Mahrooqi and Salah Troudi Chapter One ................................................................................................. 8 Blended Learning in EFL: Adopting a Principled Approach to Integrating Technology Claire Whittaker Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 30 Blended Learning in Saudi Arabia: Potential for its Use in EFL at the Tertiary Level Reem Al Ebaikan and Salah Troudi Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 45 Self-access or Access to Self? Experimenting with e-learning in Oman Alina Rebecca Chirciu and Tulika Mishra Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 64 Integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into EFL Classroom Practice at Majma’ah University El-Sadig Yahya Ezza Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 83 Critical Approach to Integrating ICT into Second Language Learning Samira Boukadi Chapter Six .............................................................................................. 106 IT and L2 Writing Skills: EFL Students’ Perceptions of e-Feedback on their Essays Susan Riley and Alireza ZareEkbatani

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Chapter Seven.......................................................................................... 134 Challenge and Change in Online Reading: Learners’ Perceptions of Textbooks and Reading Online: A Case Study in the UAE Richard Peel Chapter Eight ........................................................................................... 162 The Internet Chat Room: A Tool for Promoting Learner Autonomy Jo Mynard and Salah Troudi Chapter Nine............................................................................................ 186 The Self Access Centre Webquest Kirsten Gear Chapter Ten ............................................................................................. 215 Fostering EFL Students’ Language Development via Student-created Digital Videos Rahma Al-Mahrooqi and Samia Naqvi Chapter Eleven ........................................................................................ 235 Is Small Really Beautiful?: Exploring Digital Literatures and their Relevance to English Language Teaching (ELT) Sandhya Rao Mehta Chapter Twelve ....................................................................................... 253 Online Language Corpora: Implications for EFL Teaching Shaimaa Abd El Fattah Torky Chapter Thirteen ...................................................................................... 285 Approaches to the Evaluation of Computer Assisted Language Learning Software Vahid Nimehchisalem and Jayakaran Mukundan Contributors ............................................................................................. 306

INTRODUCTION USING TECHNOLOGY IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING RAHMA AL-MAHROOQI SULTAN QABOOS UNIVERSITY, OMAN

AND SALAH TROUDI UNIVERSITY OF EXETER, UNITED KINGDOM

Language learning is a complex and challenging endeavour. For students to achieve the desired proficiency in a foreign language, their institutions need to invest time, effort and huge resources in order to cater for different learning styles. To be cost effective, language-teaching institutions strive to provide intensive foreign language (FL) instruction to reduce the time period needed to learn the target language. This explains the keen interest in combining different methodologies with instructional technologies that promise to motivate learners and to respond effectively to their needs. In fact, generally, technology use in learning environments has presented itself as a necessity for continued lifelong learning with research suggesting that institutions that lag behind in integrating technology “will be unable to meet the needs of knowledge based societies and as a result will not survive the change in paradigm of education” (O’Neill, Singh, & O’Donoghue, 2004, p. 320). Computers were introduced to the language learning field in the 1960s (ibid) as CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) and many enthusiasts strongly advocated their use, espousing the many advantages they could bring to both language learners and teachers. More recently, information and communication technology (ICT) in the form of elearning and the Internet have presented additional benefits to the learning environment as they enable the integration of virtually unlimited multimedia learning materials from external sources into the curriculum and make them available to students at any location in the world (distance

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Introduction

education) where there is a computer, mobile phone or tablet device with Internet access (Alsunbul, 2002). The application of computer technologies in language instruction provides a student-centred learning environment. It enables course administrators and teachers to vary lesson presentation styles to motivate students of varying interests, provides learning opportunities outside the classroom (hence increasing learner interaction with the language), and is perceived to cater more for individual differences. According to Yaverbaum, Kulkarni and Wood (1997), integrating multimedia into the traditional learning environment not only enriches the styles of presentation, but also has the advantage of increasing language retention. In order to achieve the full benefits of ICT in any FL teaching institution, however, certain conditions have to be met. These include the availability of computers and e-learning professionals, and the presence of a solid infrastructure, which is paramount to the success of any IT integration (Pirani, 2004). The infrastructure includes, among other things, computers, fast Internet connection, secure platforms, expertise and continued teacher training, the last has been found critical for the success of technology use in the language classroom (Pirani, 2004; O’Neill, Singh, & O’Donoghue, 2004; Baylor & Ritchie, 2002). It is but natural that if instructors lack skills in using technology, they will opt not to use it at all even if it is available. In addition, teachers’ attitudes towards technology use in the language classroom have also been found a main determiner of the degree of technology integration in the curriculum and of its success (Albirini, 2006; Al-Senaidi, Lin, & Poirot, 2009). Similarly, learners have to have the right disposition and attitudes towards the use of e-learning or any online sources. However, research has found technology use in language instruction appealing to students as they are digital natives. Because technology use reduces teacher-centeredness, it is capable of reducing student language learning anxiety as it gives them the chance to practice language comfortably without being embarrassed of making mistakes, which would reduce their “affective filter” (Krashen, 1982; Krashen & Terrell, 1983; McLaughlin, 1990). Those who have actually used IT or ICT in their language teaching know how difficult it is sometimes to function and to benefit from the available programs and resources if one or more of these is absent. Integrating IT is fraught with frustration in such circumstances (Becta, 2004; cited in Al Sanaidi, Lin, & Poirot, 2009). Having addressed both the benefits and the obstacles of using technology in learning environments, the increasing and rapid growth of information and communication technologies cannot go unnoticed in the

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field of foreign language teaching as the benefits have multiplied and the new generations, being digital natives, are technologically savvy. Hence, it is important to continue to explore the conditions under which technology can best be utilized so that its potential benefits are harnessed and the obstacles tackled. This exploration is the main aim of this edited volume as it seeks to debate the issue of IT integration in language teaching with the intention of discussing its advantages and disadvantages from the point of view of actual users and professionals from different contexts. There are thirteen chapters in the book. Each is unique in its own way, but all examine IT use in general and in countries like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran, and Malaysia. A main feature of the volume is that the majority of the chapters are research studies conducted in different educational institutions and using a variety of research methodologies. This is an indication that the use of IT in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) is a promising research area which can contribute to a better understanding of the current processes of learning and teaching. The book comes at a time which is witnessing a surge in interest in IT in EFL (Morreram, 2013; Tomlinson. B. & Whittaker, 2013), and will hopefully be a useful resource for foreign language professionals, researchers and postgraduate students. The following section provides a summary of the chapters in the book. Claire Whittaker provides a synthesis of relevant literature on how to achieve a principled approach to integrating technology into course design. She addresses a number of frameworks and principles involved in the process of designing blended learning courses and incorporating technology in a principled manner. Reem Al Ebaikan and Salah Troudi’s chapter discusses the potential of adopting blended learning for EFL teaching and learning in the Saudi tertiary context. They introduce the concepts of blended learning and elearning, explain related terminology and provide a short synthesis of recent literature in the field of blended learning. Given the specificities of women’s educational experiences in Saudi Arabia, the potential of blended learning for EFL teaching and learning with reference to literature is discussed. This chapter also emphasizes the essential role of the face-toface portion of blended courses for introductory English courses. Alina Chirciu and Tulika Mishra explored the relationship between self-access learning and self-directed learning in the field of English language education in Oman, by presenting the case of a higher education institution and its implementation of an e-learning platform which took place during one academic year. The study drew on data from multiple sources, namely four interviews with decision makers in the institution as

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Introduction

well as students and teachers’ testimonies regarding their perceptions of the e-learning environment as an effective learning tool. In a survey-based study and through an analysis of variance (ANOVA) El-Sadig Yahya Ezza confirmed the hypothesis that there is no significant gender and age difference between EFL Saudi teachers in ICT knowledge, skills and use in the classroom. In an exploratory study investigating EFL teachers’ perceptions of the use of ICT at tertiary level in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Samira Boukadi reports that while there is more or less complete agreement on the role of technology in enhancing learning, teachers lacked proper training to be able to use the technology to its full potential in the classroom. The study also revealed that it was important for teachers to be consulted in pedagogical decisions about use of technology. Top-down models of educational management do not allow for teachers’ voice in pedagogical matters. Susan Riley and Alireza ZareEkbatani used an exploratory design to investigate EFL learners’ perceptions of electronic indirect coded feedback (e-feedback) on their writing in the Iranian context. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews, electronic diaries, and online progress logs. E-feedback was perceived as offering an effective means of actively engaging learners with feedback, aiding them in moving to a higher writing level, and increasing self-efficacy for the IELTS writing test. Specific writing was seen to improve (a) locally in the use of English grammar, punctuation signs, spelling, collocation knowledge, vocabulary, and paraphrasing; and (b) globally in developing topic sentences, organising ideas into templates, brainstorming ideas to find blueprints, and to some extent writing speed. In an educational context where the use of technology has become the norm, Richard Peel sought to gauge students’ opinions of the usefulness of both textbook and online reading in the blended learning environment of his institution in the United Arab Emirates. The study, via focus groups, elicited students’ feelings towards both traditional textbooks and online reading (via the Internet and through programmes such as BlackBoard Vista [BBV]), and tried to ascertain possible reasons for such evaluations and suggest recommendations for the future. The results revealed that though students acknowledged the usefulness of online reading courses in certain contexts, they also strongly felt that textbooks remained an important reading resource. Jo Mynard and Salah Troudi investigated the role that Internet chat rooms might have in the promotion of autonomy for learning English. In an interpretive study conducted in the context of a tertiary institution in the

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United Arab Emirates, the authors used a multiple data-collection design to track ten freshman students over a period of one semester to investigate evidence of autonomous language learning while they engaged in classroom-based chat room tasks. Using a grounded approach to analyse the data, the researchers found instances of decision-making, independent action, detachment, critical reflection and transferring of learning to other situations. In a discussion chapter Kirsten Gear addresses the potential of using WebQuests to promote student-centred learning in a self-access centre in Oman. Given the low-to medium tech environment on the context, WebQuests were argued to be conducive for autonomous learning. Gear argues that WebQuests qualify as one of the most effective methods to use authentic materials in a student-centred manner as learners chose what, how and why to study within the precincts of the existing curriculum, a process which not only democratises the classroom on a student-centred platform by humanising teachers, but also performs the dual function of professional development for both its creators and users. In a multi-method exploratory study Rahma Al-Mahrooqi and Samia Naqvi investigate how a student-created digital video project enhanced language learning opportunities, collaboration and social skills among Omani college students. The results showed that the students enjoyed the experience and improved their language proficiency as a result of learning new vocabulary and engaging in reading and writing activities while doing the project. Student autonomy also improved as well as their critical thinking skills. Sandhya Mehta looks into the creative possibilities of using the technology of texting and its associated forums such as twitter to explore the ways in which literature is being re-defined in the new millennium as an explorative medium rather than a fixed product. Using theoretical studies as well as primary texts, this study focused on emerging literatures which have been made possible through technology and explored the ways in which these new texts could be used in a literature classroom. The implications of these new literatures on second and foreign language contexts were discussed to examine how core literary and linguistic concepts could be advanced through more creative forms of literature which emphasise the process of creating a text rather than studying its final product, as well as enable an appreciation of the creative possibilities of language. Examining online corpora and their implications for foreign language learning, Shaimaa Torky sheds light on how corpora consultation can be integrated into language learning situations. She provides examples to

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Introduction

illustrate how this integration can be made effective in investigating features of language genres and to raise students’ awareness of language features such as the difference between formal and informal discourse. The chapter also identifies obstacles that can hinder the integration of online language corpora and concludes by arguing for an eclectic use of these sources. Working in the area of materials and starting from the premise that CALL materials and software packages have particular features (like record, playback and compare as well as ease of installation and use) that are not relevant for evaluating language coursebooks, Vahid Nimehchisalem and Jayakaran Mukundan review the paradigm shifts in CALL software development and evaluation. They also present a summary of the various evaluative criteria and instruments suggested by different ELT scholars for software evaluation.

References Albirini, A. (2006). Teachers’ attitudes toward information and communication technologies: The case of Syrian EFL teachers. Computers & Education, 47, 373-398. Al Sanaidi, S., Lin, L., & Poirot, J. (2009). Barriers to adopting technology for teaching and learning in Oman. Computers & Education, 53, 575590. Alsunbul, A. (2002). Issues relating to distance education in the Arab World. Convergence, 35(1), 59-80. Baylor, A. & Ritchie, D. (2002). What factors facilitate teacher skill, teacher morale, and perceived student learning in technology-using classrooms? Journal of Computers & Education, 39(1), 395-414. Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practices of second language acquisition. Oxford, England: Pergamon Press. Krashen, S., & Terrell, T. (1983). The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom. Oxford, England: Pergamon Press. McLaughlin, B. (1990). Myths and misconceptions about second language learning: What every teacher needs to unlearn. Santa Cruz, CA: National Center for Research on Cultural; Diversity and Second Language Learning. Motteram, G. (2013) (Ed.) Innovations in learning technologies for English language teaching. London: British Council. O’Neill, K., Singh, G., & O’Donoghue, J. (2004). Implementing elearning programmes for higher education: A review of the literature. Journal of Information Technology Education, 3, 313-323.

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Pirani, J. (2004). Supporting elearning in higher education. Educause Center for Applied Research. www.educause.edu/ecar/. Tomlinson. B. & Whittaker, C. (2013) Blended learning in English language teaching: Course design and implementation. London: British Council. Warschauer, M. & Kern, R. (2000) (Eds.). Network-based Language Teaching: Concepts and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Yaverbaum, G.J., Kulkarni, M. & Wood, C. (1997). Multimedia Projection: An Exploratory Study of Student Perceptions Regarding Interest, Organization, and Clarity. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 6(2), 139-153. Charlottesville, VA: AACE.

CHAPTER ONE BLENDED LEARNING IN EFL: ADOPTING A PRINCIPLED APPROACH TO INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY CLAIRE WHITTAKER MCILWRAITH EDUCATION, UNITED KINGDOM

Abstract In recent years there has been a shift in emphasis in publications away from highlighting how various technologies can be employed in language teaching by listing ways to use them (e.g. 10 ways to use a blog) to giving pedagogy a central role and organising activities around such areas of language learning as the four skills, grammar and vocabulary. Along with this shift has come a greater emphasis on integrating technology in a principled way (Walker & White, 2013) or by using a principled approach (Hockly, 2011; Stanley, 2013; Whittaker in Tomlinson & Whittaker, 2013); and to achieve this end questions and checklists have been produced to support teachers. This chapter will consider advice given in the literature on how to achieve this principled approach to integrating technology into courses by determining the degree of overlap, the drawbacks, and suggesting how we can proceed from this point.

Background My interest in blended learning course design dates back to 2003 when I was the Training and Systems Manager with the British Council on a Military English Support Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). One of my main tasks was to redesign the blended learning courses (which combined a face-to-face component with a computer component and a self-study component) that were being used to teach English to military personnel in the Armed Forces of BiH. The primary driver for this change was the need to ensure post-project sustainability in terms of cost (the

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courses should be inexpensive to run once international funding was removed), content stability (the content should be valid for a significant period of time), and instructor fit (unqualified military instructors who taught on the courses should be able to deliver the redesigned versions). Wanting to approach this redesign task in an informed manner, I turned to the literature for advice, only to discover at that time a distinct lack of information on the how to blend, apart from stressing the importance of approaching it in a principled way (Levy & Stockwell, 2006; Neumeier, 2005; Sharma, 2006; Mayes & de Freitas, 2007). Fortunately, the situation has improved, with recent publications providing more comprehensive guidance on how to integrate technology in a principled way (Walker & White, 2013) or by adopting a principled approach (Stanley, 2013; Hockly, 2011). Despite this improvement, definitions are not given on what is meant by the terms ‘principled approach/way’, but it is assumed that they mean employing a systematic approach to the design process that is driven by pedagogy, that adds value to learning, and that is underpinned by language learning theory. In my opinion, this surge in interest in integrating technology in a principled way is a welcome addition to the literature, since I have worked with tech-savvy teachers who, despite having sound knowledge and experience of using a wide variety of websites, tools, apps, etc. in their language teaching, lack know-how on how to design blended learning courses and incorporate technology in a principled way. Interestingly, in recent publications, blended learning, which can be defined as ‘a language course which combines a face-to-face (F2F) classroom component with an appropriate use of technology’ (Sharma & Barrett, 2007, p. 7), is not as widely referred to as it once was with authors now referring to integrating technology or incorporating TELL (technology enhanced language learning). It is not clear what the rationale for this shift is, but for the purpose of this chapter I shall not distinguish between these terms and assume that the advice given on adopting a principled approach is relevant for all. This chapter, then, will consider in chronological order, dating back to 2005, the advice given in the literature on blended learning course design or incorporating technology into language learning in ELT, critique it from a practitioner’s perspective, determine the degree of overlap and the drawbacks, and suggest how we might proceed from here.

Neumeier’s framework (2005) The first comprehensive guidance on how to design a blended learning course that I am aware of was provided by Neumeier (2005), who

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developed a framework of parameters (Table 1), which originated from a 33-hour job application course in a German university. Neumeier defined blended learning in relation to her study as being “a combination of faceto-face (F2F) and computer assisted learning (CAL) in a single teaching and learning environment” (2005, p. 164). The hope was that this framework would “help course designers and practitioners to move closer to answering the initial question of which combination provides the optimal basis for language learning and teaching given the particular conditions at hand.” Neumeier (2005, p. 176). Table 1: Neumeier’s framework (2005) Parameter 1.

Mode (typically F2F and CALL)

2.

Model of integration

3.

Distribution of learning content and objectives and assignment of purpose

4.

Language teaching methods

5.

Involvement of learning subjects (students, tutors and teachers)

6.

Location

Individual descriptors x Focus on mode x Distribution of modes x Choice of modes x Sequencing of individual modes x Level of integration x Parallel or isolated x Use of teaching methods in each of the modes employed x Interactional patterns: individual vs. collaborative language learning activity x Variety of teacher and learner roles x Level of autonomy x Classroom, home, outdoors, computer room, institutional settings

Frustratingly, I only discovered Neumeier’s (2005) framework after we had resigned the blend in BiH, but reading it was a revelation, since Neumeier had so clearly articulated many of the considerations that we had taken into account during the redesign process. In my opinion, this framework is still relevant today and its strength lies in the fact that it

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originated from an actual course that Neumeier designed and moreover that it is underpinned by theory. Admittedly, it could be developed further, for example, with reference to the third parameter, consideration could be given to how the modes (F2F & CALL) complement each other in terms of their learning aims and how content is linked between the two. Moreover, it could be made more accessible to a novice blended learning course designer by simplifying some of the terms and by providing more examples from the course that it originated from to illustrate the descriptors. Despite this, it still provides an excellent starting point for any practitioner.

Sharma & Barrett (2007) – Four guiding principles In 2007, Macmillan published a key text for ELT practitioners by Sharma and Barrett on blended learning that went by the same name. Despite the fact that blended learning had been widely used in corporate training and higher education, this publication, to my mind, cemented the use of the term in ELT and heralded its central role in the field. This publication was aimed at teachers with little experience of technology and it offered an introduction to each technology, (e.g. IWBs, The Web, office software) with a description of what it was and how to use it. In this publication Sharma and Barrett (2007, pp. 13-14) suggest following four guiding principles when considering a blended learning approach. The first principle is to “separate the role of the teacher and the role of technology” as these roles are not interchangeable, though they are complementary. The second is to “teach in a principled way” by focusing on the learners’ needs and by making sure that the instruction is pedagogically driven rather than simply using technology because it is there. The final point has been more recently restated by Stanley (2013, p. 3), who refers to the ‘because it is there’ approach as the Everest syndrome, so coined because it was Mallory’s reason for wanting to climb Mount Everest. The third principle is to ‘use technology to complement and enhance F2F teaching’ and Sharma and Barrett stress that integration is key and that there is ‘a close correlation between the content of the lesson and the online materials’. This seems to reflect Stracke’s (2007) findings which indicate that a lack of connection/complementarity between the two modes (F2F and CALL) is a reason that students leave blended learning courses. For the last principle, Sharma and Barrett (2007, p. 14) quote Jones (1986), who observed that “it’s not so much the program; it is more what you do with it”. To illustrate this, they provide three examples of how to

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use a CD-ROM, from an individual using it alone at home, to follow-up practice in self-study or at home after a class, to actually using it in class as part of a presentation. Despite Sharma and Barrett’s (2007, p. 8) warning that “a blended learning course run without a principled approach may be seen as an ‘eclectic’ blending together of course components, and can end up as rather a mish-mash”, these four guiding principles do not provide practitioners with a particularly robust basis on which to build a blended learning course. Furthermore, although I presume the principles were drawn from experience, since both authors had extensive teaching backgrounds, they are not accompanied by clear examples drawn from practice, which is a shortcoming in my opinion. However, as one of the first publications on blended learning in ELT, and one that played such a key role at the time, it is hard to be too critical.

Dudeney & Hockly (2007) – Course design for online learning: Considerations In the same year that Blended Learning was published, How to… teach English with technology by Dudeney and Hockly was released, which also described the new technology tools (e.g. websites, email, chat & blogs) and showed teachers how they could use them in the classroom. With reference to online learning courses (it is not entirely clear if by this the authors mean 100% online or blended), they put forward a list of questions (Appendix 1) under 5 headings: delivery mode, task design and materials, learners, teacher/tutors, assessment and evaluation. They state that “for a course or study programme to demonstrate good practice in online learning, [these] questions need to be answered satisfactorily at the design stage” (Dudeney & Hockly, 2007, p. 140). This is a comprehensive and practical list of questions, one which I have often returned to, and which I drew on to produce my own list in 2013, which is discussed later in this chapter. One of its key strengths is the inclusion of four questions under the heading ‘assessment and evaluation’, since to my mind this is an area of blended learning course design that is often overlooked. One of the four questions under this heading is ‘How will learners’ coursework be assessed and graded?’ This, I feel, is an important question as feedback that I have received from teachers is that if the online work is not assessed then their learners do not consider it to be an integral part of the course and treat it as an optional rather than compulsory component. Moreover, Biggs (1999), in Mayes and de Freitas (2007, p. 14), says that “the task of good pedagogical design [is]

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one of ensuring that there are absolutely no inconsistencies between the curriculum we teach, the teaching methods we use, the learning environment we choose, and the assessment procedures we adopt”. Therefore, if we overlook the final stage, can we claim to have achieved a good pedagogical design? A further question under the same heading asks ‘How will the success – or otherwise – of the course itself be evaluated?’ which I interpret to mean how will the ‘effectiveness’ of the course be measured. If this interpretation is correct, then this question is key, because little has been written on the actual effectiveness of blended learning, although a recent meta-analysis of effectiveness studies on computer technology-supported language learning conducted by Grguroviü et al. (2013, p. 165) concluded that “second/foreign language instruction supported by computer technology was found to be at least as effective as instruction without technology, and in studies using rigorous research designs the CALL groups outperformed the non-CALL groups”. However, with regard to blended learning, they call for more research because of the contradictory results they observed regarding its effectiveness in promoting language development and because of its growing importance in language classes.

Hockly & Clandfield (2010) – Initial questions and scenarios In a later publication, Hockly and Clandfield state that “there are some initial questions to ask yourself when designing and delivering your blended or online course” (2010, pp. 11-12), which are: x x x

How much of your course will be online? What parts of your course could be best offered online? How are you going to offer the online part of your course?

According to Hockly and Clandfield, once you have considered these questions and answered them to your satisfaction then you are ready to design your course. These authors (2010) continue by providing four course scenarios, namely, mainly face-to-face, half-and-half, mainly online, and fully online. With the support of a blank course plan (Table 2), they then demonstrate how to build courses based on those scenarios and this could be with the use of a coursebook.

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Table 2: Blank course plan, Hockly & Clandfield (2010, p. 12) Receptive skills (reading & listening)

Productive skills (writing & speaking)

Language work (grammar & vocabulary)

Review activities

Week 1 Topic: Week 2 Topic: This seems to be an extremely practical method to adopt, as often knowing where to start is the biggest challenge for course designers, and the examples Hockly and Clandfield (2010) give for each scenario are detailed enough to provide practitioners with a clear idea of how to proceed. A similar approach to integrating technology into the syllabus by using the coursebook (which may actually form the syllabus) as the point of departure in the design process is also proposed by Walker and White (2013) and Dudeney, Hockly and Pegrum (2013). Adopting this approach ‘means that the resources the teacher chooses and the learners use build on each other in a principled and structured way, rather than being a heterogeneous assortment of ‘fun’ activities’ Walker and White (2013, p. 159). It should also be noted that there are alternative points of departure such as ‘a theory, pedagogical model, course or syllabus, task, exercise, language skills, technology, or some kind of mix’ (Levy and Stockwell, 2006, p. 12); but I would hazard that in ELT the most common is a course or syllabus in the form of a coursebook. Using the coursebook as the point of departure was the approach that we employed in the redesign of the blend in BiH as we mapped activities from CD-ROMs to the coursebooks (which formed the syllabus) based on either grammar or topic links to demonstrate a connection or degree of complementarity between the two components. At the time we considered this to be an important design consideration based on Stracke’s (2007) findings that a lack of complementarity was one of the reasons students left the blended learning course they were attending. Hockly and Clandfield (2010) also urge course designers to decide if they want to use a set of tools that are all in one ‘place’, such as a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). They state the benefits as being that ‘learners’ work, grades and contributions can be easily monitored. …it is also easier to build a sense of online community…’ (Hockly and Clandfield, 2010, pp. 16-17). Stanley (2013) also suggests the use of a

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VLE for similar reasons and to adopt a blended learning approach to integrating technology into a course, for which they give Sharma & Barrett’s (2007) definition that was quoted earlier. This seems to be happening in practice, since the decision to host the tools and activities in one place in a VLE was a popular choice in the 20 case studies outlined in Tomlinson and Whittaker (2013), see below, with seven course designers choosing to use Moodle in their blends.

Lyon-Jones (2011) – Teaching with Technology A Basic Checklist Lyon-Jones (2011) presents a basic checklist for teachers wishing to use technology in the classroom, which does not appear to come with an accompanying text expanding on its content (Diagram 1). Compared to the other suggestions that are provided in the literature, the checklist seems perhaps too succinct and of limited application. That said, Lyon-Jones (2011) raises an interesting final question, not commonly addressed and which may be better placed nearer the top of the checklist, which highlights the contextual limitations that can ultimately shape a blend. Comments have also been made by Senturk in Stanley (2011) regarding the need for further questions if the answer to the first one is yes; whether the students always need to be in charge of the technology in question three; and whether questions two and four are actually the same.

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Diagram 1: Teaching with Technology - A Basic Checklist, Lyon-Jones (2011)

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Hockly (2011b) – Integrating Technology: Eight Questions to Ask Yourself In this article, Hockly (2011b) acknowledges that teachers have little or no training in how to integrate technology into classroom practice, although, having recently run a course on blended learning course design, I believe that the situation is gradually changing. Hockly (2011b) states that the ‘million dollar questions’ for teachers are: x x x x x

How do I integrate technology into my classroom? Why am I using it? How do I make it work well? When do I use it? Where to start?

The second question is particularly interesting, because as practitioners we should be ensuring that we put ‘pedagogy before technology’ (Beetham & Sharpe, 2007, p. 3) and integrate technology for pedagogic reasons. The reasons given in the literature for blending in ELT, which are presumably built on the assumption that technology is incorporated primarily for pedagogic reasons, are saving costs, the ability for learners to be able to work at their own time, convenience and pace, flexibility, learning expectations, and Ministry of Education (or similar) directives from policy makers (Sharma, 2007; Hockly, 2011). Further reasons unearthed in Tomlinson and Whittaker (2013) were motivation, autonomy, collaboration, market reach and experiential learning. Rather than directly building on her earlier work in this area, Hockly (2011b) seemingly poses a different set of questions for teachers planning to integrate technology into classroom practice while considering the overall syllabus (Table 3). There are similarities, however, between the content in Hockley’s (2011b) questions and suggestions in the literature that precedes it specifically with relation to the syllabus, skills, roles and location. An interesting addition, to my mind, is that of ‘time & effort’ and I think this also needs to be considered from a teacher’s perspective in terms of how long a task/activity may take to design vs. how long it takes a student/students to complete.

Chapter One

18

Table 3: Integrating Technology: Eight Questions to Ask Yourself, Hockly (2011b) Integrating Technology: Eight Questions to Ask Yourself 1. Outcomes

2. Added value

3. Time & effort

4. Syllabus

5. Skills

6. Location 7. Role 8. Resources

What do students learn? Be clear on the aims of the lesson. Once you are clear ask yourself what the use of this particular technology brings to the learning outcomes, and how it enhances learning. What does the technology bring to the activity? Check if the technology you are using enhances the activity in some way. Is the time spent on the tool worth it? Will it be for longterm or short-term use? Ensure that using a tool is not going to take up more time and energy than the language actually being produced. What’s the fit? Take a look at your syllabus and think about what tools you could use, at what points in your syllabus, and to achieve what results. What do teachers and students need to know how to do? Think about the technical and digital skills both you and your students need to be able to successfully use the technology/tool. Where and when will the tool(s) be used? In the computer room, at home, if using mobile devices inside and/or outside the classroom? Do students consume or produce? Ensure that your use of technology across the syllabus balances consumption with production. What tools are available? Have a range of tools and repertoire of techniques to draw on. Design effective task types for the tool.

Stanley (2013) – The Five W’s and an H Stanley (2013, p. 4) calls for a principled approach to using technology “that has learning at its heart, where teachers question how and when to integrate technology into the classroom.” To adopt this approach, Stanley (2013, pp. 4-5) poses six questions that practitioners should ask themselves and which expand on the guidelines and checklists produced by Hockly (2011) and Lyon-Jones (2011). The questions are:

Blended Learning in EFL

x x

x x

x

x

19

Why use the technology? Are you trying to do something with the technology that can be better done without it? If learning is not enhanced by using the technology, then don’t use it. Who is the technology best for? Is the technology appropriate for your learners? What age group is it for? What language level is required to use it? How much teaching/technical experience/training is required to use it effectively? What is the technology best used for? It is worth considering whether there is another technology that can be used instead that may better suit the learning objectives. Where should it be used? Is it more suitable for the classroom/ connected classroom (i.e. with one computer and the internet)/ computer room/at home? Think also about classroom management issues here. Where in the classroom is the technology to be used and, if appropriate, what will the other learners be doing when one of them is using the technology (i.e. will they be engaged)? When should the technology be used? Not only when is the best moment during the class to use the technology (at the beginning/end, etc.), but also when in the term/syllabus? (It is best if used to enhance, and complement, what you are already doing with learners, rather than as an added extra.) How should the technology be used? This shouldn’t just be about what to do, but also how best to incorporate technology into your class. Will using the technology be a more efficient use of a teacher’s, or the learners’, time?

Stanley (2013) is not explicit on how he expanded on Hockley’s (2011) guidelines and Lyon-Jones’ (2011) checklist, and although parallels can be drawn between them I query the need to present the advice in yet another format without making clear the reasons for doing so.

Whittaker in Tomlinson & Whittaker (2013) – 24 design related questions Up to this point in time very little of the advice seemed to have originated from practice, i.e. the actual creation of blends, and furthermore there was a complete dearth of detailed descriptions of blends in ELT in the literature. This has been addressed in the British Council publication entitled Blended Learning in English Language Teaching: Course Design and Implementation, which provides detailed descriptions of 20 blends from a range of ELT contexts and poses 24 design related questions for

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practitioners to consider when developing their courses (Appendix 2). The questions are organised under four headings: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Context Course design Learners, teachers and tutors Evaluating and developing the blend

The questions were shaped by the advice provided in the literature on adopting a principled approach by Neumeier (2005), Sharma and Barrett (2007), Dudeney and Hockly (2007), and supplemented with supporting evidence from the case studies. Where I believe this publication differs from the suggestions that predate it, and where its strength lies, is in the fact that suggested answers and examples are provided to the questions with information drawn from the case studies. This not only demonstrates that the questions were being asked in the design process, but also provides course designers with more guidance and support than simply by providing a list of questions alone. For the purposes of this chapter, rather than re-examine the 24 questions I will consider the advice that the authors explicitly provided in their case studies on designing a blended learning course, which is an angle that has not previously been considered.

Advice from practice The guidelines for the contributing authors to Tomlinson and Whittaker (2013) suggested that they follow a basic structure that included a section on the lessons they had learned whilst designing their blends and the advice that they would give blended learning course designers. Not all the authors included this section in their case studies, but the advice from those that did can be collated under 7 headings: course development, integration/complementarity, tools, tasks, scaffolding, roles, and training (Table 4).

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21

Table 4: Advice from practice, Tomlinson & Whittaker (2013) Advice on…

Supporting statements from case studies x x x

Course development

x x x x x x x

Integration / complementarity

x x x

Use an existing face-to-face course as the basis for the blend (Pardo-Gonzalez) Add technological changes gradually. You cannot juggle with too many variables at the same time (PardoGonzalez) Blended learning needs to be seen as an on-going and gradual process in which the course evolves. It is not a final product. (Pardo-Gonzalez) Think carefully about how long it takes to build effective online resources (Peachey) Constantly evaluate, reflect and learn from your course so that you can use what you have learned to make the next course better. (Peachey) Consider how the course will evolve and change as well as how improvements will be decided on (Russell) …ensure that design decisions … are made with full readiness to move with the evolution of the technology (Beagle & Davies) Integrate technology rather than simply use it (PardoGonzalez) There should therefore be a definite topic and skills link between class-based and online work, which learners need to be made aware of (Fleet) Integrate the wiki into the class routine to encourage participation (Ingham) Make sure you think about how the online and face-toface elements will support each other and how best they can do this (Peachey) Web-based activities should not only complement classroom aims but also add value by compensating for the limitations of the classroom (Fleet) Ensure that everything you want the learners to do is integrated into the system of assessment (Sokol)

Chapter One

22 x x Tools

x x

x x x Tasks

x x x x x

Scaffolding x x Roles

x x x x

Training x

Find the appropriate tools for your course. Not all tools are for all courses. (Pardo-Gonzalez) Check to see if you can exploit freely available resources before you start to build (Peachey) Carry out an IT audit to see if your proposed tools will run on your and your client's system (Russell) Notice what is lacking in the traditional classroom which may be compensated for or improved by your blend. Then, investigate the affordances of various tools and select the most suitable approach for your context (Ingham) Build online tasks around social interactivity (Peachey) Each task in the course should be short enough to ensure that learners can do it without distraction (Sokol) Ensure that the online tasks are challenging enough to provide enough room for thinking even to stronger learners (Sokol) Build online tasks that can go beyond what can be done in a book or in a classroom (Peachey) Build in learner autonomy and reflection (Peachey) Make sure that the tasks are open (allow for a number of various correct answers) and that learners have a possibility to choose tasks (Sokol) Use the classroom time to provide for an appropriate level of scaffolding for each learner if the technology fails to do it (Sokol) If students have limited online learning experience, it is advisable to scaffold their participation by initially making involvement a course necessity and providing guided tasks (Fleet) [when using a wiki] use a mix of scaffolded, guided activities whilst still allowing freedom to create new items (Ingham) Students and instructors will change the roles they have in a face-to face classroom (Pardo-Gonzalez) Learners do not only learn from the trainer [but from each other too] (Keedwell) Think carefully about the amount of online tutor support necessary and how to avoid tutor overload (Peachey) Instructor training in the blend is also an on-going process (Pardo-Gonzalez) It is important to train students to comment on their peers’ work [when using a wiki] (Eydelman) With regard to blended learning ‘Just as students have to relearn how to learn, faculty have to relearn how to teach’ (White et al.)

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Clearly there is a high degree of overlap between the advice given above and the 24 design related questions posed by Whittaker in Tomlinson and Whittaker (2013), as they originate from the same source. However, what becomes more apparent when considering the advice from this angle, i.e. by taking it as the starting point rather than building on the advice found in the literature, is the emphasis on the following: x x x x

the iterative nature of course design and the fact that building a blend is a gradual process; the importance of the links between the f2f and online work; the importance of choosing the correct tools and designing tasks accordingly; and lastly the human element of the design i.e. the need to train both teachers and learners on how to teach/learn on a blended learning course and the need to support the latter by scaffolding activities.

Commonalities, lacks and moving forward Taken in its entirety, the advice being given on adopting a principled approach to language learning with technology is quite comprehensive. Furthermore, there is a degree of overlap, although because of the differing styles of presentation it is not immediately obvious and nor is it as extensive as one would imagine. From what has been outlined in this chapter, it would appear that the overlap mainly occurs in relation to teacher and learner roles, location, i.e. where the online work will be carried out, time, either spent in each mode (F2F and online) or using the tool, and the skills/training teachers and learners require. From this point on, rather than providing practitioners with additional advice in the form of yet more questions, maybe we should begin to consolidate what has been written and start honing it to produce one comprehensive list that can then be trialled and tested and hence enhanced further. Moreover, I would encourage authors, when giving advice, to refer back to preceding work, to shore up their questions with language learning theory and research findings as far as possible, and to draw on examples from their practice to illustrate what they mean. This may also enable us to hear the learners’ voice in the advice that is given, which at present is silent. One key area to which scant attention has been paid in this recent proliferation of advice is the underlying language learning theories, such as behaviourism, social constructivism, and the more recent theory of connectivism, which is described as ‘a learning theory for the digital age’

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in Walker and White (2013, p. 6). The only references to it lie in the inclusion of a ‘language teaching methods’ parameter in Neumeier’s (2005) framework and the question ‘What methodology will the blend employ?’ in Tomlinson and Whittaker (2013). A focus on language learning theories features more prominently in the academic literature on CALL, TELL and e-learning. Levy and Stockwell (2006, p. 5) state that ‘using theory as a point of departure is generally to be recommended…’ to guide CALL, and according to Mayes and de Freitas (2007, p. 14), with reference to e-learning, “for good pedagogical design, there is simply no escaping the need to adopt a theory of learning….” In their recent publication on TELL, Walker and White consider the role(s) technology plays in learning and “aim to provide reflection on the relationship between various uses of technology and theories of language learning”, since with this understanding teachers will be able to integrate technology into teaching and learning in a principled way (2013, p. xiii). If we work on the premise that adopting a principled approach means employing a systematic approach driven by pedagogy, that adds value to learning and is underpinned by language learning theory, then we, as practitioners, need to follow the academics’ lead and push language learning theory to the fore in our advice on adopting a principled approach.

Conclusion The amount of information that is now available to practitioners wishing to integrate technology into their course in a principled way has certainly increased over the last few years. It has also begun to play a more prominent role as the use of technology becomes more widespread and as the question ‘should we use it?’ is supplanted by ‘how should we use it?’ While the advice, if taken as a whole, is quite comprehensive, the different approaches that the authors take to presenting it, their limited reference to each other’s work, to practice, to language learning theories and research, are lacks for the most part that need to be addressed to make it more robust.

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References Beetham, H. & R. Sharpe (2007). An introduction to rethinking pedagogy for a digital age. In H. Beetham and R. Sharpe (Eds.), Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age (pp. 1-10). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Dudeney, G. & N. Hockly (2007). How to teach English with technology. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Dudeney, G., Hockly, N., & M. Pegrum (2013). Digital Literacies. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Grguroviü, M., Chappelle, C. A. & M. C. Shelley (2013). A meta-analysis of effectiveness studies on computer technology-supported language learning. ReCALL 25(2), 165-198. Hockly, N. (2011a). The Principled Approach 2. Available at: www.emoderationskills.com/?p=551 —. (2011b). Integrating Technology: Eight Questions to Ask Yourself. Journal of Technology for ELT. Available at: https://sites.google.com/site/journaloftechnologyforelt/archive/july201 1/integrating-technology —. (2011). Five things you always wanted to know about blended learning (but were afraid to ask). English Teaching Professional 75, 58. Hockly, N. & L. Clandfield (2010). Teaching Online. Peaslake: DELTA Publishing. Jones, C. (1986). It’s not so much the program, more what you do with it: the importance of methodology in CALL. System, 14(2), 171-178. Levy, M. & G. Stockwell (2006) CALL Dimensions. Options and Issues in Computer-Assisted Language Learning. New York, USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Lyon-Jones, S. (2011). Teaching with Technology – A Basic Checklist. Available at: http://www.edtech-hub.com/resources/techteachchecklist.html Mayes, T. & S. de Freitas (2007). ‘Learning and e-learning: the role of theory’, in H. Beetham and R. Sharpe (ed.), Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age (pp.13-25). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, Neumeier, P. (2005). ‘A closer look at blended learning – parameters for designing a blended learning environment for language teaching and learning’. ReCALL, 17(2), 163-178. Sharma, P. (2006). ‘Technical support.’ ELGazette, 315, March, 17. Sharma, P. and B. Barrett (2007). Blended Learning. Oxford: Macmillan. Stanley, G. (2011). Better ‘the Five Ws’ than ‘Because it’s there’. Available at: http://blog-efl.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/better-five-wsthan-because-its-there.html

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Stanley, G. (2013). Language Learning with Technology. Cambridge: CUP. Stracke, E. (2007). ‘A road to understanding: A qualitative study into why learners drop out of a blended language learning (BLL) environment’. ReCALL, 19(1), 57-78. Tomlinson, B. & C. Whittaker (Eds.) (2013). Blended Learning in English Language Teaching: Course Design and Implementation. London: British Council. Available at: http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/books-resource-packs/blendedlearning-english-language-teaching-course-design-and-implementation

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Appendix 1 – Course design for online learning: considerations, Dudeney & Hockly (2007, pp. 140-141) Delivery mode x Is the course purely online, or does it include blended learning? If blended, exactly what percentage of the course takes place face-toface, and how often do learners meet? x What elements of the course content are delivered online, and what elements are delivered face-to-face? x How exactly are the online components of the course delivered? By email and chat? In a VLE? Via an ad hoc collection of online tools like Skype, email and Yahoo? Groups? x Can a CD-ROM provide a useful means of delivering digital content for elements that are difficult to download, for example video content? x Is the method of delivery suited to the content? In other words, if an online course promises to teach and practise pronunciation, but the delivery mode is via email, it is unlikely to work! x What elements of the course will take place synchronously, that is, in real time, and what elements asynchronously, that is, not in real time? What synchronous and asynchronous tools will be used? x Does the course content and delivery mode reflect the learners’ needs? Task design and materials x What materials will be used for the course content? Will they be tailor-made content and activities, or will existing resources on the Internet be used? x What issues of copyright need to be taken into account, if you are using existing activities, graphics and websites available on the Internet? x Is content attractively presented and varied, for example with graphics and animation? Is there a range of media used – audio, video, text – and a range of tools – forums, text/audio chat, email, voice mail? x Are different task types provided? For example, are all the grammar exercises drag-and-drop or are various activity types available? x Do task types appeal to a variety of learner styles? Are there plenty of opportunities for interaction between learners and tutors, built into the tasks and overall course design?

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Learners x Are the learners computer literate, or will they need training to use the online tools? If training is needed, how will this be provided? x To what extent are the learners prepared for and suitable for elearning? How will their course expectations be dealt with? x Will the course be individual self-study, or will learners work through the course materials at the same time, in small groups? What is the maximum size for a group? x If the course is 100 percent online and group-based, how and when will group formation and socialising activities be integrated? How will learners be made to feel part of an online group? x How much tutor support, and access to tutors, will learners be given? Teacher/Tutors x Are the tutors experienced in e-learning, as well as computer literate, or will they need training to deliver the course? If training is needed, how will this be provided? x To what extend will tutors be involved in course design, or will they simply deliver the course? x What is the ratio of learners to tutors, and how many hours a week are tutors expected to work on the online component of a course? x How much support are tutors given, and by whom? Assessment and evaluation x How will the success – or otherwise – of the course itself be evaluated? x Will the course be evaluated as it is running (known as ‘formative assessment’) or only at the end (‘summative assessment’)? x How will learners’ coursework be assessed and graded? x How will tutor’s performance be evaluated?

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Appendix 2 – 24 design related questions, Whittaker in Tomlinson & Whittaker (2013) Context 1. What are the reasons for blending? 2. What are the limiting factors? Course design 3. What are you going to blend? 4. What is the lead mode going to be? 5. Which mode will set the pace? 6. How much time will the learners spend on each mode? 7. What will the pedagogic purpose of the modes be? 8. How will the modes be arranged in the timetable? 9. What is the optimal length of time for each session? 10. How many sessions will the timetable include? 11. How much choice will the learners be given in the blend? 12. How will the modes complement each other? 13. What methodology will the blend employ? 14. Where will the course take place? 15. How do I design for a ‘suite of courses’? Learners and teachers/tutors 16. Who will be involved in the design process? 17. What will the interactional patterns be? 18. What will the learners’ and teachers’/tutors’ roles be? 19. What level of autonomy will be expected from learners? 20. How will learners be supported in the transition to a blended approach? 21. How will the teachers/tutors be supported in the transition to a blended approach? 22. What will the ratio of learners to teachers/tutors be? Evaluating and developing the blend 23. How will the blend be evaluated? 24. How will the blend evolve?

CHAPTER TWO BLENDED LEARNING IN SAUDI ARABIA: POTENTIAL FOR ITS USE IN EFL AT THE TERTIARY LEVEL REEM AL EBAIKAN KING SAUD UNIVERSITY, SAUDI ARABIA

AND SALAH TROUDI GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF EXETER, UNITED KINGDOM

Abstract This chapter discusses blended learning’s potential for use in EFL teaching at the tertiary level in Saudi Arabia. It introduces the concept of blended learning and e-learning, explains related terminology, and provides a short synthesis of recent literature in the field. Given the specific features of women’s educational experiences in Saudi Arabia, blended learning’s potential with reference to literature is discussed. The chapter also emphasizes the essential role of the face-to-face element of blended courses for introductory-level instruction. It recommends the use of online learning in introductory courses as a supplement to established classroom modes of teaching. Key words: Blended learning, e-learning, Saudi educational context

Introduction Nowadays, the trend in Saudi higher education is to welcome the technological revolution in education and to integrate face-toface learning with online learning. Bonk and Graham (2006) assert that the promise of blended learning is extensive and that further

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research and innovation will help to identify its key benefits and impact areas. Due to the recent appearance of the term blended learning, there seems to be a confusion between the use of blended learning and elearning in educational institutions as well as in a number of academic publications. Hence this chapter will address the difference between the two constructs, which are sometimes used interchangeably. Due to the unique culture of Saudi Arabia, there is a need to discuss, through cultural lenses, blended learning’s potential for teaching women EFL in Saudi universities, where the idea is very new. The authors will discuss how the characteristics and structure of this new learning environment can be seen as compatible with the uniqueness of Saudi culture, especially in issues related to women’s education. In addition, the requirements for the transition to blended learning will be briefly discussed. With the rapid evolution of e-learning in Saudi higher education, many studies have investigated the Internet’s effect and specifically its effect on students. However, studies on blended learning and EFL are still rare. It is hoped, therefore, that this chapter will provide insights into blended learning’s potential for the teaching especially of women in the Saudi context.

Blended Learning or E-learning? This section explains the difference between e-learning (electronic learning) and blended learning. Generally, the term e-learning has been used to describe learning that is supported by technologies through various types of delivery modes (Sharma & Barrett, 2007). Since 2002, e-learning has become an umbrella term that covers web-based instruction, online learning, networked learning, computerassisted learning and computer-mediated learning (Littlejohn & Pegler, 2007). All these terms refer to the use of information and communication technologies in learning. The relationship between e-learning, Information Technology (IT) and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is identified in the eclipse diagram by Markos Tiris (CEL, 2003). Figure 1 below shows that e-learning is based on ICT, from which the term Information Technologies derives.

Information and learning technologies *

ILT*

* The current term is e-learning and technology.

The computer infrastructure, hardware and software used to process data and deliver information. The combination of computing and communication technologies (including computer networks and telephone systems) that connect and enable some of today’s most exciting systems, e.g. the Internet. E-learning is learning supported or enhanced through the application of information and communications technology. This term was used in further education colleges to refer to the use of information and communication technologies to support the core business of colleges: the delivery and management of learning.

Figure 1: The Eclipse Diagram by Markos Tiris, LSDA, 1999 and the Definitions Used in the Centre for Excellence in Leadership’s Report (CEL, 2003).

ILT

Electronic learning

E-learning

E-learning

Information and communication technologies

ICT

ICT IT ICT

Information Technology

Chapter Two

IT

32

Blennded Learning in Saudi Arabiaa

33

Abbad, Morris and Nahlik (2009) state thhat e-learning g, in its broadest seense, is learnning that is electronicallly enabled, while in its narroweest sense it is web-based d or Internet et-enabled. Su upporting this point, Conole and Oliver (200 06) state thatt e-learning refers to “the term m most commonly used to represent thhe broader do omain of developmennt and ressearch activ vities on the applicaation of technologiess to education” (p. 4). However, L Littlejohn and Pegler (2007) indiicate that itt is difficultt to be preecise in deffining elearning duue to the rappid developm ment of technnologies thatt support learning. In addittion, e-learninng is used to o refer to bllended learnin ng, as is the case w with Open University programs. p Suupporting thiis point, Littlejohn aand Pegler (2007) argu ue that the common usse of elearning is for distancce Internet-baased learningg, while theere is a blended mode of e-leearning that combines bboth the facce-to-face and the oonline modees. The liteerature show ws that therre is a difference iin the use of o the terms e-learning aand blended learning. Therefore, to avoid coonfusion, we choose in this chapterr to use online learnning and webb-based learn ning to refer to e-learning that is Internet-enaabled, while blended leaarning we ssee as learn ning that combines faace-to-face leaarning with on nline learning (see figure 2)).

B Online Blended F2F L L Learning Learning Learning

Figure 2: A D Diagram of the Blended B Learniing Definition.

Banadoss’ definition of blended d learning in higher education e confirms thhe roles of the two mo odes of learrning. It streesses the “combinatioon of technoology and classroom insttruction in a flexible approach tto learning that recogn nises the beenefits of delivering d some trainiing and asseessment onlin ne but also uses other modes m to make up a complete trraining progrram which ccan improve learning outcomes aand/or save costs” (Ban nados, 2006,, in Tomlin nson and

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Whittaker, 2013). In addition to online and face-to-face learning, Whittaker (2013) adds a third mode of self-study that can take place in self–access centres.

Blended Learning in Saudi Arabia Nowadays, the trend in Saudi higher education is to welcome the technological revolution in education and integrate face-to-face learning with online learning. Evidence for the use of blended learning in Arab countries first emerged from the Arab Open University. According to Alebaikan’s study (2010), blended learning is now part of twenty-first century education, which has to be enhanced by the use of ICT. It is expected that as more of the digital generation are enrolled in universities, the enthusiasm for blended courses will increase. Supporting this view, Al-Fahad’s study (2009), conducted on Saudi female undergraduate students learning English, reports that the students were eager to use the resources of mobile learning-via laptop, mobile phone and PDA. He adds that they believed time and space flexibility would better assist student engagement in the learning process. The Jordan Branch Website of the Arab Open University offers a concept of Open Learning that emphasizes that “the doors for education are wide open for each and every individual and student, regardless of their gender, age, or date of the award of their certificate.” Adoption of the Open Learning concept by the Arab Open University shows that the students there are different in their background from those at Saudi’s public universities. According to public university regulations, prospective students can apply for admission within five years of completing high school. Consequently, the attitudes towards blended learning of students from these two distinct environments are naturally different. In Saudi Arabia, a goal of the E-learning Project in the Ministry of Higher Education is to adopt blended learning in universities. The Director of the National Centre of E-Learning and Distance Learning announced in 2008 that the ministry was investigating the prospect of reducing class attendance hours for university students after shifting to e-learning (National Centre for E-learning, 2008). The Director of the Centre stated that with the new learning system, blended learning students did not need to have 100 percent class attendance as modern technologies would facilitate communication

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with lecturers. This indicates that the Ministry of Higher Education understands blended learning as a time-saving combination of face-to-face and online instruction. A similar view can be found at institutions elsewhere in the world, such as the University of Phoenix, the University of Central Florida, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the University of Calgary, the University of Wollongong, Bournemouth University and Glamorgan University. Furthermore, the First International Conference on E-learning and Distance Learning in Saudi Arabia, held in Riyadh in 2009, issued a set of recommendations that officially established the movement towards blended learning in higher education. The first implementation of blended learning in Saudi Arabia was seen in October 2007 at King Saud University, Riyadh, in its College of Applied Studies and Community Services (CASCS). This college, in collaboration with other academic and administrative departments in King Saud University, provides varied services, such as the Transitory Program, which offers blended courses. This program aims to provide female students with an opportunity to improve their GPA to a point where they can continue their university education. The courses they study are accredited by the university’s relevant department. Students who do not meet university requirements can join a diploma program in the CASCS with the possibility of accrediting the courses they study successfully. Blended learning was offered in CASCS to address the rapid growth of student applications. Five introductory courses were offered as blended courses: two Islamic studies courses (101 IS and 102 IS), two Arabic language courses (101 AL and 103 AL), and one introductory English course (101 ENG). The blended design was (a) online instruction, replacing 70% of the face-to-face class time and (b) 30% face-to-face class time. Five elements of the online instruction included announcements, assignment submission dates, online quizzes, lecture notes and online discussions. In addition to this encouraging university context, the National Centre for E-learning strives to provide rich multimedia resources to enable lecturers to integrate e-learning and blended learning in a way that fits their courses and the university’s needs. It is expected that more colleges will offer blended courses in the near future. Blended learning offers particular flexibility for female students (who need to dedicate time to family duties as well as to employers’ requirements), because they do not have to attend

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weekly face-to-face classes. Online learning allows for increased interaction between female students and lecturers, even if they are male, whereas face-to-face interaction is not permissible, as education in Saudi Arabia is segregated according to gender. Therefore, blended learning allows more interaction between lecturers and female students, which in turn leads to more effective learning processes. Furthermore, the rapid development in adopting blended learning in Saudi higher education has been witnessed in King Khalid University in the Southern Province of Saudi Arabia. In 2009, this university established three types of e-courses: one each at the supplementary and blended level and an entirely online one. The university has also recently adopted a five-year strategic plan for enhancing the quality of education. This includes an e-learning project which aims to make 10% of the overall curriculum (2% per year) electronically available in the blended mode. It is noteworthy that the local language word for blended learning has been rarely used in the Arabic literature and was an unrecognized term in almost all institutions in Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries until 2009 when King Khalid University used the Arabic translation for the term. The most commonly used version is a literal translation of e-learning. In the Student Guide of the Saudi branch of the Arab Open University, course credit hours are structured with an allocation of 25% face-to-face and 75% online instruction. Although this course design is expected to be called blended learning, all courses in the Arab Open University are called e-learning courses. Thus, blended learning is not yet a familiar term in Saudi higher education, where e-learning is used to refer to supplementary online materials. In addition, fully online courses as well as blended courses are also called e-learning courses. Internationally, blended learning was long ago introduced at many universities and is increasingly becoming the norm. There are also institutions that train educators to adopt blended learning designs and strategies. For example, a Certificate in Blended Teaching and Learning is awarded by the Sloan Consortium (an organization in the United States dedicated to integrating online education into the mainstream of higher education) upon successful completion of a development program in blended teaching and learning. The program includes a three-part workshop in which participants have an opportunity to learn about blended

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teaching approaches and how to design and develop blended course content. The National Centre for E-Learning and Distance Learning offered part of this certificate as a workshop on Lecturer Development for Blended Teaching and Learning at the ELearning International Conference 2009 in Riyadh. However, workshops for lecturer development skills are still at an early stage in Saudi Arabia. In fact, the total number of university lecturers who had participated in the workshops up to May 2010 was only 410, according to the National Centre for E-learning.

Blended Learning for Saudi Women’s Education In this section we discuss how the characteristics and structure of this new learning environment are compatible with the uniqueness of Saudi culture, especially in issues related to women’s education. We also discuss how female English teachers view the potential for blended learning in introductory English courses. Saudi Arabian culture is strongly influenced by being the birthplace of Islam. The segregation of the sexes required by Saudi culture and societal norms has influenced all aspects of life, including education. The educational environment is gendersegregated in accordance with local Islamic law and the classes for each gender are in separate buildings. Direct interaction between females and males who are not close relatives is not permitted, except on rare occasions. Female campuses are run by female staff and taught by female lecturers or by male lecturers via closedcircuit TV. Due to cultural and social regulations, women do not drive but instead are provided with transportation to schools by male relatives or drivers. Undergraduate students are not allowed to leave university campuses before noon without their family’s permission and are not allowed to be on campus after normal operating hours (8a.m. to 4p.m.). Gender-based educational segregation and female status are specifically discussed in this section because cultural aspects can influence the acceptance of blended learning, which was initially introduced for females only. Saudi Arabia has recently increased its emphasis on encouraging higher education for females. The first college for females was launched in 1970 to provide female public schools with qualified teachers. These colleges were then converted into a public university and renamed Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman

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University in 2008. A new campus for Princess Nora University, with a capacity to enrol about 40,000 students, was established in Riyadh in 2011. The university has 13 colleges, 11 of which provide new majors, including medicine, dentistry, nursing, naturopathy, business and management, information technology and languages. Due to the influence of Saudi culture, the most commonly available jobs for females are in education and health; therefore, the university majors offered are focused on serving these employment opportunities. Alsaleh (2008) states that 83.4% of female workers in the government sectors are in education, thereby concluding that the Education Ministry and the Higher Education Ministry are the largest sectors offering jobs for females. He added that the Health Ministry offers 5.4% of its jobs to females. However, there is now a trend to offer a variety of majors that have not been traditionally offered in the past (Abalhassan, 2007). It is notable that more jobs for females in private sectors have become available, for example in banking, accounting and IT. Recently, a Bachelor’s degree in Law has been offered for females, but there are no engineering and architecture degrees available for them yet.

The Potential of Blended Learning for EFL At the pedagogical level, and addressed to English language teachers, three publications in the area of blended learning and Internet use have contributed to an understanding of the potential of e-technologies for the teaching of languages and of English in particular. But it is beyond the scope of this chapter to provide an exhaustive review of online literature in EFL. Sharma and Barret (2007) provide a practical and accessible synthesis of electronic tools, ranging from dictionaries to podcasts, websites and Wikis which have grown exponentially in classrooms where access to online resources is possible. A more established resource in the TESOL area is Warschauer, Shetzer and Meloni’s publication (2000) where they introduce the concept of online learning to English teachers by suggesting a practical and accessible approach. The authors also provide planning tips and advice on how to avoid pitfalls in the use of websites. The third practical and pedagogical source is Windeatt, Hardisty and Eastment’s (2011) publication, which is a resource book for teachers planning to use the Internet to teach English. The authors provide useful tips on planning

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activities that fit different EFL levels and focus on a range of language skills. At the theoretical level, Warschauer and Kern’s edited volume (2000) about network-based language teaching introduces a number of theoretical issues related to the use of computer networking to enhance language learning. Of particular interest, Chapelle, in this volume raises the question of whether network-based language teaching (NBLT) is CALL. She points to the impoverished language learning environment of pre-networked CALL when compared to the great potential of NBLT in creating discourse communities and encouraging creativity.

Blended Learning in the EFL Classroom With the rapid evolution of e-learning in Saudi higher education, many studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of the Internet on education and more specifically on students. However, studies on blended learning and EFL are still very scarce. In this section we cite literature that allows us to establish a theoretical and practical rationale for the adoption of blended learning for teaching EFL in the Saudi context and particularly where this concerns women. A study in a Saudi Arabian university was conducted by Al-Jarf (2005) to find out whether integrating online learning with face-toface grammar instruction significantly improves EFL freshman college students’ achievements and attitudes. The study concluded that in learning environments where technology is unavailable to EFL students and lecturers, the use of online activities from home as a supplement to in-class techniques helps to motivate and enhance EFL students’ learning and mastery of English grammar. However, the author argued that some students did not take online instruction seriously as it was not used by other lecturers and students at the college. Certainly, taking online instruction seriously also requires students to have an adequate level of selfdiscipline. Another study, conducted by Alebaikan (2010) to explore views on blended learning in Saudi universities showed that the English lecturers refused to use a blended design which replaces a portion of face-to-face time with online learning. They resisted blended learning, claiming that their students were beginners in English and that online learning would not meet their needs. An

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English lecturer reported in her interview that lecturers had an unsuccessful experience in the online discussions because the students did not have the ability to write in English and participate in them. The lecturers refused to reduce face-to-face time in their Introductory English course, claiming that their students required face-to-face explanation. Consequently, they used online quizzes and an online homework submission service without class-time reduction. It was suggested by some lecturers that the model should be determined by lecturers according to their subjects in order to allow them to increase the percentage of face-to-face instruction as needed. The results of Alebaikan’s study indicate that the participating students and lecturers have some concerns about subjects chosen for blended courses. For example, the English language lecturers found that the blended courses design model chosen by the college was not the best combination for their subject. They referred to the need for a high percentage of face-to-face interaction in introductory English. They thought that blended learning reduced the essential time required for interaction during face-to-face instruction in certain subjects. This finding supports Greener’s result (2008) where he investigated Masters’ students’ conceptions of blended learning at a British university and indicated that blended learning was only good for certain subjects. It is possible that the type of blended learning model provided for the students affected their opinion. Face-to-face time could be dedicated to practical activities, while online instructions could provide theoretical materials, as is the case at Bournemouth University, which adopted blended learning for health courses. Moreover, the University of Phoenix offers courses called FlexNet, where classes meet one third of the time in a face-to-face format and two thirds in an online format. As a result, the face-to-face class time was then transformed into an active discussion session rather than a lecture (Cottrell & Robison, 2003). A different design is in use at Brigham Young University, where freshman English students are required to meet face-to-face once a week instead of three times a week. It is signicant that the English subject has rich ESL resources on the Internet. According to Al-Nafisah (2001), Arab students’ learning of Englih is characterised by a number of challenges, such as the lack of speaking opportunities inside the classroom and outside it. The quality of the curriculum, syllabus, textbooks, and activities within

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the classroom are also among the main reasons for students’ uninterest in English learning. Students’ classroom participation may also be hindered by a dominant teacher role and shy and intimidated learners, factors which can only discourage learners and create passivity. Alshwiah (2010) argues that the introduction of several kinds of technology may be a suitable solution to overcome such learning challenges especially when learners can have access to computer-based flexible learning environments. In Saudi Arabia, a learning object repository called Maknaz is being established by the National Centre for E-learning which would facilitate the capture of appropriate digital materials for online instruction. Motteram and Sharma (2009) discuss the use of Web 2.0 to develop English learning in a blended world. They provide an example of setting up a class wiki to encourage students to develop their writing skills in a virtual learning environment. They argue that when developing Web 2.0 materials the process involves the participation of a community of developers whose task is to create tools and users, whose production of content is assisted by a wide array of digital technologies. While Web 1.0 tools provide information to users, Web 2.0 tools engage them in active creation. A major difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 is that in the latter the process of creation meets fewer barriers. In Saudi Arabia, there is a rapid increase in the use of mobile and wireless technologies, which foster learning anytime and from anywhere. Some of the popular devices that enable mobile learning are iPod, e-book reader, smart phone, PDA, and laptop. All these devices enable learners to download digital course content in order to access it at their convenience. Corbeil and Valdes-Corbeil (2007) state that “mobile learning capabilities will continue to expand with the introduction of smaller, more sophisticated and powerful gadgets capable of delivering data in a variety of formats anywhere, at any time” (p. 57). However, the expansion of mobile learning is not only influenced by new technologies but may also be affected by student perceptions of mobile learning, as concluded by several studies. For example, Al-Fahad (2009) investigated attitudes of Saudi undergraduate students towards the effectiveness of mobile learning in their studies and found that students did indeed perceived mobile technologies as an effective means of enhancing communication and learning. Al-Fahad suggests that mobile phones are the most popular devices that can be used for mobile learning in Saudi Arabia.

