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Chapter 3
Review of Related Literature
3.0 Introduction
Review of related literature provides an empirical framework to carry
out future study. It helps to get insight into the problem by studying the
past research work which already has been done and provides a
direction for the type work required to be done further. It provides an
orientation to the researcher regarding the type of research that has
been conducted in the field earlier. Realizing the importance of
Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Computer Assisted
Language Learning (CALL), Technology Assisted Language Learning (TALL)
and multimedia materials, many researchers were taken up.
Review of Related Literature is a valuable guide to defining the problem,
recognizing its significance, suggesting promising data collection devices,
appropriate study designs and sources of data. It gives us information
about work that has already been done and that can be meaningfully
extended or applied. It also provides a basis for establishing the context
of a problem and significance of a problem. Thus, review gives a line of
direction and helps in planning the study properly.
3.1 Book Reviews
In this section, the researcher has attempted to review books that are
pertinent for the present study. The review helped the researcher to
understand key issues, such as, first language acquisition, second
language acquisition, problems of a bilingual child, course design,
concept of remediation and so on. It helped him to confirm his beliefs
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and reassured him that he was on the right track. It also alerted him
regarding certain misconceptions. The perception of remediation which
is very significant has changed over the years. It is relevant to review
those remedial courses that have shown major shifts in remediation.
The other important issues which the researcher has tried to explore by
reviewing books are as follows:
1. Use of translation
2. Use of communicative tasks
3. Treatment of errors
4. Approaches to ELT
5. Teaching of formal grammar
6. Use of light language activities
In the following pages, the books are reviewed in a particular format.
The book review begins with the title of the book and the author’s name.
This is followed by stating the main objectives of the book. Then the
researcher discusses the contents of the book and its significant
contribution. In some cases, the researcher presents some tasks from
the book to give the ‘feeling’ of the authors’ ideas.
3.1.1 Five Minute Activities - A Resource book for language teachers (1988) Cambridge University Press
– Penny Ur and Andrew Wright
This small book is very valuable for ELT practices. It serves many
purposes. Mainly it tries to supplement what the teacher is primarily
teaching. For example, if the teacher is teaching some grammatical
structure, his/her teaching can be supplemented by a grammar activity
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from this book. To give one concrete example, if s/he is teaching
‘questions’, /she can use activities like quiz on general knowledge or
interview of an interesting personality from this book. The second
purpose of this book is to bring in variety in the classroom activities.
Normally, the teacher is doing some serious work in the class.
Occasionally, students require some relief, some change from this
continuous regular work. These activities provide them a necessary
change and the change is light as well as lucrative. The third purpose of
these activities is to come to the rescue of a teacher who is badly in need
of a time-filler. It is possible that one of his colleagues is on leave and
/she has to engage his/her class. In that case, such activities come
handy because they are like instant food.
The activities included in this book have a communicative value. They
promote the learners to think, to analyse, to compare, to guess, to
imagine, to interpret and so on. And since these activities are done in
small groups, the learners are required to interact and to use their
rhetorical skills.
In the introduction, the authors elaborate on the purpose and nature of
activities. They point out that such activities are needed as they serve as
‘a quick warm-up’ before the actual teaching begins. Secondly, they can
work as ‘an idea for a brief vocabulary review’ before opening up a new
topic. Thirdly, they can provide as ‘light fillers’ which in turn can provide
‘relief’ to tensed students. And last but not least, these activities can
serve as ‘a game’ or an amusing item to finish the lesson on a happy
note.
Talking about the activities the authors note that they have a ‘learning
value’. The efforts of the students and the time spent will not go in vain.
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Their grammatical structures will be strengthened or vocabulary will be
enriched. There will be some sort of benefit, to be precise, a linguistic
one as a result of these activities. Secondly, these activities can be used
at a variety of levels – elementary, middle and advanced. The materials
presented in the boxes clearly indicate this. For example, an activity
dealing with correction of errors contains wrong sentences at three
levels. The teacher should identify the level of his learners and use the
adequate sentences. The most convenient feature of these activities is
that they are not time-consuming. If done properly, they will not take
more than five-minutes. Maybe, initially it will take more time but once
the students get used to it, they will be quicker. So nobody will complain
that they are consuming the time meant for real teaching. One more
advantage of these activities is that they are partially prepared and in
some cases fully prepared. Each activity is provided with some sample
tasks with detailed instructions. The teacher can use the activity as it is.
S/he does not have to run around to look for materials – like a clever
housewife who makes instant noodles thereby saving her energy and
time and at the same time satisfying her guests. The sample tasks also
help the teacher understand the task clearly.
The activities are organized on a dictionary pattern, that is,
alphabetically. There are about a hundred and fifty activities. The
activities are described thus. First, the title of the activity is given. For
example, categories, chain story magical entertainment and so on. Just
below the activity the objective is mentioned. For example, below ‘the
chain story’ the authors write ‘narration - use of the past tense’ which
means after doing this activity the learners will learn how to use past
tense and they will learn that through narration. The objective is
followed by a procedure. The learners are given detailed instructions as
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to how to go about the task. Sample sentences, exercises, pictures,
charts are provided for clarity. The whole book is written in such simple
and clear English that any teacher having the basic knowledge of English
can use it independently. To drive the point home, a couple of activities
from the book are presented hereafter.
Activity – compare yourselves getting to know each other: use of
comparatives.
Procedure: In pairs, students find different ways of comparing
themselves with each other, and write down or simply say the
appropriate sentences.
You are taller than I am.
Tina has longer hair than I have.
Jaime is older than Luiz.
Variation: To encourage more interaction, tell the students they may
not use aspects (such as, height, hair or colour) that are immediately
apparent, but only things they have to find out through talking. For
example,
Peter has more brothers than I have. Marie knows more
languages than Diane.
As a follow up, share some of the things participants have found
out with the rest of the class.
Activity: Five-minute writing storms
Writing Procedure: Tell the students that they have exactly five
minutes to write about something. Set a subject which you feel will
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focus the students’ mind but encourage personal rather than
generalized responses. (See the box.)
Five-minute writing
storms
Themes
The best thing in the lesson
today
The worst thing in the lesson
today
The best thing to happen to me
today
Something which is not fair
A jealous moment
Tell them that you will not mark any mistakes of language but will only
be concerned with the idea or experiences they describe. (You can note
down general errors and give a language focus activity on these forms
at another time).
For the next lesson, prepare general comments and select texts written
by the students to read out.
Variation: The students write for exactly three minutes and then take it
in turns to read what they have written to each other.
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3.1.2 Play way To English - Language Games (2000) Anand Press
– Damayanti J. Umra
Teachers of English at almost all the levels are always on the lookout for
some short interesting language activity to get relief from the routine
textbook work. This book can surely come to the rescue of such
teachers. The book has a collection of wonderful language games.
These games can be used to good purpose. They can be warm up
activities before starting a new lesson. One can create a proper mood
for learning. The games have a fun element. So they make learners
happy and relaxed and thus the learners are positively oriented. Certain
games can be used to revise vocabulary. Language games can motivate
them to learn and use new words. One more advantage of language
games is that they can provide a welcome change from serious work.
For example, the teacher may have taught them seriously for one week
and they need a break. In that case, light language games can provide
some comic relief.
These games can also be used to move from one topic to another. They
can serve the purpose of changing their orientation. Last but not least
the games can be used to conclude the teachers’ work in a happy mood.
For example, if the students have done a reading comprehension
session, they may be tired by the end. If the teacher sums up his/her
work with an attention-grabbing game, students would go home with a
smile. Thus there are a number of uses of language games. The use of
this book will not only entertain the students but also give them rich
language practice.
