ESL

Position paper on promoting students' ESL skills in face-to-face learning through use of ICTs

Stephen Pathipati Arokiaswamy, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Problem

Problem to be addressed:

      The enrollment of limited English proficient students due to ethnic and linguistic diversity has become a challenge to teachers and started a debate on how to best instruct them to acquire language skills (Lee, 2006). Becoming proficient in a new language is a painful and daunting task and poses a big challenge to the teachers (Yberra & Green, 2003). Proficiency in the second language skills is a painful process for many language minority students (Liaw, 2008). English as a second language learners face problems in writing compared to the native speakers, creating a challenge to the ESL teachers (Liu, 2011). Moreover, EFL learners have difficulties and weaknesses in their communication skills (Rahimi, Ebrahimi, Esk & Ari, 2013). Also, ESL learners struggle to improve their academic English and are eager to learn more vocabulary to get access in to credit courses and universities (Tang, 1997). According to Tsai and Jenks (2009) there is lack of interaction, speaking and listening activities in the ESL classrooms.
      Proficiency in vocabulary is the greatest challenge for the recent high school immigrants in Canada (Snow & Kim, 2006). In 2009, 54% of ESL students failed the mandatory secondary English literacy test (Li, 2010). The EFL learners in Taiwan expressed in a survey that they have poor listening comprehension skills (Tsai & Jenks, 2009). Non-native English speakers have difficulty in pronunciation, and have longer pause length (Tanner, 2008). ESL learners found it difficult to express themselves in writing stories (Peng, Park & Fitzgerald, 2006). There is a wide gap between the ESL learner’s knowledge of vocabulary, reading skills and the grade level requirements creating immediate need to acquire language skills (Li, 2010).

Obstacles

           According to Dellicarpini (2012) the lack of computer literacy in teachers due to the limited exposure to technology in the teacher education programs can be solved by introducing computer courses in the teacher education to enhance teachers self efficacy and promote positive belief in computer technology. The prevalence of digital divide among teachers can be overcome through hands on technology courses in teacher education and funding from federal or local agencies for training (Lee, 2006). Another obstacle in implementing computer based instruction is selecting the variety of English: British, Canadian, American, Australian etc. Beckett et al., (1999) recommend to design geographically specific language software to suit the needs.
           Tsai and Jenks (2009) reported that teachers fear losing class control when CALL activities are integrated in the classroom. They found that class room management issues can be minimized through teacher guided multimedia programs rather than student directed programs. Yunus, Nordin,  Embi, and Salehi (2013) suggested that having a central control of computers avoid distraction and students visiting irrelevant websites. Green (2009) indicated that Japanese EFL students had an extra burden due to weak computer skills and unfamiliarity with the English operating systems. However, this problem can be overcome through basic computer instruction training before starting to integrate computer based instruction (Greene, 2009). The multimedia software used in teaching ESL in the western countries may contain information that is culturally sensitive and perceived offensive by the ESL learners (Beckett, Mcgivern, Reeder, & Semenova, 1999). This obstacle can be solved by designing the learning software carefully considering the cultural believability, and multicultural contexts of diverse learners (Beckett et al., 1999).

Works cited

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Beckett, G., Mcgivern, L., Reeder, K. and Semenova, D. (1999). Dilemmas in Designing Multimedia Software for Learners of English as a Second or Foreign Language. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 32 (2), pp. 287-97.

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