ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TECHNOLOGY

Presentation and Explanation of Chapter 1

1. Introduction
This chapter discussed about the changing world of English language
teaching in technology development. Because technology becomes the normal and
a demanding of globalization development so that it expected to give effects of
communication, education, information, English language teaching and learning,
applied linguistics and other aspects. According to Bruce and Hogan “as
technologies embed themselves in everyday discourse and activity, a curious thing
happens. The more we look, the more they slip into the background. Despite our
attention, we lost sight of the way they shape our daily lives”. It means that
technology slipped into the background, it may be necessary to attempt to bring it
back into the foreground to explore its implication for language teachers and
researchers. 
In English language teaching and learning, we have a lot to choose from
the world of technology: Radio, TV, CD Rom, Computers, CALL, the Internet,
Electronic Dictionary, Email, Blogs and Audio Cassettes, Power Point, Videos,
DVD’s or VCD’s. They are examples of technology for hardware tools and
software tools in technology. The other experts whose research focused on the
importance of technology in communication, English teaching and learning
process, education and other aspects as follow:
1. David Graddol (1997) states that:”technology lies at the heart of the
globalization process; affecting education work and culture. The use of English
language has increased rapidly after 1960. At presents the role and status of
English is that it is the language of social context, political, socio cultural,
business, education, industries, media, library, communication across borders,
and key subject in curriculum and language of imparting education”. 
2. Jonassen and Reeves (1996) state that: “new technologies offer opportunities
for taking account of individual aptitude and interest. Recent studies in the area
indicate that effective use of education technology can help education system
work better and more effectively”.
3. In a survey administered by Halderman (1992) a majority of teachers demand
using technology better. Use of technology in the classes gives students the
chance of learning faster and more permanent. 
4. In another survey administered by Tsou, Wang and Li (2002) a significant
increase was statistically found in the test scores of students in a computer
aided learning environment. This shows the positive effect of technology for
realizing effective learning. 
2. Discussion
a. Vision of the invisible
At the turn of the century, events and publications attempted to reveal
how, where, and why technology had crept into the professional lives of all
English language teachers and to predict what the continued spread of technology
might mean for the future. For example, in Europe, the CALL (Computer Assisted
Language Learning) section of the International Association of Teachers of
English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) held a special conference, CALL in the
21
st
 century in July of 2000 in Barcelona. The same year, a special issue of
TESOL Quarterly also looked to the future of ELT with a focus on technology.

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