In the following Research, the main aim is to investigate the Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Information communication Technology in Teaching English Pronunciation to Students of the Modern Language Program at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo in which the participants of the learning process would obtain when the facilitators incorporate new aids into the process of teaching. We are going to focus our investigation in the effects of using information communication technology (ICT) in Teaching English Pronunciation to Students of the Modern Language Program at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo.
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The reasons for this investigation are: To identify the Technology of information that the Language School provides to the facilitators, to point out the common mistakes students make when pronouncing in the target language, to determine the advantages and disadvantages that Technology of information offers to Students and to suggest the usage of Technology of information at the Language School. According to our objectives if teachers put into practice these technological aids in their programs and the advantages that those aids could have for the benefit of students and teachers too. As matter of fact, this research would help students as well as teachers to be more connected and more collaborative in a world that is constantly changing, is more creative and very demanding. Nowadays it is not a matter of getting good grades by the part of the students, but to be engaged and achieve high standards of excellence in order to be able to compete later on with increasing digital learners who have already acquired technology, and this technology has become a tool in their daily life activities.
That’s why those digital learners around the world are nowadays more aware of what is happening in their surroundings because technology has revolutionized our lives, as Pope Benedict XVI said on January 25th, “These (new digital) Technologies are truly a gift to humanity and we must endeavor to ensure that the benefits they offer are put at the service of all human individuals and communities, especially those who are most disadvantaged and vulnerable.” (2009) .
Hypothesis
The Students who use ICT’s in English Pronunciation acquire a better proficiency that the students who don’t use them.
Statement of the Problem
Despite the progress that has been made to develop effective methods for the instruction of a second language such as, brainstorming, guest speaker, report-back sessions, role playing, case studies, small group discussions all of this are still focus in a classroom based learning environment. A great number of students feel insecure when it comes to carry out a conversation in English. The traditional methods are not focusing enough in teaching pronunciation to students; as a consequence many students are not able to fulfill the requirements of an appropriate pronunciation once they have finished the whole program. Students are not prepared enough to deal with the challenges posed by an increasingly competitive society.
It is required to come up with new strategies and ways in order to give effective response to the exigencies of the world. It is strongly necessary to provide the learner with the level of competence and pronunciation is definitely one of the most important aspects to be taken into consideration.
A great number of facilitators are not willing to break the paradigms and implement new teaching aids in their teaching programs which would help students to improve their proficiency and at the same time their performance at any given time. As a consequence, a great number of students, once they have finished the whole program are not able to fulfill the requirements and they cannot vie with other professionals in the same field just because they were not taught according to the new standards in Education.
Justification
We decided to lead this research because we have noticed that the use of Information communication Technology (ICT) in Teaching English Pronunciation has become a new trend around the world and we have noticed that those technological resources will empower students for a more effective pronunciation performance. As a matter of fact, we have observed that the language school really needs to make some progress in this aspect and offers a standard education program according to the needs of the global community.
The world is constantly changing and ICT has become part of it. It has engaged great part of human activities, work, science, health, and education can´t be apart from it. Information Communication Technology (ICT) offers new paradigms and patterns for teaching.
The new generation is demanding for students to be incorporated, to foster the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT). We have perceived that there is a gap in the bridge of the teaching process, so it has been required to integrate ICT in order to fulfill the exigencies of the modern curriculum.
The decision of conducting this research is because Pronunciation is essential in a language learner and we have noticed that ICT can empower students for a more effective pronunciation performance at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Pronunciation is of core significance because it is important to be understood by others when speaking.
Purpose
To determine the advantages and disadvantages of Using ICT in Teaching English Pronunciation to Students of the Modern Language Program at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo and to foster facilitators to apply this new approach to their teaching process, so that they can contribute in the development of student’s knowledge more effectively.
Significance
We consider essential to develop this research because we have noticed that the use of Information Communication Technology at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo in order to teach English pronunciation in the whole English program is not reasonably competent. The main sources to teach such important skill are only the chalk, board and radio if it is used. While other undergraduate institutions are quite ahead in the use of technological resources such as TV, radio, slides in PowerPoint, online courses and labs. Consequently, with this research we want to highlight the importance of using these sources so that the corresponding authorities can take this into account and to allot funds to implement these core techniques.
Objectives
General objective
To determine the effects of the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in teaching English Pronunciation to Students of the Modern Language Program at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo.
