The Digital Blockade:

Investigating the Lack of Internet Use in English Language Classrooms By Tamás Kiss

Introduction

Undoubtedly, the early 21st century is the age of globalisation and the Internet. Our children

grow up with using it as a tool in their everyday life; they communicate with friends, do their

shopping, form small or big virtual communities and can get lost for ages by simply browsing

through the vast amount of information presented online. However, the Internet does not have

a commanding presence everywhere; it is rather surprising that its use in education, especially

in English language teaching and learning, is rather limited and it has not managed to spread

like it has in so many other fields. This is very puzzling as the Internet is mainly used for

communication, therefore, it could be one of the most authentic means of language education.

According to Internet World Stats (2006), Internet use has grown from 36 million users to

1,086 millions in the last ten years. Still, this number represents only 16,7% of the world

population, which means that there are vast areas where internet is not used for any purpose.

This data indicates that when one sets out to investigate the use, or lack, of the Internet for

language education, then the focus should be on more developed countries. It would be

hypocritical to include statistical data from developing countries and thus present the reader

with figures which reflect a distorted picture. The number of countries should not include

ones where English is spoken as a first language. In these countries English language

education is mostly concerned with English as a Second Language (ESL) or direct language

teaching in specialised summer schools and other institutions. Therefore, the use of the

Internet and e-learning is not a necessity or attraction for these educational contexts. As a

result, the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom will be disregarded.

Although internet use is high in these countries, in fact these countries produce the majority of

internet users of the world, they will not be considered when trying to find out the reasons

why the Internet is not more commonly used in English language teaching courses.

The aim of this paper is to discuss what features may hinder the possibilities of the

mainstream use of the Internet in teaching English as a foreign language. Although the

problem can be approached from many different aspects, there are only a few which will be

discussed here. Without any attempt of prioritisation, the paper will look at the state of

language teaching in public education, language teacher education, gender issues, touch upon

psychological questions, and finally it will briefly discuss in-service teacher development.

These all represent important pieces of the puzzle and, thus, they need to be considered in

relation to each other before a final conclusion can be drawn.

The nature of education

It seems true to claim that globalisation is a general issue of the 21st century. It can be seen in

many fields of life and education is not an exception. As Heath (2002:38) claims "the

educational domain is an area in which the impacts of globalisation are most severely felt".

With the rapid development of telecommunication and the Internet, information can travel

around the globe at a speed that was unimaginable a few decades ago. This rapid flow of

information, of course, has had its impact on professional practice all over the world. This can

be significantly observed in the field of English Language Teaching, where influential

powers, such as the USA, the United Kingdom, or Australia with their leading role in

economics and communication networks have an impact not only on forming theories about

teaching and education but even on classroom practices all over the world. Why is it then, that

the use of Internet is not as widespread in language classes as one would assume?

Education has always been associated with fermenting change all through the ages of its

existence, but, as a field, it still seems to be rather reluctant to adopt any changes itself.

Strangely enough, education is one of the most traditional professions in the world. While

professional advancements and technological change have triggered significant development

in other fields of science, educationalists tend to stick to their tried and tested ways in the

classrooms. They resist change, not necessarily because they would like to stand in the way of

progress, but because they are unaware how change may influence their everyday classroom

practice. Of course, they are not the only ones who seem to resist change; this feature is in the

nature of all human beings. Resistance against fundamental educational changes is natural in

any society. Change, as we know, often represents uncertainty and fear for the participant;

therefore it should be carefully managed if the desired results are to be achieved.

It is also true that education tends to be a very tradition centred activity. Many times one may

hear the general public say that „what has served me well, will do no harm to my children‟,

indicating that change in educational methods, or in the curriculum, is not always welcome.

Teachers who need to satisfy the needs of society are not always willing to experiment with

new techniques or technology, and it is not surprising that there is a desire to 'fit in' among

them. Gebhard, Gaitan, and Oprandy (1990:14) found in their study that "even with training,

[teachers] do not change the way they teach, but continue to follow the same pattern of

teaching".

Whether innovative ideas, like the application of the Internet to language teaching, succeed or

fail depend on several factors. The crucial step in initiating educational change is, as Fullan

writes, "coming to grips with the multiple realities of people" (1982:113). Similarly, not

understanding "the basis of the real world of the host institution and its personnel" (Holliday

1994:129) would definitely lead to failure. Implementers of change, therefore, must be very

cautious when aiming to have an impact on the context in which they hope to initiate change.

