compuater the technology for teaching and testing of esl proficiency of students of engineering and technology
COMPUTER, THE TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING AND TESTING OF ESL PROFICIENCY OF STUDENTS OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
Introduction
Like all other disciplines in teaching, English Language Teaching has also become a separate discipline and specific subject worldwide. Thanks to the advent of Computers in the field of education, everything has been changed positively and has a new dimension. English has become a linqua franca of many nations. English, the international communicative language, plays a key role at the college level, especially colleges of Engineering and Technology. The Employability need in the present scenario focuses on the ability in communication skills. Hence, in order to fulfil the need of the employers, the different technologies available in teaching must be adopted. The discussion in this paper is highlighting the same.
Teaching of ESL at Engineering Colleges
The objective of teaching English as a second language at the college level is to enable the students to get the ability to have the English communication skills. Hence, in the Engineering curriculum, we have exercises focusing on the skills; Thinking, Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.
In the first two semesters, we have no any technology to use. The only method we follow is chalk & talk. Only in the third year of fours years engineering and technology courses, we use the technology, Computer.
The Writing and Reading skills and even upto some extent the Speaking skills can also be taught without use of technology. But, when we teach the listening skill, we require some technology in order to enable the students to understand the native tongue. For teaching ESL, in olden days, the teachers relied upon the black–board, chalk and charts alone. Hence, the students were strong enough in Reading and Writing skills and to some extend in Listening skill. Considering the Speaking skill, it was not so successful commonly. The reason behind that is that
Introduction
Like all other disciplines in teaching, English Language Teaching has also become a separate discipline and specific subject worldwide. Thanks to the advent of Computers in the field of education, everything has been changed positively and has a new dimension. English has become a linqua franca of many nations. English, the international communicative language, plays a key role at the college level, especially colleges of Engineering and Technology. The Employability need in the present scenario focuses on the ability in communication skills. Hence, in order to fulfil the need of the employers, the different technologies available in teaching must be adopted. The discussion in this paper is highlighting the same.
Teaching of ESL at Engineering Colleges
The objective of teaching English as a second language at the college level is to enable the students to get the ability to have the English communication skills. Hence, in the Engineering curriculum, we have exercises focusing on the skills; Thinking, Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.
In the first two semesters, we have no any technology to use. The only method we follow is chalk & talk. Only in the third year of fours years engineering and technology courses, we use the technology, Computer.
The Writing and Reading skills and even upto some extent the Speaking skills can also be taught without use of technology. But, when we teach the listening skill, we require some technology in order to enable the students to understand the native tongue. For teaching ESL, in olden days, the teachers relied upon the black–board, chalk and charts alone. Hence, the students were strong enough in Reading and Writing skills and to some extend in Listening skill. Considering the Speaking skill, it was not so successful commonly. The reason behind that is that
References: • The Internet and ELT Eastment, D. 1999 The British Council This is a brief but useful overview of the issues concerning the use of the Internet in English language teaching. • CALL Environments Egbert, J & Hanson-Smith, E (eds.) 1999 TESOL, Va. Despite the unpromising title, this is a good and very comprehensive account of the use of computers in language teaching. It contains detailed discussions of the pedagogical value of the entire spectrum of computer-based language activities. • Dave Sperling 's Internet Guide Sperling, D. 1998 Prentice Hall, New Jersey This is a comprehensive listing of Internet sites for English language learners and teachers. Sperling also runs a very good ESL website called Dave 's ESL Café at http://www.eslcafe.com. • www.wikipedia.com This website gives the details regarding CALL.