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Moreover, Lionarakis and Parademetriou (2003) assert that the quality of the learning experience in open and distance education is underpinned by administrative support as well as the quality of the tutor. Regular evaluation using students’ and lecturers’ feedback assists in developing the program and enhancing the quality of the learning. Significantly, a conference about quality assurance in Saudi higher education was held in Riyadh in October 2009 and recommended evaluating student and lecturer satisfaction as the best strategy to explore learning effectiveness and ensure a better quality of education.

Pedagogical Implications In this chapter we argued for the use of blended learning in the teaching of English to women in the Saudi context. On the pedagogical side, it can be seen that lecturers could select online activities from several web sources to facilitate English learning. If lecturers utilize online interactive materials that fit the curriculum objectives, they will probably be satisfied with their blended course outcomes. However, further research is recommended to assess the use of blended learning models in teaching English for beginners. Moreover, lecturers’ performance in the online environment has to be evaluated by the administration. In addition, feedback from the lecturers about their experiences and the challenges facing them and their students must be considered to improve the learning process. In particular, teaching strategies and assessment tools have a strong influence on the learning process and need to be evaluated by qualified consultants. Also on the pedagogical side, and in order to embrace blended learning, ELT practitioners in Saudi Arabia must become familiar with what it is and what it can offer to students and learners alike. Teacher education has therefore a major role to play before blended learning can become an established feature of Saudi educational structure. At the level of course design, ELT professionals should consider a number of important principles, such as flexibility, complementarity between face-to-face and computer-assisted components of the blend (Sharma & Barrett, 2007), methodological choice and teachers’ readiness to embrace technology in language teaching. On the technical side, teachers will need to make decisions about appropriate software and computer-based environments to use for

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the e-leaning element of their courses. There is a wide range of etools available to teachers and many are free from the Internet. Teachers have of course to decide on the appropriateness of level, content and interest. In addition to using established commercial software, virtual learning environments such as Moodle, podcasts, blogs, email and synchronous and asynchronous chat facilities for various language learning activities, teachers can engage students in critical and evaluative activities on texts, webpages and written and oral students’ work posted in electronic formats.

References Abalhassan, K. (2007). Higher Education in Saudi Arabia 2007. Riyadh: MOHE, KSU. Abbad, M. M., Morris, D. and Nahlik, C. (2009). Looking under the Bonnet: Factors Affecting Student Adoption of E-Learning Systems in Jordan. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(2), 1-23. Alebaikan, R. (2010). Perceptions of Blended Learning in Saudi Universities. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of Exeter, Exeter, UK. Al-Fahad, F. N. (2009). Students' Attitudes and Perceptions towards the Effectiveness of Mobile Learning in King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 8(2), 111-119. Al-Jarf, R. S. (2005). The Effects of Online Grammar Instruction on Low Proficiency EFL College Students' Achievement. Asian EFL Journal, 7(4), 166-190. Alsaleh, B. A. (2008). Requirements for Integrating Distance E-learning into Saudi Universities from the Field Experts, Point of View. Education and Psychology. 29. Retrieved from www.gesten.org.sa. Alshwiah, A. A. (2010) Effects of a Blended Learning Strategy in Teaching Vocabulary on Premedical Students’ Achievement. International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning. 7(2) Retrieved on February, 27, 2010 from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Feb_10/article02.htm. Chapelle, C. (2000). Is Networked-based learning CALL? In M. Warschauer & R. Kern (Eds.), Network-based Language Teaching: Concepts and Practice (pp. 204-228). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CEL. (2003). Centre for Excellence in Leadership.

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www.centreforexcellence.org.uk Conole, G. & Oliver, M. (Ed.). (2006). Contemporary Perspectives in Elearning Research: Themes, Methods and Impact on Practice. London: Routledge. Corbeil, J. R., & Valdes-Corbeil, M. E. (2007). Are You Ready for Mobile Learning? EDUCAUSE, 30 (2), 51-58. Cottrell, D., & Robison, R. (2003). Blended Learning in an Accounting Course. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 4(3), 261-269. Greener, S. L. (2008). Selfaware and Selfdirected: Student Conceptions of Blended Learning. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 4 (2), 243-253. Lionarakis, A. & Parademetriou, D. (2003). The Quality of the Learning Experience: A Comparative Study between Open Distance and Conventional Education. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. 4(2). Retrieved from: http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde10/articles/lionarakis.htm Littlejohn, A., & Pegler, C. (2007). Preparing for Blended e-Learning. London: Routledge. Motteram, G. & Sharma, P. (2009). Blended Learning in a Web 2.0 World. International Journal of Emerging Technologies & Society, 7(2), 83-96. Nah, Ki-C., White, P. & Sussex, R. (2008). The Potential of Using Mobile Phone to Access the Internet for Learning EFL Listening Skills Within a Korean Context. ReCALL, 20(3), 331-347. National Centre for E-learning. (2008). National Centre for E-Learning and Distance Learning- Saudi Ministry of Higher Education. http://www.elc.edu.sa. Sharma, P. & Barrett, B. (2007). Blended Learning: Using Technology in and beyond the language classroom. Oxford: Macmillan. Tomlinson. B. & Whittaker, C. (Eds.) (2013). Blended learning in English language teaching: Course design and implementation. London: British Council. Warschauer, M. & Kern R. (Eds.) (2000). Network-based Language Teaching: Concepts and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Warschauer, M., Shetzer, H. & Meloni, C. (2000). Internet for English Teaching. Alexandria, Virginia: Teachers of English to Speakers of Others Languages, INC. Windeatt, S., Hardisty, D. & Eastment, D. (2011). The Internet. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

CHAPTER THREE SELF-ACCESS OR ACCESS TO SELF?: EXPERIMENTING WITH E-LEARNING IN OMAN ALINA REBECCA CHIRCIU AND TULIKA MISHRA MAJAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OMAN

“Freedom to learn is the first necessity of guaranteeing that man himself shall be self-reliant enough to be free” —Franklin D Roosevelt

Abstract A common focus of the recent teaching pedagogy has been on the learner, despite the conceptual differences between learner autonomy and learner independence. Hence, technological advances could not remain unnoticed, especially in such an innovative and dynamic field as language education. Self-access learning is thus regarded now as an important breakthrough in ELT as it allows for self-direction or autonomy in learning. In this context, the present study explores the relationship between self-access learning and self-directed learning in English language education in Oman, by presenting the case of a higher education institution and its implementation of an e-learning platform during the 2011-2012 academic year. The study looks at data originating from several sources, including four interviews with decision-makers at the institution who were directly involved in creating the learning platform and students’ and teachers’ views on the effectiveness of the e-learning environment. In addition, we analyse the amount of access to the e-learning platform at different times during the academic year. Key Words: Self-access learning, learner autonomy, e-learning, Gulf region, learner centeredness

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Self-access or access to self? The shift of responsibility from teachers to learners in the past few decades has not emerged suddenly. The absence of direct participation in the traditional method of learning paved the way for extensive research on student-centred pedagogy. Carl Sagan (1951) said in one of his interviews, “When you make the finding yourself - even if you are the last person on earth to see the light, you’ll never forget it.’’ Contrary to the traditional method, student-centred learning focuses on constructing knowledge through searching and gathering and "synthesizing information and integrating it with the general skills of inquiry, communication, critical thinking, problem–solving, and self-access learning,’’ (Huba & Freed, 2002, p.5). Here, the emphasis is not on answers but on addressing emerging issues in real life situations. This paradigm shift produced ways and methods to help learners become self-dependent. There is much talk about learner centeredness, learner autonomy or learner independence from different people following different practices, but basically this is all about the freedom which should be granted to the learner and the wide range of resources which might make this freedom possible. In the course of this shift, the age-old centre of power has moved from the providers of knowledge to the receivers, assuming that they have the critical skills, decision-making capacity and a drive to learn. These receivers are now called autonomous learners who, with the help of their teachers, are in charge of their own learning. Learning has its ultimate goal in learner autonomy, which is defined in several ways, generating controversy among linguists who have not yet arrived at a consensus on its meaning. In David Little's terms, learner autonomy is “essentially a matter of the learner's psychological relation to the process and content of learning--a capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision-making, and independent action’’ (Little, 1991 p.4). It is not a teaching pedagogy since nothing is done to learners (ibid.) Likewise, Leni Dam (1990, cited in Gathercole, 1990, p. 16), defines autonomy as the learner's willingness and capacity to reflect on his own learning. More specifically, she, like Holec, believes that learners become autonomous when they target goals, materials, methods and tasks which they independently execute. Instead of being a passive recipient of theories, they engage themselves proactively in the learning process, raise doubts and questions and then endeavour to seek answers. This makes them far more self-dependent and satisfied seekers of knowledge who are self-critical and take the onus of learning on themselves. According to Rathbone (1971, cited in Candy, 1991, p. 271), learners who themselves

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endeavour to find out meanings, who take an active role in the selflearning process, who do not merely accept things happening but cause them to happen and who see learning as the result of their own efforts, are called autonomous learners. Therefore, “learning is not merely memorising, it is actually a meaningful and critical understanding of events” (Candy, 1991 p.271). Autonomy is not an instant solution but an attribute obtained by the learner through hard work, cognitive and metacognitive strategies, a positive attitude, motivation and knowledge about language learning. But this definitely does not make the teacher redundant. In fact, all the above attributes would make a learner autonomous, and could be facilitated by a teacher alone. Self–access learning is best when learner and instructor work together, where the instructor diagnoses the learner’s needs and adapts his methodology and material accordingly. Little was also among the first to discuss teacher education issues within the literature on learner autonomy. According to him (Little, 1995, p.179), “Genuinely successful teachers have always been autonomous in the sense of having a strong sense of personal responsibility for their teaching, exercising via continuous reflection and analysis the highest degree of affective and cognitive control of the teaching process, and exploring the freedom that this confers.” Language learning strategies help learners to become independent language learners. According to O’Malley and Chamot (1990), learning strategies are 'the special thoughts or behaviours that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn, or retain new information' (O’Malley and Chamot, 1990, p.1). Wenden (1998, p.18) says that “learning strategies are mental steps or operations that learners use to learn a new language and to regulate their efforts to do so.” Learners’ learning strategies and styles “may partly reflect personal preference rather than innate endowment” (Skehan, 1998, p.237).There are several learning strategies which facilitate autonomy, such as cognitive strategies, meta cognitive strategies, learners’ attitudes and motivation, self-belief and modes of self-access learning. Constructivists believe that, for greatest cognition, students must increase their knowledge through activities that engage them, since learning is effective only when learners take stock of their knowledge and move ahead to acquire more. Hence, as educators, it is our duty to instil in learners the confidence of self-learning which helps them become autonomous.

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Self-access learning in the Gulf Region By contrast with a first language, which is acquired effortlessly, second or foreign language acquisition is painful and difficult, mentally very challenging and complex. Mastering a second language leads to endless hours spent with the materials provided, confusion and frustration. Most often students have no clue as to what the materials aim at and how they are going to help them to be efficient in the target language. These learning ordeals make them uninterested and demotivated. Thus, education cannot be left untouched when everything else is changing so rapidly in the 21st century. Its paradigms need to be continually tested in order to keep pace with the changing demands of the learners. This has kept academics involved in a continuous search for innovative teaching methods that are suitable, as in the case of Oman and the Gulf region, where modern education dates back only two generations and where students have limited exposure to English outside the classroom. Hence efforts to involve students in self-access learning which can take the language learning process outside the classroom and provide freedom with time, space and materials. As teachers, we have noticed that students are technology ‘savvy’ and so it is only sensible to exploit their interest in order to facilitate their language learning. To respect their individuality and help them to be more self-dependent and interactive, self-access e-learning is proving to be a most appropriate teaching and learning tool that can lead to the attainment of the goals mentioned above. Moreover, our students are shy about speaking and writing in class. Self-access learning, which is still locally in the experimental stage, can play an important role in accommodating students’ individualised needs and interests, providing them with course materials in which they have a say, and giving them a forum where they have more exposure to language while keeping them away from situations producing shyness and inhibition. Also, students can benefit from other resources available online which will enhance such skills as reading, vocabulary building, summarising, etc. Among the best advantages of selfaccess learning is the platform of interaction it creates between peers, and between students and lecturers. If students are free to do their work at any time and place, it gives an equal opportunity to teachers to provide valuable feedback on their work, a practice that plays an important role in the learning process. Teachers can also monitor all students’ achievements and progress and guide them accordingly. Further it can build up a good rapport amongst students, pulling them close together academically and bringing out the best in them. Self-access helps them to reflect on their

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own learning. As Wenden (1998, p.34) mentioned, meta-cognitive learning strategies are used to plan, monitor and evaluate the learning activity and (Cook, 1993 p.114) says that “they are…strategies about learning rather than learning strategies themselves”. Educators have a responsibility to enhance students’ English language proficiency and also to inculcate the importance of planning, time-management, cultural awareness and learning evaluation. And self-access learning can take care of this by involving students in content development. Furthermore, as educators, we should be able to advise learners to take maximum advantage of selfaccess learning as it can also provide opportunities for engaging in collaborative and, implicitly, autonomous learning.

Self-access learning philosophy in higher education a critical approach Although much is being said about the advantages of self–access learning, its weaknesses cannot be ignored. To begin with, every learner must be computer literate, own a computer and have access to the Internet. In Oman particularly these prerequisites have yet to be met. In our institution’s Foundation Programme students lack basic IT skills when they enter and it takes a while for lecturers to solve this problem. Also slow servers and weak Internet connectivity in remote parts of the country are other technological glitches that hamper self-access learning. A further important requirement is the preparedness of both lecturers and learners to use this medium of instruction effectively. It is generally found that lecturers use the self-access mode merely as a repository of materials, which defeats the method’s whole purpose. Unless it is made interactive with learners being involved in discussions, activities, quizzes and sometimes choosing the module’s content, it will not be effective. Attention must be paid to the choice of material to be uploaded and a balance has to be achieved between gentle correction and encouragement when giving feedback. Maintaining interest and participation is timeconsuming but has to be achieved nevertheless. A high degree of motivation and readiness to seek knowledge and self-dependence are required, along with a fair amount of critical and high-order thinking. Education in Oman has yet to inculcate these qualities and learners are still far too dependent on their teachers. Observing all the above needs, it is suggested that students need to participate more in interactive discussions online and reduce the time received from lecturers individually in the classroom. Students should be encouraged to understand the metacognitive concepts through the activities given and not through mere

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explanations. Teachers should try hard to motivate students and make them comfortable using self-access learning, since it can be difficult for them initially. According to Candy (1991), self-directed learning deals with the willingness and ability to conduct one’s own education, but some students might be unable to comprehend this concept and thus might not respond as well as the rest. It should be clear that self-access learning is not meant to improve the four skills of the English language but rather to help students to explore for themselves the most suitable ways of learning. It should also be remembered that self-access learning does not in itself confer better learning; rather, it builds an atmosphere within which students can become better learners. This can take care of the passive and introvert students, allowing them to choose when and where to participate and reflect on their learning. It can also provide opportunities for motivated and high-level performers to interact more frequently, sharing their enterprise with the not so motivated – thus eventually proving advantageous for all kinds of learners.

Objectives of the study The study explored the issue of self-access in relation to the implementation of e-learning at a private higher education institution in Oman; and the researchers' intention, therefore, was to paint a broad picture of how e-learning was introduced, how it was received by the learning community, and how these issues were related to the concept of self–access in terms of its role in empowering students and improvement of their self-directed learning skills. In order to do this the following research questions were addressed: Is the e-learning platform a tool for self-access learning or for access to self? Is it an educational trend or a means of learner empowerment? Have students become more self-directed learners through the use of the elearning platform?

Methods and procedure We decided that a case study would be the most appropriate choice, as we wanted to explore the problem’s many angles and thus reveal the nature of its complexity. The case study choice had implications for the type of data we collected and the way this was analysed (Hammerlsey, 2004). Thus the present study makes no claims about generalizability but aims instead for a “naturalistic generalisation” (Stake, 2000; cited in

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Hammerlsey, 2004). This perspective motivated us to use multiple data sources, for example interviews with four decision-makers, testimonials from students who used the e-learning platform, e-statistics that showed the proportion of students accessing the system at different periods of time throughout the semester, and discussion threads from the two modules that we delivered through the e-learning platform. We hence tried to provide maximum details of the context and of the e-learning platform experience with students, lecturers and decision-makers alike.

The institutional context The case study was done at the Eastern Gulf College (EGC), a private higher education institution in Oman. The College is affiliated with a British university and is ranked as one of the country’s best private colleges. It has around 150 teaching staff and some 2000 students. The academic programmes (English, IT and Business) are taught through English.

Participants All participants were contacted on the basis of their position in the institution and their involvement in the implementation and development of the e-learning platform. Thus some provided a managerial perspective and others a pedagogical one. The four students who provided us with their testimonies were selected on the basis of the intensity of their experience in using the e-learning platform. Thus the sample chosen met the criterion of purposiveness (Silverman, 2001). All eight respondents, students and staff, were assured of confidentiality around their participation and although no written consent was involved, respondents were told that they could withdraw from the study at any time and that they had the right to bar their responses from being included in the research report. They are all referred to by pseudonyms.

Procedure The interviews were conducted over a three-week period at the respondents’ convenience and the students were asked to provide us with a testimonial of their experience before the end of the spring academic semester. The statistics were compiled over a three-month period at the end of the academic year. The interviews were semi-structured, “starting from a list of issues to be addressed and questions to be answered”

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(Denscombe, 2007, p.153), but allowed flexibility in terms of the order of themes addressed and the development of ideas. The student and teacher testimonials were used as an opportunity for personal reflection that would give us in-depth insight into the experiences respondents faced while using the e-learning platform. The graphs reflect statistical data generated courtesy of the E-learning Director, Mr John (who is also one of our respondents), and are meant to add to the argument we are trying to make in our analysis: our intention was not to look for a causal relationship. The interview questions were focused on the purpose of implementing elearning at EGC, on issues and benefits, and on whether the initiative had led to an increase in self-access and self-directed, autonomous learning. We are aware that, by being EGC staff, with its implications for unequal power relationships with the interviewed decision-makers, there could be some bias in the analysis. Our intention was not to distance ourselves from the research but to let our voices come through in the analysis since its purpose was to explore the issues of self-access and access to self, i.e. student and teacher empowerment through alternative learning environments. This, we believe, was not possible without “the intrusion of our own subjectivity and personal biases” (Kanpol, 1998, p. 193)

Findings and discussion Starting with the research questions, our exploration led us to uncover two major themes: the first pertaining to the purpose of e-learning implementation and the second to its role in self-access learning. In other words, we wanted to know if it had contributed to an increased desire for self-access learning in both teachers and students as a result of their empowerment. Although initially we were trying to uncover the meaning of self-access by focusing on enhancing students’ learning autonomy, we discovered that, actually, teacher motivation played a very important role in generating student motivation. Our purpose was, ultimately, not to measure the success rate of self-access learning but to see how receptive students and teachers were to it. As mentioned earlier, the teacher’s role is crucial in guiding students to self-access (Sheerin, 1997, cited in Benson & Voller, 1997: 63). Thus our analysis embraced the perspective of teachers’ motivation and autonomy having a direct impact on student motivation and autonomy.

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The purpose and benefits of the e-learning platform implementation at EGC The purpose of the e-leaning platform was not primarily to encourage students to use self-access learning but to emphasise what self-access language learning tries to achieve, which is “to allow the maximum exposure to a variety of language learning opportunities for a large number of learners in the least time-consuming and the least costly way”. (Gardner & Miller, 1999, p. 25). As John, the Director of E-learning at ECG puts it, the intention was: “to give basically an extended learning environment so that students aren't confined to the classroom or the campus so that they could continue their learning at any time from any place”.

This was deemed an urgent matter as the college wanted to position itself as a major presence within the Omani educational scene. Thus John also says: It was a strategic decision in terms of positioning the college as a kind of modern or forward-thinking institution and also a kind of pedagogical decision because of course there are genuine benefits of using these systems.

Another respondent, Andrew, the MBA Director of Studies, shared the same view: When students talk about this e-learning with their friends I can sense some pride in how they talk about it. Previously they had this feeling that we were living in the 19th century while some students were living in the 21st century. Now when they talk about Majan College, they say we submit assessments online and we go with the course online so it has created some kind of branditivity for us as a college.

These views are in line with a global educational trend to look for alternative learning environments that will incorporate technological developments and “equip one with the knowledge and skills required for continued progress around the globe” (Lu, 2010, p. 343) That includes the way students learn how to deal with the issue of plagiarism when submitting online through TURNITIN, as Munira, Dean of EGC, points out: Actually it was because of TURNITIN. We had to go for it because we thought that plagiarism had been mounting and you know people are

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Chapter Three getting money for it…and it is not something localized in Oman or in EGC.

In this context “e-learning is considered a panacea for practical issues such as increased student numbers” (see Blin & Munro, 2008, p. 476, in Lu, 2010). This view was expressed by all our respondents when they mentioned increased communication opportunities between lecturers and students. As John puts it: The potential benefit could be that students have 24 hr. access to it if they don't live in Muscat and can't come in to see staff or to get materials from the library or whatever. With this they have access to course materials as long as they have an Internet connection.

Andrew adds to the present arguments by mentioning how e-learning actually solves many communication problems: For lecturers a large number of issues arise from the inability of students to meet them, because the students will say, “I came to your office and couldn't find you” and so on. So now that is not a factor at all, students get access to all the resources.

Noura, Associate Dean for Quality Assurance and Chair of the website committee, shares the same view: Earlier when we didn't have online resources there was a discontinuity. The minute they [students] left the classroom you didn't see them, but now there is a continuous engagement.

We can definitely see from our respondents’ views that the e-learning platform is indeed considered a major solution for students’ language learning problems and teacher-student communication problems, while creating a strong sense of being part of a progressive internationalstandard educational environment.

Access to self: teacher and student motivation for self-access learning Given what has been said above, it is not surprising that the institution expected the e-learning platform to increase students’ ability to selfregulate and make them more self-directed in their learning. However, the overall view was that this remained a goal that teachers would have to constantly work towards and that there was a constant need

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for teachers to train and especially to motivate the students to engage in elearning. As John puts it: Absolutely, I think motivation is the key word. Without any motivation they're never going to log in. At the moment the motivation that every student has, barring Foundation, is that they submit their assignments online […] so I think if students see the e-platform regularly, if they see early on that it’s easy to log in, by the first week when they have passwords and all that, it's fresh in their mind. You've got to get them on there early […] whatever else and then they become more autonomous in their learning that way because it is an autonomous system in that everybody has their own unique username and password for it. They log in on their own usually and that means that they're logged in in their own time, then they're giving your subject some thought and you don't know where that might lead. Maybe they'll see an author’s name on a site that they've come across so, you know, they'll Google it, they'll go on Wikipedia, they'll read a bit, they'll look up some of the books that they've done […] so it really lends itself to self-directed learning.

Student motivation to engage in self-access is directly proportional to the teachers’ motivation to engage in it too. Gardner and Miller (1995) propose that teachers should sensitise students to self-access in the classroom while Crabbe (1993, p. 444, cited in Garner and Miller, 1995) believes that autonomous learning “needs to become a reference point for all classroom procedures”. Andrew admits to doing just that with his BA and MBA students: Yes there is one thing I do every week. I open the students' self-access reports in the class to show them and I send a mail to all those students who didn't access the previous week. I mention that as a lecturer I perceive it as a lack of engagement and commitment to the module and that this will affect their performance in the module so the students know we are monitoring. So, once we do it in week two, three, and four, then the students will adjust their behavior to meet the expectations of the lecturer and there are some points which are only available online, and they won’t get them from me on paper, so to stay in line with what is happening they will have no option but to log-in.

John reflects the same perspective: […] I think really that everything that lecturers put up there, any new resources that are put up, reinforce the message that this is an integral part of my teaching. This is not just an optional extra, but it is like the backbone to what we're doing. Everything they’re learning will be represented in some way here. I think that's what's needed most. I don't think any formal training is needed beyond the real basics.

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These views portray an image of self-access as a sum of learning strategies or learning behaviors that can be trained and inculcated in students. This is reflected in some of our respondents’ seeing selfdirection, learner autonomy and self-access as outcomes to be achieved over time, since this form of learning is still a new experience for staff and students. As Noura puts it: It varies….You might find people who are on the higher side (of autonomy) but you will find people who still depend on their lecturers to be guided. Students need to understand what it means and what we expect, and again it puts pressure on lecturers to explain to students what exactly they want from them, and if it is explained to them they might understand, and we are definitely looking for that, so it might happen. I can't really guarantee, because we are still experimenting. Two years.… We are still at the teething stage.

Andrew is of the same view: I think we are moving in the right direction; but we have a long way to go. Now we have to guide them even for what is happening online. If it is a case study online we need to set up some talking points. Still there needs to be a lot of guidance.

However, learner differences and learning styles cannot be ignored, especially since they pose challenges to the success of the learning process. Most of our respondents admitted that they had experienced cultural differences in terms of learner expectations as well as differences in terms of ability to cope with alternative learning environments. John talks about these issues by citing the challenges that Foundation students (post-secondary pupils) face: You need to think of the Foundation program in terms of being a foundation program for e-learning as well as in terms of learning how to learn better. It might be that the majority of the activities take place in a computer lab at your scheduled times […] so I think you'd have pretty much to hold their hand for it.

Noura shares the same view, bringing up the need for graduate learner exposure to the alternative learning environments and strategies: Of course in the Foundation you have different ways and approaches to helping students because they are coming from Thanawya [high-school] so we still have to give them the papers. But what we do when we come to the undergrads in semester 1 is a mix; in semester 2 there is more

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dependence on e-learning than in semester 1, and then when they progress, there is less paper; but we cannot take away the paper completely.

Andrew addresses the purpose of using technology: Our students’ continuing resort to the Internet is about communication and entertainment predominantly - it is not for learning. So that is probably a paradigm shift which will happen slowly I believe.

Munira shares a different view, stating that teachers could capitalize on student’s youth and flexibility, which in turn will lead to their exposure to technology for the purpose of entertainment and communication: I thought they would be the best people because the younger they are, the more trained they are, and the most eager and flexible, but sadly they come in and face people like us who think that Foundation students cannot do this. So let us just carry the book and go. We train them in such a way that they think that the Foundation is only about the book that this group of people have decided is best to use, whereas I think it is easier to make it accessible to the students in the Foundation…. Most of the students have BlackBerrys for example. If something happens in your classroom other students in the other classrooms will have known about it. This is a very powerful tool so we should be smart in using it.

All these views show diversity in educators’ and decision-makers’ beliefs about learning, which in turn mirrors the diversity of student beliefs about learning. Hence, self-access is bringing about a chance to access ourselves as teachers and educators and, in the process, to allow students to access themselves. We believe that better access to ourselves and to the students’ selves - i.e. a better understanding of learner characteristics and needs - will help us develop better strategies for making the self-access elearning of a language more fruitful in terms of objectives and achieved learning experiences. This automatically involves a change in “the roles of learners, teachers and the institution” (Gardner & Miller 1999, p.13). And change can only come with time and effort as “the changing role of learners requires an increase in learner training” and motivation, which has to be incorporated in the whole self-access experience, as “teachers need to relinquish some of their control to the learners and then learn new skills to take on new roles”. And the institution “needs to move from a directive stance to one of being a provider of learning opportunities” which are ultimately in accordance with the students’ choices and learning styles. (Ibid.)

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This drive for change is generated by allowing constant opportunities for reflective practice and access to self. We believe that this is where teacher and student motivation lies. The graphs below, and the following analysis, show the students’ readiness for self-access e-learning at the beginning of the semester, indicated by the peak in first-time log-ins and then a following drop in interest between the first week and the assignmnet submission. The graph below shows a cumulative count of users and moments when they first log in to the e-learning platform throughout the academic year 2011-2012.

First Login 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800

First Login

600 400 200 30/04/2012

31/03/2012

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30/11/2011

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John suggests that students don’t wait until assessment submission to log in but rather log in during the first week and then find very little to keep them coming back, which highlights the need for staff to have their modules ready by that time.

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Unique Logins 1400 1200 1000 800 Unique Logins

600 400 200 Sept Oct Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug

0

Similar to the first graph, this one shows that unique login momentum builds up at the beginning of a semester but then drops, peaking again around assessment time. The question of how momentum can be maintained is ongoing for all of us as teachers. This data would also confirm Gardner and Miller’s 1997 study findings (in Gardner and Miller, 1999) that “learners were, in general, more positive about the benefits of self-access than their teachers”. (p. 12) This view is also expressed by Munira: Students don't need any forcing. If you tell them that they have to do it this way then they will do it but it is colleagues who are difficult. If you send the message loud and clear to students they will get it.

Noura adds to this perspective, attributing teacher reluctance to engage largely to a fear of technology: First of all, everybody has fear of technology. I had a meeting with people from Oxford Publishers and they said that we are in the middle that we are not in the age of those who love paperwork and we are also not like the

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Chapter Three people who are tech savvy, so we are in-between. We have to balance it. We still love hard copies yet we want to go for the technology.

However, John mentions that, from his perspective, the teachers’ attitude has generally been positive: My experience here compared to my experience in the UK is that actually staff are more enthusiastic and there's less kind of push-back. I think what I experienced in the UK was that you saw more extremes, you saw some really fantastic work being done and of course people have been using this technology for a lot longer there. There's a lot more research and experience behind it but you also saw some real opposition to it and often kind of irrational responses to it - this is technology just trying to take over our jobs which of course is nonsense. It's not doing the teaching; it's just providing a space for the teaching. It's no more than the classroom taking over your job. That’s the kind of attitude that I experienced which I haven't experienced one bit here. I think the attitude here is not being against it but maybe not being motivated enough to learn a new way of doing things or maybe being a little bit kind of stuck in the old routines of teaching, so I don't think it's so much a negative attitude towards it but much more of an apathy.

This apathy might not only be attributed to “being stuck in the old routines of teaching” but, as Andrew puts it, “to the lack of time”, which can be a factor that works against the lecturer when trying to prepare his/her content to be posted online. Andrew says: So, I have to juggle around, change things, bring in something new so the students know that I am going through an experience which is unique and different from the previous cohort and attending class is just as important. For example in MIS we use lots of video clips and I had to watch twenty to pick out one which is at the level of the students. And you end up making trade-offs. There are things to be done and there are things which are nice to do.

The speed of the Internet also poses problems, as John points out: Oman hasn't got a kind of world class telecoms infrastructure so the college suffers from poor Internet connection especially if people live out in the interior, where they all suffer from poor Internet connection and that of course restricts the usefulness to some extent of what we can do.

All these challenges considered, the view expressed, especially by most of our respondents, remains that, like any system, it is only as good as what you do with it. As John says:

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It is only as good as what you do with it. For example now the majority of staff are using it predominantly as a document storage space which still does have its uses because it gives students access to resources; it gives you the communication tools which means you can focus your face-to-face time in a slightly different way. It does take some real time and experience and some trial and error to really learn as an instructor… to really learn the benefits of the system. It’s possible to have some great ideas and then implement them in ways so that students just don't really notice them or engage in them. You kind of have to have the whole package of good ideas and getting students involved as well. Otherwise there's no point in it really.

This brings us again to a need for change in the role of everyone involved, including our role as teachers, as Andrew reiterates: Previously it was a linear equation with the teacher on one side and the student on the other side, so all learning depends on what the teacher does for the student. Now it's no longer a linear equation; there are many spots and we are one of the many spots that students access. So our role has become more of a facilitator. The role of the teacher is to create an ecosystem for learning. So the teacher has not become a source; he has become one of the mediums for learning.

Concluding arguments Our experience with the e-learning platform has not been very different from the testimonies above. We experienced success and elation while dealing with BA students who were self-directed and intrinsically motivated and wrote without any inhibition, but we also had to provide a lot more guidance in groups where most of the students lacked the basic IT skills. However, as we both experienced it, overall the student response was encouraging. They made efforts to write on the e-learning page, and, again, giving feedback on the academic writing module became rather easy for us as it is very time consuming and detailed and not possible to do in class for 25-30 students. The Academic Writing module that we conducted through the elearning platform proved fruitful if we are only to mention the confidence that our students have now in accessing it and responding to the task. Although we had, as John mentioned earlier, “to hold their hand with it”, we did not need to do this for long. Time proves, however, to be the greatest obstacle in the face of change, whether it is the lack of it for teachers with full teaching and administrative loads or the time needed for

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change to be accepted by teachers and students equally. For some of our students the time of change has already come: “Self-access learning is one the most important parts of a student’s academic career since a good student is not a product of force feeding but a self-made intellectual”.

Hopes for the future In spite of its challenges self-access e-learning is here to stay. The rapid evolution of communication technology might give further dimensions to this aspect of second language education. Self-access elearning has already become an educational quality standard that most educational institutions in the Gulf region are trying to achieve. We believe that the key to successful self-access learning that leads to access to one’s self is based on the learner’s individual attributes and interests. This learning method cannot become another trend that is applied and imposed everywhere, as it has to be fitted into the socio-cultural context and match learner needs and abilities. We believe that the TESOL field has become much more skeptical and diverse and that therefore new methods and technologies are under far more scrutiny than in the past. Whatever we decide to experiment with in our classrooms, we have to keep in mind our learners’ individuality and position in society. As educators, we have to ask ourselves “Is self-access e-learning the answer to my students’ needs? If so, how does it fit into the teaching and learning process? Will it help my students to exert their autonomy or will it increase their frustration with learning?” These are all questions that need to be explored by future research in this area. As for us, as teachers and researchers, we can safely say that this project has been a means of access to self by enabling us to become aware of our possibilities and our opportunities as well as of our obstacles. Hence this will enable us to positively engage our learners by overcoming the obstacles and taking them on the enlightening journey of self-discovery.

Acknowledgements We wish to thank the respondents without whom this paper would not have been possible.

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References Candy, P. (1991). Self-direction for Lifelong Learning. California: JosseyBass. Cook, V. (1993). Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition. London: MacMillan. Dam, L. 1990. Learner Autonomy in Practice. In Gathercole, I. (Eds.), CILT (p. 16).Great Britain: Bourne Press. Denscombe, M. (2007). Good Research Guide. Buckingam. Open University Press. Gardner, D., & Miller, L. (1999). Establishing Self-Access, from theory to practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hammerlsey, M. (2004). Case study. In S. Lewis-Beck, A. Bryman, & T. Futing-Liao, The Sage Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods, Vol. 1 (pp. 92-94). Thousand Oaks:CA: Sage. Huba, M., & Freed, J. (2000). Learner cantered assessment on college campuses. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Kanpol, B. (1998). Where was I? Or was I? In G. Shacklock, & J. Smyth, Being Reflexive in Critical Educational and Social Research (pp. 193204). London: Falmer Press. Little, D. (1991). Learner Autonomy. Definitions, issues and problems. Dublin: Authentik. Lu, D. (2010). A salutary lesson from a computer-based self-access language learning project. Computer Assistedl Language Learning, 4(23) 343-359,. O'Malley, J.M. & Chamot, A.V. (1990). Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. London: Macmillan. Sheerin, S. (1997). An Exploration of the Relationship between Selfaccess and Independent Learning. In P. &. Benson, Autonomy and Independence in Language Learning. London: Longman. Silverman, D. (2010). Doing Qualitative Research, 3rd ed. London: Sage. Skehan, P. (1998). A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning. Oxford: OUP. Wenden, A. (1998). Learner Strategies for Learner Autonomy. London: Prentice Hall.

CHAPTER FOUR INTEGRATING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) INTO EFL CLASSROOM PRACTICE AT MAJMA’AH UNIVERSITY1 EL-SADIG YAHYA EZZA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, MAJMA’AH UNIVERSITY, SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract This study was conducted to determine whether EFL faculty's gender and age could affect their ICT knowledge, skills and use in the classroom at Majma'ah University (MU). With that in mind, it intended to achieve the following: provide insight into ICT applications in the EFL classroom at MU; assess the digital competence of EFL faculty at MU; measure student-faculty cooperation in the EFL classroom; and promote digital culture among MU faculty at large. Alongside these objectives, and given the participants' gender and age, there were three questions that the study attempted to answer: x Are there significant differences in the participants' ICT knowledge and skills? x Are there significant differences in the participants' use of ICT in teaching? x Are there significant differences in the participants' integration of their students' ICT skills into classroom practice? Before searching for answers to these questions, the study predicted that, regardless of age and gender, EFL faculty at MU have a working knowledge of ICT and its skills; also that, regardless of age and gender, 1

This study was financed by Majma'ah University, Saudi Arabia.

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EFL faculty do indeed use ICT in the classroom and integrate students' ICT skills into classroom practice. A questionnaire was administered to MU’s EFL faculty in order to collect data that might verify these hypotheses. Variance analysis of the data (ANOVA) revealed that there were no significant gender and age differences in the participants' ICT knowledge, skills and use in the classroom, thus confirming the three hypotheses. Keywords: ICT, EFL faculty, E-learning, Wikipedia, Edugate, blended learning, digital natives, curriculum.

Introduction Across the humanities, ICT seems to be particularly used in language education. This can be seen from the number of associations founded globally to supervise and promote the use of instructional technology to teach language per se. These include the Asia-pacific Association for CALL (APACALL), the European Computer-Assisted Language Learning Association (EUROCALL), the American Computer-Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO), and the International Association of Language Learning Technology (IAALT). With the advent of the Internet, language education has been immensely facilitated, since learners can engage in real communication with native speakers in ways more authentic than those available in the artificial and simulated situations associated with traditional and CALL-supported classrooms. Bearing this in mind, the present study attempted to investigate the integration of ICT into EFL classroom practice at Majma’ah University. Particularly, it addressed this issue from the EFL teachers’ perspective. It focused on perceptions of their own ICT knowledge and skills and the extent to which they integrate their students' digital competence into classroom practice to facilitate learning. To repeat, there were four objectives the study sought to achieve: i. to provide insight into ICT applications in the EFL classroom at Majma’ah University; ii. to assess the digital competence of MU’s EFL faculty; iii. to measure faculty-student cooperation in the EFL classroom; and iv. to spread digital culture among MU’s EFL faculty at large. In line with these objectives, three questions were relevant: x Are there significant differences in the participants' ICT knowledge and skills? x Are there significant differences in the participants' use of ICT in teaching?

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x Are there significant differences in the participants' integration of their students’ ICT skills into classroom practice? Before trying to answer these questions, the study made the assumptions already listed above.

Conceptual Background The use of ICT in teaching and learning has become an established activity worldwide. Ezza et al (2011) mention that educational authorities have reacted to the proliferation of the Internet in academia in a variety of ways, including organization of conferences on e-learning, creation of academic departments and deanships to cater for e-learning within traditional tertiary institutions, and establishment of whole e-universities, among other things. At the same time, a new discourse has emerged indicating that the use of the Internet accommodates both traditional learning and e-learning, contrary to some hardline views that see them as adversaries (cf. Al-Awar, 2011). For instance, while such terms as webogogy and e-university suggest that e-learning is distinct from traditional learning, it is by no means the case that these forms of learning are mutually exclusive. For example, traditional learning employs terms like e-libraries, Wikipedia, wiktionary, etc. As for the Saudi context, most tertiary institutions use an online system termed edugate to post students’ and professors’ timetables, student lists, exam results and assessment of professors’ performance. Additionally, Alebaikan (2011) proposes a hybrid form of learning for Saudi universities that integrates both traditional learning and e-learning, which is technically known as blended learning (BL). She says that this is needed to address, inter alia, problems arising from having male professors on female campuses. Since the educational system strictly prohibits the physical presence of male professors on female campuses, blended learning is assumed to provide an alternative space for academic communication. Regardless of classroom learning modes, the relevant literature confirms that ICT significantly improves students’ performance and positively influences their attitudes toward the material being taught (Fairman, 2004; Ololube, 2006; Khirwadkar, 2007). A relevant question to ask in this context is what renders an ICT-based educational environment more conducive to learning than a traditional one. Different researchers answer this question in a variety of ways. First, unlike pure traditional learning, it is suggested that an ICT-based educational environment

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accommodates all types of learners, i.e. visual learners, auditory learners, kinaesthetic learners and read-write learners (Borden, 2011), since it presents the same educational material multi-modally by integrating sound, pictures, motion, etc. (Al-Jarf, 2005). Second, ICT is seen as enhancing student participation and communication by reducing the fear that occurs in traditional learning environments. Third, a conference report of the Directorate General of Education and Culture in Europe (DGEC) (2003) concludes that using ICT in EFL classrooms exposes learners to authentic language, enables them to communicate with the outside world and fosters their learning autonomy. So, learner-centered teaching, which was widely advocated in the 1970s and 1980s, has received further reinforcement by the integration of ICT into classroom practice. In fact, student familiarity with ICT enables them to access more course information than the textbooks prescribed by the teacher, suggesting that learning can take place without the teacher’s involvement or even in spite of it (Dowling, 2003; Al-Jarf, 2005, Ismail et al, 2010). The integration of ICT into classroom practice is argued to have farreaching consequences for the teacher’s role and curriculum structure. The teacher has traditionally been seen as “someone who dispenses knowledge, someone who lectures, tells, feeds, disseminates, covers the materials … The student sits passively when the teacher is on show” (Huntington University webpage, 2011, para.1). This view of the teacher’s role has been challenged by the facts reported above concerning the students' familiarity with digital technologies which enables them to access educational materials over which the teacher has no control. Thus, rather than being “omniscient”, the teacher has assumed such ICT-oriented roles as a facilitator, collaborator, learner, motivator, researcher, and participant (Harden & Crossby, 2000; Carballo-Calero, 2001; Magdelena 2002; DGEC 2003; Fairman, 2004). As to the effect of ICT on curriculum structure, Andrews (1999, p. 22) points out that there are opportunities to reshape and reconfigure the curriculum in such a way as to maximize learning potential and enable the current generation of learners "to find their multiple identity". According to Prensky (2009), these learners are no longer the people the (traditional) "educational system was designed to teach". Instead, he proposes a situation that integrates what he terms legacy content and future content, viz. traditional syllabus and digital technology, so that digital natives can have their educational needs satisfied. Traditional tertiary institutions worldwide are adding e-content to support their regular academic transactions both pedagogically and administratively. However, the

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textbook remains the backbone of pedagogy that can be supported with relevant courseware. It was emphasized above that this study sought to investigate the effect of gender and age on EFL faculty's ICT knowledge, skills and use in the classroom. In that connection, it is appropriate to briefly review the ICT literature pertaining to these two variables. To begin with, the literature contends that ICT is a masculine preserve that either excludes or limits women's access to it. This argument receives reinforcement from at least two practices taking place in some developing countries. First, in rural areas in Africa and Asia, Internet service centres are located in places that women might not be able to visit. In other words, these centres could either be far from where women live or are open only at times when women are busy with domestic work. Second, in some Pacific countries "traditional and cultural attitudes discriminate against women having access to education and technology" and thus "girls are encouraged to take any job or get married rather than seek higher education" (Hafkin, 2002, p. 5). Apparently, then, women belong to the technologically disadvantaged sector of the community. Hence, there are some fourteen supporting agencies worldwide that have been set up to empower them in ICT (Gurumurthy, 2004, p.12-14). The manifesto of these agencies includes, inter alia, integrating gender perspectives into ICT policies, raising awareness about the importance of ICT plans for gender equality, combating Internet-based violence against women, and promoting women’s role in the ICT economy. This women-empowerment discourse did not fall on deaf ears, for the auto industry (e.g. Ford and Volvo) is now reported to have balanced its workforce by placing a number of women engineers in a design team to produce cars that reflect feminine taste (Baker and Aspray, 2006, p. 14). Parallel with the gender-related discourse describing women’s ICT status, relevant research findings confirm boys' domination "on the frequency of use of computers, low computer anxiety, and more positive computer-related self-efficacy than girls" (Tomte & Hatlevik, 2011, p. 1418). Research findings also suggest that "girls tend to have less positive beliefs about the value of ICT…" (Vekiri, 2010, p.17). Male-domination of ICT is a fact even in the developed world. Silverman and Pritchard (1996), as quoted in Baker and Aspray (2006, p.18-19), report that Houston high school female students were reluctant to enrol in a (computing) class dominated by boys; and that even those who chose to do so felt that they were intended to prove that girls could do subjects stereotyped as a masculine preserve.

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Compared to the ICT literature pertaining to gender, age seems to stimulate more heated debate, as a result of a leading article written by Prensky (2001) that dichotomizes people on the basis of their familiarity with digital technologies. In other words, people are assumed to be either "digital natives" or "digital immigrants". According to Prensky the "digital natives … are all native speakers of the digital language of computers, videogames and the Internet" (p. 1), while the "digital immigrants" are those who might adapt to the new digital environment which they have encountered later in life. However, they also tend to use their pre-digital language (p. 2). Prensky believes that there are acute educational problems around immigrants' use of pre-digital language in teaching students who now speak a digital language. One such problem, Prensky argues, lies in the fact that "digital immigrants don't believe their students can learn successfully while watching TV or listening to music …" (p. 3). This argument seems to be at odds with Prensky's own view that "digital immigrants" can adapt to the new digital technologies. It is also proposed that the natives/immigrants perspective does not allow "for human initiative, since if one is not a native, one cannot change and become native" (Cantoni, 2011). What is more, subsequent research findings did not support Prensky's rigid paradigm of generational division because no significant age-related differences have so far been reported (Guo et al. 2008; Tufts, 2010; Pegler et al., 2010). Therefore, a visitor/resident perspective has been proposed, suggesting that a visitor can assume a permanent residence in the digital world (Tall, 2009, as cited in Cantoni, 2011). These realities seem to have persuaded Prensky to reconsider his classification of people on the basis of their digital literacy. In a later publication (2009, para. 1), he states that "the distinction between digital natives and digital immigrants will become less relevant" because "many digital immigrants exhibit digital wisdom". The growth of ICT in education has not happened without criticism. For instance, Goodson and Mangan (1996, p. 65) contend that the concept of computer literacy is fraught with competing definitions (e.g. computer knowledge and skills, computer as communication medium, etc) that render it meaningless. Such definitions, they assume, "lack clarity of purpose" since they justify the pedagogy-related computer literacy with arguments that are essentially vocational in nature viz. they are based on the assumption that computers will be pervasive in the workplace of the future or that they will soon be everywhere". Also, Papert (1987, as cited in Newhouse, 2002, p. 5), warns against techno-centric thinking in discussing the use of computers in education for fear of focusing on

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technology at the expense of "learning theory and learning environments where technology is only a mediator in the learning process, and only one of many". Moreover, Unwin (2007, p. 30) argues that integrating ICT into classroom practice triggers a debate between technology and pedagogy owing to the fact that "most software used is designed for commercial rather than educational use". Likewise, Hismanoglu (2011, p. 37) emphasizes that traditionally ICT has been kept out of the prescribed syllabus, with the result that "[o]ff-the-shelf commercially produced software packages are provided for limited language skills or components like only for listening or pronunciation …" However, these objections can be refuted on a number of grounds. First, Goodson and Mangan (1996) wrote at an earlier stage of the Internet development known technically as Web 1.0 because it was basically used for communication. The subsequently huge development of the Internet into Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 made it possible not only to post courses online but also to establish educational institutions that are wholly virtual. Apparently, then, there is nothing wrong with multiple definitions of computer literacy since this qualifies users to employ it in communication, education and a future workplace where it might have become a requirement. Second, while it is true that millions of pages have been written for commercial purposes, many educational institutions produce their own materials through specialized e-learning deanships, centres and departments. This fact resolves the technology-pedagogy debate raised by Unwin (2007). In fact, the emerging web-based educational discourse informs us that this new form of learning has its own webogogy (also known as techno-pedagogy, i.e. the science of using technology in teaching and learning).

Method Instrument A questionnaire was designed to collect data for this study. It included 36 Likert-type questions, ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree". It addressed the participants' ICT knowledge and skills, their use of ICT in teaching and their integration of students' ICT skills into classroom practice. The face and content validity of the questionnaire were verified by ten experienced ICT-literate faculty at MU. Instrument reliability was calculated using Cronbach's Alpha and it resulted in a coefficient of 0.932, indicating high reliability.

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Participants The study participants were EFL faculty teaching at the five campuses of MU. The questionnaire was sent to all of them (47 in total), but only 30 responses were received. Although the participants formed a single group, there were two intra-group categories corresponding to their gender and age that were needed to decide if these factors affected their ICT knowledge, skills and use in the classroom. As detailed in table (2) below, 19 male and 11 female participants responded to the questionnaire. On the other hand, table (3) shows that 21 participants were over the age of 33 while 9 were below it.

Procedure In addition to the main campus at Majma'ah City, MU has four other campuses - at Zulfi Town (70 kms away), Ghat Town (45 kms), Hotat Sudair Town (50 kms) and Rumah Town (270 kms). Owing to geographical distance, it took about two weeks of multiple trips to distribute and collect the completed questionnaires. The researcher’s covering letter included his phone number and email so that participants could make further enquiries about the content of the questionnaire. However, rather than calling or emailing enquiries, a number of participants added additional remarks to reinforce their answers.

Results Comparison according to gender ANOVA (analysis of variance) was used to analyse the research data pertaining to the effect of participants' gender on the dependent variables addressed in the three hypotheses, namely ICT knowledge and skills, the use of ICT in teaching, and the integration of the students' ICT skills into classroom practice. With the significance level set at .005, it becomes clear that there were no significant gender differences among MU’s EFL faculty with respect to these variables, as detailed in table (2) below, thus confirming the gender-related aspect of the three hypotheses.

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Table (1): Comparison of EFL faculty's ICT knowledge and use according to gender ANOVA Themes

Gender No

Faculty ICT Male 19 Knowledge and Skills Female 11 Total Faculty use of Male ICT in the EFL Female Classroom Total Integrating Male Students' ICT Skills into Female EFL Classroom Total Practice Sig. level is at .005

30 19 11 30 19 11 30

Between Groups Within Groups Total Between Groups Within Groups Total Between Groups Within Groups Total

Sum of Squares

Df

Mean Square

F

Sig.

.533

1

.533

.899

.352

15.425

26

.593

15.959

27

.055

1

.055

.073

.789

26

.751 .117

.735

19.569

27

.102

1

.102

22.666

26

.872

22.768

27

Comparison according to age Once again, ANOVA was used to analyse the effect of participants' age on the dependent variables across the three hypotheses, resulting in statistical values greater than the significance level set, i.e. .005, as detailed in table (3). In other words, statistical analysis resulted in significant levels of .841, .963 and .909, corresponding to the participants' ICT knowledge and skills, use of ICT in teaching, and incorporation of students’ ICT skills into classroom practice, thus confirming the agerelated aspect of the three hypotheses. Fixing participants' age as being either under or over 33 was intended to provide grounds for comparison in the light of the generational divide proposed by Prensky (2001). In that connection, the first age group (i.e. less than 33) included all EFL faculty born after 1981, while the second age group was reserved for EFL faculty born before 1981. In proper technical terms, comparison was drawn between "digital natives" and "digital immigrants" consecutively.

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Table (2): Comparison of EFL faculty's ICT knowledge and use according to age ANOVA Themes

Age

Faculty Less than ICT 33 Knowledge More than and Skills 33 Total Faculty use Less than of ICT in 33 the EFL More than Classroom 33 Total Integrating Less than Students' 33 ICT Skills More than into EICT 33 Skills into Total EFL Classroom Sig. level is at .005

Sum of Squares Df

No 9

Between Groups 21 Within Groups

Mean Square

F

Sig.

.174

.841

.038

.963

.096

.909

.219

2

.110

15.739

25

.630

Total 15.959 Between .059 Groups 21 Within Groups 19.510

27

30 9

27

30 9

Total 19.569 Between .174 Groups 21 Within Groups 22.595 30

Total

22.768

2

.029

25

.780

2

.087

25

.904

27

Discussion It was shown in (2) above that both ICT discourse and research findings suggested that ICT is a masculine preserve and thus a number of world supporting agencies have been created to empower women in it. It was also reported that to date there has been no conclusive evidence to support Prensky's generational divide between "digital natives" and "digital immigrants". Results from the current study deviated from the universal ICT gender perspective but paralleled mainstream research findings regarding the ICT-related generational divide. There are at least two reasons to account for this state of affairs at MU. First, a series of ICT training programs was offered to upgrade ICT literacy among MU faculty so that they could operate such instructional technology as smart boards and navigate the Saudi Digital Library and other online resources for relevant research literature and teaching materials. Thus, ICT has become part and parcel of everyday life for all MU faculty since it is now effectively employed in research, teaching and official academic and administrative communication. Second, the Rector's Office urged all

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faculty to activate their webpages on MU’s electronic gate as a necessary condition to cash an academic allowance and to have annual contracts renewed for expatriates. In neither cases have faculty been targeted on the basis of their gender or age, despite the rigid separation of people into male/female sub-communities (i.e. the Saudi social system does not permit the physical presence of male/female faculty/students in the same facility at the same time). Acquiring ICT skills and employing them in teaching reflects EFL faculty's awareness of their usefulness, as reported in some detail in (2) above. This interpretation has its roots in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed "to address why users accept or reject information technology" (Davis, 1993, p. 477). TAM rests on two criteria that determine users' acceptance of technology: "perceived usefulness" and "perceived ease of use". Apparently, both criteria are relevant to the MU situation, in violation of the universal ICT gender perspective and Prensky's (2001) principle of generational divide. Now, since the interpretation of the findings centres on the statistical examination of the study hypotheses, further discussion will be organized around three sub-themes that correspond to the hypotheses: ICT knowledge and skills, use of ICT in teaching, and integration of the students' ICT skills into classroom practice.

ICT knowledge and Skills The questionnaire section responsible for the verification of this hypothesis consisted of fifteen questions, focusing on management of computer files, preparation of presentations using PowerPoint, operation of smart boards, browsing the Internet, establishment of computer networks, and use of online resources. Findings showed no significant gender and age differences pertaining to these areas of computer skills among EFL faculty at MU, contrary to the universal gender ICT perspective reported above. There are a number of factors that could be held responsible for this deviation. Recently, Saudi academia has witnessed a remarkable technological revolution that has culminated in the foundation of an e-university. While mainstream tertiary education is still traditional, e-learning is forcefully lending itself to a variety of academic transactions taking place. For instance, most tertiary institutions employ an online system known technically as edugate, which is the only channel of academic communication pertaining to teaching timetables, course enrolments, exam results, students' attendance record, etc. Also, these same institutions have established deanships for electronic learning

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responsible for the online content of their academic programs. Moreover, EFL programs at MU have been provided with language labs, smart classes and laptops to employ in teaching. Thus, needless to say, all faculty, regardless of gender and age, are required to have minimum ICT competence to function properly in this hybrid educational environment.

The Use of ICT in the Classroom In principle, the term classroom is used in a wide sense to include activities taking place outside the (traditional) physical domain where a teacher and students meet for a lesson. In this sense, it covers the time spent on web resources, educational blogs, online forums, wikis, Saudi Digital Library, etc as supportive tools that enhance teaching and learning. The need for these tools emanates from the educational innovation that they bring into the traditional classroom. A number of researchers were reported in (2) above, as advocating the use of ICT as an innovative educational medium that accommodates all types of learners, e.g. oral, visual, auditory, etc. While there is no evidence to support Prensky's (2001) generational divide of digital natives/immigrants, the theoretical and empirical research reported in (2) above is of the view that the use of ICT in the classroom is highly advantageous to the new generation of learners. Once again, since all faculty are required to integrate ICT into their teaching and research, it is natural that female professors report the same degree of application as their male counterparts.

Integration of Students' ICT Skills into Classroom Practice Eleven questions were devoted to the examination of this hypothesis. They included asking for students' help in dealing with ICT, asking them to go blogging to enrich classroom activities, accepting online resources suggested by students, and modifying teaching strategies in the light of students' online feedback, etc. Data elicited from participants' answers confirmed that EFL faculty, regardless of gender and age, integrate their students' ICT skills into classroom practice, which is a corollary of their tendency to use ICT in teaching as detailed in (ii) above. This conclusion receives strong support from recent research findings at MU, showing that EFL faculty were rethinking their classroom role as a result of the proliferation of ICT in that most would accept being co-learners with their own students. According to Fairman (2004: p. iii), in such an educational environment, there exists:

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This interpretation is particularly relevant in the Saudi context where tertiary institutions hire foreign faculty who, in some cases, have acute social and cultural differences from their students. So, since such differences can cause misunderstanding both inside and outside the classroom, ICT-generated transparency can help create more cooperation between students and teacher.

Conclusion and Implications Generally speaking, the innovative nature of technology justifies its integration into the curriculum in order to accommodate all types of learners, e.g. visual learners, auditory learners, kinaesthetic learners and read-write learners. Also, Prensky (2001) contends that it is imperative to use digital technology in education to serve a generation of learners who speak the digital language of computers and video-games. In the light of these developments, and given the huge proliferation of digital technology in Saudi academia, this study attempted to measure the effect of EFL faculty's gender and age on their ICT knowledge, skills and use in the MU classroom. It also investigated EFL faculty's employment of students' ICT literacy for the same educational purpose. The findings showed that there were no significant differences in participants' ICT knowledge, skills, and use, largely because of the systematic ICT literacy campaign that targeted, and is still targeting, all MU faculty, regardless of gender and age. The findings also revealed that EFL faculty integrate their students' ICT skills into classroom practice. The results of this study can have three implications for EFL teaching modes at MU and ultimately for the Saudi EFL classroom at large. First, a decade ago, King Saud University organized a workshop to involve the Saudi academic community in the application of technology to education. Most of the audience voiced a fear that they might be made redundant by the emerging instructional technology. Fortunately, Saudi’s tertiary institutions then established specialized e-learning deanships and departments to train faculty to integrate technology into a variety of academic and administrative procedures. As a result, the findings of the present study not only show that the participants were digitally literate but also reflected their awareness of the many educational opportunities that

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ICT could bring into the classroom. Also, integrating students' digital literacy into classroom activities is an indication of EFL faculty's tendency to create learning communities where they can learn with and from their own students. Indeed, teachers are no longer "dispensers of knowledge" since their students' digital literacy empowers them to access educational resources richer than those their teachers usually prescribe. Then, contrary to the view that ICT is a masculine preserve, as reported in (2) above, this study demonstrated that female teachers at MU were on the same footing as their male counterparts regarding ICT knowledge, skills and use. This finding has far-reaching implications for the role of female teachers in Saudi Arabia. Their digital competence, in other words, could enable them to teach both male and female classes – a situation that is not allowed in Saudi traditional classrooms where they can only teach female students (cf. Alebaikan, 2011).

References Alebaikan, R. (2011, February). A Blended Learning Framework for Saudi Higher Education. A paper presented at the Second International Conference on e-learning and Distance Learning, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Al-Jarf, R. (2005). Use of Technology in No-Tech Classrooms. A paper presented at the International Conference on English Language Studies 3 (ICELS 3). Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Baker, L.J. and W. Aspray (2006). The State of Research on Girls and IT. In J.M. Cohoon and W. Aspray (eds.): Women and Information Technology: Research on Underrepresentation. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 3-54 Borden, J. D. (2011). Leveraging Internet Resources to Improve Teaching and Learning. A Workshop presented at the Second International Conference on e-learning and Distance Learning, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Cantoni, L. (2011). The So-called Generation Y, Learning and Digital Technologies: What's Real and What's Just Hype in a Fortunate Label? A paper presented at the Second International Conference on elearning and Distance Learning, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Carballo-Calero, V. (2001). The EFL Teacher and the Introduction of Multimedia. Computer-Assisted Language Learning, 14(1), 3-14. Davis, F. D. (1993). User Acceptance of Information Technology: System Characteristics, User Perceptions and Behavioral Impact. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 38, 475-487.

