Monday, February 9, 2009
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Implementing Call in the Malaysian secondary classroom
2.It help a lot in terms of making the lesson more comprehensive and understandable.
3.The advantages are students will be prepared with ICT skills for their future,students will
be updated with the latest information,work will be easier and faster.the disadvantages are time consuming to prepare the equipments,costly,and need to equip the students with the skills first before utilizing ict in classroom.
4.The cost,the mentality of our students and the acceptance from the society
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Global Warming!!!
Time : 40 minutes
Aims : To practice listening skill and at the same time learning about the earth current condition.
Technical Requirements:
One computer for a student with a good Internet connection and a web browser. The computers must be able to stream videos and equipped with headphones.
Website:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJAbATJCugs
Preparation:
1. Get the video from you tube for the students to view it.
2. Make sure that the students know how to use email( will be an advantage for the teacher).
3. It would be better to check on the computers so that they are in a good condition.
Procedure:
1. Teacher starts the class by asking the students about their awareness towards the earth current condition.
2. Teacher explains about the earth current condition which is "dying".
3. Teacher mentions that the earth is hampered by a sickness called "Global Warming".
4. In order to make it more understandable, teacher asks the students to watch a video about global warming.
5. Teacher ask the students to browse this website http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJAbATJCugs to watch the video.
6. Once the students are done watching the video, teacher asks the students to write a short essay about global warming and how they feel about it by using Microsoft Word.
7. As a tool to help the students, they are asked to watch the video again.
8. Students are asked to listen attentively and watch the video repeatedly in order to get the points regarding global warming
9. After they are done with the essays, teacher asks the students to e-mail the essays to the teacher.
10.Before ending the class, teacher recaps the lesson by asking the class about their perceptions towards global warming.
11.Teacher ends the class.
Follow up:
Teacher asks the students to find the effects on global warming for the next class activity.
"Father of The Nation", Gandhi
Gandhi was born in Porbandar, India, on October 2nd 1869. His father died when he was still a teenager. At the age of 13 he married Kasturba Gandhi who was three years younger and the marriage lasts for 62 years until her death in 1944.
As a young man Gandhi left India to study law in London. Then he spent two decades working in South Africa securing rights for Indian expatriates. It was during this time that his political reform through non-violence which he called Satyagraha was born. This movement meant resistance of tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa, total non violence, which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. This way, when he returned to India, Mohandas Gandhi emerged as a political and religious leader in the fight for independence from Great Britain and was accorded the country's Father of the Nation. India freed itself from Britain on August 15th, 1947. Five months later, on January 25th, 1948 Gandhi was shot by a conservative Hindu.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
http://www.livemocha.com/learn/English
Q 1: Who are the users the website/websites is/ are targeting?
A: The website target users starting from young learners to adult learners. The learners are thought from the very beginning which is the basic to advance level. This can be seen from the steps shown in the website. As for beginners, pictures are given to show example. Lessons are given at first place than followed by exercises. Students will be able to proceed to the next level once they have mastered each level. This will give learners chance especially those who wants to learn English as their second language.
Q 2: What sorts of things are the application users expected to do with regards to learning and using (or even manipulating) the content?
A: This website is very simple, interesting and offers free resources for English learning. All the users have to do is sign in as member since it’s free. Next go choose the language that you want to learn and from there on you are entitled to choose your which level would you like to enroll in. it’s very interesting indeed I would say because it provides interactive learning process. Once you are done with one particular lesson, users will be given marks according to their performance. The magical happen with one simple click which is sign in.
Q 3: What sorts of computer skills are the application users expected to have in order to operate/ access / use the application?
A: There’s no specific computer skills needed in order to operate this website. Yet, basic computer skills such as understanding on how to use the mouse, browsing the internet, are needed in order to fully utilize the website. Others, I would say it’s not required to do so as the simplicity portrayed on the website doesn’t require the users to be highly sophisticated.
Q 4: While you are "playing/assessing/ accessing" the website(s), does it remind you of anything you do (or have done) is a classroom, or with a teacher, or with fellow classmate, or in self-study?
A: Well yes it does remind me of something when I was in school back in the days. We were thought by looking at the pictures then followed by exercises. It works effectively though as visual gives a lot of impact when we were kids. Next I remember teaching my students on mocking. Well in the website you are thought listening skill too. Whereby the narrator will say the sentence and should be followed by the listeners. Young aged students love mocking due to some reasons. It works eventually and I’m very convinced that it may work again in future.
