ABSTRACT
Technology reviews are a specific article genre published in several language teaching and learning journals. Their emergence is likely due to the proliferation of technology that facilitates and supports language acquisition. These reviews aim to increase teachers' and learners' awareness of the forms of technology available and succinctly describe their benefits and limitations for language teaching and learning. As education enters a new digital age, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential to determine which forms of technology support teachers' professional learning and how they can be utilized. This article presents a systematic review of technology reviews published between 2017 and 2022 in five Q1 SCOPUS-indexed language teaching and learning journals: RELC Journal, TESOL Journal, CALICO Journal, Language Learning and Technology and Teaching English as a Second Language Electronic Journal (TESL-EJ). These five journals were the only Q1 language teaching and learning journals we identified that publish technology reviews. All 73 technology reviews published in the 5-year period in the 5 journals were reviewed. Using professional digital competence as a framework, we explore what the articles reveal about how technology is used, as well as the knowledge gaps that remain. We examine the types and features of the technology described in the reviews, the language skills and educational levels of the learners, and the pedagogical implications of technology use. We found that the technology reviews mainly introduced the technological features and functions of the reviewed technologies with less emphasis placed on their pedagogical utilities and social aspects of their use for language teaching. The article concludes with recommendations for authors and journal editors regarding the content that should be included in a technology review to ensure that it is helpful to the profession. We also offer advice to practitioners on how to benefit from technology reviews. © The Author(s) 2023.
ABSTRACT
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face teaching has all but disappeared, with many higher education institutions adopting blended and online learning. The case study described in this chapter explored the experience of nine instructors at an English-medium university in Hong Kong who used HyFlex, a blended-learning model, to teach English for Academic Purposes. Overall, the teachers were unprepared to use this pedagogical approach to teach concurrent classrooms as required. However, they identified several strategies that facilitated teaching and learning in the HyFlex mode: utilising student response tools, incorporating station rotation and focusing on pairs or smaller groups of students. These techniques could be used to improve the delivery of blended learning in higher education. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
In this study, a chatbot was developed using Dialogflow Messenger to support learning during face-to-face class suspension due to COVID-19. The pandemic has changed how students and teachers engage with course content and use technologies. By working with the chatbot, language for specific purposes students received guidance and support to complete homework and assignments during the face-to-face class suspension. Twenty-two (22) students participated in this interpretive qualitative study, and data were collected using focus group interviews and analysed thematically. The findings indicate that students found the pedagogical chatbot supportive by providing human-like interactions, which enhanced their sense of engagement. Participants also indicated that their interactions with the chatbot eased their sense of isolation, which had a positive impact on their learning. The findings provide insight and enrich existing knowledge for integrating chatbots into teaching and they discuss the advantages of learning future chatbot design for language acquisition. Copyright © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
ABSTRACT
The last two years have changed how students access formal and informal education. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, language learners have had limited opportunities to interact actively with teachers and fellow students. However, chatbots can help to fill this gap. This paper describes an educational chatbot employed on Facebook Messenger as a supplement to direct teacher input. It was developed using Google’s Dialogflow, which allows teachers to build omnichannel chatbots using natural language understanding models. Specific branching (question and answer) was employed to limit the chatbot’s scope to specific language areas. Chatbots, if employed successfully, could have widespread applications in higher education institutions and shape language teaching in the future. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.