Shifting perspective on language learning and teaching:
There are three main perspectives that had influenced language teaching/learning and the use of computer in EFL classes.
1) Structural perspective: this perspective had influenced language education from the twentieth century. Language is seen as system of structures that is these structures made up the language. The teacher first has to teach students how to form linguistically correct sentences. The aim of the teacher who is influenced by this persp ective is to help students to master the form of the language to produce the language automatically. To do so we need students to drill more ‘‘repetition’’, the first thing students have to overcome their own language habits and build new habits in the target language. This will help them to repeat as if they were machines and produce the language automatically. They might/not reach perfection and produce the language as native speakers do. The Grammar-Translation and audio-lingual methods of teaching are the best to represent this perspective. They involve repetition, habits formation, practice, perfection and contrastive analysis of structures of native and target language. To have our students with these set features we need a model to imitate and students will be imitators. They will be deprived their right to initate, negotiate and actively practice in classroom activities. The good thing that students will master the form of language and minimal mistakes are committed. Memorization is not the end because it will not help them to communicate outside the class and the social context will be totally different. This is the traditional view of language teaching/learning and traditional doesn't mean bad, but still repetition won't prepare them to us the language for daily communication. The kind of tasks student are given will center around the idea of what to solve not how to solve. They will be given a big amount of questions whose answers are simple. The teacher will evaluate students be observing their memorization performance. They teacher will provide a negative or positive feedback.
§ What types of technologies we can use in such classroom?
i. CALL (computer assisted language learning). These programs will create little involvement and excitement between and among students as well as the teachers. They allow only one correct response, which minimize creativity.
ii. Educational websites that allow repetition.
iii. Tape recorders (they can listen to the correct forms of pronunciation of the target language).
iv. Projector (the teacher will expose them to an authentic material to study).
v. T.V and videos.
vi. Programmed Instructions (these programs teach students without a teacher, it guides them till they accomplish steps to carry out the task).
2) The cognitive perspective:
Many scholars rejected the idea of looking at language as a matter of imitation and habit formation. Since students have the competence to produce infinite number of structures, students are encouraged to use their mental construct to produce the language. It takes in consideration what takes place inside student’s minds. They will process the information, think and produce something acceptable. They have the right to agree and disagree, so we have divergence. But the teacher will find it challenging to know what take place inside their minds and whether they are processing information or not. The teacher will be an observer, controller and provider of comprehensible input by giving them an individual opportunity to mentally construct the grammar of the language. They are given a task and asked to solve the problem individually. There will be memorization but not an end. The role of students is much better than the ones in the structural perspective, they are rather recipients of information, they are creatively engaged in the participation, they negotiate information, etc. The teacher will teach them how to solve problems rather than what to solve. He/she we deal will deal with individuals and language is richer when practiced cooperatively. The evolution can take different forms, their ability to solve problems, to write an article, participate in the activities, and so on.
§ What types of technologies we can use in such classroom?
i. CALL (computer assisted language learning). Students might be asked to refer to certain websites where they control the computer to solve the task. They will construct new knowledge. The use of computers makes greater contribution to marginal rather than central elements of the language teaching process. On the other side, the teacher will be distance from students and collaborative classrooms will not exist as meant.
3) Socio cognitive perspective:
This is the modern approach of language teaching/learning. It shifts from seeing students as passive ones to active ones. Language is not just a private but rather socially constructed phenomenon. Based on communicative competence it will be rather worthy to have language socially practiced. It involves not only changes of individuals’ cognitive structures but also the social structures of students. According to this perspective language has to be practiced within a society where everyone support others, discuss ideas, and so on. Language is not only comprehensible input to process but rather helping students to enter into the kinds of authentic situations. These situations are similar to the ones they find outside the classroom, which is something perfect because helping them to use the language for communication outside the classroom is needed. So this perspective moves toward negotiation of meaning through collaborative interaction with others. The role of the teacher is a participant, member of the class, give and take support, and son. Students are more productive since they support others, discuss ideas and raise new ones, work collaboratively. Since the class involves authentic communication it would be easy to carry out the evaluation, how they function in communication?
§ What types of technologies we can use in such classroom?
i. World Wide Web applications.
ii. Chatting.
iii. Mailing.
iv. Learning center.
v. Discussion boards (blogs).
vi. CALL (computer assisted language learning). In these communities authentic communication will take place , millions of people can easily access to what student have done and get benefits, students would publish texts to share with partner classes or with the general public.
