Integrating computer aided learning into teaching of ... - ICL conference

Conference ICL2009

September 23 -25, 2009 Villach, Austria

Integrating computer aided learning in teaching of English as a second language: A Sri Lankan experience

Neelakshi Chandrasena Premawardhena University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

Key words: second language learning, learner autonomy, computer aided learning, learning traditions Abstract: This paper focuses on a study conducted on teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) to adult learners in Sri Lanka with interactive computer aided learning. Albeit English is taught in schools from first grade to the thirteenth in Sri Lanka, only 10% of the population is said to be competent users of the language. Furthermore, the results of national school examinations conducted at grade ten show very poor performance in English as a subject. Hence the need has arisen to review the teaching methodology and adopt more effective ways of teaching ESL. This study follows a series of successful pilot studies conducted over the past five years on integrating computer aided language learning to foreign language teaching at Sri Lankan universities where a significant improvement in student performance was evident.

1 Introduction English is, at present, the most widely spoken international language across the globe. Thus the need to acquire competency in the language is felt by the young and the old alike. English has enjoyed the status of a second language in Sri Lanka well over a century. The language is taught in schools from year one to thirteen. Thus it is expected that all school leavers would achieve a high command of the language. However, the national exanimations in the country conducted at grade eleven and grade thirteen show a failure rate of over 60% in English as a subject, which has been a major concern for all responsible authorities. Moreover, among the students who pass the subject, the language competence is mostly confined to reading and writing skills and not on spoken skills, which is required in today’s world, especially when seeking employment opportunities. Identifying the grave need for improvement in teaching ESL, the year 2009 has been declared as the year of IT and English by the Government of Sri Lanka to address the issue. The poor performance in English language which students learn for thirteen years and the better performance in foreign languages, i.e. German, Chinese, Korean, Russian, of the students at University of Kelaniya paved way for this pilot study on teaching ESL in Sri Lanka in a more effective way. The basis for the study was the positive results of a number of pilot studies conducted at University of Kelaniya since 2004 in integrating computer aided language learning in foreign language teaching (FLT) [2, 3, 4, 6].

ICL 2009 Proceedings - Page 934

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While neither the numerous projects funded by the Government of Sri Lanka nor the numerous ESL courses offered at private institutes have resulted in a tangible answer to improving the poor performance of ESL in Sri Lanka, this study attempts to find out how language competency can be achieved by adapting similar methods of language teaching as in FLT [1,5]. Thus the results of this pilot study is expected to serve as a guideline for successful ESL teaching in Sri Lanka, which would address the issue of poor competence in the future.

2 Background The scepticism in using media in teaching exists all over the world [14:12,13]. Especially the adult learners find it extremely difficult to accept novel teaching and learning methods and the fact that not only the teacher but also the learner himself is responsible for enhancing the language competency. The present study focussed on the success of integrating the interactive computer aided learning methods to offer a more successful way of improving English language skills. Furthermore, it is obvious that effective communication requires language skills as well as knowledge, especially world knowledge. While the hitherto conducted pilot studies were confined to teaching English and foreign languages at Sri Lankan state universities [1,2,3,4,5,6,], the present study involves the general public, thus aiming at reaching a wider spectrum of the population. The study was conducted at a private sector higher education institute in Sri Lanka with a dedicated faculty for English and foreign languages including German, French, Japanese and Korean, This study is based on the specially designed ESL courses from Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced to Diploma level, bringing students from A1 to C2 of Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) where computer aided learning is an integral part. During the needs analysis of students at the enrolment, their main concern was the lack of spoken skills and absence of a proper foundation of morphology and syntax of English. It was noted that the textbooks used in the school curriculum and the teaching methodology adopted do not give students sufficient knowledge and practice to use the language competently in communication. At the placements tests given for selecting students to courses other than Beginner Level 1, and during the baseline test, it was observed that most candidates lacked effective spoken and listening skills while their reading and writing skills were more than satisfactory. However, the students themselves had realised that all four skills of language competence are essential for good communication ability in a language and opted to follow the ESL courses which offered them a novel way of language learning. The study is based on a sample of 50 students of ages 12 to 53 years learning ESL at different levels including Beginner I, Beginner II, Advanced I for students of IT and Management degree programmes, Diploma in English for Communication and Communication Skills for Business and Technical Professionals of A1 to C1 level. Each course except for the Diploma in English for Communication which accounts for 24 weeks of teaching, were of 12 week duration with a minimum of 3 teaching hours that included interactive language learning, 1 - 2 laboratory hours and several guided learning hours per week While the classroom teaching itself included computer aided learning material and exercises, students were encouraged to use ESL websites during the independent study hours, too. Apart from the computer based activities of the textbooks used for the courses , each lesson included a webpage hosted by the lecturer which provided students with further links to language learning resources in English i.e. listening, speaking, reading, writing exercises, material and web based activities [8, 9,10.11, 12, 13].


