THE USE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN THE EFL CLASSROOM. AN EVALUATION OF TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL IN LANGUAGE TEACHING. Jacob Burdette

Overview The internet is an invaluable resource in foreign language acquisition There is an abundance of online resources to assist you These resources can also be used to connect classrooms around the world

Literature From The Internet Can supplement often out-of-date textbooks Can connect students to current events and hot topics of the day Very easily accessible and oftentimes free Access to classic literature in the target language

Problems of Technology in the Foreign Language Classroom Technology alone cannot teach someone a foreign language Teachers run the risk of relying too heavily on technology and becoming lazy Teacher’s are unable to control all content on the internet

Overcoming These Problems Give very clear guidelines of where the students should go on the internet and what they should do there Avoid watching entire movies entirely in class Do not use technology as the focal point of a lesson, but rather an addition to it

Guidelines for Teachers Carefully consider your goals Focus on integration of technology Do not take technological complexities for granted Include students in decisions Provide students necessary tools or support

Resources for Technology in Language Learning Instant Messengers/Social Media Interactive Websites Recorded Lessons for Outside Work Content Videos

Instant Messengers/Social Media Can be used to communicate to each other outside of class Can be used to connect to classrooms around the world Skype, Facebook, ICQ, ePals

Recorded Lessons for Outside Work Lessons can be pre-recorded and posted online for students to use outside of class Audio recordings of native speakers Podcast such as Linguistica 360

Content Videos There is an abundance of video content available for online language learning Online lectures from other teachers Youtube, Yabla, FluentU

Reflection The article really showed how much technology can potentially assist with language acquisition Its very important not to over-rely on technology in the classroom however Technology can be a great tool in many different ways to help teach a foreign language to students

Source MacDougald, J. (n.d.). THE USE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN THE EFL CLASSROOM. AN EVALUATION OF TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL IN LANGUAGE TEACHING. Retrieved January 30, 2016, from LOGY_IN_THE_EFL_CLASSROOM._AN_EVALUATION_OF_TECH NOLOGY_AS_A_TOOL_IN_LANGUAGE_TEACHING