Q 5: What setting will the website(s) best used in: independent study lab with no teacher available, lab associated with a class, a teacher-led with one or a few computers?
A: I would suggest that this website can be used as both; the website can be used in a lab associated with class as well as a teacher-led class with one or few computers. This website has many features and students need to be guided and supervised by their teacher so that they can focus on the online exercises (such as pronunciation exercises). It can be done independently whereby the users can explore the website individually, in a group at school or at home. But I would say that it’s best for learners to use it independently since it’s not that complicated unless if the users are computer illiterate.
Q 6: Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the application?
A: I would say it’s associated with nurturing theory. Whereby the users are thought and polished from the very first entry. For instance in the first class which is English 101, it will start off with simple lessons that accommodate the learners with simple sentences. Then it will move from one notch to another until the end of the lesson. Thus learners are able to learn from a to z without leaving a space or gap in their learning process.
Q 7: How well are the Vygotsky's Constructivist Theory of Learning and Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory applied to the chosen website(s)?
A: The theory suggests that one’s development depends on interaction with people and the tools that the culture provides to help form their own view of the world. I think the theory is well applied in this website. Students here are left independently by themselves. They are allowed to choose what to do first and which is best for them in order to learn. They are not forced but have the control to engage themselves in the class which suits them.
Q 8: In 1980’s and early 1990s, there was a major debate on ‘whether the computer was “master” of or “slave” to the learning process (Higghins and Johns, 1984). In relation to your evaluation, is the computer a replacement for teachers, or merely an obedient servant to students?
A: I would say in the coming decades there might be a possibility where teachers are no longer needed. Teachers give knowledge, teach ethics, culture and portray good role model. But nowadays students are not capable of accepting all these values. They think that they are much better to the extent that their family have common thoughts too. Teachers are more like a slave to their students rather than master. So I would say if no action taken, computer will be a replacement for teachers, and teachers will be an obedient servant to students. Currently it is still perseverance and computer is still the slave and teacher is still the master in learning process.
Q 9: Would you like to use the website(s) yourself in your future work?
A: well yeah most definitely I will use this website in my future work. One of the reason is it is not just as a center of learning but also as a center of making new friends. From there on you are able to expand your knowledge perhaps with the natives. Your proficiency will become a lot better and respectively proper. Exchanging knowledge will help in mutual understanding in between us the second language learner and the native. Secondly it does not only provide English language, it gives opportunities to learn other languages too such as Latin, French and so forth. I would definitely stick to this website regardless of any circumstances.
Q 10: Suggestions / Recommendations:
A: I would suggest that all teachers to recommend this website to their students as for their home study. It would be very reliable exercises for them to learn at home without have to spend tons of money paying for tuition fee. As for the website, I would suggest the publisher to add more interactive activities and please have a greater promotion so that others are aware of the existence of this website. Thank you.
Edzham Armin Bin Abdul Rahim
2004327117
u8a
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Electronic literacy reading skills and the challenges for English for Academic Purposes
Abstract
Competent reading skills in an electronic environment are vital elements to successful academic study at many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). For non-native speakers of English (NNS) this necessitates not only a command of the English language, but also, amongst other things, electronic literacy (EL) reading skills. Such skills involve a knowledge of what to do: how to find information, how to evaluate it and, if relevant, how to make use of it in English in academic settings and beyond. This paper reports on a study which investigates EL reading skills amongst NNS studying a range of academic subjects and levels in English at two British HEIs. Students were asked to classify their computer skills (a term which for the purposes of this study we use interchangeably with EL reading skills) and to complete a questionnaire - a small sample of students were then randomly selected and asked to complete a series of short tasks which they were observed doing and then interviewed about. We divide this sample into two groups those with high level computer skills (HLCS) and those with low level computer skills (LLCS). Our findings point to a number of significant differences between these groups. The paper considers these findings in relation to issues for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programmes whose primary remit is to equip NNS with the language and study skills necessary for successful academic study. It is suggested that such programmes might develop EL reading skills amongst students with differing computer skills within a Computing for Academic Purposes (CAP) component, which takes task-based pedagogy as its central tenet.