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Directorate General of Education and Culture (2003). The Impact of Information and Communications Technologies and Internet on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and on the Role of Teachers of Foreign Languages. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/languages/documents/doc_495.en.pdf Dowling, C. (2003, January ). The Role of the Teacher in Learning Environments of the Future. A paper presented at the 3.3 Working Conference on ICT and the Teacher of the Future, University of Melbourne. Retrieved October 7, 2012 from http://crpit.com/confpapers/CRPITV23Dowling.pdf Ezza, S. Y., G. El-Booni and M.Yusuf (2013). Integration of the Internet into the EFL Classroom at the University of Khartoum. The Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2(2), 245-256. Ezza, S. Y (2012).The EFL Teacher's Role in ICT-oriented Classrooms at Majma'ah University. A paper presented at the Saudi English Language Teaching Symposium, Imam University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Fairman, J. (2004). Trading Roles: Teachers and Students Learn with Technology. (Research Report No.3). Main Education Policy Research Institute. The University of Maine Office. Retrieved from http://libraries.maine.edu/cre/MEPRIP/MLTIResearchReport3.pdf Goodwyn, A. (1999). A Bringer of New Things: An English Teacher in the Computer Age. In A. Goodwyn (ed.), English in the Digital Age: Information and Communication Technology and the Teaching of English, 1-11. London: Continuum International Publishing. Goodson, I. F. M. L. and Mangan (1996). Computer Literacy as Ideology. The British Journal of the Sociology of Education 17(1), 65-79. Guo, R., T. Dobson, T. and S. Petrina (2008). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: An Analysis of Age and ICT Competency in Teacher Education. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 38 (3),235254. Gurumurthy, A. (2004). Gender and ICTs: Overview Report. Retrieved May 12, 2011 from http://bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports/cep-icts-or.pdf Harden, R. and J. Crossby (2000). The Good Teacher is more than a Lecturer: The Twelve Roles of the Teacher. Medical Education Guide, 22(4), 334-347. Hismanoglu, M. (2011). The Integration of Communication Technology into Current ELT Coursebooks: a Critical Analysis. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 37-45. Ismail, S. A., A. G. Al-Mekhlafi and M. H. Al-Mekhlafy (2010). Teacher's Perceptions of the Use of Technology in Teaching Languages in the

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United Arab Emirates Schools. Internationa Journal for Research in Education, 27, 37-56. Keblowska, M. (2002). The Role of the Foreign Language Teacher in the Classroom: The Teachers' Beliefs and Role Behaviour versus the Students' Expectations. Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, 37, 318-327. Khirwadkar, A. (2007). Integration of ICT into Education. Pedagogical Issues. Retrieved May 12, 2010 from http://journal.au.edu_journal/jan2007/article06_volno1.pdf. Newhouse, P. (2002). The Impact of ICT on Learning and Teaching: Literature Review. Perth: Specialist Educational Services. Ololube, N. P. (2006). The Impact of Professional and Non-professional Teachers' ICT competencies on Secondary Schools in Nigeria. Journal of Information Technology Impact, 6(20, 101-118. Pegler, K., J. Kollewyn, and S. Crichton (2010). Generational Attitudes and Teacher ICT Use. Journal Of Technology And Teacher Education, 18(3), 443-458. Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On theHorizon, 9(5), 1-6. —. (2009). H. Sapiens Digital: From Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom. Retrieved March 12, 2012 from http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id705 Teachers' Role (n.d.). Writing Lessons Plans. Retrieved July 11, 2011 from http://huntington.edu/education/lessonplanning.roles.html. Toledo, C.A. (2007). Digital Culture: Digital Immigrants and Tourists Responding to the Natives' Drumbeat. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 19, 84-92. Tomte, C. and E.Hatlevik (2011). Gender Differences in Self-efficacy in ICT Related to Various ICT-user Profiles in Finland and Norway: How Do Self-efficacy, Gender and ICT-user Profiles Relate to Findings from Pisa 2006? Computers and Education, 57, 1416-1424. Tufts, D. (2010, January 1). Digital Adults: Beyond the Myth of the Digital Native Generation Gap. ProQuest LL. Unwin, A. (2007). The Professionalism of Higher Education Teachers: What's ICT got to do with it? Teaching in Higher Education, 12 (3), 295-308. Vekiri, L. (2010). Boys’ and Girls’ ICT Beliefs: Do Teachers Matter? Computers and Education, 55, 16-23.

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Appendix Majma’ah University Community College Department of Administrative Sciences and Humanities English Section

Dear Faculty member, Majma’ah University Attached please find a questionnaire which has been designed to collect data for a study entitled “Integrating ICT in the EFL Classroom at Majma’ah University”. You are kindly requested to answer the questions in a way that appropriately reflects your academic applications of ICT. Sincerely Submitted; El-Sadig Ezza Assistant Professor Community College [email protected] NB ICT: Information and Communication technology EFL Faculty ICT Survey 1.

Demographic Factors: i. Gender: Male:  Female:  ii. Age: Less than 33:  More than 33: 

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No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

3.

81

Faculty ICT Knowledge and Skills Indicate with a tick ( 3 ) the response that is most appropriate for your ICT knowledge and skills, where: 1= Excellent 2= Good 3= Average 4= Poor 5= Illiterate ICT Knowledge and Skills Managing computer files Preparing presentations using power point Operating language labs Operating smart boards Using information resources Browsing the Internet Attaching files to emails Participating in electronic conferencing Managing excel files Detecting and connecting wireless printers to computers Establishing computer networks Establishing and editing educational blogs Troubleshooting a variety of technical problems Transferring files between cell-phones and computers Operating scanners

1

2

3

4

5

Faculty Use of ICT in the EFL Classroom Indicate with a tick ( 3 ) the response that is most appropriate for your use of ICT in the classroom, where: 1= All the time 2=Most of the time 3=Sometime 4=Rarely 5=Never No Uses of ICT in the EFL Classroom 1 2 3 4 5 1 PowerPoint 2 Smart boards 3 Laptops 4 Web resources 5 Educational blogs 6 Online educational groups 7 Electronic conferencing 23 Jusur System 8 Wikis (online encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc) 9 Saudi Digital Library 10 E-communication for most academic purposes

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4.

Integrating students’ ICT skills into EFL classroom Indicate with a tick ( 3 ) the response that is most appropriate for accommodating your students’ ICT skills in the EFL classroom activities, where: 1= All the time 2=Most of the time 3= Sometime 4=Rarely 5= Never No Students’ ICT Skills 1 2 3 4 5 1 Seeking students’ help in dealing with ICT 2 Asking the digitally competent students to do some teaching tasks 3 Asking students to go blogging to enrich classroom activities 4 Encouraging students to establish discussion groups to enrich classroom activities 5 Accepting online resources suggested by the students 6 Asking the students to propose online resources to enrich classroom activities 7 Regularly visiting the students’ online (academic) forums for feedback on teaching 8 Participating in the students’ online discussion forums 9 Modifying teaching strategies in the light of students’ online feedback 10 Reconsidering ones’ role in the classroom as a result of ICT literacy among the students 11 Accepting online submission of assignments

5. Additional remarks ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

CHAPTER FIVE CRITICAL APPROACH TO INTEGRATING ICT INTO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING SAMIRA BOUKADI ABU DHABI’S CERT/HIGHER COLLEGES OF TECHNOLOGY, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Abstract Because the overall aim was to investigate the attitudes of teachers in a tertiary level institution in the UAE towards the classroom use of information and communication technology (ICT), an exploratory qualitative study based on teachers’ experiences and perceptions was planned. This paper discusses teachers’ views on the use of ICT in the classroom in order to foster learning and improve students’ English proficiency. The findings come from research that employed an ideology critique approach, in which qualitative data was gathered through interviews with a view to clarifying both facets of the use of ICT in the classroom. Results revealed that teachers believe that the use of ICT in language learning could enhance the learning process and they support the integration of technology into classroom instruction. However, they think they should be given more training in order to make good use of these tools and suggest that they should be consulted before the suggested integration takes place. The study represented an opportunity for them to voice their concerns and reflect on their daily practices. In light of the results, the researcher proposes a number of pedagogical recommendations. Key words: Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Second language learning, Critical pedagogy, Teachers’ voice

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Introduction The computer and the Internet are increasingly making their way into teaching and learning practices. Also, there is growing interest across the Gulf region in the use of computers to support learning in educational institutions. However, there are controversial views among teachers about their effectiveness (Ancker, 2002; Moss & Southwood, 2006; Ward & Mulholland, 2006, Becta, 2003, Yunus, 2007) This research aims to explain why integrating ICT (information communication technology) into second language learning sometimes obstructs, rather than fosters, learning in our college. The present chapter discusses teachers’ perceptions on the use of ICT and findings which come from research that employed an ideology critique approach, in which qualitative data was gathered through interviews.

Pedagogical Implications Through my investigation I intended to inform my readers and provide at least one comprehensive account of integrating technology into language learning. My research sought to address the following aims: 1) To explore the experiences of TEFL teachers with ICT. 2) To gain awareness of the current situation of integrating ICT into TEFL. 3) To provide teachers with the opportunity to voice their views on how TEFL in their context can be improved. 4) To create an awareness of the above matters among teachers, the local community, and policy makers in order to consider the implications of this study for improving TEFL’s situation in the UAE. The results of the study are significant and should help the reader to understand better the local situation from the perspective of insiders TEFL teachers - by gaining insight into their experiences. I also expect my study to draw attention to the significant amount of untapped expertise within the research context that has received little in-depth analysis to date and dissemination among teachers.

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Description of the Study Context The study took place in a tertiary institution in the UAE. The college was well equipped with the latest technologies and both teachers and students were strongly encouraged to learn and use the latest technology. The college’s internal policy explicitly states that ICT should be used by students in class - students use their own laptops - and teachers are encouraged to make use of all available technology. However, a few English instructors did not favour this learning model. They claimed that ICT, and especially computers in class, impede rather than promote learning. This claim needed to be investigated and hence an exploratory qualitative study based on teachers’ experiences and perceptions was planned so as to better understand teacher attitudes in the college.

Literature Review and Theoretical Framework: Nowadays, teachers across different disciplines recognize the potential of technology for motivating students, stimulating the learning process and improving student performance. Research has indicated that learners are more motivated when using the computer than when using pen and paper. Nevertheless, the teachers’ role is crucial in planning activities involving the vast information available on the Internet (Ancker, 2002; Moss & Southwood, 2006; Ward & Mulholland, 2006). Becta (2003), among others, pointed out that information communication technology - ICT provides fast and accurate feedback to students, which helps them to focus better on strategies and outcomes. On the other hand, some professionals disagree with this view. Barak (2006), for instance, highlighted teachers’ strong beliefs that ICT is not preferable for class-based instruction because it does not promote cooperation and reflection in learning. Yunus, (2007) suggests that computer-assisted language learning (CALL) could be successful in helping students develop their second language skills, mentioning, however, that many factors should be considered, such as students’ computer literacy skills and teachers’ readiness to use the technology, as mentioned above and also discussed in Moss and Southwood (2006).

Students’ Computer Literacy Skills There are opposing positions on the integration of ICT, and especially computers, into language learning. Some teachers favour the use of ICT

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with its capacities to foster language learning, while others believe that using ICT in class does not always meet student needs and might be distractive, thus obstructing rather than promoting learning. Although students nowadays are “digital natives”, a term coined by Prensky (2001), and can cope with imported technology outside the classroom, they still struggle to understand fully the software – i.e. programs and websites which might be suitable for learners from different social and educational backgrounds. Moreover, various studies in the Emirates suggest that students’ literacy practices, lack of cultural schemata, outdated methodology, and lack of motivation are likely causes for poor literacy skills among local students (Al Tenaiji, 2001). Students, it seems, need to acquire new skills and learning strategies in order to cope with developing educational opportunities.

Availability of adequate computer technology Despite the availability of educational technology and a growing trend to employ computers and the Internet in class, some researchers still see this imported technology as being imposed on society and warning that it could conflict with local needs because it was created in different social contexts and for different cultural backgrounds. Canagarajah (1999), for example, says that importing materials from technologically advanced countries and using their methods enshrine postcolonial values and might lead to unacceptable influence. The best solution would be to use locally produced materials instead. Canagarajah urges teachers “to adopt creative and critical instructional practices in order to develop pedagogies suitable for their communities” (Canagarajah, 1999, p. 122). As a teacher, I personally believe that pedagogies and materials alike should emanate from current experience and reinforce local needs. This agrees with the view of Kumaravadivelu (2006), who thinks that all pedagogy, like all politics, is local, and that to ignore local exigencies is to ignore lived experience. However, it is noteworthy that with the rise of globalization, societies and cultures have become integrated through a global network of communication. Hence, it is impossible to draw sharp lines between local and global needs. Additionally, it is undeniable that imported computer technology is essential if students are to be prepared to face the borderless world we now live in. I think a further point to consider is that the production of materials is a business, and marketing educational products is tightly related to supply and demand. Therefore, in the absence of quality local technology, any society is bound to use and promote imported materials.

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Teachers’ familiarity with and readiness to use the technology Research on technology use shows the different ways teachers employ technology in the classroom (Becker, 1994), where pedagogic styles range from instruction to construction. By instruction I mean that some instructors conduct teacher-centered classes and integrate technology as a complement to this, so that technology becomes mainly a tool for drill and practice. By contrast, in construction models, learning is student-centered and teachers use ICT as a tool to activate learning and create contexts in which students construct knowledge. Moreover, teachers may also rely on computer programs with activities that lack the interaction on which the language development process is based and thus impede the establishment of authentic communication (Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2003). Hence, CALL activities with instructor assistance and computer-friendly techniques have been successful in helping students to improve their linguistic skills in general and writing skills in particular (Chen & Cheng, 2006; Hart & Hicks, 2002; Loannou-Georgiou, 2006; Warschauer, 2000). However, for this to happen, teachers must be proficient and well trained so as to give such learning opportunities to their students – and this is not always the case. Instructor readiness to teach through technology has always been questioned. If we are to accept the view of Gregoire et al. (1996, cited in John & Sutherland, 2004), the benefit to students of using new technologies greatly depends on the technological skill of their teachers and their teachers’ attitude to using technology in their work. Thus, students will only benefit from ICT in language learning if their teachers are technologically inclined. For this to be the case, teachers should be supported, trained, and given enough time and opportunity to keep up with rapid change in the world of technology. However, as Newhouse (2002) points out, teachers are rarely given either time or encouragement to reflect on their beliefs about learning or consider implementing new learning programmes. According to John and Sutherland (2004), it is important that teachers “engage directly in the process of learning” being offered to students. This helps teachers to “get on the inside of the innovation as well as increasing their confidence, competence, experience and understanding of the technology and its pedagogical implications” (John & Sutherland, 2004, p.103). Teacher training and an environment that promotes reflection on teaching practice are vital to support beneficial the pedagogical integration of ICT into ELT. In spite of the controversies detailed above, I believe the issues under discussion are mainly connected to the pedagogical philosophies that teachers adopt. Pedagogies are aligned to critical beliefs and share a common intent to challenge existing power relations that impact on

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education in general and on second language education in particular. Indeed, critical pedagogy considers how education can provide individuals with the tools to improve current practice and strengthen democracy, through sharing powers and giving voices to agents of change i.e. teachers. This is in line with Giroux (1994), who believes that critical pedagogy signals how questions of audience, voice, power, and evaluation actively work to construct particular relations between teachers and students, institutions and society, and classrooms and communities. He also adds that pedagogy, in the critical sense, illuminates the relationship among knowledge, authority, and power (Giroux, 1994). This notion echoes Frere’s (1970) idea that seeks to empower the powerless and considers the teachers’ "vocation" to be that of social agents in the world. Hence, a major function of critical pedagogy is to critique, expose, and challenge the manner in which educational institutions influence the political and cultural life of students. This view extends to literacy in general, as Comber and Simpson explicitly state: “Critical literacy is concerned with relations of power and thus with the manner in which power circulates both in the real world and within particular texts” (2001, p.210). Unlike traditional perspectives on education that claim to be neutral and apolitical, critical pedagogy views all education theory as intimately linked to ideologies shaped by power, politics, history and culture (Darder, 1991). Hence, I believe teachers should be urged to recognize how educational institutions unite knowledge and power in order to understand the big picture and contribute successfully to the learning process. It is also worth mentioning that instructional orientations are tightly connected to teachers’ perceptions and philosophies about imposition, power structure and voice in the implementation of adequate strategies that promote the use of ICT tools in class. This aligns with the orientation of critical pedagogy in dealing with social assumptions. Teachers are responsible social agents and their crucial role is to voice their concerns about current practice, to give feedback for future action, and to implement change when needed - all of which is fundamental to the learning process. Pennycook (1999; 2001) agrees, stating that critical pedagogy is transformative, challenges the status quo, problematizes “givens”, and seeks social change. It is also locally situated and socially mediated. Similarly, Kumaravadivelu (2003) suggests that “any language pedagogy, to be relevant, must be sensitive to a particular group of teachers teaching a particular group of learners pursuing a particular set of goals within a particular institutional context embedded in a particular sociocultural milieu” (Kumaravadivelu, 2003, p. 34).

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In order to understand better teachers’ views and beliefs about the integration of ICT into classroom work, and to discover reasons behind the common perception that ICT sometimes impedes rather than promotes learning, I interviewed three highly experienced colleagues - one female and two males - about their experience in and opinions on using ICT in a college of tertiary education within the UAE.

Methodology From the beginning, I was aware that every participant in the study would respond from personal experience and represent a unique reality, which would make the data rich and varied. I prepared a few questions (see appendix) to stimulate conversation with the informants and discover themes of interest with a view to shedding light on the area of investigation. This was in line with the view of Richards (2003), who believes that different realities exist and that these differing - often competing - realities will be assigned different values and this is despite the fact that they are often taken for granted and seen as independent of the factors that give them shape. From the epistemological perspective of critical theory, knowledge is socially constructed. It should emanate from a social context and this might be made possible through the following process: first to interview people in the field, second to construct knowledge, and finally to build a theory based on the interviewees’ experiences. Therefore, learning is the process of understanding how to participate in the discourse and practices of a particular community (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Vygotsky, 1978). I also tried to go beyond a simple understanding of that knowledge and uncover hidden and tacit powers at work and then determine who benefits or suffers as a result. This is in line with an important assumption in critical methodology, namely that education is never neutral - it is a political act. Accordingly, the aim of critical methodology is change – to empower the disempowered, to equalize inequalities, and to promote individual freedoms within a democratic society (Cohen, Manion & Morisson, 2007). Therefore, I planned and carried out an exploratory qualitative study based on teachers' experiences and perceptions in order to better understand teachers’ attitudes towards ICT. The research involved the collection and analysis of narrative data, which reported lived experiences of the teachers being investigated. I used the interpretivist paradigm’s research strategies and employed inductive approaches to develop a theory from the evidence base, bearing in mind a critical agenda, or what Dash (2005) calls “critical hope”, to facilitate societal change. This I aimed to address in the process.

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One possible approach for this study was to use the ideology critique method which, according to Pring (2000) and Richards (2003), might include field notes, journals, interviews, photographs, recordings, videotapes, personal or official documents, and memos. I chose to conduct an ideology critique based on interviews. By ideology I mean a theory, or set of beliefs or principles, on which a system is based, and for the current investigation this is the UAE’s educational system. Friesen (2008, para. 12) says “an ideology critique is about asking questions of things that are otherwise considered too self-evident to be put into question.... This critical methodology operates by "measuring" consensual truths against actual social conditions." The ideology critique asks "Why is it being made as it is?" "In whose interest is it being made?" "What is its relationship to different knowledge forms and claims?” Friesen also suggests four steps through which ideology critique gains access to these conflicting interests - and develops "critical" knowledge: 1. Identifying ideas or claims that are presented as obvious sources of knowledge 2. Scrutinizing these ideas or claims 3. Revealing through this scrutiny that behind dominant claims and ideas lie one or more politically-charged notions of understanding the issue or phenomenon in question 4. Using this underlying conflict as the basis for developing alternative forms of understanding and for pointing to concrete possibilities for action As mentioned earlier, the source of knowledge for this research purpose was the interviews.

Interviews Kvale (1996) states that interviews are a way of regarding knowledge as generated between people. Thus the social situatedness of research data must be emphasized (Cohen et al., 2007). Interviews are inter-subjective because they allow participants, both interviewers and interviewees, to discuss their conceptions of the world from their different points of view. Moreover, interviews can go deeply into the motivation, reasons and perspectives of respondents. Hitchcock (1989, p.79) mentions nine types of interviews that can be used for educational research, including, for instance, both the structured and the survey interview. The unstructured interview is one of Cohen and Manion’s (2007) favorite types. I strongly

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agree with these views on interviewing as a key method of data collection and my current research is based on them. I conducted semi-structured interviews with three senior colleagues, which gave me a great opportunity to create fresh understanding and construct knowledge based on their experiences. The semi-structured interviews included a set of open-ended questions, such as “How comfortable are teachers with the use of ICT?” This question did not require a single answer and for all informants it opened such lines of discussion as computer literacy and training needs. The order in which these questions were asked was sometimes modified, according to the interviewer’s perception of what seemed most appropriate. For instance, with the second informant I rephrased the question “Do you take part in the decision-making process?” to “What do you think of involving teachers in the decision-making process?” as he was already part of the IT committee. Questions inappropriate within a particular context could be omitted or additional ones included, as explained by Robson (2002). During the interviewing process I tried to be flexible and let the interview flow in a natural manner. For example, having asked one informant about his perception of ICT integration into classroom work, he talked broadly about his class and how students face literacy problems. I followed the discussion and double checked with the informant, saying, “You have already talked about ....and you said.....Please correct me if I got it wrong”. For data validity, I made sure I got the right message from the interviewee.

Participants The participants in this study were three expatriate teachers from three different western countries, all working on renewable long-term contracts. They held master’s degrees in TESL or applied linguistics and were enrolled in different doctoral programs. Their teaching experience ranged from 10 to more than 20 years. They worked in foundation programs which prepare students for their transition to higher diploma programs in different departments, where subjects are taught through the medium of English. The number of participants (n=3) might not represent a large sample in proportion to the total number of teachers at the institution involved in the study (n=200). As Cohen et al. (2007) note, sample size “often plagues researchers”. The sample was purposive (Patton, 2002) in that it consisted of the three teachers, two male and one female, and they were carefully selected for their status as senior veteran teachers. My intention was to ensure that they would provide “information-rich” data with respect to the purpose of the study. In fact, I also selected them

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because they had wide experience in the field and were respected in our college for their sound knowledge and deep understanding of ICT integration into TEFL. This worked well with my aim of investigating and understanding better the issue under scrutiny. My ultimate goal was to gain and spread awareness of the topic rather than generalise my findings.

Ethical procedure I followed established ethical research procedures at both institutional and individual levels. According to the college’s policy, any research must seek the approval of the Professional Development Committee, which I received. Meanwhile I asked the three teachers for their permission to be included and was given this. With both forms of approval, I started on my data collection. In the interview (appendix), I made sure that the teachers did not object to my recording it and I asked them to sign a consent form (see appendix) for use of the data for research purposes. From my side, I promised to preserve their anonymity where required and used pseudonyms in my report to protect their identities, as suggested in (Cohen, Manion, & Morisson, 2007). The names were these: 1. John, male participant, 2. Peter, another male, and 3. Kate, a female participant.

Data Collection The three interviews I conducted followed an identical pattern and all were recorded and transcribed at a later stage. However, I took a few notes on facial expressions and attitudes that would not appear in the recordings. Also I noted as many contextual factors as possible, paying special attention to visual and non-verbal aspects of the interview, as suggested by Mishler (1986). I tried hard to ask the same questions of every respondent in the same context and explained the purpose of the research to them in the same manner. I ensured that each question was understood so as to avoid false data arising. I also tried hard to avoid leading prompts when trying to elicit answers or when trying to discover if the question was properly understood. Carefully considering the type of questions to ask, I asked the open-ended kind in order to gather the most useful information. This was is in line with the view of Cohen et al: “....the open-ended question is a very attractive device; it invites an honest, personal comment from respondents... It is the open-ended responses that might contain the “gems” of information that otherwise might not be caught in the questionnaire” (Cohen et al., 2007, p. 329-330). Although this method

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provides less questioning flexibility than other interview methods, as Patton (1987) said, probing is still possible. I tried to contextualize my questions and ensure they were self-explanatory and generative in nature in order to help me identify what exists in terms of ICT practices in the social world of the participants, explain why certain phenomena occurred, examine reasons and forces behind their occurrence, and generate and develop new conceptions of understanding. The participants expressed their views openly, and in some cases replied in considerable detail. This was thanks to the friendly atmosphere of the interviews as well as the nature of questions. I learned that it is extremely important to plan carefully and ask appropriate questions, such as “What are the challenges that teachers face?”. This question guided the researcher to elicit problems from the informants, who talked openly about feelings and attitudes, which was a way of helping both the researcher and the participant to provide meaningful output (Cohen et al. 2007).

Data Analysis and Discussion This being my first attempt at exploratory research, I decided to transcribe the three interviews fully. Cohen et al. (2007) say that transcribing is a crucial step because there is a chance of losing data, of distortion and of reduction of complexity. However, if I had to reconsider this decision, I would have chosen to transcribe only the relevant parts that directly related to the research questions and to discriminate in my selection of excerpts, because it was time consuming and needed lots of effort. Moreover, some long parts were not indeed related to my research purposes. Given my familiarity with the context under scrutiny institution, teachers, and students - and my critical agenda, I avoided imposing my views on the data and, as to my impressions on the research data, I tried to capture a photograph rather than a painting to ensure research validity. As Holliday states, “qualitative research is like [the] paintings that represent our own impressions, rather than photographs of what is certainly there" (Holliday, 2001, p. 7). Therefore, I attempted to use a “strategic and technical detachment” approach to both data collection and analysis, as described by Holliday: “The approach with which I address these issues is therefore one of strategic, technical detachment from, rather than emotional joining with, the participants’ other – “an attitude of detachment towards society that permits the sociologist to observe the conduct of self and others" (Holliday, 2001, p. 178). I analysed the data collected using exploratory content analysis. First, I categorised and codified the emerging themes, and after that I compared

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them with the whole set of data using a constant comparison method that included reading and rereading within and across the responses of the participants (Lalik & Potts, 2001). Lastly, I picked out themes that related to the research questions and discarded those themes that were beyond the scope of the research. The participants expressed varied personal views on the use of ICT in English language learning. Nevertheless, I found many points of similarity, which I identified as recurrent themes. The analysis revealed four such themes and a few minor categories. I color coded the themes and highlighted the participants’ reflections that represented the following themes: 1-availability of adequate computer technology, 2-Teachers’ familiarity with and readiness to use the technology, 3-Students’ computer literacy skills, and 4-Management strategy. As a further step, I identified the sub-categories underlying each theme - for example, training needs, literacy skills, and teachers’ voice.

Findings Students’ computer literacy skills Having quoted Prensky’s (2001) “digital natives” to refer to the students, the three participants disagreed with this perception. They all believed that although technology is invading the world, the majority of the local students were still computer illiterate. John said, “Not all our students are computerized … people talk about digital natives... For some students, it is their first time to use a computer when they come to us.” He added, “Very few students would have a blog or a wiki; some students do not even have an e-mail or do not see the point of having one.... They do not even check their college e-mails.... They are not used to storing files online.” Peter added, “I think quite often our students are asked to do something which is beyond their linguistics skills and their ICT skills…. The students need training.” Kate agreed with both views and added that the students’ literacy problems might thwart learning. She said, “Literacy is a significant problem. I mean the low-level students have to go get their password ten times in the same semester because they forget how to type it.... Do not know upper or lower case.... Just minor hurdles that are frustrating for the students.” Peter said, “I do not think they are exposed to much ICT at school. Second, the level of their English is not particularly high”. The interviewees broadly agreed that the local students suffered from poor literacy skills, which obstructed the attempts of successful ICT integration into the curriculum. These findings are consistent with various

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studies discussing students’ literacy problems in the region (Abu Seileek, 2004; Al-Alwani, 2005; Albrini, 2006). I think this is a very sensitive issue and has to be addressed from different perspectives and implementing critical pedagogy in curricula would be an ideal solution. This reflection is discussed further in the critical pedagogy and ICT integration section. Having asked the informants about their perception of ICT integration into college work, they all broadly agreed that its use makes teachers more effective in their teaching, more organized in their work, and better able to meet the varying needs of students. They asserted the college involved in this study was the best example of a high-tech workplace, was fully equipped with the latest technology and had a wireless network. Every classroom was equipped with a smart board, a computer, a data show, and a telephone to call for IT assistance when needed. The common belief among the interviewees was that teaching becomes more interesting to teachers and far more motivating for students, with the use of technology. Indeed every student had a personal laptop with all the applications needed. Peter said, “The students were obliged to purchase a laptop. The college installed their learning management systems ... the hardware in the classrooms… projectors and soft boards.... I think the technology was very impressive”. He also added, “I believe in collaborative learning and to try to allow students to be creative…this is the best environment”. Kate agreed, saying, “We have great tools here, we are lucky. Technology is to prepare students to get ready for the global world”. John could not agree more with his colleagues, saying, “You come to a college where you have all kinds of portals, blackboard vista, and the latest technology...this is motivating”. I found these comments impressive. The teachers seemed at first very content with a learning environment that was motivating and enhancing the learning process. This agrees with the findings of Slaouti and Barton (2007), who reported that ICT can motivate students in their learning by bringing variety into the lessons, and, at the same time, sustaining teachers’ own interest in teaching.

Teachers’ familiarity with and readiness to use the technology The three informants agreed that teachers nowadays are more competent in basic computer applications, which include word processing, spreadsheets, presentation tools, e-mailing, Internet browsing, and teaching courseware - and this is possibly related to their frequent use of word processing, presentation tools in preparing teaching materials and presenting lessons. However, they still struggle with more advanced applications – such as statistics tools or Web2 tools. John for instance

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stated that “8 years ago a lot of teachers could not use Microsoft Word...and now the number of requests to help with Word is extremely low, most of the teachers are comfortable with Word, PowerPoint, and Excel”. This is in line with (Cockle, Clarke, & Jenkins, 2000) who found teachers to be most competent in word processing compared to other applications. Overall, the teachers have a positive attitude towards technology and are willing to learn and change their practices. John for instance noted “I think all teachers can send an e-mail that definitely wasn't the case 8 years ago…it takes a long time, it is never an overnight process”. Indeed some teachers are still challenged by advanced applications and need more time to overcome technological obstacles. John said: “we did not really get enough support, we did reach out ... but there is always some difficulty with new programs or a new technology”. Kate thought that teachers are not fully knowledgeable; they sometimes face unexpected technological problems which have negative impacts on the students as well. She said “we never know what the problems are going to be until they start happening and again teachers get frustrated. … It does not always work the way we thought it would. It is frustrating, and the students pick up on that … and it becomes a headache”. Overall, these claims are consistent with the findings of Slaouti and Barton (2007) who concluded that the ICT most commonly used by teachers was wordprocessing, PowerPoint and the Internet. And the more advanced application would always need training and follow up to ensure efficacy and appropriateness in class. Otherwise, they might hinder rather than foster the learning process. Kate asserted that teachers in general feel least competent in more advanced ICT applications, such as teaching through Blackboard vista (Bb) and that technical issues might hold back the learning process. She added that current professional development programs do not address teachers’ training needs in this area, and this is perceived as an obstacle to learning among others.

The major obstacles to successful ICT integration ICT training and support needs Firstly, the informants agreed that the lack of technical support was perceived by teachers as the key barrier to the further uptake of ICT in class. They strongly believe it is a waste of time and effort to spend hours struggling with technical issues and fixing software configurations. For example, John said that sometimes the teacher spends half of the time trying to fix technological problems, and waiting for IT help. He added

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that by that time he often loses the student’s attention. This is consistent with the findings of a study by Cuban (1999); availing technical support is crucial in order to support teachers to make full use of ICT in the classroom. Time constraints Secondly, the lack of time to explore and prepare ICT resources was reported by the participants as a strong ICT barrier. This is in line with (Preston, Cox, & Cox, 2000) who revealed time as a teacher-level barrier in implementing ICT in educational institutions. Teachers need to devote more time to learn and become more familiar with ICT and the various applications involved. No one denied that learning is a lifelong process and that teachers need to update their knowledge regularly in order to be more efficient facilitators. Kate, for instance, found the time issue very important; she literally expressed “they do not give us time to do this... you can go get training but again it is all in your own time. They do not say you are not going to teach today because we are teaching [you] ... that never happens ... Labour is power and labour is time”. John, for instance, mentioned that time is a serious obstacle to professional development. John said “time is a very challenging prospect, and you have to add that most teachers are pretty busy so to do any of these extra personal PD is difficult”. Peter mentioned a second major obstacle, which is money. He said “I think faculty are quite poorly supported...and professional development is costly...some teachers cannot afford it”. Critical pedagogy: integrating ICT into teaching. Integrating ICT into the learning process is not an easy task; it needs training, experience and, structured professional development. All three teachers expressed their need for important channels for improving their ICT skills. They agreed that most of their colleagues have limited knowledge and need more training to make full use of ICT, or to integrate ICT fully into their teaching. They think that more ICT conferences would provide a good opportunity for professional development. They believe in the value of ICT for enhancing teaching and learning and feel positive towards further integrating technologies into classroom instruction. However, they need structured training and guidance to become effective in designing appropriate tasks, setting objectives and meeting them, an attitude which shows that critical pedagogy is transformative as discussed earlier, and which is in line with Pennycook (1999).

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Keesing (2003) states that the notion of being critical (“examining and judging analytically and without bias”, according to the Collins Dictionary, (1997: 177), is considered desirable according to contemporary educational theory.” She also says that “Critical pedagogy shares some considerable historical and contextual territory with critical theory. Critical theory concerns itself with issues related to the socialization of people for existence in society; usually a society is defined by dominant discourses, and this is also the starting point for critical pedagogy” (para. 5). John then said: “Again it is the absence of integration when teachers use something like WebCT as a course requirement ... they cover the materials they are given...but they do not think of integration.” From my own point of view, I do not think there is enough training about pedagogical and professional aspects of computer-aided instruction. I believe teachers are aware that something is missing to complete the big picture of integrating technology into their teaching, but they do not know how to supply it. It is an important milestone in implementing critical pedagogy where teachers start analysing and reflecting on current practices. Inadequacy of materials Participants also discussed the ICT-related materials used in college. They thought that not all the software was suitable for local students, being either linguistically challenging or culturally inappropriate, which I also believe to be true. I have experienced some difficulties with my own students. Indeed, some software might be easily accessible for native speakers in terms of language and concepts but difficult for second and foreign language learners. I asked the participants about the ideology behind the selection of the software in use and they all agreed that was about marketing educational programs. John said, “It is about offer and demand, and usually we teach what we are asked to teach”. I asked him to explain further and he said, “We do not have the power to choose materials; nobody has this power; it is not up to the supervisor, the dean or the college director”. Therefore teachers in the college had a common feeling that, in the Gulf context, decision makers are high-ranking individuals who are in charge of business matters rather than experts in education. Kate lamented, “We try our best to find the most suitable materials for our students, but there is nothing in the market designed for our particular students and this particular context.... We have to live with it”. Peter raised another issue. He said that even the Internet and the learning websites were not always supportive: “The culture is different but

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we are trying our best ... Materials have to be created here, by local experts in first and second language alike.... But they are hard to find....Let’s hope for the future”. I agreed with Peter that special attention needed to be devoted to material selection; indeed teachers could face cultural issues or context inadequacy when using material designed for western students for instance a setting in a pub with alcoholic drinks, which is morally unacceptable for Muslims. Another example would be a context where young people talk about boyfriends and dating - using these kinds of materials is rejected by local students and stakeholders alike. This explains why some textbooks, such as Headway, were revised for the Gulf and the pictures changed to avoid negative reactions in class. Given that using technology in the classroom can have alienating effects, researchers should approach the issue with reference to critical theory; and this is in line with the view of Beynon (1993), who argued that there is an urgent need for a new, essentially cultural, definition of technological literacy. For teachers to be ethnologically literate (and, through them, their pupils) they need to learn how to read technology, treating it not as a series of technical artifacts but as a text. I believe that if ICT is used appropriately it can stimulate the development of higher cognitive skills, deepen learning and contribute to the acquisition of skills needed for lifelong learning and for working in today’s job market. This is in line with the views of Tchombe, Maiga, Toure, Mbangwana, Diarra, and Karsenti (2008). Teacher’s voices The participants also voiced their concerns about contributing to the power structure and being part of the decision making process. They believed teachers transmit passively given ideologies that are often imposed by top-down instruction. For instance, Peter said, “It was a very top down approach ….One semester we did not have laptops, the next semester we did have laptops….Then we went wireless.… Nobody consulted us on the particular type of laptops that the students were going to buy. It was a laptop, then the following year it was a tablet. This was eight years ago and I got a tablet just a few weeks ago so my students have always had different hardware than I have ….”. I clearly saw that Peter was discontented while reporting this issue. I also asked the participants for their personal views on who should have the greatest voice in deciding how ICT should be used in class. They perceived ICT as an important tool for accomplishing their professional tasks. They felt that among the various stakeholders, teachers as classroom practitioners should have the

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greatest voice in deciding how ICT should be used in educational institutions. They mentioned that they felt oppressed and never consulted. John said, “The decision is made above the teachers’ level”. I believe this is a solid point. Hence, to make innovations and reforms meaningful, those who will be most directly affected – in education, these would be teachers, students, parents and administrators – need to be part of the conception and planning process (Samoff, Sebatane & Dembélé, 2003). John pointed to the lack of planning and consistency in the decision making process, while adding “But I mean very often those decisions are taken without the follow up ... like training and integrating ... their emphasis on hardware and software rather than training people or changing the way the student or the teacher works”. This was also emphasised by Kate who said, “Isn't that like shutting the door after the house is robbed? They get this technology without any input from anybody, without piloting.... It shows up at the college, the teachers don't know how to use it …then they have to give feedback to the college after they’ve spent $300,000 on the material.… It’s a vicious circle. Even if the teachers give feedback the college isn't interested in investing anymore, and instead of making changes, because they have already spent too much money, they just think why those teachers are so difficult to work with”. It is worth noting that while discussing this part with interviewees, I too felt their annoyance and frustration. They could not hide their feelings and expressed their frustration openly. Peter said, “I've never been happy with the way they do it. I mean they’ve provided a lot of facilities...but they haven't really trained teachers or students”. It is also interesting to note the use of the pronoun “they” while talking about the college management. For me, it is as if they are referring to an external force that is either frightening or threatening.

Conclusion and Implications for the Classroom, and Future Trends This study investigated teachers’ ICT use in a college of tertiary education in the Gulf, their perceived competency, their perception of ICT, and their future needs. It appears that teachers believed that the use of ICT could enhance the learning process and that they support integration of this technology into classroom instruction. They thought that training should be offered to teachers on a continuous, rather than a one-off, basis and they aimed to upgrade their IT knowledge over time. It is indeed hoped that all counterparts, teachers and students, benefit from the use of ICT. However, teachers felt that they were not consulted in the decision making

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process, and believed they should be given the opportunity to make decisions about the ICT tools they would use in the classroom. They also believed they were those directly affected by any change in or addition to their classroom work and that therefore they should be involved in the process. The teachers’ role is to support their students in constructing knowledge through ICT and ensure the effective integration of technology throughout the learning process. I believe this is a crucial role and should not be underestimated. If teachers possess advanced knowledge of ICT but do not manage the integration of it into pedagogical practices, this could impede rather than foster the learning process. Acquiring knowledge of ICT is therefore essential, but understanding how to use it pedagogically and critically is much more important. I think teachers should be motivated and also should have opportunities to develop the requisite aptitudes in order to contribute to constructive learning. From here we see the need for critical pedagogy. This approach holds that teaching is not a process in which the teacher merely attempts to transfer knowledge to students. Both teachers and students contextualise and reflect on learning. This empowers the students and provides them with a model of critical behaviour which they can take with them into the outside world. This critical approach is what modern education should embrace. And I believe that critical educational models would also help to solve the students’ literacy problem discussed earlier. I learned that studies such as the current investigation promote critical thinking for both researcher and participants alike and raise teachers’ awareness about daily issues in the educational field. I am glad I had this opportunity to hear teachers’ points of view, and analyse their concerns with reference to the literature. It was a powerful learning opportunity. In conclusion, I believe the big picture is not yet complete. A quantitative research approach which would survey the whole population, along with more qualitative studies targeting decision makers and students, would provide a clearer insight into the topic and answer questions that remain unresolved. I hope I will eventually have the opportunity to embark on such a project. Educational research is an ongoing endeavour, where one task ends another begins.

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References Abu-Seileek A (2004). Designing a Computer Assisted Language Learning Program and Testing its Effectiveness on Students' Writing Ability in English. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Amman Arab University for Graduate Studies. Al-Alwani, A. (2005). Barriers to Integrating Information Technology in Saudi Arabia Science Education. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, the University of Kansas Albrini, A. (2006). Teachers' attitudes toward information and communication technologies: The case of Syrian EFL teachers Computers & Education, 47, 373-393 Ancker, W.P. (2002). The challenge and opportunity of technology: An interview with Mark Auerbach, E. (1995). The politics of the ESL classroom: Issues of power in pedagogical choices. In J. Tollesfson (Ed.), Power and inequality in language education (pp. 9-33). New York: Cambridge University Press. Barak, M. 2006. Instructional principles for fostering learning with ICT. Teachers’ perspectives 006-7362-9. Becker, H. J. (1994). Findings from the teaching, learning, and computing survey: Is Larry Cuban right? [PDF file]. Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations. Retrieved October 2, 2001, from http://www.crito.uci.edu/tlc. Becta, (2003). What the Research says about using ICT in Moths. British Educational Communications and Technology Agency. Becta, 2004. A Review of the Research Literature on Barriers to the Uptake of ICT by Teachers. British Educational Communications and Technology Agency. Bee, T. L., & Chia H. S. (2008). Exploring the extent of ICT adoption among secondary school teachers in Malaysia. International Journal of Computing and ICT Research [Online], 2(2). Retrieved December 29, 2012, from http://ijcir.org/volume2-number2/article3.pdf Beyond, J. (1993). Technological Literacy: where do we go from here? Journal of Information Technology in Teacher Education, 2(1), 7-36. Canagarajah, A. S. (1999). Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Canagarajah, S. (1999). On EFL teachers, awareness, and agency. ELT Journal, 53, 207-214. Chen, C.F.E., & Cheng, W.Y. (2006). The use of a computer-based writing program: Facilitation or frustration? Paper presented at the

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23rd International Conference on English Teaching and Learning in the Republic of China. Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education, 6th Ed. New York: Routledge. Comber, B. and Simpson, A. (Eds.) (2001).Negotiating critical literacy’s in classrooms, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, New Jersey & London Cox, M.I.P. & Assist-Peterson, A.A de. (1999). Critical pedagogy in ELT: Images of Brazilian teachers of English. TESOL Quarterly, 33 (3), 433-452. Cuban, L. (1999). The technology puzzle. Education Week, 18 (43). Available from http://www.edweek.org/ew/vol-18/43cuban.h18 Cockle, P., Clarke, S., and Jenkins, I. (2000). Students' information and communications technology skills and their use during teacher training. Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 9(1), 9-22. Darder, A. (1991). Culture and Power in the Classroom: A Critical Foundation for Bicultural Education. Bergin and Garvey Publishers. Dash, N. K. (2005). Selection of the research paradigm and methodology. http://www.celt.mmu.ac.uk/researchmethods/Modules/Selection_of_m ethodology/index.php Douglas Kellner, (2000). "Multiple Literacy’s and Critical Pedagogies". In P. P. Tritons (Ed.), Revolutionary Pedagogies - Cultural Politics, Instituting Education, and the Discourse of Theory (pp.103–122). Routledge. Available at: http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/Critical_Pedagogy.htm Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Friesen N. (2008). Critical Theory: Ideology Critique and the Myths of ELearning. Ubiquity, 9(22). Available at: http://www.acm.org/ubiquity/volume_9/v9i22_friesen.html Giroux, H A., and Peter McLaren (1994). Between borders: pedagogy and the politics of cultural studies. New York; London: Routledge. Giroux, Henry A. (1997). Pedagogy and the politics of hope: theory, culture, and schooling: a critical reader. The edge, critical studies in educational theory. Boulder, Colo.: West view Press. Grégoire, R, Bracewell, R., & Laferrière, T. (1996). The Contribution of New Technologies to Learning and Teaching in Elementary and Secondary Schools. Hart, A., & Hicks, A. (2002). Teaching media in the English curriculum. London: Trentham Books.

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Holliday, A. (2001). Doing and Writing Qualitative Research (Second Edition). London: Sage Publications. Hitchcock, G. & D. Hughes (1989) Research and the Teacher: A Qualitative Introduction to School-based Research. London: Routledge. John, P. & Sutherland, R. (2004). Teaching and learning with ICT: New technology, new pedagogy. Education, Communication & Information (ECi), 4(1), 102-107. Available at: www.interactiveeducation.ac.uk/out_joh.pdf Keesing, L. (2003). The Relationship between Critical Pedagogy and Assessment in Teacher Education: CAAP. Available at: http://radicalpedagogy.icaap.org/content/issue5_1/03_keesingstyles.html Kumaravadivelu, B. (2003) Beyond Methods: Macrostrategies for language teaching. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006) Understanding Language Teaching: From method to postmethod. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. London: Sage Publications. Lalik, R., & Potts, A. (2001). Social reconstructionism as a framework for literacy teacher education. In C. M. Roller (Ed.), Learning to teach reading: Setting the research agenda (pp. 119–135). Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Lasagabaster, D., & Sierra, J.M. (2003). Students’ evaluation of CALL software programs. Educational Media International, 40, 293–304 Loannou-Georgiou, S. (2006). The future of CALL. ELT Journal, 60(4), 382–384. Mishler, E. (1986). The analysis of interview-narratives. In T. Sarbin (Ed.), Narrative psychology: The storied nature of human conduct (pp. 233-255). New York, NY: Praeger. Moss, M., & Southwood, S. (2006). E-learning for teaching English for speakers of other languages. London: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education. Norton, B. and Toohey, K. (Eds.) (2004) Critical pedagogies and language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Newhouse C. P, (2002) A Framework to Articulate the Impact of ICT on Learning in Schools. Available at: www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/.../pd/impactreview.pdf Patton, M. Q. (1987) How to Use Qualitative Methods in Evaluation. California: Sage Publications, Inc. Teacher Education, 2(1), 7-36. Available at: http://www.crito.uci.edu/tlc/findings/ccsso.pdf

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Pennycook, A. (1999) Introduction: Critical approaches to TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 33. —. (2001). Critical Applied Linguistics: A Critical Introduction. Mahwah. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants on the Horizon (MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001) Preston, C., Cox, M., and Cox, K. (2000). Teachers as Innovators in learning: what motivates teachers to use ICT? MirandaNet. Available at: http://www.mirandanet.ac.uk/pubs/tes_art.htm Pring, R. (2000). Philosophy of educational research, 2nd ed. London: Continuum. Richards, K. (2003). Qualitative inquiry in TESOL. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Robson, C. (2002) Real World Research, 2nd ed., Oxford: Blackwell Samoff, J., Sebatane, E.M., Dembélé, M. (2003). Scaling Up by Focusing Down: Creating Space to Expand Education Reform. Paper for inclusion in the publication resulting from the Biennial Meeting of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa, Arusha, Tanzania, 7–11 October 2001. Available at: \ www.rocare.org/SCALE7.pdf Slaouti, D., Barton, A. 2007. Opportunities for practice and development: newly qualified teachers and the use of information and communication technologies in teaching foreign languages in English secondary school contexts. Journal of In-service Education, 33(4), 19. http://www.scribd.com/doc/11003446/Using-ICT-in-School Tchombe, T.M.S., Maiga, M., Toure, K., Mbangwana, M.A., Diarra, M.L., & Karsenti, T. (2008). Getting Ready for Higher Education: Role of ICT in Secondary Schools. Paper for the ADEA Biennale in Maputo, Mozambique, May. Thornbury, S. (2006) An A-Z of ELT. Oxford: Macmillan. ReCALL, 19(1), 79–95. Warschauer, M. (2000). Online learning in second language classrooms: An ethnographic study. In M. Warschauer & R. Kern (Eds.), Networkbased language teaching: Concepts and practice (pp. 41–58). New York: Cambridge University Press. Ya’acob, A., Nor, N., and Azmzn, H. (2005). Implementation of the Malaysian Smart School: An investigation of Teaching-Learning Practices and Teacher-Student Readiness. Internet Journal of eLanguage Learning & Teaching, 2(2), pp. 16-25.

CHAPTER SIX IT AND L2 WRITING SKILLS: EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF E-FEEDBACK ON THEIR ESSAYS SUSAN RILEY AND ALIREZA ZAREEKBATANI UNIVERSITY OF EXETER, UNITED KINGDOM

Abstract With the aim of helping foreign language (FL) educationists to make informed choices when integrating technology into corrective feedback provision, this chapter presents the findings of an exploratory study examining EFL learners’ perceptions of electronic indirect coded feedback (e-feedback) on their writing. The research was intended to determine (a) the advantages as well as the limitations of the use of information and communication technology (ICT) application in corrective feedback provision, and (b) L2 learners’ perspectives on using e-feedback to reduce their local and global mistakes. The participants were 22 International English Language Testing System (IELTS) candidates enrolled in a fourmonth IELTS preparation course in Tehran. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews, electronic diaries, and online progress logs. Through a purely qualitative research design, the log and interview data were analysed and coded. The findings showed students’ perceptions of efeedback as offering an effective means of actively engaging learners with feedback, aiding them in moving to a higher writing level, and increasing self-efficacy for the IELTS writing test. Specific writing improvement was perceived to be (a) locally in the use of English grammar, punctuation signs, spelling, collocation knowledge, vocabulary, and paraphrasing and (b) globally in developing topic sentences, organising ideas into templates, brainstorming ideas to find blueprints, and to some extent writing speed. The study has implications for how EFL classroom writing teachers,

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course designers, and writing researchers can enhance their practices and decisions by providing ICT solutions to EFL writing development. Key Words: Electronic corrective feedback affordances, Technology in EFL writing, Indirect coded e-feedback, ICT-oriented research and L2 writing, Online learning logs, Technology-enhanced learning environment, TELE

Introduction An ever-growing number of Internet users and the increasing possibilities for various forms of web-based learning and instruction are adding a new and wider dimension to language teaching and learning, helping teachers to provide a more student-centred model of instruction, while gaining a deeper insight into student learning needs and processes. In EFL writing classes, information and communication technology (ICT) can help to bridge the gap between ‘learning activity’ and ‘teaching intention’ by creating an appropriate environment for Biggs and Tang’s ‘active knowledge construction’ (2007). This can empower EFL students to realise their full potential and assist them to assume more responsibility by aligning themselves with intended learning outcomes. The use of ICT has long demanded the attention of L2 writing teachers (Pennington, 2003), with the most fruitful area of study being corrective feedback (Ware & Warschauer, 2006). A major part of a writing teacher’s work is giving feedback, and if students do not appear to use it to develop their writing, a significant amount of time and effort is wasted (Hartshorn, Evans, Merrill, Sudweeks, Strong-Krause, & Anderson, 2010). To advance our understanding of the integration of technology into feedback procedures for L2 writers, it is timely to focus on what is involved in the practical design and application of electronic feedback. It is equally important to explore how language learners respond to e-feedback and their reflexive attitudes in the process of learning what the teacher is intending through e-feedback. In this chapter, first we explore where we are now in our understanding of feedback on EFL writing. Then, we describe the context of this study, summarise the design and present the research findings, concluding with pedagogical implications and ideas for further exploitation of the online feedback facility that emerged from these students’ reflections.

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The concept of feedback in learning: scaffolding and outcomes-based learning Feedback in learning is understood as integral to the process of scaffolding, defined as ‘supporting and helping students reach higher levels of learning and achievement but without doing the work for them’ (Nicol, 2011, p. 108). To be most empowering to learners, feedback should engage students, encourage them to notice, analyse and process it, be clear enough for students to understand, and should prompt them to act upon it (ibid). The talk about engagement takes the discussion to the level of interaction, so that the zone of proximal development (ZPD) in a Vygotskian sense can be co-constructed with the learner through interaction (Poehner, 2008). Bitchener and Ferris aptly define ZPD as “the domain or skill where the learner is not yet capable of using the L2 autonomously as procedural knowledge but where, with the scaffolded assistance of the more proficient partner, the level of performance can be raised” (2012, pp. 18-19). This stresses the importance of considering the learner not only cognitively but also socially in the process of language development. Poehner (2008) explains that in Vygotskian terms cognitive development results from social interaction. Interaction among language learners and others who are more knowledgeable than them can serve as appropriate scaffolding to support students to progress through collaboration to autonomy and lifelong learning. It is believed that, in this way, “with the assistance of other regulation (e.g., provided by teachers and more advanced learners) [students] can eventually be self-regulated (i.e. able to use the L2 autonomously)” (Bitchener & Ferris, 2012, p. 18). Quality corrective feedback can be one productive means of scaffolding if provided in a clear, timely and engaging fashion to motivate students to think about and learn from their mistakes. Writing support may best be provided through formative feedback (Scott et al., 2011), which Biggs and Tang refer to as “feedback during learning” (2007, p. 163), when students use the feedback to “rework a developing assignment” (Nicol, 2011, p. 122). Feedback on and during performance can expedite learners’ progress and pave the way for improvement in future work (Nicol, 2011; Scrivener, 2005). To maximise the effectiveness of formative feedback, students need to be assisted in developing their understanding of assignment goals. This can be encouraged through the use of outcomes-based learning, which can be placed within the framework of constructivism; learning requires students to engage in a building process through their own activities, adding to what they already know (Biggs & Tang, 2007). With that definition of

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learning in mind, teachers and students naturally appear to be guided by learning outcomes, used to facilitate the construction process and create an environment which permits active learning based on students’ known knowledge. Therefore, in the classroom context, students need to be engaged in activities that guide them towards intended learning outcomes. In this process, the teacher should create a learning setting where students can perform such outcome-oriented activities and assess their own performance to evaluate how successfully those outcomes have been achieved (ibid). The type of environment that can be identified with constructive alignment is a technology-enhanced learning environment (TELE) (Liu, Moore, Graham, & Lee, 2003; Steffens, 2008) which lends itself to what Biggs and Tang refer to as an ‘active teaching method’ which can include ‘problem-based learning’ (2007, p. 10). Within a constructive alignment framework, Biggs and Tang recommend that the intended outcomes behind a certain course should be made clear in the form of an ‘outcome statement’, defined as “a statement of how we would recognize if … or how well students have learned what is intended they should learn, not a prompt list of topics for teachers to ‘cover’ in a curriculum” (2007, p. 7). When learning outcomes are clear, students can be encouraged to work towards achieving them by asking questions, speculating, and generating solutions (ibid). Accordingly, for the teacher’s feedback to support and improve L2 writers’ work, the writing curriculum needs to bring teachers’ goals and students’ goals as close to the intended learning outcomes as possible. In L2 writing classes preparing students for IELTS, such as the one in the present research context, the writing teacher’s goals can be summarised as an intention to reduce local and global mistakes made by L2 writers and to facilitate their improvement in the areas of content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics. These goals constitute the instructional aims – outcomes-based teaching – in the IELTS essay writing course in the context of this study, and, when set side by side with the goals of students looking for a good band score in the IELTS writing module, many commonalities can be identified. In this research, these areas of correspondence between the teacher’s goals and students’ goals were clearly communicated to the students so that they were able to make sense of the subsequent e-feedback practice; in this process, the writing marking criteria were presented to the IELTS students and embedded in the online e-feedback facility, as a step towards defining the expected outcomes and making them transparent to all the learners (see Appendix C).

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Feedback in writing: maximising students’ opportunities to learn The findings of research in an L1 context cannot be “uncritically applied to L2 writing pedagogy”, but they still have considerable impact on L2 writing studies (Bitchener & Ferris, 2012, p. 41). Recent research in the context of higher education in the UK to investigate what makes written feedback effective (e.g., Burke & Pieterick, 2010; Nicol, 2011; Scott, Evans, Hughes, Burke, Watson & Walter, 2011) indicates that the effectiveness of feedback is “dependent on the nature of the task, the context and the respective roles of student and lecturer in the feedback process” (Scott, et al., 2011, p. 53). Feedback does not automatically become effective for the learner; rather, they are expected to use feedback regularly to shape their learning with the assistance of the teacher (Burke & Pieterick, 2010). Nicol (2011) suggests that for students to achieve learning outcomes the feedback they receive should be understandable, selective, specific, timely and contextualized; it should also be nonjudgmental, balanced, forward looking, and transferable. The latter two are particularly relevant to the context of the study participants, who need to improve their writing in order to reach a higher level in a future exam. To be effective in the long run, feedback should help students to identify strengths and weaknesses in their performance, thereby providing a forward-looking action plan for their future performances, bridging the gap in their knowledge and/or skills, as a step towards attaining ultimate learning goals. As for transferability, students must perceive the connection between the feedback at hand and future functioning, because this can give them the impetus to act upon their teacher’s feedback.

Feedback in L2 writing The continuing development of L2 writing pedagogy to incorporate the process approach, and the acknowledgment of the role of feedback within this process, has led to it being the subject of much research in our field (e.g., Hartshorn et al., 2010; Hyland & Hyland, 2006; Maftoon & ZareEkbatani, 2005; Storch & Wigglesworth, 2010). Hartshorn et al. (2010, p. 84) introduce an instructional methodology for teaching L2 writing that they call ‘dynamic written corrective feedback (WCF)’. The two essential elements which Hartshorn et al. suggest most L2 writers need in order to develop their abilities and write more accurately are: “(a) feedback that reflects what the individual learner needs most, as demonstrated by what the learner produces, and (b) a principled

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approach to pedagogy that ensures that writing tasks and feedback are meaningful, timely, constant, and manageable for both student and teacher” (2010, p. 87). The focus of the feedback can be selective or comprehensive, direct and overt, or alternatively rather indirect and covert through using certain coded symbols. The source of the feedback can be the teacher, other students, and even L2 writers themselves. The target of the feedback can also range from local errors such as spelling, grammar and punctuation to more global errors such as ideas, content and organization. Among L2 practitioners and researchers, opinions are divided about the appropriateness of error correction, and indeed research shows much variety in both results and conclusions about the efficiency and take-up of feedback on errors. Despite some arguments that make a case against feedback in relation to certain elements of L2 writing (e.g., Truscott, 1996; Truscott, 2010; Truscott & Hsu, 2008), there is much more empirical evidence for the value of feedback through which student writers are shown how to enhance their learning of L2 writing and deepen their understanding of the importance of audience, context, and discourse community (e.g., Bailey & Vardi, 1999; Bitchener, 2008; Boswood & Dwyer, 1996; Ferris, 2004; Goldstein, 2001). Research also shows that the way the teacher expresses the feedback is important. Whether the feedback is of an impersonal nature as a reaction to the text or of an interpersonal quality directed to the writer can make a difference (Hyland & Hyland, 2006). They suggest that ‘social harmony’ is not just limited to the classroom interactions but go on to add that “research on teacher written response has largely ignored how feedback is framed to achieve such harmony” (p. 207). For the feedback to achieve its desired effect, particularly for L2 students, it should be presented in such a way that learners are encouraged to use it in their later revisions. Ken’s definition of feedback characterizes it as “input from a reader to a writer with the effect of providing information to the writer for revision” (1990, p. 294), which highlights the educational role feedback plays in the future revisions of the drafts students compose. Effective feedback creates the conditions where students, with the wisdom of hindsight, can discover their problem areas, while guiding them to develop the foresight needed to improve their future writing.

Technology in feedback “Technology is at the heart of education now. The question is: how can we best use it to improve teaching and learning?” (Scrivener, 2011, p. 335).

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It is believed that technology can afford writing classrooms opportunities by introducing innovative ways of increasing learning and managing corrective written feedback to expedite the achievement of learning outcomes (Hyland, 2009). Referring to Salaberry’s (2001) review of ICT use in L2 learning, Huot, Lemonnier, and Hamers (2008) explain the way technology has affected second language teaching and learning, pointing out that the “use of the Internet in L2 learning has a bene¿cial effect as long as the technological activity is supported by pedagogical activities, and in particular by the placing of cognitive demands on the learner” (p. 87). Along the same lines, it is worth recalling how Biggs and Tang (2007) emphasise the alignment of the teacher’s intention, student’s activity and assessment, which, with the integration of corrective feedback and ICT, would mean learners’ real engagement with feedback and their action on the basis of feedback information, guided by assessment criteria, in a technology-enhanced learning environment (TELE) structure. Our discussion finds itself at a point where the application of technology is seen to have clear potential to help corrective feedback to increase writing efficiency. The key to the effectiveness of written corrective feedback lies in improving the quality of both the feedback itself and the way students interact with and use it. It is necessary to move beyond simply marking students’ work (Burke & Pieterick, 2010) because the quality of feedback depends more on the quality of the interaction of learners with the teacher’s feedback (Nicol, 2011); the key seems to be aiding such interactions. Therefore, in the context of corrective feedback, to facilitate the necessary interaction between the agents of teaching and learning, we tapped into the capabilities of ICT, on the assumption that the Internet offers increasingly easy access to communication environments. Such technology-enhanced learning environments (TELEs) allow for a better management of the ways in which corrective feedback is provided, used, exchanged and monitored (Ware & Warschauer, 2006, p. 110).

