Traditional Language Teaching Versus ICT Oriented Classroom

Abstract

The 21st century classroom is, with the necessary infrastructure, an environment much more developed than the traditional classroom. Since the purpose of a language is communication between people, both written and oral, the Internet has become an extraordinary resource for teaching and learning a foreign language. The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) make it possible to accelerate the teaching and learning process, as they help students learn from a distance. In other words, they are an effective, fast and cheap way to acquire a new language, which is why it is gaining more or more attention. Nevertheless, traditional classroom still exists and functions with very effective results. The research conducted for the purpose of this paper shows how students perceive and evaluate both traditional and ICT supported learning of a foreign language in higher education environment, with the aim of discovering which of the two approaches students find more suitable for learning a foreign language.

Teachers' Perception of the Use of ICT in Foreign Language Teaching at a Higher Education Institution

“…As stated previously, the research conducted for the purpose of this paper is similar to the previous research by the same authors, presented in 2019 [3], whose aim was to analyse students' perspective. As this time the focus is on foreign language teachers and their opinion and experience, this quantitative analysis aimed to discover and analyse whether teachers found teaching in ICT-oriented classroom easier or more difficult, and more or less useful than teaching in the traditional classroom.…”

“…According to another research about students' perception of ICT, the students with higher academic results recognise a greater potential of ICT to support their learning strategies, although all students show positive valuation of ICT to improve and facilitate the preparation of work, organise their academic activity, review tasks, work with classmates, find resources and fulfill their academic tasks [7]. In the same way, the research we referred to previously [3] shows that almost 50 % of the students who participated in the research claim that they prefer to practice foreign language with a textbook, which is a form of a traditional teaching method. When asked if students can imagine their language class without the use of ICT, 51.6% of answers were positive, which implied the conclusion that, although students perceive ICT as a significant tool for their learning (91.6%), they highly value the teacher´s role with presentations, lectures and explanations in the language classroom.…”

“…The questionnaire was shared with eighteen teachers, who are all employed at Singidunum University. This research follows the study which was conducted last year regarding students' perception of the ICT oriented work in a foreign language classroom vs traditional methodology of teaching/learning at the same university context [3]. In other words, the same aspects are covered, but a different sample is used.…”

“…This paper, which is focused on the attitudes of foreign language teachers, was conducted as an additional research to the previous study based on students' perception of the impact and benefits of implementation of new technologies and ICT tools in a foreign language classroom, teaching activities, practice and assessment. According to students' answers 3 , ICT tools do not have an essential impact on their learning, but they represent an optional and additional aspect that can help language learning, whereas traditional materials such as textbooks and workbooks in paper format are still considered to be a basic useful tool that helps them improve learning a foreign language, regardless of which language that is [3]. According to another research about students' perception of ICT, the students with higher academic results recognise a greater potential of ICT to support their learning strategies, although all students show positive valuation of ICT to improve and facilitate the preparation of work, organise their academic activity, review tasks, work with classmates, find resources and fulfill their academic tasks [7].…”

“…However, what they claim and point out to be important is the learning objective which needs to be clear and the usage of class material with online tools in order to help students to develop their language skills. 3 The research conducted in 2019 implied a quantitative analysis among 119 male and female students who study at Singidunum University in Belgrade, Serbia (Faculty of Business, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, and Faculty of Technical Sciences).…”