CRITICAL READING 7

REVIEW OF JOURNAL entitled ‘TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED TEACHING: A REVOLUTIONARY APPROACH TO TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE’ written by Albert (2013) Universitas Haluoleo

The online course offerings have grown exponentially globally since the turn of the 21^st century – be they as a primary mode of instruction or as a supplement to traditional face-to-face classroom instruction, and this phenomenon is most noticeable in higher education. More recently, the new technology has also been integrated into the English as a Foreign Language, henceforth called EFL, classrooms. This article argues that the notion of technology-enhanced language learning is not just an intriguing idea – it is a necessity, for it has a great potential to offer in facilitating the development of English language proficiency of EFL learners through computer-mediated communication. Additionally, it contends that the new technology can potentially address most, if not all, of the shortcomings inherent to the EFL classroom including, but not limited to, lack of exposure to the target language, lack of practice, and lack of learning resources. Theoretical implications of technology-enhanced language teaching and learning will also be explored.

With the advancement in computer technology and with unavoidable and inherent limitations we currently have, we need to re-think of the way we teach and the way our students learn English as a foreign language. This paper has demonstrated that the new technology can be an invaluable learning tool in the EFL classroom. Not only does it provide excellent, authentic, and abundant learning resources, but it also serves as a means to connect EFL learners with native English speakers across the globe using both synchronous and asynchronous communication. The researcher has argued throughout the article that classical shortcomings associated with EFL classrooms, such as lack of comprehensible input and output, lack of learning resources, and decontextualised teaching and learning, to name a few, can potentially be overcome by making effective use of the technology. There is no doubt that the new technology is here to stay and it will continue to play a pivotal role in the life of the knowledge society. With this in mind, it is worth re-stating that the notion of TELL is not just an intriguing idea – it is a necessity and it would, therefore, be remiss of us not to embrace it. However, at the end of the day, we, EFL teachers, can decide for ourselves whether or not to opt for technology in our teaching and make the utmost use of it or to continue to practise what we have been doing over past years. The choice is ours!