It seems logical to assume that the first step should be a systematic study of the local

educational context and values which can inform the whole process of change.

Unfortunately, there is no scope in this present paper to examine all relevant aspects of public

education that contribute to the lack of Internet use. Therefore, only one will be highlighted:

finance. All over the world public sector education seems to be under financed. Schools are

struggling to survive, often finding it difficult to pay their teachers‟ salaries and their own

utilities bills. In such circumstances it is not surprising that it is almost impossible to invest in

computers and internet facilities at schools. As a result, computers at many schools are old

and few in number, and very often they are not connected to the Internet. Even if the school is

fortunate enough to gain some grant for the development of its computer network, without

proper maintenance and upgrading, the hardware and software will go out of date rapidly.

Usually, within three years of their purchase, computers start to lose their educational value,

unless they are updated.

Another sign of the lack of appropriate computers is the existence of different projects which

aim to supply schools with used, or as they are sometimes called, surplus machines. Microsoft

(http://www.microsoft.com/hun/athome/security/update/donatecomputer.mspx) officially lists

400 non-profit and educational organisations which help schools get used computers for

educational purposes. This is a very noble effort but it points to the fact that educational

institutions usually cannot afford to buy computers by using their own resources. It also

implies that computers which end up in these institutions are usually 3-5 years old and are in

need of continuous maintenance and upgrade. Thus, their applicability for cutting edge

Internet technology and e-learning is highly questionable.

Because of the lack of computers, language teachers often find it difficult to get access to

them, especially when computer science is taught in the school as part of the curriculum. In

such a case, the computers are usually reserved for the use of the computer studies teachers

and the computer labs are fully booked throughout the day. Thus, if language teachers would

like to use them, they either need to reschedule their lessons to find computer time, or to teach

and organise work outside the school periods. These special arrangements need extra work

and time management and many teachers find them too demanding to accommodate them in

their timetable. Even, in those cases when there are available resources at schools, working

computers and a reliable Internet connection, another problem arises: teachers usually lack the

necessary skills for using computers in their classrooms. Therefore, it is important to look at

the relationship of language teacher education courses and how they prepare future

professionals for the use of Internet.

Teacher training and the use of internet

Teacher education courses worldwide are struggling to cover various aspects of professional

practice within a limited timeframe. Generally, there are three models of training they follow:

the traditional observation-based model, which is also known as the apprenticeship model; the

applied science model; and finally, the reflective approach to teacher education. No matter

which teacher education approach we consider, none of them seem to devote adequate time to

prepare future professionals for the use of internet technology.

There are several reasons for the lack of attention to modern teaching technology on these

courses. One of them is that the courses tend to focus on more general teaching issues, while

Information and Computer Technology (ICT) or the use of Internet may seem too specialized

a theme to spend time on during the courses. In most cases, English teacher training courses

divide their input among Linguistics, Literature, Cultural Studies, and ELT Methodology. An

example for this is the situation in Hungary where the 1993 Education Act increased the

number of profession oriented subjects, i.e. ELT Methodology oriented courses, to 20-30% of

the total programme (Kiss, 1997). This time may not be adequate enough to cover all aspects

of language teaching. Since the main aim of teacher education programmes is to prepare their

trainees for general classroom practice, whereas internet technology – at present – does not

seem to represent a mainstream language education trend, teacher trainers devote their

precious course time to covering more general and key areas, such as how to teach grammar,

vocabulary, the development of different language skills, or classroom management.

Therefore, there is only one option left to incorporate Internet use in the curriculum:

institutions may launch and run elective courses which can be taken by students who are

interested in this area. Still, this does not seem a very good solution, at least in Hungary. With

the reform of higher education and the introduction of the credit system, students who take

more courses than what their allotment allows have to pay extra fees. As a result, many of

them try to limit the courses they take and thus might finish their training without actually

hearing anything about e-learning or the use of Internet in the classrooms.

Another reason for the lack of attention to computer technology is financial. Just like in public

education, the availability of well-quipped computer centres which would be accessible for

language teacher trainers is limited. There is usually a battle between departments for

computer time and thus learners have limited opportunities to practice their newly gained

skills in front of machines. This means that student teachers who would like to get to know

more about the use of the internet as an educational tool can only choose between two

options: a) learn on their own, or b) join an in-service training course after their graduation.