Key words: electronic literacy, reading skills, computers, hypertext, EAP
Introduction
There is an obvious link between English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programme content and computer assisted language learning (CALL) as defined in its broadest sense. Jarvis (2005: 141) observes that "A great deal of work with computer-based materials (C-bMs) in English language teaching (ELT) takes place in higher education institutions (HEIs) or university contexts; and within HEIs, EAP courses are undoubtedly a major remit for providers." After all, the primary purpose of EAP is to equip non-native speakers (NNS) of English with the language and study skills that are needed so that they can operate efficiently, effectively and appropriately in academic study. Such programmes will consequently be pre-sessional, if delivered before a student goes on to their chosen course, or in-sessional if delivered during their course. EAP, along with English for Occupational Purposes (EOP), are both branches of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), which take as their defining characteristic the notion of language for specific, as opposed to more general, purposes. Such language tends to be defined in terms of discourse functions which include: cause and effect, narrative, description, process, comparison and contrast, fact and opinion, argumentation, etcetera. In delivering such content programmes would seek to develop not only language, but also study skills and study competences. For today’s NNS students however, being able to operate efficiently, effectively and appropriately in academic contexts has an additional element, and that is being able to do so in an electronic environment. Such environments have, of course, become a prevalent feature at many HEIs across the globe. Collins and Wende, (2002: 7), for example, comment that "ICT [information and communication technology] use, in terms of email, wordprocessing, PowerPoint, and the Web, has become standard as part of the teaching and learning process. . ." One important aspect to this involves understanding the EL reading skills that NNS have and use - such insights will help to formulate ways in which these skills, as required, might be incorporated into EAP programmes so as to better equip students. To date, despite Jarvis' observation above, there has actually been very little work in this specific area as Chun (2006: 70) has noted, "What is striking is that in the last 10 years, the great majority of studies dealing with technology or CALL and L2 reading have focused on the teaching and learning of L2 vocabulary". This paper is a contribution to addressing this shortfall.
Electronic literacy reading skills
Electronic literacy (EL) has changed significantly with the arrival the WWW particularly in relation to reading and its associated skills. In pre-WWW times reading on the computer screen was seen as an illumination of traditional literacy because hypertext was predominantly used in language presentations and guided reading tours to provide context (usually word definitions or graphic illustrations) to language, rather than new reading possibilities (Ward and Irby, 1981; Marshall and Irish, 1989). Today, however, hypertext when used on the WWW has gone beyond this and as Chartier (2001: 8) notes this shift has modified the relationship between "images, sounds and texts linked up electronically, in a non-linear manner". One of the consequences, as Topping (1997) observes, is that reading hypertext has become more like navigating than reading as we know it. This has been echoed more recently by Warschauer (2003: 111) who refers to "…added layers that account for the new possibilities presented in the electronic medium of computers and the Internet". Of particular significance in the context of this study, Warschauer et. al. (2000:172) note that "although reading and writing online are closely related to reading and writing in print, the two literacy contexts are also sufficiently different to demand theoretical and practical attention."
It is the reading element of EL which is our primary concern here, although it should be noted that EL can be a broader term which can include some or even all of the other language skills (writing, listening and speaking). Shetzer and Warschauer (2000:173) use the term EL to describe "how people use computers to interpret and express meaning", and perceive it through three overlapping areas such as communication, construction and research. For the purposes of this study, our working definition of EL reading skills comes from Shetzer's and Warschauer's (2000:175) work on reading in an online environment which involve skills which are "... intimately bound up with searching and evaluating skills", a person who wants to read something, firstly, needs to find the information which requires skills such as knowing how to operate the search engine, and how to formulate questions in order to maximise the chance for successful hits. Secondly, a person needs to skim and scan, simultaneously making judgments about the validity, reliability, and accuracy of the source and information and as such "reading in the online realm by necessity becomes critical literacy".
For our purposes from here on we use the terms EL reading skills and computer skills interchangeably, the main reasons behind our thinking are two-fold. Firstly, the division between the skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking is somewhat problematic within language pedagogy at the best of times, and this is probably even more so in an electronic environment where skills frequently overlap and\or are integrated - searching to name just one example clearly involves both reading and a type of writing (inputting key words). This notion of integrated skills in an electronic environment is an important one for pedagogy and we shall return to it when considering practical implications for EAP delivery. Secondly, the students in the qualitative element of this study were understandably using the term computer skills in their discussions with us, rather than EL reading skills.