Specific objectives
1. To identify the age and sex of the population under studied.
2. To identify the Technology of information that the Language School provides to facilitators.
3. To point out the common mistakes students make when pronouncing.
4. To determine the advantages and disadvantages that information Technology offers to Students.
5. To suggest the usage of Technology of information at the Language School.
6. To determine the attitude of the facilitators and students toward the use or implementation of ICT in the teaching process.
Research question
What are the advantages Modern Languages Students majoring in English at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo obtain by using ICT in acquiring English Pronunciation over the ones who do not use these Technological tools?
Scope of the Topic
We are going to limit our research to the effects of the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in teaching English Pronunciation to Students of the Modern Language Program at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. In the 2012-2 semester when this investigation will be performed at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. We will take into consideration the limitation that Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo Modern Languages School is going through with a minimum budget intended to technological sources.
Definition of Terms
Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo: It is a public university located in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It was founded in 1538. Currently, the university holds eight schools which are: Engineering, Arts, Humanities, Economic and Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Architecture, Agriculture Sciences, and Law and Political Sciences .
ICT: These acronyms stand for Information Communications Technology or Information and Communication Technology, usually abbreviated as ICT, is often used as an extended synonym for information technology (IT), but is usually a more general term that stresses the role of unified communications, and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals), computers, middleware as well as necessary software, storage, and audio-visual systems, which enable users to create, access, store, transmit, and manipulate information. In other words, ICT consists of IT as well as telecommunication, broadcast media, all types of audio and video processing and transmission and network based control and monitoring functions .
Pronunciation: It is the way in which a language or a particular word or sound is pronounced .
Student: A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution.
Language School: Is a department belonging to the Humanity Faculty founded in July 1957 which offers two careers, Modern language major in English and Modern language major in French .
Antecedents
In our research paper about the Effects of using Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Teaching English Pronunciation to Students of the Modern Language Program at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. We found out that many investigators have been talking about this topic since twenty years ago
General Overview
In this chapter, we detail the history of computer and internet which are the main focus of our investigation. It starts with the cave drawings 30,000 years ago and continues with the advances of mathematics and science which helped to develop what we know today as computer and internet. After that, we describe how these tools were incorporated in education and the conclusions of different studies about the use of technology in the teaching and learning process.
The world keeps on changing with every rotation it makes round the sun. Just a decade ago, students were taught with pens, pencils, black boards, notebooks, and chalks. But nowadays, all that have become history which no one wishes to remember. Light pens and boards, PDF notes, CD rooms have been replaced, and even as you are reading this, the world is advancing rapidly with respect to ICT technology as even computers and laptops are gradually leaving the scene for new technological devices, such as IPods, cell phones, headsets, etc.
In consideration of these developments, it becomes imperative for the wise teacher to instill knowledge in students of this dispensation, utilizing fully, the facilities and opportunities availed by ICT Technology to pedagogy. This is because if teachers don’t, not only will the students continue to find it difficult to assimilate (having been acclimatized to the easy-ICT world).
Hence, it is unequivocal to state that every teacher needs to pull in ICT into their curriculum and methodology, or lose the interest of the 21st century student. Putting this into consideration, below is the history of ICT that for everybody’s good it has increased the effectiveness of education in English pronunciation and other disciplines.
History of ICT
More than two decades ago, information communication technology (ICT) has been being used in schools around the world. The objective of introducing these technological resources has been to enhance and satisfy the huge demand of new generations. Due to the great increase of technology and the innovation of the World Wide Web (Internet) in 1980, schools and universities noticed the importance of information communication technology (ICT) to increase their students’ abilities and competence in this new digital era. Certain advances have been made in the educational system to provide students with personalized tools in order for them to fulfill their current needs. As Sunkel G. said “the general perception has been that they would increase levels of educational attainment by introducing changes in teaching and learning processes and strategies, adapting to the needs of the individual students (Sunkel, 2006) .
Information Communication Technology (ICT) at the beginning was not designed for educational purposes; however, after discovering its great effectiveness in different fields and in daily activities it has been transferred to the educational field. According to Watson’s (2001), ICT have revolutionized the way people work today and are now transforming education systems. This is the reason why information communication technology is gaining ground in today’s world .
Everything started 30,000 years ago B.C in the Paleolithic Era, information communication technology started with the cave drawings near France and Spain as the first manifestation of communication among different groups of people. These drawings were painted for the purpose of art
Work, and created as meaningful part of religious ceremonies; this was a meaningful advance in the history of ICT .