Research context The study took place at an Institute of Science and Technology, allboys Branch (2), in Tehran, Iran. In consideration of a dramatic rise in the number of language schools in Tehran and the resultant competition for students, more attention is drawn to the quality of teaching and learning. Students paying higher fees increasingly have higher educational expectations, and improving learning outcomes is a priority in most language schools these days. Technological options are also now becoming central to language learning programmes. Undoubtedly,

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language centres that provide efficient teaching and learning opportunities attract a larger number of students. Students from various academic backgrounds are placed in classes usually on the basis of their language proficiency. The range of computer skills may be different, but nowadays most adult EFL learners in this context are computer literate and have access to the Internet. .

Participants The 22 participants were adult male language learners who had passed the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) with a score of 135 or more out of 200 and registered for the IELTS preparation course. Therefore, the participants were largely homogeneous in terms of their English language ability. IELTS courses normally start every four months and every term comprises 21 sessions, five days a week.

Research aim and questions The main aim that guided both the conception and the design of this project was to investigate what these EFL students thought about efeedback provision as a response to their process-oriented writing, in particular its value to them as developing writers. This broad aim was explored through these two primary research questions: 1. What are the views of these EFL student writers on affordances and limitations of e-feedback? 2. What are these students’ perspectives on using e-feedback to reduce their local and global mistakes?

Data collection methods The introspective nature of the study meant that, in order to explore learners’ perceptions and writing performance, the data gathering tools had to encourage learners to self-report on their activities, decisions, attitudes, concerns, ‘inner speech’ (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2011, p. 4) and private perceptions of e-feedback influences. The instruments had to capture the reflective thinking of the student writers as, over a period of four months, they went through a process of drafting each essay, receiving e-feedback and making use of that to redraft until the teacher decided the essay was acceptable. The selected instruments were logs and interviews.

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As Hyland (2009, p. 181) posits, “logs are important introspective tools in language research and can provide insights into language use that would otherwise be difficult to obtain.” He also points out that diaries and logs can “provide access to elements of writing and learning that are otherwise hidden” (ibid). There were two types of logs employed in this research. The online learning logs were unstructured online diaries available on the website for each user, protected by a password. The logs were accessible to the teacher and the corresponding student only, ensuring privacy from other students. Learners were expected to make their log entries after each time they received e-feedback on their writing, expressing their views and feelings. The second type of log was the electronic progress log. These were structured learning logs designed to encourage more specificity which appeared on the website at the end of the first and third terms, requiring the students to answer 10 questions about their progress and learning before they were permitted to continue working normally with the website (see Appendix A). Interviews were chosen as the second data collection method, in order to permit the participants to discuss their interpretations of the intervention and to voice their opinions (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007). Semistructured interviews allowed for “combining the structure of a list of issues to be covered together with the freedom to follow up points as necessary” (Thomas, 2009, p. 164). The purpose of the interviews was to re-construct the meaning that the students held as a result of working with the online feedback intervention at two points in the study. The first was after Term 1 to capture the students’ initial reaction, and the second was towards the end of the course, after Term 3, probing more deeply into their conceptions of online work, e-feedback and their EFL writing abilities. The 14 interview questions were all piloted to ensure their appropriateness, clarity and approximate timing. The first seven questions investigated e-feedback affordances and limitations, and the remaining seven explored EFL learners’ perspectives on using e-feedback and their individual differences (see Appendix B).

Design of the feedback website The website (www.Ekbatani.ir) was developed together with a web developer over the course of about one year to create a prototype website with 20 codes which was piloted by the teacher working with various classes, gathering information on design improvement; more codes were added, to a final total of 38. The teacher’s site includes the following features: the list of all

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available online classes, times, starting and finishing dates, and the student names; all the drafts categorised according to topics; the feedback screen with editing options to upload marked drafts; reports on the number of topics each student has composed on, drafts, feedback responses, log entries; the possibility to give scores for final drafts; display of recent student activities; managing (editing, adding, or removing) options for writing topics, noticeboard messages, website users, classes, courses, and the end-of-the-term progress logs distribution for a certain class. The learner’s area mainly includes four navigation tabs: the ‘Your Drafts’ tab, including the writing screen for every writing topic to upload the drafts, quick-access marking code menu, an inventory of the learner’s drafts together with the status of each, and a record of done and to-be-done topics with a score from A plus to C minus for the finished ones; the ‘Your Logs’ tab, comprising the learning log section to compose and upload, and the log archive; the ‘Codes’ tab, displaying the list of all marking codes with their corresponding descriptions and examples; and the ‘Noticeboard’ tab, where the students can access any announcement and information, such as common mistakes, grammar points, examples of brainstorming ideas, lexical or grammatical collocations, among others. The learners first went through an induction period to get familiar with the procedure and the online facility. All participants were shown how to work with various options on the website for revising their writing drafts, using the teacher online feedback, and how to use the electronic learning logs and the progress log to report on their experiences and impressions of electronic feedback and learning strategies. The students learned how to use the list of coded symbols (see Appendix C) to interpret the indirect feedback.

Marking codes With outcomes-based teaching and learning (OBTL) guidelines in mind (Biggs & Tang, 2007), we made the outcomes of writing practice and assessment criteria clear to the EFL learners by developing and introducing a list of 38 common marking codes on the foundation of previous criteria developed for L2 writers (e.g., Hyland, 1990; Maftoon & ZareEkbatani, 2005) (see Appendix C). Not only can the list of marking codes help make the learning outcomes clear to L2 learners, thus increasing their responsibility (Burke & Pieterick, 2010), but it can also be a good reference to remind students of the common mistakes they face in L2 writing. The list of common, local and global mistakes (see Appendix D) depicts what areas of writing students are expected to be able to control.

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Students’ activity on the website The students had three days following the teacher’s setting of the first topic to place their first draft online. They received feedback using the marking codes online on the draft and were expected to find solutions to their local and global mistakes identified through the codes. All the assignments and feedback were saved with time and date, and kept electronically under each topic for each learner in their own private space on the website, accessible by the student and teacher only. In this drafting process, the students were engaged in an environment designed to nurture a largely deep approach in dealing with their drafts in an attempt to create what Biggs and Tang call “a positive working atmosphere, so students can make mistakes and learn from them” (2007, p. 25).

Ethical concerns The existence of subjectivity in the research should be acknowledged not only in view of its interpretivist nature, but also because one of the researchers (AZE) had a dual role as teacher and researcher, leading to the existence of a teacher-student relationship in addition to the researcherresearched relationship. The voluntary consent of the respondents as well as the absence of any institutional use, qualification, degree, or evaluation on the basis of the research results should go some way to removing any element of bias towards having a particular research outcome, or favouring or undermining any person, group, institute, school, or organisation whatsoever.

Data collection procedures The study was conducted over a period of four months, i.e. 84 sessions for each cohort, comprising a minimum of 126 hours of in-class education with the electronic feedback provided outside of class time. The participants (n = 22) from two cohorts were involved in the process of composing essays of at least 250 words on 12 IELTS writing topics (see Appendix E) that appeared online one by one at regular intervals of every six sessions. The students drafted and received feedback first on outlines and later on their full-length five-paragraph essays. From this point on, the multiple drafting and e-feedback continued on the participants’ essays until the teacher decided that the essay had evolved to be acceptable from both meaning and form points of view. The learners received input mainly

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from the teacher both in the actual class in the form of writing lessons and through the online facility in the form of e-feedback. During the drafting process, participants were also involved in using the learning logs. Each time they received e-feedback on a draft, the students were prompted to provide a self-report, either in Persian or English, on the electronic learning logs, in which they commented on their perception of writing feedback and how they made sense of and used the feedback. In addition, the participants had to answer the ten questions on the overall progress logs (see Appendix A) twice during the course, after Term 1 and Term 3, to help them reflect upon and express their views on their writing progress, mistakes, challenges, e-feedback use, and future development. The participants could not continue with normal online activities until they had answered questions 1-9 on the overall progress logs, thus ensuring self-reflection. Altogether 12 writing assignments were set, which – with a minimum of three times drafting – offered the students plenty of opportunity to express their perceptions of the electronic feedback process. The participants were also independently invited to attend two semistructured interviews with the teacher-researcher. The first was after Term 1, i.e. a quarter through the course, and the second was after Term 3, i.e. three quarters through the course. The interviews each took around 30 minutes and were conducted after their class in the Institute.

Data analysis To manage and organise the data conveniently, the data obtained through each method were analysed separately using NVivo (Bazeley, 2007). The process of identifying themes and categories was essentially based on observing what came out of the student comments, guided by our research questions. The data from the respondents who responded in Persian were carefully translated into English. The audiotaped interviews were transcribed verbatim. The analysis began with the learning log comments, triangulated with the analysed data from the progress logs and interviews. The themes emerged through the constant comparative method by reading of the data sentence by sentence (Thomas, 2009). Next, the themes were compared and classified into more general unifying key themes of e-feedback affordances, limitations, and learners’ perceived local and global writing proficiency. An experienced TEFL professor gave her independent confirmation of the accuracy of the translation and categorisation.

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Research findings The four major themes explored were learning affordances and learning limitations (research question 1); local writing proficiency and global writing proficiency (research question 2), which we present and describe with representative, uncorrected excerpts from the data (Key: L = Log, TL = Translated Log, I = Interview). Learning affordances

Affordances are conceptualized as “context-based opportunities” (Oxford, 2003, p. 80), in this study referring to the way the online feedback strategies afford opportunities for EFL students’ writing improvement. The participants’ perceptions of the e-feedback ‘affordances’ generated three main themes. The responses of the majority of the students revealed their active engagement with feedback, a central principle of effective feedback. The development of self-management abilities, as evidenced by 20 participants’ comments, indicates that students actively made use of efeedback, e.g., “I categorize my current problems to those needing my personal effort to be solved, for instance spelling mistakes, and those that without your guidance cannot be sorted out, for example mistakes regarding organization, and style among other things. I use previous feedback dealing with the latter” (Tom, L14). Twelve participants also reported that in the course of working with e-feedback, they learned how to monitor and guide their own learning, discovering their own potential, moving their learning on independently. For example, “… then I really find myself more independent in writing than past, as I can write not only good writing, but also my letters in English” (Jack, L20). The second common theme arising in the area of affordances was efeedback aiding learners in moving to a higher writing level through supporting and scaffolding their learning. This, we argue, arises from the learners believing in e-feedback effectiveness, as understood from the responses of 17 participants. Chris, for example, said: “The whole efeedback is really helpful and priceless because it makes me think about my mistakes and sometimes study more …” (Chris, L26). Overcoming writing apprehension and developing more positive attitudes were echoed in the constructive inner speech of 19 participants who successfully adapted themselves to TELE and e-feedback, e.g., “First, I was afraid to write; that was my challenge, but when I saw some samples that you gave

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us, I became a little more confident and thought mine is not as bad as I thought. Then, I started to write more, but at first I did not have the confidence to do it” (David, I). Eleven participants shared their positive comments about how TELE had given them the freedom to make choices in a non-threatening, advisory, not evaluative environment. Prioritising an ‘objective academic assessment’ over a ‘personal judgment’ on students’ work, Burke and Pieterick (2010) highlight the importance of feedback in “allowing students to experiment with their own thinking and writing processes” (p. 20), which e-feedback has nurtured, as can clearly be seen in this excerpt: Actually, these days I review my essays several times before uploading it on your website and interestingly, I can find most of my mistakes and correct them. However, most of mistakes that you point them out to me are those that I write deliberately as, I am in doubt whether those are right or not so that I can look forward to your feedback and learn deeply from it, because I think by this way I will hardly forget these valuable information and points (Chris, L32).

For the students to unpack and act on teacher feedback, they should be able to make sense of and access feedback intention, reinforced by clear understanding of the marking criteria and what constitutes excellence (Burke & Pieterick, 2010). In our analysis, meaningful learning was identified as a common theme in 18 cases, increased EFL writing awareness in 19 comments, and knowledge application in 12 instances, which can be noted in the following quotes, respectively: “Generally, I archive all past drafts in my laptop and after finishing each assignment I will read them to find out my mistakes and improvements” (Brian, L12); “when you asked me about my inner dialogue and I said what was going on in my mind it made me think about all aspect of my work. Simply, it makes me more aware about what I am doing” (Chris, L42); and “I learned to use qualification sentences in my writing in order to decrease the certainty of claims” (Victor, L9). The forward looking quality of effective feedback (Nicol, 2011) was detected in the learners’ perceived self-efficacy for the IELTS writing test. Burke and Pieterick (2010) found out that “essentially students want feedback that aids their progress” (p. 77), and in this study an increasing rate of improvement was noted by 14 participants. For example, “What is obvious is that the benefits of the feedback are gained step by step and on a continuous basis” (Larry, TL14). Increased self-confidence – included in the notion of self-efficacy – was reflected in 14 comments, such as “I feel I can write more confidently, without any fear from how to use words in my sentences” (Henry, L16). Hurd (2008) also confirms the belief that

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“clear, detailed feedback in a sensitive framework that addresses learners’ concerns is essential for building confidence which can lead to better outcomes”; the importance of this contention is also reflected in the fact that for some language learners such feedback is the only interaction with the teacher (p. 225). The indirect marking codes also encouraged the students to take more responsibility for self-editing and paying attention to details in their drafts, as noted by 21 of the 22 participants, exemplified in the following log comments: “Hello, looking at your feedback, I became cognizant that I must be more careful about the complementary patterns of verbs …” (Tom, L11), and “In my opinion your teaching method on the website is really helpful. That increased my concentration on some common mistakes …” (Scott, L1). For feedback to inform future learning, Burke and Pieterick (2010) postulate that students need to become “strategic optimizers of their assessment performance” (p. 56). The students’ perceptions of the helpfulness of e-feedback seem to imply its effectiveness in meeting this need by making feedback also feed forward, informing students’ future performance.

Learning limitations Limitations in our study refers to the understanding we gained of the efeedback constraints, according to the EFL learners’ experience appearing as negative comments in their self-reports. The two themes generated in this area are described here. The process of learning to write in another language requires the establishment of effective writing habits, which does not necessarily mean minimising the effort and time required (Andrade & Evans, 2013). The time-consuming nature of the e-feedback process was evidenced in the comments of 9 students. For example: “I really enjoy participating in this writing activity. I wish I had more time and I would be able to write more” (Victor, L3); “In fourth writing I had less mistake in compare to previous. But this time, I spent two hours for understanding for what I have to do” (Bill, L5); and “I cannot find a proper rephrase for my word which will take me too long to find them” (Cedric, L11). The e-feedback could not address all the students’ learning needs, and the data from four students guided us towards supplementing e-feedback in a number of ways: teacher marking students’ learning logs; face-to-face as well as online feedback to discuss what was wrong; prior in-class discussion about the writing topics to appear online; more classwork on grammar and vocabulary; timed essay

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writing online; peer feedback to exploit or to avoid; and unprompted direct teaching of writing skills via e-feedback.

Local writing proficiency In this part, we present the findings on the students’ perceived improvement in local mistakes. On the theme of use of English grammar, eleven learners reported that they exerted themselves to find answers, e.g., “When I write something always I have hesitation on whether is it grammatically correct or not. And I should check anything twice and it takes time” (Peter, L2). This can show the potential of e-feedback to stimulate personal effort. The solutions some students reported were: referring to grammar books, asking friends or classmates, searching on the Internet, asking questions in online learning logs, and asking the teacher directly in class. Nine participants acknowledged how the online experience gradually changed their attitudes about English writing and directed them to a more frequent and appropriate use of punctuation signs, as indicated below: As time goes by and I write more drafts, I feel that gradually I can see my writing problems during the composing process, which has brought me a lot of self-confidence. This improvement is more evident in the use of punctuation signs and grammar. Certainly with more practice, I will be able to see similar improvement in other areas of writing (Cedric, TL7).

Seven learners mentioned how e-feedback activities had a positive influence on their English spelling abilities, with one student acknowledging that spelling improvement requires personal effort too: Hello, what I noticed in this draft was that my spelling mistakes are more persistent than others mistakes. As improvement in this area does not rely much on guidance and tuition, I think I should make more personal effort in this area (Tom, L12).

Improvement in collocation and vocabulary knowledge was claimed by seven and four participants, respectively: “I tried to use better words and chunks which you have taught us during last month” (Henry, L13); “… feedbacks encourage me to learn and use new words to find out if I can use them correctly” (Chris, L6). Three commented on paraphrasing enhancement through writing online essays, e.g., “Actually, I copy and paste the entire essays from the site to the Microsoft World to review them. I just transfer the edited version done by you. Then, I compare every draft with the previous one to find the reason of mistakes. The notebook

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just helps me to remember good structures and paraphrases. Sometimes it includes my mistakes too’ (Mark, L47).

Global writing proficiency Gains in global writing skills could also be seen in the students’ comments, which was not surprising, given the focus of e-feedback on the improvement of such aspects of written work. In twelve cases, learners indicated that the online feedback facility served as an effective learning tool in helping them to cultivate their skills when looking at a subject from more than one angle and developing ideas into topic sentences, developers and supports, as the following comment illustrates: At the beginning of this course I had difficulties to produce ideas … I was not able to put them in action and make them functional and even write them in an essay in an appropriate way, but after several essay online writing, I tried to improve my knowledge … I could write my ideas in some new ways and mix my previous ideas with new ones and think about every topic deeply in order to come up with new ideas and produce some new aspects of the topic (Chris, I).

Organising ideas into templates was a theme mentioned by 12 students, which reflects the role of e-feedback in raising the awareness of the writer about the appropriate writing genre. Examples are: E-feedback has definitely affected the way I organize my drafts. That’s to say, through the templates we are taught in the class and regular exercises based on your clear and detailed e-feedback, we are provided with a structure that we just need to develop the basic points (topic sentences, developers,…) (Tom, L17). I should say that I did not know anything about writing and its style; however, after this course and writing a lot of essays I have learned how I must think and write (Jack, L23).

Bridging the gap between the previous and desired performance in finding blueprints through brainstorming ideas was a common theme highlighted by eleven students, e.g., “I got important point, my motivator and thesis statement should be in course of my blue prints” (Harold, L11). It shows that e-feedback helped at least half of the learners to take this writing strategy on board. There were, moreover, some claims echoing an

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increasing trend in writing speed, as described here: “Hi after writing five topics i am a little faster, so i am satisfied” (Scott, L12). When comparing categories in writing proficiency, use of English grammar and use of punctuation signs, among other language learning components in the domain of local mistakes, appear to be the areas where students felt most improvement. Additionally, these EFL learners found efeedback most effective in assisting them to develop ideas into topic sentences, developers and supports, organising ideas into templates, and brainstorming ideas to find blueprints.

Implications for the classroom and conclusion The purpose of the study was to provide research-based answers to two questions, examining the affordances and limitation of ICT-supported alignment of the corrective feedback to IELTS writing instruction, and eliciting students’ views on its effective use in developing their language abilities. The findings of the study indicated that there appears to be an important, but perhaps not unexpected, potential for ICT in general and efeedback in particular to create a flexible dialogic learning environment (Liu, et al., 2003; Ware & Warschauer, 2006), which can be integral to active knowledge construction in EFL writing. This study was an attempt to uncover how, in this one context, ICT encourages student interaction with feedback to facilitate deeper learning processes, making traditional written corrective feedback, “which is essentially a one-way communication”, (Nicol, 2010, p. 501) more interactive. The themes discovered are reminders that outcome-oriented learning activities can be empowering for EFL writers, and that while “a hierarchical relationship can take ownership away from the student” (Tardy, 2006, p. 66), a dialogic pedagogy can bring a sense of authorship, ownership and agency to language learners. The language-related area of the findings constituted a context where improvement is quite expected in a recursive electronic feedback-assisted writing process. It is essential for the students to learn to correct and self-edit, not only to develop their writing ability, but also because they will take a high-stakes English proficiency exam and receive a certificate demonstrating their ability to put their English language knowledge to academic and/or occupational use. The innovative feedback technique discussed in this chapter was delivered on a website, specially developed for feedback on IELTS writing task 2 essays, but this does not limit the application of this method of EFL writing feedback to practising for IELTS essays only. Naturally, teaching

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aims and circumstances for EFL writing classes can differ all around the world, but where the Internet is accessible to all one unique characteristic of e-feedback is that it gives all learners an equal opportunity to interact with their writing teacher, and, more importantly, with their own work in progress. For writing tasks to be done effectively, EFL learners need to realise that “great writing is never right the first time” (Andrade & Evans, 2013, p. 99), and it is this principle that e-feedback can help students to understand: great EFL writers are, in effect, EFL re-writers. We would argue that ICT and pedagogy integration can be effective in scaffolding the learners’ writing skills beyond the actual language level they are at, with respect to textual and global EFL writing factors, in a coconstruction of knowledge between the teacher and student. In any event, to plan for effective writing instruction with technology, the teacher needs to be aware of varying degrees of support and scaffolding each student requires at different points in the feedback and drafting process, gradually reducing their dependence. Moreover, physical absence of the teacher on the one hand, and shifting the locus of decision-making and learning responsibility, in large measure, from the outside (i.e. teacher) to the inside (i.e. learner) on the other hand, can be a source of anxiety and negative feelings for learners, which teachers need to heed (Hurd, 2008). The findings of this research also serve as a tangible demonstration that creating a supportive learning environment which actively involves language learners in the feedback process is crucial if formative feedback on EFL essays is to be genuinely used on the knowledge construction path. The helpfulness of indirect coded feedback in the writing classroom has been established (e.g., Brown, 2012; Hartshorn, et al., 2010); this study further validated that clear indirect coded feedback can be an effective scaffolding tool in the ICT-supported environment. Additionally, participants’ responses showed that the inclusion of online supplementary materials could further support students’ learning during the construction of their knowledge. In this process, the ‘Noticeboard’ tab is highlighted as a channel to communicate with learners and to share information based on the students’ needs for the teacher to make recommendations, to explain grammar points, to provide examples of brainstorming ideas, to introduce lexical or grammatical collocations, and to pinpoint common mistakes. To complement e-feedback, existence of an additional support tool such as the ‘Noticeboard’ tab on the TELE can be useful in placing diverse learners in a state of writing readiness, because it seems that in the course of knowledge construction, they interpret learning opportunities differently. Although in this study there were comparatively few negative comments about e-feedback, their appearance is a reminder that, as in the

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study by Fuchs and Sultana Akbar (2013), “technology should be regarded as an add-on rather than something that comes at the expense of face-toface communication” (p. 163). The exploitation of ICT and TELEs can both afford and constrain language learners’ pursuit of EFL writing development, but whether affordances outweigh constraints, or vice versa, depends on an appropriate underpinning pedagogy, learning purpose and context, as well as available time and facilities.

Future research ICT application in corrective feedback provision on L2 writing has continuing potential for future research. Further research could investigate the impact of including what Nicol (2011) refers to as ‘action-point boxes’ for the teacher to delineate a specific plan of action for each learner to enhance their performance in the next draft. Given the importance of gaining insight into the cognitive strategies learners employ, ICT use in L2 writing seems to warrant the examination of the “internal and external links” that Hubner, Nuckles and Renkl (2010) invoke as relevant in measuring ICT potential to assist students with finding meaningful structures of e-feedback and relating it to their prior knowledge. The results of this study also point to the need for further research into the use of discussion boards on TELE and their role in e-feedback. Future L2 writing research can likewise look at Oxford’s suggested ICT-oriented learner development approach which involves sending “targeted reminders about learning strategies and tactics, attitudes, resources and other information by email at periodic intervals” (2008, p. 54). The findings of our study also call for more research on the training and test modes of writing to determine how L2 learners perceive e-feedback when offered on drafts written in either mode. To be far-reaching in its impact, and productive in the long run, are among key long-term aims of feedback, and both areas warrant continued investigation by researchers working in the area of ICT and corrective feedback on L2 writing.

Acknowledgements We are grateful to Associate Professor Carol Evans of Exeter University for her helpful advice and information sources. We would also like to thank the IELTS students from the Institute of Science and Technology, Branch (2), who participated in this study in Tehran and shared their opinions about their learning and EFL essay writing development.

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References Andrade, M. S., & Evans, N. W. (2013). Principles and Practices for Response in Second Language Writing: Developing Self-Regulated Learners. New York: Routledge. Bailey, J., & Vardi, I. (1999). Iterative feedback: impacts on student writing. Paper presented at the HERDSA Annual International Conference. Bazeley, P. (2007). Qualitative Data Analysis with NVivo. Trowbridge, Wiltshire: SAGE Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for Quality Learning at University: What the Student Does (3rd ed.). Poland: McGraw-Hill Education: Open University Press. Bitchener, J. (2008). Evidence in support of written corrective feedback. Journal of Second Language Writing, 17, 102–118. Bitchener, J., & Ferris, D. (2012). Written corrective feedback in second language acquisition and writing. The United States of America: Routledge. Boswood, T., & Dwyer, R. H. (1996). From marking to feedback: Audiotaped responses to student writing. TESOL Journal, 5(2), 20-23. Brown, D. (2012). The Written Corrective Feedback Debate: Next Steps for Classroom Teachers and Practitioners. TESOL Quarterly, 46(4), 861-867. Burke, D., & Pieterick, J. (2010). Giving students effective written feedback. Glasgow: McGraw-Hill Education, Open University Press. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research Methods in Education (6th ed.). New York: Routledge. Ferris, D. R. (2004). The "Grammar Correction" Debate in L2 Writing: Where are we, and where do we go from here? (and what do we do in the meantime ...?). Journal of Second Language Writing, 13(1), 49-62. Fuchs, C., & Sultana Akbar, F. (2013). Use of Technology in an Adult Intensive English Program: Benefits and Challenges. TESOL Quarterly, 47(1), 156–167. Goldstein, L. (2001). For Kyla: What Does the Research Say about Responding to ESL Writers. In T. Silva & P. K. Matsuda (Eds.), On Second Language Writing (pp. 73-89). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hartshorn, K. J., Evans, N. W., Merrill, P. F., Sudweeks, R. R., StrongKrause, D., & Anderson, N. J. (2010). Effects of Dynamic Corrective Feedback on ESL Writing Accuracy. TESOL Quarterly, 44 (1). Hübner, S., Nückles, M., & Renkl, A. (2010). Writing learning journals: Instructional support to overcome learning-strategy deficits. Learning and Instruction, 20(1), 18-29.

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Huot, D., Lemonnier, F. H., & Hamers, J. (2008). ICT and Language Learning at Secondary School. In F. Zhang & B. Barber (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Computer-Enhanced Language Acquisition and Learning (pp. 84-100). New York: Information Science Reference. Hurd, S. (2008). Affect and Strategy Use in Independent Language Learning. In S. Hurd & T. Lewis (Eds.), Language Learning Strategies in Independent Settings (pp. 218-236). Bristol: Cromwell Press Ltd. Hyland, K. (1990). Providing productive feedback. ELT Journal: English Language Teachers Journal, 44(4), 279-285. Hyland, K. (2009). Teaching and researching writing (2nd Edition). London: Pearson Education. Hyland, K., & Hyland, F. (2006). Contexts and issues in feedback on L2 writing: An introduction. In K. Hyland & F. Hyland (Eds.), Feedback in second language writing (pp. 1-19). New York: Cambridge University Press. Ken, C. L. (1990). Feedback in the writing process: A model and methods for implementation. ELT Journal: English Language Teachers Journal, 44(4), 294-304. Liu, M., Moore, Z., Graham, L., & Lee, S. (2003). A look at the research on computer-based technology use in second language learning: A review of the literature from 1990-2000 Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34(3), 250-273. Maftoon, P., & ZareEkbatani, A. (2005). A comparative study of two feedback methods on Iranian EFL learner’s writing skill. Al-Zahra University Journal of Humanities, 15(54), 85-109. Nicol, D. (2010). From monologue to dialogue: improving written feedback processes in mass higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(5), 501-517. —. (2011). Good designs for written feedback for students. In M. Svinicki & W. J. McKeachie (Eds.), Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research and Theories for College and University Teachers (13th ed., pp. 108-124). Belmont, USA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Oxford, R. L. (2003). Toward a More Systematic Model of L2 Learner Autonomy. In D. Palfreyman & R. C. Smith (Eds.), Learner Autonomy across Cultures (pp. 75-91). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. —. (2008). Hero with a Thousand Faces: Learner Autonomy, Learning Strategies and Learning Tactics in Independent Language Learning. In S. Hurd & T. Lewis (Eds.), Language Learning Strategies in Independent Settings (pp. 41-63). Bristol: Cromwell Press Ltd.

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Pennington, M. C. (2003). The impact of the computer in second language writing. In B. Kroll (Ed.), Exploring the Dynamics of Second Langauge Writing (pp. 287-310). New York: Cambridge University Press. Poehner, M. E. (2008). Dynamic Assessment: A Vygotskian Approach to Understanding and Promoting L2 Development. Pennsylvania, USA: Springer. Salaberry, M. R. (2001). The Use of Technology for Second Language Learning and Teaching: A Retrospective. The Modern Language Journal, 85(1), 39-56. Scott, D., Evans, C., Hughes, G., Jane Burke, P., Watson, D., Walter, C., et al. (2011). Facilitating Transitions to Masters-Level Learning: Improving Formative Assessment and Feedback Processes. UK: Higher Education Academy. Scrivener, J. (2005). Learning Teaching (2nd ed.). UK: Macmillan. —. (2011). Learning Teaching: The Essential Guide to English Language Teaching (3rd ed.). Oxford: Macmillan Education. Steffens, K. (2008). Technology Enhanced Learning Environments for self-regulated learning: a framework for research. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 17(3), 221-232. Storch, N., & Wigglesworth, G. (2010). Learners’ processing, uptake, and retention of corrective feedback on writing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 32(2), 303-334. Tardy, C. (2006). Appropriation, ownership, and agency: Negotiating teacher feedback in academic settings. In K. Hyland (Ed.), Feedback in Second Language Writing (pp. 60-78). New York: Cambridge University Press. Thomas, G. (2009). How to Do your Research Project. London: SAGE. Truscott, J. (1996). The case against grammar correction in L2 writing classes. Language Learning, 46, 327–369. —. (2010). Some thoughts on Anthony Bruton's critique of the correction debate. System, In Press, Corrected Proof. Truscott, J., & Hsu, A. Y. (2008). Error correction, revision, and learning. Journal of Second Language Writing, 17, 292–305. Ware, P. D., & Warschauer, M. (2006). Electronic feedback and second language writing. In K. Hyland (Ed.), Feedback in Second Language Writing (pp. 105-122). New York: Cambridge University Press. Zimmerman, B. J., & Schunk, D. H. (2011). Self-regulated learning and performance: An introduction and an overview. In B. J. Zimmerman & D. H. Schunk (Eds.), Handbook of Self-Regulation of Learning and Performance (pp. 1-12). New York: Routledge.

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Appendix A Writing progress log questions 1. In general, are you satisfied with the progress you have made in your writing so far? Please state your opinion and give further details. 2. What useful points about your L2 writing have you learned so far, working with the website? 3. What will you do in the future writing of yours? How will you approach your work in the next drafts? 4. How easy have you found your teacher's e-feedback through marking codes? 5. What have you found useful in the process of writing your drafts, re-drafting and receiving feedback? 6. Has the e-feedback been effective in reducing the number of your spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes? 7. Have the feedback and the subsequent re-drafting had any influence on the ideas, content and organization of your writing? 8. What difficulties or challenges have you faced in your studies over the period when you received electronic feedback? 9. In your opinion, what has been the single most valuable benefit of the e-feedback you have received? 10. Please add any further comments you would like to make here either in English or Farsi.

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Appendix B Semi-structured interview Schedule x E-feedback affordances and limitations 1. Do you think the online electronic feedback system is effective in supporting your learning? In what ways? 2. How do you usually use the online feedback website? 3. Do you have any suggestions about the way the teacher could improve the use of it? 4. What aspect of the electronic feedback have you found most useful? What is the main benefit? 5. What aspects of the electronic feedback do you think are not useful? What is the main limitation? 6. Have you found the online tasks useful in supporting your learning? 7. Can you see the value of the e-feedback and log writing connection with final writing test and for future use? x L2 learners’ perspectives on using e-feedback and their individual differences 1. Do you like learning the way you do through the online feedback website? Is it in the way that you usually prefer to learn writing? If not, why not? 2. Has your English spelling improved? In what ways? How do you know this? 3. Has your use of English grammar improved? In what ways? How do you know this? 4. Do you feel any improvement in the appropriate use of punctuation signs in your writing? In what ways? How do you know this? 5. Are you getting better at brainstorming ideas to include in your essay? In what ways? How have you understood this? 6. Is your ability in developing your ideas in your essay improving? In what ways? How have you understood this? 7. Can you organize your essay more clearly now? In what ways? How have you understood this? Thank you very much. This is the end of the interview. If you wish to add any comments either in English or Persian, now please let me know.

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Appendix C Table of marking codes [/]

Missing Word or Letter

[Inv]

Inversion Needed

[Sp]

Spelling Error Subj. & Verb Disagreement

[??]

Meaningless

[IS]

Incomplete Sentence

[SV]

[^]

Gap

[NP]

New Paragraph

[T]

Tense Error

[AP]

Active-Passive

[NS]

No Shortening

[TL]

Too Long

[Art]

Article Error

[NWD]

Not WellDeveloped

[UBW]

Use a Better Word

[AS]

Adjust the Space

[OT]

Off Topic

[WC]

Wrong Collocation

[Cp]

Capital Letter (Not) Needed

[P]

Punctuation

[WF]

Word Form

[CR]

Consider Revising Here

[PI]

Paraphrase it.

[WO]

Word Order

[CU]

CountableUncountable

[Pp]

Preposition

[WP]

Wrong Phrase

[D]

Disagreement

[R]

Repeated

[WSP]

Wrong Suffix or Prefix

[EQ]

Embedded Question

[Reg]

Register Error

[WW]

Wrong Word

[FS]

Finish the Sentence.

[SOP]

Singular or Plural

[X]

Extra

[G]

Great

[SS]

Sentence Structure Error

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Local Mistakes

Global Mistakes

x New Paragraph x Too Long x Consider Revising

x Meaningless x Not Well Developed x Off Topic N/A

Vocabulary x Register x Wrong Form x Wrong Suffix or Prefix x Wrong Word x Wrong Phrase

N/A

Language Use x Articles x Preposition x Disagreement x Sentence Structure x Word Order x Subject-Verb Agreement x Inversion x Wrong Collocation x Embedded x Active-Passive Question x Countablex Tense Error Uncountable x Singular or Plural

x ‘Great’ applies to any of the categories above.

Organization x Finish Sentence x Incomplete Sentence x Extra

Content x Paraphrase it x Repeated x Use a Better Word

Table of marking codes, categorised into local and global mistakes

Appendix D

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N/A

Mechanics x Missing Letter(s) or Word(s) x Adjust Space x Capitalisation x No Shortening x Punctuation x Spelling x Gap

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Appendix E Writing topics samples Writing Practice 1, Focus: To practice writing an introduction paragraph. You are expected to write your introduction paragraph of about 50-60 words on this topic: People consider living in large cities hard and uncomfortable. Why do you think this is so? Please write just the INTRODUCTION Paragraph with powerful Blueprints. Don't forget to go through the steps discussed in the class. Brainstorm as many ideas as possible in advance! Writing Topic 4, Cambridge IELTS 7, Page 102: Some people think that universities should provide graduates with the knowledge and skills needed in the workplace. Others think that the true function of a university should be to give access to knowledge for its own sake, regardless of whether the course is useful to an employer. What, in your opinion, should be the main function of a university? For the first couple of drafts, please just focus on the introduction paragraph and the outline of the body. When given the approval, then you can write a full-length essay in at least 250 words.

CHAPTER SEVEN CHALLENGE AND CHANGE IN ONLINE READING: LEARNERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF TEXTBOOKS AND READING ONLINE— A CASE STUDY IN THE UAE RICHARD PEEL HIGHER COLLEGES OF TECHNOLOGY, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Abstract Online reading occupies an ever-increasing role of the curriculum, and engaging the students in this medium is a key component of course delivery. However, are students fully engaged in the medium, are there still challenges to be met, and is the textbook really obsolete? To form a partial response to these questions, this chapter sought to gauge students’ opinions of the usefulness of both textbook and online reading in the blended learning environment of my institution. Both are used in similar measure, and I wished to establish if these apparently techsavvy students still found textbooks a useful reading resource, or if they had become an anachronism in the digital age. The study, via focus groups, elicited students’ feelings towards both traditional textbooks and online reading (via the Internet and through programmes such as BlackBoard Vista [BBV]), and tried to ascertain possible reasons for such evaluations and suggest recommendations for the future. The results reveal that though students acknowledge the usefulness of online reading courses in certain contexts, they also strongly feel that textbooks remain an important reading resource. The study is interpretative and qualitative in terms of data collection, focus groups being felt the best way to gather rich data in the time available. As the data emerged, however, its nature lent

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itself to a quantitative analysis, rather than the expected interpretative approach. Key words: Online reading, Online learning, Textbooks, Arab learners, Tertiary education

Introduction ΍ήѧϗ·, ("Read"), is the first word in the Holy Qur’an, and its importance is not lost on students and teachers in the UAE. Yet students in the UAE (and indeed wider Arab World) often read little, and as a consequence are poor readers, even in their mother tongue, let alone second languages such as English (Kandil, 2001; Shannon, 2003; Al Khoury & Duzgun, 2009, pp. 27 - 28). The students’ reading competence in the tertiary institution in this study echoes that (O’Sullivan, 2009, p. 44; Ross and Nelson, 2009, p. 9; King, 2009, p. 149). The digital age, with widespread use of laptops and digital hand held devices such as iPads, Blackberries, etc, has changed the educational landscape forever, and in a wealthy country such as the UAE, their use is widespread. Observers here will notice students are reading much of the time - possibly more than ever - via laptops and hand-held devices. Institutionally, it appears a given that our students are highly techsavvy and the increasing use of online courses - even for students who are physically present in class - and the rolling back of textbooks reflect that. But despite the institutional assumption that our seemingly confident digital students prefer working online, even in the classroom, do the students themselves feel that reading online has replaced the textbook as a means of education? This case study seeks to explore that question, albeit on a small scale. The paper will provide some background to the reading context of our students, examining the current state of reading in the Arab World as a whole, and focusing on the local situation here in the UAE, and at the higher educational institution where the research was conducted. Reading online and in textbooks will be looked at in a brief review of the literature, and arguments for both presented. The paper will then go on to discuss the student sample, methodology, procedure and results of this case study. Finally, implications of the study regarding reading programmes will be examined, and future possibilities examined.

Reading and Literacy in the Arab World The Arab World suffers from a level of illiteracy far worse than other regions (Arab Human Development Report [AHDR], 2002, pp. 3, 51), and

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currently is over 29% (AHDR, 2009, p. 115). Here in the UAE, the illiteracy rate was given as 26% for males and 22% for women (AHDR 2002, p. 151), although more recent figures show the overall literacy rate has improved – just over 11% of the population is illiterate (AHDR, 2009, p. 253). Notably, there are significantly fewer books published in the Arab World compared to other regions, and “the production of books … in Arab countries … [is] …less than the production of a country such as Turkey, with a population one quarter of that of Arab countries” (Arab Human Development Report, 2003, p. 4), with censorship and bureaucracy serving to “limit the diffusion of printed Arab knowledge content” (Arab Knowledge Report 2009, p. 66). Translation of books is also staggeringly low, with “…the number of books translated into Arabic every year in the entire Arab world … [being]… one-fifth the number translated by Greece into Greek” (The Economist, 2009). Newspaper readership is also low, with “… less than 53 newspapers per 1000 Arab citizens, compared to 285 papers per 1000 people in developed countries” (Arab Human Development Report, 2003, p. 59), and this number appears to be declining to barely 50 (Arab Knowledge Report 2010/11, p. 53). Internet use and PC ownership is also low in the Arab World – less than half, proportionally, of regions such as Latin America, and a fraction of Western countries (Arab Human Development Report, 2002, pp. 75 – 76), though in the UAE, PC ownership at 33% is higher than many other Arab countries (Arab Knowledge Report 2010/11, p. 77), and all students at the institution in the study have laptops. For Arabs, the low literacy rates, lack of reading material in L1 and paucity of reading material available to them is further exacerbated by the diglossic nature of Arabic – spoken local Arabic is vastly different from written Arabic, and can cause difficulty for Arab readers (Ferguson, 1959, pp. 348 – 355; Ayari, 1996, pp. 243 – 252; Arab Human Development Report, 2003, p. 7).

The Local Context In studies conducted in the UAE, there is evidence that students, even at University level, read little outside the classroom (Taylor, 2008; Jazzar, 1991). Classroom reading therefore becomes extremely important; teachers cannot assume students are reading widely in their free time, as may be the case in other societies. Another issue is the tendency to read intensively, rather than extensively, as Kandil (2001) has noted. In doing this, and focusing on

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every word, students’ reading speed is slowed down, and this inhibits the development of skills such as skimming and scanning. A lexical deficit is also a barrier to local students’ reading skills as some, such as O’Sullivan has noted: “…in order to address the reading deficit of many [of our] students we need to look at vocabulary and lexis” (O’Sullivan, 2009, p. 48). A further, under-reported phenomenon is the lack of global/general knowledge in their own language, which links directly to their lack of reading in L1 and has a ‘domino effect’ in consequent lack of understanding when reading in L2. As O’Sullivan notes in an earlier paper: “Many UAE students appear to lack certain general background knowledge and global awareness that could facilitate their English reading development.” (2004, p. 46). In my IELTS preparation classes, there is evidence of this. Some of the topics that come up in IELTS texts – science topics such as nuclear power, photosynthesis, etc are not always understood - even when translated to Arabic - and geographical knowledge and world history are also lacking. With this low level of general knowledge, students have problems dealing with the Academic Reading paper in IELTS, which is the exit point gatekeeper of the Foundations programme at the institution in this study. For the reasons stated above, it is therefore important that students are engaged by the reading material they are presented with in class, and feel it relevant to their studies. It needs to interest them and provide not only opportunities to improve their reading skills, but as much as possible provide them with the general knowledge, global awareness and schemata they will need to successfully tackle academic texts. Their perceptions of the usefulness, relevance and appeal of the reading material presented to them – whether online or in a textbook – is, therefore, important, and will be the focus of this study.

The Local Teaching Context This study was conducted at a large educational institution (over 19,000 students at 17 men’s and women’s campuses across the country) in the UAE which offers English-taught programmes in Applied Communications, Business, Engineering, Information Technology (IT), Health Sciences and Education at various levels. There is a strong emphasis on technology, online courses, and project-based learning, and all students have their own laptops, which has been policy for several years.

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The research participants in this paper are all students from the Foundations course of the Bachelor’s programme, which is a two year presessional course aimed at getting students to a level of English proficiency where they will be able to tackle the academic content of their chosen Bachelor’s programme. As mentioned earlier, the exit point for the Foundations course is the IELTS Academic Test and students must obtain an overall band 5.0 to leave Foundations and move on to their chosen Bachelor’s course. Approximately 70% of our students are successful in this (2011/2012 results). Many - if not all - of the courses are online at the institution, and the most widely used programme to present online reading is Blackboard Vista (BBV – see Appendix A for sample readings). Textbooks are also widely used as part of a blended learning approach, combining face-to-face teaching via textbooks and online reading in class, and (largely) online reading out of the classroom as part of project work etc, though there is also project work involving paper-based texts newspaper reading, for example.

The Students The students at the colleges are all Emirati nationals, though many have non-Emirati mothers, some being from non-Gulf Arab states such as Egypt but a large number being from the Indian sub-continent and other non-Arab countries. Moreover, children are often looked after by housemaids/nannies, which again are usually from South or South East Asia (Indonesian, Indian, Sri Lankan or Filipina). Indeed, a monolithic allArabic speaking Emirati household seems rare – the number of foreign domestic workers is 20% of the expatriate workforce – the same percentage as the indigenous Emirati population – and actually outnumbers them in 22% of Emirati households (Gulf News, 2/5/12). These factors may have an effect on students’ language proficiency in Arabic, and particularly their reading skills, as noted by Peel, (2004, pp. 83 - 4), and more recently Troudi and Jendli (2011, pp. 32-33) who cite evidence that Arabic language skills are being eroded partly due to the number of non-Arab members of UAE households.

The Digital Landscape and Online Reading In the digital world, there are three types of readers/learners, and they have been defined in terms of information and communication technology (ICT) as digital natives, digital immigrants and analogues (Prensky, 2001; John & Wheeler, 2008). The assumption may be that younger, more tech-

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savvy readers make up the bulk of the former, while the latter is comprised of an older population. Digital natives are primarily younger people who grew up in the digital age and generally find themselves comfortable using ICT. Their parents, and older people in general, may be digital immigrants – that is, in their schooling they had either no computers or primitive computers. However, they have made the effort to learn the digital culture, and are able to speak its language. The third group - analogues - are digitally illiterate, or struggle to use ICT with difficulty. In many cases, they have spent most of their lives without ICT and see it as irrelevant or of little interest to them. The digital age and online learning/reading promised to bring about a sea change in human development. Microsoft National Technology Officer Jerry Fishenden on his New Technologies blog declared: “The move to the digital era could be as democratizing as the birth of the printing press in the 15th Century.” (Thomas et al., 2007, p. 1)

The technological advancement has led to eulogies about the importance of ICT and using computers/laptops as learning tools. The following is typical: “…access by students to computers, on a one-to one basis, can lead to a dramatic transformation in the nature of their learning ... with their own portable computers … [students] … become fluent in the new mediums. They do more and better writing, more and better projects, more and better presentations, more collaborative work at school, and more homework (at home). They do fewer mindless tasks, like copying notes from the board (downloading them instead from the school website) and watch far less TV. Girls no longer have to compete for access with boys, and vault ahead as a result. Children with learning difficulties gain self-esteem from their work because it looks just as good as everybody else’s” (Johnstone, 2003, p. 1).

However, as in the above case, these are often appraisals of the benefits to native speakers, not of second language learners who are our students here. There appear to be very few studies that have shown ESL learners being similarly positive about online reading, and comparing the two mediums as in this study. Sutherland-Smith’s study (2002) is one, however, and she reported finding a clear majority of students (27 as opposed to 19) preferring the Internet over books in a classroom reading project. Early on, however, others were doubtful of classroom use of ICT, fearing the digital classroom would lead to an impoverishment of English,

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with an inability to read deeply or at length, poorer writing skills, and superficial understanding (Birkerts, 1994; Postman, 1995). Some more recent studies have shown students do not always prefer online reading. Liu (2006), for example, found that although graduates liked the convenient access to online resources, they preferred to print them out to read them. Woody (2010) also found a strong preference for course textbooks over e-books. Others have seen problems in using laptops for reading and learning in general. Weaver and Nilson (2005, p. 3) cite a number of US studies that have turned against laptop learning due to “the amount of Web surfing, emailing and cheating going on in class”, and noting that others “have sought to reduce these problems with restrictive software” (ibid). Such is the case in my own institution, which has tried, with some success, to prevent access to chat programs such as MSN Messenger, and to restrict browsing via Lockdown Browser use during tests, etc. Laptops have been banned in classrooms/lectures in a number of wellknown educational institutions. The University of Chicago Law School, Harvard, Yale, Georgetown and Stanford are just a few examples. Reasons for the ban have been that they distract not just the laptop user, but other students, and even those taking notes on the laptop do not listen and digest the lecture content – paper note-taking seems more selective and leads to a deeper understanding of content (Wattwood, 2007; Cole, 2008; de Vise, 2010). Even pro-laptop enthusiasts, such as Kim (2010), writing in response to de Vise’s article, have begun to recognize the importance of ‘lids down’ times during lectures and in the classroom.

Online and Textbook Reading – Key Differences There is a clear difference between the two media as has been noted by a number of authors. Online text is “no longer contained between the covers or by the limits of the page” (Merchant, 2007, p. 243). Texts “become interwoven in … complex ways through the use of devices such as textual hyperlinks and commentary tracks” (ibid). It is often continuously updated, especially in certain areas such as news sites, and is not space bound (Corbel, 1999). Online reading involves scrolling, and is fluid, interactive and non-linear. For these reasons, it is a more cognitively complex process than print reading (Coiro & Dobler, 2007). Paper, on the other hand, is non-interactive, linear-sequential and static as Smith (2002, p. 55) notes.

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Though online texts are fluid in the sense that they can be interwoven with hyperlinks to transcend the boundary of conventional written text, this is not always the case with BlackBoard Vista (BBV), which is a much more controlled environment than the Internet. BBV is not as interactive as the Web, but rather a shell, to which material is uploaded – in our case, by teaching faculty. In many ways, it is more a repository than an interactive resource, and may share some properties of paper-based texts. In some cases, what the student is reading is essentially a Word document (or similar) in an online context. It is important to note that though there is some ‘freer’ online searching and project work as part of students’ studies, this is generally carefully controlled to take into consideration the students’ level of English.

The Study Description of the Study The research question was: what are students’ perceptions of both types of reading text – online and textbook – in terms of usefulness to their studies? A qualitative approach was felt to be the best way to approach this question, as outlined below.

Methodology A qualitative approach to data collection was chosen, and initially interviews were thought the ideal rich data gathering vehicle, with probing and asking clarifying questions of the student sample getting far ‘deeper’ into students’ feelings than - for example - a survey. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, it was not possible to conduct interviews, and therefore two focus groups (both the classes I was teaching) were chosen as a means of obtaining data in a timely manner. I decided to use two groups to counter claims that just one group’s data “is unique to the behavior of the group” (Cohen et al, 2007, p. 377). Though the classes were larger than the suggested maximum of twelve (Morgan, 1988, p. 44), the fact that the students knew each other well and were comfortable in their interactions would help balance charges that the group was too unwieldy in terms of numbers. Additionally, as the group was minimally ‘managed’ by a facilitator who presented the research questions to which the groups’ views were required, this steered the groups from getting off topic or being dominated by individuals.

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A further reason to adopt focus groups as a means of data collection was to offset inequalities of power between the researcher and the participants. As both a teacher and a male in a still-traditional and patriarchal society, there could be a perceived imbalance of power between the students and myself, the researcher. The focus group allows students to interact with each other, with just occasional facilitation from the researcher, whereas a one-to-one interview is potentially more threatening to the participant, with more power skewed in favour of the researcher who may - albeit unconsciously – dominate the interviewee which may inhibit her responses, no matter how much care is taken to make the subjects comfortable and relaxed (Cohen et al., 2007, p. 376). As will be discussed later, as the data emerged and was examined, it became clear that, paradoxically, a quantitative approach to presenting the data was more appropriate. Focus groups lie under the aegis of constructionist epistemology and the interpretivist paradigm, and the researcher is a key part of the data gathering in such qualitative research, and as such has the responsibility of providing as much data about the research sample and background information as possible. Identifying personal background, biases, agendas, etc are important, as it is through the researcher’s interpretative lens the reader is privy to the data and conclusions drawn (Cresswell, 2009, pp. 177, 192). The former (background information) I hope I have already addressed, the latter (biases, etc) I intend to make clear later in this paper. I have spent a long time in the field teaching Emirati women (over 10 years), and have taught these particular groups in the study for almost a full academic year. I have taught many of their sisters, relatives and friends over the years, and these factors combined lead me to believe this was a strong position to conduct research of this nature due to the atmosphere of trust and confidentiality created (Cresswell, 2009, p. 192), which would hopefully produce candid responses from the participants. In qualitative research, data is reported via the participants’ (and often the researcher’s) observations, interviews, etc, and the focus is often on participants’ perceptions and feelings. Though the major research tool here is the focus groups I employed, anecdotal observation supports the main findings. As the data was collected, it became apparent that many of my initial assumptions about how the data would evolve and be interpreted would change. The focus group data that emerged was largely self-categorized by the participants into what they liked and what they did not like about each medium. Within these positive and negative opinions of both text formats, it became apparent that an interpretive approach was no longer the best

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way to present the findings. Such a qualitative approach aims to bring meaning to a situation via interpreting data, rather than the search for ‘truth’ focused on by quantitative research, but the participants were providing a very clear ‘truth’ in their feelings about the two mediums – it was not necessary for it to be ‘interpreted’. What they had effectively done in giving such clear and unequivocal opinions was more akin to the responses of a survey, rather than any qualitative research method. I therefore decided to tabulate and present the results as per quantitative data. This is not a conventional approach to methodology, but for the reasons I have outlined I felt this was the clearest and most succinct means to analyse and present the data.

The student sample The student sample consisted of both my classes (called Group A and Group B in this study). I regarded them as good candidates for the research as I had been teaching them for almost a full academic year, and we had developed a strong relationship of trust, cordiality and mutual respect, so I considered these factors to be important in terms of the credibility of the study in terms of accuracy of information and minimizing biases. Convenience was an added factor – data could be collected from the group without the need to disrupt other teachers’ classes. The students were women, mainly aged 18 – 25, in full-time employment. Given their age and their widespread use of technology (Blackberry mobile devices, laptops, etc), they were assumed to be ‘digital natives’ (Prensky, 2001). A couple of students were older, however, and therefore likely ‘digital immigrants’, which I would need to take into account when interpreting the results. Most held clerical/office positions, entering data, etc. As mentioned before, they were in the Foundations program of a Bachelor’s degree course, which had an exit band of IELTS band 5.0 (an overall aggregate band). Students generally tend to do well in speaking, and many students who achieve the required aggregated IELTS band 5.0 do so with a much lower reading band between 3.5 and 4.5.

Data collection Students were informed of the nature of the research and given documents outlining its purpose and methodology, including the fact that the feedback sessions would be recorded but the data would be used anonymously. They were then asked to sign a consent form after being fully briefed and asked if they had any questions about the research.

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Participants were asked to express their feelings on current and previous textbooks/online and BBV learning, in two focus groups. The current textbooks used by the classes for reading skills are Reading Explorer 2 (Heinle) and Achieve IELTS (Marshall Cavendish). In the feedback sessions, the students were asked to think wider than the current semester’s use of textbooks/online material/BBV, and get a ‘big picture’ view of how they felt about reading online and reading via a textbook. All the students in this study had already spent a full semester reading a variety of other textbooks and online resources, and it was their general perceptions of the medium that were sought, not just their feelings for specific books/courses. The original plan was to put texts from the book onto BBV for students as a way to compare the mediums, but this was abandoned due to issues of copyright. It was however, possible to print out copies of texts on BBV and for students to read hard copies. Though not an explicit part of the research, students had asked for this on a number of occasions in both classes and in classes in previous years, and this observation added to the body of evidence gathered via the focus groups that some learners had a preference for the tactile nature of a hard copy. The focus groups involved the participation of the whole class, and students were asked to give their opinions of textbooks they had used at College, and also the reading they do online on the Internet and in BBV. The researcher prompts were as minimal as possible (see Appendix B). The entire feedback session was recorded onto an MP3 player. Researcher input was intended to be as minimal as possible – feedback was asked for regarding both types of text format, and though there were occasional follow-up clarification questions, both groups were able to give continuous feedback for between 10 and 15 minutes.

Data analysis procedure Having recorded the focus group feedback sessions, all the responses were transcribed. It was decided to codify all the responses following guidelines by Cresswell (2009, pp. 185 - 7) and Cohen et al. (2007, p. 184). It was at this stage it became apparent the data would be better presented quantitatively. As mentioned earlier, the clarity of the responses were more like those of a survey, than of a typical qualitative research method. Though I followed through in teasing out themes in the data in terms of categories of responses, it was decided to tabulate and present them as in quantitative data, to ‘measure’ the perceptions of the participants (Cresswell, 2009, p. 20). Initially, responses were divided into

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negative and positive evaluations about both forms of text and categorized thematically. The themes that emerged from the responses were categorized as follows: Positives: 1. good learning aid (both mediums) 2. ease of use (both mediums) and negatives: 1. technical problems (online only) 2. difficult to use (online only) 3. learner unfriendly (both mediums) 4. ‘time wasting’ (online only) 5. limited source of information (books only) It could be argued there might be some ‘drift’ between categories, and some appear similar, but nevertheless, the big picture of what students felt about each medium was clear. It was decided to attribute no more than one negative/positive comment to each student, so an individual student could have up to four comments – i.e. one negative/one positive for both types of text. This was done to guard against ‘outliers’ (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 269) who had strongly held views and could skew the data, by making multiple negative or positive comments about a certain medium, though in practice, this only occurred with 2 students in both groups. This was hoped to make the data as democratic as possible, allowing for quiet/shy students, who though they would get a voice in an interview, might struggle to do so in a focus group. I decided to tabulate the results for reader clarity (see figures, 1 - 3). Out of a total of 42 students, 39 responded and gave an opinion on at least one medium. Only 3 students did not contribute comments. Sample responses and how they were categorized are included in Appendix C. Overleaf are tables showing the responses of both groups combined and charts which illustrate the responses as percentages. As this was not a comparative study, the two groups were amalgamated in the presentation and analysis of the data.

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Figure 1: Groups A and B - table of responses Online positive Good educational aid for reading Ease of use

# Responses 3

Reasons given can revise by doing quizzes several times (BBV) testing good see results can copy and paste answer

-

5 TOTAL Online negative Technical problems Difficult to use

8 # Responses 5 20

Learner unfriendly 8 “Time wasting” TOTAL Book positive Ease of use

3 36 # Responses 7

Reasons given network problems can’t make notes tiring on the eye opening two pages (BBV) can’t revise from it ‘harder’ without asking teachers questions no recycling of vocabulary (BBV) boring --------Reasons given wireless (!) ease of work group ‘goes in the mind quickly’ easy to revise easy to ask questions more facts than online -

-

Good educational aid for reading TOTAL Book negative Limited source of information Learner unfriendly TOTAL

22 29 # Responses 2 1 3

Reasons given -

more information online (though not BBV) no photographs

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Figure 2: Grooups A and B - overview of positive p and neggative responsees for both mediums

oks -, 4% Boo

Online + , 11% Online e+ Online e-

Books +, 39%

Online - , % 46%

Books + Books -

Figure 3: Grooups A and B - Positive and d negative respponses for both h mediums grouped them matically

Limited Good aid for Learner source of 4 reading, 4% unfriendly, n, information 1% Ease of use e, 3% 7%

Ease of use Difficult to use

Ease of use, 9% Good d aid fo or reading, 29% %

G Good aid for reading r

Difficultt to use, 27 7%

"Tiime Learner wastin ng", 4% unfrriendly, 1 11%

TTechnical problems Learner unfrie endly "Time wastingg"

Tecchnical problems, 5%

G Good aid for reading r Ease of use

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Textbooks Textbooks were popular for the focus groups - 39% of the comments (29 individual participants) were in favour of books and only 4% (3 comments) negative. Positive comments expressed were mainly that it was thought a good aid for reading, specific comments mentioning the use of photographs and clear explanations of vocabulary. Others detailed the benefits of books as being easy to revise from, that it was easy to ask questions (to the teacher presumably, though why this is not possible with online reading is not mentioned), and that there are more facts than online - possibly the respondents meant facts are more accessible in a textbook. Several respondents liked the ease of use as books, a couple interestingly liked them for ease of group work, and two other respondents humorously drew attention to the fact that books are truly ‘wireless’, and do not even require electricity! The negative comments conversely focused on a lack of photographs and that books were a limited source of information.

Online reading Online reading was far less popular – it attracted just 11% of comments in its favour (8 comments), but students liked the speed of finding information and felt that it was a good testing resource, for example in BBV tests. However, the overwhelming response for online reading was negative – 36 comments, or 46% of the total, disliked it for a variety of reasons – technical problems such as logging in or connectivity issues, user unfriendliness such as a small typeface or viewing different windows simultaneously, and a lack of focus leading to what students called ‘time wasting’. Students commented on finding online reading tiring on the eyes, that they were unable to make notes on it like a textbook, that it was difficult to revise from and ‘boring’. There was also a very perceptive point from a student showing a metacognitive awareness of the lack of recycling of vocabulary in online learning (such as our in-house BBV course) something which is typically addressed in good ESL/EFL textbooks. Interestingly, some comments appeared contradictory. For example, in Group A, both positive and negative comments were expressed regarding photographs in textbooks – some saying the books made good use of them, another saying there were not enough. In both groups, photographs were seen as a positive learning aid and the lack of them as negative. The

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following section will attempt to tease out some of the possible reasons for such findings.

Findings The ‘big picture’ is self-evident from the data analysis: amongst this sample, there was a strong preference for textbooks over online reading sources for both groups. Large numbers of students in each group found the online reading, such as BBV ‘difficult to use’. Given my assumption that the students were largely tech-savvy digital natives, this was surprising. Possible explanations are that the students are less digitally dexterous than initially assumed. A few students are older, and are possibly digital immigrants, but this still does not explain the lack of enthusiasm for online reading. Though all have laptops, mobile hand-held devices such as Blackberries, and generally work with ICT at work, perhaps their range of digital mastery is limited. Anecdotally, I have come across evidence of this in class. Though very quick with day-to-day applications, perhaps more academic or less-common uses of the technology are alien to many of the students. As a case in point, as part of recent project work, two of my current groups had recorded interviews on hand-held mobile devices, which they had to download to their laptops. To my surprise, only a few knew how to download files via Bluetooth (and many did not know how to do so via a USB), and none out of over 40 students knew how to compress a file. From the positive comments about books, many students clearly felt it was easier to revise from books, to take notes, and they felt more ‘focused’. They have a point. Online reading such as BBV is paradoxically highly ‘screen bound’ – students are focused on the ‘here and now’ of the reading text on screen, and it can be a cumbersome process to click back to previous readings, to refer to previous vocabulary etc.. Though the ‘My grades’ and ‘My progress’ icons allow students to view individual grades and know which assessments they have done, and courses have a contents page (See Appendix A, Fig.3) it does not allow them to see the actual reading: they have to click their way through the online course to find it. Similarly, unless the course has been well-sign-posted in advance, they cannot always get a clear overview of the curriculum (Appendix A, figure 3 is actually a well-signposted example, figure 4 less so). The print icon gives an overview of units but not individual readings and reading assessments. This has caused some teachers to print out an entire online course and hand it out in hard copy, to aid students with an overview of the content, though this could hardly be called ‘online reading’ any longer.

