Here goes my second task in the course..I had a great time reviewing this article because I can relate what the researchers are trying to investigate with our education system.. This research is also quite current and I hope I did this task well..=)
The article which was chosen to be reviewed is entitled ‘The Effect of Computer Assisted Language Learning in Teaching English Grammar on the Achievement of Secondary School Students in Jordan’. This article is actually a research on Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and it is taken from The International Arab Journal of Information Technology. It was published on October 2009 in Volume 6, issues no. 4 and it contains altogether 9 pages from page 432 until page 439. Four knowledgeable researchers that are experts in the field of Information and Technology and Education were involved in making this research a success and they are Abdallah Abu Naba’h, Jebreen Hussain, Aieman Al-Omari and Sadeq Shdeifat. Due to the rapid development of the use of computer in our everyday routines, many researchers become aware on the importance and the significance of the use of computer our life. The influence of these over powerful technological tools has permeated all aspects of the educational, business and economic sectors of the world. Since the role of computers is becoming more dominant, computers are also becoming more appealing to the educators due to their huge capabilities and extensive capabilities. Therefore, this research aims at investigating the effectiveness of CALL in teaching English Grammar to the secondary school students in Jordan.
In this section, we will look at a brief summary on what the research is all about. This research aims at investigating the effect of using an instructional software programme of English language on the achievement of the secondary school students in Jordan. It also intends to develop an instructional programme for teaching a grammatical item of English language which is the passive voice. This research also attempts to find out whether there will be any statically significant differences between the students’ achievement mean scores in grammar attributed to the instructional teaching method, stream of study and also the gender of the students. Let us now look into the methodology of the research. This research applies a purposive sampling technique due the fact that four public schools were purposefully chosen form the Educational Directorate in Zarqa. All these schools are equipped with computer facilities and the subjects are supposed to have previous experience of using the software. There are altogether 212 subjects in this research who are distributed randomly on four experimental groups and four control groups. The experimental groups were taught the passive voice via computer while the control groups still used the traditional method of learning passive voice. There were two types of instruments that were used in this research and they were the achievement test and also a software programme on teaching the passive voice. The test is specifically designed by the researchers. It was used as both a pre-test and a post-test in order to find out the impact of using the software on the students’ achievements. There are altogether 30 questions to be answered by the students and they were given about 50 minutes to finish answering the test. What is good about this research is that it also takes into account the students’ previous knowledge on passive voice. Therefore, at the end the researchers will be able to see the impact and the difference of the use of CALL in teaching passive voice by comparing the test results between the experimental and the control group. The reliability coefficient of the test-retest was calculated by using Pearson correlation formula and it was found to be (0.81) which is considered suitable for the objective of this research.
The researchers also successfully developed an instructional program to teach passive voice to the students. The programme was based on Macro-Media Flash Professional Version 6 and it is organized in a very systematic way. It provides model answers for all the exercises given and also immediate feedback to the students. It also takes into consideration many aspects for example the windows, buttons, types of fonts and colours used and it makes sure that the programme is user-friendly.
In terms of analyzing the results of this research, an analysis of covariance was used to find out the effect of using CALL in teaching grammar on the achievement of secondary school students in Jordan. The findings of the research revealed that there were statically 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 experimental group. There were also a statically significance difference (α<0.05) between the students’ achievement mean scores in grammar attributed to gender and this difference in favor of the male students and finally there were also statically significance differences (α<0.05) between the students’ achievement mean scores in grammar attributed to the stream of study and this difference is in favor of the Science stream. Therefore the findings believe that the use of CALL should be recommended in the teaching and learning process.
Findings of the research:
Table 1. Means and standard deviations in the post-test according to the method applied:
Table 2. 3-Way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for students’ achievement in the post-test.
Table 3. Means and standard deviations in the post-test for male and female students
Table 4. Means and standard deviations in the post-test for scientific and literary students
This research can be considered a good and well-done research and it is very interesting for me. From this research I can see how and why the researchers were doing this research and I get to know what they are trying to find out from the research. The language used is very simple, straightforward and easy to understand. This research can also be considered as a very good research because it can be replicated by other researchers. By only reading this research, other researchers will be able to follow step by step on what have been done and need to be done in order to make it a success. All the important section in a research is discussed and explained briefly by the researchers. For example, this research provides a clear objective, research questions, the importance of the study, limitations of the study, good related literature review, the methodology part, the validity and reliability of the instruments and the most important thing is that the researchers were also able to discuss on the findings and give reasonable explanation. In addition, all the findings and statements were supported by current references and it also discusses thoroughly on other findings that are related to this research. The researchers also squeezed and explained everything to the readers on why they did this research and what can others benefit from their findings.
Another reason why I am interested in this research is because it is a quite current research which explains one by one the steps and one pilot study with a group of 25 students was done in order to take care of the reliability of the research. Due to all the reasons given, that is why I would say that this research is well-conducted. This research also has opens my eyes to see the importance of incorporating CALL in the teaching and learning process. This is because due to the findings which believe that English teachers should apply CALL and CAI lessons in their instructions. These findings have also been supported by other related researches.
By looking at the findings of the research, we can see the effectiveness of using CALL to teach grammar and we will be able to implement the same strategies in our education system. If other county has implemented it and succeed, it is not possible that our country too will be able to achieve the same result. We need to realize that computer and technology plays a very important role nowadays and if our country still wants to continue with the old chalk and talk teaching method without any new renovation, we will be left far away our future generation will be at waste. By using CALL in teaching, the learner will be able to work at their own pace. The learner will be able to move freely from one component to another as he or she wishes and according to his or her needs. In other words, CALL programmes cater for individual differences. Students at the same time will be learning in a more efficient and effective way. They learn while they are doing it and using computers makes the learning more interactive and at the same time more fun. The learners will be able to move forward and backward according to their needs and requirements. I know dealing with technology is not easy for some teachers because they are do not have the expertise and skills, but if we never try, we never know. We must never compromise our children’s future and their education. It is hoped that the ministry of education of Malaysia will realize on how crucial and beneficial the implementing of CALL in the teaching and learning process and will do something about it.
Click here for the reference of the article
I really hope that all of you will gain something from this research...Have a great day people..And I would also like to wish all of you 'Selamat Hari Raya'.Maaf Zahir & Batin!! Have a safe journey home...
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