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There are many books on language games. But this is a unique one. It is
well designed and more pedagogic. The appearance and layout of the
book is pleasant – light pink cover page with a picture of a game on it.
Inside the book, there are pictures, tables for almost all the activities.
There is good spacing in the text and the letters are also prominent. This
is good especially for young learners. The cover page is glossy and one
feels like handling, reading the book. In short, it is an ‘interesting book
with a beautiful look’.
The book does not make use of the mother tongue of the learners. The
writer is confident that she can explain things in English properly.
Pedagogically also, it is appropriate that students struggle to understand
the text and use more and more English. This should also convince the
learners that they can learn / do things in English without the help of L1.
The book is divided into five sections dealing with grammar, vocabulary,
reading, writing and pronunciation. There are games for each area. The
games are presented systematically. One page is allotted to each game.
The name of the game is given in capital letters. It is followed by focus
and procedure. Focus gives the reader information about the structure
that is used in the game. The procedure describes how the game is
played. It is followed by an example. Then there is a pictorial illustration
of the game. The language used for illustration is very simple, lucid and
direct. The use of pictures and examples bring in clarity and proper
understanding. There is a useful appendix at the end. It throws light on
which game can be used for which grammatical item.
A few sample games are given below.
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Game 1: FIND SOMEONE WHO
Focus: Questions and polite replies
Procedure: Each student is given a completion sheet. The students have
five to seven minutes to walk around the class and find out the person
who fits the given description. Example: student A might ask student B
‘Were you born at home?’ If B says ‘yes’ then A can write down B’s
name on his or her sheet. ______was born at home.
The teacher tells the student that the winner is the person who
completes the sheet and gets the maximum number of names.
Example : Completion Sheet
Find someone who
. . . has killed a snake
. . . is afraid of lizards
. . . was given an award.
Game 2: SCRATCH YOUR HEAD
Focus: Spelling
Procedure: The teacher writes a word on the board pausing after each
letter giving time for the students to guess what it is. If a student
guesses it right the teacher tries to elicit the rest of the spelling from
the students.
Example: S1 : School ? T: No
S2 : Score ? T: No
S3 : Scale ? T:Yes,you’re right
Now spell the word. What is the next letter?
Students: a
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The samples show that the games provide both information and
entertainment resulting into linguistic infotainment. There is an element
of competition and pleasing tension and variety. Students are activated
to do something with language. The book, thus, lives up to its title ‘Play
way to English’.
3.1.3 Techniques and principles in language teaching (2003) OUP
Diane Larsen – Freeman
This is a notable book on methods in English language teaching. It is a
historical survey as well as the evaluation of different approaches to ELT.
While sharing their thoughts with the teacher educator, they explain
why knowing methods is an asset to them. To begin with, she points out
that a method helps the teacher reflect on his/her practice and shows
him/her the link between ‘thinking and practice’. Secondly, the
knowledge of methods can help him/her ‘to choose to teach differently’.
It will help him to participate in a ‘professional discourse’ and have a
‘dialogue’ with his/her peers. It will update his/her knowledge and
‘expand’ his ‘repertoire of techniques’. Thus the aim of this book is to
‘inform’ and ‘stimulate’ its readers. It will encourage them to reflect,
inquire and experiment.
The book discusses all important methods in language teaching. The
methods are: 1.The grammar translation method 2. The direct method
3. The audio-lingual method 4. The silent way 5. Desuggestopedia 6.
Community language learning 7. Total physical response 8.
Communicative language teaching 9. Content-based, task-based, and
participatory approaches 10. Learner strategy training, co-operative
learning and multiple intelligences.
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These methods are discussed in such a manner as a practising teacher
can understand its theory and practice thoroughly. The writer begins
with a brief introduction in which she describes the most salient feature
of that method. For example, she writes, ‘the direct method receives its
name from the fact that meaning is to be conveyed directly in the target
language through the use of demonstration and visual aids, with no
recourse to the students’ native language’.
Next she takes the reader to the real classroom to get the better
understanding of the method. The ‘experience’ section recounts
minutely how the whole lesson is taught using a particular method.
This is followed by ‘thinking about the experience’. In this section, the
writer lists important observations. The principles that underline these
observations are written against them. For example, here are a few
observations from audio-lingual method.
Observations Principles
1. The teacher introduces a new
dialogue
Language forms do not occur by
themselves; they occur most
naturally within a context.
2. The language teacher uses only
the target language in the
classroom. Action, pictures or
realia are used to give meaning
otherwise.
The native language and the
target language have separate
linguistic systems. They should be
kept apart so that the students’
native language interferes as
little as possible with the
students’ attempts to acquire the
target language.
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This kind of presentation helps the reader understand the ‘purpose’ of
doing certain things in the class.
Then the writer invites the reader to review the principles. The review is
done in question answer format. The questions touch upon various
aspects of the methods. The ten questions that are asked of all the
methods are:
1. What are the goals of teachers who use this method?
2. What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the
students?
3. What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning
process?
4. What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is
the nature of student-student interaction?
5. How are the feelings of the students dealt with?
6. How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?
7. What areas of language are emphasized? What language
skills are emphasized?
8. What is the role of the student’s native language?
9. How is evaluation accomplished?
10. How does the teacher respond to student errors?
The writer has answered these questions so that it will add to the
reader’s understanding of each method and allow them to see some
major differences among the methods.
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Just as there is a review of principles, there is a review of techniques as
well. The purpose of the book is to make the reader versatile in the use
of techniques. Each method uses a set of techniques. The writer has
explained them using lucid language. About ‘The Role Play’ in CLT, the
writer comments ‘Role plays are very important in CLT because they give
students an opportunity to practise communicating in different social
contexts and in different social roles’. Role plays can be set up so that
they are very structured or loosely structured. The later is more in
keeping with CLT because it gives the students a lot of choice. Notice
that role plays structured like this also provide information gaps since
students cannot be sure (as with most parts of communication) what the
other person or people will say (there is a natural unpredictability).
Students also receive feedback on whether or not they have effectively
communicated.
The writer raises a number of questions and wants the reader to relate
the ‘presented’ information to his/her own experience. Finally, there
are two types of activities. One is for checking the understanding of the
methods and the other is for applying this information to readers’ own
classroom.
Thus the book is a complete guide on techniques and principles in
language teaching. Written in lucid language, it can help the beginner
understand key methods and it can help the advanced educator to
evaluate his/her own performance. It is not only the conceptual clarity
that the book aims at but it also encourages ‘action’ on the part of the
reader. And the most striking trait of the book is that it is in no way
prejudiced against or for any method.
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3.1.4 A Remedial English Grammar for Foreign Students (1968)
Macmillan
– F. T. Wood
This book is one of the landmarks in remedial teaching and represents
the structural approach in remedying learners’ performance. The author
states in his preface that the aim of the book is- to concentrate on, and
to attempt to correct, the most frequent grammatical mistakes made by
foreign students of English. Naturally the emphasis is on the teaching of
grammar. However, the whole grammar is not dealt with. Only those
areas where learners are found weak are sorted out. Those topics are
explained in simple language along with appropriate illustrations. They
are followed by a number of fill in the blanks or substitution type of
exercises.
F. T. Wood justifies inclusion of mechanical exercises by saying that ‘they
are intended to serve the correction of specific mistakes and the
removal of particular difficulties’. Of course, he has no problem with
other fancy exercises but he believes that concentrating on a point with
a heavy dose of mechanical practice can stamp out errors.
