USING INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES IN TASKBASED LANGUAGE TEACHING BY

“USING INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES IN TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING” BY MARAT SANATULLOV, PH. D. Wichita State University, Kansas, U. S. A. marat. sanatullov@wichita. edu & ELVIRA SANATULLOVA-ALLISON, PH. D. State University Of New York College at Potsdam, New York, U. S. A. sanatue@potsdam. edu

COGNITIVE APPROACH Promotion and use of learning and teaching strategies that reflect the way knowledge is organized in the human brain should be a language teacher’s major aim. Understanding specific processes of human cognition helps the teacher understand the fundamentals of human learning and, thereby, how to build and improve instruction. The interrelatedness of the processes of acquisition, transfer, and retention of information in the mechanism of human learning emphasizes the importance of the relationship between teaching and assessment, language acquisition and language production, previous knowledge and new information in the instructional practices.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Of Cognitive Development creativity evaluation synthesis analysis application understanding knowledge

Information Processing SLA is seen as the building up of knowledge systems that can eventually be called on automatically for speaking and understanding. At first, learners have to pay attention to any aspect of the language which they are trying to understand or produce. Gradually, through experience and practice, learners become able to use certain parts of their knowledge so quickly and automatically that the are not even aware that they are doing it. This frees them to focus on other aspects of the language which, in turn, gradually become automatic (Mc. Laughlin, 1987). ‘Practice, ’ in this context, is not seen as something mechanical, but rather as something involving effort on the part of the learner.

Constructivism It promotes the view of learning as a constructive and reconstructive process. It emphasizes the learners’ active role in constructing their own knowledge through both individual and social activity and interactions. The aim of constructivist teaching is “not so much to transmit information as to encourage knowledge formation and metacognitive processes for judging, organizing, and acquiring new information” (Bruning, Schraw, & Ronning, 1999). Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development as an example of his dialectical constructivism is one of the most powerful concepts of mutual influence between the cognitive and social aspects of human cognition.

Connectionism It attributes great importance to the role of the environment in language learning arguing that learners gradually build up their knowledge of language through exposure to thousands of instances of the linguistic features they eventually learn. Language is viewed as a complex system of units which become inter-connected in the mind as they are encountered together. The more units are heard or seen together, the more likely it is that the presence of one will lead to the activation of the other.

INTER-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH Movement in the profession from the emphasis on particular methods of language teaching toward a proficiency- and performance-oriented instruction, curriculum, and assessment that define learners’ language ability in terms of functions, contexts/contents, and accuracy (Buck, Byrnes, & Thompson, 1989) helps language teachers to skillfully organize their instruction based on what language learners should know and can do with the target language on different levels of proficiency, in the integration of skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and in different goal areas such as Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities (Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21 st Century, American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages).

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES Furthermore, research and practice have shown that teacher’s knowledgeable use of educational technologies in the language classroom can contribute to enhance input processing by bringing context into language teaching (Shrum & Glisan, 2000). Moreover, according to Garrett (1991), technology enhanced language learning and teaching allows for further integration of language, literature, and culture. In our second/foreign language methodology courses we use Power. Point and Hyper. Studio multimedia programs as well as a web design program Dreamweaver 4 and Inspiration software in order to create activities and materials that relate language learning to other disciplines, academic content, and to the world at large. These programs have become common tools in language learning and language teacher preparation programs (Pusack & Otto, 1997).

Power. Point can enable a language teacher to integrate authentic text, such as a song, into second/foreign language instruction. Through coordination of text, image, and sound, Power. Point can enhance information processing and make the language input comprehensible. For example, in our presentation of a French song, we made the lyrics appear right before or after students could hear them. Words and lines appear one after another instead of the whole text immediately, which leads to the use of both reading and listening skills. Color-coded endings and key words can increase the attention to specific grammar points studied. Images illustrating the content of the song are to enhance learners’ comprehension of the lyrics of the song in a context. Contextualized and meaningful input, opportunities to actively process natural and authentic language are more effective for language learning than a mere exposure to exercises that focus on structure alone.

Hyper. Studio technology allows a language teacher to integrate a story-based approach into teaching listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, vocabulary, and grammar in the classroom or independently. In our Hyper. Studio adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ story “Les Trois Mousquetaires, ” students can click on the pictures to listen to the descriptions and presentations of the characters prerecorded by the teacher. Students can also record or write multiple times their answers to the questions asked by the narrator and the characters and receive immediate oral and written evaluation/feedback of their answers with “True/False” statements or written and oral correct answers prepared in advance by the teacher. Manipulation of pictures to reconstruct the plot of the story, guessing, summarization, and problem-solving situations of the activity are to develop students’ higher-thinking skills. The program “pushes” language learners to use the language as much as possible, which develops their inter-language and fosters language acquisition (Swain, 1985). Pre-modified input allows the teacher to develop specific features in learners’ inter-language (Ellis & He, 1999) and examine the relationship between language items contained in multi-media delivered input and those recalled and reused by students during the completion of the task (Brett, 1998).

Inspiration software provides language teachers with the tools to create and develop their instructional ideas: “Inspiration’s combination of visual and linear thinking deepens understanding of concepts, increases memory retention, develops organizational skills and taps creativity” (Inspiration Version 6. Getting Started). Diagrams and outlines, concept and idea maps, webs and storyboards are some of the Inspiration tools that can activate student thinking in different ways. For example, in our interdisciplinary thematic unit “French Family” we used Inspiration to teach family relationships and new related vocabulary to middle school language learners. Integrated text, visuals, and colors can increase the comprehensibility of the structure and the quantity and quality of learning.