1.0 Introduction
The use of Web technology in teaching and learning has begun to change the face of education. The World Wide Web has become a useful instructional medium and provides new learning experiences for students that were not previously possible. Nowadays, students with the help of an Internet connection, can receive instruction, create and submit assignments, and ask questions to the instructor and fellow students also can actively participate in class discussion from home, office, or any computer lab. These characteristics brought the idea of discovering the advantages and disadvantages of Web-based instruction in teaching and learning process specifically for ESL classroom.
According to Baker (2009), web-based instruction (WBI) is defined as instruction that occurs between teacher and student that is facilitated strictly by use of the World Wide Web. The teacher is able to post curriculum, notes, etc. on a particular platform for student review with no requirement of coming to school or campus. The following research articles are critically viewed:
i) A Web-Based Multimedia Approach to Literature in Malaysian Secondary Schools: Design and Learning Preferences,
ii) Assessing and Comparing Interaction Dynamics, Student Learning, and Satisfaction Within Web-Based Online Learning Programs,
iii) Comparing Traditional and Technological Methods for Studying English as a Second Language (ESL),
iv) Web-Based Vs. Classroom Instruction Of Statistics Dissertation
v) Web-Based Learning or Face-To-Face Teaching – Preferences of Estonian Students
in order to look at the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing web-based instruction based on the learners’ preferences between web-based learning and traditional methods of learning.
2.0 Review and Summary
Basically all the selected researches were referring to the theoretical of Web-based CALL since the focus were on the use of World Wide Web as the key of the resources. According to Web-based CALL theory, students can search through millions of files around the world within minutes to locate and access authentic materials exactly tailored to their own personal. Students can publish their texts or multimedia to share with partner classes or with general public. On the other hand, the researchers also highlighted the interaction among teachers and students as most of the researches chosen are comparing between Web-based instruction and traditional method of teaching such as face-to-face learning.
One of the most important parts should be emphasized is the objectives of all researches in order to find out the advantages and disadvantages of WBI in ESL classroom. Basically the selected researches aimed to discuss students’ perceptions of the web-based instruction through multimedia, to investigate the level of students’ perceived learning satisfaction, and students’ interaction, to find out the differences in effectiveness between traditional classroom methods and online technological methods and lastly to examine which phases of instruction it is preferred to carry out the web-based learning and in which phases students need direct contact with the teacher (Sivapalan, Fatimah & Khairun Nisya ,2009; Mason, 2008; Baker, 2009; Luik, 2006). From those objectives, the researchers directed the reader to the learners’ preferences before concluded with numbers of advantages and disadvantages of WIB in ESL classroom.
In order to guide the whole researches, there are few research questions addressed by the researchers. Referring to Sivapalan, Fatimah & Khairun Nisya (2009) and Baker (2009), the researchers addressed on the programs used other than questioned on the differences between two different methods of teaching in ESL Classroom like other selected researchers. However, the main concern is given to the question addressed by all researchers in achieving the main aim of this paper which is what types of learning, pedagogy, and interactive experiences describe the web-based learning environment as compared to classroom-based instruction?.
The methodologies utilized by all the researchers were various based on the research questions they wanted to achieve. Nevertheless, all of the researches chose a quantitative approach as they used several kind of test in order to distinguish marks obtained other than utilizing questionnaires and surveys in collecting data on learners’ preferences. The validity and reliability score also well explained as they did pilot study and tested them with Cronbach’s Alpha. Clear and comprehensible explanation of every table is also included.
In order to achieve every objectives of the researches, the researchers used different sample namely from secondary school students up to university students. For university and college students, the sample participants were drawn from a population of ESL/EFL students which were divided into students who learned ESL in a traditional classroom environment and students who learned ESL online. The reason they were divided into two different learning environments was to obtain the data about online learning. All the samples from every research have background knowledge in language yet learning it with different purpose whether as a second language or foreign language.
The researchers successfully achieve the objectives of their researches even though there were some differences when comparing to the five selected researches. Four researches out of five researches chosen positively resulted that learners were more interested in web-based instruction rather than face-to-face method. Given the choice between traditional course offerings and technology-based course offerings, students are increasingly choosing technology as a vehicle for learning (Sivapalan, Fatimah & Khairun Nisya ,2009). On the other hand, research done by Manko (2010) indicated that classroom study was more effective, as 85% of those who studied in the classroom answered the survey questions correctly, compared to the 72% correct answers by the online ESL students.
On the whole, it is concluded that web-based instruction offers a new transformation of learning English either as second language or foreign language. Moreover, the research questions also were addressed at the end of their study and achieving the goals of the research.
3.0 Reaction
As the current approach to the teaching English is more to teacher centred, opportunities for learners to partake in an active learning environment could be little. Thus, when presented with the opportunity to take control and manage their own learning through an interactive multimedia platform, learners begin to feel a sense of responsibility and ownership towards the learning activity. This in turn increases their motivation and interest to learn literature. The interactive nature of the web-based multimedia literature platform could also be another reason. The web-based multimedia approach to learning literature is very much different from a book based approach which can make learning boring and lifeless. As the web-based activities include animation of texts and graphics, learners are constantly kept stimulated. This stimulus, the researchers feel, further supports the needs of learners, hence keeping them attentive and focused during the learning process. In addition, it has provided convenient and immediate availability to course material and course discussion. However, the demographic factors such as the learners’ background, age, country of origin have a great impact on which method was most effective or preferred.
The articles studied give a lot of information and enlighten me on few new things such as how the learners view web-based instruction done in classroom. With well conducted studies and proven results, it offers useful knowledge especially for teachers.
4.0 Conclusion
In a nutshell, all the articles were parallels in the findings of the research. Even though the researchers came out with slightly different research questions yet at the end the advantages and disadvantages were clearly stated. Based on the discussions concluded, the researches done are very useful for ESL teachers as they could benefits from learners’ preferences whether to introduce the use of World Wide Web in teaching. Few suggestions on how to employ the method also can help teachers a lot in order to improve students’ achievement as well as increase their motivation in learning. However, it is quite difficult to make use of World Wide Web in local setting as the lack of infrastructures will be the obstacle other than in need of thorough studies in order to observe students’ differences and teachers’ readiness.
REFERENCES
Mason, G. (2008). Assessing and Comparing Interaction Dynamics, Student Learning, and satisfaction within Web-Based Online Learning Programs. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, Vol. 4 No. 4. Retrieved on February 13th, 2011 from http://jolt.merlot.org/vol4no4/sher_1208.pdf