His thinking is in line with the structural approach which emphasizes
habit formation through practice. If the rules are learnt wrongly, one
has to understand them properly and remember them with practice.
One can see the influence of behavioural psychology here.
F. T. Wood’s concept of remediation is correction of errors, repairs of
damaged parts. It is not teaching the language again in a new way.
There is a heavy concentration on grammar because a large number of
errors are found in this area. He also believes that learners make errors
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because they do not know the rules. He advocates teaching grammar
explicitly and giving practice in a mechanical way. His book does not
provide any reading material, does not give any writing tasks and does
not entertain fancy exercises. If the reader goes through the contents of
his book s/he would find that thirty seven out of forty two chapters deal
with structures. Thus there is a heavy concentration on grammar. The
treatment of language functions is cursory. He talks very briefly about
polite expressions and greetings.
His style is prescriptive. The whole book is about Do’s and Don’ts. Here
are a few examples from chapter one.
1. Do not put ‘the’ before the names of substances if
they are used in a general sense.
2. Do not put ‘the’ before the names of meals if they
refer to the meals generally.
3. But ‘the’ must be used when the meal is a particular
one.
The book is full of explanations of grammatical rules. Here are some
examples.
Plural nouns standing for the people of a particular country however are
not preceded by ‘the’ if the people in question are thought of
individually.
Along with the rules he has also discussed exceptions. The best feature
of the book is the rules are well-illustrated. For example -
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‘The’ is used before a singular noun to express what we call ‘the
generic singular’ i.e. the one thing mentioned is taken to represent all
of that kind.
The tiger and the cat belong to the same family of
animals.
The elephant is very strong.
The plane is the fastest means of travel.
In each chapter, the presentation of rules is followed by exercises.
These exercises are, as the author himself has admitted, mechanical.
They are mostly fill-in-the-blanks type and contain isolated sentences.
Exercise: Fill in the blank spaces in the following sentences with the word
given in brackets at the end, using either the plain noun, or the noun
preceded by ‘the’ (whichever you think is correct).
1. The box was made of …………. (wood)
2. Some coins are made of ……… and some of …….. (silver, copper)
3. ……….. in that stream is not suitable for drinking. (water)
There is no language exposure in terms of reading or writing tasks. That
is because F. T. Wood firmly believes that rigorous effort in correcting
grammatical errors is more than enough to improve the language of
underachievers.
F. T. Wood is not alone to follow common error - based approach to
remedial teaching. Prof. Yadurajan in his book Current English (2001)
brings out finer distinctions in the use of apparently synonymous words.
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It is really a nice guide for advanced learners. Another useful book
Indian and British English (1979) by Nihalani, Tongue and Hosali
describes systematically errors of Indian learners. The book is not
prescriptive in nature. It only says that the British don’t use certain
expressions that Indians use. However, this handbook is very useful for
the Indians who want to be intelligible abroad. The third book that
compiles errors for remediation is To Err is Human by Govind Vyavahare.
The book lists seventy typical errors of Gujarati learners learning English.
The explanation of errors is both in English and Gujarati and there are
several exercises for practice.
The problem with common-error-based approaches is that they deal
only with grammar and that too selectively. Moreover, in this approach
there is no language exposure through reading or writing.
3.1.5 A Remedial course in English for colleges: Book I, II & III (1981)
OUP
– B. K. Das and A. David
This book is a radical departure from the books that concentrate on
grammatical errors. The authors believe that remediation is not just a
correction, nor is it a cosmetic surgery here and there. For them,
remediation is re-teaching and that re-teaching has to be in a new way.
Their objection to error-based-approach is that it only focuses on what
learners do not know. It demoralizes the learner by telling him that he
does not know this or that. Thus it is negative and may end up
frustrating the learner. Today many learners shy away from English
primarily because their teachers have hammered their failures.
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The authors are also against teaching grammar for the sake of grammar.
They point out that learning grammatical rules does not entail
proficiency in English. The learners can learn grammar rules and they
can do what they are told in a given exercise. But when it comes to
using language in real situation they are at a loss. This shows that only
teaching grammar or only explaining errors does not help. One needs to
show them how this grammar can be put into practice. In other words,
they advocate teaching of grammar in a new way and also suggest that
grammar should make room for reading and writing.
The noteworthy aspect of this course is that it considers confidence
building measures as very important. Underachievers are normally
indifferent or depressed. They consider English as a difficult language-
as something they may never attain. The authors attribute it to the
negative approach of the teachers. They point out that in our existing
system we tend to ignore what they do with English and focus only on
their errors. This should change if we want remediation to be successful.
So this course is positive in approach and tries to improve the learner at
his pace.
The remarkable feature of this book is that it takes care of language
exposure. Practising language with isolated sentences is not enough. In
fact, it does not help. One needs to listen to some English or read
something in English so that s/he can express his/her views or pass on
information and thus get opportunities to use English. The authors have
prepared excellent reading materials for learners. This text can be used
for a number of language activities.
The course has integrated good features of different approaches to
make it effective. For example, like the traditional approach it also
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explains grammatical rules. Grammar is discussed in all the chapters.
Like the structural approach it also contains a number of fill-in-the-
blanks or replacement exercises. And using the communicative language
teaching approach they have given open- ended exercises.
All the three books in the course are well-planned, integrated and
graded. Book I contains several narratives. There are stories and
anecdotes to sustain the interest of learners. Book II has more
challenging passages. Book III is still advanced. It contains literary texts
and demands better responses.
All the three books have the same design. They all begin with a reading
passage. The passage is followed by a glossary. Students are supposed
to refer to it for better comprehension of the text. Then there are a
number of exercises dealing with reading comprehension, grammar and
vocabulary. The last exercise is normally communicative.
Each book has proper guidelines for the teachers. The authors have
their own convictions and they believe that the books can be profitably
used if certain things are kept in mind. For example, they clearly point
out that the teacher should not do everything for the class. S/he should
not volunteer to give meanings of new words. S/he should persuade the
students to guess the meanings. Even while getting the responses, s/he
should not quickly give the answer. S/e should allow them to think.
Thus the learner is required to struggle, work through the materials. The
teacher has to encourage him to talk, discuss, read and write. The
teacher should give him/her the freedom to express his/her opinion.
Thus the classroom should have a democratic set up.
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The books are rich in terms of the topics and the exercises. The topics
are appealing to the interest and taste of the learners. The exercises
also have a wide range. In Book I, simple exercises like ‘Say whether the
following statements are true or false’ or ‘choose the best answer out of
the possible answers given’ or ‘fill in the blanks’ are found. In Book III,
however, the exercises are more challenging. For example, Answer the
following questions. You should be able to find reason for your answers.
For vocabulary, there are exercises like this – Rewrite each of the
sentences below using the word or phrases given in brackets. The first
sentence has been worked out.
1. He was an intelligent boy, but he failed in the test. (in spite of)
(In spite of being an intelligent boy he failed in the test).
The books contain a number of controlled communicative tasks. For
example,
Imagine that you are a farmer’s younger son, and tell the story in
your own words, using the outline given below. Use one word
for each blank space. (The outline gives only a part of the story).
My brother and … lived on a farm with ….. father. We ….. him to
look after ….. we were very …. together.
To conclude, it can be said that this is a balanced course where all the
skills are integrated. It is not just a ‘touching up’ operation. It seeks to
re-teach the language in an effective way. It takes care of learners’
psychology by boosting their morale and by appreciating their all round
progress. The choice of materials and exercises is excellent encouraging
the learners to work on their own. However, this course does not
recognize the significance of L1 and its use for remedial purposes.
