LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 15:4 April 2015
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Technology-Integrated Language Teaching

G. Vijay, M.A., M.Phil.

Abstract

Equipping the English Language Lab is an essential task of all Engineering Colleges and Universities today. Some colleges are ready to spend generously for buying high-tech systems with all advanced features whereas there are many institutions that cannot afford to buy such facilities. An English teacher with a basic knowledge on computer and Internet can bring out his/her own software for the language Lab. Many readymade language labs bring out the contents that are strange and irrelevant to the needs of the students. Only a teacher who has direct access to the students will know and understand the needs of the students and accordingly he/she will be able to bring out the materials for learning. External curriculum designers can never be successful in meeting the needs of the learners fully. They may bring revolutions in the teaching methodology but they may not be fulfilling the expectations of the learners.

This paper guides the language teachers in making simple and portable software for their English Language Lab. The teachers need not buy extra resources. They can make use of available sources like PowerPoint and can do wonders in the class. They can create audio/video lessons, interactive quiz, slide shows, etc. This paper gives details on making audio/ video lessons using PowerPoint.

Key words: Language labs, engineering colleges, teacher-prepared learning materials, PowerPoint presentation

Introduction

With the introduction of technology, the teaching industry has been experiencing immense changes. Such changes are appreciated by the 21st century students who are no more bookish and conservative. Language instructors in higher education found that the current generation of students is coming to campus with quite sophisticated technical skills and habits. Many are fully conversant with and committed to communicating through social networking sites. (Robert Godwin, 2009). The foremost objective of the educational institutions is to facilitate a realistic learning environment for their students. Universities have insisted that their aided colleges setup language laboratories for bringing up a virtual language learning setup.

Today’s world is a multilingual and multicultural world which has been reduced to the size of a village with the help of science and technology. As the world has become a village, one common language has been used for all kinds of its business transactions. English is acceptable to most individual as a common platform for executing all private and public business in his/her life. As the world has got changed, it is the bounden duty of the academic institutions to transform themselves to meet the demands of the pace of the world. Following traditional methods will never help the students of a nation to cope up with the needs of the world. In this situation, introducing language laboratory has become mandatory for all educational institutions. Benefits of the language lab are plenty. The language laboratory helps the learners use technology to communicate effectively. It is not only used for learning a single language, but also for teaching a number of languages efficiently. To acquire a sensibility for the sounds and rhythm of a language, one has to hear the best samples of a spoken language (Richards, 2001).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

G. Vijay, M.A., M.Phil.
Assistant Professor
Department of English
PSNA College of Engineering and Technology
Dindigul-624622
Tamilnadu
India
rgvijayac@gmail.com
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