International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
Teach Others 90%
Figure 2 A Learning Pyramid Showing Average Retention Rates [21]
Second language acquisition and improvement also depend on one’s own experience, background, attitude and
exposure to a target language, and of course the ability to retain information plays an important role in the
process. In a Brief Description of Second Language Acquisition Dr. Kathy Escamilla describes the proposal of
Noam Chomsky and other nativists that humans have even a more in-depth innate predisposition for learning a
second language, similar to learning a first language [9] Although language books have served as our guides for
ages, it wasn’t until the 1980s that a more blended approach to them and to learning was taken by incorporating
digital media partially through on-line instruction, and mostly CD-ROMs. At that time it was recognized that the
four basic skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening, focused separately on in language textbooks, are
more integrated than previously thought. The fact that we use more than one skill at one time led to an emphasis
on more socially-based skills and activities, such as summarizing, describing and narrating, and on to more
cooperative, active learning exercises, such as role-playing and debate. Despite this seemingly emphasis on
speaking activities, and the fact that teachers have dominated most of them [7] KD of Teaching Languages still
places equal importance on all four basic skills [8].
It was the world-wide influence of the Internet that really brought the possibility of language learning out of the
classroom and away from the textbook. There are now on-line and self study courses in which a student can
work at his/her own pace and go back to, making the presence of a teacher unnecessary. There are text-to-speech
synthesis (TTS) devices, interactive software and websites which paradoxically are great sources for generating
non-digital teaching material. For a general overview of current technologies supporting English Teaching and
Learning see The British Council’s publication Innovations for Learning Technologies in English [3].
Well into the 1990s language learning institutes in the Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia) continued to follow the
conservative approach laid out by textbooks on learning languages. Although books from abroad replaced those
written and published in the Czech Republic, language teachers continued to teach in the ways they were
familiar with. It was the plethora of private language schools, offering new techniques for learning languages
including such novelties as alphalearning and the Callan method, and internationally recognized language
certificates, that vastly reduced the realm of the state language schools. It was also the presence of such culture
support organizations such as the British Council and Alliance Francais that showed that there were other
resources available for learning languages.
In accordance with the pan-European policy of making creative classrooms, tablets and other devices are today
replacing paper notebooks and textbooks in the Czech Republic which is one of 9 chosen EU countries involved
in the European Schoolnet (EUN) programme [10]. According to an EUN survey the majority of students say
that ICT (Information and Communications Technology) have now been implemented into 20% of the
classrooms in the Czech Republic [11]. Such sites as Moodle and LMS (Learning Management System) have
now been introduced at institutes of higher learning, and have been designed specifically for the learning and
testing of languages. For example, Milan Hauser has found that the introduction of interactive whiteboards in
primary schools in the EUN programme has many learner benefits, but ICT should not be used for more than
about half-an hour [13]. Similarly, advocates of e-learning like Ivana Pekarová and Vera Bitljanova at the
University of Liberec, believe it should play a key role in education, but have also pointed out that it works best
in having it in conjunction with blended learning scenarios [23].
THE INFLUENCE OF DIGITAL MEDIA
Different studies assess that there are both harmful and beneficial effects from Internet use. More specifically,
there are a number of articles being written on the influences of these social network/digital media on and in the
classroom. They specially focus on how the smartphone and the teacher are competing for a student’s attention.
Do digital media enhance and improve lessons? Are they forms of distraction, or both? Liz Kolb in “Cell Phones
in the Classroom” has called such devices “powerful classroom tools” and no longer classroom distractions [15].
On the contrary Bernard McCoy of the University of Nebraska [19] gives a list of reasons why electronic devices
should be banned from schools. He doesn´t see it as just a step for students on the road from writing with styli
and slates to using electronic textbooks. And similarly for teachers to go from blackboards to whiteboards and
then to electronic boards. Of course, there remains the question of whether introducing data protectors and other
electronic media into the classroom is making (language) learning more effective. Is the pro-technology
approach sometimes being taken just for its own sake? And by advocating it too much, are we not forsaking
effective learning techniques and in fact throwing the baby out with the bath water?
Whether it is making us more clever or not, people are spending less time exposed to digital media sites, such as
when they are watching a video or reading a text online [22]. Nevertheless, there are some studies that say we
may be able to absorb more information in a shorter exposure time when we use digital media. And we are now
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