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3.1.6 Translation (1989) OUP
- Alan Duff
Realizing the potential of translation as a teaching technique, Alan Duff
proceeds to show how it can be exploited maximally in SL classroom. In
his introduction to ‘Translation’ he says, ‘Translation develops three
qualities essential to language learning: accuracy, clarity and flexibility.
It trains the learner to search (flexibility) for the most appropriate words
(accuracy) to convey what is meant (clarity). Translation is not a new
thing. In fact, it was a major resource of learning in the medieval ages.
It was always associated with grammar. And since grammar was thrown
out of the classes in the 20th century translation also became unpopular.
The structural and communicative approach does not recommend the
use of L1 in the classroom mainly because it deprives the learner of
second language exposure. This implies translation has no place in the
English class. Translation also earned a bad name because teachers used
it mechanically as a shortcut to learning.
Alan Duff points out that translation - based tasks should be used in the
class because translation is a natural process. When one speaks or
writes in L2, s/he is engaged in a continuous process of translation.
Again in multilingual contexts, translation is very useful. Mass media
uses different languages at different levels. In India, we have a news
bulletin in Hindi, English and almost all local languages. Advertisements,
signboards, announcements use different languages. Moreover,
translation is a useful technique in the class. Authentic materials, such
as, translated stories, advertisements, instructions, printed forms etc.
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are easily available. Teachers can put them to good use. With
translation, one can have group work. Before translating, learners can
have oral discussion in small groups. There are always options in
translation and justifying a particular choice can always lead to good
discussion. Moreover, translation is a two way process. The learner has
to operate two languages and eventually s/he masters both the
languages. Finally, translation creates awareness of both accuracy and
appropriateness. While translating, learners get the feel of registers and
styles. They come to know which word fits in which contexts.
Having made a case for translation Alan Duff goes on describing different
tasks to teach grammatical structures. The book is divided into five
sections, each dealing with a particular area. For example, section I
deals with context and register while section II deals with word order
and reference. In each section, there are a number of units. For
example, for context and register; there are eight units describing
different activities such as context clues, matching pairs, implications
etc. These activities are organized in three parts: 1. Preparation 2. In
class and 3. Comments. In ‘Preparation’, the teacher is required to
design some materials or tasks. ‘In class’ describes procedure of
conducting the task. And ‘Comments’ indicate ‘outcome’ or other
possibilities. As a sample, one activity is given below:
Word Play
Preparation
1. Make a selection of ten to twelve titles (books, films, plays, etc.) and
or advertising slogans. These should be titles or slogans that can be
easily understood. If you wish, add a short explanation, for example.
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Man watching – a book on human behaviour. The task sheet for this
activity gives suitable examples.
2. Make up a similar task sheet and prepare enough copies for
everyone in the class.
In class
1. Divide the students in groups of four. Ask them to imagine that the
book, film, or product is to be distributed in their country. Each group
should suggest translation for the titles or slogans.
2. After discussion, the group offers their suggestions to the
whole class.
Comments – This is a useful warming up (or cooling down!) activity. It
should be kept short, that is, to ten or fifteen minutes at the most. Ask
the students to keep their eyes open for other examples which could be
used in later classes.
Task Sheet – Below is a selection of titles of books, films, TV
programmes, and advertising slogans. Imagine in each case that the
book, product, or programme is to be distributed in your country.
Suggest how the title or slogan could be rendered in your own
language. (Feel free to use your imagination)
1. A Taste of India
(Title of an illustrated book on Indian cooking)
2. Johnny Walker – Born 1820, and still going strong
(Advertisement for Johnny Walker Whisky)
3. The Heart of the Dragon
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(Title of a TV documentary on China)
4. Take the Money and Run
(Title of a film – a farce, with Woody Allen as an
unsuccessful crook, who repeatedly ends up in jail.
Alan Duff thus shows that an enlightened teacher can use translation
profitably in the class. Its senseless use can be avoided and interesting
challenging communicative tasks can be designed to hone the skills of SL
learners.
3.1.7 An Interactive Grammar of Modern English (1999) Frank Bros &
Co.
- Shivendra K Verma, Hemalata Nagarajan
Both the authors are from English and Foreign Languages University
(EFLU), earlier known as Central Institute of English and Foreign
Languages, Hyderabad. Like most remedial textbooks, this book is also
designed to help tertiary level students to improve and extend the range
of their communication skills in English. As the title itself suggests, the
main objective of this book is to teach grammar. But through grammar,
the authors want the learners to attain reading, writing and speaking
skills. Thus the purpose of teaching grammar is not academic but it is
used more as a means to achieve the goal of communication. It is a
grammar book that helps a learner interact in English.
This book is different from error-based texts. It deals with grammar in a
comprehensive manner. The book has covered almost all the
grammatical points needed for communication. In F. T. Wood’s book,
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only problem-areas are found or in Nihalani’s book on Indian & British
English the inventory of errors only is found. This book attempts to re-
teach complete grammar. Moreover, it seeks to highlight error-prone
areas. Thus the book is an improvement on earlier remedial works.
The book has a fresh approach to grammar. The authors believe that
conceptual clarity can help learners master the language. Hence there is
a detailed discussion of grammatical structures. The book shows
relationship between functions and structures. For example, describing
present habits is a function and it goes with the structure – the simple
present or giving orders is connected with imperatives. Thus the
grammar aims at developing ‘correctness’ and ‘appropriateness’ in the
language of learners.
One more salient feature of this book is its production section. In this
section, learners are given opportunities to use language on their own.
They are invited to imagine, evaluate, guess, compare, analyse, sort out
etc. This is the most crucial part of learning: applying rules of grammar
in proper contexts. This is where our learners fail. The authors have
understood it and made amends by designing a number of useful tasks
with rich variety.
This book does not make use of L1 either for explanation or instruction.
Nor does it use translation as a teaching technique.
There are five chapters in the book, each woven around a semantic
category. For example, Chapter 2 deals with the processes, activities and
states. Under this chapter, there are seven units, each dealing with sub
semantic category. For example, Unit 2 deals with describing past habits
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while Unit 4 deals with talking about actions in progress. As pointed out
earlier, the contents show which functions go with which structures.
Each unit is designed systematically. The unit begins with some reading
material. It may be a poem, a dialogue, a narrative or even an
advertisement. It is interesting and related to the teaching point. For
example, Unit 1 begins with a poem on Lord Krishna named ‘Kanayya’. It
describes Krishna’s habit of teasing milk maids. This beautiful poem is by
Sarojini Naidu. It not only motivates the learner but also brings home
the message that the simple present tense is used to indicate present
habits. Thus students are taken from a real language to language
structure.
The reading material leads to the discussion of grammatical points. The
structure is explained using tables, charts, pictures etc. For example, the
following sentence is explained using a diagram.
By next year, I will have been learning French for nine years.
1991 Now ` 2000
1999
Started Learning French
Grammar presentation is followed by ‘Mind your language’ section. It
deals with those areas where learners are prone to go wrong. The
section lists a few erroneous sentences and explains why they are
wrong.
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For example,
* The man came yesterday is my brother.
The man who came yesterday is my brother.
Explanation - It is possible to omit the relative pronoun if it is in an
object position in the relative clause. However, it is not possible to
omit the relative pronoun from the subject position.