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In a textbook, it is far easier and faster to flick through the pages to refer back to previous units, know where you are going, and use contents pages/indexes/vocabulary boxes and grammar glossaries as easily referable aids in the reading process, and anecdotally students have told me of this several times in class. Certainly, there are programmes that they could be using as online/software applications – online dictionaries, One Note etc, but despite some training in their use, most students seemed to be more comfortable with the textbook. The feelings of students who liked books for group work in Group B appears to dovetail with the remarks mentioned earlier by Wattwood (2007), Cole (2008) and de Vise (2010) that laptops may not just be a distraction for individuals, but also their peers – a textbook actually becomes a more ‘shareable’ resource as the students are more spatially bonded to its intrinsically less ‘fluid’ nature. Learning styles may also be a factor. Even strong advocates of online learning acknowledge that some learners, such as kinaesthetic learners, may prefer to touch and try things out (Bonk & Zhang: 2008, p. 183). Online simulations, scenarios, etc may satisfy such learners, but from the feedback from the students in this study, it seems reasonable to assume some students enjoy the physical dimensions of paper text and textbooks. This is, however, a small scale study of just 42 participants, and does not attempt to extrapolate the findings to a larger population, with claims of external validity (Cohen et al., 2007, p.136). It may just be these students that feel this way, and other classes would produce contradictory data. Nevertheless, both groups in the study expressed similar opinions and there was a clear pattern to the findings.

Pedagogical Implications It is clear books remain popular among students in this particular case study. There may be a number of factors behind this. Previous learning experiences, associating books with the mode of study, may be one. That despite appearing to be digital natives, students in fact have a rather limited digital skills repertoire, may be another. The role of the teacher may also be crucial – use of textbooks tend to involve more teacherstudent interaction – elicitation of lexis, concept checking, questioning, and lockstep elements such as reading aloud. Some students will simply like this increased teacher participation/interaction and the consequent teacher-specific motivational factors to the learner – the relationship with the students, teacher personality, etc (Williams & Burden, 1997, p. 140; Dornyei, 2001, pp. 31 - 38). Reading online, for students with lower levels

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of English such as the ones in the study, typically involves less teacher interaction, and may cause students to become overwhelmed and lost, or simply drift in the online environment. As Sutherland Smith (2002, p. 63) states, echoing several of the students’ comments in the study: “Students appeared to lack a focus and a sense of purpose on the Internet, which they could demonstrate in the paper-text environment”. Though reading courses such as BBV are not as ‘free’ as the Web, nevertheless the problem of ‘drift’ and a lack of focus exist, and there is always the temptation when online to move onto some more ‘entertaining’ aspects of the medium – chatting with friends, YouTube, social media sites such as Facebook, etc. Much of the literature on the benefits of online learning (e.g. Bonk, 2008; John & Wheeler, 2008; Johnstone, 2003, Nilson & Weaver, 2005) focus on the benefits for L1 learners. For L2 learners, care must be taken to ensure materials selected/written for online reading are at the right level. For textbooks, this is somewhat easier – the material is professionally produced by a publisher and clearly aimed at a particular level of student. Online materials, especially in-house teacher-produced material such as on BBV, may not be so precise. Though a few students did enjoy the freedom of the Internet and the huge choice of information available, low level L2 learners run the risk of getting ‘lost’ amongst what has been termed ‘the vast tundra of knowledge’ that is the Internet (www.urban dictionary.com, 2005), and the colossal amount of irrelevant information. For lower levels in particular, such as my students with an IELTS academic reading level of less than 5.0, any ‘free’ navigation of the Internet for extensive reading for projects is likely to cause difficulties. Careful frontloading of skills such as paraphrasing, navigation and other online skills are essential, and perhaps also actually selecting and pre-teaching from specific websites. Students did enjoy aspects of BBV, particularly the quizzes in the reading comprehensions, so this is something that should be focused on in future, along with more photographs/visual material, which students liked and some felt needed more inclusion in the online material. Online reading is an intrinsic part of the curriculum, and is increasingly used in testing, so it is important students are fully functional in this medium and it becomes more attractive to them than the data revealed in this study. However, it is probably erroneous to see books and online reading as entirely different mediums. A convergence of the mediums, a blurring and blending of both book and online reading is currently occurring. New reading technology actually simulates the book reading experience, in devices such as e-readers. They look - and even sound - like a book, with

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page-turning sound effects, though they can also be zoomed, and have features of the Internet such as hyperlinks. Likewise, modern textbooks – such as the ones mentioned earlier in the paper – increasingly have interactive CD ROMS, online support courses and additional resources online, so the line between textbooks and online courses is becoming blurred. This seems to be the direction the future will take, a blending between the two, which will take account of different learning styles and allow the benefits of textbooks, teacher interaction and online courses. Books may still be preferred by kinaesthetic and other learners, however, even with the incorporation of book-like features into online applications. The digital native/immigrant/ analogue landscape is not necessarily a technology-versus-book issue, nor young versus old, but a more complex picture may emerge, taking account of learning styles. Online learning will undoubtedly become increasingly important in reading and education in general, and being sensitive to students’ needs and experiences – such as exemplified in this study – is important. Despite some of the students’ concerns in this study, the question as to whether to incorporate online learning is no longer valid – we have moved far beyond that point. Rather, as Rosenberg (2001, p. xvii) asked over a decade ago: “The question is no longer whether they will implement online learning, but whether they will do it well… An effective e-learning strategy must be more than the technology or the content it carries”.

References Arab Human Development Report (2002). New York: UNDP. —. (2003). New York: UNDP. —. (2009). New York: UNDP. Arab Knowledge Report (2009) Dubai: MBRF/UNDP. —. (2010/11) Dubai: MBRF/UNDP. Ayari. S. (1996). Diglossia and Illiteracy in the Arab World in Language. Culture and Curriculum Volume 9(3), 243-253. Birkerts, S. (1994). The Gutenberg Elegies: The fate of reading in an electronic age. Boston: Faber and Faber. Bonk, C. & Zhang, K. (2008). Empowering Online Learning. San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass. Burke, A. & Rowsell, J. (2008). “Screen pedagogy: Challenging perceptions of digital reading practice,” Changing English. Studies in Culture & Education, 15(4), 445–456. Available at:

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http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a906476851~db =all, accessed 12 November 2012. Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2007). Research Methods in Education. London: Routledge. Coiro, J. and Dobler, E. (2007). “Exploring the online reading comprehension strategies used by sixth–grade skilled readers to search for and locate information on the Internet”. Reading Research Quarterly, 42(2), 214–257, and at http://www.jstor.org/stable/4151792, accessed 11 October 2012. Corbel, C. (1999). Computer literacies: Working efficiently with electronic texts. Sydney: NCELTR. Cole, D. (2008). Why I Ban Laptops in My Classroom. Available at: http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/10/why-i-ban-laptops-in-myclassroom/ Retrieved 24/02/13. Cresswell, J. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Method Approaches. CA: Sage. De Vise, D. (2010). Laptops in class: tool or distraction? Washington. Washington Post, 9/3/11. Available at: http://voices.washingtonpost .com/college-inc/2010/03/laptops_in_class_have_we_creat.htm Retrieved 28/01/13. —. (2010). Wide Web of diversions gets laptops evicted from lecture halls Washington. Washington Post 9/3/11. Available at: http://www. washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/08/AR2010030 804915.html?referrer=emailarticle Retrieved 28/11/12. Dornyei, Z. (2001). Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The Economist (23/7/09). Special Report: The Arab World. Available at: http://www.economist.com/node/14027674 Retrieved 21/03/13. Ferguson, C. (1959). Diglossia in Sociolinguistics: The Essential Readings. In Paulston, C.B. and Tucker, G.R (2003) Oxford: Blackwell. Fishenden, J. (2007) http://ntouk.wordpress.com/, cited in Thomas S. et al (2007) Transliteracy: Crossing divides. First Monday Online Journal, 12(12). December 2007. Available at: http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/ 2060/1908 Retrieved 22/01/13. Gulf News (02/05/12). Domestic workers get more protection from exploitation. Available at: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/employment/domestic-workers-getmore-protection-from-exploitation-1.1016692 Retrieved 22/03/13. Jazzar, M. (1991). A probe into Arab home literacy and its impact on college students’ reading ability in Arabic and English. Unpublished

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doctoral dissertation, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (UMI No. 9132157). John, P.D. and Wheeler, S. (2008). The Digital Classroom. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. Johnstone, B. (2003). Never Mind the Laptops. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse. Kandil, A. (2001) Reading Speed and Arab Students in The Process of Language Learning: An EFL Perspective. In Z. Syed, (Ed.). Conference Proceedings, Teacher-to-Teacher Conference (p. 211 – 237), Military Language Institute, Abu Dhabi: UAE. Khoury, S. and Duzgun, S. (2009). Reading Habits of young Emirati Women from the East Coast in Cultivating Real Readers. Abu Dhabi: HCT Press. Kim, J. (9/3/10). Laptop Bans are a Terrible Idea. Inside Higher Ed. Available at: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology_and_learning/laptop _bans_are_a_terrible_idea#ixzz1eSIofC9K . Retrieved 8/02/13. King, M. (2009). Intervention Strategies: Students at Risk in Cultivating Real Readers. Abu Dhabi: HCT Press. Liu, Z. (2006). Print vs. electronic resources: A study of user perceptions, preferences, and use. Information Processing & Management, 42(2). Available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030645730500004X Retrieved 19/01/13. Merchant, G. (2007). Mind the Gap(s): discourse and discontinuity in digital literacies. E-Learning, 4(3). Available at: www.wwwords.co.uk/ELEA Retrieved 18/01/13. Miles, M. B., and Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Morgan, D. L. (1988). Focus groups as qualitative research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Nilson, L., & Weaver, B. (2005). Enhancing learning with laptops in the classroom: New directions for teaching and learning, 101.San Francisco CA: Wiley Periodicals Inc. O’Sullivan, A. (2004). Reading and Arab College Students - Issues in the United Arab Emirates Higher Colleges of Technology. Available at: http://bath.academia.edu/AndrewOSullivan/Papers/1056633/Reading_ and_Arab_college_students_Issues_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates_Hi gher_Colleges_of_Technology Retrieved 27/02/13. —. (2009). Reading in the Gulf: Is it time for a Re-focus? In Cultivating Real Readers. Abu Dhabi: HCT Press.

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Peel, R. (2004). The Internet and language use: A case study in the United Arab Emirates. Paris, UNESCO. Postman, N. (1995). Virtual students: Digital classroom. The Nation (9/10/95), 261: 377 – 382. Available at: http://www.thenation.com/archive/virtual-students-digital-classroom Retrieved 02/03/13. Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Game-Based Learning. New York: McGrawHill. Rosenberg. M. J. (2001). e-Learning: Strategies for delivering knowledge in the Digital Age. New York: McGraw-Hill. Ross, A. & Nelson, M. (2009). Social networking and reading: A learning centre initiative in cultivating real readers. Abu Dhabi: HCT Press. Shannon, J. (2003). Getting Gulf students to enjoy reading. Perspectives 11(1), 21 - 24 Sutherland-Smith, W. (2002). Web-text: Perceptions of digital reading in the ESL classroom. Prospect, 17(1). April 2002. Sydney: Macquarie University Press. Taylor, M. (2008). Orthographic and phonological awareness among L1 Arabic ESL learners: A quasi-experimental study. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Phoenix, Arizona. Available at: http://books.google.ae/books?id=2hbNyzQ2_aYC&printsec=frontcove r#v=onepage&q&f=false Retrieved 20/3/12. Thomas, S. et al (2007). Transliteracy: Crossing divides. First Monday, 12(12). 3 December. Retrieved 08/12/12. Available at: http://first monday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2060/1908. Troudi, S. & Jendli, A (2011). Emirati students’ experiences of English as a medium of instruction. In Al-Issa, A. & Dahan, L. S. (Eds.) Global English and Arabic: Issues of language culture and identify (pp. 2348). Oxford: Peter Lang. Urban Dictionary definition of Internet (2012). Available at: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=internet Retrieved 03/12/12. Wattwood, B. (2008). Students and laptops in the Classroom. Available at: http://bwatwood.edublogs.org/2008/11/16/students-and-laptops-inthe-classroom/ Retrieved 18/11/12. Williams, M. & Burden, J. (1997). Psychology for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Woody, W., et al, (2010) E–books or textbooks: Students prefer textbooks. Computers & Education, 55(3). Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VCJ-4YWB2B02/2/bca2c8bd08cec8ab248f9d3a023b36b9 Retrieved 2/11/12.

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Appendix A BBV sample pages Figure 1. A typical reading

Challenge and Change in Online Reading Figure 2. BBV Reading with pop up window

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Figure 3. BBV – a course content page

Challenge and Change in Online Reading Figure 4. Another BBV contents page

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Appendix B Structure of both focus groups in terms of instructor prompts. 1. Each focus group was asked how they felt about each medium. So, with regard to online reading, they were asked: “How do you feel about online reading, such as BBV and other online reading?” 2. In the second part of the feedback session, asking them about traditional textbooks, participants were asked: “How do feel about textbook reading, such as the textbooks you are using now and previously at the College?” 3. Follow up prompts were the same for both mediums: “Anything else?” / “Is there anything else you would like to say?” 4. Finally, non-contributing members of the focus group were asked for comments: “Is there anything you would like to say?” 5. The group as a whole were then asked for any final comments, before being thanked for their time and participation.

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Appendix C Sample responses and categorization. Below are two typical responses for a positive evaluation: (Student 1, Group B): “It’s a nice idea to read in a book….reading books improves our…err…reading…and also helps us …yanee [Arabic]… in our conversation in future” (categorized thematically as ‘good educational aid’) (Student 12, Group A): “Sir, the…er…Vista may be good, I think Vista may be good…er…we can find the information faster than the books” (categorized thematically as ‘good educational aid’ And for a negative evaluation: (Student 8, Group A): “The book without photos is very boring” (categorized thematically as ‘learner unfriendly’) (Student 4, Group B, speaking of BBV): “It’s very difficult for some things, like…we cannot write a note, and in case…a lot of problems, especially the network sometimes and Internet connection…” (categorized thematically as ‘difficult to use’) Some responses were evaluated as both positive and negative, for example: (Student 10, Group B): “We like the exam in the BBV but the reading no, Sir.” (categorized thematically as ‘ease of use’ and ‘difficult to use’)

CHAPTER EIGHT THE INTERNET CHAT ROOM: A TOOL FOR PROMOTING LEARNER AUTONOMY JO MYNARD KANDA UNIVERSITY OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, JAPAN

AND SALAH TROUDI UNIVERSITY OF EXETER, UNITED KINGDOM

Abstract This paper investigates the role that Internet chat rooms might play in the promotion of autonomy when learning English. The context for the study was an American-modelled women’s arts university in the United Arab Emirates. Using multiple data-collection instruments and adopting an interpretative approach, the researchers tracked ten freshman students over a period of one semester to investigate evidence of autonomous language learning while they engaged in classroom-based chat room tasks. Using a grounded approach to analyse the data, the researchers found instances of decision-making, independent action, detachment, critical reflection and transfer of learning to other situations (Little, 1991), while the participants interacted with English speakers in chat rooms. A number of factors contributed to these findings such as motivation for using chat rooms, opportunities for individualized learning, task design, increased interaction, and the effect of the virtual learning environment, which appeared to free participants from their preconceived conceptions of classroom roles. These results were particularly interesting as these learners usually demonstrated dependent behaviour in class and were generally not motivated to learn English. Internet chat rooms could have a role to play in helping these learners to apply practices more broadly to their language learning.

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Keywords: Internet chat room, Learner autonomy, Interaction, Language learning

Introduction This paper investigates the extent to which synchronous Internet chat rooms have the potential to provide opportunities for the promotion of learner autonomy. The context for the study was an American-modelled women’s university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Students entering such institutions there face a number of challenges when making the transition from high school. These difficulties are due to a number of factors, such as the fact that these universities operate in English, a language which the students are not usually fluent in, and have educational approaches which the students are largely unfamiliar with. In addition, students’ high school experiences do not prepare them for university life in such institutions as they typically involve teacher-centred approaches and rote learning techniques (Farquharson, 1989; Syed, 2003) which promote high dependence on the teacher and leave few opportunities for students to develop the required study habits for university (Shaw, 1997). One way of helping students adjust to a learner-centred educational approach is to draw on computer technology and, in particular, computermediated communication (CMC) tools such as Internet chat rooms. Computer technology has been reported to facilitate study in a number of ways, including motivating learners (Skinner & Austin, 1999; Carey, 1999; Felix, 1999), providing alternative language practice techniques (1995; Sullivan & Pratt, 1996), and promoting higher-order cognitive processing skills (Jonassen, Peck & Wilson, 1999; McLoughlin & Mynard, 2009). CMC can also provide additional opportunities for social interaction in the target language and has been reported to facilitate learner autonomy (Hoven, 1999; Schwienhorst, 2008). This chapter investigates the potential benefits for female students of English at a university in the UAE. A combination of two theoretical frameworks was adopted for this research: sociocultural theory and constructivism. A sociocultural approach assumes that we use various tools, including language, in order to mediate meanings with the world and with others. These tools activate cognitive and metacognitive processes. By interacting with the world, such higher cognitive functions as voluntary learning, voluntary memory, voluntary attention, problem solving, planning and evaluation develop (Kozulin, 1998; Lantolf, 2000). Developing cognitive abilities is a result of individuals’ capacity to apply new stimuli to their own thought

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processes. A constructivist approach assumes that learners mediate and construct their own multiple perspectives by interacting with the world and its people and engaging in problem-solving activities which lead to cognitive enrichment. Constructivism subscribes to the view that knowledge does not exist outside the bodies and minds of human beings but instead is individually constructed and based on prior experience, knowledge, metacognitive processing and reflection. Constructivist models of pedagogy aim to create environments where learners actively engage in interpreting the world and are given opportunities to reflect on this (Jonassen, 1997).

Learner Autonomy in the UAE For this study we adopt Little’s definition of learner autonomy because it bridges psychological and social perspectives of language use. He defines learner autonomy as: “a capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision-making, and independent action. It presupposes, but also entails, that the learner will develop a particular kind of psychological relation to the process and content of his learning. The capacity for autonomy will be displayed both in the way the learner learns and in the way he or she transfers what has been learned to wider contexts" (Little, 1991, p.4). According to Little, then, learner autonomy means taking responsibility for one’s own learning. By being involved in this process, learners begin to make meaningful connections with the world outside the classroom and use the target language beyond the learning environment. Autonomous learners are capable of making decisions about their own goals, methods of learning and ways of evaluating the learning experience. Metacognitive awareness is the awareness students have of their learning processes and forms a crucial part of learner autonomy (Sinclair, 2000). Promoting learner autonomy can be done through diverse approaches, many of which are given the umbrella term of learner training and may consist of awareness raising (Hoven, 1999), scaffolding, strategy training (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990; Oxford, 1990; Nunan, 1996), and the encouragement of reflection (Sinclair, 2000). Social interaction plays a vital role in the development of cognition (Vygotsky, 1986; Little, 2000) and this is supported through group work. Benson (1996) stresses the point that central to the development of learner autonomy is choice, which provides students with alternatives and encourages them to take initiatives for their own learning. Hence they are encouraged to take decisions.

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For a number of reasons students in many UAE schools receive few or no opportunities to develop learner autonomy. First, teachers are unused to assigning any responsibility to their pupils and many UAE educators are not trained to understand how it may be beneficial to promote learner autonomy and how to implement it (Bel Fekih, 1993; Al Banna, 1997). In addition, especially expatriate teachers without secure jobs may be afraid of receiving administration criticism or having their jobs terminated. This often means that they are reluctant to try unfamiliar teaching techniques and thus continue to rely heavily on rote memorization methods in order to achieve high exam results. The curriculum and testing procedures often drive the teaching approach, and a test-driven curriculum, like that found in the UAE, does little to promote learner autonomy. It should be said, however, that recently the UAE educational scene has witnessed major attempts to improve the quality of learners’ experiences in schools and universities. This has resulted in a sincere revaluation and reconsideration of curricula, teaching materials, assessment approaches and classroom methodologies (Troudi, Coombe, & Al-Hamly, 2009). In addition, information technology (and computer-assisted language learning in particular) has been an integral part of the local English language teaching reformation and students have long been computer savvy and familiar with the latest technologies. However, these recent developments have not necessarily led to a surge in autonomous learning and calls are still being made to encourage a pedagogy based on it. Through this study we are hoping to illustrate how the use of CMC has the potential to promote learner autonomy and fill a gap in the literature as few UAE studies have explored this issue.

Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication and learner autonomy CMC could be said to facilitate the development of learner autonomy due to three main factors: opportunities for interaction, experimentation, and reflection (Schwienhorst, 2008). In terms of interaction, the medium is extremely motivating due to its communicative nature (Irani, 1998) and students have been reported to participate more than usual because of the novelty factor (Felix, 1999). Because communication is enabled between "diverse and dispersed" people (Wang, 2005, p. 303), CMC provides access to a variety of perspectives. With some individuals, including many Emirati females, this is something they are unlikely to encounter in a faceto-face situation. Increased access to different perspectives could provide them with opportunities for a different kind of knowledge construction.

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CMC activities effectively bring the outside world into the classroom and this widening of the learning context will be particularly valuable and motivating for learners such as Emirati females who have few opportunities to interact in the target language. Ideally, interaction will be facilitated through appropriate tasks or activities. The main benefit of applying appropriately designed tasks when using CMC with language learners is that it ensures that the activity challenges the learners and gives them an opportunity to practise a given area of language (Alvarez-Torres, 2001). If tasks are not set, learners may resort to already familiar language or skills which will not promote higher-order thinking or problem solving. With regard to experimentation, the nature of the activity means that learners are in control of their role in the online discussions – a role that requires them to take charge of decision-making, planning and selfregulation. Individuals are given the opportunity to “move out of their individual ‘comfort zones’ in order to participate productively and effectively in the learning process” (Hoven, 1999, p. 157). CMC activities are naturally student-centered as discussions take place virtually free from the constraints of the traditional classroom and this enables the teacher’s role to be automatically minimized (Bump, 1990; Chun, 1994; Sullivan & Pratt, 1996; Warschauer, Turbee & Roberts, 1996). First-year university students making the transition from high school tend to have a limited view of their role as learners and are often over-reliant on their teachers. Perhaps synchronous CMC could provide an entirely new environment necessary which would challenge these preconceived ideas and encourage experimentation with language use. In addition to providing interaction opportunities, the medium provides opportunities for reflection (Warschauer, 1997). Beauvois (1998, p. 198) describes synchronous text chat interaction as “conversation in slow motion”. Satar and Ozdener (2008) point out that because of the nature of the written interaction in synchronous text chat it is possible to focus both on communication and on form by pausing and noticing language. Lai and Zhao (2006) also report that the medium of text chat promotes more alertness to new forms than face-to-face conversation.

The Study The purpose of the study was to investigate whether CMC in the form of synchronous text chat is a potential tool for facilitating the development of autonomy in female English language learners in the UAE. An interpretative approach was adopted in order to observe and describe students’ actions and to draw on their perceptions of their participation in

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the CMC activities. Some principles of grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990; 1998) were adopted, such as a broad research question, multiple data sources, and grounded theory coding protocols. This resulted in relevant factors emerging from the data and consequently a rich description of features that both learners and researchers perceived as significant.

Research Question The study began with the following deliberately broad research question, designed to help categories and theory to emerge from the data: What role does synchronous text chat play (if any) in facilitating the development of learner autonomy? This broad question served the purpose of allowing the learners’ perceptions to surface, which were then used (alongside the researchers’ observations and interpretations) to describe the CMC learning experience.

Participants and the research environment The participants were a class of ten first-year female students aged between 18 and 26 taking a foundation English course at an Englishmedium, North American-modelled university for women in the United Arab Emirates. All were native speakers of Arabic with a low-intermediate level of English and had received a traditional high school education prior to entering university. They were participating in a foundation English program designed to help them reach the required competency level necessary for their planned degree courses. All had limited life experiences beyond school, university and home. Within Emirati society it is not considered socially appropriate for women to leave the house unaccompanied. It is also considered inappropriate for females to interact with male strangers in a face-to-face context, even electronically (Kayser, 2002). This is why it was crucial to ensure that the learning tasks and environment were safe and appropriate. The study took place during class time for one hour a week as part of a course in which the students developed skills for writing academic essays. In addition to providing research data, the CMC activities gave students an opportunity to learn more about foreign people and cultures and to research some content information for essays on a topic such as “comparing school systems in the UAE and the UK”. Consent was obtained from all participants and all measures of anonymity and confidentiality were observed.

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The sample was a convenient one (Berg, 2001), since a typical writing class was made available for an hour a week. From an interpretative perspective, studying a typical class allows researchers to comment on how learners interact and make sense of their activities. The intention was not to measure or generalize, but to offer an illuminative analysis.

Procedure Each week during a nine-week period the students worked on culturally appropriate tasks related to their course outcomes and requiring the use of chat rooms that were part of the university’s online course management system, BlackBoard. A typical task contained a “warm-up” section which served to orientate learners to the aims of the task and provide some scaffolding in the form of background information and language support. This was usually an off-line task, whose main part usually involved interacting with a guest in a private chat room in order to ask questions related to a theme. The guests were known to the researchers and were almost always foreign native speakers of English. As a result of learning more about a particular topic, learners would then complete a chart or respond to some follow-up questions. For some tasks, students were required to write a further piece of work for homework incorporating the information learned during the chat task. These tasks were constructivist in nature, gave opportunities for individualized learning, and were designed to allow students to demonstrate autonomous learning skills – and yet they incorporated various levels of scaffolding, such as pair work and assistance with question forming. The tasks also operated as a framework that allowed the researchers to observe autonomous behaviour if and when it occurred. Once the actual chat activities started, the students were given no explicit guidance on how to organize themselves, ask questions, write accurately, follow the dialogue, and complete the task, although they were free to ask for help at any time from one of the two instructors present in the classroom (their usual teacher in addition to a researcher). Schwienhorst (2008) describes this scenario as the instructors “almost disappearing from the field of view of the learners” (p.57) and reappearing only when the learners needed help. Apart from weeks 1 and 9, the tasks involved interacting with an English-speaking guest, which gave students an authentic reason to use English. The guests were all volunteer acquaintances based both in the UAE and overseas. In order to ensure an even distribution of students in each online discussion, the instructors randomly assigned them (all present in the same physical classroom) to one of three Internet chat rooms prior

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to the activity. There were different guests present simultaneously each week in each of the chat rooms.

Data collection methods Multiple instruments were used to collect data – for example, a demographic questionnaire and two semi-structured interviews with each participant in weeks 2 and 7 of the project, where students could describe their learning experiences and perceptions of all the activities they had participated in. There were also researcher observation notes of occurrences in the physical space, chat room transcripts, completed tasks, an end-of-course questionnaire, and an interview with the class teacher which took place in week 5. His insights were also collected throughout the project as he was present in the physical classroom during all but one of the sessions.

Data Analysis Each of the recorded interviews with the students was transcribed and validated with the participants through a process of respondent validation. Once all the interviews had been transcribed, each piece of data (chat transcripts, interviews, completed tasks and observation notes) was carefully read again, and then examined according to grounded theory techniques. First, the data were analysed according to an “open coding” technique, which focuses on sentence and paragraph level analysis. Examples from interview extracts, observation notes and other data were collated and categories and sub-categories emerged. For example, under the main category heading of “Organization and Prioritization” there were sub-categories such as “Coordinating turn-taking” and “Prioritizing tasks”. Once the open coding was complete, “axial coding” was applied, which is the process of making further connections between the categories and subcategories (see Strauss & Corbin, 1998). This analysis and the categories which emerged form the basis of the results section of this chapter. A summary of the initial analysis was once again validated with the participants.

Results To be able to suggest whether CMC might be capable of promoting autonomy in learners, it was necessary to examine both the evidence of learners using autonomous learning behaviour during the chat activities

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and related tasks and also the capacity for autonomy expressed during the interviews and on questionnaires. The results showed examples of both autonomous and also dependent behaviour. In a study of this nature and length, it is extremely difficult to be able to comment on a development of autonomy over a period of time. The results will show, however, that there was evidence of autonomy. One interesting discovery was the fact that learners who were usually described as “passive”, “dependent” and “unmotivated” by their class teacher showed enthusiasm for the chat activities and took unusual initiative during the classes. The students demonstrated that they could interact in chat rooms and have meaningful conversations with guests with very little assistance. In the following paragraphs we will discuss evidence of students demonstrating learner autonomy within the main categories which emerged from the grounded theory coding process. This evidence was later linked with elements from Little’s (1991) definition and with Schwienhorst’s (2008) three main factors: opportunities for interaction, experimentation, and reflection. As all the data were analysed and categorized together during the coding process, extracts from the various sources will appear to support the main category headings. The results are under three major themes: (1) capacity for decision making and independent action, (2) capacity for detachment and critical reflection, and (3) evidence of dependent behaviour. Each major area has a set of subcategories.

Evidence of autonomous learning (1): Capacity for decision-making and independent action Organization and Prioritization The various data sources showed that the way in which the students participated in the chat room activities was far from haphazard. They explained and demonstrated how they organized their contributions, prioritized tasks, and followed the chat room discussion. They applied prioritization skills first by being selective of the chat text they read if time was short. Students tended to read their own questions and the guests' responses before anything else. It is difficult to see this clearly from observing the physical space and reading the chat transcripts, but the interviews were very illuminating. The following extract is a typical one from a participant who explains how she organized her allocated time: “I ask and read – not students’ sentences, my sentences and [the guests’] answer to get information… if I read everything, I cannot pay attention”

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Some participants would go back and read a text they had missed once they had finished typing. They did this by taking breaks from typing (sometimes to take notes) or by accessing the transcripts after the sessions were finished so that they could read the parts they had missed. Although all participants felt it was important to check their work, they often paid no attention to accuracy as they felt that reading what their friends were writing was more important. Students generally felt that communication was more important than accuracy in a context where there was such limited time. The participants collaborated with each other in order to make the interactions with native speakers easier to manage. They helped each other to form questions, shared ideas and, in some cases, would share tasks; for example, one student would type the questions while the other one took notes. During one of the chat sessions in week six, three students decided to organize the way in which they asked the questions and do it using a turn-taking system so that the guest would not be bombarded with questions at the same time. The students felt that they would be more likely to receive replies to all their questions that way. Comprehension and Communication Strategies Students used a wide variety of comprehension strategies, such as guessing from context, using an online dictionary, and asking peers either in the chat room or by talking aloud. They also actively tried to use new words while chatting and used various strategies in order to sustain conversation. Connected with this, students said that they made an effort to use synonyms or more varied language to make the activity more interesting. Many of the students experimented with language beyond their usual scope and often took risks with their use of questions or English in general. Many noticed new language used by interlocutors and attempted to use it correctly during the chat session or in other classes. Some even made a note of it for future reference. Risk-taking Risk-taking here refers to the students’ ability to seek opportunities for learning outside their usual experience. Some students took risks by asking questions which they would not have asked in a face-to-face context. This extract is from the interview with the class teacher (all names used in the paper are pseudonyms):

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When the class teacher was interviewed, he was asked if any of the students had surprised him with their contributions in the chat rooms. He mentioned that he was very surprised by one particular student’s behaviour: “Suhaila, who doesn’t say a word in class - very introverted, seems to be very extroverted while she’s chatting….the things that she said were direct! Suhaila asks questions that she wouldn’t normally ask”.

When Suhaila was asked about this, she said that she was normally very shy – even at home. When asked why there was such a difference, she said that she was shy among groups of more than three people and also with male teachers. Being able to type without people looking at her freed her from this shyness. Suhaila was the quietest, most conservative student in the class and surprised everyone by asking one of the guests very personal questions in the chat room, such as “How many wives do you have?” From a Western perspective, this question may appear to be inappropriate or even a joke, but it is important to remember that the students live in a society where polygamy is practiced. Suhaila saw this as her opportunity to find out more. Suhaila also asked another guest (a twelve year old girl based in the UK) “Do you have a boyfriend?” This may seem an innocent question from a Western perspective, but it caused a shocked reaction in the class at the time because female Emirati adolescents and young women do not have any contact with males until they are married. All of the students said that they participated more in chat discussions than they did in face-to-face discussions. One student, Zamzam, explained why this was the case: Zamzam: “It make[s] a person comfortable and don’t be shy – don’t be afraid about what he [is] doing in the chat. Give him confidence. Like me – I’m very shy”. Interviewer: “You don’t seem shy”! Zamzam: “In the chat it’s easy to talk. Easy to understand. Easy to talk to another person who don’t see him before”.

Jonassen (1996) writes that tools such as chat rooms may not be a comfortable medium for students who have been accustomed to little freedom over what and how they learn and, consequently, participation

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may be low. The students involved in this study had been largely teacherdependent and uninvolved in learning decisions prior to attending university and were still very dependent in the second semester of their first year at university, yet they demonstrated that they were able to participate fully in a chat environment.

Evidence of autonomous learning (2): Detachment and critical reflection Reflection Evidence of reflection was observed on a number of occasions. All learners frequently reflected on their contributions to the discussion and were often able to make astute observations as to the causes of their errors or about what they had learned. Each of them felt that they were making progress as this typical interview extract conducted in week 7 shows: “Because if you see what we did before you will find we write many mistakes before – spelling, grammar but now better than before”. In general, learners also recognised that they were thinking in English rather than Arabic. There were a number of instances where students demonstrated that they were conscious that they were reflecting on the process i.e. activating metacognitive thought. On the final questionnaire, they were asked to identify skills which chat facilitated, and they all ticked “thinking”. In addition, during the interviews students were asked what they were doing at particular points during the activity. The interviewer asked such questions as “Why did you ask this question?” while identifying the relevant section of the transcript. Students constantly pointed to their heads or mimed “thinking”. Three students mentioned that they would sometimes rehearse the sentence before they posted it, either by using private (or inner) speech or by visualizing the sentence in their heads: “sometime we say the sentence before we write. When you hear the sentence it’s ok or have something [wrong]”. “I see the sentence in my mind and I will write it”.

Audience Awareness As other researchers have found (DiMatteo, 1990; Tudini, 2003, Warschauer, Turbee & Roberts, 1996), the participants demonstrated a developing sense of audience awareness which could be argued as being

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another level of critical reflection. There was also evidence of students reflecting on the type of questions they would ask and whether they were appropriate. This again shows a growing awareness of the audience. Here is an example of a student who has reflected on her language from previous chat discussions and recognised the need to write more clearly: “Maybe I [will] try to be more clear when I write words. Sometimes I write “yup” and “yeah” and when I think about it, I try to write “Yes” Maybe the girls didn’t understand me and they think it’s a new word. It’s not a new word, it’s ‘yes’”.

Students also recognized that they could improve their spelling and grammar in order to be more easily understood: "In future, [I will] chat better. Better to make questions in spelling, in grammar. We found many mistakes! We [should] read it before we send”. During the chat sessions, students read their own contributions again before reading those of the other interlocutors, presumably to check again for clarity of meaning. There are some instances of clarification, such as the following example from a chat room transcript: Khaseibah: “could you drive a car”? Khaseibah: “I mean do you have lacens [licence]”?

Evidence of autonomous learning (3): Transferring learning to wider contexts Transfer and Making Connections Participants linked the information that they learned with their own lives by commenting on differences between their culture and other cultures. The success of the activities appeared to be directly related to their previous experience and how meaningful the topic was for them. For example, when discussing weddings, various students made a number of observations during interviews including the following: “She make[had] a celebrat[ion] after the wedding and I tell her we also, we make [have a] celebrat[ion]”! “We all knew something that was different between here and there. We like this and learned something new”. “because weddings are different for Islamic [people]”.

In addition to making connections between the content information, some students made the connection between words used in the chat rooms

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by the guests and ones they had heard or seen in other contexts. Students also actively used vocabulary or ideas discussed in other courses during the chat sessions. In this example, Warda confidently and correctly used words she had learned in a previous course: “You know this word? We used it in the last module “Culture”, so I got it from that”.

Khaseibah also realised that chat activities provided opportunities to use language that they learned in other classes: “We learn many vocabulary but we don’t use it but in chat we think and use it”.

Evidence of dependent behaviour In addition to autonomous behaviour, there was also evidence of dependent behaviour. For example, the participants demonstrated their usual dependent behaviour during the pre-chat and follow-up tasks and they continued to require substantial assistance with the pre-chat tasks throughout the nine-week period. They did not automatically use dictionaries or work with their friends as they did in a chat room activity. They behaved as they did in regular classes, i.e. they completed the answers they knew and then sat in silence waiting for the teacher to provide the answers to the ones they did not know. Similarly, the follow-up tasks were never completed without a substantial amount of teacher intervention, and even then the tasks were hurriedly done and showed only a basic amount of analysis even from the more autonomous learners in the group. Some students copied complete sections of dialogue from the transcript into their essays without any paraphrasing or apparent analysis. Nor did they appear to possess sufficient enthusiasm for the follow-up task and seemed to lack the ability to transfer information from one context (i.e. the chat room) to another (the written task). They appeared to compartmentalize the activities and saw CMC as the “fun” part and the follow-up activities as no different from the writing tasks they hated so much in their regular classes. When asked about their performance in the non-chat sections of the class during the interviews, they were not usually able to elaborate. One student mentioned that they loved chatting and hated traditional writing tasks, which appears to support this assumption. In addition, students demonstrated dependency when given too much freedom over the tasks. These were open enough to give students some

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freedom. For example, the task “Learn about a new country” gave them an opportunity to choose to investigate any number of aspects of a foreign country. When they were encouraged to set their own topics (in weeks 5 and 6), the result was that the discussions tended to be predominantly familiar “safe” topics which did not challenge them linguistically or cognitively. Even after seven or eight weeks, students were still uncomfortable with setting a discussion topic or task focus themselves. During the interviews, they all expressed the view that they preferred activities where the topics were set for them, possibly due to a lack of autonomy or linguistic ability. These interview extracts show how they felt more comfortable being given a discussion topic: “If I will be free, I will be confused. What I will ask, what I will answer”? “[If the teacher sets a topic in advance] I know what I will do, ask and talk about”. “I don’t know. I don’t know topic. If you give us topic, that’s ok”.

The participants were able to comment on their own strengths and weaknesses, but did not convincingly demonstrate that they had a full understanding of how to address them or how these problems related to language learning in general. If the participants did know how they could address their weaknesses, they were not motivated enough to implement an improvement plan. On the final questionnaire, students mentioned that chat helped them with forming sentences and questions, with spelling and with grammar. They were all able to list the ways in which they thought chat helped their writing, but were usually unable to elaborate on how it helped their writing to develop. The interview responses tended to be limited to ones like the following: “I learn English and how to write the questions and grammar. And vocabulary”. “We help our spelling and how to put the questions and answer the questions and….. grammar”.

Students also demonstrated a lack of ability to set goals in order to maximise the opportunities the chat activities provided and to progress in English. There were some examples of students commenting on how they could improve their English during the chat sessions, but many of these seemed to be automatic responses rather than thought-out plans. They did not appear to apply these plans in subsequent weeks.

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Discussion Why did the participants demonstrate examples of autonomous behaviour during the chat room activities? In this study the participants demonstrated autonomy in several areas. This could be attributed to a combination of the following factors: intrinsic motivation, opportunities for individualised learning, classroom and chat room design, available scaffolding, opportunities for increased interaction, and positive student perceptions of the activities. The occasions on which students were unable to demonstrate autonomy were probably mostly due to their low level of metacognitive awareness and lack of the language needed to express awareness of metacognitive thought.

Intrinsic Motivation All participants showed evidence of self-direction during the actual chat activities. One important reason for this is that the learners were intrinsically motivated by the activities and were actively engaged in contributing to and following the conversation. This is consistent with the findings of other researchers (Skinner & Austin, 1999; Carey, 1999). During interviews all of the students said they enjoyed the activities and felt that the medium helped them to learn English. Although the learners were clearly motivated by the chat activities, their deeper underlying feelings for learning English were mainly negative, as it was something imposed on them in order to be able to progress through the university system. What tended to happen was that any activities which did not involve chatting on the computer were avoided where possible.

Individualized learning The chat room environment provided the learners with a tool which allowed them to interact with the real world in order to discuss personally relevant ideas. In addition, they selectively learned personally meaningful vocabulary. Thirdly, they were able to participate at their own pace, which accommodated the different levels of ability among them in class. Finally, the approach accommodated and valued the contributions of individual participants, who had a variety of learning styles, motivation, experiences and aptitudes. All, however, mentioned in interviews how they benefited in some way from the chat activities.

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Classroom and chat room environments Learners appeared to have demonstrated autonomous behaviour while chatting because the activities and the nature of the virtual space shifted responsibility for completing the task from the teacher to the learners themselves. Decision-making, planning and self-regulation became the responsibility of the learners, which is how computers should be used according to constructivist principles (Jonassen, Peck & Wilson, 1999). In addition, learners were forced to apply new comprehension strategies in order to deal effectively with a new medium. In order to follow the main threads of a fast-moving conversation, students quickly realized that they needed to decide which of the entries they would read. This is in contrast with the way students typically work on other activities where they often wait to be told exactly what to do. The risk-taking behaviour that the students employed may also have resulted from the change in classroom environment. The findings reflect the results of other researchers (Sullivan & Pratt, 1996; Warschauer, 1996; Carey, 1999; Bump, 1990; Card & Horton, 2000; Schwienhorst, 2008) in that CMC maximizes student participation. Several participants mentioned that CMC was a more comfortable medium for them than face-to-face conversation, a context in which many students are incredibly shy, especially in the presence of a man, and so are often reluctant to say anything at all. The chat activities circumvented that barrier and allowed them to participate as equals and to ask questions or discuss topics with international guests - something that they had never done before. This has also been reported by other researchers (Warschauer, Turbee & Roberts, 1996) and was probably because communication did not require people to look at the speaker, which makes some learners very uncomfortable. Even those participants normally shy about interacting in English in a face-toface context felt free to discuss topics that they had never discussed before without feeling shame or embarrassment. This may be due to the fact that the barriers in the teacher-centred classroom were lowered (Warschauer, Turbee & Roberts, 1996). The continued autonomous behaviour demonstrated during the chat room tasks shows evidence that when learners are placed within unfamiliar classroom arrangements they move away from their traditional classroom behavior. This seems to suggest that learners in the present study were autonomous (at least on a task level), yet had lacked opportunities to demonstrate this since it had been stifled in the course of their education.

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Opportunities for increased interaction The participants noticed language being used by interlocutors in chat sessions and had access to authentic language that real people use outside the classroom, which is something that few students at the university experience. They were effectively interacting with domain experts who were native or proficient speakers of English and discussed aspects of their culture and life. This appeared to be an effective motivator for them to apply intentional vocabulary acquisition techniques. Social interaction plays a significant role in the development of cognition and metacognition (Vygotsky, 1978) and the amount of social interaction practiced during CMC was substantially larger than in a more traditional classroom activity. Also, opportunities to interact in contexts outside the normal scope may be an effective way of activating inert knowledge, which appeared to be the case with the participants in this study.

Positive Student Perceptions All participants perceived the chat room to be a useful learning tool, which could also have had a positive effect on learner autonomy (Toyoda, 2001). Those in the study felt that they were progressing. They were learning new things about the world, their writing was improving, and they were making fewer mistakes as time progressed. Hackman and Walker (1990) discovered that student attitudes towards learning were enhanced by increased interaction, regardless of what the actual achievement was, and this could certainly be a factor in the present case. Students were interacting more than they usually did in English activities and felt positive about their progress. Ridley (1997) makes the point that selfconcept is capable of shaping actual learning and performance behaviour. The self-concept of the learners in the study seemed very positive and could have contributed to their overall performance.

Low Metacognitive Awareness The learners in this study demonstrated that they had a degree of procedural knowledge in that they were able to identify the types of strategies they were using. However, they were unable to show that they possessed sufficient declarative knowledge to be aware of the goals of the activities or how they might use them in order to develop their weak areas. Blin (1999) noticed that learners who had received learner training were

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more likely to control a tool such as CMC to maximize appropriate learning opportunities. It was probable that the learners participating in this study had not received sufficient training to be able to use CMC to benefit their progress in language learning in a maximally efficient way.

Limitations of the study By being participant observers, conducting introspective interviews, and by facilitating follow-up tasks, it is likely that the students were being influenced. They were encouraged to reflect on their learning process by the data collection methods and this should be taken into account. However, every attempt was made to ensure that all tasks resembled those that any language teacher might use during a regular class activity. Equally, the interviews could be argued as resembling progress discussions that regular class teachers already have with their students and hence that the research methods were not artificial procedures that students would not have experienced before. The study was not aiming to quantifiably measure the extent to which learners developed autonomous learning behaviour - only whether there was evidence that it had occurred. The fact that some freedom was taken away from learners at the initial stages of the activity, namely choosing who they would work with, could have been a limitation. This act asserted teacher control in a task which aimed to encourage learner autonomy and may have contributed to the learners’ subsequent actions. The results were compiled from all ten students and data sources and analysed together. Some students showed more autonomous behaviour than others, but that was not shown in this study.

Pedagogical Implications The research question was “What role does synchronous text chat play (if any) in facilitating the development of learner autonomy?” A tentative answer would be that CMC does appear to give learners an opportunity to develop autonomous learning habits at a task level. The students demonstrated a capacity for “decision-making” and “independent action” (Little, 1991, p. 4) as there was evidence of organisation and prioritization skills, of applying various comprehension and coping strategies, and of risk-taking. Schwienhorst (2008) lists opportunities for experimentation and interaction as two key factors influencing the potential to promote learner autonomy and the results of this study appear to support this claim. The students also showed “detachment” and “critical reflection” (Little

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1991, p. 4), by demonstrating an ability to identify their learning problems and by indicating that they had a level of audience awareness. They also showed evidence of transfer, which is another important component of Little’s (1991) definition. The chat activities appeared to provide opportunities for reflection both during the tasks and afterwards, which supports Schwienhorst's (2008) claim that this is an important factor for promoting learner autonomy. The study suggests that the learners were at the early stages of developing autonomy. This was evident when they said that they felt unprepared for being given the additional responsibility for setting discussion topics in some tasks and in their subsequent poor task performance. In addition, even though the participants were somewhat aware of their own weaknesses during the chat activities, they did not have the skills to plan how they would overcome them. Nor did they have the skills to make connections between the non-chat tasks and the Internet chat room activities. What this study suggests is that, despite demonstrating a capacity for some aspects of learner autonomy, the students needed a more developed sense of metacognitive awareness prior to the chat activities in order to demonstrate higher-order capacities such as planning and addressing weaknesses. The learners had experienced a previous system of education which did not prepare them for the types of skills required in a Western-style university; nevertheless, they demonstrated certain capacities for autonomy during the chat activities. This finding, on the surface at least, appears to support the idea that even those who lack appropriate experience in taking responsibility for their learning are not disadvantaged when interacting in a chat room. The results also suggest that the learners’ socio-cultural background could be significant. It is likely that their previous experience with education was the main contributing factor for this deficiency. Their experience with rote memorization at school did not give them opportunities to develop the skills necessary for adopting the kind of autonomy expected of them at university. Lack of metacognitive awareness resulted in their being able to make only limited connections between the chat tasks and their language learning in general. This research suggests that chat activities combined with training could be useful for encouraging students to begin taking more responsibility for their learning. The working assumption is that learners have a degree of autonomy and that the chat room environment can create optimal conditions for its exercise. The chat activities offered the advantage of “freeing” the learners from their previous conception of a classroom and

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from the traditional roles of students within it. In a regular classroom they tend to be dependent on the teacher, even at university where a more student-centred approach is the norm. In a chat room, the traditional rules are renegotiated and participants feel free to experiment with a new role that of a more active, involved learner responsible for decision-making, prioritization and independent action. It does not automatically follow, however, that learners will suddenly begin to apply metacognitive thought to the learning situation and become critical without some further mediation from their teachers. Autonomy remains an elusive concept to research and Riley’s question in 1996 about whether “we possess the methodological and conceptual tools which are appropriate to the study of autonomy” (p. 251) remains appropriate today. However, the only way for us to learn more about learner autonomy is through further research. This small-scale study is not meant to be generalized to other contexts, but it would be interesting to see the results of similar studies not only in other parts of the world but with other learner groups such as male students, mature students, and children. It would also be useful to monitor students over a longer period of time to see whether their attitudes and behaviour might change.

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Sinclair, B. (2000). Learner autonomy: The next phase. In. In B. Sinclair, I. McGrath, & T. Lamb, (Eds.), Learner autonomy, teacher autonomy: Future directions (pp. 4-14). London: Longman. Skinner, B. & Austin, R., (1999). Computer conferencing – does it motivate EFL students? ELT Journal, 53(4), 270-280. Strauss, A.L. & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage Publications: London. Strauss, A.L. & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Sullivan, N. & Pratt, E. (1996). A comparative study of two ESL writing environments: A computer-assisted classroom and a traditional oral classroom. System, 29(4), 491-501. Syed, Z. (2003). TESOL in the Gulf: The sociocultural context of English language teaching in the Gulf. TESOL Quarterly, 37, 337-344. Toyoda, E. (2001). Exercise of learner autonomy in project-oriented CALL. CALL-EJ Online 2(2). Troudi, S., Coombe, C., & Al-Hamly, M. (2009). EFL teachers’ views of English language assessment in the United Arab Emirates. TESOL Quarterly, 43(3), 546-556. Tudini, V. (2003). Using native speakers in chat. Language Learning & Technology, 7(3), 141-159. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. —. (1987). The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky: Vol. 1. Problems of general psychology. New York: Plenum. —. [1934] 1986. Thought and language (Rev. ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Wang, C.H. (2005). Questioning skills facilitate online synchronous discussions. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 21(4), 303-313. Warschauer, M., Turbee, L., & Roberts, B., (1996). Computer learning networks and student empowerment. System 24(1), 1-14. Warschauer, M., (1996). Comparing face to face and electronic discussion on the second language classroom. CALICO Journal. 13(2), 7-26. Yamchi, N. (2009). First steps towards using critical thinking using writing. In M. Al- Hamly, P. Coombe, A. Davidson, S. Shehada & S. Troudi (Eds.), Finding your voice: Critical issues in ELT (pp. 2-11). Dubai: TESOL Arabia Publications.

CHAPTER NINE THE SELF ACCESS CENTRE WEBQUEST KIRSTEN GEAR UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL/LAUREATE, UNITED KINGDOM

Abstract Considering today’s well-entrenched status of digital and electronic literacy, it is a luxury many educational institutions still lack. Thus, one of the most effective ways of attaining high results in low-to-medium tech environments is to use WebQuests to gradually ascend the stairwell of Student Centred Learning (SCL) residing in the Self Access Centre (SAC) to incrementally furnish students with the autonomy required to become effective players in the conversation of real world issues and critical scenarios. Since the characteristics of Self Access Language Learning (SALL) include goal setting, level of learner autonomy, learning gain, duration of study, intensity of study, learner motivation, cost effectiveness, teacher attitudes and attribution, it will be shown how the SAC can facilitate the use of WebQuests to create a learners’ profile of didactic goals, learning strategies and coherent plans to achieve set objectives. While one ought to be weary of technological determinism, WebQuests have been proven to garnish learners’ metacognitive learning strategies and encourage them to capitalize upon their private thoughts to become active participants in learners’ rights by directly and reliably selfassessing personal interlanguage towards an idiolect. It will be shown how the four core skills of language learning, in addition to higher order thought processes and metacognitive strategies, are catered to through such digital tasks and activities. This chapter will delineate one potentially contentious issue that would qualify as a real world problem for young Omanis, namely, the number of traffic fatalities in the region. By drawing upon an issue in which students are inherent stakeholders, motivation levels will naturally increase and

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existing student expertise will be brought into the classroom. The implementation of WebQuests will serve as a complement, not as a replacement, to the classroom with the aid of a qualified and well-trained SAC language counsellor, who is approachable and trustworthy, as well as being able to build learners’ confidence, comfort, self-awareness, fruitfulness of errors and relations between teachers and learners.

Introduction The execution and exploitation of modern technology in educational settings is inescapable. The shift from an industrial to an information society has created inevitable changes in public schooling which are directed towards constructivist neo-millennial learning styles in digital and electronic literacy. This means that becoming fully literate in today’s developed society entails proficient control of representational forms in a variety of media and learning how those forms intertextually combine in a variety of genres and discourses (Warschauer, 1999). But the effervescence of technology’s role in shaping a new society in new learning spaces has also bubbled outside of the traditional classroom and has encroached upon a globalised public space in which technology is not evenly disseminated across either the educative or the public sphere. Thus, it is clear that those individuals with the tertiary experience of using information and communication technology will have an unfair advantage over those who have not been exposed. It is due to this disproportionate distribution that educational technology qualifies as a contentious issue in the unfolding drama of how lifelong learning is lodged within the formal scholastic domain. However, while there are ample advantages for the use of educational technology, it should not be deemed a universal panacea through which all pedagogical ills can be cured. Technological determinism cannot be relied upon in the assumption that it will induce real and enduring change. Rather, Hassanien (2006, p. 42) reminds readers that “technology alone does not guarantee solutions to educational problems” but that the implementation of technology in the classroom must be solidly grounded in researched theory, methodology, strategy and evidence-based practice to ensure democratic provision, distribution, implementation and realization of timely solutions to inform the most effective teaching strategies geared towards the delivery of essential graduate attributes for the promotion of lifelong learning. In other words, it is the emancipatory use of technology, not its mere presence, which must be promoted in the classroom in order to reap sustainable and undeviating access to and exchange of knowledge amongst communities

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in these new learning spaces. One way to ensure equality in distribution is to implement a constructivist-based Student Centred Learning (SCL) platform and one of the best venues to apply this practice is in the tertiary Self Access Centre (SAC). This chapter is concerned with how educational technology influences SCL to most effectively be used to allow the postmodern glocal2 learner to build a democratic knowledge space through the use of WebQuests in the tertiary SAC. It will be demonstrated how WebQuests qualify as one of the most effective methods to use authentic materials in a student-centred manner as learners chose what, how and why to study within the precincts of the existing curriculum, a process which not only democratises the classroom on a student-centered platform by humanising teachers, but also performs the dual function of professional development for both its creators and users. To begin this discussion, first a theoretical framework of the historical power dynamics in global education trends in regard to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) will be provided. Then, after defining WebQuests and its more recent offspring, Language Quests, this discussion will amalgamate an associated literature review of existing research and pedagogical theories. Particularly relevant in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, but especially intended for Oman, the chapter continues by using Biggs’ (2003) theory of constructive alignment and intended learning outcomes (ILOs) with a demonstration of a commended five-step procedure for the creation of student-centered EFL and ESP WebQuests within the confines of the SAC. Finally, a discussion about limitations, recommendations and future trends of the practice will conclude this chapter. But first, the contemporary setting in which educational technology finds its niche must be examined.

WebQuests and Digital Natives It has been estimated that contemporary youth interact with media content for a combined average of eleven hours per day (Lewin, 2010). Since technology has become the norm for today’s hi-tech denizens, it would be obtuse to exclude it from education. It is therefore an indispensable requisite that technology be at the core of contemporary SCL lest such an advantage be disregarded in the educative sphere leaving 2

According to Longman Online Dictionary, glocal means “relating to the connections or relationships between global and local businesses, problems etc.” It can be emphasized that contemporary society learns globally but decides locally.

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the globalising forces of the Internet to be abused rather than used to provide equal educational opportunities for all people to reinforce and renegotiate distinctly emerging identities. Since it is designed to encourage autonomous learning, using the SAC for implementing technologicallycentered support programs is one manner of gaining and maintaining the motivation and interest of today’s digital global youth. History has proven that people are able to resist influential powers if they are literate in the pertinent domain, so innovative communication technologies ought to be used to equip future globalised labour markets with effective professional members readily dedicated to working cooperatively towards solutions for critical real world issues rather than merely propagating the existing status quo. Institutions and teachers who are cognisant of the need for these vital social changes must set elevated aims and objectives to fit the needs of an emerging society by using technology to deflate digital post colonialism and to ward off attempts to replicate existing power structures that risk reproducing a hegemonic state. It is the aim of this chapter to show how technology can be used to overcome a traditionally Anglo Saxon driven English language learning curriculum by warding off post-colonial teacher-centered educational habits and it will be demonstrated how student-centered WebQuests, particularly in the SAC, most effectively fulfil this potential to fit firmly into this ranking. Studies have shown how WebQuests can be used to motivate socially, cognitively or linguistically disempowered learners while simultaneously engaging already well-resourced students thereby transgressing traditional power structures of the classroom (Al-Bataineh, Hamann & Wiegel, 2000). Essentially, WebQuests (short for ‘Web Questions’) group a particular problem-based research question together with a specific investigative procedure and a comprehensive list of websites where students can find answers to the initial research question. Consisting of a simple five-step structure, WebQuests can be vindicated as constructivist, inquiry-based tasks rooted in experiential learning and instructional technology using open-ended questions which are scaffolded by predesigned and pre-refined Internet and primary resources in which students communicatively engage as active participants and pseudo experts towards the production of a final group project revolving around an authentic world issue (Dodge, 1995; March,1998; Coquard, 1998; Watson, 1999; Hopkins-Moore & Fowler, 2002; Yoder, 2003; Egbert, 2005; Matejka, 2004; Lamb & Teclehaimanot, 2005; Richards, 2005).With the primary strategies of “motivation theory, questioning-schema, constructivism, differentiated learning, situated learning, thematic instruction, authentic assessment, overt metacognition and learner-centered

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psychological principles” (March, 2003, p. 3), when thoughtfully and properly designed, WebQuests can be efficient, professional, challenging, safe, flexible, realistic, functional, supportive, contextualised, creative, collaborative, interesting and entertaining (Lara & Reparaz, 2005; Ikpeze & Boyd, 2007; Abu-Elwan 2007; Allan & Street, 2007; Lim & Hernandez, 2007; Laborda, 2009). WebQuests are one method that can be used in virtually any educational environment regardless of age, gender, educational background, target language level, first language or technological proficiency. While many classrooms are already integrating blended learning into the curriculum, WebQuests add life to regular courses as well as to online learning platforms, such as Moodle and Blackboard shells. WebQuests do not have to be the main teaching tool but they are most effectively implemented as a means to ensure students come to class prepared, to spark interest for an assignment, to better familiarize students with material prior to engaging in classroom discussion, to prepare students for assigned readings, to frame classroom discussions and to review prior to assessment. By offering a deeper solution to connect technology with the existing curriculum, WebQuests meet the standards of applying, demonstrating and using specific knowledge, higher order thinking and problems solving skills to collaboratively produce group projects on either a short- or long-term basis. WebQuests are an invaluable instructional tool for making the transition from a teacher-centered to a student-centered environment in which learners perform meaningful and authentic tasks in preparation for effective engagement with the real world. The following section will provide three complementary literature reviews: the first on Student Centered Learning (SCL), the second on WebQuests in general, followed by the third on Language Quests, WebQuests as they have manifested into a second language, studentcentered framework.

Student Centered Learning Student Centered Learning (SCL) pertains to a shift of traditional power structures from teachers to students in the modern-day classroom. SCL was first ascribed to the constructivist efforts of Hayward (1905) and then to Dewey (1933, 1938), Piaget (1952), Vygotsky (1978) and Bruners’ (1990) work several years later, all of which flavored the then culture of progressive and liberal education trends across Europe and the Americas. As the 20th century matured, notions of the increased liberties of individual human beings paralleled relevant civil rights movements and fuelled social

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developments offering general theories of education by a variety of altruistic practitioners with the consistent theme of a power transfer from expert-teacher to student-practitioner, as decreed by the fashionable adage of removing the ‘sage on the stage’ in favor of the ‘guide on the side’ (king, 1993). Gibbs (1992, p.23) states that SCL "gives students greater autonomy and control over choice of subject matter, learning methods and pace of study" while Candy, Crebert and O'Leary (1994) include the need to promote lifelong learning in students in order to facilitate the essential graduate attributes of being able to scaffold and interrelate aspects of knowledge and a metacognitive capacity to manage their own learning. Kember (1997) promotes SCL as knowledge which is constructed by students and for which the lecturer acts to support learning rather than presenting presupposed information. Harden and Crosby (2000) define SCL as what students do to achieve knowledge rather than what strategies the teacher exercises. SCL is based on a type of constructivism which encourages learners to activate personal mental processes and which is committed to incorporating the learners’ construction of new ideas based on their existing knowledge. This allows meaning to be extended beyond the established boundaries of the traditional realm of the classroom and permits authentic learning as it happens in the ambiguous game of professional adult vocational life. While there continues to be resistance to a student-centered power reallocation in many classrooms of the world, without exposure to SCL learners will not gain the genuine educational dexterity required to compete successfully in a post-scholastic international environment. As learning situations become more learner-centered, less teacher–directed, more independent and more autonomous, students must be equipped with the appropriate graduate attributes of having broad vocational life options to respond to conditions inside and outside the language classroom. Deciding to ignore SCL would only prolong an existing power imbalance of the elite over the masses, the lads over the lasses and the teachers over the classes. With the additional use of technology, power discourse can be realigned by proclaiming ‘students as designers’ in user-centered construction activities (Harel & Papert, 1991). Instructors must remember that they are serving post-colonial Web 2.03learners, some of whom may

3

Web 2.0 is what Tim O’Reilley has termed the second phase of the Internet where the focus has shifted from people receiving information and services to people creating and sharing material through democratic development and distribution of collaboration and social networking, which is in direct ideological contrast with the post-colonial era of a covert form of occupation that does not

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qualify as ‘digitally native4’ (Prensky, 2011) and most of whom are already accustomed to the major shifts of information manufactured from an historically vertical force-fed entity to the embodiment of a contemporary horizontally-produced databank by and for public consumption. This shift has instigated a digital participatory culture in which members “might have more of a say in public discourse if [they] harness online tools in the right way” (McDougall, 2012, p. 145). Education, therefore, has an obligation to implement student-centered technology in the classroom in order to grant tools to learners to assemble a future which is rightfully theirs and to challenge any pretense of an educational global norm as a teacher-centered, politically-biased perspective masquerading as impartial equality embedded in an Anglo Saxon grand narrative. If SCL cannot be offered in the curriculum, it must be offered in the SAC. SCL grants students power; WebQuests allow them the opportunity to experiment with this newfound clout and the SAC gives them a place to practice it prior to its implementation in the real world.