Research does suggest that with native speakers (NS) reading behaviours may differ according to their EL skills. Hubscher and Puntambekar's (2003) found that hypertext reading behaviours of novice and advanced WWW users are different since the former are more inclined to explore and thus get distracted by hypertext whilst the latter have much more goal-directed focus and thus tend to be more successful in getting the required information. This is supported by the limited amount of work with NNS; Toyoda (2001) for example observes that students' reading behaviours on the WWW depend predominantly on the level of EL with technologically less advanced students finding reading frustrating and difficult. To date, as has already been noted, there has been very little work which has looked at the EL reading skills of NNS operating in English and in academic contexts.
The study and its participants
Our purpose was to investigate one primary research hypothesis into second language online reading and to then consider the findings in terms of how EAP programmes might be developed to bridge any of the issues arising. Our hypothesis was as follows:
The way NNS students read in English on the WWW correlates with the level with which they classify their computer skills.
The study employed a combination of quantative and qualitative techniques. The quantative element consisted of a questionnaire as documented in Appendix A. This was administered to 56 international students from 23 countries on a range of academic programmes at two British HEIs. The questionnaire was piloted and amended accordingly before being distributed among randomly chosen international students who were seen to be reading on the WWW in English and, when asked, declared that they did so on a regular basis. All students were at an upper intermediate level of English having matriculated for academic study with an English language level of at least 6 (or equivalent) on the IELTS scale. Seventy-nine percent were postgraduates and 21% undergraduates. The qualitative element of the study was employed to get closer to meanings, views, feelings and actions of participants and this consisted of a set task (Appendix B) which six participants were observed completing and were then interviewed about.
Participants completing the questionnaire were invited to indicate their level of computer skills which, for analysis and discussion purposes, we then classified into two groupings. As can be seen from Appendix A, we have classified those students who reported having "excellent" or "very good" computer skills as Higher Level Computer Skills (HLCS) and the remaining students who indicated "satisfactory" or "poor" levels as Lower Level Computer Skills (LLCS). We acknowledge the potential limitations of such self-classification - however, we feel confident of reliability for two reasons. Firstly, our anecdotal observations of what students were doing on the computers before, and\or during, and\or after completing the questionnaires at the piloting and the actual study stages suggested that students were accurately reporting their level. Secondly, in the qualitative element of the study, all six participants confirmed to our satisfaction the accuracy of this self-classification in terms of task achievement and their interview comments - this provided at least some degree of triangulation. The HLCS group formed 46.4% with the LLCS forming the remaining 53.6%. The qualitative element of the study drew three randomly selected students (S1, S3, S5) from the HLCS group and three (S2, S4, S6) from the LLCS group.
Results
General information and searching
The data was analysed from several perspectives in order to find potentially significant trends. There were insufficient numbers for us to draw conclusions about the significance of country of origin and there were no major differences regarding gender. There were some differences between postgraduate and undergraduates regarding critical reading skills, with more postgraduates indicating and demonstrating higher levels of such skills - as might be expected from students with more experience of academic study. It is beyond the scope of this paper to fully explore this, and in any case such differences were small compared to the differences in level of EL reading skills. There were no significant differences arising from the degree classification (Science or Arts).
Several statistically significant factors are, however, worth noting. Firstly, older people tended to be in the LLCS group and this is perhaps understandable given that such users will have had to make the transition to digitalised mediums, unlike the younger students who might be classified as "digital natives" (Pernsky, 2001) and as such will have known nothing but such mediums throughout their lives. The HLCS group spend more time on the WWW (Q5) and read in English more frequently (Q5.1), but their reasons for reading (Q5.2) and what they read (Q5.3) are not too dissimilar from the LLCS group - both groups seem to use the WWW for what might be termed the "academic" as well as "social" purposes. There is little to differentiate the frequency with which the two groups print from the WWW (Q5.4), but there are some differences regarding some of the reasons for this (Q5.5). All students reported being able to search for information on the WWW, which is, of course, now a fundamental skill in academic life. However, the HLCS group expressed a clear preference for Google (Q6.2) and for sticking to their favourite engine (Q6.1).
Students' critical approach
The data for this section is drawn from the reading strategies and the first section of the reading process part of the questionnaire, as well as from the task in Appendix B. The data indicates that the HLCS students tended to be more critical with regards to textual content of the WWW - a larger percentage pay more attention to credible sources - such students are much more aware that domain may indicate the reliability of the source. The interviews seem to confirm this with S5 for example commenting that:
Generally I think it [searching the WWW] is easy. The difficult point is how to decide which WWW address is reliable. Normally I just judge from the internet address like .gov, .edu, .com and decide which I can use and I can trust … some information I try to make comparison. The question about who invented WWW I looked at different websites and they all pointed at Lee so I decided that I can trust the one I have chosen.