The error section is followed by practice. It contains ‘fill in the blanks’
exercises. But there are also activities with the element of function. For
example, a game called ‘What have you been up to?’ . Each student in
class acts out something. The others have to guess what you have been
doing till then. For example,
Guess – you have been running / jogging / exercising
The last section is production in which learners are given some topic,
some props and they are asked to work through a task. For example,
there is a match-making agency called ‘Made for each other’ which
provides the right partner according to one’s taste/liking. Write a
letter to this agency, describing yourself and indicating how the man/
woman of your dreams should be. A sample letter is provided below:
In conclusion, we can say that ‘production’ is the best part of the book
many creative teachers are like to get inspired to design similar
communicative tasks.
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3.2 Review of Past Studies
Kumar (2009) states that a large part of review of literature actually
needs to be done even before the research projects are formalized. This
is essential to make sure that the researches are not repeating the work
that someone has already done earlier. Sometimes, if the research has
already been undertaken earlier, then it provides an option of modifying
the work by adding a new perspective or altering some of the methods
of research to obtain a perspective that will be different from earlier
works and thus more valuable. Occasionally, the work may be exact
repetition of the work done earlier, but with a different set of data or
sources of facts, and purpose of the research may just be seen if the
results are similar to earlier works.
Review of related literature “provides ideas, theories, explanations or
hypotheses valuable in formulating the problem” (Phumphuang 2012, p.
61). It also suggests methods of research appropriate to the problem, to
locate comparative data useful in the interpretation of results and to
contribute to the general scholarship of the researcher. Review of
related literature has its own value in the sense that it allows the
researcher to have encounters with differences in opinions,
contradictory findings and conclusions.
In this section, the researcher has presented brief reviews of some
research studies and scholarly articles in the areas of use of multimedia
materials, video instructional materials, remedial teaching, error
analysis, teaching of grammar and computer assisted language learning
(CALL). Studies reviewed by researcher cover the studies conducted in
and outside India. They focus mainly on use of multimedia and CALL
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materials for English language teaching and learning, and not on
teaching of Science, Social Studies, Mathematics, History, Statistics or
such other subjects at different levels. However, there are a couple of
studies in this section that talk about the use of information and
communication technology for general purposes.
3.2.1 Studies Conducted in India
Study 1
Karandikar (1996) developed video instructional package to teach Diet
to the students of Standard VIII and studied its effectiveness in terms of
achievement. Tools used for the data collection were:
Junior Index of Motivation Scale
Socio-economic Status Scale
Anxiety Scale
Achievement Test
Major findings of the study were:
There was a significant difference between mean achievement of
Higher SES and lower SES group of students studied through Video
Instructional Package.
There was a significant difference between mean achievements of
male students studied through Video Instructional Package.
There was a significant difference in mean achievement on
immediate retention test of students belonging to experimental
and control group.
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Study 2
Zyoud (1999) studied the development of Computer Assisted English
Language Teaching for VIII standard students. The major objectives of
the study were:
To develop a Computer Assisted English language teaching
program for standard VIII Gujarati medium students.
To study the effectiveness of the Computer Assisted English
language teaching program on students achievement in terms of
Vocabulary grammar and comprehension by taking pre test and
IQ covariate.
To study the effectiveness of the Computer Assisted English
language teaching program on the experimental group students’
achievement of all above mentioned with respect to their
intelligence, motivation and attitude.
For the development of the software package, four lessons were
selected based on the opinion of teachers and students regarding
difficulty level of these lessons and the difficulty of teaching them. After
selecting lessons, content analysis was carried out.
Students studying in standard VIII Gujarati medium were taken from two
schools to serve as the sample for the study. Students of one school i.e.
Rosary School, Baroda formed the experimental group and student of
the other school i.e. GEB school, Baroda formed the control group. The
tools used in the pilot study were also used in the final experiment
namely pre test, Raven’s progressive matrices sets A, B, C, D and E
(Raven, 1960). Junior Index of motivation by Frimer (1970) and
translated into Gujarati by Dr. Desai (1970) and post test. To study
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attitude of the students towards the package the researcher developed
and administrated an attitude scale on the experimental group only after
the final experiment.
The findings show that when the computer is used to its full potential, it
can create an atmosphere where the students can learn and interact
with the computer without being afraid of the teacher’s presence. The
computerized exercise can help the student become familiar with
significant amount of vocabulary, grammar and comprehension because
it provides effective individualized instruction.
Study 3
Jain (2002) studied IGNOU Teleconferencing for Distance Learning. The
major objectives of the study were:
To analyse teleconferencing programmes of IGNOU subjects in
terms of contents, methods, media and modes.
To study the effectiveness of teaching the distance learners
through teleconferencing in terms of mean achievement scores.
To study the view of IGNOU personnel involved in planning,
production, co-ordination, and implementation stages of IGNOU
teleconferencing programmes.
The major findings were:
Very few participants were found attending the teleconferencing
programmes. Usually the participants were found attending the
programmes attentively.
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Participants waiting to ask questions seemed more interested in
the programmes.
It was found that the time allotted for the talkback session usually
was not enough.
Some learners having vernacular background expressed
apprehension about the comprehensibility of the programmes.
Study 4
Shah (2005) studied ICT Awareness, Use and Need of Secondary and
Higher Secondary Teachers of English Medium Schools of Vadodara City.
The major objectives of his study were:
To study the ICT awareness of secondary and higher secondary
school teachers.
To study the ICT use of secondary and higher secondary school
teachers.
To study the ICT need of secondary and higher secondary school
teachers.
To study the variables related with the ICT awareness of
secondary and higher secondary school teachers.
To study the variables related with the ICT use of secondary and
higher secondary school teachers.
To study the variables related with the ICT need of secondary and
higher secondary school teachers.
Findings of the study showed that there was a low degree of awareness
of secondary and higher secondary school teachers in computer,
internet, and other components of ICT. It also shows that there was a
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low level of usage of ICT resources by the secondary and higher
secondary school teachers.
Study 5
Panchal (2006) developed and tried out self-learning materials in English
subject on the unit of ‘Active and Passive Voice’ for the Students of
Standard-XII. The study incorporated a total of 44 objectives. The Self-
Learning Material on the topic of Active and Passive was well developed.
Experimental Group - Control Group pre-test post-test design, as well as,
single group pretest post-test design were employed for the Study. A
sample of 192 students was drawn using compatible sampling
techniques. Two pre-experimental groups were constituted, each having
32 students, one from rural area, whereas, the other one from urban
area, wherein, the sample units were duly distributed as science stream
and general stream, boys and girls. Similarly, one experimental group
and one control group were constituted from urban area, whereas,
another set of experimental and control groups was constituted from
rural area, each having 32 students distributed fairly stream-wise and
gender-wise.
The data were gathered and analysed systematically using t-test,
ANOVA, ANCOVA, and Chi-square. Desai Verbal and Non-Verbal Group
Intelligence Test, and the Sub-Criterion Tests, Main Criterion Test, and
Opinionnaire constructed by the researcher were used for the Study.
The characteristics of all the tools used for the study were well
established.
The Study arrived at quite meaningful findings as follows:
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Students were found to have well understood Simple Tense, Continuous
Tense, Perfect Tense, Simple Modal Auxiliaries, Perfect Modal
Auxiliaries, Infinitive, Participle, Active and Passive Voice, Causal
Construction and Imperative Sentence through self learning material as
evident through the pre-test and post-test status through mean
achievement on respective sub-criterion tests.
