The Use of Technology in Second Language Literacy: Does it work?
In contemporary societies, there are many online technologies that are popular in schools and universities such as wikis, blogs, discussion boards, and educational YouTube videos. Therefore, the need for new approaches in language teaching has increased according to these revolutionary technologies. This paper intends to synthesize various studies that approached technology in different contexts. The studies dated from 2004 to 2011. The findings of those studies are inconclusive. While the use of technology meets educational expectations; it fails to achieve its goal. Some studies reported positive results that recommend integrating technology in literacy teaching. However, other studies revealed disappointing findings, which showed that using technology demanded adequate computer skills. Based on those findings, this paper gives possible solutions where some of online technologies such as wikis, blogs, and videos can enhance second language literacy in various contexts. Key word: Blogs, computer competence, second language literacy, technology, wikis Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Special Issue on CALL No.2 July, 2015 The Use of Technology in Second Language Literacy: Does it work? Elbelazi Arab World English Journal www.awej.org ISSN: 2229 9327 117 Introduction The use of technology has become overwhelming in the twenty first century. People around the world take advantages of various kinds of technologies in different fields. Language learning and teaching as one of those fields witness a speed progression for the use of technology in classrooms. Educators continuously look for educational methods that engage students in the learning process. Technology is one of these methods that integrated with course content to establish a student centered environment (Lee Kovach, 2001) Second language users face greater challenges in the task of reading and writing in the other language (Carrier 2005) Therefore, if appropriately used, technology improves their reading skills and writing ability in the foreign language (Herter Montelongo, 2010, p. 89) The studies that will be discussed in this paper investigate some of online technologies that are used in second language literacy classes such as wikis, videos, blogs and diglot readers. Although the findings had some skepticism about integrating technology in L2 literacy, they recommended further research in this field under different conditions and with different learners. Most of the negative results were due to the lack of computer skills background and in depth knowledge about the appropriate use of online resources. Moreover, technology should be used to facilitate learning, not to complicate it. Yoon (2003) stated that technologies are only good when they are easy to use and facilitate students" interaction and understanding of the materials. Second language teachers should be familiar with computers before applying technology in their ESL classes. Teachers should be well trained to the use of computers in order to give clear instruction and provide a good feedback. Statement of Research Question Akhtar, Iqbal and Hussain (2010) stated that with the existence of technology, students obtain understanding of their world which enhances their learning and allows them to discover resources outside school walls. Therefore, I choose a technology related research to find out answers to the following question: .Do online technologies improve second language literacy? Seeking answers to this question, I examined different empirical studies about technology based teaching in second language literacy. The aim of this bibliographic research is to offer insights about using technologies in teaching reading and writing. Method To find an answer to the research question, I explored relevant studies dated from 2004 to 2011. All studies are published in peer reviewed journals such as Foreign Language Annuals, Journal of Research on Technology in Education, Computer Assisted Language Learning, The Quarterly Review of Distance Education and Reading Today. To access all these Journals I used Indiana University of Pennsylvania online library search engine. To name just few, 360 Search that locates your search to multiple databases and Educational Resources Information Center ERIC. All participants in the studies were second language students learning English except one study by (Christensen, 2007) that utilize technology to teach Spanish for native speakers of English. I used this study to examine the beneficial of technology for other second languages not only English. Synthesis and Discussion of Collected Academic Materials In the twenty first century, technology has become part of most people"s lives especially in the field of education. It is just a single click which takes students further than textbooks and the classroom environment. It is that click which might change the way literacy can be learned. People now use more text messages and emails than ever before. Pastor (2007) argued that "we are going from paper pages to digital screens" (p.599) Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Special Issue on CALL No.2 July, 2015 The Use of Technology in Second Language Literacy: Does it work? Elbelazi Arab World English Journal www.awej.org ISSN: 2229 9327 118 Aljarf (2004) aimed at finding out whether there was a difference between the traditional methods of teaching by using textbooks instruction and the combination of textbooks and webbased instructions. The participants were EFL female freshman students at King Saud University. She divided them into two groups: the first was taught by using traditional methods of teaching instruction, and the second group was taught by using a combination of textbooks and web based instructions. After observing students for two semesters, she claimed that students in the second group scored higher than their peers in the first group. In other words, students who were taught by the combination of textbooks and web based instructions had improved over the students from the traditional method group. Therefore, she concluded "the use of web based instruction as a supplement to traditional in class writing instruction was significantly more effective than writing instruction [relying] on the text book alone" (p.54) Similarly, Pastro (2007) examined the integration of technology when teaching ESL. He provided some examples of activities based on websites and its impact on students" progress in second language literacy. Pastro"s participants were engineering students and they were provided two English sessions. The first session was based on text books "functional approach" and the second one was taught by technology based materials "constructivist approach" (pp. 601 602) In the first session, the activity of teaching English was designed to let students consider grammar, phonetics and lexis as they read; however, in the second session, the activity was based on internalizing and analyzing the whole text as they have a chance to look up the words online. The results of this study showed that students improved better by using online technology based teaching than the traditional way of teaching literacy. Students commented that they found the web based activities more thought provoking and creative than the traditional methods. According to this study, technology might help engineering students to master competence in English literacy under the constructivist approach by integrating technology in ESL methodology. Similar findings were reported by Akhtar et al (2010) who conducted an experimental study "to determine the effectiveness of technology based learning environment on student achievement in English as a foreign language" (p. 129) Ninety students of 10 th grade studying at Federal Government Postgraduate College in Pakistan were divided into two groups: control and experimental. In the control group, students were in a traditional classroom setting. However, students in the experimental group were placed in a technology based environment, where they had access to emails, chat rooms, discussion board and web based learning. The study found that when they compared the results of the two groups, the students in the experimental group performed better than the students in the control group. This study provides further evidence for the beneficial use of technology in ESL classes. Akhtar et al argued that it was recommended that using technology in ESL classes can be fostered to enhance the language learning capability of the students (p.129) In a different context, a similar study was applied in science class. Herter and Montelongo (2010) claimed that students face some struggle in transition from narrative reading texts to expository reading texts. Therefore, teachers looked for materials that engage students in the learning process. Technology as one of those materials was examined by this study. Herter and Montelongo provided students with different sets of readings, one through paper and pencil and the other one is through computerized material. In those readings, students were required to answer comprehension questions and write a response after they finished reading. The findings found that students liked using technology in reading as they could look up the words quickly Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Special Issue on CALL No.2 July, 2015 The Use of Technology in Second Language Literacy: Does it work? Elbelazi Arab World English Journal www.awej.org ISSN: 2229 9327 119 through online dictionaries. Also, it was easier for them to answer comprehension questions by quickly locating the key words for the answers. All those experimental studies provided examples in different contexts, where technology was utilized as the medium of instruction in ESL classes when teaching literacy. The four studies reached similar positive findings regarding the use of technology in teaching reading and writing. More studies about literacy and technology we