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3 Testing and Evaluation The testing of competencies acquired during the course was a continuous process conducted during every lesson The state-of-the-art multimedia language laboratories supported interactive computer aided learning and testing of students knowledge of grammatical structures, listening skills, phonetics and world knowledge through interactive exercises available on the web. Since the exercises supported self correction and explanation about the errors caused by student, the learning process showed remarkable increase in motivation to work independently after identifying ones strong and weak areas in the language skills. The baseline tests as well as the end of course examinations which comprised exercises in listening, reading, writing and speaking as well as grammatical structures showed a rapid increase in students’ competencies in all language skills. Especially the two areas where the students showed weaknesses i.e. listening and speaking, a marked increase in performance was observed. The material used for listening from Beginner II onwards, for instance, consisted of Cambridge ESOL Examinations and IELTS practice tests which contain informal conversations, reports, lectures and similar speech acts which one comes across in daily life. The significance of integrating this material for listening was to get students to understand and respond to questions on conversations conducted by native speakers of English. Since English is spoken in Sri Lanka as a second language and has its own identity as Sri Lankan English there are no listening exercises with discourse of native speakers conducted at school level during English language learning [7]. Thus it as indeed a novel yet challenging experience for the students during the 12 weeks to enhance their listening skills in English of discourses between native speakers as well as foreigners.

4 Results The results of the end of course examinations based on assessment of the four skills of language competence bear ample testimony to the effect of computer aided language learning in improving performance within a relatively short period of 12 weeks. All 50 students obtained over 65% at the end of course examination. 70% of them obtained marks above 80%. In Beginner II all students scored above 80%. The remarkable feature was the marks obtained in the grammar and structures section. In Beginner II and Diploma courses, for instance, 95% of the students scored full marks in grammar and structures as well as reading and listening comprehension, The weak areas of the students during the placement tests and baseline test at the beginning were grammar and structures, listening and speaking skills. Furthermore, the performance of the baseline test improved remarkably at the end of the course, showing the competence students have gained during the course. During the feed back, students highly appreciated the novel ways of language teaching and the training they received in improving their language competence by independently using unlimited resources available on the internet. The students who were still schooling stated that now they enjoy the English language lessons in their schools which they had not liked earlier as they have now developed a keenness to enhance their language skills. The confidence shown at speaking is noteworthy as this was one factor that was lacking during their performance at placement tests and baseline test. The world knowledge gained during the course helped them also to present true facts with confidence. The writing and speaking components of the tests were based on finding information from the web and writing or speaking on a selected topic, which gave the students to summarise the obtained information and present it with confidence.


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5 Conclusion The increased competency in English during a period of 12 weeks proves the effectiveness of integrating computer aided language learning to the designed course. Thus, the results of the study clearly indicate that what could not be achieved through mere text book based learning during a period of in 13 years in school could be achieved within a relatively short period of three months by integrating computer aided language learning in the ESL classroom. While the traditional ESL lessons were confined to a Sri Lankan context where the examples and material were focusing only on Sri Lanka, interactive computer aided learning brought the students closer to English language spoken around the world, not only improving their language skills but also general knowledge of the English speaking countries, native speakers, their culture and lifestyle. Ample supporting material available on the web including interactive exercises, sites supported by publishing companies of the selected text books and video clips were indeed of immense benefit to the students to enhance their language skills as well as world knowledge. Thus the students learned to shift from total dependence on teachers to further enhance their language competencies to independent learning. Moreover, the aim of the Year of IT and English to equip the Sri Lankans with skills in both computer skills and English language competency were met by these short term courses as the students were trained to use the Apple iMac computers for language learning purposes.

References: [1] Ch, Premawardhena, N. (2008): Integrating computer aided language learning to enhance English language skills of Sri Lankan university students, International Conference on Interactive Computer Aided Learning (ICL 2008), September 2008, Villach,Austria. [2] Ch. Premawardhena, N. (2007): Web-based teaching as a performance enhancer in foreign language teaching in Sri Lanka, ICL 2007, Villach, Austria [3] Chandrasena Premawardhena, N. (2006): Lerntraditionen im Vergleich: Sri Lanka und Deutschland, 14th International Congress on Education and Information Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany, CD-ROM. [4] Ch. Premawardhena, N., De Silva, C.H. (2006): ICT beyond school education: Challenges and future perspectives of ICT enhanced Foreign Language Studies. 2nd International Conference on Information Technology in Schools (ISSEP), Vilnius, Lithuania, pp 226-235 [5] Ch. Premawardhena, N. (2006); Enhancing quality of English teaching: Some suggestions derived from Foreign Language Teaching in Sri Lanka. Conference on Enhancing University English Language Teaching( EUE), Colombo, June 2006, p11. [6] Ch. Premawardhena, N., De Silva, C.H. (2005): Integrating ICT in foreign language teaching: A Sri Lankan experience. 10th International Conference on Sri Lanka Studies, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, p 186 [7] Gunasekera, M. (2004): The Post Colonial Identity of Sri Lankan English. Katha, Colombo [8] Richards, Jack C.; Hall, J.; Proctor, S. (2001): New Interchange Intro Student Book, Cambridge University Press [9] Richards, Jack C.; Hall, J.; Proctor, S. (2001): New Interchange 1 Student Book, Cambridge University Press [10] Richards, Jack C.; Hall, J.; Proctor, S. (2006): New Interchange 2 Student Book, Cambridge University Press: India [11] Richards, Jack C. ; Hall, J..; Proctor, S. (2006): New Interchange 3 Student Book Units 01-12 Cambridge University Press [12] Dignen, B.; Flinders, S.; Sweeney, S. (2007) For Work and Life English 365 Student Book 1, Cambridge University Press: India [13] Dignen, B.; Flinders, S.; Sweeney, S. (2007) For Work and Life English 365 Student Book 2, Cambridge University Press: India [14] Roche, Jörg (2008): Handbuch Mediendidaktik. Hueber:Ismaning


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Author(s): Neelakshi Chandrasena Premawardhena, Dr. University of Kelaniya, Department of Modern Languages Kelaniya, Sri Lanka [email protected]


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