WebQuests Informed by pedagogical theories and approaches, WebQuests combine the benefits of community-, project-, problem-, inquiry- and content-based language learning approaches through the promotion of cognitivist, constructivist and social constructivist learning by scaffolding new information upon an existing student knowledge-base to increase confidence in the transition of becoming independent lifelong learners and active global citizens. WebQuest architects Bernie Dodge and Tom March exploit higher level cognitive and social skills in their theory and practice of the tool as their approach is based on the constructivist ideas of Piaget’s cognition which demands an inquiry method of teaching (Piaget, 1973) and Vygotsky’s social interaction which led to the inception of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD5) (Vygotsky, 1978). Thus, while cognitivists emphasize a problem-based learning dimension which situates students at the center of their learning through practical applications, constructivists place importance on activity, discovery and independence bestowing

require physical invasion but is instead linked to processes of media, cultural and educational imperialism. 4 Whether or not today’s learners are digitally native is a debate which lies far beyond the confines of this discussion. 5 ZPD is the difference between what a learner can do independently and what they can do with guidance.

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social constructivist with tendencies to garner the concern of aiding the surrounding community in moral and social issues. By integrating several reliable learning strategies into one manageable package while making considerable educational use of the otherwise overwhelming world wide web, the simplicity of WebQuests are evidenced by their congruency of a breadth of the above pedagogical approaches. When adjoining the role of information and communication technology in student-centered and computer-enhanced learning environments, learning themes can be neatly organised into genuinely meaningful contexts providing an interactive world where students fearlessly experiment with avatars to develop the necessary pseudo expertise in any potential field of inquiry-based study. While there have been munificent technological tools available for language pedagogy in recent years, WebQuests have been found to be an effective learning tool through which language learners use multimedia and computer-generated web-based instructional activities.

Language Quests Early in their inception, Martin (1999, p.1) may have prematurely declared WebQuests to be “the most structured, accessible, and promising application of constructivist thought in the field of online education” while Maddux’s (2009) opinion remains that WebQuests are a passing phenomenon. But what has helped WebQuests retain their longevity and popularity has been in the field of language learning, particularly within the arenas of English as a foreign language (EFL) literacy skills because they provide learners with authentic and collaborative tasks, two of the main proponents for language learning. Constructivist second language instruction must help learners develop understanding of the conventions of language as it is used in real situations and to gradually construct the required knowledge to participate in that context (Grant, 2002). Co-created in 1995 by Dodge and March, although WebQuests were not initially intended for language learning, numerous studies have since delved into their aptitude for foreign language learning (Luzón, 2002; Koenraad, 2002; Dudeney & Hockly, 2003; Lamb & Teclehaimanot, 2005). For instance, Torres (2005) defines second language WebQuests as: an inquiry oriented activity placed in a relevant thematic context, in which the development of the task implies using web resources and developing high order thinking processes in a collaborative environment. At the same time, it provides the students the opportunity to learn and put into practice

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Torres (2005) further states that WebQuests are activities that meet three more essential requirements for language learning, those being ‘exposure to, use of and motivation for’ communicative acquisition of the target language. Additional conditions for SLA include ‘input, interaction and output’ (Pica, Holliday, Lewis, & Morgenthaler, 1989) all of which are supported with the use of WebQuests since they utilize the four core skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking, as well as the fifth and arguably most important skill of thinking) of language learning. It has been further deduced that in order to promote autonomous language learning catering to digital and electronic literacy, three more attributes are necessary, those of ‘task, resources and learning supports’ (Luzón, 2007), all of which will be elaborated upon in the methodology section of this chapter. But first, it is essential to examine how these four core skills are catered to through WebQuests. Abdullah (1998) makes an early observation that by facilitating real world problems to language learners, the disparity between language used outside of the classroom can breach that which is learned within. She endorses WebQuests specifically in regard to supporting “the inquiry process to develop solutions” to identifiable issues advocating that learners must put target language into authentic usage during the WebQuest process in order to communicate effectively both during the task and during the presentation of their findings (Abdullah, 1998, p. 1). Another massive advocate of WebQuests for language learning has come from Koenraad (2000), whose ideas grew out of a perceived lack of relevance of second language learning for students, the relatively rare use of the language in the classroom and the then untapped potential of using webbased projects designed to remediate or alleviate those situations. Koenraad states: the WebQuest model is appealing…because [it] relates well with modern Second Language Acquisition (SLA) views and [Modern Foreign Language] MFL pedagogy [as it] relate[s] learning to the real world, enhance[s] and replace[s] textbook based learning activities and support[s] transdiscipline curriculum activities (Koenraad, 2002, p. 1).

Koenraad’s project has grown into liaison with MICaLL, Moderating Intercultural Communication and Language Learning, a European Union (EU) organization seeking to contribute to the innovation of general professional development for modern language instruction. Particularly in the field of English language teaching since the 1999 Bologna process has

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increased international student mobility within the Anglo Saxon curricular system, specific linguistic, semiotic, cognitive, metacognitive and cultural awareness forces must be instinctively predominant in today’s digitally literate learner. WebQuests are particularly useful since they help to build today’s required multiliteracies thereby building new dimensions of international communication (Luzón, 2007). Shetzer and Warschauer (2000) have specified and categorized digital literacies into the three areas of ‘research, communication and construction’ which, in addition to the tenets of SLA, must be considered amidst the ever-changing and interminable boundaries of Internet technology. Such features include digital textuality, multimodality, hypertext, interactivity and the type of new thought processes engaged in when interacting with and through online texts (Salaberry, 2000; Shetzer & Warschauer, 2000; Coiro, 2003; Hampel, 2006). Finally, and while the statistics are certainly quickly changing, with an estimated 80% of the electronically-stored information in the world in the English language, the overlap between English language learning and the development of electronic literacy is especially pronounced thereby making contemporary literacy and communications skills in new online media a vital skill in all aspects of modern life. In today’s Information Age where competence is no longer a scarce commodity, it would be a great disservice to students to allow them to complete a career in tertiary education without acquiring the most apt digital literacy skills.

Language skills When comparing traditional with modern literacy skills, it is important to keep in mind that the implementation of technology to the conventional learning environment does not add anything; but rather, it changes everything. Reading appears to be the skill most positively affected through the use of WebQuests. In regard to reading on the Internet, for example, such skills are intimately bound up with searching and evaluation skills when seeking material (Schetzer, 2000). Thus, simply by reading various online articles and web pages, there is implementation of the real world digital literacy skills of online research, key word search, credible sources analysis, skimming websites, scanning web documents for relevant information, locating relevant information sources, navigating links to amplify information, decoding meaning, using translation programs, registering for services, purchasing products and participating in polls - all of which will improve intertextual reading abilities, learners’ confidence, identity formation and idiolect -- all of which are authentic

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skills required for lifelong success outside of the classroom. While it has been found that digital reading practices “defer authority to interpret meaning [and] question the authority of a text and its author” (Ramone, 2011, p.199), becoming literate for electronic reading and writing will require that readers and writers become acquainted with and develop the ability to interact with nonlinear and nonsequential text structures that are the natural form of electronic texts (Reinking, 1999). Contemporary reading skills have changed to include alterations of speed, pauses, concentration, skipping, rereading, direction, annotation, interpretation, retention, dictionary use, navigation, customization and tools available and socially responsible instructors must respond accordingly by providing the appropriate skills. Chuo (2007) has suggested that integrating WebQuests into the reading curriculum increases reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition and that to cope with the demands of technological developments in education, EFL teachers might be encouraged to integrate WebQuest in their reading instruction to supplement vocabulary and reading performance of their students. Tuan (2011) states that the implementation of WebQuest helps enhance reading skills and to explore the students’ attitude towards WebQuest-based teaching of reading. Specifically in regard to tertiary EFL and ESP skills, reading varied and authentic materials from the Internet, which is easily the most abundant resource available, is of great importance for EFL and ESP learners since it caters to those who have the desire for further study and for those who wish to acquire the most current information in their field of study and for their future career. The productive skill of writing can also be enhanced because students will collaborate in text construction through note-taking, typing, word processing, spell checking, report writing, process writing, script writing, presentation drafting and publically writing for an international, digital audience. Digital writing skills have witnessed modifications from traditional usages in regards to multiple member audience, formality, tool availability, inverted pyramids, netiquette, process of writing, formatting, text structure, chunks offered, complements and supplements. It has been explained that through the use of WebQuests, students experience considerable improvement in writing performance and a “significant reduction in writing apprehension” (Chuo, 2007, p. 1). Termsinsawaadi and Wasanasomsithi’s (2009) study of Thai engineering students demonstrates how both reading and writing skills improved significantly when comparing pre and post task assessment. This was attributed not only to the authenticity of task, material and assessment but also to the many opportunities offered for exposure to real world issues as well as the

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realistic scaffolding process of real life literacy skills. Research in the UAE reveals that “using a task-based, product/process approach to L2 writing activities incorporating digital technologies such as WebQuests…appears to positively influence students’ written texts” (Dowling, 2010, p. 147). While Dowling (2010) admittedly discloses that some learners may remain reliant on formulaic bodies of written work, it can be assumed that if the instructors are to provide a vast range of modelling, students’ idiolect and intertextuality will synthesize the input. The general conclusion that can be drawn is that integrating web resources into EFL and ESP writing instruction using the WebQuest model is effective for enhancing students' general literacy while providing an affirmative learning experience. While it may be easy enough to see how reading and writing can be affected and improved with online tasks, it may be more challenging to assert how listening and speaking skills are influenced. However, by operating in a non-linear environment and by interacting with digital texts in various ways, online relations take place through multiple channels. For example, there is communication between learners and the instructor, which may occur through synchronous chat tools; between learners themselves, as they develop reasons to talk to each other, make decisions, build knowledge, negotiate meaning and develop understanding in the collective compilation of information to compose their final project; and between learners and the technological medium itself, which may include webinars, tutorials or using chat tools, such as Skype or Facebook, to contact experts or native speakers of the target language, thereby further intensifying the communicative medium. This latter change in audience from teacher to peer or professional has been shown to have a positive effect of publication quality on student work by making the task more authentic, interesting and motivating. Thus, in regard to speaking and listening skills, Turcotte, Gagnon and Poirire (2005) argue that repeated conversations and practice of professional real life communication, before experiencing it in the controlled setting of the classroom, provide the essential scaffolding required for learners to develop the requisite skills for authentic communication. Laborda (2009) further establishes the validity of oral skills communication in an ESP study for Spanish tourism students. The consistent elements for success were opportunities for unadulterated social and professional communication. With the creative use of today’s gadgets, listening and speaking will also improve through knowledge construction and sharing on a particular subject, netiquette rules, interaction with peers and experts, group discussions, receiving and producing language input and output, negotiating meaning of language

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newly acquired information, using and testing newly integrated language hypotheses, exposure to authentic target language, using target language communicatively, listening to peers’ opinions, discussing ideas on critical issues, presentation skills and promoting cooperative and collaborative learning. Thus, contrary to traditional teacher-centered, Anglo Saxon textbook-driven ESL classrooms, with the use of WebQuests students can actively and authentically participate in group discussions as bonafide stakeholders. In addition to the improvement of the four core skills, higher order thinking and metacognition skills are also highly activated. Li, Yue and Yang’s (2011) research shows that students’ metacognitive strategies and awareness improves by developing the skills of self-evaluation, selfplanning and self-monitoring one’s own performance and progress. WebQuests offer interdisciplinary communicative language teaching and have been found to be useful in a wide range of EFL and ESP programs spanning Chinese military trainees, Thai engineering apprentices, Singaporean special education teachers, Filipino teacher trainers, Italian culinary arts chefs, Greek economists, Spanish tourist agents, Iberian construction workers, Emirati technical students and Turkish university undergraduates. There is an increasing body of research bridging the gap of theory to practice and supporting the use of WebQuests within the language learning field of tertiary EFL and ESP programs and a cavernous review of the literature indicates WebQuests have been beneficial in improving the four core skills of language learning, including writing, speaking, listening and particularly reading, in addition to augmenting metacognitive skills and the affective domain by extending higher order thinking skills of comparing, explaining, contrasting, analyzing, applying, theorizing, generalizing, hypothesizing and reflecting (Biggs, 2003). All of these skills can be fostered through the use of a successful WebQuest which is designed to replace the fossilized content of outdated textbooks by asking probing, open-ended questions to allow students a greater range of idiolect, which is an essential ingredient for clear, creative, critical and lateral thinking to devise better solutions to existing world problems.

Teaching methodology and pedagogical implications As part of an ongoing materials development process within the SAC, the classroom and the overarching curriculum, WebQuests are an easy way to integrate technology and the Internet into the learning environment while transcending traditional power structures and inviting real world issues into the language learning realm. This section will explain the

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components of a WebQuest, integrated with a demonstration of how to create a student-centered WebQuest for EFL tertiary learners and which is particularly relevant in the Sultanate of Oman. While there are many WebQuests widely and readily available for use without requiring registration, licensing, technical skills, software, downloading or bandwidth availability (see: webquest.org, questgarden. com, zunal.com, ozline.com), teachers may want to design their own WebQuest either for professional development or because the subject they are teaching requires greater specificity. Most WebQuests contain the five following components: (1) Introduction, which invariably presents a central question, (2) Task, (3) Process, (4) Evaluation, and (5) Conclusion. There may also be a teacher’s page in which bibliographic information and credits are provided to the WebQuest users. To help in the construction of WebQuests, Dodge (2001) further advocates a simple acronym to aid in the construction of WebQuests, FOCUS: 1. Find great sites; 2. Orchestrate your learners and resources; 3. Challenge your learners to think; 4. Use the medium; 5. Scaffold high expectations. The five components and the FOCUS principle should be revisited at every stage of the WebQuest design.

The Introduction The introduction ought to be presented in a holistic and engaging manner to frame students as stakeholders’ interests through the presentation of an international concern. To exemplify, one major trend that deserves attention as a critical world issue in Oman are the number of car accidents and traffic fatalities rampant in the region. While there is uncertainty as to how statistics are actually reported, figures claim the number of road deaths in 2011 to have risen by 22% since 2010 for a total of 1051 fatalities while the number of non-fatal injuries rose by 33% during the same period for a total of 11,322 (Zafar, 2012). While such real world issues will inevitably require due sensitivity, the selected topic ought then be thoroughly analyzed and divided into subtopics. For example, taking the topic of Omani traffic fatalities and injuries, one might derive the micro themes of: modernization, industrialization, texting while driving, population increase, age of consent, gender differences, drivers’ training programs, safety training, penal law, road rules and regulations, policing, driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, dangerous recreation, boredom, young drivers’ angst, racing and drifting hobbies, spectacle, Hollywood myth, violence and reality, bribery, grief counseling, engineering, road works, automobile design, bald tires, seat belt use, car

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seat use, etc. While not an essential element of WebQuests, it may also be useful to devise various roles for the students. In the case of Omani traffic fatalities, it would be useful to divide the group into different roles, for example: driver, passenger, police officer, victim, victim’s family, survivor, government, pedestrian, motorist, onlooker, witness, policy maker, engineer, road worker, driver’s trainer, new driver, foreigner, public transportation specialist, etc. By allowing students to develop an identity of pseudo expert through an online, dramatized role play as an avatar, they can increase subject knowledge and confidence through problem-based or task-based learning. March (2005) affirms that individuating roles for learners allows a maturation of discipline specific expertise and that this element of ownership is essential for successful language learning. Furthermore, by encouraging students to work together in the classroom, they will develop essential interdisciplinary, team building and interpersonal skills required for life after graduation. When a topic is selected which holds learners as stakeholders and which they all have undoubtedly had a personal experience, this cooperative format will invariably produce diverse responses amalgamating various perspectives of all group members thereby resulting in innovative student output and constructive new collective knowledge.

The Question It is important for the WebQuest designer to exhaustively deconstruct the topic in order to begin to scrutinize it from a variety of possible angles thereby allowing for the most open-ended research question possible to be created. During the entire process of creating the WebQuest, it is essential for instructors to continue to revisit the initial open-ended question which was chosen. In the case of Omani car accidents, WebQuest designers may begin by asking the following questions (and continue to refine them as the development process ensues): What is the impact of (teenage) traffic fatalities on the family, the social network, the classroom, the community? What is the most effective road engineering safety from Muscat to Dubai or Muscat to Salalah? How to best teach a defensive driving course in this part of the world? How can one recognize the signs of a dangerous driver? What are the signs of dangerous road conditions? What are the signs of dangerous vehicular conditions? What should national driving laws include? What is the best way to reduce car accidents and traffic fatalities in Oman? How does a foreigner view driving in Oman? What should drivers’ education include? What should be the punishment of survivor drivers? Otherwise, a specific scenario may be provided about which

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learners can attempt to derive the factors which may have caused said accidents. Depending on what area of specialization the WebQuests is being designed to supplement for the ESP course, the question should reflect the field accordingly. What is vital is that the question is openended and that students be encouraged to draw upon their own personal experience. The particular aspect of relying upon one’s own experiences deeply qualifies as SCL since participants must be demystified against a onesingle-correct-answer culture. An open-ended question is necessary in order for students to be able to decipher their own conclusions using their own life experiences thereby allowing learners to build intertextuality and explore idiolect. Intertextuality is a chain of significance in which texts always make overt or subtle references to one another and idiolect is the ability to express one’s own language production in one’s own style and variety. Any single experience in culture, language and society, becomes an intricate part of an individual’s life knowledge as it becomes valued as it is used to collectively create new knowledge. This becomes extremely important because despite living in the alleged Information Age, there is actually no new information. Rather, there is merely the reorganising of what already exists as information becomes “repetitive, politically safe and is limited by invisible boundaries” (Pilger, 2001, p.15). Instructors have the duty of exposing this illusion to students and modeling how to synthesize old information with new inspirations as it happens in the game of life.

The Task Once the open-ended question has been thoroughly considered (and revamped if and when necessary), WebQuest designers can begin to enumerate the specific tasks that learners should complete in a manner that is constructively aligned with intended learning outcomes of the course. The task precisely describes what they will have to do in order to successfully complete the WebQuest. Here, it is vital to use clear, correct and concise instructional language which will not confuse learners or frustrate their ability to work independently. While it should not be announced to students during this stage, it is imperative for WebQuest designers to think carefully about how the task is aligned with how students will later report their results. Painstaking lengths must be taken in order to ensure students have opportunities to communicatively present their findings in ways that enhance their productive language skills of speaking and writing. Not only will this include the online component of

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the actual research and activated digital literacy skills, but also the communicated version of the results, perhaps in the creation of a video, website, presentation, conference, poster, debate, interview, role play, reconstruction of events or awareness campaign. It is important that whatever students produce as a final product must also be made public for online international viewing since there is a positive effect of publication on student work. While there will inevitably be privacy issues with which to contend, the consent of the student is certainly required prior to any work being made freely available. Students can also be asked to create another WebQuest as a final product to demonstrate how they have grasped essential knowledge of the target language, content and skills. A final essential part of the tasks enumerated must be to complete a selfevaluation form to fulfill the metacognitive building function inherent to SCL. Rubrics for all of these components must be provided at this stage to demystify how learners will be assessed.

The Process Next is the process stage which guides students step-by-step and during which WebQuest creators ought to keep in mind the gaps in learners’ knowledge and skills by providing necessary learners’ support as required. Background knowledge, language scaffolding, task preparation and task performance ought to be written using straight forward language in a manner that guides students through the activity. Using scaffolding techniques, a WebQuest designer ought to identify and provide guidance to close any gaps in learners’ knowledge, whether they exist in linguistic, technological or thematic areas. This entails that there ought to be appropriate support in the form of guided discovery which is simplified online due to the flexibility of hypertext. Some examples of support for linguistic difficulties include online dictionaries, thesauri, concordances, glossaries and translation tools. Technological support may include synchronous or asynchronous chat features, a general help button, more specific help buttons, search engine options, online tutorials and podcasts. In regard to support of the content, there may be videos, pictures, music, podcasts, electronic databases and online academic journals links. Regular features, such as email, forums, bulletin boards, collaborative workspaces and links to easier texts on the same topic will also provide the generic support required on textual themes rather than on specific websites or texts. This will guide learners towards a scaffolded discovery of knowledge while learning exactly how to use the Internet for research rather than just for leisure. It is highly worth noting that in addition to

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linguistic, technological or thematic issues, learners may also require guidance and support with cognitive and metacognitive aspects of learning. For example, while note-taking tools, organizational charts, mind mapping software may be used to support cognition, metacognitive options may include goal setting, task planning, resource selection, learner reflection and learning process evaluation. The possibilities are virtually endless pending the needs of any particular group. No one single WebQuest will or should ever be the same as another in regard to learners’ needs. During the process stage, links to information sources will also be provided. In the language learning classroom, it is vital that texts are realistically challenging adhering to Vygotsky’s (1978) ZPD and Krashen’s (1981) I+1 theory, that is that they are given materials just above their language threshold that are challenging enough to be understood with the appropriate support provided. Relevant online and real world resources, materials and activities will have been pre-selected for learners in order that they can get directly to the crux of the issue instead of squandering time searching for credible resources on the overwhelming Internet. These materials ought to be classified in a manageable fashion to determine exactly what students will do with specific materials in a stepby-step procedure. Admittedly, while searching for reliable sources is definitely an important skill for students to acquire, it is not the pinnacle focus of WebQuests. Instead, it is vital for teachers to model what types of resources are appropriate for what types of activities. While there should not be so many resources that the learners feel overwhelmed by the options available, but since learners are expected to take responsibility for their own learning and make their own choices, there should be enough links to enable them to evaluate the resources themselves and decide which ones to use in order to complete the tasks (Luzón, 2007). The actual authorship of a WebQuest is relatively straightforward, but it is easy to underestimate how much time is required for the process, of searching for resources and for writing the simple instructions in a way that makes information available to students.

The Evaluation Next is the evaluation stage. This should include not only the assessment rubrics but also the metacognitive tools which involve learners’ self-evaluation and reflection. These should be completed by students but with the vital element of teachers’ input and feedback in order to provide guidance to learners who have now had an experience with real

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world issues and who are optimally ready to engage with such materials in an authentic context. While the self-evaluation may or may not be included in formal assessment measures, the true measures of success are not always formatively deliberated, but are also determined by the increased range of student output displaying idiolect and original thought. Thus, instructors must be realistic in their assessment expectations since, as aforementioned, despite the fact that we live in a purported Age of Information, it ought to be demystified to learners that there ought not be a prescribed answer for which the instructor is seeking. A non-linear, process approach to literacy may be problematic and an open debate in the classroom may frustrate students who not only may have been traditionally reliant on teachers but may also not have the linguistic capacity to produce ideas in a foreign language. But the notion that new ideas are attainable only by building upon existing knowledge is emblematic of SCL and is in stark contrast with a teacher-centered approach of the instructor having the correct answer supplied to students in a teach-to-the-test game of the washback/backwash effect. Students ought to be encouraged to be genuinely buoyant to use their own life experiences to create new knowledge that would aid in finding real solutions to real world problems.

Conclusion To conclude, the end of the WebQuest must be satisfying to the learners as individuals engaged in authentic tasks and also as language learners. Praise for student commitment to the completion of the assignment must be provided in order to cater to the affective domain of learning. There must also be an opportunity for students to express their experience with the WebQuest and how they feel that it has affected their learning trajectory. It may also be used to introduce extension activities for students to pursue in their own time outside of the classroom. While the conclusion stage is not an imperative element of the WebQuest, it provides the necessary closure that students require to feel performance redress.

Limitations and Recommendations WebQuests represent a didactic shift from static, teacher-centered transmission models by fulfilling the need for a transitional phase towards more independent and autonomous student-centered education by rendering activities and assessment more congruent with real world tasks. In the international field of EFL and ESP tertiary language learning, a WebQuest appears as a suitable way to immerse the student in a real

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professional environment in which to carry out a whole project involving technology. WebQuests have been shown to cater to language learning needs by rendering relevant personal experiences, drawing upon the rich resource of the Internet and bringing digital, cultural, genre and literacy awareness into the foreign language classroom. However, while WebQuests have morphed into ideal language teaching and learning tools, there are still some hazards that require evasion. Dodge warns of the pitfall of creating WebQuests within inappropriate topics or inauthentic tasks. He states that the aim must be for students to be “fully engaged citizens in [an] information rich society” (Dodge, 2005), otherwise they will not be able to experience the relevance of WebQuests. If the relevance of the WebQuest is lost on students, some may find the tasks to be boring, particularly if they consider themselves to be digitally native and are used to more sophisticated technological effects. It is also important to note that unless students are demystified to the process of SCL and of using their own life experiences to construct knowledge they may perceive the teacher being indolent and will resent the “replacement of quality classroom teaching by inferior cost cutting online ventures” (Felix, 2002, p.3). There may also be complaints from students of teacher reliance and being unfamiliar with new styles of learning and teaching. Since SCL may not be the norm to which many students are accustomed, there may be some resistance to that mode of teaching rather than to the WebQuest itself. Thus, it would be useful for the teacher to prepare students for autonomous learning with technology by scaffolding other classroom tasks first. However, teachers must continuously challenge student efficacy and preconceived notions of what they can do, what is appropriate, what is required upon completion of study and what the world is really like. Although it has been recommended that WebQuests be best implemented as a supplemental activity and more effectively in a properly functioning SAC, the structural and economic requirements cannot be overlooked. Thus, there must also be recommendations for more training, resources and guidance towards the integration of WebQuests as selfsustaining online lesson plans. What is needed is more time to train students on how to use the software and how to get them to be more independent learners. This may come in the form of online courses or workshops to model any modifications that may be required for different potential student populations. Not only the students, but of course the teachers must be properly trained, particularly in their own “need to shift from creating prescriptive learning situations to developing environments that engage learners and require them to solve problems and construct

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knowledge that is most meaningful to them” (Sabo, 2006). If there are no resources for such training, or if there is no space in the curriculum, then WebQuests must be offered in the SAC. Similarly to how WebQuests are currently implemented by trained librarians in certain libraries of the world, the SAC can similarly provide invaluable technological resources that some teachers are unaware of. This training for both students and teachers would offer great potential for professional development and further levelling the pedagogical fields towards balanced SCL. Particularly in some tertiary ESP contexts where the learner may have more subject knowledge than the instructor, learners can take more of a leadership role in the WebQuest design process thereby deepening metacognition patterns by learning to evaluate their individual needs by searching for, selecting and evaluating the learning resources and materials on these sites, then reporting to the whole class on their effectiveness. While it has been stated that online and primary resources will be predefined and pre refined by instructors, for mature learners, particularly those aforementioned who are engaged in ESP courses and are more likely to have more subject knowledge than the language instructor, there may be greater opportunities for tasks requiring an evaluation of the credibility of websites and sources. However, if WebQuests cannot be implemented by the institution, language teachers may inevitably have to upgrade their own technological skills in order to maintain pace with their arguably digitally native students. Teachers are able to fill the gaps of knowledge that they don’t yet have through WebQuests and simultaneously give learners real world experience in the construction of knowledge. In a study of Russian ESP students, Chuchalin and Danilova (2005) state that WebQuests can be used to “manipulate different intellectual materials in a professional area” since all English teachers ought not to be expected to be proficient in all contexts and contents. Thus, WebQuests can be instantly created to alleviate basic issues, not only by allowing instructors to fill the gap of knowledge, but also by allowing both teacher and student designers to induce authentic information that may otherwise need to be simulated for a classroom setting. By demystifying to learners that teachers are not the possessors of all knowledge, SCL is set in motion from the onset of WebQuests. Gradually implementing SCL WebQuests into the classroom will also reduce the irony of the teacher being the one who learns most in the classroom. Continued research states the paradox of how teachers are the individuals who are learning most in the classroom. Hogan (1996) voiced this realisation by stating that as teacher, he was the most active learner in his class because he had guarded absolute responsibility for what was

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learned and how it was presented for consumption, rather than using increased and varied levels of student input to adjust the curriculum to the needs of the student’s real life after graduation. While this approach will surely exhaust and deplete the resources of even the most prepared and altruistic teacher, WebQuests will remain resilient in the face of student demands. WebQuest’s philosophy represents the microcosm of society in its developing processes and relations. With today’s collective consciousness revolving around the digital water cooler, teachers must induce technology to appropriately socialize the next generation of leaders. Education is a global commodity for a global community. It is for this exact reason that it has been traditionally slow to change. There is often a moral panic among the ruling elite that is associated with losing control over their own status quo. Thus, post-colonial gatekeepers fear and guard what is being taught to the next generation of thinkers and leaders in order to ensure hegemony of the fittest. Technology is helping to level these historical imbalances and demystifying this truth to learners from the earliest age as possible is vital in order for schools to most accurately depict and reflect society.

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Zheng, R., Stucky, B., Mcalack, M., Menchana, M. & Stoddart, S. (2005). Webquest learning as perceived by higher-education learners. Techtrends, 49(4): 41-49.

CHAPTER TEN FOSTERING EFL STUDENTS’ LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT VIA STUDENT-CREATED DIGITAL VIDEOS RAHMA AL-MAHROOQI HUMANITIES RESEARCH CENTER, SULTAN QABOOS UNIVERSITY, OMAN

AND SAMIA NAQVI MIDDLE EAST COLLEGE, OMAN

Abstract ICT has brought a paradigm shift in EFL teaching by providing variety to the classroom, enriching the learning environment, enhancing student motivation, fostering creativity and thus leading to improved learning outcomes. This chapter reports on a research study that focuses on the design, application and assessment of an ICT-based pedagogical approach that culminated in student-created digital video commercials, a presentation and a written report on student experiences. The initiative aimed at creating an ideal blend of ICT and project-based learning to investigate how it impacts learners’ development of language skills, social skills, and autonomous learning. The chapter discusses the project and reports on the perspectives of students, instructor and observers gathered through focus groups, a teacher’s reflective journal, and observers' comments. The findings indicated that most students viewed the experience positively and that they made gains in vocabulary, reading and oral and written communication. Learners’ thinking skills and autonomous learning was enhanced as a result of reading various texts, debating ideas with team members and solving problems caused by time management issues and time constraints. Keywords: EFL teaching, ICT, Digital videos,

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Introduction The field of education has been profoundly influenced by the potential offered by technology, which has found a niche in foreign language teaching, diversifying its traditional methodologies. Certain practitioners (Warschauer, 1996; Levy, 1997; Williams & Williams, 2000; Egbert, 2000; Cheng, 2003) have discussed technology’s potential and suggested that using it can produce a rich learning environment, enhance motivation, foster creativity and improve learning outcomes. In addition, the use of ICT in learning also ensures that individual learner characteristics are taken care of. As Esch and Zahner (2000) say: “The tendency to provide multimedia resources for learning rather than ready-made courses with pre-determined progressions is one of the ways in which the delivery of language learning material can be made to take into account different learner characteristics” (p.8). Allan (2004) underlines the rationale for ICT integration into the curriculum in the following comments: The needs and expectations of learners are constantly changing and increasingly they expect technology-rich and flexible learning opportunities. In addition, many end-users and other learners are working in the context of increased work and time pressures and so demand a shift in balance from face-to-face training sessions to ones that involve a more flexible blend of face-to-face and e-learning activities. (p.2)

Student-created digital video (SCDV), the focus of this chapter, is an upcoming practice which is widely acclaimed by a number of contemporary researchers. Video creation requires students to work effectively in teams and encourages them to use their language skills. Their Digital Videos (DVs) can then be shared with an extensive audience on sites like Youtube. Online publication of these videos greatly motivates students, who try to bring out their best since they have an international audience. Though a number of studies confirm the benefits of technology, not everyone favours technology’s integration into language learning. Indeed, it has been seen as a complex issue by some practitioners (Bonk & Graham, 2006; Stracke, 2007) who still prefer traditional methods of teaching and whose studies have not shown positive results stemming from technology integration (Liou, Wang, & Hung-Yeh, 1992; Chirstmann, Badgett, & Lucking, 1997). Thus ICT use in language teaching still needs more comprehensive research in foreign and second language settings.

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ICT and Language Learning A growing body of literature supports the numerous benefits of ICT use in language learning. A review of this literature reveals a substantial body of data which indicates that student perceptions of ICT are on the whole positive, provided the technology is reliable. Mayer and Sims (1994) found that multimedia programs helped learners construct referential connections between two forms of mental representation systems - verbal and visual - and that these connections were more easily built when verbal and visual materials were presented simultaneously. Meanwhile, Bonk and Cunningham asserted in 1998 that communication technology helps with the active and collaborative construction of knowledge and learning. Some researchers have highlighted the use of ICT in enhancing EFL writing skills (Gonzalez-Bueno & Perez, 2000) and the study by Nutta et al. (2002) is a relevant example of a well-designed experimental investigation. Their research studied the impact of multimedia materials on proficiency in Spanish during an extensive period of time - three hours weekly for over six months - and 13 months altogether, including an equal instruction period and collection of qualitative data. A shorter exercise was conducted in an elementary school setting with 28 students. Gonzalez-Bueno and Perez (2000) and Cheng (2003) are also on record as having investigated the effects of technology on language learning, mainly finding that the impact was positive. Further advances in technology have led to experimentation with new forms of lesson delivery, from video production (Gromik, 2007) to blogging (Pinkman, 2005) and teacher produced podcasts (Diem, 2005). However, most research remains limited to teacher-produced material. In Oman, the context of the present study, Al-Adi, (2008) studied Internet use for ELT and concluded that teachers recognized its potential and were keen to incorporate it into their teaching. He asserted that the Internet was motivating and could make the teaching and learning process fun for teachers and their students.

Research Specific to Student-Created Digital Video Projects Digital storytelling or SCDV is the modern extension of the ancient art of storytelling, now interwoven with digitized still and moving images and sound. Accessible media production techniques, hardware and online free software, including, but not limited to, digital cameras are used. Stories or documentaries prepared by students can be presented in digital form and

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then shared over the Internet with a wider audience on public video sharing websites like Youtube and Vimeo. It is believed that such multimodal digital compositions have the potential for bridging the gap between in-class and out-of-class literacy practices and eventually enhancing language learning. The practice also offers a number of other benefits, though Esch and Zahner (2000) argue that “accessibility, autonomy, ‘reflectivity’ and interactivity” are conditions which must be met if ICTs are to become truly relevant to language learners (p. 5). As a result, some educators have begun to explore the potential of digital storytelling projects as a pedagogic tool. Such projects encourage students to work either individually or in groups to design and construct a short, movie-like digital production, known as a digital story. Digital stories created by learners are considered both powerful and motivating. Bull and Kajder (2004, p. 49) write: Digital storytelling can provide a voice to struggling readers and writers who might not otherwise find an authentic means of expression. It places the technology in the hands of the learner, allowing him or her to control its use within objectives that are carefully constructed by the teacher.

Schuck and Kearney are thought to have conducted the most extensive research in this area. Their first case-study-based project in 2004 investigated the use of SCDV in K-12 pedagogy. They worked on a joint project between the Faculty of Education, University of Technology, Sydney, and Apple Computer, Australia. Their main objective was to inform teachers, educational institutions, and Apple Computer on how the practice of SCDV can enrich instruction. The major factors considered in their study were the role of school in supporting this innovative practice, teachers’ rationales for using SCDVs, pedagogical approaches used for SCDVs, and the nature of learning outcomes in key learning areas. The instruments used to test the efficacy of the practice were teacher questionnaires, interviews, observations and focus groups. The results reflected clear evidence of SCDVs strongly enhancing pedagogy in the area of student engagement and autonomy. The researchers suggested future studies in areas focusing on particular outcomes, like problem solving, teacher training in the use of digital cameras, and editing software. In 2008, Kearney realized that there was a dearth of pedagogical frameworks and theoretical designs for facilitating learner-generated DVs and hence carried out qualitative research to explore the potential of SCDVs in teacher education. His paper describes the development of a

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learning design for SCDV and issues related to future iterations of the design. Thus, after Robin (2008), it was Kearney (2011) who emphasized the need for a theoretical framework and took this up in his next study, in which, along with Jones & Roberts, he introduced a beta generic learning design, including a LAMS-based template for SCDV projects - Ideas Videos or iVideos. The advocacy-style short videos, produced by teacher trainees, were designed to “evoke powerful experiences about educative ideas” (Wong, Mishra, Koehler, & Adams, 2007, p. 181). The researchers used a pedagogical planner for their iVideos, thus strengthening their work on the theoretical aspects of SCDV integration. Henderson et al. (2010) of Monash University worked on a government project to showcase the effective, sustainable and embedded use of ICT across various curriculum areas and to demonstrate how this might improve educational outcomes. The project involved a case study with six schools participating - each from a different state in Australia. From these six sites, eleven effective strategies were identified and the pedagogical approach used to achieve educational objectives was based on SCDV. Bran (2010) conducted a study on first year students of Journalism in Romania. The first part of the semester was dedicated to techniques of DS (Digital Storytelling) and Web 2.0 tools and the next half to the creation of stories entitled Message in a Bottle, which was to be incorporated in class wiki. Bran concluded that, “After assessing their work, I can safely conclude that the project was a success and that digital storytelling enhances the quality of the teaching and learning acts respectively” (p.1793). Though Bran reported a number of advantages of DS, “he is also one of the very few researchers of this field who expressed limitations of the practice” (Naqvi, 2014). The advantages discussed by him include: DS allows students to communicate their discoveries; provides a way to express knowledge, skills and creativity; engages them in writing; stimulates interest; and reinforces literacy and 21st century skills. The disadvantages, according to him are: …some students may not be comfortable with producing original work, so they may find themselves retelling stories they have come across (however, this is true for traditional stories as well); - intellectual property issues may arise; - digital stories might be difficult to assess, particularly because they integrate skills from a range of disciplines, but also because some students are better at “directing” whilst others are not - it may prove problematic for language teachers to correct mistakes (therefore this should probably be done while the learner is still constructing his/her story) (p.1792).

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Hafner and Miller’s (2011) study reported on the syllabus design and implementation of an English for Science and Technology (EST) course at a university in Hong Kong. The course combined features of project-based learning and a framework for multiliteracies as a technique of producing a strong learner autonomy focus. A key course component was a studentcreated digital video project in which students created and shared a multimodal scientific documentary. Diverse new technologies and Web 2.0 platforms were integrated into the project in order to create a technologically rich learning environment. Greene and Crespe (2012) investigated the perceived value of college students’ created videos and reported as follows: Whatever the reason, one would expect that the process of creating course content videos will produce a richer understanding of the subject matter for students. A second and important consequence to be expected of student-created videos is that, while students are actively engaged in the activity, they are actively learning, as compared to passively sitting in a traditional lecture, and will, thus, enjoy the project, providing a greater degree of satisfaction with the course, subject content, the professor, and fellow students (p. 274).

Reyes, Pich and Garcia’s (2012) study investigated the potential of DS in a didactic sequence to work on linguistic routines like greetings and leave takings. The study participants were students from the Faculty of Education at the University of València in Spain. The dual aim of the project was to improve the students’ ability to adapt their language skills to specific situations that arise in daily interaction and to design a didactic sequence that included DS as a pedagogical tool. The researchers designed a didactic sequence comprising a range of workshops and the sequence ended with the students’ final project which was a digital story of what they learned. The final production “highlighted a clear improvement in the use of linguistic routines, as well as in the use of more complex structures and of varied expressions used to open and close a conversation” (p.1). In addition, it enhanced motivation and cooperation among students. However, this was a closely guided study that emphasized the role of the teacher at every step with the arrangement of workshops throughout the duration of the course. This contrasts with other studies, such as Hafner and Miller’s and O’ Neille’s, which stress learner autonomy. The present study stresses autonomy as well and aims to investigate how studentcreated digital videos in the foreign language context of Oman would benefit student’s language skills, communication skills, social skills, and autonomy. The following sections will clarify the context of the study, research questions, methodology, and results.

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The Context of the Study Oman is a middle-eastern developing nation where tremendous efforts are being made to develop the country through economic reforms and by directing increasing attention to education, healthcare, and welfare. Educational development has received the top priority. Development has reached all primary, secondary, and higher education sectors. To meet the demand for higher education, a number of private institutions have been established. The government has realized the importance of English as a necessity for national development (Al-Husseini, 2006), since it is the language of science and technology, and as an important tool for modernization. It is worth mentioning here, however, that, despite all the Ministry of Education’s tremendous efforts to teach the language effectively, a majority of students seeking admission to tertiary education, where the medium of instruction is English for most scientific specializations such as medicine, IT, and engineering, lack real proficiency in English (Al-Mahrooqi, 2012a & b). The reasons for this are a lack of study skills, lack of motivation, lack of exposure to the language, the school curriculum, and the use of traditional methods of teaching, among others. As a result, before students enroll in undergraduate programs, many must go through a year of General Foundation Program (GFP) training, where learners are given exhaustive practice in all the four English Language skills (Al-Mahrooqi, 2012a & b). Nevertheless, the reality is that, despite spending a year at the Foundation level, a substantial number of students are still not proficient enough to cope with the requirements of their undergraduate courses. In these circumstances, it becomes inevitable for tertiary-level institutions to offer courses that support students’ language and study skills’ development. Hence a number of modules, like English for Special Purposes, English for Communication, English for Research Purposes, and Job Skills, are offered either as compulsory college requirement or electives. The English for Communication module, considered in this research, is offered as a credit-bearing module at the undergraduate level in one of the private colleges in Oman. This module employed a SCDV project with the following objectives in mind: x To provide a practical framework for synthesising technology and blending it into language learning with a special focus on a SCDV group project. x To enhance autonomous learning and the motivation levels of students through a digital video group project.

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x To enhance through the project social skills such as collaboration and cooperation. x To explore the impact of a digital video project on learners’ written and oral communication skills. The present study investigates how the SCDV project was integrated into the course and how it has benefited learners’s language learning, communication, autonomy and language skills.

Research questions The following were the relevant research questions, which the present investigation sought to find answers for: a. How is ICT integrated into digital video project-based instruction in the English for Communication module? b. Does the proposed model of blended learning contribute to the improvement of vocabulary learning, reading skills, critical thinking skills, written, and oral communication skills? If it does, how? c. How effective would the suggested blended learning model be for enhancing: x Enjoyment and motivation x autonomous learning via technology use x social skills like collaboration and cooperation?

Research Methodology This research primarily focused on the above objectives via the creation, application and assessment of a project-based approach that culminated in SCDV commercials. The English for Communication module was offered as an elective in a private college in Oman. The overall effectiveness of the project was assessed through qualitative (focus group interviews, teacher’s journal, online forum, and observers’ feedback) as well as quantitative (a student questionnaire) methods. Due to the extensive nature of the data collected and the limited scope of this chapter, this study reports only on the results obtained from the qualitative data, which actually correlated significantly with the questionnaire results. The participants' consent was given before conducting the study.

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Course Description English for Communication is a credit-bearing module and is offered to third semester undergraduate level students as an elective. The module aims to enhance students’ communication and academic writing skills. Participants The participants were undergraduate-level Engineering students from two cohorts, one full-time (a morning batch) and one part-time (an evening batch in which most of the students were employed). The full-time batch comprised 25 students and the part-time batch 33. A typical cohort included a diverse combination of students from a variety of cultures, regions and educational environments. Except for three expatriates, all the remaining students were local Omanis who studied English as a foreign language. Entry to the undergraduate program requires them to have either a band 5.5 in IELTS or a pass in the one-year-long preparatory Foundation Programme. The sample comprised all students enrolled in the modules. Procedure-Integration of Digi-video Project into the Curriculum The students were first divided into groups of four for the digi-video commercial creation project, which was an assessed assignment with a 20% weighting. The aim of this mini project was to familiarize students with the ethics of advertising; develop research and presentation skills, and enhance language and collaborative skills. In groups of four, the students were expected to create a digital video commercial for any product decided by mutual consent of group members. They were given 7 weeks to prepare the video and 3 weeks to write the report on it. Each group was asked to prepare a questionnaire to collect feedback on their video from the audience, which included classmates, their teacher and observer teachers. The project concluded with a written report and a presentation. The report covered the project objectives, methodology, an analysis of the questionnaire responses, and a conclusion. During the presentation, students introduced their products, discussed the methodology adopted to create their videos, and described their learning experiences and challenges faced. They then presented their video to the class and in some cases published it digitally on ‘Youtube’. Along with the class tutor, two observers were also present during the video display. Research Instruments To maintain findings’ credibility, the researchers compared and crosschecked data from various instruments, including focus group discussions,

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an online forum on Moodle, a teacher’s journal, and observers’ comments in order to examine the efficacy of the intervention from different angles. Focus Group Two focus groups, one from the full-time batch and one from the parttimers, were formed and their discussions lasted for about 60 minutes. The objective of the focus group was to get students’ feedback on the assignment, their experience of designing a video as a team, their learning experiences, and their perspective on the role of ICT in language learning. One representative from each group was chosen to participate in the focus group. This was to get insights into the working approach of each group and its learning experiences. The discussions further allowed the researchers to explore any technical and language-related issues faced by the students. Online Forum An online collaborative forum was activated in Moodle with the purpose of providing a platform for continued and independent secondlanguage interaction and feedback on the course. All the students were encouraged to take part in it. The researchers monitored the interactions and noted observations and comments down. Teacher’s Journal The teacher of the course maintained a journal during the intervention period, which was scheduled for three hours a week. The teacher noted down student responses from the beginning, when the assignment was explained, to the end of the project. Observers’ feedback Four EFL teachers from the higher education institution where the study took place were invited to watch the students’ videos. They were requested to provide qualitative feedback on SCDVs after viewing them. Both positive and negative comments are included in the results section.

Data Analysis Qualitative data gathered from the focus groups, the teacher’s journal and observers’ feedback helped in triangulating the findings by complementing each other and giving depth to the findings. Recordings of focus groups were first transcribed question-wise across all responses in order to identify consistencies and differences. Then the comments were

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analyzed and categorized under sub-headings addressing the research questions. The teacher’s journal provided a weekly reflection on the practice, the findings of which are briefly summarized in the results section. The observers’ feedback comprised comments after they had viewed the videos. Both positive and negative comments are included in the results section. The findings are presented in line with the second and third research questions, which address the development of communication skills, social skills and other sub-skills. The first research question on the integration of ICT into digital video project based instruction has already been answered in the section on the procedure of ICT integration in the course. Results from the Focus Group As stated earlier, two focus groups, one comprising full-time (morning) students and one part-time (evening) students, were formed. The purpose of the focus groups was to gather qualitative data aiming at getting in-depth information on the experiences and perceptions of the participants on preparing the digital videos and all the activities that accompanied it. Prior to the discussion, a list of questions was prepared to propel discussion, though participants were encouraged to discuss anything they believed to be relevant. The discussions lasted for around 60 minutes in each focus group, were recorded and later transcribed and analyzed thematically. In the following thematic analysis, pseudonyms are used instead of the students’ real names for the sake of anonymity. Overall Experience and Motivation Most students enjoyed working on the commercial, though initially they had expected it to be very challenging. They described the experience as “good” and “new”, stressing that it helped them to see the importance of planning, continuously striving to achieve their objective, and working cooperatively in a team. A few participants indeed claimed the project was an eye opener. They mentioned that the project motivated them to produce excellent work and to search for information from the start of the project to its end. Still, the participants also discussed the problems they faced and made valuable suggestions. A student, Abu, reported: Actually it was good experience and because we didn’t do anything related to commercial and advert (earlier). It was our pleasure to have this. The feedback from audience when we presented our product was good so and it encouraged us to do another commercial if we got a chance or opportunity to do it next time.

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Sami said: For me it was something new something challenging-first of all I thought about something not easy but after in the first meeting we have a discussion that we’ll make it and it would be the best commercial of all the groups. Then we decided to work hard and it’s not something we can do at the last night. It need time ideas preparation, designing it needs a lot of things-so from the first day we start working g each one got something to do.

Another student, Safi, who works in a senior position in a company, commented: “Overall it was a very good experience because it opened us our mind and vision of what are we doing or what are we going to do in future”. Kothar, unsatisfied with her work, reported, “I think it was difficult because we don’t know any idea about it and my group members not working together”. Development of language skills and critical thinking Most of the participants agreed that they did improve their English language skills. They mentioned that their vocabulary improved as they kept searching for appropriate words and synonyms to be used for dialogues, slogans, and mottos for the commercials. Regarding reading skills, some students mentioned that they did not read anything for the project, while some mentioned that they read a great deal about the product, its specifications, and details of similar products available on the market. They also searched for competitors who produced similar products and read about them. For example, Sami said: about the shoes we read a lot. We were searching in the photos when we were searching about something that need use in our product so we read about …that’s we get some idea about our product …who are the competitors for our product.

Reading various texts about the products, manufacturers and competitors has enhanced students’ critical thinking skills, as the teams had to debate ideas to choose a good product that can sell and an appropriate strategy for advertising it. Concerning the writing skill, students reported that their writing skills improved while working on video scripts and project reports. Also, they indicated that messaging on WhatsApp and emailing improved their writing skills. Analysis of the survey conducted to collect feedback on

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commercials strengthened their analytical and descriptive skills. Najah reported: Writing in motion in the video itself - was a good experience-how to move from slide to slide choose words-the wording were pre decided by uswhich words to use in movies so there were many words and phrases to be decided for movie.

As far as an improvement in speaking skills is concerned, most participants stated one or two examples of how they developed this skill. Some groups made it mandatory to discuss the projects in English. According to Abu: Within the group ya- actually we tried while we used to when we meet in group we tried to speak English language with each other. Those who enacted in the commercials practiced speaking before the video shoot.

Group work, Collaboration and Social Skills The focus group discussion revealed that, for most of their work, groups or teams decided on the product with mutual consent and worked on the project together. They reported that they enjoyed working in groups and learned from each other, except for two teams where members were not cooperative. Sami stated: For me it was the first group that I enjoyed working with it was a good group -everybody worked together. I have bad experience (in the past) about working in groups no body is working we’ll meet tomorrow and after tomorrow and that’s then until the deadline.

Najah agreed, saying: “It was the teamwork in general increase the productivity…so it was comfortable for this project”. Abu added: “Actually from the beginning worst problem was timing so the group members were not there in time so it was little bit so it was somehow disturbing”. Technology, autonomy and language learning Some students recounted that many of them had learned how to use new programs and were later using them independently for other purposes also. In Faizi’s words: They don’t know about Adobe Premiere or Adobe Lightroom. They liked using other programs. They don’t know about Photoshop-they learned how to use…now they have these.

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Najah said: Tech is everything now - u can’t do anything without using any type of tech it was v useful for us and contact each other also we use smartphone. Technology is everything.

Problems and challenges Time management, diverse class schedules, and irresponsible group members (in some cases) were some of the problems faced by the students. Highlighting the problem of full-time students, who studied in the morning, working with part-time evening students, Zuweina said: “Me and one student were in morning and others part time the problem is how to divide work between each other”. Safi, a part- timer added: I think the crucial thing it was the time management-this was a very crucial time because in the morning we are working and the only time is evening when we have class-so when to sit and do the assignment trying to allocate time to meet was crucial.

Having said the above, all teams were capable of solving the problems that confronted them albeit with varying degrees of success. Learners learnt that time management and continuous work are essential for the success of their projects that is why most of the teams started work as soon as the project was announced. Since the teams worked on the projects independently, their autonomous learning skills have improved as a result. Reflections from the Teachers’ Journal During the implementation of the practice, the teacher maintained a reflective journal. It was noted that, initially, the students in the part-time group flatly rejected the idea when they were asked to work on the digivideo project, saying it was very difficult and that they would not be able to do it. One came up to the teacher and said: “Miss, I’m worried about creating a video.” It was surprising to note, however, that as the three-hour introductory session came to a close, and when the students were leaving the class, they started telling the teacher about the product they had in mind for the commercial. During the following session, more groups started coming and asking for suggestions on the product they had chosen. And within 2-3 weeks, they were enjoying working on the commercial and most of the groups produced excellent results. At the end of the course, the teacher noted that:

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The students performed beyond expectations, since most produced excellent videos. Some used their own cameras and group members themselves acted. Others created videos through pictures using ‘Moviemaker’, ‘Adobe Lightroom’ or any other similar programme.

Commercial observers’ comments The commercials produced by students were displayed for a few teacher observers to get their opinions of students’ work and its quality. Most provided positive comments on the videos and on the blended learning approach. One viewer was delighted with the commercials and said: “The students will never forget such an experience”. Another said: “Rarely have I seen students in such high spirits…they were so proud of their creations. Wonderful!” At the same time, the observers did not hesitate to comment negatively on the group whose video was not up to the mark. “Sad to see that one group did not get the idea of what needed to be done”, stated one of them. Results from the Forum The forum was used only during the first 2-3 weeks of the project, with most of the threads started by the teacher to encourage the students. Initially, some students discussed their topics and expressed their apprehension about video production. However, once they became engaged and started working closely with their group members, they found ‘WhatsApp’ more convenient to stay connected using their mobiles.

Discussion Engaging EFL students in meaningful learning using authentic tasks that are project or task-based and involve problem solving is crucial for their language improvement and skill development. Encouraging them to communicate with others in English in their institutions and the community is also vital for increasing their autonomy as language learners and future professionals because learning does not only take place in the classroom rather it can extend to situations beyond it, and this is perhaps what makes it more meaningful and its effect everlasting. Technology has offered language learners the opportunity to engage with language independently outside the classroom. In this technological age, students are digital natives and the majority of learners are technology-savvy. Therefore, utilizing technology in language teaching and learning can bring various advantages to EFL students. Utilizing student-created digital videos in a communication course, this chapter sought to measure the

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effect of this technique on learners’ language development, communication skills, and social and autonomous skills enhancement. The results indicate that the majority of students enjoyed working on the digital videos they created with their teams and described the experience as “good” and “new”. This finding is in line with that of Greene and Crespe (2012), who acknowledged that because students are actively engaged in learning while creating their videos, they would enjoy the project. The results also showed that learners indicated that their language skills, including vocabulary learning, reading, writing and speaking, have improved as a result of the project. The project obliged and motivated them to look for new words to describe the products which they were advertising and compelled them to read a great deal about these products, their manufacturers and competitors. Through writing the video scripts and the final report, students improved their writing skills. Their speaking improved via using English in discussing the different aspects of the project with team members such as when deciding what product to introduce, how to advertise for it, and how to deliver the final presentation. Preparing for the presentation also required much practice in speaking and this consolidated the learners’ oral communication skills. This is quite an encouraging finding since many Omani EFL learners shy away from speaking in class due to classroom communication anxiety (Khan & AlMahrooqi, in press). In addition, the results of this study showed an improvement in social skills as a result of teamwork, which has improved their productivity. Their autonomy also improved due to learning how to use new technology to produce the videos. These findings prove as accurate the comments made by Warschauer (1996), Levy (1997), Williams and Williams (2000), Egbert (2000) and Cheng (2003) who suggested that technology use has the potential to produce a rich learning environment, enhance motivation, foster creativity and improve learning outcomes. Gonzalez-Bueno and Prez (2000) have also found that ICT use had a positive effect on student learning as it improved their writing. In terms of speaking, this study corroborates Reyes, Pich and Garcia’s (2012) findings which showed positive improvements as a result of employing digital storytelling in students’ use of such linguistic routines as greetings and leave taking. With such benefits gained from the use of studentcreated digital videos, the researchers suggest that this project is integrated into more higher education language programs in Oman.

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Conclusion The project proved to be a great success with the students. The target of integrating ICT into language learning was achieved to a certain degree. Most aspects received a positive reaction from both students and observers. The student excitement observed during the focus groups reflected motivation and a sense of achievement and most groups rated the project as being both challenging and motivating at the same time. Similarly, the observers were appreciative, saying that the practice was highly effective in the context of EFL teaching and learning. Responses established the fact that a pedagogical initiative like this can lead to impressive learning outcomes and suggest that the project could be adapted and tailored to the needs of students from varied locales and backgrounds.

Limitations and recommendations for future research The integrated approach was experimental and hence cannot be called flawless. To establish a model for integrating digi-videos into language learning, further improvements are required. To achieve more fruitful results, a system that supports the needs of specific learners and follows the cyclic process of needs analysis, design, implementation and feedback from all students as well as tutors is recommended.

References Al-Adi, F. (n.d). The Internet in English language teaching in Oman, Oman-Ministry of Education. Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.om/Portal/sitebuilder/Sites/EPS/Arabic/IPS/Impo rta/tesol/5/The%20Internet%20in%20English%20language%20teachin g%20in%20Oman.pdf. Allan, B. (2004). Blended learning-tools for teaching and learning. Facet Publishing, UK: London. Al-Mahrooqi, R. (2012a). English communication skills: How are they taught at schools and universities in Oman? English Language Teaching, 5(4), pp. 124-130. Al-Mahrooqi, R. (2012b). A student perspective on low English proficiency in Oman. International Education Studies, 5(6), 263-271. Bonk, C. J., & Cunningham, D. J. (1998). Searching for learner-centered, constructivist, and sociocultural components of collaborative educational learning tools. In C. J. Bonk, & K. S. King (Eds.),

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Electronic collaborators: Learner-centered technologies for literacy, apprenticeship, and discourse (pp. 25-50). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Bran, R. (2010). Message in a bottle Telling stories in a digital world. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 1790-1793. Bull, G., & Kajder, S. (2004). ‘Digital storytelling in the language arts classroom’. Learning & Leading with Technology, 32(4), 46–49. Cheng, Y. (2003). The effects of web-based instruction on Chinese EFL students’ learning outcomes. Dissertation Abstracts International, 64(2), 382. Chirstmann, E. P., & Badgett, J. L. & (2000). The comparative effectiveness of CAI on collegiate academic performance. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 11(2), 91-103. Diem, R. (2005). Podcasting: A new way to reach students. The Language Teacher, 29(8), 45-46. Egbert, J. (2002). A project for everyone: English language learners and technology in content-area classrooms. Learning and Leading with Technology, 29(8), 36-41. ESch, E. & Zahner, C.(2000). The contribution of ICTs to language learning environments or the mystery of the secret agent. ReCALL, 12, 5-18. Gonzalez-Bueno, M., & Perez, L. C. (2000). Electronic mail in foreign language writing: A study of grammatical and lexical accuracy, and quantity of language. Foreign Language Annals, 33(2), 189-198. Greene, H. & Crispy, C. (2012) The Value of Student created Videos in the College Classroom-An exploratory Study in Marketing and Accounting. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 5(1),273–283. Gromik, N. (2007). Meaningful tasks with video in the ESOL classroom. In E. Hanson-Smith and S. Rilling (Eds.), Language Learning Through Technology (pp. 85-98)). Alexandria, VA: TESOL. Hafner, C. A. & Miller, L. (2011). Fostering Learner Autonomy in English for Science: A Collaborative Digital Video Project in a Technological Learning Environment, Language Learning & Technology, 15(3), 68– 86. Henderson et al. (2010). Students creating digital video in the primary classroom: student autonomy, learning outcomes, and professional learning communities, Australian Educational Computing, 24(2), 1220. Khan, A. & Al-Mahrooqi, R. (In Press). Foreign language communication anxiety (FLCA) among tertiary level Omani EFL learners. Asian EFL Journal. (To appear in March, 2015).

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Kearney, M. (2011). A Learning Design for Student-Generated Digital Storytelling. Learning, Media and Technology, 6 (2), 169-188. Kearney, M., Jones, G., & Roberts, L. (2012) . An emerging learning design for student-generated ‘iVideos’. In C. Alexander, J. Dalziel, J. Krajka & E. Dobozy (Eds.), Teaching English with Technology, Special Edition on LAMS and Learning Design volume 3,12(2), 103120, retrieved from http://www.tewtjournal.org.‘IVIDEOS’< jQuery1362212829670="97"> Levy, M. (1997). Computer-assisted language learning: Context and conceptualization. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Liou, H-S, Wang, S. H., & Hung-Yeh, Y. (1992). Can grammatical CALL help EFL writing instruction? CALICO Journal, 10(1), 23-43. Retrieved Feb. 25, 2005, from http://calico.org/journalarticles/Volume10/vol10-1/Liou,etal.pdf Mayer, R. E. & Sims, V. K. (1994). For whom is a picture worth a thousand words? : Extensions of a dual-coding theory of multimedia learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(3), 389-401. Naqvi, S. (2014). Educational Benefits of Student Created Digital Videos: Reflections on a Decade of Research, Paper presented at ICAICT, Muscat, Oman. Nutta, J., Feyton, C., Norwood, A., Meros, J., Yoshii, M., & Ducher, J. (2002). Exploring new frontiers : What do computers contribute to teaching foreign language in elementary school elementary school? Foreign Language Annals, 35(3), 293-306. O’Neill, T. (2010). Uncovering student ownership in science learning: The making of a student created minidocumentary. School Science and Mathematics, 105(6), 292-301. Pinkman, K. (2005). Using Blogs in the Foreign Language Classroom: Encouraging learner independence. The JALT CALL Journal, 1(1), 1224. Reyes, A., Pich, E., & Garcia, M.D. (2012) Digital Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool within a Didactic Sequence in Foreign Language Teaching. Digital Education Review, 22, 1-18. Robin, B. R. (2008). Digital storytelling: A powerful technology tool for the 21st century classroom. Theory into Practice, 47(3), 220. Schuck, S. & Kearney (2004). Students in the Director’s Seat: Teaching and Learning with Student generated Video. A Research Report. Sydney: UTS. Retrieved from http://www.ed-dev.uts.edu.au/teachered/research/dvproject/home.html

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Stracke, E. (2007). A road to understanding: A qualitative study into why learners drop out of a blended learning environment. ReCALL, 19(1), 57–78. Williams, H. S., & Williams, P. N. (2000). Integrating reading and computer: An approach to improve ESL students reading skills. Reading improvement, 37(3), 98-101. Wong, D, Mishra, P, Koehler, MJ, & Adams, S. (2007). Teaching as filmmaking: On appreciating the aesthetics of educational experience. In M. Girod & J. Steed (Eds.), Technology in the college classroom: Education. (pp.181-195). Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press.

