Lisis Sofía Gómez Lozada

Professor Yulian Martínez

Educational Technology

06 July 2008

Advantages and Disadvantages of

Information and Communication Technologies in ELT

    Since the increasing use of new technologies in information and communication, the English language teaching (ELT) has changed in many aspects. But not all those aspects can be viewed as positive, though. The impact of the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the way English is taught has brought not only advantages to it, but also, some disadvantages concerning to the availability of technologies to be used, money to invest on and teachers’ training.

     One of the most common advantages of ICT is that teachers and students of English can have access to the most up to date sources and information rapidly and cheaply (Holy Family). Information can be found either on the internet or by using specialized software. Many focused exercises can be found on the net completely for free and software can be bought via internet or in any store. However, there is a concern about this advantage. First, the access to those technologies is not as cheap as one may think. That is, the student needs any device to access the information and sources to learn English.  The mandatory implementation of at least a computer would be and impediment rather than a tool. That means, for example, that there is a need of a certain number of computers per classroom in order that a good lesson is carried out. Secondly, it has been said that researching software and lesson planning using ICP is more time consuming than following an already planned class (Holy Family). That is because the teacher has to look for useful material on the net focused on what is to be taught. And, it becomes a hard task to find an already existing material on the topic the teacher of English is working on with his/her students.

     The use of new technologies in communication and information also helps students to develop the skills they need for their lives (Holy Family). Given that there are many sources from which a class can be taught, the teacher can select the ones that fit better to the students’ needs according to their age, level, and abilities (some of them can be blind, deaf and/or dumb.) According to the School Education Division of Tasmania, it can be found many ELT resources on the internet such us discussion groups, interactive book reading, sound recording, games, talking books, chat lines among others. However, this kind of instruction is not always reliable. It is true that emerging technologies can be use in a wide way, but it should be taken into account that not everything that is on the Internet is useful. That fact can be proved in the sense of the freedom that users have to upload whatever to the Internet. 

     In regard of employment, some authors state that the use of ICT in English language teaching provides society with more jobs in areas such us computer programming, systems analyzing, hardware and software developing and web designing given that all lessons planes are based on the use of technological devices (“Some advantages”). The classroom now needs any kind of technical support in case of breakdown, incapability to use specific software, or anything that comes with the use of new technology (“Information and Communication”). That means that the teacher would have to play the role of technician and be a master on the technology being used given that he/she is supposed to assist good teaching with it.  That also means, however, that teachers with no training on this technology have no access to ELT using Information and Communication technologies, given that he/she does not know how to manage classes. Many training institutions are not completely aware of the need of the implementation of ICT in English language teaching and, definitely need to enhance subject teaching using ICT (“ICT and Teacher”). Another disadvantage concerning to employment is that not every teacher is capable to update his/her knowledge on ICT when teaching English. That situation is in some way problematic, given than it is not possible for some teachers to update their knowledge on technologies that they are not capable to use. Moreover, the updating of knowledge becomes nearly impossible in cases in which there is no sponsor or money to pay for training courses on ICT.

     As a conclusion, it can be said that, as well as the use of Information and Communication Technologies has advantages on the modern English language teaching, it also has disadvantages that do not allow every learner and teacher to make use of it during classes. In that way, every time that Information and Communication Technologies provide advantages such as quick and cheap access to the latest information, the developing of language skills and the emergence of new job opportunities, there are also disadvantages such as the lack of devices to carry out a class, the unreliability of some web sources and the inability of some teachers to train themselves in this technology.

Works Cited Page

Holy FamilyN.S. ICT Draft Policy. Holy FamilyN.S., Rathcoole, Co. Dublin. 03 June 2008 <http://homepage.eircom.net/~holyfam/School-ICT.htm>.

“ICT and Teacher Training.” Teachernet.gov.uk. 7 April 2004. Department for Children, Schools and Families. 03 June 2008 <http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/atoz/i/ictandteachertraining/>.

“Information and Communication Technologies.” Education.tas.gov.au. 11 Sep. 2007. Department of Education,

Tasmania, School Education Division. 03 June 2008 <http://wwwfp.education.tas.gov.au/english/technology.htm>.

“Some advantages and disadvantages of information technology.” Smallbusinessbible.org. Small Business Bible. 03 June 2008  <http://www.smallbusinessbible.org/advan_disadvan_informationtechnology.html>.

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Last uptaded in 25/06/08

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