In 510 B.C, Pythagoras a Greek citizen founded an academy where he used to teach mathematics and physics; he came up with one of his masterpiece the Pythagoras’ theorem that later on helped in the development of mathematics and in daily life activities but his teachings and speeches were in an oral way because at that period of time no advances were made in order to capture his teachings. As matter of fact written communication has always been important for the development of communication, the most important records are written on paper that’s why China noticed the necessity and made an important contribution to humanity with the invention of the paper. According to (Twede, D. 2005) paper as we know is originated in china in 105 A.D. the earliest process known is attributed to Ts’ ai Lun. The manuscript transcription in 382 was an important step on the development of written communication . They were written as a way of transmitting beliefs, stories or knowledge to futures generations and cultures, they recorded the most important aspects of that era where only oral communication was used .
Later on Johannes Gutenberg a German inventor introduced the Printing Press to Europe in 1450, he was the first man to use a movable type and suddenly change the history, and until that time monks and academics had the opportunity to acquire the information and were the only empowered to spread the knowledge. From that moment on more and more common people were able to buy books and also acquire information and teach their kids at home. One of Gutenberg’s pieces of art was the first bible printed on a movable type also known as the 42-line Bible .
In 1600 Public Education was a big step in North American society thanks to the advances that were made throughout time; it was a huge leap for the development of humanity because it gave equal rights to each person to acquire at least a decent education. The first public school in the American colonies was the Boston Latin School, students studied Latin and Greek and the “elementary subjects like (Lecture, writing, reading) so forth and so on . A year later in 1700 marked the beginning of a new revolution in the teaching field because some of the first low tech devices were introduced to the teaching process as an example of these were the black board a great innovation for teachers in order to show students in a visual way what they were saying, also the chalk board slates or (writing slates) was another device that even today is very useful for divers in order to communicate under water. In 1700 a slate was very useful in school in order to practice math exercises. In 1800 Books or as Robert Darnton called them in his book “What is the History of Books” the social and cultural history of communication by print, were introduced for the first time in the teaching field as an innovation .
Audiovisual Age
Education has developed rapidly with the introduction of technology and the audiovisual resources to the teaching learning process. The audiovisual age started with the invention of the film and the sound recording in 1910. (Comenius 1632) lessons should proceed from easy to complex at a slow and deliberate pace; acquisition of new material began through the senses . The beginning of the audiovisual age marked the parameters of a new platform in the education field it was focused in the implementation of new ways of communication for example the radio created in 1910 is considered the first mass media, (Spiker 1996) radio connects individuals across geographical, cultural, and political devices. It was immediately introduced into education through special children programs to develop their listening and speaking skills, as soon as these programs become popular the radio started increasing its production .
Another advance into education was the film strip projector in 1930; it was implemented in the educational system to display in the classroom frames of a strip on which images were printed, in this way students could visualized what they were been taught for their teachers. Likewise the filmstrip projector the overhead projector in 1940 was introduced to the classroom facilitating the interactive environment for teachers and students, because of the easy way teachers can prepare lectures and students can prepare notes before a lesson.
Information Age (1960)
The information age started in the latter part of the twentieth Century and the beginning of the twenty- first Century with new and challenging advances that demanded more from users as David S. Alberts and Daniel S. Papp stated in their book “Complexity and change are the two defining characteristics of the Information Age. Our successes as individuals, families, organizations, communities, and societies will depend more than ever upon our abilities to adapt, in near real time .” in this particular period of time appeared some of the most outstanding Technologies of all times for example: Television was one of the most remarkable inventions during the Information age, built 1960 by several people at first moment to entertain population but little by little was introduced as a great device for teaching purposes.
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Ten years later in 1970, videocassette recorder (VCR) and video home system (VHS) tapes were the new booms in the 70s because with these new devices you could record and play back people’s favorite TV programs. U-Matic was one of the first VHS tapes introduced by Sonic in 1971 to consumers and also for teaching purposes, it was very ground-breaking because in that way students for the first time had access to authentic recorded material which they could review over once and once again . In the 80s the audiotape came as the radio’s complement for teachers to replay or record authentic materials that later on were destined for teaching purposes; in those years audiotapes were very popular for the listening skill.