CHAPTER ELEVEN IS SMALL REALLY BEAUTIFUL?: EXPLORING DIGITAL LITERATURES AND THEIR RELEVANCE TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING (ELT) SANDHYA RAO MEHTA SULTAN QABOOS UNIVERSITY, OMAN

Abstract While technology has begun to occupy a central position in the study and practice of the English language, it has possibly not entirely been embraced by literary purists for whom the ‘great tradition’ of English literature remains firmly entrenched within the pages of written books. Emerging debates on the role of technological developments, have, however, re-formulated the discourse of literature in EFL contexts to examine the ways in which literature as a fixed, eternally stable form in an unchanging language is briskly debated. This paper looks into the creative possibilities of using a specific form of technology, texting, and its associated forums such as twitter to explore the ways in which literature is being re-defined in the new millennium as an explorative medium rather than a fixed product. Using theoretical studies as well as primary texts, this study will focus on emerging literatures which have been made possible through technology and explore the ways in which these new texts could be used in a language classroom. The implications of these new literatures on second and foreign language contexts will be discussed to examine how core literary and linguistic concepts could be advanced through more creative forms of literature which emphasise the process of creating a text rather than studying its final product, thus enabling an appreciation of the creative possibilities of language.

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Keywords: Texting, Twitterature, Crowd sourced novels, E-stories, Twaiku poems, Literature and technology, Technology and EFL, Digital literature

Digitalising Literature: An Introduction “Brevity is the soul of wit,” said Polonius to King Claudius and his wife in Shakespeare’s Hamlet - perhaps a hasty attempt to tide over the bitter truth that Prince Hamlet was losing his sanity. Polonius may have had a vested interest in glossing over the uncomfortable details of Hamlet’s mental health, but his comment on language as being most effective when brief, concentrated and succinct points to an important quality in literature. Whether in the form of fables, traditional haikus or the strictly structured sonnet with its clinching couplet, writers have striven to create specific literary effects with a minimum of words, resulting, often, in addressing a select audience aware of the literary experiment being carried out. Nowhere is this more evident in the new millennium than in the many ways literature is being re-defined through the ubiquitous presence of technology, whether in the form of micro-blogging sites such as twitter or even in the more commonly available and frequently used form of texting, framed as they are with their own internal rules of word limits and instant publication. In many ways, literature has already begun to be shaped in terms of its changing platforms, as in e-books, collaborative group writings and the increasingly common form of creative writing on twitter, commonly labelled “twitterature” (Aciman & Rensin, 2009, p. 1). All these developments point to the unavoidable truth that imaginative writing, of whatever literary standing, is transforming itself in the way it is produced, consumed, and even reviewed. This has vast implications for how literature might be used in the language classroom, particularly with second and foreign language learners, both as literature itself and as a teaching tool for reading and writing. Because resisting the popularity of such forms would probably be futile, it may be pertinent to explore the ways in which millennial literature is being reformulated by technology and how this is changing the ways we read it. The implications for language learning are significant as they relate to a specific need of contemporary learners who are technologically adept and open to experiments in language. In many ways, it appears that creative writing arising from such technologies as twitter, texting and other online forums provide a whole new opportunity for re-defining literature and its role in acquiring language proficiency.

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Texting and Twitter: Framing the Background With the first “Merry Christmas” text sent in 1992 by Neil Papworth to the then director of Vodafone, Richard Jarvis (Shannon, 2007), texting soon became one of the most popular means of communication, especially when phone companies introduced the pay-as-you-go format which was soon popular with teenagers who did not have the contract systems which had been used earlier (Faulkner & Culwin, 2005). With the global mobile revolution, texting is now seen as an essential component of social mobility in the developing world (Donner & Escobari, 2010) and a medium of convenience elsewhere (Lenhart, 2010). It is used by fishermen in Kerala, India, to identify a lucrative market nearby (Pesce, 2011; Williams & Gray, 2010), to increase the radius of education in Africa (Vooslo, 2009), and even to create social and political revolution in the Middle East (Peterson, 2011; Alterman, 2011). As a communication tool, texting has become the default norm of communication among adults as well as teenagers and younger children. The Pew Research Center’s analysis of texting habits in the United States gave the following results: Daily text messaging by teens to friends has increased rapidly since early 2008. Some 38% of teens were daily texters in February 2008, and that has risen to 54% of teens who use text daily in September 2009. Of the 75% of teens who own cell phones, 87% use text messaging at least occasionally. Among those teen texters daily text messaging by teens to friends has increased rapidly since early 2008. (Lenhart, 2010, p. 2).

The classic situation of a family sitting together, all facing a different screen, is thus not only a Simpson’s moment but also a modern reality. Internationally, of the four billion people who possessed mobile phones in 2012, making them all potential texters, more than 80% seem to have actually used texting as an important tool to communicate professionally or personally. In fact, according to Sarah Perez, who used data supplied by CISCO WNI Mobile, the total number of mobile phones in the world is said to exceed the number of people themselves, largely owing to individuals owning multiple phones for various purposes, both personal and professional (Perez, 2012). Around the world too, texting has become a popular and ubiquitous tool for communication. Metin (2006), McMullen (2009) and Tabatabaei and Goojani (2012) have all explored the popularity of phone technology among young students in, for example, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Studies conducted in Japan and China (Kondo, Ishikawa & Smith, 2012; Zhang & Liang, 2012) also show that the use of cell phones has seen a phenomenal rise in the second decade of

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the new millennium, pointing to significantly different forms of communication patterns. While texting may be a popular medium between individuals, on a more public platform twitter has overtaken even texting as a way to communicate with a wider audience. Largely because mobiles are more commonly available than tablets and computers with their constant requirement of Internet and wireless facilities, twitter has become a popular way to communicate instantly with groups of individuals. This is particularly true following the popularity of smartphones which enabled Internet activity on their devices instead of having to use a computer. Some of the most popular examples of twitter’s use to affect history include President Obama’s campaign advertisements which seem to have resulted directly in his victory on two occasions (McKeever, 2008; Lee, 2012) or the overthrow of President Mubarak of Egypt and other ‘occupy’ movements in the world. By its very nature, twitter spreads news faster than any other medium and brings people together, whether physically at a venue or virtually, to support a common cause (Morozov, 2009; Parmelee & Bichard, 2012). In spite of the relative novelty of texting as a communicative medium, the speed with which it has gained use and relevance has enabled it to become part of an established canon of pedagogical and methodological case studies. Cultural variation in texting has been much explored, with languages such as Japanese and Chinese being seen as naturally conducive to the texting form and the inclusion of local words being seen as part of the Indian experience. In the Middle East, the way in which ‘Arabizi’ has gained credence points to the way in which Arabic has altered in the face of texting compulsions, creating a language which is a mixture of English and Arabic (Yaghan, 2008; Lunder, 2012). This kind of resultant language makes language purists cringe but, in a more positive way, it allows for students to remain in control of their own learning process.

Of Language and Beyond: The Effects of Texting on Language As a pedagogical and linguistic tool, texting has seen its reputation swing widely between condemnation and celebration in the last decade and a half. Through its liberal use of such abbreviations as ‘C U’, ‘Gr8!’ and ‘LOL’, texting began to alarm language purists who regarded the descent into shortened English as a sure sign that English as a language was clearly degenerating. As early as 2003, Brown-Owens and others noted that text phrases were beginning to creep into student writing

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(Vooslo, 2009, p. 2). Columnist Brian Anderson even said, in 2008, “I’m not sure we can overcome our cell phone-armed teens” (Porath, 2011, p. 89). John Sutherland attacked the use of texting because it “masks dyslexia, poor spelling and mental laziness” (Sutherland, 2002, para. 3). Lynne Truss, who wrote Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, said that texting was basically a sneaky way to communicate (Truss, 2008), and John Humphrys made a case against texting by stating that, while using pictures in texting was disturbing enough in a message, more to the point was that “instead of aiding communication, it can be a barrier. I can work out btw (By the way) but I am baffled by IMHO UR GR8. It means: ‘in my humble opinion you are great’ but how would you know?” (Humphrys, 2007, para. 20). He sums up this argument with lines of doggerel: Mary had a mobile She texted day and night But when it came to her exams She’d forgotten how to write (Humphrys, 2007, para. 41)

For learners of English, this kind of overt criticism would be seen to minimize the use of this medium in the language classroom, but subsequent research seems to question the negative effects of texting on linguistic abilities. Humphrys himself, by 2009, declared that he had reconsidered the importance of mobiles and that he felt that they were an integral part of modern life, although their effects on individuals continue to be controversial. Other commentators, such as Thurlow, examined texting from a linguistic angle and largely found the medium to be different, but not negative in its effects: What is more, just as new linguistic practices are often adaptive and additive rather than necessarily subtractive, young text-messengers manipulate conventional discursive practices with linguistic creativity and communicative competence in their pursuit of intimacy and social intercourse. (Thurlow, 2003, p. 18).

In 2004, Kiernan and Aizawa asked the crucial question of whether cell phones were useful in encouraging task-based learning and found that they were becoming popular learning tools, given that many students in Japan, for example, had begun to bring their phones into class. In 2009, Beverly Plester and Clare Wood surveyed pre-teen Britishers’ texting patterns and discovered that the assumed negativity surrounding texting and its linguistic dangers could not actually be proven (Plester, Wood, & Joshi, 2007). Various studies since then have shown that frequent texters

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could actually be potentially high achievers and that texting in classrooms is also not necessarily an interruption but a continuum of the learning process. Much of the support for texting as a medium of creativity at par with such traditional revolutions as the printing press and the computer have gained ascendancy with the work of David Crystal, the famous linguist who, in his trendsetting Txting: The Gr8 Dbt8, demystified most preconceptions surrounding the negative nature of texting and its potential to destroy the English language. Based on his observations and research, Crystal points to numerous factors because of which texting should not be viewed as an aberration in the evolution of English. First, he argues that only 10% of total texts sent are actually abbreviated and that most texts between adults actually do not encourage the use of abbreviations; also that “such forms are by no means restricted to Textspeak” (Crystal, 2008, p. 80). In addition, he contends that changes to the way in which language is used indicate not so much ignorance of language rules as much as its previous strong existence. In an interview with Jack Scholes, he suggests that students require a strong phonetic background in sounds to be able to abbreviate them. In order to be able to break up words and expressions such as ‘Gr8’ or ‘ltr’, the argument goes, it is essential to have sufficient awareness to break the syllables and sounds and show knowledge of phonemes and stresses. The study shows that, if phonemic skills are worked on and then subsequently transferred to reading and writing, texting could, in fact, enhance linguistic and language skills (Scholes, 2008). This focus on the skills required for successful texting, of course, has significant implications for the way English is taught in the classroom as well as the way in which traditionally berated technology might not only contribute but actually play an important role in language learning. This is corroborated by EFL research across the world. Studies, such as those of Thurlow who thought of texters as being “communicatively adept” (Thurlow, 2005, para. 1), or Plester’s, Wood’s and Joshi’s (2009), who believed that spelling and reading problems could not be directly attributed to texting habits, point to the way in which technology could be successfully used to bring elements of language to groups of learners at every level. In fact, Steve Vooslo states that “Opportunities exist to use texting to teach about the evolution of language and writing for an audience, to increase the amount of writing learners do, and for leveraging the social nature of literacy development” (Vooslo, 2009, p. 6). Thus, if language can indeed be taught through the continued use of texting, it might be useful to investigate the way in which this new language could

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be linked to the literature it is producing and its possible effects on the evolution of creative texts as well as on the English language itself.

Using Literature in EFL The use of literature in the EFL contexts has often been controversial, but much current research has pointed to the very positive way in which literary creations can pedagogically transfer language rules, vocabulary and contextual information, along with associated notions of cultural markers and exposure to a diversity of human experiences. Floris (2005), Premawardhena (2007) and Tsai (2012) have recently re-explored the validity of incorporating literature into the teaching of languages, specifically English. Gareis, Allard and Saidon (2009) have also examined the positive outcomes of using examples from literature in foreign language classes, citing the authenticity of material, the general interest in real-life situations among young learners and the stimulation of interest developed through the use of a variety of plots. If literature is seen to be a contextual creation, the more experimental literatures, as they are emerging in a world that is technology driven, might be seen to be more relevant to the real world outside the language classroom, enabling a further association of the learner with the changing representations of literature. This connection between language and literature is further enhanced by studies such as that of Stornaindo, Hull and Nelson (2009), which suggests that "[t]he vast opportunities for representation and communication available to us, especially through digital means, make clear that new media literacy in our global world requires a familiarity with a range of communicative tools, modes and media" (p. 384). As an important mode of language learning, literature becomes an imperative form of communication, whether in its traditional written form or in the more innovative forms which are fast emerging today.

Literature and Texting: Making Some Connections In 2010, the British Museum held a special exhibition tracing developments in the English language through Chaucer to the present time. Entitled “Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices”, it presented examples of literary works throughout history. One of the displays was that of an American poet Charles Carroll Bombaugh’s poem entitled “Essay to Miss Catherine Jay”. The poem begins in this way:

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In Txting: The Gr8 Db8, David Crystal uses examples such as the above to suggest that language experiments found through texting are not a new phenomenon. In fact, he points to Victorian word games to suggest that playing with language was a traditional Christmas pastime and deciphering them a holiday treat. In an article in The Guardian, Crystal reminds readers of games such as those of YYUBICURYY4ME which translates as “Too wise you are, too wise you be. I see you are too wise for me” (Crystal, 2008, para. 7). In fact, Crystal’s studies go on to show the way in which linguistic experimentation has been an integral part of children’s play as they are growing up and for whom playing with language in various ways has always been a favourite pastime An important point raised by Crystal and others about the role language plays in creating the literature of an age is how linguistic experimentation becomes a direct reflection of the time in which it is written. While not a new discovery, critics have increasingly begun to see the way in which literature is framed by the predominant social changes of the historical period in which it is being created (Eisenstein, 1979; Baron & Eisenstein, 2009). Thus, Chaucer, Shakespeare and James Joyce can all be seen to be writing in ways which reflect the changing realities of their age, targeting an increasingly diverse audience each time. The inevitability of literature becoming a direct representation of the times in which it is being composed is, thus, well established in critical literary theory. The logical extension of this argument thus embraces the new technology which is part of the reality of the twenty-first century, making any creative writing without embracing some aspect of technology, ultimately, incomplete. For literature to be relevant to contemporary realities, perhaps it must involve, and include, aspects of new forms of literature, just as the printing press had earlier determined and ensured the rise of the novel in the western world.

Literature and Technology: Emerging Forms With the popularity of texting in the early years of the new millennium, the increase in its more imaginative forms required very little incentive to catch on. While technology such as the Internet itself provided for entirely new ways of approaching literature (books ordered online, ebooks and Kindle), creative writing itself also began to define itself in

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various new ways which made maximum use of the possibilities of the Internet and the mobile revolution. While e-books allowed for entire books such as the classics and bestsellers to be directly available on screen without a time gap between the ordering and the reading, the Internet also allowed for easy referencing of difficult words, archaic expressions, historical background and other explanations within the text in the form of hyperlinks: “E-book readers offer the user all the advantages made available by the computer including being able to search for specific terms or pages to find information, and the ability to manipulate the content” (Turner, 2005, p. 47). Effectively, however, e-books are no different from conventional books in terms of size, choice of language, themes or even presentation. It is possible, in every way, to reproduce the traditional form of the text in a soft copy without changing the traditional requirements of a creative work of art. As tablets and mobile phones overtook desktop computers and even laptops, the screen space became a challenge to the reading of traditional texts. Entire classics could simply not be physically fitted into the screen size of a phone and the inconvenience of reading in that format would surely not make it a popular medium. Added to that was the swift rise of texting as a medium of communication as well as the rise of twitter, making the online world an increasingly interactive one in which text, context and review could all be accomplished within a span of minutes. In the electronic world, the inevitability of synthesising literature with its accompanying digitisation was only a matter of time and this became possible and popular within the first few years of mobile access and the evolution of social media. Nowhere is this speed of communicative changes more apparent than in the way technology merges with the traditional form of literature to create completely new versions of established forms. Texting, unlike the broader possibilities of the Internet, is notorious for its brevity and resulting ‘corruption’ of grammar and spelling. Studies on language used in texting have often commented on how English messaging is characterised by the removal of vowels, the absence of punctuation marks and capitals, and the frequent interspersing of numbers for words (“4u”). However, within this supposedly minimalistic genre, users have managed to create imaginative compositions that reflect the world of literary wonder and prowess, very often coming very close to high levels of imaginative consciousness. Norman Silver’s experiments with this form, which resulted in his creation of ‘txt commndmnts’ (Crystal 2008, p. 78), showcase the imaginative possibilities of this kind of writing. A reflection of the popularity of this form of poetry through texting is also displayed

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through texting poetry contests where participants are invited to submit poems of 140 characters or less. This prize-winning entry for 2001 was an interesting example of the way in which space constrictions actually enable a heightened level of poetic possibilities: txting iz messin m i headn’me englis try 2 rite essays they all come out txtis gran not plsed wi/letters shes getn swears i wrote beter b4 coming 2 uni & she’s African (Hetty Hughes, 2001, para. 2)

Apart from being an original way to learn English by filling up the words with vowels, correcting spellings and elongating some of the expressions which are used, this kind of poetry points to the very imaginative way in which language could be deconstructed and then constructed again to create meaning and finality. The clever use of short forms, the replacement of words with numbers and the absence of vowels and punctuation all point to the vibrant way in which technology can redefine the limitations of creative work. But, more importantly, it also points to the way in which these very limitations (of space and, ultimately, of phone costs) actually encourage human creativity and imagination, making it possible to work around these limits to create a meaningful whole, while retaining a sense of humour and social commentary. Reacting to this kind of poetry, one of the judges, British poet Peter Samson, commented on how it appeared particularly post-modern with its self referentiality and the self-consciousness of itself as a form. In an interview with The Guardian, he also added another quality to the reading of this kind of text on a small screen – its being an experience couched in suspense: “…having to scroll down the screen makes the reading experience entirely linear, giving real suspense to each line break, making us attend to every word and to guess ahead before the new line comes up…” (The Guardian, 2001, para 10). Texting poetry is only one way in which the creativity of language and technique is expressed by contemporary technology. In the world of prose, the way in which texting allows for the compression of expression and the brevity of mood, the use of symbols, and an attention-grabbing ending are all ways of creating a new human experience. A popular literary site is presently compiling travel tweets in which contributors are asked to describe a particular travel experience in 120 characters. The response to

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this competition continues to be enthusiastic and productions are both artistic and humorous. One is entitled “Turkish Delights” and reads, “Heaven on earth, turquoise waves, marble paved shores, seashells greenness, vibrant nights, a paintbrush with all colours sunset and pure delight” (iwannagothere.com, para. 2). There is also a humorous tale with a punch line at the end: “I was woken. The bus was now empty. The driver seemed a little put out. My backpack made the transfer whereas, quite clearly, I had not” (iwannagothere.com, para. 2). Such creative uses of descriptive passages clearly point to challenging possibilities within EFL contexts as well, allowing for a play with language to re-create experiences which are immediate to the language learner. Literature wrapped in mobile technology is just another form of representation which could, in its potential for novelty, provide a more effective learning tool for students looking for creative ways of acquiring language. In many ways, the spontaneity of writing, the possibility of immediate publishing on an online platform, and how numerous participants can actually access, respond to, and even edit a creative text, provide for entirely new genres of literatures which are becoming popular in online communities across the world. These forms include “twitterature, nanofiction, crowd-sourced narratives, inforgraphics and $0.00 stories....” (Rudin, 2011, p. 1). All these forms share the single element that they are essentially based on instant publication, simultaneous reactions from followers, and the possibility of editing and changing the text’s course of events, based on public reaction. The twitter-haiku combination, termed ‘twaiku’ by Randy Kennedy (The New York Times, 2011), is seen by some as being an inventive way of connecting with others. In Japan, the popularity of the online novel preceded the more recent experiments in America and Europe. Sketching the way in which the micro-novel by Mika, Love Sky, became an instant bestseller in Japan in 2007, Michael Rudin suggests that the way in which this novel was written, one sentence at a time, creating and receiving comments and adding suspense at the same time, made it possible for readers to be at once readers and participants in the events of the main plot (Rudin, 2011). This is similar to other experiments, such as those of Rick Moody’s Garden State and Matt Stewart’s The French Revolution, both of which were written via twitter, one or two tweets at a time, giving a tweet every fifteen minutes and ensuring instant publicity as the tweet kept being retweeted by the recipients. As Stewart said of this experience, “It’s tremendously rewarding to see that publishers are embracing a terrific story—and innovative (and dare I say Dickensian!) ways to connect with readers” (Rudin, 2011, para. 13). The sense of empowerment gained

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through this kind of collaborative literary production is thus intensely powerful and provides for an enriching experience of creation and learning through trial and error, coupled with peer feedback, all significant markers of second language acquisition While twitter, just like texting, re-defines, perhaps reduces, literature to its barest minimum tone and mood, more experimental forms of creative writing active in online communities point to more collaborative work, with many participants acting as readers, commentators and co-authors. An example of this kind of work is on the website rockthoughts.com where a story, “Aguzzo’s Journey”, is set up against a picture of a blue face baring its teeth. Invitations were sent to all participants on this site to begin and continue this story, By June 2011, dozens of people had contributed to this story with Aguzzo himself jumping into the Amazon and then meeting another creature Peewee (rockthoughts.com). Invitations to continuing this story on the website seem to be still open. Another BBC- sponsored version of this narrative was introduced by Neil Gaiman in 2009, who started a piece with the words: “Sam was brushing her hair when the girl in the mirror put down the hairbrush, smiled, and said, ‘We don’t love you anymore’” (Rudin, 2011, para. 19). Whatever the merit of these forms, it is clear that literature has established itself in ways radically different from traditional forms. While David Crystal and other linguists such as Ben Zimmer point to the historical development of language and literature as being natural and continuing, the popularity of these experimental forms perhaps announces that they are here to stay, making a more sustained study of such forms and their relevance to contemporary context an urgent requirement. Attitudes to such changing, technologically-driven literature may be still embryonic, but all the indications suggest that a more sustained exploration is still awaited in literary and linguistic contexts. Ranging from the incredulous “[w]e no longer have time for a hyphen key”, as expressed by John Humphrys (2007, para. 18) to the more studied contextualisation of texting and twitter literature within an historical perspective, studies have varied considerably. Carol Ann Duffy, England’s poet laureate, looks at this kind of poetry as a continuity of established forms of writing. In an interview with Joanna Moorhead for The Guardian, she says: Poems are the original text messages in that they use language in a very concise way and I think they will become more relevant in this century than in the last century. We are reading less now than we did and a lot of young people spend a lot of time in front of a computer on Facebook or

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tweeting. So the poem is the literary form that is the most accessible simply because of its brevity (Moorehead, 2011, para. 5).

Conclusion and Implications for Language Classrooms In a context where the teaching of language is of primary importance, these innovative forms of literature, arising from twitter and texting, can only help in providing further aid for the development of teaching material and authentic situations for language acquisition. Whether in a first, second or foreign language classroom, the use of technology is part of the methodology for teaching in the new millennium. While much discussion has revolved around using software such as blackboard or Moodle, and other social forums such as Facebook or Google+, the way in which texting or twitter can be employed in language classes using literature remains relatively unexplored. Given that the nature of literature is itself changing, it seems imperative that learning and teaching techniques will have to embrace the new methodology in order to keep pace with an ongoing evolution and sustain an appreciation of literature as a medium of learning, exploration and creativity. That language is itself in a permanent state of evolution has been aptly demonstrated by a socio-linguist like Susana Sotillo, who echoes David Crystal’s observations by saying that “No one is destroying the English Language – the English language just keeps changing. It’s not a good idea to present change as a negative aspect” (Barsedhian, 2012, para. 5). One reason for using such technology as is available through mobile technology rather than that which requires wireless connections and a larger laptop is perhaps one of the most significant reasons for using twitter technology. As mobile phones are available to almost all students in typical classrooms, it is a particularly potent form of testing out creative and discursive skills. This, along with the reality that texting encapsulates experiences rather than creating entire long essays (thus testing language and grasping skills) makes it a compelling argument for classroom use. As such, literature produced on such public platforms as twitter or texting might be usefully seen as a phase in a literary journey, one which is more accommodating of young learners. It thus becomes imperative to work on projects in literature around techniques using technological processes which can also test students’ linguistic, comprehension and expression skills. One example of such an assignment is called “Twittering Dante”, where a high school teacher asks students to write a 140-character tweet describing each level in hell as if they were Dante writing to Beatrice, his beloved (Barack, 2009, para. 9). The results of such an assignment yield interesting results,

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as the students are forced to read the text in its entirety to be able to respond to an epic piece with a short, quick and accurate description. Other experiments included in the website entitled “twitter and writing” are those of Monica Rankin’s assignment for a 90-student history class, requiring comment on a specific historical event or Andrew Marcinerk’s assignment of picking literary or historical characters and composing imaginary tweets for them ("twitter and writing", 2010). All these assignments test students’ linguistic skills, their capacity to absorb information, and their ability to reduce information to its barest minimum, while explaining essential messages. As an emerging form of literature, texting, twitter and even other forms such as crowd-sourced narratives have yet to establish themselves as viable forms of imaginative activity. One of the most interesting results of exploring and creating literary pieces in twitter or texting is the fact that students are brought face-to-face with the process of creation rather that the final product itself. By looking into the way in which poetry or prose is composed, students can more accurately duplicate the process in their own writings. This is corroborated by research which suggests that teachers must learn to include new teaching methods so that “rigor and engagement are inextricably tied to a curriculum that invites emotional investment, immersion, and intellectual challenge” (Curwood, 2011 p. 111). Historically, language teaching has always made use of whatever technology has come its way, maximising its potential for learning within specific contexts. It has also always made use of technology in whatever form it came at various points in the history of EFL. The emergence of new literatures in the form of texting or via twitter, thus, might be seen as just a continuation of the process of language learning within real life situations. In a very real sense, the use of literature within a language classroom should include the more experimental forms of literature which are swiftly appearing in the new millennium. Such literatures are eminently capable of inclusion within EFL classrooms as the technology which they use is popular and accessible to today’s learners. More importantly, such literatures allow for a peek into the process of writing, allowing for a deconstruction of the mysteries of poetry and fiction, while also allowing the entry of the reader into the literary context. While the computer itself may have altered the way literature is created, it is the mobile and the Internet, and more specifically their various manifestations in blogging, texting and other social forums such as twitter, that make production, consumption and publication significantly revolutionary. Whether or not the literature created in this mode will be accepted as part of a literary canon awaits further discussion, but its centrality to literary

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discourse is without doubt. Further, in a more global EFL context, the role of these technological innovations plays an especially significant role in classrooms, privileging the process over the product and almost offering a real time glimpse into the process of a virtual creation, demystifying, in many ways, the literary construct.

References Aciman, A. & Rensin, E. (2009). The world’s greatest books in twenty tweets or less. New York: Penguin Books. Alterman, J. B. (2011). The revolution will not be tweeted. The Washington Quarterly. 3-4 (4), 103-116. doi. 10.1080/0163660x.2011.610714 Baron, D. & Eisenstein, E. (2009). Should everybody write?: The destabilizing technologies of communication. Retrieved from http://www.englishillinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/582/582%20 pdf/shouldwrite.pdf Baron, N. (2005). Instant messaging and the future of language. Communications of the ACM, 48(7), 29-31. Retrieved from http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1070860 Barseghian, T. (2012). Can texting develop other writing skills? North Jersey Record. Retrieved from http://mindshift.com BBC News. (2009, Feb. 25). Texting ‘Improves language skills”. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk Bombaough, Charles. (2010). “Essay to Miss Catherine Jay”: 19th Century text message. British Library Online. Retrieved from http://www.bl.uk Crystal, D. (2008). Txting: The Gr8 Deb8. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (1995). From Babble to Scrabble. In Murray, J. (Ed.). Proceedings of Celebrating Differences Confronting Literacies. Sydney: Australian Reading Association. 45-67. —. (2008, July 5). 2b or not 2b. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardianco.uk/books/jul/05/saturdayreviewsfeatures.guardi anreview —. (2008). Texting. ELT Journal, 62 (1). 77-83. Curwood, J. S. (2011). Poetry: Creating space of new literacies in the English curriculum. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 55 (2). 110-120. Donner, J. & Escobari, M. X. (2010). A Review of Mobile Use by Micro and Small Enterprises in Developing Countries. Journal of International Development,22, 641-658. doi. 10.1002/jid.1717.

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Eisenstein, E. (1979). The printing press as an agent of change: Communication and cultural transformation in early modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Faulkner, X., & Culwin, F. (2005). When fingers do the talking: A study of text messaging. Interacting with computers 17 (2), 167-185. doi: 10.1016/j.infcom2004.11.002 Floris, D. (2005). The power of literature in EFL classrooms. K@ta: A Binannual Publication on the Study of Language and Literature, 7(1), 43-53. Gareis, E.; Allard, M. & Saidon, J. (2009). The novel as textbook. TESL Canada Journal, 26(2), 136-147. Humphrys, J. (2007, Sept.24). 1h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language. Mailonline. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk Hughes, H. (2001, May 3). The message is the medium. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk Kiernan, P. J.; Aizawa, K. (2004). Cell phones in task based learning – are cell phones useful language learning tools? ReCALL, 16(1), 71-84. Kondo, M., Ishikawa, Y. & Smith, C. (2012). Mobile assisted language learning in university EFL courses in Japan: Developing attitudes and skills for self-regulated learning. ReCALL, 24(2), 169-187. Lee, D. (2012, Oct. 10). Barack Obama facebook campaign sees ‘likes’ soar. BBC News.Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk. Lenhart, A., Ling, R., Campbell, S. & Purcell, K. (2010). Teens, cell phones and texting: Summary of findings. PewResearch Centre Publications. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Teens-and-MobilePhones.aspx. Lunden, I. (2012, Aug. 20). Google adds Arabizi/Arabic translation to its tools language support. Techcrunch. Retrieved from http://www.techcrunch.com. Mathieson, R. (2005). Branding unbound: The future of advertising, sales, and the brand experience in the wireless age. New York: AMACOM. McKeever, C. (2008, Feb. 28). Obama and Hillary use twitter for social networking. Retrieved from http://opensourcemarketer.com. McMullen, M. G. (2009). Using language learning strategies to improve the writing skills of Saudi EFL students: Will it really work? Elsevier, 37(3), 418-433.Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2009.05.001. Metin, T. (2006). Implementing CALL in an EFL context. ELT Journal, 60(3), 262-271.

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Moorhead, J. (2011, Sept. 5). Carol Ann Duffy: “Poems are a form of texting”. The Guardian. Retrieved from www.guardian.co.uk Morozov, R. (2009). Iran: Downside to the twitter revolution. Dissent, 56(4). 10-14. Retrieved from http://www.evgenymorozov.com/morozov_twitter_dissent.pdf Parmelee, J. H. and Bichard, S. L. (2012). Politics and the twitter revolution: How tweets influence the relationship between political leaders and the public. Plymouth: Lexington Books. Perez, S. (2012, Feb. 14). The number of mobile devices will exceed world’s population. CISCO WNI Mobile. Retrieved from http://www.techcrunch.com Pesce, M. (2011). The impact of mobile phones on Kerala fishing communities. P2P Foundation.net. Retrieved from http://blog.futurestreet.com Peterson, M. (2011). Egypt’s media ecology in a time of revolution. Arab Media and Society. Retrieved from arabmediasociety.org Plester, B., Wood, C. & Joshi, P. (2009). Exploring the relation between children’s knowledge of text message abbreviations and school literacy outcomes. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 27, 1. 145161. Porath, S. (2011). Text messaging and teenagers: A review of the literature. Journal of the Research Centre for Educational Technology, 7 (2), 86-99. Premawardhena, N.C. (2007). Integrating literature into foreign language teaching: A Srilankan experience. Novitas Royal, 1(2), 92-97. Rockthoughts.com. (2011). Aguzzo’s Journney. Retrieved from http://www.rockthoughts.com/?=aguzzo Rudin, M. (2011). From Hemingway to twitterature: The short and shorter of it. Journal of Electronic Publishing, 14 (2). doi. 829/10.3998/333645/10014.213 Scholes, J. (2001). Interview with David Crystal. New Routes (12). Retrieved from http://www.davidcrystal.com/DC_articles?Creations5.pdf Shakespeare, W. (2007). Hamlet. 3rd ed. London: Signet Classics. Shannon, V. (2007, Dec. 5). 15 years of text messages: A cultural phenomenon. The New York Times. Retrieved from http//www.nytimes.com Stornaindo, A.; Hull, G. & Nelson, M. E. (2009). Mobile texts and migrant audiences: Rethinking literacy and assessment in a new media age. Language Arts, 86(5), 382- 392.

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Sutherland, J. (2002, Nov. 11). Cn u txt? The Guardian. Retrieved from www.guardian.co.uk Tabatabaei, O. & Goojani, A. H. (2012). The impact of text messaging on vocabulary learning of Iranian EFL learners. Cross Cultural Communication, 8(2), 47-55. Thurlow, C. (2003). Generation Txt? The sociolinguistics of young people’s text messaging. Discourse Analysis Online. 1-27 Retrieved from http://extra.shu.ac.uk/daol/articles/vi/nl/a3/thurlow2002-2003paper.htm Tiny Travel Tale Competition. (2010). iwannagother.com. Retrieved from http://iwannagothere.com/contests/tiny-travel-tale/all Truss, L. (2006). Eats, shoots & leaves: The zero tolerance approach to punctuation. London: Gotham. Turner, F. (2005). Incorporating digital e-books into educational curriculum. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. Retrieved from http://www.itdl.org/journal/nov_05/article05.htm Vooslo, S. (2009). The effects of texting on literacy: Modern scrouge or opportunity? An issue paper from the Shuttleworth foundation. 1-8. Retrieved from http://www.siu-voss.net/Voslo__effects_of_texting_on_literacy.pdf Williams, K. & Gray, L. (2010). The little phone that could: Mobileempowered ministry. International Journal of Frontier Missiology, 27(3), 139-145. Yaghan, M. A. (2008). Arabizi: A contemporary style of Arabic slang. Design Issues, 4(2). 39-52. doi:10.1162/desi.2008.24.2.39 Zhang, J. & Ling, X. (2011). Business ecosystem strategies of mobile network operators in the 3G era: The case of China Mobile. Telecommunications Policy, 35(2)156-172. doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2010.12.009.

CHAPTER TWELVE ONLINE LANGUAGE CORPORA: IMPLICATIONS FOR EFL TEACHING SHAIMAA ABD EL FATTAH TORKY NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, EGYPT

Abstract Recent developments in information technology have led to a new interest in data-driven or online corpus-based language learning, which has come under great scrutiny and begun to receive attention in EFL classrooms. Language corpora are accessed via what is called concordancing software and can be used by EFL learners either directly to carry out analyses of self-selected or teacher-selected language features or indirectly through exposing learners to printed concordance material. There is a wide consensus that activities derived from online or computerized language corpora can play a significant role in foreign language learning development. This chapter examines the practical implications of integrating corpus consultation into the EFL learning environment. It includes, for example, an introduction to language corpora, scaffolding corpus use, fostering lexico-grammatical links, discriminating nuances of meaning, and nurturing collocational competence. The chapter also sheds light on the usefulness of this approach for investigating features that characterize language genres and distinguishing between formal and informal discourse. It suggests also that informed corpora use can revolutionize writing instruction. Finally, the study identifies obstacles to the full embracing of online language corpora and argues for an eclectic stance towards their use in EFL classrooms. Keywords: Foreign language learning, Online corpus consultation, EFL vocabulary learning, Collocational competence, The Internet in TEFL, Online EFL learning strategies, Data-driven learning

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Authenticity - a goal long pursued in foreign language learning - has always been realized by ensuring that what students are exposed to bears some resemblance to the language they are supposed to encounter in their daily lives (Gavioli & Aston, 2001). However, with the advent of technology, and the availability of online data, the concept of authenticity has altered to acquire new dimensions. Basically, alternative methods for obtaining and handling authentic real-life materials have been devised in EFL classrooms, such methods embracing a discourse-analysis perspective that goes far beyond the original peripheral manipulation of language data. In particular, computer programs have made it feasible to accumulate an infinite number of authentic language and discourse samples collected in what are called corpora. In other words, a plethora of data can be at the fingertips of any language learner, ready to be acted upon or scrutinized in depth. Information provided by such corpora includes, for instance, "concordance output" or "collocate output" (Varley, 2009), which helps EFL learners to get to grips with the contextual features of a word or phrase within an authentic register-sensitive milieu. Pedagogically, it is argued that corpora-based research can give EFL learners intra-language insights not acquired from conventional rule-centered methods. It also provides an opportunity to experience semi-authentic interactions with raw linguistic data that triggers their analytical inductive reasoning potential (Yoon & Hirvela, 2004). However, this paradigm shift in EFL learning has many implications. First, the cognitive processes underlying data-driven learning methods entail a major change in teachers’ role and their perspective on EFL language learning (Johns, 1991). In addition, grammar and vocabulary are closely interrelated and hence dealt with together rather than separately (Hadley, 2002). Significantly also, the traditional absoluteness and certainty characterizing grammar teaching in the EFL classroom is dismissed and replaced with a more open-ended and speculative stance. Above all, DBL (Data-Based Learning) implies a revolutionized view of the syllabus and the part it plays in dictating what EFL learners grasp (Gavioli, & Aston, 2001). That is to say, no matter what we try to teach, learners will only learn if they are internally motivated, cognitively involved, and entirely active during the learning process. These conditions are all realized in DBL. In this chapter, the potential for incorporating technology in the form of online language corpora in EFL learning and teaching is explored. It tackles corpora as a manifestation of inductive or data-based learning and pinpoints their advantages in terms of student perspectives and their language skills achievements. It also gives a detailed account of how to

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incorporate online language corpora into EFL contexts. This includes answering such questions as when and how to introduce online language corpora and how to train students to tackle the data involved. The intertwined nature of vocabulary and grammar learning when using this approach is also stressed and the implications for teaching language genres referred to. The chapter also offers suggestions on how integrating online corpora can enhance language production in general and writing instruction in particular. Finally, the drawbacks, challenges and future implications of adopting this approach in the EFL classroom are pinpointed.

Defining data-based learning Data-based learning (DBL), or evidence-based learning (Donesch-Jezo, 2010), is defined as giving language learners the chance to ‘discover’ inductively foreign language rules by providing them with the data and context in which they can develop discovery strategies. This concept emerged from the notion that the language learner is essentially a research worker or ‘detective’ whose learning needs have to be driven by access to authentic linguistic data (Li-Yuch, 2001; Sun & Wang, 2003, p. 84). Databased learning is also closely linked to emerging computer technology and the place it occupies nowadays in guiding the learning process. In this context, a clear distinction can be drawn between the teacher and informant (the computer). It is claimed that the teacher typically is an active agent in the teaching learning process, initiating questions, eliciting responses, and providing feedback. On the other hand, the informant, the computer, is characterized by being passive and responsive to students' needs. That is to say, the informant grants EFL learners a more active role in the learning process (Johns, 1991). A major use of technology as informant is the incorporation of language corpora into language classrooms (AnNayef, 2001). It has been shown that, instead of restricting FL learners' exposure to a set of invented examples, as was traditionally the case, the raw data of language corpora, featuring electronically-stored authentic samples from such sources as newspapers, websites, books, and TV broadcasts, can be more informative and comprehensive (Donesch-Jezo, 2010). Corpora data is electronically processed using concordance software tools for the purpose of analyzing language for word use and frequency and for linguistic and dictionary use. These concordance programs, unlike dictionaries, can recover from texts the context for a particular item (morpheme, word or phrase) and present it in the form of a keyword-in-

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context (KWIC) arrangement. Hence keywords are placed one below the other, with a fixed number of context characteristics to the left and right. This certainly facilitates rapid scanning and identification of lexical items and their associated context (Le, 2010; Payne, 2008). Data obtained from language corpora can include lexical, syntactic, semantic and cultural information, idioms, phrases and so forth (Le, 2010, 8). While in writing there are many well-established language corpora supporting a range of genres, efforts to collect recorded speech in audio or video form have been problematic. However, it is hoped that, if this can be done, a new dimension to language teaching will be added, since it will incorporate body language, gestures and other non-verbal means of communication (Godwin-Jones, 2001).

The upside of an online corpus-based approach Effect on language proficiency The benefits of using online language corpora are widely acclaimed. Principally, it has been shown that observing the real-life data provided can support and sustain EFL students' natural reaction to language discourse. In particular, observation of multiple discourse data, sustained by language corpora, is thought to act as a means of virtually simulating learners' interaction with native speakers and hence activating reasoning processes parallel to those occurring in real-life immersion experiences. That is, learners observe real-life data, raise questions stemming from a genuine need, examine and verify the data, test hypotheses, and construct their own model without referring to prescribed rules. This is especially true when corpora are integrated into productive language use such as writing or speaking. Furthermore, corpora provide EFL learners with a mass of authentic data (i.e. not contrived) that increases their awareness of words clusters and enhances their collocational competence (Torky, 2011; Varley, 2009; Wu, et al., 2010). In addition, FL learners can realize that many English language features are descriptive - varying according to context - rather than prescriptive (Chang & Sun, 2009, p. 2). Corpora use can greatly influence students' ability to understand the contextual features of words and phrases, hence fostering their awareness of register and appropriateness. As for listening and reading skills, introducing EFL students to a given topic’s lexical and syntactic features - via a relevant corpus and prior to exposure - can ease the task of recognizing these features and building

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meaning at a macro level (AnNayef, 2001, 7). Likewise, pre-exposure to vocabulary, expressions and patterns drawn from authentic data can activate students' background knowledge or relevant schemata. After reading or listening, students can analyze the text by checking the frequency of words or phrases so as to detect sub-topics, textual features and coherence, or authorial tone. Gotz and Mukherjee (2006), for instance, used language concordances in the pre- and post-phases of reading literary texts to help students analyze characters - by exploring the frequency of adjectives collocating with each one - and draw conclusions about personality traits, development and dilemmas. Furthermore, integrating online corpora into the curriculum can boost learners' creativity in expressing meaning. Cognizant of where and how to check the accuracy and appropriateness of their output, learners gain increased confidence in experimenting with more ambitious language (Sinclair, 1997; Torky, 2011). From another perspective, corpus analysis can improve students' negotiation and interactional abilities. To deduce rules, students indulge in discussion, supposedly in the foreign language, to compare their insights. This can foreground many interactional strategies and thus nurture communicative competence. A detailed account of how corpora can affect writing instruction is presented in the next section.

Effects on learners’ attitudes and strategies In addition to improved language performance, research supports the view that online corpora can powerfully affect students' attitudes towards language learning (Kennedy & Miceli, 2001; Chambers, 2007). In effect, it fosters a sense of curiosity, ownership, motivation, enthusiasm and autonomy so that even low–achieving students perceive the DBL environment as more motivating, relaxing, and engaging - less intimidating and more constructive than the traditional top-down frustrating milieu (Tian, 2004). As learners can take the lead and initiate the investigation process, they become increasingly active as they develop more "dynamic learning processes" that enable them to reformulate previously acquired rules. Another effect is tangible progress in students' learning strategies (Varley, 2008, p. 142). Exposing them to an abundance of authentic, context-sensitive data can trigger their ability to set purposes, select beneficial data, deduce differences, question rules, and draw inferences about language that are not pre-determined as happens with other methods. This improves their self-regulation potential and

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encourages them to focus on the process of learning and not just on the product. Hence, despite the great challenge imposed, students report satisfaction with their level of language sensitivity, engagement in the learning process, and the methods they can independently use to deduce rules (Chang and Sun, 2009, 2; Gotz and Mukherjee, 2006; Hunston, 2002; Varley, 2008). They also express their intention to use this method in future. To sum up, language corpora do not act as an end in themselves but as a means to an end: lifelong English language learning.

Online language corpora in EFL contexts A proactive versus a reactive perspective In the EFL classroom, corpora can be incorporated in two distinct ways. On the one hand, they can be introduced as a basic learning device that supplements learning of all the EFL skills, including grammar, vocabulary and punctuation. This proactive approach places corpora more or less on an equal footing with the textbooks. They can play a main role in assisting students to acquire language, understand nuances of meaning, check grammatical accuracy, or figure out the use of given words, and this to such an extent that it becomes part and parcel of their daily leaning routine (Bernardini, 2004). On the other hand, a reactive approach can be adopted. This entails limiting corpora use to situations where students sense a real need or when other language resources fall short of bridging the gap in their interlanguage system. A typical use of corpora in this way is in writing and speaking, where students need to know that what they intend to use and perceive as correct reflects target language conventions (Gilmore, 2008). A more radical approach might include encouraging students to compare learners' corpora (derived from their own output) with native speakers' corpora in order to analyze typical problems and manifestation of first language transfer (Gotz & Mukherjee, 2006). Introducing online corpora in EFL classrooms Consciousness raising Initially, the EFL teacher should raise student awareness of online corpora and their use, reflecting on their authenticity and showing how they can be employed to learn new words, grammar and extended discourse. Learners can be acquainted with such corpora as The Virtual

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Language Centre, Tom Cobb’s Complete Lexical Tutor site, and COBUILD, all of which are available online and can be accessed via Google. An easily accessible, comprehensive and constantly updated corpora is WebCorp (Aston, 2001). The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) – the largest freely available online body of some 410 million words – is also one of the best, as it provides multiple options in its query syntax to ensure that the output retrieved is fitted to users' needs. Besides, students- whether ESP or EFL-, when addressing a specific genre, can be acquainted with the genre options displayed in all general corpora. Otherwise they can be introduced to genre-specific corpora that will readily address their specialized enquiries, such as the Wellington Corpus of Spoken New Zealand English and the Wellington Corpus of Written New Zealand English (one million words each). Generating concordances Direct instruction has to be given on concordances as the basic location for information obtained from the language corpora by showing how to retrieve, read and tackle them. This can be done through various demonstrations using the data show followed by individual practice in the computer lab, or even by encouraging students to gain access via their personal i-phones, laptops, or any device connected to the Internet. Here is an example of the concordance screen of the Corpus of Contemporary American English, along with some instructions for use:

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LIST

CHART

WORD(S)

KWIC

COMPARE

time

COLLOCATES

save

4

4 POS LIST -

verb.ALL Sections 1.

IGNORE ----SPOKEN FICTION MAGAZINE NEWSPAPER ACADEMIC

SEARCH

RESET .2.

IGNORE ----SPOKEN FICTION MAGAZINE NEWSPAPER ACADEMIC

Figure 1: Interface of the Corpus of Contemporary American English

Students are initially instructed to enter a key word or phrase in the Word box. For more search options, students can click on Collocates, which offers the option of selecting the position of other words they want to see adjacent to the keyword whose collocability they are examining. Post list allows learners to choose a particular part of speech for the collocates, i.e. they might choose to see the verbs associated with a certain noun, adjectives that go with that noun, and so on. The section button allows students to specify the genre to be targeted and here learners can limit their search to a corpus category (newspapers, spoken genres or books). Students can also choose the number of words to appear on either side of the keyword. After entering a keyword, portions of sentences, with the keyword in the middle, appear on screen. Each example of the keyword in use is technically called a concordance and can be used for myriad purposes, ranging from checking the frequency of the co-occurrence of two words to categorizing word usage and formal or informal register (Yoon & Hirvela, 2004, p. 258). Students can also investigate the word’s full context or source as a clue to its pragmatic functionality.

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Looking for the word "whatsoever", " students can ffind many conccordances and can seleect four or fivve for close sccrutiny. Somee concordancees for the word "whatssoever" from the spoken geenre include thhe following: x MUR RPHY: Was thhere any frictiion? Mr W WIDMER: Noone whatsoeveer x And their privacy is being respeected and no sstatements wh hatsoever are being issued, John. J o cover you too cancel for an ny reason x of inssurance policyy, it's going to whattsoever, or yoou'll be out of some money x Mom m: If someonee tells you that they've takken any type of drugs whattsoever, you have h to just saay…. One insiight from the above concorrdances is thatt "whatsoeverr" holds a negative connnotation. Annother is the existence of otther qualifierss, such as "any" or "noo", in close prooximity to "w whatsoever". Obtaining ffrequency listts EFL studdents should get g to grips with w the idea thhat the conven ntionality of a certainn vocabulary item, phrase or expressionn is determin ned by its frequency oof occurrencee, which mig ght vary in ddifferent regissters. For example, seaarching for thhe frequency liist of the wordd "whatsoeveer" in the Corpus of C Contemporary American En nglish yields thhe following results: r

spoken 1995

fiction 689

m magazine 441 aacademic 456 Figure 2: freqquency list of thhe word "whatso oever"

The implication to be drawn from the t above list is that "whatssoever" is mostly usedd in spoken discourse, which w might run counter to what students havve expected from f the begiinning. Frequuency lists can n also be used to inveestigate the collegiality of two or moree words. A leaarner can

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enter a word (such as ‘task’) and then seek all the verb collocations that may occur before it, along with their frequencies. This can be helpful in deciding which collocations are more likely to occur with the keyword. Look at the following list retrieved from the online Corpus of Contemporary American English after entering the word ‘task’ as a keyword: Table 1: verb collocations of the word (task) Collocates Have Perform Accomplish Complete Take Do Face Assign Give Handle Give

frequency 338 302 241 237 227 167 144 143 143 27 26

From this table, it becomes evident that the verb ‘have’ is the most frequent collocate for ‘task’. On the other hand, ‘handle’ and ‘give’ seem to be less frequent collocates compared with others such as perform, accomplish, and assign. Inevitably, these frequencies, signaling commonality of use, will vary when specific genres are examined. Certainly, information of this sort can rarely be found in a traditional vocabulary or grammar book. Scaffolding online language corpora use Apart from analyzing the benefits of concordancing, research has emphasized the problems students might encounter in this electronic milieu. Basically, it is claimed that the large amount of data makes it extremely difficult for EFL students to adjust to the deductive learning required by corpus pedagogy (Doughty & Long, 2003, p. 62; Yoon & Hirvela, 2004, p. 261). To address these limitations and assist students to grasp the reasoning process underpinning online concordance search, it has been suggested that students should receive some scaffolding. This is distinct from providing help for it is characterized by being temporary, aiming to give students the responsibility for performing a task which

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would be impossible without support (Le, 2010, p. 14). More often than not, scaffolding prompts take the form of questions that make students’ thinking clearer and more explicit. In other words, it promotes their selfexplanation, self-monitoring and self-efficacy, and hence guides them in knowledge construction, integration, and representation. Corpus-based learning - as will be explained later - grants precedence to learning collocations and clusters. Analyzed properly, these can provide many insights at the lexical, grammatical and pragmatic levels. Collocations are defined as two or more words that usually go together. They can be grammatical, including verb + preposition/particle, (i.e. turn off) or lexical, noun + verb, verb-noun, adjective-noun …etc., (i.e., do homework, handsome man, a hurricane hits). Thus, the scaffolding procedure should target either lexical or grammatical collocations. Three types of scaffolding, mainly in the form of questions, have been proposed (Chang & Sun, 2009; Davis & Linn, 2000; Le, 2010) : 1- Procedural scaffolding: This helps students to understand and follow certain procedures to complete a specific task. 2- Elaborative scaffolding: This includes instruction that enables students to explain and elaborate on their learnt knowledge and experiences. 3- Reflective scaffolding: This includes instructions to promote students’ metacognition and self-reflection on what they do. One way of scaffolding students' use of corpora to assist in learning lexical collocations is through assigning them the task of identifying and correcting a group of sentences containing collocational errors, using a corpus to serve this purpose. Le (2010), for instance, trained students to correct miscollocations, by way of a set of steps comprising various levels of scaffolding, ranging from the most to the least support. Procedural scaffolding was given at the beginning of each session. Then elaborative and reflective scaffolding were provided while the students were addressing their practice tasks. The five stages were as follows: Step 1: Orientation: At this stage, the teacher elicits from the students the specific procedure of concordancing that they are going to follow and reinforces their understanding of a basic part of speech. Students can then be given a sentence like this to which they can apply the procedures: Ex: It is really difficult to do a conclusion now because we don’t have enough information yet.

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The teacher can scaffold the search procedures in the following ways: ™ We need to identify the miscollocation in this sentence and then correct it. ™ What are the parts of speech of the words in this sentence (don’t count grammar words)? For example, ‘conclusion’ is a noun while ‘do’ is a verb. ™ How can we use the language corpus to find a correct collocation? ™ Why do we need to check the frequency of a collocation in the corpus? ™ Is it best to identify a keyword first? Step 2: Identifying miscollocation: To foster reflective scaffolding, the teacher asks students to list combinations of verb + noun/ adj + noun in the sentence and confirm collocation/ miscollocation. Scaffolding prompts are as follows: ™ Do you agree or disagree with the collocations in "have information, do a conclusion, enough information"? ™ Is there anything wrong with these combinations? Do they sound natural? Step 3: Selecting the keyword: Elaborative scaffolding is used to direct students’ attention to miscollocation and draw on their prior knowledge to separate the keyword (the noun) from the miscollocation to generate concordances. Scaffolding prompts might be as follows: ™ What we have found is that "do a conclusion" does not sound natural (frequency = 0). ™ The keyword should be "conclusion". It is a noun. ™ How does "conclusion" go with other words? How can we know? Step 4: Analyzing concordance output: Both elaborative and reflective scaffolding are used to elicit students' explanations and evaluation and to prompt self-monitoring. The teacher asks students to draw on their linguistic resources to identify relevant patterns of "verb + noun or adj + noun" in the corpus, skip irrelevant patterns, and then confirm collocations by checking frequencies. Scaffolding prompts can be as follows: ™ What words combine with (conclusion)? ™ One combination is…. Another combination is…. ™ From frequency lists, we know that logical conclusion is a popular collocation.

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Step 5: Collecting possible collocates: Both elaborative and reflective scaffolding are incorporated as follows: ™ Which collocates are used to describe conclusion? Explain why. ™ What can we do with conclusions? Explain why. ™ What are the most frequent verb collocations for the word conclusion? Step 6: Deciding on the best collocates: Elaborative and reflective scaffolding to induce reasoning and prompting for justifications and evaluation are used. The teacher prompts EFL students to compare and contrast the use of the key term in the question with that in the concordances in order to select a collocate that best fits the sentence context. Scaffolding prompts include: ™ Which one is close in meaning to "do a conclusion"? For example, "support" is a collocate for conclusion, but not a synonym of "do" in the current sentence. ™ How are "make a conclusion" and "do conclusion" alike? Which one is the better collocate and why? Clearly, the scaffolding steps suggested by Le (2010) are somehow long and cumbersome. However, in modern corpora such as the Corpus of Contemporary American English, it is easy to obtain concordances that match exactly students' search questions and hence less scaffolding might be required. For example, instead of bombarding students with all the collocations of a certain word, the query syntax allows learners to retrieve solely, for example, all verbs or adjectives that collocate with a certain noun along with their frequencies. This makes it feasible for EFL students to decide on the contextually appropriate collocate, without being distracted by other irrelevant language extracts. To explore grammatical rules, including grammatical collocations, a critical strategy is to expose students to multiple concordances of the targeted structure, suggest they look for semantic or syntactic patterning and explicitly state that. They will definitely not be required to use meta-language, yet their ability to categorize and analyze discourse even if conducted in their mother tongue - is critical to link grammar to its pragmatic function. Needless to say, the teacher can do a lot of pruning activities to discard irrelevant or very complicated concordances.

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Scaffolding induction of grammatical rules can proceed as follows: 1. Forming questions (e.g. Is it correct to say "look forward to read?”). These questions can be derived from a faulty sentence provided by the teacher, a gapping exercise, or from a real obstacle encountered during language production. 2. Looking for a keyword: Students can be given the following prompts: (a) Enter an appropriate keyword or string of keywords (i.e. "look forward to read") (b) Try a shorter string of keywords (e.g. forward to) OR different keywords if there is an invalid search outcome ("look forward" instead of "forward to") 3. Concordancing analysis: Prompts include: (a) Read words surrounding the keyword/ expressions (e.g. look forward to: doing, presenting, another challenge, good jobs, the interview… etc.). (b) Pay attention to pattern frequency (look forward to + noun). (c) Pay attention to the common meaning (look forward to means hoping for something good). (c) Skip unclear examples or explore context extensively (e.g. look forward to "a good job" is correct but irrelevant to the current query). 4. Rule formation: prompts include: (a) Look back at the question’s keyword and its surrounding words. (b) Compare the keyword in the question with the examples. (c) Select the best usage pattern on the basis of surrounding words (In this example, I will use "look forward to seeing" as more appropriate). 5. Outcome evaluation: prompts include: (a) Read examples and check frequency to confirm whether or not a formulated language pattern exists (look forward + gerund). (b) Think back to the rules you have just learned, and on the skills you used for formulating rules and for consulting the corpus on the Internet. Then, think if all the concordancing steps can make the use of a concordance more effective (Chang & Sun, 2009).

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Online language corpora and teaching EFL skills Lexico- grammatical relationships As has always been the case, in EFL textbooks and dictionaries, grammar and vocabulary are dealt with separately or are artificially segregated, which apparently runs counter to common sense or the natural course of language acquisition. However, recent research has shown that people learn foreign languages in chunks or phrases rather than as isolated items and that under time pressure priority is given to the use of these readymade accumulated lexical phrases instead of applying grammatical rules to create new sentences from scratch (Hunt, 2010; Wei, 1999). For instance, the preposition "of" is best learned as a constituent of other expressions (i.e., in spite of, instead of, amount of, a bunch of...etc.). A student might want to retrieve data addressing the distinction between "a lot of" and "plenty of" to see which one will be more conventional in the spoken discourse or which words can follow "of" in both expressions. The following is data retrieved for the Corpus of Contemporary American English: Table 2: Frequecy of nouns that collocate with "plenty of" and "a lot of" Plenty of

frequency

A lot of

frequency

Time

1714

People

22735

room

780

Things

6337

people

583

money

5476

water

328

Time

5123

money

321

work

2313

space

215

times

1840

opportunities

177

fun

1590

evidence

170

stuff

1456

things

169

women

1290

food

165

Questions

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Implications that can be drawn from this table include the following: ¾ Time, room, people, water, money are the most frequent words that can occur adjacent to "plenty of" ¾ People, things, money, time, work are the most frequent words that can occur next to " a lot of" ¾ The words "fun", "attention" and "stuff" can be used with "a lot of " but are not very frequent with "plenty of". ¾ Both expressions can be followed by countable or non-countable nouns. The online corpus can also provide the frequency of similar expressions in both spoken and written discourse. A comparison of "plenty of" and "A myriad of" is as follows: Table 3: Frequecy of nouns that collocate with" plenty of" and "a myriad of"

Plenty of A myriad

spoken 2908 57

Fiction 3299 66

academic 847 246

From this table, it can clearly be recognized that "plenty of" is most commonly used in spoken discourse, whereas "a myriad of", though it has the same meaning, is not very common in spoken language; rather it is usually used in academic contexts. Research has examined the effectiveness of EFL students as corpus researchers by comparing the collocational performance of students who adopted an inductive approach using online corpora and a deductive approach when relying on a textbook. Students in the inductive group reported their having developed analytical ability and awareness of patterns embedded in language data they come across (Lee & Liou, 2003; Sun & Wang, 2003; Tian, 2004). Chan and Liou (2005) investigated the influence of using five webbased practice units on English verb-noun collocations with the design of a web-based bilingual English-Chinese concordance. Results indicated that learners made significant collocation improvement immediately after the online practice but regressed later. Yet the final performance was still better than their entry level. Sometimes corpora are used to examine collocations in a range of genres. Studies then have demonstrated an increased awareness of lexico-

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grammatical usage, particularly with regard to vocabulary use, phrases and collocational patterns (Varley, 2009). Some activities which might assist students to learn collocations by corpora include gapping, matching, odd-man-out exercises and correcting miscollocations. One of the most effective activities is the collocation grid, consisting of a set of nouns, adjectives or verbs in columns and rows, where students, in pairs or groups, are required to indicate the possible combinations existing between them. Here is an example of a collocation grid:

drop break shed

charges 3

rules 3

School 3

record

blood

tears

3

3

3

Figure 3: A collocation grid

EFL students can also draw graphic organizers for word collocations they have learnt from the corpus by categorizing them into groups that share common features and then infer any variance in grammar or meaning. For instance, the following diagram represents collocations of the verb "create".

Figure 4: a graphic organizer for the word "create"

Another activity is encouraging students to create their own corpora. Especially at the advanced level, they can benefit from online concordance programs to analyze an interesting text or a group of texts to derive information on word frequency, collegiality or patterns.