For both the schools of rural and urban areas, learning through Self-
Learning Material and Traditional Teaching was found almost equal on
Simple Tense, Continuous Tense, Perfect Tense, Simple Modal
Auxiliaries, Perfect Modal Auxiliaries and participle, as no significant
difference has been reported on the mean gain scores. No significant
difference was found in the mean scores on Learning on Infinitive
through Self Learning Material in urban areas, whereas, it was found
significant in rural areas. No significant difference was found in the mean
scores on Learning on causal construction through Self Learning Material
in rural areas, whereas, it was found significant in urban areas.
Learning of Active and Passive Voice through Self Learning Material was
reported significantly greater in urban as well as rural areas as compared
to that of control groups. The Self-Learning Material had a greater
impact on the students of General Stream than that of the Science
Stream. The Self-Learning Material had a greater impact on the students
of urban area than that of the rural area. Gender, level of IQ and the
interaction between the gender and level of IQ had no significant effect
on the mean achievement of the students on Active and Passive Voice
learnt through Self-Learning Materials. The self-learning material had a
better impact on boys than girls. The students gave favourable opinion
on the self-learning material.
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Study 6
Shikhare (2007) developed a Multimedia Instructional System on
Educational Technology for B.Ed Pupil Teachers. Major objectives of the
study were:
To analyze the conventional approach of teaching Educational Teaching.
To plan Multimedia Instructional System for Educational Technology.
To design and construct Multimedia Instructional System on Educational Technology.
To test the effectiveness of constructed Multimedia Instructional System.
The researcher designed a Multimedia Instructional System (MIS) on the
bases of gathering data from all the teacher educators (50) teaching ET
in 26 Colleges of Education affiliated to Shivaji University, Kolhapur
University and Solapur University, Solapur through a questionnaire
constructed by him, and interviews with 20% (10) randomly selected
teacher-educators out of these. In this research experimental design was
employed. The characteristics of all the tools constructed for the study,
namely, Questionnaire, Evaluation Forms, and Achievement test were
well established. The data has been analyzed with the help of
appropriate statistical and non – statistical techniques. F-test and t-test
have been used for data analysis. The major findings of the study were:
The present setting of Teaching of Educational Technology in B.Ed
Colleges is unsatisfactory for learning of Pupil-Teacher.
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An instructional system for ET instruction through multimedia
technology can be planned, design and constructed.
There is no significant difference between the performance of
Pupil Teachers of Control and Experimental Group.
Study 7
Vyavahare (2007) conducted a study on preparation and try-out of a
remedial course in English for graduate learners who make glaring errors
in writing.
The main objectives of the study were:
1. To design a pre-test to determine and select students who had low
proficiency in English.
2. To introduce teaching of formal grammar to promote conceptual
clarity among the learners.
3. To use the mother tongue of learners to establish rapport and to
facilitate learning of L2.
4. To use reading materials and activities that were intellectually
appealing and catching the fancy of adult learners.
5. To evolve techniques that would promote learner autonomy and
thereby enhance learner confidence.
6. To design research tools to get feedback from experts and learners.
7. To construct a post-test to find out the learning outcome.
The pre-test was well designed on grammar, vocabulary, reading
comprehension and writing. The characteristics of all the tools used for
the study were well established. The experiment was conducted on 27
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Students. The data were suitably analyzed through t-test. The remedial
course was found significantly effective. A highly significant
improvement in Grammar and Writing Skills was observed but there was
no significant improvement in Vocabulary and Reading Skills.
He used different tools like the questionnaire, personal interviews,
observation comments of the experts and feedback by the student. The
major findings of the study were:
1. The group was homogeneous culturally- one State, one language, one
culture. Socially however, it was heterogeneous- different regions,
different castes, and different economic conditions. The use of English
was rather less in those areas. The students were weak in all the areas-
speech, grammar, writing, spelling and even in reading. They were
acutely aware of their inability to speak fluently and accurately in
English. Gaps in the teaching styles and learning styles were found. Most
of the students wanted student-student and student-teacher interaction
instead of the conventional teacher-student interaction.
2. The motivation of the students for attending the remedial course was
fairly high.
3. Teacher’s attitude and involvement in teaching was up to the mark.
4. The reading materials were adequate and meaningful for the
students. However, the use of teaching aids was minimal. Teacher could
have used some aids to enhance student motivation.
5. The speech and writing tasks were found quite appreciable.
6. The learners were excited about the use of communicative tasks.
Except, initial inhibitions, the students increasingly participated
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enthusiastically and talked on the spot. The researcher motivated the
learners using L1 and interesting materials.
7. The error correction technique was found to have a positive impact on
the learners. Peer prompting also helped error reduction.
8. Students were found to react positively towards the Remedial
Program. Their feedback was quite satisfying.
Study 8
Patel (2009) studied the development and Implementation of CAI to
teach English grammar to standard VIII student in different modes. The
objectives of the study were:
To develop the CAI to teach English Grammar to Standard VIII
Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Board (GS & HSEB)
students in different modes (only CAI, CAI with repetition, CAI
with discussion)
To study the effectiveness of the developed CAI in different
modes in terms of students’ achievement in English Grammar.
To study the effectiveness of the developed CAI in terms of the
reactions of students.
To study the relative effectiveness of the developed CAI in
different modes of presentation (only CAI, CAI with repetition, CAI
with discussion) in terms of differences in the adjusted post-test
mean achievement of the student in English Grammar.
The sample of the present study was selected purposively. For it two
schools of Vadodara district namely, Bright day school and Kelvani
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school during the academic year 2008-09 were selected. From the
selected schools, 26 students of standard VIII of only one division VIII-A
of Kelvani School were taken as the Control group and 62 students of
standard VIII of Bright day school were treated as the experimental
group.
The required data were collected with the help of pre-test, post-test and
reaction scale which were constructed by the researcher. In between
pre-test and post-test, the researcher implemented the intervention
program in the form of CAI package for ten days for two hours per day
on the experiment groups and control group was taught the same topics
by their teacher. After the implementation of that, the researcher
administered the post-test after the span of fifteen days and the
reactions of the students, based on teaching with CAI and the developed
CAI itself were taken. The data were collected in three phase.
One of the major findings of the research was that the achievement of
the students in English Grammar taught through CAI was found
significantly higher than that of the students taught through traditional
method. Another finding was that the achievement of the students
taught through only CAI was found significantly higher in English
Grammar than that of the students taught through traditional method. It
was also found that the achievement of the students taught through CAI
with repetition and CAI with Discussion was found significantly higher
than the achievement of the students who were taught through
traditional method. Another very important finding was that from the
three modes of the presentation of this CAI, the mode i.e. teaching
through CAI with discussion was found significantly superior in
comparison to other two modes.
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Study 9
Gohil (2012) worked on preparation and tryout of multimedia materials
to enhance communication skills of ESL students at the UG level in digital
language laboratory. The study was a one group pre-test post-test
experimental research design. The purpose of the study was to establish
the effect of the multimedia materials on communication skills. A total
of twenty students of first year Arts and Commerce streams participated
in the experiment. Tools used by the researcher were a pre-test, a post-
test and a self evaluation checklist. t-test was applied for analyzing the
data. Major findings of the study were:
The multimedia package had been effective in enhancing listening
and reading skills of the participants.
The multimedia package had been equally effective on male and
female participants.
The multimedia package had been equally effective on the
participants belonging to the Arts and Commerce streams.
The multimedia materials had similar and equal effect on the
participants irrespective of the participants’ socio-economic
status.
The confidence and motivation of the participants was elevated
significantly at the end of the experiment.
Most of the participants enjoyed the lesson design that had a
combination of CALL, individual, group and pair work tasks.
