Home

Conference Presentations

Tips for Using Nicenet

Online Activities for Adult ESL Students

Articles on Teaching and Technology

The Internet TESL Journal For Teachers of English as a Second Language

Articles, Research Papers, Lessons Plans, Classroom Handouts, Teaching Ideas & Links

Please Check Your Baggage: Considering Cultural Biases and Critical Issues in the Adult ESL Classroom when Using Computer Technology (2004) by LaurieAnne Rosenblatt, ESL Teacher

This article presents the critical issues in need of consideration when using computer technology in an adult ESL program. When considering using computer technology in the ESL classroom, take some time to evaluate your assumptions regarding the use of computers and evaluate other issues which may affect the use of technology in your classroom. Some critical issues in need of consideration include age, gender, and individual and culturally specific learning styles. In addition, the purpose and effectiveness of the technology itself is important to evaluate.

Teaching ESL Reading Using Computers,  Saad AlKahtani, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (USA)

Using computers in ESL classroom is important for both teachers and learners. Computers can handle a range of activities and carry out programmed functions at amazing speed. They can check exercises after they are done, move students gradually from easier to more difficult exercises according to their levels and abilities. When students fail to answer questions correctly or perform activities, the computer can simulate, drill, or explain the phenomenon in a way that makes it easier for the learner to understand (Hoffman, 1996). However, technology, especially computers, has not yet gotten to the point where it can make a real difference in language instruction in ESL classroom. This paper will focus on the question of how ESL reading can be facilitated with computer applications for language teaching and learning. First, the paper will go over some of the available research on computers and ESL reading, and then discuss some programs and software that can be used in teaching and learning ESL reading for intermediate students. The chart below shows how far technology is involved in the ESL curriculum. It is a comparison of the field of ESL to some other disciplines in humanities in terms of technology integration into the curriculum.

Students' Perceptions of English Learning through ESL/EFL Websites, Shiao-Chuan Kung, Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages, Taiwan and Tun-Whei Chuo, Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages, Taiwan
Abstract

This study investigated the potential role of ESL/EFL websites as a means to supplement in-class instruction. It evaluated a program in which forty-nine students enrolled in a high-beginner EFL class were introduced to five websites and instructed to use them for a homework assignment and for self-study. Data collected revealed that despite some difficulties encountered, students had an overall positive attitude to using the teacher-selected websites in their learning of English. The students found that learning English through ESL/EFL websites was interesting and that the teaching strategies used by the teachers were effective and necessary. A follow-up study was conducted a year later after the initial study and the results supported the original findings.

The Internet for English Teaching: Guidelines for Teachers, Mark Warschauer, University of Hawaii at Manoa  and P. Fawn Whittaker, Brigham Young University - Hawaii (Originally published in the TESL Reporter 30,1 (1997), pp. 27-33)

Teachers have been using online communication in the language classroom for more than ten years now. From an investigation of the experiences of dozens of teachers around the world who have used the Internet in language teaching (Warschauer, l995a; l995b; 1996c; 1996d), a few common guidelines emerge that can assist teachers in successfully planning and implementing network-based learning projects.