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Admitting grammatical idiosyncrasies Adherence to data-driven learning is the concept of "conventionality", which replaced the "determinism" embraced in traditional EFL grammar teaching. That is to say, grammar is no longer seen as merely a prescribed entity, but as a context-dependent field packed with myriad irregularities, exceptions and unjustifiable characteristics. Consequently, contrary to approaches that view grammatical descriptions as a highly technical endeavor confined to language experts and linguists, EFL learners according to data-based learning - are believed to possess the potential to gain much insight from being unique, inconclusive, and always open to further reconceptualization triggered by constantly attending to the contextual and pragmatic milieu (Johns, 1991). Thus, teachers’ comments should be tentative so as to open the gate for more discovery learning on the students’ part, though they should help reformulate what the students have concluded in a more structured way. For instance, if the target structure is using inversion after “not only”, students can be prompted to make a search for this phrase and then to just focus on those examples which start a new sentence (preceded by a fullstop) and thus figure out what the following sentence will look like. Another alternative might include seeking auxiliary verbs that occur subsequent to “not only”. The interface might look like this: WORD(S) COLLOCATES

not only [vb*]

0 2

POS LIST

verb.[DO]

RANDOM

SEARCH

RESET

Figure 5: Search query for "not only"

This is interpreted as follows: Search for the phrase "not only" within a range of two following words, both verbs. Nothing should precede "not only".

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After students offer various interpretations (e.g. there is an auxiliary verb after “not only”…did/does can come after “not only”…all the sentences have “but also”…etc.), the teacher can summarize their comments by restating or rephrasing their inferences, e.g. Certainly, all verbs are inverted after "not only" and that is why you can see auxiliary verbs first; "but also" is a basic part of this structure. Students can also determine the rules governing the use of given expressions (e.g. accused of and responsible for are followed by a gerund; let, on the other hand, is followed by an infinitive).

Distinguishing nuances of meaning Manifestly, corpora, with their myriad context-sensitive authentic examples, can lend themselves very well to understating subtle, arbitrary and unjustifiable discrepancies between seemingly identical synonyms. Many have a feature which allows students to compare and examine in detail the collocational patterns of synonymous words - along with frequency data. This helps them to understand how synonyms - though presumably similar - can be used in utterly different situations. Dictionaries, unlike corpora, display somewhat similar information but in discrete entries, with a few examples that barely reflect the essence and magnitude of discrepancy. The synonyms "trip" and "journey" are a case in point. As regards their collocational patterns, there are verbs and adjectives recognizably more prevalent or even used exclusively with one of the two words, whereas it sounds inappropriate, or even impossible, to use with the other, as indicated by the "0" frequency in the corpus. The following table gives some examples of words that can be used exclusively with both "trip" and "journey". Learners' research on synonyms is not always stimulated by the teacher; however, students may start to examine differences between two words when they are not quite sure - during writing, speaking or other tasks - which word to use. As mentioned earlier, this is considered a reactive use of language corpora.

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Table 4: Collocates of the synonym "trip" and" journey" Trip Verb win book earn organize postpone arrange schedule ruin

Journey adjective round free weeklong occasional bad straight consecutive perfect guided early

Verb begin continue undertake resume chronicle

adjective lifelong intellectual inward tortuous sacred psychological miraculous human lonely desperate

Focusing on semantics, Maddalena (2001) encouraged students to discriminate between the uses of synonyms by consulting Lancaster-OsloBergen (LOB), a British corpus representing a diversity of registers. Synonyms included such words as ill-sick, mature-ripe, destroy-ruin, and fury-anger. Students started by investigating the corpus and ended up formulating rules. It was felt that this series of exercises succeeded in allowing students to discover and learn the different nuances of words needed for successful English language learning. Linking grammar to semantics, Johns (1991) had students compare the structures following the two synonymous verbs “convince” and “persuade”. They noticed that "persuade" is often followed by "to + v (inf,)" while "convince" is often followed by "that clauses". Their insightful explanation was that the "to-infinitive" refers to actions. Thus, we typically persuade someone to do something (to spend money, to write something, etc.), while the that-clause refers to truths. Thus we typically convince someone that something is the case (responding politely to rude people is better; exercise is so important; people might show different tendencies, etc...). Of course, insights such as these can hardly be gained in a rulegoverned deductive system barely granting students the right to think beyond the teacher or textbook descriptions.

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Form-meaning relationships Traditionally, EFL students used to look at grammar as a set of mathematico-logical rules rigidly applied to any language data. Functional characteristics or meaning-related rules were barely acquired, and this was reflected in students' inability to include these rules in their production. For instance, "may" is always recognized as a modal verb signaling a subsequent infinitive verb form. Nuances of meaning that "may" represents - except probability - are barely stressed, let alone acquired by students. However, with online corpus-based learning, quite untraditional inferences can be drawn about the pragmatic meaning of various structures These inferences are mostly based on learners' discretion and hence are not prone to much forgetfulness or misuse as was previously the case. On many occasions, deduction processes might be elicited by the teacher, especially in cases which might go unnoticed by the students. To help figure out form-meaning relationships, students have to categorize concordances according to usage and functionality. A student, in Varley's study's (2008), for example, could draw, without knowing the rules, various senses for the verb "may" from the language corpus, i.e., expressing possibility, expressing doubt, and expressing past possibility. In the same manner, the various uses of "should" were inferred by students in Johns' (1991) study. One interesting fact can be derived from the following two examples: a) If you should arrive early, please turn off the stove. b) Should you arrive early, please turn off the stove. Actually, although "a" is considered more frequent in grammar books, corpus search has shown that "b" is more normal. Another rarely recognized use of "should" was that of "factive meaning" after why clauses inquiring about reason and signaled by adjectives such as "puzzling, surprising, and unclear". Hence in the following: a) “It is puzzling that William should choose to appear in a court at York ...” b) “It is surprising that there should be this relationship ...” c) “It is strange that birds should want to increase their active sleep ...”

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These instances attest to the fact that, given the chance and the data, learners can produce unprecedented inferences akin to those acquired by second language speakers thrown into a foreign environment.

Formal versus informal discourse One of the trickiest aspects of EFL learning is distinguishing between language used in formal and informal discourse. Traditional textbooks have more or less fallen short in drawing students’ attention to the characteristics of spoken grammar and hence they have always held the false assumption that not much difference exists between spoken and written discourse. However, a characteristic offered by corpora is that they enable learners to discern subtle distinctions between spoken and written discourse in general and between various formal and informal genres in particular (Hunston, 2002, p. 160). This is thanks to micro corpora, which offer the chance to explore language features of particular genres (Ghadessy, Henry, & Roseberry, 2001). The EFL teacher can ask students to figure out the frequency, meaning, and usage of given words in various discourses. For instance, the meanings of the words "anyway", "kind of", "sort of" or "gorgeous" are best learned if examined in both formal and informal registers. Another option is to compare the meaning of one word in two apparently similar genres (i.e. world news versus business news). Investigating EFL students' ability to draw such distinctions, Varley (2008) conducted a study in which learners carried out an individual project asking them to select a genre of spoken or written English and then use concordance software to investigate two to four lexical or grammatical features characterizing the targeted genre. Students could draw inferences about the use of the verb "will" in two generically distinct corpora horoscope texts and the Wellington Corpus of Written New Zealand English. Students noticed that the verb "will" is used frequently in the former to serve a predictive function, whereas in the latter it appeared to have other senses. Gotz and Mukherjee (2006) reported on a project where students had to extract communicative routines and discourse markers from the British National Corpus, while another group focused on analyzing genre-specific phraseology characterizing academic writing in the same corpus. Similarly, Tian (2004) used a specifically designed corpus to help students investigate the language of English news and media. This included microlevel analysis (collocations), macro-level analysis (analyzing the headlines and leaders), and hypothesis testing (gap-filling and then checking the corpus for accuracy).

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Generally, students, in all these studies, commented positively on the knowledge of language patterns and structures they could grasp and perceived this to be better than information derived from textbooks, which they saw as being quite superficial and lacking any sort of register sensitivity.

Online language corpora and language production Clearly, exposing EFL students to authentic discourse that resembles a productive task they will subsequently embark on is a proactive use of language corpora. However, instead of grappling with the cumbersome task of compiling a myriad of samples to teach students a new genre, teachers can either consult a small language corpus from the students' current material or a larger corpus in order to extract concordances geared to their purpose. In particular, online corpus data on the Internet has become increasingly appealing in the context of writing instruction. At the prewriting stage, the corpus provides learners with the input they need to tackle the writing task. Teachers can use concordances from various writing genres so that students will learn their characteristic stylistic, lexical and grammatical features. Research in this domain has addressed very formal registers, such as report writing (Gilmore, 2008) and medical research papers (Donesch-Jezo, 2010), as well as less formal ones, such as lonely hearts advertisements (Gavioli, 2001). Working as discourse analysts, students can become keenly aware of choices they can make in order to properly adjust their writing style to the conventions of a given academic community. Not only can students use corpora in the pre-writing stage; they can also use them in a reactive way to address difficulties encountered during the production and editing phases of the writing process and thus make valid self-correction (Chang, 2010; Chen, 2002; Todd, 2001). In this way, the instructor presents corpus searches as a problem-solving approach to the language side of writing. Drawing on students’ language-based needs, teachers might stress some troublesome grammatical features, such as prepositions, and demonstrate how the corpus may help with them. A case in point is a study I conducted in 2011, which was meant to foster students' collocational competence. The Corpus of Contemporary American English was integrated into the writing instruction and used utilized predominantly to answer questions at a micro level (collocational and grammatical). Results underlined the fact that embracing a corpus–

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based approach can enhance students' collocational competence and writing proficiency as well. The following are steps for integrating corpora into writing instruction: x

Noticing Prior to writing, students are exposed to some written language corpora with a focus on a particular genre and, guided by a set of questions, are asked to notice certain features as a way of boosting their discovery learning. The questions around research writing features might be as follows: 1. What tense is used for presenting the objectives of a research paper? 2. How do writers explain the necessity for doing the current research? (Examine the concordances for the words “purpose”, “meant” and “significance”). 3. How are the findings expressed? (Examine the concordances for the words “finding” and “result”). 4. What tense is used to express findings, results and conclusions? (Donesch-Jezo, 2010). Business students who are required to write a report about the stock market in Tian's study (2004) could be told to look for the following: ¾ Verbs used to describe the upward and downward movement of the stock prices. For instance, students could come up with the verbs rise, rally, surge, advance, etc for upward movement and fall, tumble, decline, slide, slip to show downward movement. ¾ The meaning of some acronyms or abbreviation (e.g., SARS, POW etc.). ¾ Adjectives usually used to describe transactions. Students studying news reporting might be asked to find: ¾ Words used to describe protesting events. ¾ Language for expressing the idea of revolution. ¾ Words to describe a catastrophe. x

Noting Students in pairs can brainstorm main ideas to develop in their writing and think of 10-20 key words that they feel might be useful. After that, they can search online corpora to note down the best collocations.

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x

Production EFL students can write their essays, research papers or business reports using the collocations they have managed to accumulate. At this stage, they are urged to do further keyword searches in the corpus and look for any collocations they feel curious to know about. They not only check the accuracy of particular expressions or structures, but can examine their own hypotheses - possibly formulated due to L1 interference - about language use. That is to say, students can discover whether a certain structure exists in the English language (can we write “adhere with someone”?) The depth, specificity and complexity of the queries will substantially depend on the students’ level, task goal, and teacher’s scaffolding. x

Reflection As a final step, EFL students can take another look at the work they have accomplished, underline expressions they are not sure of and do a collocation search to confirm whether or not they have used the right patterns. Alternatively, the teacher may underline incorrect patterns and have students refer to the language corpus, whether on their cell phones or PCs, and correct their mistakes accordingly. This entails substituting the EFL teacher’s direct feedback with more discovery-oriented tasks that boost students’ self-reflection potential.

Pitfalls of corpora-based instruction Apart from its known benefits, research has also addressed problems EFL learners might experience when working with language corpora. First of all, it was maintained by some scholars that data-driven research is an option just for high-proficiency or distinguished students, since those at lower levels lack the necessary linguistic resources and analytical skills that would enable them to deal wisely with such an overwhelming amount of raw data (Boulton, 2009; Hadley, 2002). Leaving these students to browse alone through a tremendous amount of sample texts without guidance could make them feel alienated and deeply insecure. Other researchers claim that the inductive approach promoted by corpus concordancing methods cannot suit all EFL students' learning styles, though no empirical studies have been conducted to investigate this. For example, some students suffer from an inbred lack of confidence and others perhaps lack self-efficacy or self-regulation, which might prevent them from tackling the data properly. In addition, it can be assumed that students long educated in a teacher-fronted system can hardly be expected to adapt painlessly to such an unrestrained discovery-based approach.

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Being mainly grounded on problem solving and critical skills, DBL chiefly alters the learning methods EFL students were typically accustomed to; many find it very demanding and time-consuming and hence tend to resist full adoption of this method (Yoon & Hirvela, 2004). Another major problem is that EFL learners might suspect the credibility, accuracy and preciseness of the available data. Derived from authentic sources, language corpus data are characterized by being fragmented and full of fillers, redundancy and hesitation, etc. This increases the difficulty of analyzing this language for deriving meaning (Lewis, 2000). On the other hand, a counter-argument suggests that learners can be confronted with authentic data from the beginning. Some research even advocates the use of language corpora with low-achievers to help boost their self-confidence and motivation (Payne, 2008; Wang, 2001). By and large, it has been proved by scholars that what determines the difficulty of data-based learning is not the content students are exposed to but the task that they engage in. Similarly, reducing the amount of data by ‘screening’ it in some way (Varley, 2008) can ease the students' load. Teachers, especially of intermediate or post- elementary EFL students, can pre-plan and select for presentation on a separate screen or sheet of paper those samples that have the least redundancies. Equally important at an earlier stage of online corpus use is provision of some form of apprenticeship to assist learners to overcome common problems, such as the difficulty of comprehending unfinished sentences, the vertical reading of samples, and language sophistication. Contrary to all expectations, Boulton (2009) argues that EFL learners with even a low level of English proficiency can use language corpora to develop their handling of cohesive devices without receiving any training at all. This suggests that low-proficiency learners should not be denied the chance to use DBL any more than theirs superior counterparts.

Conclusion Using online language corpora in DBL is a very promising and effective approach to sustaining EFL language development because it stimulates learner speculation, helps to develop the ability to see patterning in the target language, and induces/ deduces rules to explain this patterning. It is firmly believed that, with careful planning, this method can positively contribute to English language learning.

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However, it should be understood that making the transition to online corpus –based learning requires a paradigm shift in EFL teacher’s preservice and in-service education. Those who are trained to follow a prescribed syllabus and are entirely exam-oriented may well be reluctant to adopt this approach as a cumbersome and unnecessary burden. Consequently, the shift might entail giving more weight to DBL in the regular syllabus and drastically changing the assessment system so as to opt for alternative methods that appraise learner's exploratory and critical reaction to authentic data. A gradual transition to online corpus-based learning is called for, by exposing students first of all to corpora derived from small collections of simple data (e.g. students’ textbook), which can be entered on the computer before movement to more complicated material. Equally relevant is the level of students' proficiency and their learning styles. Some may need more time and practice to become familiar with this new learning approach. Worth investigating, therefore, are the prerequisite competencies needed by EFL students to act efficiently in a DBL environment. This is corroborated by Götz, and Mukherjee's (2006, p. 59) idea of nurturing learners' "corpus literacy". Scaffolding students' corpus use, before throwing them into such a data-rich environment, may also be key to the success of DBL, especially with less-advanced students. Pruning corpus data in order to ease students' task should also be considered. On the students' part, a data-based learning environment requires a shift in their passive attitudes to language learning. They should understand that there is not always a right or wrong answer and that language is full of idiosyncrasies that they have to discover by themselves. Moreover, the image of teachers as perfect knowledge carriers should be replaced by one that regards them as facilitators and modellers of learning strategies. Thus, the current chapter favours an eclectic approach to using language corpora or DBL in the EFL classroom. Perhaps it can be dealt with as just one instructional component in a language course rather than as a dominant pedagogical tool. In this way, DBL can be introduced into an educational setting where only rule- or explanation-based instruction is the norm. In line with these sentiments, Flowerdew (1996, p. 112) argues that "Instead of concordancing being promoted as a panacea, considered evaluative studies will allow [it] to be incorporated appropriately into the teacher’s battery of reference". Future trends should give due consideration to EFL learners’ diversity and examine how they can modulate their response to data-

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based learning. Characteristics such as self-efficacy, self-concept, and locus of control might foster or hinder students' response to a datadriven environment. Future research could look into the efficiency of using a range of data-based models, with varying amounts of teacher assistance, on students with different characteristics in order to determine the optimal conditions needed to cater for all learners' needs without compromising the free, open-ended authentic milieu provided by DBL. Research could be conducted the other way round by investigating the influence of data-driven learning on students' characteristics and whether they might be altered by embracing an online corpus-based approach. Issues around time constraints, technology availability, and syllabus restrictions should also be addressed in order to determine the most promising method of integration. Training EFL teachers to create their own online corpora tailored to their own needs and objectives can also be very important. This might include genre-based and level-based corpora that address learners with varying intentions and proficiency levels. It is also suggested that further research could explore corpora of learners’ own language in order to investigate their typical collocational and grammatical errors. This could then act as a springboard for future teacher scaffolding, remediation or more ambitious syllabus design.

References AnNayef, M. (2001, March). Corpora, concordances, and collocations in classroom teaching: Designing listening materials. The First International TEFL Conference, ESP Centre, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria, 27-29. Aston, G. (Ed.). (2001). Learning with corpora. Houston, Texas: Athelstan. Bahns, L., & Eldaw, M. (1993). Should we teach EFL students collocations? System, 21(1), 101-114. Barlow, M., & Burdine, S. (2006). Phrasal verbs in American English. Houston, Texas: Athelstan. Bernardini, S. (2004) Corpora in the classroom: An overview and some reflections on future developments. In: Sinclair, J. McH. (Ed.), How to Use Corpora in Language Teaching (pp.15–36). Amsterdam; Philadelphia: J. Benjamins, Boulton, A. (2009). Testing the limits of data-driven learning: language proficiency and training. ReCALL 21, 137-51

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Chambers, A. (2007). Popularizing corpus consultation by language learners and teachers. In E. Hidalgo, L. Quer & J. Santana (Eds.), Corpora in the foreign language classroom: Selected papers from the sixth international conference on teaching and language corpora (TaLC 6) (pp. 3–16). Amsterdam: Rodopi. Chan, T.; Liou, H. (2005, July). Effects of Web-Based Concordancing Instruction on EFL students' learning of verb-noun collocations. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 18 (3), 231-251 Chang, W. & Sun, Y. (2009). Scaffolding and web concordancers as support for language learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 22(4), 283-30. DOI: 10.1080/09588220903184518 Chang, J-Y. (2010). Postsecondary EFL students’ evaluations of corpora with regard to English writing. The SNU Journal of Education Research, 19, 57-85. Chen, P. (2002). A Corpus-Based Study of the Collocational Errors in the Writings of the EFL Learners in Taiwan. Unpublished MA thesis, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei. Davis, E. A., &Linn, M. C. (2000). Scaffolding students' knowledge integration: Prompts for reflection in KIE. International Journal of Science Education, 22, 819–837. Donesch-Jezo, E. (2010). Corpus concordancing in teaching academic discourse writing to medical students. Proceedings of the International Conference "ICT for Language Learning”, 3rd edition. Jagiellonian University, Poland. Doughty, C. J & M. H. Long. (Eds.) (2003). The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Flowerdew, J. (1996). “Concordancing in Language Learning”. In M. C. Pennington (Ed.), The Power of CALL. (97-113). Houston: Athelstan Publications. Gavioli, L. (2001). The Learner as researcher: Introducing corpus concordancing in the classroom. In G. Aston (Ed.), Learning with corpora (pp. 108–137). Houston, Texas: Athelstan. Gavioli, L. & Aston, G. (2001). Enriching reality: Language corpora in language pedagogy. ELT Journal, 55 (3), 238-446 Ghadessy, M., Henry, A., & Roseberry, R.L., (Eds.). (2001). Small corpus studies and ELT: Theory and practice. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Gilmore, A. (2008). Using online corpora to develop students' writing skills. ELT Journal, 63 (4) 363-372 Retrieved from: http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/63/4/363.short?rss=1&ssource=m fc

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Godwin-Jones, B. (2001). Emerging technologies, tools and trends in corpora use for teaching and learning. Language Learning & Technology, 5(3), 7-12. Retrieved from: http://llt.msu.edu/vol5num3/emerging/ Götz, S. and Mukherjee, J., (2006). Evaluation of Data-Driven Learning in university teaching: A project report. Corpus technology and language. Retrieved from: Academic.edu. http://www.academia.edu/1804787/Evaluation_of_datadriven_learning_in_university_teaching_A_project_report Hadley, G. (2002). An introduction to data-driven learning. RELC Journal, 33(2), 99–124. Henry, A., & Roseberry, R.L. (2001). Using a small corpus to obtain data for teaching a genre. In M. Ghadessy, A. Henry & R.L. Roseberry (Eds.), Small corpus studies and ELT: Theory and practice (pp. 93– 133). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Hunston, S. (2002). Corpora in Applied Linguistics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Hunt, R. (2010). Grammar and vocabulary: teaching students collocations. OnespotEnglis:. http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?docid=146468, accessed on 7th November, 2010. JAÉN, M. (2007). A Corpus-driven Design of a Test for Assessing the ESL Collocational Competence of University Students. International Journal of English studies, 7 (2), 127-147 Johns, T. (1991). Should you be persuaded: Two examples of data-driven learning'. In Johns, T. and King, P. (Eds.) Classroom Concordancing. (pp. 1-13). Birmingham: ELR. Kennedy, C., & Miceli, T. (2001). An evaluation of intermediate students’ approaches to corpus investigation. Language Learning & Technology, 5(3), 77–90. Le, T. (2010). Learning lexical collocations with concordancing and scaffolding Unpublished MA thesis, University of Groningen). Retrieved from http://scripties.let.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/FILES/root/Master/DoorstroomMast ers/ToegepasteTaalwetens/2010/Le/MA_1938851_T_H_Le.pdf Lee, C., & Liou, H. (2003). A study of using web concordancing for English vocabulary learning in a Taiwan high school context. English Teaching & Learning, 27(3), 35–56. Lewis, M. (2000). Learning in the lexical approach. In Michael Lewis (Ed.), Teaching collocation (pp. 155-184). Hove, England: Language Teaching Publications.

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Li-Yuch, W. (2001). Effects of inductive and deductive approach on EFL Learning collocation patterns. Graduate Institute of Applied Foreign Languages. National Yunilin University of Science and Technology. Retrieved from: http://ethesys.yuntech.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/get file?URN=etd-0509105 Maddalena, S. (2001). An investigation into how corpus analysis may be used to in the second language classroom to solve some of the problems surrounding non-native speakers'' understating of seemingly synonymous words. A report. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED: 458795). Payne, J. (2008). Data-Driven South Asian language learning. Retrieved 30 April, 2009, from The University of Chicago South Asian Language Resource Center: http://salrc.uchicago.edu/workshops/sponsored/061005/DDL.ppt Sinclair, J. (1997). Corpus evidence in language description. In A. Wichmann, S. Fligelstone, T. McEnery & G. Knowles (Eds.), Teaching and language corpora (pp. 27–39). London: Longman. Sun, Y.C., & Wang, L.Y. (2003). Concordancers in the EFL classroom: Cognitive approaches and collocation difficulty. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 16(1), 83–95. Tian, S. (2004). Using corpora concordancing to assist low-achievement EFL students. Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on ELT in China, Beijing, China. Retrieved November 8th, 2006 from http://www.elt-china.org/lw/pdf/TianShiauping.pdf Todd, R. (2001). Induction from self-selected concordances and selfcorrection. System, 29(1), 91–102. Torky, S. (2011, August). An Integrative strategy based on data-driven learning to enhance EFL students’ collocational performance and their self -regulated learning. Studies in Curriculum and Instruction, Egyptian Council for Curriculum and Instruction, 173, 3-46. Varley, S. (2009). I'll just look that up in the concordancer: integrating corpus consultation into the language learning environment. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 22 (2), 133-152. Wang, Li-Yuch. (2001). Effects of inductive and deductive approach on EFL learning collocations patterns by using concordances. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Institute of Applied Foreign Languages. National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, China. Wei, Y. (1999). Teaching collocations for productive vocabulary development. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. New York, NY. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED457690)

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Wu, S.; Franken, M. & Witten, I. H. (2010). Supporting collocation learning with a digital library. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 23(1), 87-110 Yoon, H & Hirvela, A. (2004). ESL student attitudes toward corpus use in L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 13, 257-284.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN APPROACHES TO THE EVALUATION OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING SOFTWARE VAHID NIMEHCHISALEM AND JAYAKARAN MUKUNDAN UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

Abstract In the area of English Language Teaching (ELT) coursebooks are the common materials that are often evaluated using material evaluation checklists. Although there are similarities between English coursebooks and Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) software, it is not appropriate to evaluate them using the same instruments. Admittedly, both materials share features that can be evaluated using the same set of evaluative criteria, but CALL software packages have particular features (like record, playback and compare as well as ease of installation and use) that are not relevant for evaluating language coursebooks. The present paper reviews the paradigm shifts in CALL software development and evaluation. The paper also presents a summary of the various evaluative criteria and/or instruments suggested by ELT scholars for software evaluation. It is expected that this review will provide a useful source for English language teachers and researchers interested in evaluating such software. Key words: English language teaching materials, Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) software, Courseware, Evaluation

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Introduction Technology has undoubtedly influenced all aspects of our daily lives. These days it seems impossible to get things through in areas like business and communication without the help of technology. It can be traced everywhere. The area of education has also accepted technology as a useful medium of instruction. As a very crucial part of technology, computers have experienced constant developments in their capacities and speed, which have made unique multimedia features and data storage systems possible. Owing to such features, computers are now regarded as helpful devices for learning and teaching purposes by most teachers. Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) software or courseware (used interchangeably in this chapter) is defined as the computerized packages of English language teaching-learning material often used as supplements to the main lessons (Mukundan & Nimehchisalem, 2011). In fact, ‘courseware’ was first used to refer to any supplementary packages of computerized learning materials that could be added to the syllabus (Mukundan & Nimehchisalem, 2008). It is possible to define the term narrowly as software programs administering instructions, or more widely as software programs together with their manuals and course materials. In this paper, CALL software or courseware is defined broadly as any language learning-teaching software package which contains a certain number of lessons, tests, user manuals and guidelines that are available online and/or DVDs. CALL courseware is often developed to offer a novel way to account for the language learners’ course needs in conjunction with other common materials like textbooks. Integration of computer technology into the ELT curriculum, in addition to contributing fun to the learning experience, can help the learner with instant and interactive feedback as well as localized and individualized instruction. Research findings indicate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ significantly positive attitudes towards CALL (Rahimi & Yadollahi, 2011). Positive results have also been obtained on the English language teachers’ perception towards the ELT courseware (Mukundan, Nimehchisalem, & Sayadian, 2012). According to Warschauer and Healey (1998), administrators purchase CALL software since they assume it can offer authentic models of the target language, provide a language learning curriculum, assess the target learners’ needs, show the most adequate step that the learner can take to master a particular language skill, keep records of students’ progress, and be always available at no additional costs. They also argue that computers can provide multimodal practice with suitable feedback, individual/ pair/ group as well

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as collaborative or competitive work, fun, different resources for various learning styles, exploratory learning, and computer use skill-building necessary for students’ real-life (Warschauer & Healey, 1998). Of course, use of computer technology in the language classes has not been without its criticizers. Mukundan (2008) warns language teachers of a mindless jump on the bandwagon of such technology. His contention is what has proved helpful in content-based subjects (AiniArifah & Norizan, 2008) may not necessarily turn out to be useful in the language classroom. Indeed, computer technology should be approached very cautiously for educational purposes even in content areas. For example, research on the use of educational software in teaching chemistry has shown that the students learned better when the teacher used traditional methods, which could be due to learners’ lack of skill in using educational software and teachers’ failure in guiding the learners to use the software (Da Costa & Paiva, 2003). Surprizingly, research shows that one in four school English language teachers (approximately 26%) is a very novice user of instructional technology while about every other teacher (45%) has never used computers in their teaching (Sayadian, 2012). Language teachers and researchers should be more concerned about the compatibility of the software with the learners’ needs and background knowledge than its ability to captivate them since the latter is usually a claim made by the developers of such software to promote their products (Rahimi, Noraini, Loh, Ahmad, & Norjoharuddeen, 2007). It is crucial to test the usufulness of CALL software before, while, and after using them for language education purposes.

CALL Software The first educational software was developed in the 1940s by the American air force for training pilots. Perhaps the first system that can be called educational software appeared in the 1970s when PLATO IV was released. The software was the result of a joint project among several American universities. As the best-known tutorial system, PLATO involved the learner in extensive drills, featured grammatical explanations, and included translation tests at varying intervals (Ahmad, Corbett, Rogers, & Sussex, 1985). The 1980s was an important decade for software developing companies that started to mushroom in the 1990s as a result of the digital revolution. Three paradigm shifts have been recognized in the area of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), including behavioristic CALL,

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communicative CALL, and integrative CALL (Warschauer & Healey, 1998). In the 1960s and 1970s, behaviorism and structuralism were the dominent learning and language theories. It was believed that the language structures could be learned through stimulating the positive response which could then be reinforced. Behavioristic CALL involved the learner in repetitive drills of linguistic structures. In the 1970s, with the emergence of the communicative approach to language teaching, the focus shifted from accuracy to fluency and from mechanical drills to negotiation of meaning activities. This shift led to the emergence of communicative CALL that was based on the learning theory of cognitive psychology, a theory that regards learning as a discovery process. Most CALL software developed during this time encouraged the learner to discover linguistic patterns and meanings by re-organizing words and texts or through individual or group discussions. The focus of communicative CALL was on how technology helped students learn with each other. In the early 1990s, the focus began to shift from communicative to socio-cognitive aspects of language learning and teaching. The goal was now to integrate the learner in authentic language use and authentic social contexts through meaningful tasks. The integrative CALL (Warschauer, 1996) was the result of this view towards language teaching. In addition to integrating the language skills, the approach also aimed at integrating technology into language learning more fully. The integrative CALL provides various technological tools for the learners in their ongoing experience of language use that helps them learn the language. This approach differs from behavioristic or communicative CALL in which the student did isolated language practice in the computer labs once or twice a week (Warschauer & Healey, 1998). The distinction between the behavioristic and communicative CALL, on the one hand, and the integrative CALL, on the other, as presented by Warschauer and Healey (1998) corresponds with the distinction between the two types of software, LMS (Learning Management System) and VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) (Lewis, 2008). While LMS includes the types of software used to deliver, track and manage training, VLE embraces software systems developed to assist teachers and learners in educational settings:

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Table 1: LMS versus VLE (Lewis, 2008) LMS (web 1.0) Hierarchical Delivery focused Static Practice, drills Transmission Objects

VLE (web 2.0) Distributed Social Constructivist Tools

As Table 1 indicates, educational software may be either providing a series of lessons revealed to the learner periodically (LMS) or unveiling the whole course all at once leaving the learner free to select (VLE). As Lewis (2008) notes, static software present ready-made exercises with an accompanying key whereas dynamic programs suggest options and possibilities through which learners can choose in their learning experience. The former is referred to as only an 'object' but the latter as a 'tool'. Providing learners with mere objects will hinder their interest and creativity whereas tools involve and attract learners guiding them to develop their own materials. Therefore, VLE software can facilitate learners’ self-investment by involving them in projects and encouraging them to use or create their own resources, which according to Tomlinson (1998) is one of the main principles to be considered in ELT material development and evaluation.

ELT Material Evaluation Often language teachers or syllabus designers evaluate ELT materials by flipping through them and impressionistically assessing them, based on the implicit criteria developed in their minds as a result of years of experience. Impressionistic evaluation is reliable as long as the evaluators have sufficient experience. However, when they lack experience, it is necessary that they follow a set of explicit criteria in the form of an instrument called a ‘checklist’. Checklists provide more reliable and valid judgments of language teaching materials. The literature on ELT materials development and evaluation is laden with instruments for evaluating ELT materials (e.g., Cunningsworth, 1995; Skierso, 1991; Sheldon, 1988; and Ur, 1996). Different scholars in the area have mentioned varying criteria for evaluating ELT materials. Stevick (1971) proposes that ELT materials can be evaluated in reference to three main qualities (including strength, lightness and transparency), three main

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dimensions (including linguistic, social, and topical) as well as four major components (including occasion for use, sample of language use, lexical exploration, and exploration of structural relationships). Brown (1995) proposes evaluating materials based on their background, fitness to the curriculum in question, physical and logistical characteristics, as well as their teachability. According to Tomlinson (1998), ELT material developers should consider a number of important points. As he mentions, good materials are impactful, do not provoke learners’ anxiety, are relevant to learner needs, help learner self-investment, use authentic language, draw learners’ attention to linguistic features of the input, promote using the target language for communicative purposes, account for the delayed positive effects of instruction, consider varying learning styles, permit a silent period, encourage intellectual, aesthetic and emotional involvement, do not merely rely on controlled practice, and encourage learners to check their language achievement (Tomlinson, 1998). It has also been emphasized that the language used in the ELT materials ought to be realistic and natural (Bell & Gower, 1998) since the use of authentic language can motivate learners. It is very difficult to provide a set of universal features based on which ELT materials can be evaluated. However, according to Ansari and Babaii (2002), content presentation, physical make-up and administrative procedures can be regarded as the universal criteria in material evaluation. Mukundan, Hajimohammadi and Nimehchisalem (2012) focus on the following features in their checklist: the book in relation to syllabus and curriculum, methodology, suitability to learners, physical and utilitarian attributes, supplementary materials, general content (i.e., task quality, cultural sensitivity, as well as linguistic and situational realism), language skills and sub-skills, as well as exercises. As it is obvious, there is a good deal of literature on ELT material evaluation. Mukundan and Ahour (2010) provide a review of ELT materials evaluation checklists in the last four decades. What most scholars warn the evaluators about is that materials should be evaluated in the light of the learning-teaching context. A global one-size-fits-all set of criteria for different types of ELT materials regardless of the context would be a rather naive judgment of the material in question.

CALL Software Evaluation New technological innovations are increasingly employed in the English language classroom, making it a compelling concern to design and select appropriate learning materials. Developing educational software is

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usually costly, so it is important to see whether its advantages outweigh the amount of the time, money, and effort it requires (Voogt, 1990). Due to their additional functions, learning software packages are more difficult to evaluate than other educational materials, like textbooks (Hubbard, 1987). Robb and Susser (2000) suggest employing a variety of resources and evaluation methods before selecting the suitable software that best fits the target course objectives and learner needs. As it is the case with other ELT materials, CALL software programs can be evaluated either impressionistically or explicitly, using checklists. Checklists have been criticized for ignoring some crucial issues to be considered in teaching and learning as well as overemphasizing the features that can easily be assessed, but checklists have proved useful in helping teachers select CALL software successfully if they are sufficiently trained (Ring, 1993). They can help the teacher focus on dimensions of computerized materials that otherwise may be neglected. Different scholars point out varying criteria for evaluating CALL software materials, most of which overlap with the evaluative criteria often proposed for other materials, like textbooks. For example, Garrett (1991) suggests checking software materials for the accuracy, authenticity and appropriateness of their language. Geraghty and Quinn (2009) contend that CALL software “should be specific, measureable, attainable, and targeted to learner needs” (p. 231). For D’Arcy and Gardner (1988) good CALL software must be flexible, valid, motivating, portable and friendly. They emphasize that language teachers should be consulted for their views on the content of the software. Johnson (2003) mentions several points that should be considered in developing educational software, including: 1. The material should not be released before it has been evaluated for its effectiveness. 2. It should synthesize teaching and testing programs. 3. Various perspectives of educational community should be interrelated in its development. 4. It should be easy for its users to communicate their feedback. 5. It should be developed based on authentic theories and empirical evidence. 6. If it is going to be disseminated at a national level, teachers should be trained before its release. 7. It should come along with high-quality support material. 8. Besides entertaining the learners, it should develop their thinking skills.

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9. The way it works in real classroom context should be continuously assessed. 10. Its content should be customizable based on learners’ needs. 11. It should create opportunities for authentic experiences. 12. It should not be too sophisticated or beyond the learners’ computer skills. 13. It may take some time before the CALL software becomes a success, so it may have to be commercially supported. 14. It should empower learners to produce their own original ideas. Such insightful points can be considered in creating guidelines to be regarded in developing CALL courseware. Some researchers have pointed out the issue of adaptability. Adaptable courseware can be modified by learners or teachers to serve their specific needs and preferred learning style and teaching methods (Ladhani & De Diana, 1994; Moonen, 1989). De Diana and de Vries (1990) propose a dynamic cycle for developing courseware. They suggest expanding the traditional developmental cycle of courseware production and validation (i.e., specify, design, develop, use, and evaluate) by adding the two new stages of ‘adapt before use and ‘adapt after use’ (Diana & de Vries, 1990). In this respect, Warschauer and Healey (1998) point out the relative ‘immutability’ of most software packages that do not provide teachercustomized content. For Usoh, Catena, Arman, and Slater (2000), the key factor that can influence a user’s attitude towards any virtual program is ‘presence’. The virtual environment should make users feel that they are really there in the learning space rather than seeing only a raw set of images (Nik, Tao, & Ping, 2011). Likewise, Steuer (1992) suggests the efficacy of a virtual environment could be evaluated by measuring the extent to which users fail to discriminate between it and a real environment. This criterion is crucial in any virtual learning experience since it determines how successfully the real world experiences have been presented in a virtual environment. Retalis (2007) suggests three important factors that determine the success of courseware: (i) usability (usefulness, ease of use, learnability, and attitude), (ii) aesthetic attractiveness (easy to assimilate, visually attractive, and interesting), and (iii) educational effectiveness (flexibility, variety types of learning, and integrated environment). According to Geissinger (2010), the four major criteria in courseware evaluation include quality of end-user interface design, engagement, interactivity and tailorability. Based on a review of the related literature, Nik et al. (2011)

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propose a framework to evaluate courseware. The framework includes seven main criteria, including ‘demography’, ‘user knowledge and abilities’, ‘usability’, ‘aesthetic attractiveness’, ‘efficacy’, ‘presence’, and ‘problems and recommendations’. Although it has not been developed for evaluating CALL software, this framework can be helpful in developing one. Perhaps one of the most comprehensive frameworks for CALL software evaluation is the TopTenREVIEWS, which provides a list of criteria based on which the best ten CALL software packages in the world are selected. The list (available at http://esl-software-review.toptenreviews .com/) is commercially well-established. Table 2 summarizes the criteria and sub-criteria of the TopTenREVIEWS:

Criteria 1. Features

Description The software offers a number of practical teaching features like personal progress tracking, personalized learning paths, multiple accounts, and teaching tools, based on the level of the target users. b. Personal progress tracking c. Personalized learning paths d. Multiple accounts e. Teaching tools

Sub-criteria a. Users’ level

Further description of sub-criteria The software is adequate to the level (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) of the user. It has a tracking feature that enables the users to gauge their personal progress and set goals for their future learning. It allows users to customize the way they learn. They can also set their own pace and teaching style. The approximate number of hours of instructional material that is included with the program. It offers a variety of tools including: i. Books, ii. Videos, iii. DVDs, iv. Images, v. Audio tapes, vi. Record, playback and compare (enabling users to record their speech and compare their pronunciation with native speakers’), vii. Word tools (translates words or phrases from another language into English), viii. Word and root search (enabling users to look up conjugated verbs), ix. Glossary, x. Dictionary, xi. Learning games, xii. Flash cards, and xiii. Online testing (enabling users to take tests online and compare their abilities with those of other users)

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Table 2: TopTenREVIEWS ELT evaluation criteria

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4. Effectiveness

3. Ease of use

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Speech recognition technology recognizes what you say and assesses your pronunciation. It also pinpoints and highlights mispronounced words within individual sentences. b. Listening This feature gauges how well you can understand conversations, phrases and songs in English. c. Reading The English reading section of the software helps you to develop your reading skills with graphics, newspapers, cartoons and word processing documents. d. Writing You can type in English, and then the software corrects and grades your writing skills. e. Vocabulary allow you to increase your vocabulary through games, exercises, flash card practice and other learning devices f. Grammar The software provides in-depth instruction on how to understand and use English grammar. g. Conversation This tool allows you to communicate with a native English speaker (real or computer simulated) through the Internet or other methods. h. Cultural The software provides information on the culture of aspects English speaking countries. The software is user-friendly, and the target users can successfully learn English regardless of their previous knowledge of English or their experience with computers. The software teaches English effectively, employing a variety of tools and proven methods that cater to users’ various learning styles.

The program teaches the fundamentals of English including reading, writing, comprehension, vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and cultural aspects of English speaking countries.

a. Speech recognition

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The software is simple to install and setup on a computer. The software comes with installation instructions to guide the user through the setup process. Adequate help and a. Telephone The manufacturer provides a phone number so you can support are support contact customer support with questions. provided to the b. Email support You can email customer support with questions or user through comments. email, phone, c. Live chat The manufacturer provides a chat feature so you can FAQs pages and instantly contact customer support over the web. knowledge bases. d. Online help The manufacturer provides online help, such as a help database, so you can find the answers to your questions. e. Tutorials There are tutorials that will teach you how to effectively use the program. f. User manual/ A user guide will teach you about the various aspects of guide the program.

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As the table shows, the list comprises six criteria on ‘features’, ‘fundamentals’, ‘ease of use’, ‘effectiveness’, ‘ease of installation/setup’, and ‘technical help/support’. Each of the criteria is defined and then, more detailed descriptions are provided for three of the criteria only, including features, fundamentals, and technical support. As it was mentioned, the list is commercially established, but before it can be used for academic and research purposes, it should be validated and may have to be modified. Additionally, as it was developed by computer experts, the components of the TopTenREVIEWS which focus on the language need to be elaborated and improved. The list cannot be regarded as a complete checklist because it lacks a scale and an interpretation guide for its results, but it can be useful in the development of a comprehensive framework for CALL software evaluation. Another instrument that was developed for evaluating CALL software is called the ‘Malaysian Secondary School English Language Courseware Questionnaire’, which was developed by Mukundan, Nimehchisalem and Sayadian (2012). As the name of the instrument indicates, it was developed to evaluate the Malaysian Secondary School English Language Courseware. This checklist (See Appendix A) consists of the three parts of ‘physical/technical characteristics’, ‘pedagogical appropriateness’ and ‘learner attributes’. The first part focuses on the technical features of the courseware with items like The courseware is sophisticated and technologically advanced or It is easy to run all parts of the courseware. The next two parts focus more on the software content as well as its teaching-learning attributes. Some of the items in these domains include, The content encompasses the syllabus, or The courseware achieves a noticeable and positive impact on the learners. There are 7 items in the first, 6 items in the second and 13 items in the final part of the instrument which follows a six-point Likert style scale ranging from 0 that signifies ‘never’ to 5 that signifies ‘always’. The appendix shows the Malaysian Secondary School English Language Courseware Questionnaire. Although this instrument has been developed and validated by a group of ELT experts, it still needs to be tested rigorously before it can be used confidently for large-scale CALL software evaluation purposes.

Conclusion and Pedagogical Implications This chapter has reviewed the related literature on the evaluation of CALL software. As this review indicates, several lists of evaluative criteria have been proposed for evaluating CALL software. However, no validated framework is available for this purpose, which could be due to

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the nature of this sort of evaluation. The available frameworks do not target a balanced representation of technical and pedagogical features that should be considered in evaluating CALL software. As it can be noticed, in frameworks developed by software companies, like the TopTen REVIEWS checklist, lack sophistication in the domains that deal with language skills. Likewise, CALL software evaluation instruments developed by ELT experts are also lopsided in that they focus too much on the presentation of language skills and too little on the technical properties of the software in question. In order to develop a valid framework to evaluate CALL software materials, the most appropriate solution seems to be integrating a variety of instruments and frameworks proposed by both ELT and computer experts. In the meanwhile, the developers of the framework should not be oblivious of the fact that teaching-learning contexts and objectives can vary. Therefore, flexibility should be considered a central matter in the development of such a framework. As the learning-teaching context varies, so do the students’ needs and interests. In order to be efficient and successful CALL software packages should be developed in the light of the target learners’ needs and interests. Finally, what needs to be highlighted is that there should be a balanced focus on both predictive (before use) and retrospective (while or after use) CALL software evaluation. Evaluating any program before implementing it will provide a clear picture of its strengths and weaknesses and help the teacher avoid inappropriate decisions. In the meantime, retrospective evaluation of CALL software is also important because it can help the teacher make the necessary adaptations to the material in its future use. Therefore, evaluation should be a formative and progressive process. Teachers who use CALL software can keep teaching logs in which they take note of what did or did not go right while using the software in the classroom. Based on these records, revisions can be made to the teaching plans of the future classes to improve their students’ learning. Likewise, such information can be useful for software developers who wish to enhance the quality of their products.

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References Ahmad, K., Corbett, G., Rogers, M., & Sussex, R. (1985). Computers, language learning and language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. AiniArifah, A. B., & Norizan, M. Y. (2008). Using teaching courseware to enhance classroom interaction as a method of knowledge sharing. Journal of Information Systems, Research & Practices, 1(1), 1-12. Ansary, H. & Babaii, E. (2002). Universal Characteristics of EFL/ESL Textbooks: A Step towards Systematic Textbook Evaluation. The Internet TESL Journal VIII (2) Retrieved on March 1, 2012 from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Ansary-Textbooks/ Bell, J. & Gower, R. (1998). Writing course materials for the world: A great compromise. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.). Material development in language teaching (pp. 116-129). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Brown, J. D. (1995). The elements of language curriculum. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers. Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your coursebook. Oxford: Heinemann. Da Costa, L. A. & Paiva, J. C. (2003), Exploration guides for educational software: Are they helpful? Proceedings of the International Conference on MICTE 2003, Retrieved on 11/07/2012 from http://mlaac.no.sapo.pt/homepage/mestrado/public/guides-eng.pdf D’Arcy J. & Gardner J. (1988). Learning from teachers: Teachers’ perspectives of relevant courseware and training provision. Computers & Education, 12, 321-326. De Diana, I. P. F., & de Vries, S. A. (1990). Adaptable educational courseware: An antidote to several portability problems. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 23, 225-242. Garrett, N. (1991). Technology in the service of language learning: Trends and issues. The Modern Language Journal, 75 (1), 74–101. Geissinger, H (1997). Educational software: Criteria for evaluation. Paper presented at the 14th annual meeting of the Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education in Perth, Wester Australia. Retrieved 11 June, 2010 from http://www.ascilite.org.au/cofereces/perth97/papers/Geissenger/Geisse ger.html Geraghty, B. and Quinn, A. M. (2009). An evaluation of independent learning of the Japanese hiragana system using an interactive CD. ReCALL 21 (2), 227–240. doi:10.1017/S0958344009000226

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Hubbard, P. (1987). Language teaching approaches, the evaluation of CALL software, and design implications. In W. F. Smith (Ed.), Modern media in foreign language education: Theory and implementation (pp. 228-254). Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook. Johnson, J. (2003). From lofty beginnings to the age of accountability: A look at the 30 years of educational software. Learning and Leading with Technology 30 (7). Ladhani, A. & De Diana, I. (1994). Knowledge for courseware engineering: A framework for inductive knowledge acquisition based upon evaluation of adaptable courseware products. Computers in Human Behavior, 10, 155-171. Lewis, G. (2008). Making the most of technology: Materials design for a wired world. Speech delivered at the 4th International Conference on ELT Materials, 16 October, Melaka, Malaysia. Moonen, J. (1989). Courseware development at the crossroads? Education and Computing, 5, 103-109. Mukundan, J. (2008). Multimedia materials in developing countries: The Malaysian ELT experience. In Tomlinson, B. (ed.), English language learning materials: A critical review. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Mukundan, J. & Ahour, T. (2010). A review of textbook evaluation checklists across four decades (1970-2008). In B. Tomlinson & H. Masuhara (Eds.), Research for materials development in language learning: Evidence for best practice (336-352). London: Continuum. Mukundan, J., Hajimohammadi, R. & Nimehchisalem, V. (2011a). Developing an English language textbook evaluation checklist. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 4 (6), 21-27. Mukundan, J., & Nimehchisalem, V. (2008). Educational Software and English Teaching Courseware: Promising Panaceas? Journal of NELTA, 1(3), 71-79. Mukundan, J. & Nimehchisalem, V. (2011). An evaluation of the role of English language teaching courseware in Malaysia. English Language Teaching, 4 (3), 142-150. Mukundan, J., Nimehchisalem, V., & Sayadian, S. (2012). The physical and technical characteristics of English language teaching courseware in Malaysia, English Language Teaching, 5 (6), 2-8. Nik, S. H. N. A., Tao, R. W., & Ping, J. (2011). Immersive environment courseware evaluation. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 1667–1676. Rahimi, M. S., Noraini I., Loh S. C., Ahmad Z. A. R., & Norjoharuddeen M. N. (2007). Evaluation of courseware for teaching and learning of

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Form One mathematics and science. Malaysian Education Dean’s Council (MEDC), 1, 47-56. Retrieved on 11/07/2012 from http://www.medc.com.my/medc/journals/Vol%201/6%20EVALUATION%20OF%20COURSEWARE%20FOR%20TEAC HING%20AND%20LEARNING.pdf Rahimi, M. & Yadollahi, S. (2011). Foreign language learning attitude as a predictor of attitudes towards computer-assisted language learning. Procedia Computer Science 3, 167–174. doi: 10.1016/j.procs.2010.12.029 Retalis, S. (2007). A courseware development methodology for Open and Distance Learning. Proc. of CAISE' 97, Barcelona, Spain, May 1997. Ring, G. (1993). The effects of instruction in courseware preview methodology on the predictive validity of teacher preview ratings. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 9 (2), 197–218. Robb, T. N. and Susser, B. (2000) The life and death of software: Examining the selection process. CALICO Journal, 18 (1), 41–52. Sayadian, S. (2012). Factors influencing integration of web-based instruction by secondary school English language teachers. Unpublished PhD Dissertation. UPM, Serdang, Malaysia. Sheldon, L. E. (1988). Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials. ELT Journal 42 (4): 237-246. Skierso, A. (1991). Textbook selection and evaluation. In Celce-Murcia, M. (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (pp. 432453). (2nd Ed.). Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers. Steuer, J. (1992). Defining virtual reality: Dimensions determining telepresence. Journal of Communication, 42 (4), 73- 93. Stevick, E. W. (1971). Adapting and writing language lessons. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Tomlinson, B. (Ed.) (1998). Materials development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. TopTenREVIEWS (2012). Learn English software product comparisons. Retrieved on 11/07/2012 from http://esl-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ Ur, P. (1996). A course in language teaching: Practice and theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Usoh, M., Catena, E., Arman, S. & Slater, M (2000). Using presence questionnaires in reality. Presence-Teleoper. Virtual Environ, 9, 497– 503 (2000). Voogt, J. (1990). Courseware evaluation by teachers: An implementation perspective. Compurers & Education, 14 (4), 299-307.

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Warschauer, M. (Ed.) (1996). Virtual Connections: Online Activities and Projects for Networking Language Learners. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center (University of Hawaii Press). Warschauer, M., & Healey, D. (1998). Computers and language learning: An overview. Language Teaching, 31, 57-71.

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Appendix A Malaysian Secondary School English Language Courseware Questionnaire Dear Valued Teacher, You are requested to mark the following items 0-5, based on your teaching experience of using the English Language Teaching Courseware. 5: Always 4: Very often 3: Often 2: Sometimes 1: Seldom 0: Never Personal Information Age: ……… Gender: Female Male Major: English Language Teaching English Literature Applied Linguistics

Other, please state: …………………………… Software Skills: High Moderate Teaching experience: ………(Years)

Low Information on your learners The courseware was used for:

Lower secondary Upper secondary

Form1 Form2 Form3 Form4 Form5 Form6 Learners’ English level: Elementary Lower intermediate Intermediate Upper intermediate Physical/Technical Characteristics 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

The courseware is sophisticated and technologically advanced. It is easy to run all parts of the courseware. The menus are easy to work with. The screens include interesting animations. The content has novelty and variety.

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Activities focus on learning rather than testing. The instructions have a friendly tone (contractions, active).

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Pedagogical Appropriateness 8. The content encompasses the syllabus. 9. It can be used together with the textbook. 10. The teacher can incorporate methodologies like Total Physical Response, Suggestopedia and Communicative Language Teaching into lesson plans. 11. All language skills are emphasized in the content. 12. The courseware is applicable in mixed ability classes. 13. The courseware caters for all levels of students.

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Learner Attributes 14. The courseware achieves a noticeable and positive impact on the learners. 15. Learners find the presentation of content attractive. 16. Students can relate the texts and illustrations to their culture. 17. Activities help the students learn rather than testing them. 18. The instructions have a friendly tone (contractions, active). 19. It reduces learners’ anxiety. 20. There problem-solving activities are achievable but not too easy. 21. There are discovery activities helping learners self-invest. 22. Grammar is very learner-friendly. 23. Learners’ interest is maintained throughout.

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24. Activities take into account the learners' different learning styles (like visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, studial, experiential, analytic, global, dependent, or independent). 25. Activities include meaningful language use rather than just controlled practice. 26. The courseware encourages collaborative learning (group/pair work).

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Your invaluable cooperation is highly appreciated.

CONTRIBUTORS

Rahma Al-Mahrooqi, PhD, is the Director of Sultan Qaboos University’s Humanities Research Center. She is also an Associate Professor of English at the same institution, where she has worked for 21 years. She has taught a variety of courses in language, communication, research, and sociolinguistics, always seeking to inspire and transform her students by example. She has coordinated tertiary English courses and an ESP program for SQU's College of Science and for almost four years (2006January 2010) she was SQU's Language Center Director. Dr Al-Mahrooqi has published widely on English language teaching and learning in Oman with major focus areas in teaching reading, literature, and English communication skills. Currently, she has been engaged in funded nationwide research in various areas of language instruction. In addition, under the Humanities Research Center, she is carrying research on identity, cognition and emotion and their relationship with language learning. Reem Alebaikan is an Assistant Professor in the Curriculum and Instruction Department at King Saud University (KSU) in Saudi Arabia. She holds a Master Degree in Computer Sciences from University of Colorado, Boulder, USA and a Master degree in Educational Research from University of Exeter, UK. She obtained her Ph.D. in Blended Learning from University of Exeter in 2010. Dr Alebaikan was the Vice Chair of the Curriculum and Instruction Department at KSU, and currently she is the Vice Dean of Student Affairs. She received many awards during her academic career including Outstanding Vice-Chair Award from KSU. She published a number of scientific articles about blended learning and pedagogy. Dr Alebaikan is a blended learning consultant for different sectors in Saudi Arabia. Samira Boukadi is a Tunisian English faculty member at Abu Dhabi’s CERT/Higher Colleges of Technology. She has a Master degree in Applied Linguistics from Australia’s USQ (University of Southern Queensland), a Post Graduate Certificate in TESP from the University of Aston, UK, and a Doctorate degree of Education in TESOL from Exeter University, UK. She is interested in CALL courses and Educational

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Technology. Additionally, she is interested in research. Her PhD thesis was entitled TEFL Teachers’ Perceptions about the Future of English Language Teaching and Learning in Tunisia After the 2011 Revolution. Currently, she is exploring concepts and pedagogical frameworks supporting learning through IPad. Her aim is to utilize educational technology in order to facilitate and enhance learning. Her email address is [email protected]. Alina Rebecca Chirciu has an MA in Communication and Public Relations and is pursuing an Education Doctorate degree in the field of TESOL at the University of Exeter, UK. She is currently an English language lecturer at Majan College, Oman. Her primary interests are promoting critical literacy and learner empowerment in ESL. She is also interested in the interplay between power, diversity and access in language education. She has published research papers in the areas of learner autonomy, issues in ELT in the Arab world, language teaching through the use of literature, e-learning and self-access. Kirsten Gear has been teaching internationally for the past 15 years. She works with international higher education and corporate institutions, such as the University of Liverpool (online) and Qatar Petroleum (Qatar), as a Language Instructor and Study Skills Manager to integrate classroom, online and real world skills. She received her Master's Degree in 2007 in Applied Linguistics (TESOL) from TAU University where she also completed an internship with the Ministry of Education. Other recent publications include "Personalizing the Professional: Motivation in the tertiary Self Access Center" (2013). Her research interests include ELearning, Digital Citizenship, Professional Communication, Plagiarism, Intertextuality, Idiolect, Learner Autonomy & Motivation. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education with Anaheim University. Tulika Mishra, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of English Language studies. She has been teaching EFL at Majan University College, Oman. She Holds a PhD in English Literature. Her research interest includes uses of literature in language pedagogy and promoting critical thinking through the use of story-telling and writing. Jayakaran Mukundan, PhD, is Professor at the Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia. He specializes mainly in the Teaching of Writing and ELT Materials. He is constantly involved in training

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Contributors

teachers on materials use in South East Asia. He is Visiting Research Fellow at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK. Jo Mynard is an Associate Professor and Director of the Self-Access Learning Centre at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan. She has an MPhil in Applied Linguistics from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and an EdD in TEFL from the University of Exeter, UK. Her research interests are learner autonomy, advising, self-access and CALL. Samia Naqvi works at the Languages Centre, Middle East College, Muscat, Oman as the ESP courses coordinator and participates in teaching, design, development, delivery, and evaluation of credit bearing Undergraduate and Foundation level ESL courses. She has an overall experience of seventeen years in the ESL field and has taught students of varied backgrounds and levels. She has published a number of research papers and book chapters on themes revolving around ESP, ESL, ICT in language learning and plagiarism in student work. Her research interests focus on ICT and language learning. She is presently working on her PhD dissertation on ICT and language learning with special focus on studentcreated digital videos. Vahid Nimehchisalem holds a PhD in Teaching English as a Second Language. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Communication and Modern Languages, Universiti Putra Malaysia. His main area of research interest is assessing ESL writing, but he has published on a variety of topics from English language teachers’ professional development to vocabulary learning strategies. He is chief editor of Advances in Language and Literary Studies Journal; an editorial team member of International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, Journal of Modern Languages, and Voices in Asia Journal; and is a regular reviewer of articles submitted to Pertanika JSSH and GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies. Richard Peel is an ESL faculty member at the Higher Colleges of Technology, in the United Arab Emirates, where he teaches English and Ethics. He is also currently a doctoral student on the Exeter University EdD TESOL course. Mr Peel has worked at a number of tertiary institutions both in the Arabian Gulf and other parts of the world, given papers at a number of international conferences, and had a paper on Internet use published by UNESCO. He has also worked as a research

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assistant on the Gulf Elasmobranch Project, the first scientific study of shark populations in the region. Susan Riley has followed a typical EFL road leading to many years of EFL/ESP teaching and management experience in diverse contexts in the UK, US, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, Egypt and the UAE. Interesting and creative work in ESP course design and teaching (and an MSc in ESP) gradually evolved into a focus on EAP and a lasting interest in students’ writing. Feedback on writing and the use made of it by students, in particular peer feedback, became the topic of her PhD, from Florida State University. She has been a lecturer in TESOL at the University of Exeter, UK, for the past ten years and teaches and supervises both Masters’ and Doctoral students, covering a wide range of TESOL subjects such as Testing, Leadership, and Materials design. An abiding interest remains in academic feedback and the role of supervision in helping students to develop as both writers and researchers. Shaimaa Torky is an associate professor in TEFL. She has a PhD in English teaching methodology, which was mainly focused on task-based instruction. She taught EFL and ESP courses at many accredited universities in Egypt and Kuwait and worked as a teacher trainer for almost four years. Dr Torky participated in many national educational studies during her career as a researcher at the National Center of Educational Research and Development in Egypt. She has a special interest in testing and language assessment and participated in the development of English language test specifications for all stages in Egypt. Dr Torky published some papers addressing updated and revolutionary methods for teaching the four language skills. She presented some valuable papers related to English language teaching and assessment in various conferences conducted by accredited universities in Egypt, Kuwait, and the USA. Her latest research endeavor addressed the implications of differentiated instruction in teaching reading comprehension. Salah Troudi is an academic at the Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter. His research interests and publications are in critical applied linguistics, curriculum studies, English as a medium of instruction, teaching approaches in TESOL and use of technology in language classrooms. He is the director of the EdD TESOL in Dubai and editor of a number of journals in TESOL and language education.

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Contributors

Claire Whittaker is an ELT Consultant with the international educational consultancy group McIlwraith Education. She has a career of 18 years in ELT as a teacher, trainer, manager and consultant. A significant period of this time was spent overseas where she worked for International House and the British Council in Poland, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Alireza ZareEkbatani is now a final-year distance PhD student at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Exeter, UK. He was the IATEFL Frank Bell Scholarship winner in 2008. An avid EFL teacher and teacher trainer, since 1998, he has been teaching in Kish Institute of Science and Technology – the largest language institute in Iran – Tehran Branch 2 where he has four times been recognised as the ‘Top Teacher of the Year’. His research interests mainly focus on effective corrective feedback, EFL writing and SRL skills development. In 2005, he coauthored an article entitled “A Comparative Study of Two Feedback Methods on Iranian EFL Learners’ Writing Skill”. He is very keen on researching ways to maximise adult language learning, notably in new learning environments using ICT facilities. As part of doctoral research, he is exploring EFL student writers’ perceptions of and their ‘mindful’ engagement with corrective e-feedback processes.