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Study 10
Hiradhar (2012) studied the effectiveness of technology enabled
language enhancement program to develop the written communication
skills of ESL learners at tertiary level. The study was a one group pre-test
post-test experimental research design. The participants of the study
constituted of an intact group of first year university students who took
the common English course, English for Communication II at Lingnan
University, Hongkong. Out of the 41 students who participated in the
program, twenty six were BBA major and fifteen were Arts and Science
majors. The program was administered over a period of ten weeks. Pre-
test, post-test and an online questionnaire for survey were used as tools
for data collection. ANOVA and t-test were applied for the
interpretation of data gathered. Major findings of the study were:
The technology enabled program could develop written
communication skills in the various components of written
communication skills.
The program was equally effective for both male and female
participants.
The program was equally effective among various academic
disciplines of the study was carried out.
Participants liked the use of technology for language practice.
Study 11
Phumphuang (2012) studied the effectiveness of computer assisted
instruction on learning achievement in career and technology subject for
tenth grade students. To fulfill the purpose of the research, pre-
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experimental research (single one group, pre-test – post-test design) was
employed. The number of participants was thirty seven. The sample of
the study was tenth grade students of Sripuetta School, Bangkok,
Thailand. They were selected randomly. The learning management plan
on career and technology subject taught by the Computer Assisted
Instruction (CAI) title ‘Multi-Meter’ for tenth grade students, the
achievement test and the scale which measured the students’ opinions
pertaining to the Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) title ‘Multi-Meter’
were used as the research instruments.
On the bases of the results of the study, it could be concluded that
Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) proved as more effective method to
enhance the learning achievement (knowledge and understanding,
competencies, and desired characteristics) in career and technology
subject of tenth grade students. It was observed that Computer Assisted
Instruction (CAI) did effect on the learning achievement as it tested for
its significant difference between the pre-test – post-test scores of
learning achievements. One of the major findings of this research was
that the students preferred Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) lessons
over the traditional presentation approach. They enjoyed learning new
materials from Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI).
3.2.2 Studies Conducted Abroad
Study 1
Dalton and Hannafin (1986) studied Effectiveness of Video-Only, CAI
Only, and Interaction Video Instructional Systems on learning
performance and attitude. Based on present scores, students were
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randomly assigned to the three treatment group. At the conclusion of a
lesson on general shop safety rules, students were given a print-based
post-test and a survey to assess their attitudes toward the instruction.
Analysis consisted of a completely crossed 3X2X2 treatment by
achievement by sex factorial design, featuring three levels of prior
achievement. The means for the treatment groups on the performance
measure were 64.98, 73.54 and 70.48 percentage for the video, CAI, and
interactive video treatments respectively; attitude scale means
measured 75.07, 74.26 and 82.87 percentage for the video, CAI, and
interactive video treatment respectively. Results indicated that CAI alone
tends to be the most effective instructional delivery system where the
additional capability provided by interactive video is not required.
However, interactive video instruction did produce significant
improvements in the attitudes of low ability learners when compared
with CAI and video.
Study 2
Beber (2001) designed flexible computer-based learning package
available on CDROM to teach students about the social and political
dimensions of environmental issues. It contains resource material that
can be used by the lecturers in a large theatre, including video clip,
sound recording and overhead projection slides. The major objective of
the study was to develop and implement a teaching concept which
would assist students to attain a deeper understanding and an ability to
critically analyze the social dimensions of environmental issues. The
major achievement of the study was that CDROM was highly successful
and it was general enough to be transferable for use by other lectures in
other institutions who taught similar subject.
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Study 3
Naba’h (2009) investigated the effect of computer assisted language
learning in teaching English grammar on the achievement of secondary
students in Jordan. The sample of the study consisted of (212) students
distributed randomly on four experimental groups and four control
groups. The instruments of the study were an instructional software
program for teaching the passive voice and an achievement test. An
Analysis of covariance was used to find out the effect of the instructional
program on the students’ achievement in the passive voice. The general
aims of this study are the following:
Developing an instructional program for teaching a grammatical
item of English language which is the passive voice, and
Investigating its effect on developing students' achievement in
English grammar.
Four public schools were purposefully chosen from the Educational
Directorate in Zarqa for convenience. In addition, the schools were
equipped with computer labs. Consequently, students were supposed to
have previous experience in using software. The sample of the study
consists of (212) first secondary students assigned randomly to eight
sections. Four sections were randomly assigned to the experimental
group (scientific, literary males and scientific, literary females); each
section consists of (20) students selected and assigned randomly, and
four assigned to the control group (scientific males (20 students), literary
males (27 students), scientific females (45 students) and literary females
(40 students)). The experimental groups were taught the passive voice
via computer while the control groups were taught the same
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grammatical item by the traditional method. The sample students were
chosen from Al-Zarqa Directorate of Education.
An Analysis of covariance was used to find out the effect of the
instructional program on the students’ achievement in the passive voice.
The findings of the study revealed that:
1. There were statistically significant differences (α < 0.05) between the
students' achievement mean scores in grammar attributed to the
instructional method of teaching. This difference is in favor of the
students in the experimental group.
2. There were statistically significant differences (α < 0.05) between the
students' achievement mean scores in grammar attributed to gender.
This difference is in favor of male students.
3. There were statistically significant differences (α < 0.05) between the
students' achievement mean scores in grammar attributed to stream of
study. This difference is in favor of the scientific stream students.
In light of the findings of the study, it was recommended that TEFL
teachers use CAI lessons in their instruction.
Study 4
Naseer and Al-Mansour (2011) investigated the effect of Computer
Assisted Instruction (CAI) on Saudi University Students’ Learning English
at King Saud University. The research was an attempt to study whether
computers in teaching English alongside the traditional method to
university students is significantly different from teaching English
without the aid of computers or not.
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The study was carried out with a sample of sixty students of King Saud
University students following a randomized control group pre-test –
post-test design. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups of
thirty students in each. Each group was assigned randomly to either the
control group or the experimental group. The treatment consisted of
two levels: using computers alongside the traditional method and the
traditional method alone. The experimental group undertook the first
level of the treatment and the second group undertook the second level.
The experimental group used computers three periods of thirty minutes
per week for the eight week duration of the experiment. Both groups
were subjected to a pre-test immediately before the experiment began
and the same test was administered as a post-test at the end of the
experiment. The computer assisted language learning (CALL) was the
major tool of the study. Other tools used were instructional software
developed by the researchers and a twenty item multiple choice test. t-
test and a one way analysis of covariance (ANCONA) were applied as
techniques of data analysis.
The results of the analysis indicated that the use of computers in English
language instruction to the university students had a positive effect on
students’ achievement. It was found that there was a statistically
significant difference between the experimental group and the control
group on the post-test. The achievement of the experimental group,
measured by the difference between the pre-test and the post-test was
significantly better than that of the control group.
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Study 5
Mohaghegh (et al) (2011) in their study entitled ‘Grammatical errors
produced by English majors: The translation task’ investigated the
frequency of the grammatical errors related to the four categories of
preposition, relative pronoun, article, and tense using the translation
task. In addition, the frequencies of these grammatical errors in different
categories and in each category were examined. The quantitative
component of the study further looked at the differences between
literature and translation students in the frequencies in different
categories.
The following research questions guided the study:
What is the frequency of the grammatical errors in the translated
texts?
Are there any significant differences between the frequencies in
different categories?
Are there any significant differences between the frequencies in
each category?
Are there any significant differences between literature and
translation students in the frequencies in different categories?
