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A Qualitative Investigation Exploring
Taiwanese EFL Teachers’!Perspectives "
on Language Labs
Barry Lee Reynolds
National Central University
Takming University of Science and Technology
Outline
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Outline
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Background!
• Teachers are seeking efficient methods of incorporating
technologies (Salaberry, 2001).
– Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) (Chan & Baskin, 1990; Chan, 1996;
Chan, Hue, Chou, & Tzeng, 2001)
– Natural Language Processing (NLP) (Wible, 2005)
• However, technologies are often introduced without
taking into consideration the teaching contexts (Zhong &
Shen, 2002).
• Teachers become skeptical of any new technologies (Ilter,
2009; Ismail, Almekhlafi, & Al-Mekhlafy, 2010).
Language Lab
• Teachers often encounter difficulties
– when required to conduct classes in a language laboratory
environment (Zhong & Shen, 2002)
• Purpose
– To investigate the current language lab and learning ecology at
one university in Taiwan to determine what direction should be
taken in the refurbishment of these labs.
– To understand the emotions of these teachers, a
phenomenological approach (Smith, 2008; Thomas, 2005) was taken
to investigate how the required use of language labs had
affected the teachers and their teaching.
Outline
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Methodology & Subjects!
• Methodology
– Phenomenological observation and interview techniques (Smith,
2008; Thomas, 2005)
• Subjects
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Data Analysis
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Outline
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Focus group
• What should a language lab be?
– Easy to incorporate both digital and paper based resources
– Technologies contain the functions that teachers really need
– Allowing more general use, such as teaching listening/speaking/
reading/writing
– An environment that enables nature conversation practice
– Easy to incorporate Blackboard system or other software
packages
– A qualified IT person (referring to another university)
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Contrasting views of !
participant groups!
• Different attitudes toward the language lab while in
different contexts
– In focus group discussion: saying they “love” of current language
labs
– In individual interview: no teachers wanting the current labs to
stay exactly the same
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Language lab observation
1. Still using VHS tape to play a video for the students
2. Needing to rewind the tape to a certain section
3. The university had purchased a series of lectures but
never converted to DVD format
4. The teacher still used the classroom whiteboard
èTechnology seemed to play the role of distributing
contents instead of enhancing language learning.
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Outline
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Limitation
1. Limited time of collecting data
2. Unable to interview all the teachers that used the
language labs for teaching
– It would be interesting to explore the point of view from the
students.
Implications
1. Teachers who are fully trained and prepared to use a
lab will have little problems with the lab if it is reliable.
2. It is suggested to hire an IT person to reduce the fears
of teachers that need to use such labs.
3. Facilities need to be updated.
4. The LC should provide an electronic podium with a
powerful desktop computer allowing for individual
content creation.
5. A language lab should offer easy transition between
individual and group-based tasks.
Future Work
1. Expansion of the focus group by including researchers
from the fields of:
– Learning and Instruction
– Computer Science
– Cognitive Neuroscience
– Networked Learning Technologies
2. Encouraging research conducted
– In the newly-created labs
– By the language teachers that use these labs
3. Adapting the advice gained from this study for
subsequent decision-making process
Thanks for your attention.