Computer Age (1990)
According to TechEncyclopedia (2002) computer is a general-purpose machine that processes data according to a set of instructions that are stored internally either temporarily or permanently . computers were conceived from arduous years of investigation and failures. Two of the most outstanding pioneers among others in the Mechanical Era of computers (1623-1945) were Blaise Pascal and Charles Babbage, Blaise a mathematician with the help of other colleagues designed a calculator that was able to add, subtract, multiply and divide. On its side Charles Babbage probably designed the first multi-purpose or programmable computing device in 1823 but never completed. To get to the computer age or the age where computer was first introduced to education that means 1990 many things had to happen, in order to mention some of these events for example; First Generation Electronic Computers (1937-1953), Second Generation (1954-1962), Third Generation (1963-1972), Fourth Generation (1972-1984), Fifth Generation (1984-1990) in the fifth generation computers were more manageable and achieved a high superiority in processing besides they were more stable than their first prototypes.
Computers were introduced as tool in order to help teachers perform more difficult tasks and also to present authentic materials to students for them to be competitive in a more demanding world.
1995 The Digital Age
1995 Information Exchange
2000 The Interactive Age
The Role of ICT in Education
The increasing presence of technology in all areas of human life leads to consider technology as an element of extraordinary importance in our society. Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) are the cultural and technological events of great scope and expansion of the recent centuries, they are present in all areas of human life, and education is not excluded from this process.
They were implemented in the educational systems in the early nineties, since then they have provided access to a great amount of information (Wagner et al 2005) says that ´´ICTs´´ are currently being used widely to aid education in many developing countries, and it appears that there is an increasing demand for their use in education by policymakers and parents in developing countries . The integration of ICT in education has become a priority in developing countries, because digital technologies can enhance the teaching process through innovation in teaching materials and teaching methods making more effective the learning process. Also because the challenges of education are increasing and requiring an effective learning with the implementation of new instructional strategies, according to students´ needs.
ICTs have had a major impact on education; some of these impacts are related to the need to make a change in education´s methodology, and in its teaching-learning purpose. It is that a new methodology is required to introduce the technology in the academic field, thus achieving the transformation of educational system.
ICTs have provided the educational field new pedagogical possibilities, expanding the resources of acquiring new knowledge. With the incorporation of ICT by students and teachers in the teaching-learning process is facilitated the collaborative learning due to ICT provides learners and professors tools such as chat, email, blogs etc. Which motivate the active participation in the classroom.
According to Buckingham D. in his Handbook of New Media: Students Edition expressed that computers bring about new forms of learning which transcend the limitations of older methods, particularly ‘linear’ methods such as print and television, and it is children who are seen to be most responsive to these new approaches: the computer somehow releases their natural creativity and desire to learn, which are apparently blocked and frustrated by old-fashioned methods . With the incorporation of computers, projectors, Internet, into the teaching-learning process it is noticeable the motivation students feel when they use them because they are projected to improve the quality of education through the diversification of contents and methods, promoting experimentation, innovation and learning stimulation.
Since ICTs were introduced into the educational field they have given a new approach for those teachers who based their classes only on the green board practices and scheduled classes year after year following a monotonous curriculum.
As ICTs enter the socio-cultural setting of schools, they may trigger changes in the activities, curriculum and interpersonal relationship in the learning environment, and is reciprocally affected by the changes they cause (Demiralslan and Usluel, 2008) .
The use of ICTs into education look for changing old patterns of teaching focusing primarily on students in an interactive environment for learning encouraging motivation and communication methods; allowing students a greater autonomy in learning, in addition to overcoming the barriers of time and space.
The rapid use of ICT in the education system makes expectations to grow about the potential of ICT and its contribution to improving the teaching – learning process. ICTs have brought significant changes in our lives and especially in the education. Many schools and universities have been associated with these changes offered by technology and integrated them into its educational system to implement the changes required by the contemporary world. New tools, technologies, and skills allow innovations to be introduced to the teaching-learning process and education to continue the rapid advances and progress exposing students to new technological challenges.
Advantages and Disadvantages of ICT
Digital devide
Advantages
ICT Help to better prepare students for the constantly grow of technology.
One of the most important reasons for using ICTs in the classroom has been to better prepare the current generation of students where ICTs, particularly computers, the Internet and related technologies, are becoming more and more ubiquitous:
¶ Greater efficiency throughout the school.
¶ Communication channels are increased through email, discussion groups and chat rooms
¶ Regular use of ICT across different curriculum subjects can have a beneficial motivational influence on students’ learning of pronunciation.
