Integrating ICT in English language teaching: Teachers’ and students’ perspectives

• Main Author: Chew, S.Y.
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: L Education (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/11341/1/Full_paper_Chew_Shin_Yi.doc; http://eprints.um.edu.my/11341/
• Institution: Universiti Malaya

Integrating ICT in language teaching refers to adding in an appropriate use of a wide range of recent technologies for communication and enriching learners’ experience (Sharma & Barrett, 2007). As teachers’ experience and views greatly influence the lessons they are conducting, this study aims to find out teachers’ perspectives on integrating ICT in an ESL class. A comparison is also made to the students’ experience and views to find out if there are any mismatches between teachers and students. Questionnaires were administered to 14 English teachers from different schools and 51 students from Kuala Lumpur. The findings show that teachers and students in this study are sufficiently familiar with the ICT items though less so with the fairly new ones. The female teachers of older age group are found to be the least familiar and competent in using ICT. Generally, both teachers and students have positive views on the integration of ICT in an ESL class though some teachers are worried of the negative effects caused by ICT. In conclusion, the sufficient experience and positive views of teachers and students can help to create effective lessons integrating ICT though more support is still needed at the current stage.