Such a view was echoed by S1 who says:
There are website like e.g. of our school. There is no reason for them to lie about anything. But there are websites that are changeable … There are websites that aren't updated you have to check the information on the other ones ... Sometimes you have to read the content to check if it is okay or not.
These views are in marked contrast to those from LLCS students:
I think that most of them (websites) are true (S4).
Sometimes I miss this point to check the publisher and whether it is truly reliable (S6).
Our observations confirm such comments, particularly with one LLCS student who clearly found it difficult to distinguish between commercial and non-commercial sites, with this student visiting e-bay and clicking on various "pop-ups" during the tasks - this ultimately made the whole process of online reading longer, less effective and more frustrating for the subject. A further indication of uncertainty of all the LLCS students was demonstrated by their attempts to involve the researcher by asking questions such as "Can you tell me if it is okay?" The data does suggest that students' critical approach to textual content of the WWW correlates with the level of their EL reading skills and it would seem to be the case that the LLCS students' limited critical reading skills are the result of a lack of experience and knowledge about how the WWW works; such students are easily misled and confused by sources which are automatically eliminatedby more experienced WWW readers. Arguably, critical reading became a secondary goal since finding information was more important than evaluation of the source - this view is supported elsewhere in the research, see for example Burbules (1998).
Technology-related strategies
The HLCS students tended to use technology more often and more effectively when it came to scanning for specific information and these students were also more inclined to bookmark interesting websites. The questionnaire findings are supported by the observational data which indicates that in the case of the HLCS students, technology did not restrict their reading behavior, but rather added an extra dimension to it. These students tended to personalize the technology environment in which they worked - S1 for example launched all the programmes that she might have needed before she actually started any reading. In addition, it could be observed that the HLCS students' reading involved far less experimenting than the LLCS students' reading since they knew how and where the information can be found by clicking on relevant links. Some LLCS students seemed to pick links at random and got lost more often and this resulted in exploring websites that were almost automatically identified and rejected by the HLCS students. The data seems to confirm the view that hypertext reading behaviour of WWW users are different between LLCS and HLCS, the former being more inclined to explore hypertext and the latter, with more goal-directed behaviour, tending to be more efficient, effective and thus successful. Indeed, most LLCS students commented upon what we would characterise as the "technology factor." S6 says:
I think now for me it [reading on the WWW] is more about computer skills than language though. These days we have to use computers a lot and if someone is not good at computers I think it blocks the competence …
whilst S4 mentions that:
I use computers to do very basic things and sometimes it is not enough. I mean, I am okay with writing the dissertation, but if I do some other things I think I need to learn more computer knowledge. I know my technique about computer is very limited. If I knew more about Google I think I would find more information.
Implications
The study, taken as a whole to include the collated questionnaires and the interviews, suggests that the way NNS students read in English on the WWW does indeed correlate with the level with which they classify their computer skills and that students' critical approach to textual content of the WWW also correlates with the level with which they classify their computer skills. This represents challenges for EAP whose primary remit, as we have already noted, is to equip and support NNS with the language and study skills necessary for successful academic study - it is clear that some students are inadequately equipped in this regards. Furthermore, previous studies suggest that EAP providers are not necessarily addressing this shortfall. In a comprehensive survey of provision on programmes at British HEIs Jarvis (2004: 126-127) found that "many EAP providers may not be adequately addressing the WWW and its applications in an academic environment"; he goes on to ask, "Do students really know how to access and evaluate relevant WWW sites? And how to paraphrase, quote and appropriately reference material from the WWW?" Additional questions arising out of this study might include:
- Do students make sufficient use of the WWW?
- Are they confident when searching for information?
- Have they developed critical reading skills?
- Do they have a sense of technology-related strategies?
The short answer to all of the above questions would seem to be "some do, some don't". We have already noted the importance of ICT skills amongst all students at HEIs and the issue for EAP providers, if they are to adequately equip NNS, would seem to be how to respond and it is to this which we now briefly turn.