¶ Students are generally more ‘on task’ and express more positive feelings when they use computers than when they are given other tasks to do.
¶ Computer use during lessons motivates students to continue using learning outside school hours.
¶ Higher quality lessons through greater collaboration between teachers in planning and preparing resources.
¶ More focused teaching, tailored to students’ strengths and weaknesses, through better analysis of attainment data
¶ Improved pastoral care and behavior management through better tracking of students
¶ Gains in understanding and analytical skills, including improvements in pronunciation.
¶ Development of writing skills (including spelling, grammar, punctuation, editing and re-drafting), also fluency, originality and elaboration.
¶ Encouragement of independent and active learning, and self-responsibility for learning.
¶ Flexibility of ‘anytime, anywhere’ access (Jacobsen and Kremer, 2000)
¶ Development of higher level learning styles
¶ Students who used educational technology in school felt more successful and more motivated to learn and have increased self-confidence and self-esteem
¶ Students found learning in a technology-enhanced setting more stimulating and student-centered than in a traditional classroom
¶ Broadband technology supports the reliable and uninterrupted downloading of web-hosted educational multimedia resources
¶ Opportunities to address their work to an external audience
¶ Opportunities to collaborate on assignments with people outside or inside school
Disadvantages of ICT
One of the major barriers for the cause of ICT not reaching its full potential in the foundation stage is teacher’s attitude. According to Hara (2004), within the early years education attitudes towards ICT can vary considerably. Some see it as a potential tool to aid learning whereas others seem to disagree with the use of technology in early year settings. Blatchford and Whitebread (2003:16), suggests that the use of ICT in the foundation stage is “unhealthy and hinders learning”. Other early years educators who are opposed to offering ICT experiences within the educational settings take a less extreme view than this and suggest that ICT is fine, but there are other more vital experiences that young children will benefit from, (Blatchford and Whitebread, 2003). In theory some people may have the opinion that the teachers who had not experienced ICT throughout their learning tend to have a negative attitude towards it, as they may lack the training in that area of the curriculum.
Another important drawback to using ICT in schools is the fact that computers are expensive. According to the IT learning exchange (2001), in most schools ICT will be the single largest curriculum budget cost. This may be seen as a good thing but on the other hand there will be little money left over for other significant costs.
ICT Tools incorporated in the Teaching Process
The world that we are living today has turned in a global village because the physical distance existing among humankind is getting closer, and closer due to the technological changes. These changes or technological advances such as the computer and the internet has changed the whole world quite a lot and more when this technological advances are used in education. After the internet invention a lot of websites and software have been created to develop the way people learn languages, giving them, thousands of alternatives no matter how far they are from one another, just by having a computer an Internet connection they can have access to many education sites.
In this section we are going to present a series of website used for teaching English and teaching English pronunciation such VoiceThread, Manythings.org, Fonetiks.org, BBC Learning English, Learners TV so forth and so on. These sites are specifically used for teaching, learning English and English pronunciation.
VoiceThread in the Classroom
VoiceThread is especially beneficial within the classroom. “Teachers and students are using VoiceThread as a storytelling tool, a deep thinking tool, a research tool, an expository communication tool, and even an assessment tool” (Dyck, 2007). VoiceThread has brought storytelling to the 21st century and allows stories to be shared around the world. “VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to leave comments in 5 ways.” Through the use of comments, VoiceThread creates an interactive environment in which individuals can share common interests and ideas. It can also be used as an assessment tool for examining others opinions and as a tool for teachers.
Businesses, teachers, and students use VoiceThread. It provides a creative outlet for students and encourages the sharing of ideas. But the uses of VoiceThread are not limited to storytelling. VoiceThread has unlimited possibilities in which it can include voice, type, doodling, unlimited slides or just a simple slide. It can include pictures or typed documents. It can be embedded or exported to other destinations and multiple identities can be created under one account. This is great for teachers who can establish one account and have kids use multiple identities to create and comment. VoiceThread can be used to collect information as well by uploading a simple slide and evaluating comments. Not only can VoiceThread be used as a creative outlet but it can also be used to learn more about others experiences and views. VoiceThread makes it possible to examine the thinking of others through pictures, text, doodling, and voice.
VoiceThread is an online album that other VoiceThread users can directly comment on using voice, writing, video, and drawing. VoiceThreads can be used to share information, start a discussion, receive feedback, or simply tell a story. The basic VoiceT
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