A total of 60 junior EFL students (30 literature and 30translation), all
studied at Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, participated in this
survey. Four translation tests, three in Persian and one in English, were
given to the participants to investigate the difficulties of the Persian
native speakers learning English. This study showed that the students
had the most number of errors in preposition (100.0%), relative pronoun
(56.7%), article (25.0%), and tenses (6.7%) respectively. The results also
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revealed that there is a statistically significant difference between the
frequencies of the grammatical errors in each category. Furthermore,
there is also a statistically significant difference between literature and
translation students in the frequencies in different categories.
Study 6
Diyyab (et al) (2013) conducted a research on using a multimedia-based
program for developing student teachers’ EFL speaking fluency skills.
The research was guided by the following research questions:
(1) What EFL speaking fluency skills are required for second year
students?
(2) To what extent do second year students master EFL speaking fluency
skills?
(3) What is the form of the multimedia-based program?
(4) What is the effectiveness of using a multimedia-based program in
developing some EFL speaking fluency skills?
The sample of the study comprised thirty students. They were chosen at
random from second year students enrolled in the English section, Sadat
Faculty of Education, Minufiya University, during the first semester of
the 2012- 2013 academic year. The sample represented one group which
was taught using the multimedia-based program. An EFL speaking
fluency test to measure second year students' fluency skills with a rubric
was used as a rating scale in order to fulfill its purpose.
The study sample was taught using the multimedia-based program. The
test was applied to the study sample before using the multimedia-based
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program in order to measure the level of the participants in EFL speaking
fluency skills. Then, the test was re-applied after using the program.
Results of the study revealed that the study sample's EFL speaking
fluency skills were developed after using the program. Accordingly, the
multimedia-based program was found to be effective in developing EFL
speaking fluency skills among second year student teachers.
Study 7
Tsai (2012) studied the integration of multimedia courseware into ESP
instruction for technological purposes in higher technical education.
This study reports on integrating ESP (English for specific purposes)
multimedia courseware for semiconductor technology into instruction of
three different language programs in higher education by using it as a
silent partner. It focuses primarily on techniques and tools to motivate
retention of under-prepared students in an EFL setting. The courseware
design was based on Mayer’s multimedia learning cognitive theory, and
the language learning focus drew on Chapelle’s suggested criteria for
development of multimedia CALL (computer-assisted language learning).
This learner-centered instruction was compared with a traditional
teacher-centered one without courseware integration. Evaluation of the
instruction was based upon data from pre- and post-tests, and two
questionnaires related to students’ learning satisfaction and attitude.
The results suggested that students in all three programs have benefited
from the courseware integration and were satisfied with practices for
learning professional knowledge and English skills provided by the
courseware. Students in the weekend program of recurrent education
who were both older and had greater work experience had a higher
achievement on the posttest, showed better self-discipline, participation
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and motivation, made greater use of the multimedia, and had a better
understanding of teaching goals and professional and English content, so
that they were more competent in the ESP course using the multimedia
courseware. In addition, such a learner-centered instruction with
courseware integration was as good as that with the teacher-centered
one and can offer a potential solution to overcome current problems in
the development of ESP instruction in Taiwan.
3.3 Comprehensive Observations on the Literature Reviewed
On the bases of the 18 studies reviewed by the researcher, the following
observations are made:
Studies conducted in India and abroad mostly focused on
Multimedia, Instructional Package CALL materials and ICT.
Dalton and Hannafin (1986) and Karandikar (1996) have studied
the effectiveness of video instructional package on learning and
attitude and teaching diet at school levels. Majority of studies
have incorporated videos as an important part of the treatments
given. The findings of these studies indicate that use of videos is
enjoyed by the participants and it is found effective at least at
school level.
A research by Jain (2002) went beyond the regular classroom
work. It studied IGNOU teleconferencing programmes of IGNOU
subjects in terms of contents, methods, media and modes. He
observed that learners enjoyed attending such sessions.
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The study conducted by Shah (2005) on ICT Awareness, Use and
Need of Secondary and Higher Secondary Teachers of English
Medium Schools of Vadodara city showed that there was a low
degree of awareness of secondary and higher secondary school
teachers in computer, internet, and other components of ICT.
Panchal (2006), Naba’h (2009) and Patel (2009) studied computer
assisted instructional materials for teaching grammar on
secondary and higher secondary school students. One common
observation among all these studies was that computer assisted
materials were found effective and interesting by the participants.
Phumphuang (2012) tried computer assisted instructional on
learning achievement in career and technology subject for tenth
grade students. One of the major findings of this research was
that the students preferred Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI)
lessons over the traditional presentation approach.
Technology enabled materials, CALL materials and/or multimedia
materials were found effective, useful and appealing by
college/university students as well. This fact was commonly
found in the studies taken up by Naseer and Al-Mansour (2011),
Gohil (2012), Hiradhar (2012), Tsai (2012) and Diyyab (et al)
(2013). Computer assisted (online as well as offline) materials
enhanced the oral and written communication skills of ESL
students and they were also found effective in teaching of
grammar. Beber (2001) designed flexible computer-based learning
package available on CDROM to teach students about the social
and political dimensions of environmental issues. Computers
assisted materials assisted students to attain a deeper
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understanding and an ability to critically analyze the social
dimensions of environmental issues. Therefore, it can be stated
that multimedia/CALL materials have been proved effectual not
only in teaching language but also in other subjects as well.
Mohaghegh (et al) (2011) investigated the frequency of the
grammatical errors related to the four categories of preposition,
relative pronoun, article, and tense using the translation task and
Vyavahare (2007) conducted a study on preparation and try-out of
a remedial course in English for graduate learners who make
glaring errors in writing. These studies observed almost the same
errors made by college/university students as observed by the
investigator in the present study. In the research study conducted
by Vyavahare (2007), a highly significant improvement in
Grammar and Writing Skills was observed but there was no
significant improvement in Vocabulary and Reading Skills. Hence
it can be stated that remedial packages should not focus on many
areas like grammar, vocabulary, reading skills or writing skills at a
time.
3.4 Implications of Reviews Related Literature for the Present
Study
The researcher found that a number of research studies on using CALL
materials, multimedia material and computer assisted instruction have
been taken up at the national and international level. Almost all the
studies found that these materials had a positive effect on learners’
achievement. Hence, the researcher is confirmed that he is not sailing in
a wrong boat. Another thing is that, studies using CALL materials or
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multimedia materials for enhancing reading skills, writing skills, listening
skills and speaking skills at school and/or college levels have been taken
up. CALL materials have also been used for teaching selected
grammatical items but the researcher came across no research study
that prepared and tried out need-based multimedia material for
remedial teaching, to be more precise, in order to remedy the
grammatical errors. Moreover, the present study delivers theme based
units having a harmonious combination of print as well as electronic
media. Last but not the least, the researcher has not come across any
study wherein different types of materials like printed materials i.e.
worksheets, Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) materials i.e.
audio-video clips; power point presentations and language games; all in
an offline mode have been incorporated with view to remedying some
selected grammatical errors. To sum up, it can be stated that the
researcher is on the right track and the present study is unique in that
sense.
3.5 Summary
This chapter discussed a few relevant books, articles and research paper
reviews with a view to exploring the major areas of the present study. It
also included the literature regarding past research studies taken up at
the national and international level concerning the major areas of the
present study. It ended with a brief summary of the observations made
on the reviews of related literature followed by their implications. The
next chapter throws light on the research design and methodology,
preparation and validation of tools, implementation of the multimedia
programme. The next chapter also gives a brief overview of data analysis
and interpretation procedures.