An obvious potential problem here is that students on EAP programmes are usually grouped according to their language level and not their EL reading skills and yet we know from the research that the possession of such skills is important (Prensky, 2001; Konishi, 2003; Penzo, 2006; Hubbard, 2005). We are not, however, proposing that the grouping of students should change, even if it were possible to do so but we do believe that EAP providers cannot simply avoid the need to develop EL reading skills, by for example considering it beyond their remit. It is our view that many of the issues arising out of this study can be addressed within EAP sessions, even where students within the class have very different computer skills. We might characterise the dilemma as the "technology skills factor" verses "language level" - it is not, however, a new issue. It was, for example, over ten years ago that with reference to word-processing Jarvis (1997a: 168) advocated "pairing up a student who is competent … with a student who is a beginner" and several years later (Jarvis, 2003) began to explore how students with advanced computer skills might be used as a resource in the EAP classroom.
Our preferred solution would be to fully integrate EL reading skills-based work into a range of classroom-based activities so that the computer is not seen as separate. For Bax (2003) this represents the "normalisation" of computer assisted language learning (CALL), whist Egbert (2006) characterises this as the "end of CALL". There are, however, as has been noted by Ioannou-Georgiou (2006), a number of very real obstacles to this including: timetable constraints, staff skills and availability of sufficient computer-rooms. We propose that a way of bridging such issues is through a "Computing for Academic Purposes" (CAP) element or component to EAP programmes. As an element it can be added to other core provision, as a component it might be completely new. Either way it does not necessitate computers being available for use in every classroom by every teacher on every possible occasion. Rather, such an element could, for example, be incorporated into, and thus considerably enhance, components such as projects, presentations and/or reading and writing skills. It could do so by adding many of the EL reading skills items discussed in this paper to the other areas of input. We see CAP as a step towards the normalisation of CALL in EAP. By way of conclusion, let us briefly turn to what this might mean in practice.
Computing for Academic Purposes (CAP) tasks
We propose a task-based approach which develops EL reading skills, in conjunction with other aspects of an EAP programme, as the key to the successful development of CAP. Task-based language pedagogy has, over a number of years, become well established and widely documented (Ellis, 2003; Nunan, 1999; Willis, 1996; Willis and Willis, 2007) and so it is no surprise that within the CALL literature task has also become central; Levy and Stockwell (2006: 16) comment that "… task specification is a frequent point of departure as a means of framing CALL design …[and] …are critical.." A task-based approach specifies what is to be done, rather than the language to use and this is particularly useful if we are to address the needs of LLCS students, whilst also allowing for useful meaningful activities for HLCS within the same class.
Some time ago Jarvis (1997b: 44) noted that there was an abundance of materials for the delivery of "various components such as academic reading, academic writing, academic listening and academic speaking ..." but that "Information technology, despite its widespread prevalence and clear relevance at universities world-wide, has not yet established itself as a major EAP component, and this is reflected in a regrettable lack of literature on the subject." Although 10 years later there are still no EAP-based resource books, at least a discussion of how mismatches can be bridged has emerged in the literature (Jarvis, 2001; 2003; 2004). If for example we take two of the standard discourse functions that we might find in a typical EAP syllabus, that of comparison and contrast and narrative - with a little imagination we can devise a CAP task which develops EL reading skills and integrates them with other skills, both technology-based and more traditional. For example, as part of their project or presentation sessions, students are grouped or paired-up (with a mix of HLCS and LLCS) and set a title of "Compare and contrast the geography of China with that of the UK" or "The life and work of Nelson Mandela" (the underlined text could be replaced with any number of possibilities) - a variety of input might take place before, and\or whilst, and\or after the task has been completed. Such input can focus on any number of language items, study and competence skills as well as many of the EL reading skills listed in Appendix A including: searching for, evaluating and referencing WWW sources. The outcome of such tasks could be the submission of a written word-processed project and\or a presentation. The specific syllabus items that one might expect from such course components could be covered here, such as: the writing process and presentation of word-processed work or the use of PowerPoint slides and signposting academic presentations etcetera.
Conclusion
This paper has demonstrated that, based on a combination of the questionnaires and the interviews, there does appear to be correlation, albeit impressionistic, between the way NNS students read in English on the WWW and the level with which they classify their computer skills and we have suggested that this raises a number of challenges for EAP. The paper has suggested that a CAP component on EAP programmes may offer a way forward. Further work in terms of better establishing the needs and expectations of academic departments and developing and evaluating CAP as an aspect of EAP provision is now needed if we are to fully equip our students in a computer-dominated academic environment.
