ICT in Language Learning

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Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is very important to life in our modern technological society. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) content in language teaching for example English enables students to develop and apply skills, knowledge and understanding of ICT in their composing, responding and presenting, and as part of the imaginative and critical thinking they undertake in English.

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ICT has its own advantages in language learning, such as:

1. Through ICT, images can easily be used in teaching and improving the retentive memory of students.

2. Through ICT, teachers can easily explain complex instructions and ensure students' comprehension.

3. Through ICT, teachers are able to create interactive classes and make the lessons more enjoyable, which could improve student attendance and concentration.

However, it is also has disadvantages:

1. Setting up the devices can be very troublesome.
2. Too expensive to afford.
3. Hard for teachers to use with a lack of experience using ICT tools.

In order to minimalize those disadvantages we can also hire technicians in technology, use the most affordable tools (for example using free or open source software), the language class teacher can be given training in using ICT. In using most affordable tools or software, we can freely access some applications for instance “Prezi”. A presentation tool, Prezi provides users with a large canvas upon which to pin text slides, video clips and images. So far, so PowerPoint, you might say.

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Integrating ICT into education or language learning seems to be an important issue for educators or education administrators in the world. However, if teachers cannot make good use of the ICT tools, the money and time spent on the ICT is going to be a waste. Also, if the educational budget is limited, looking for a cost-effective and high-performance ICT tool can be the first priority. Educational ICT tools are not for making educators master ICT skills themselves, but for making educators create a more effective learning environment via ICT.