Besides the above technical and organisational difficulties, there is one issue that concerns

teacher education in many countries. The number of female learners in teacher education

courses is gradually rising (Education at a Glance, 2001) and this presents a more complex

and sensitive social aspect to this study. Is there a connection between the lack of Internet use

in classrooms and the fact that significantly more women are enrolled in teacher education

courses?

The gender divide

Up until recently, research projects reported that the vast majority of computer and internet

users were male. This tendency seems to be slowly changing in countries where the use of

computers is widespread, for example in the United States, but there is little data available

concerning the rest of the world. According to Noguchi (2005), the gender divide does not

exist any more among American computer users, but it is rather their educational background

that sets certain groups of the population apart when it comes to the use of the World Wide

Web. Statistics show that about the same percent of male and female users log online

regularly, while the numbers significantly differ when it comes to their educational

background (Noguchi, 2005).

In other countries, however, this might not be the case. Nanthikesan (2000) argues, that even

in some developed countries, such as France, Germany or the UK, the percentage of female

computer users is rather low. For example, she sets the numbers as 33,4% in France, 31,7% in

Germany, and 35,9% in the UK. Although this data were published in 2000, it is unlikely that

the trend would have dramatically changed there. Furthermore, these numbers are rather

shocking when one considers that the above countries are generally considered to present

equal opportunities for women and men in education, and where the technological

development and the standard of living allows citizens to use computers as an everyday tool.

What, then, can go on in other, less developed countries? How much opportunity would

women get in less developed areas of the world to use computers and go online? The answer

is probably very little.

The gender divide is discussed here because in many countries teaching is considered to be a

„female‟ profession. UNESCO statistics show that women have a very strong presence in

secondary education in many countries. For example, 63% of teachers in Malaysian

secondary schools are women and there are very similar figures in other countries, such as in

the Philippines (76%), Hungary (73%) or the UK (59%). There are even more female teachers

in primary education; there the number usually exceeds 80% of the teacher population

(Education at a glance, 2001). When one examines these data more carefully and also has a

look at the correlation of Internet use and gender issues in education, then a conclusion can be

drawn: a) women use computers less than men; b) there are more women in the teaching

profession. The logical conclusion is obvious: the reason why computers have not managed to

get widespread in schools is because the potential agents, teachers, do not use them!

The gender issue, being more social than professional oriented in its nature, does not stop at

pre-service teacher education, but it has also got implications for in-service teacher training.

This is what will be discussed in the next part.

Demography and in-service courses

There are several in-service courses run in many countries which prepare ELT professionals

to use the Internet in their lessons. They are available as taught courses where participants

attend sessions, and also as distance education courses, run via internet and e-mail connection

between tutor and participants. These courses can specialise in certain areas of Computer

Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and address issues that are tailor made for their

participants. However, no matter how hard they try, they often fail to reach one key group:

female teachers. Previously it has been pointed out that in many countries the majority of the

teaching profession consists of women. Women who, to varying degrees, need to conform to

the expectations of the societies they live in and, thus, assume other roles besides being

teachers.

Women in many societies are still considered to be the ones who run the household, who

prepare meals for the family, look after the children after school, arrange the laundry and do

many more household chores. Therefore, they usually find it very difficult to attend taught in-

service courses to learn how to use modern technology in their classes as this would present

extra commitment on top of their professional and household duties. To be politically correct,

this only concerns certain societies. In some countries, there is a trend for women not to get

married as early as they used to, more often between the age of 30-39 (Hungary 2005, 2006),

and thus they can commit their time to build their professional careers after graduating from a

higher education institution. This may include attending further training and in-service

training sessions or continuing their studies and gain a Master‟s or PhD degree. Although the

example above comes from Hungary, there are similar trends in other countries, as well.

According to the United Nations (2003), there are differences in female marriage age as far as

the geographical areas are concerned. Their statistics show that in Africa, Asia, and the

Middle East women get married at the average age of 23, while this number is higher in

Europe and North America, now exceeding 26.

The above data may suggest that there are certain areas of the world where female teachers

may have more access to in-service teacher education courses, whereas in other areas, namely

Africa, Asia and the Middle East, they may find it difficult to attend these. The data also

implies that there is an upcoming generation of female teachers in more developed countries

who have the possibility of learning the necessary skills for the use of Internet in their

language classrooms and who, with time, will represent the majority of classroom

practitioners. However, being newly qualified teachers, this generation should first of all

establish themselves in their classroom settings and become confident in what they are doing

before they can actually experiment with the use of new technologies.

Before one can draw final conclusions about the reasons for the lack of Internet use in

language teaching, there is one more area which needs to be addressed: psychology. Several

studies have examined how educational change is connected with teacher thinking and

psychology (Phrabu, 1987; Wagner, 1988; Wallace, 1991, etc.) and they deserve special

attention especially when they are viewed in relation to the previously discussed issues.

Psychology of ICT and Internet use

There are many areas of psychology which could be examined in this section of the paper, but

I will limit the scope to only three areas: stereotype threat, collaboration, and the question of

„face‟. The reason for selecting only these three areas for closer examination is simple: I

believe these have the most significant impact on Internet use (or the lack thereof) in the

classroom.

The concept of „stereotype threat‟ has been studied especially in relation to science education

and revealed that the performance and achievements of certain groups, for example minority

groups, or women, may decline when they face negative stereotyping (Steele, 1997).

Stereotype threat might be explained as a personal situational discomfort experienced when

people are afraid that their behaviour can, or will, fulfil a negative stereotype. Martin, Wood

and Little (1990) argue it is inevitable that children grow up experiencing some form of

gender stereotyping, which later will be reinforced by their environment and shape their adult

behaviour.

Parents usually encourage their children to engage in activities which reinforce their gender

roles, for example playing with dolls for girls and playing with toy cars or doing sports

activities for boys (Eccles, Jacobs, and Harold, 1990). The more technologically oriented

games will direct boys to computers whereas girls will consider this as inappropriate or

unfulfilling way of entertainment. Thus, when female teachers are faced with the challenge of

using computers in their classrooms they usually shy away from its application because don‟t

feel confident enough to experiment with the possibilities the Internet may offer for the

language learning process.

Another important issue here lies with the psychology of collaboration and competition.

Research in psycholinguistics has proven that women use collaborative strategies in their

communication while men are competing with each other. This indicates that working alone

in front of a computer terminal would not be a preferred working mode for women who may

enjoy the company of others and often need a collaborative effort to reach their aims. This is

in contrast with the behaviour of males, who would not mind isolation as this may mean the

lack of competition and, as a result, a less challenging environment in which to reach set

objectives.

Besides the gender issues, there is another factor which may have an influence on the

application of Internet and ICT in language classrooms. This is the age-divide between

educators and their learners. Studies have indicated that older teachers do not experiment with

new technology, often claiming that they are “too old” to learn it. However, it seems true that

it is not their age that blocks the learning process. According to Richter (2003), people use

their cognitive abilities at the most when they are in their 30s and 40s, at the age when

teachers have established themselves as fully potent classroom practitioners. The cognitive

abilities do not change significantly up until they reach their early 60s. At this age most

people start a slow decline in their perceptive abilities, but this is only to a small degree and

the effects of their cognitive changes are usually not recognised by the outside world until

they retire. Therefore, the reason for rejecting the use of computers should lie somewhere

else, although age may play some role in it.

Sometimes it might be difficult for the adults to admit that their learners are better at certain

things, especially in cultures where the teacher is looked at as a wise person and is supposed

to know everything. In a research project which investigated trainee teachers‟ perception of

teaching and teacher educators, Chinese learners used 17 different words to classify

knowledge as they associated this with the most important characteristic feature of a teacher

(Xiaotang et al, 2001). It is clear that for a Chinese teacher „knowing‟ has paramount

importance, whereas „not knowing‟ can be considered as a sign of unprofessional behaviour.

Therefore, teachers whose computer skills are not the most adequate may try to avoid the use

of Internet for fear of not being able to competently handle this educational tool.

Using computers can even become frightening when their skills are compared with those of

their learners, who spend a considerable time in front of computers and use the Internet on an

everyday basis. Thus, to „save face‟, i.e. to keep their dignity in front of the learners, they tend

to neglect the Internet as a possible source of learning materials.

Conclusions

Having examined several possible reasons for the apparent lack of Internet use in the English

language classrooms, it is now time to draw some conclusions and make some predictions

about the future of the digital classroom. It has to be pointed out, though, that this present

paper did not aim to empirically research the issue of computer use in language classrooms. It

merely tried to shed light on some of the areas which need further attention in the future.

Therefore, the conclusions in this section are based on a personal interpretation of various

facts; further research to confirm or reject these conclusions would be essential.

One of the basic findings of the study is that education is a very complex phenomenon and it

should always be investigated in its global context, which includes social, economical and

demographical aspects. Failing to do this would result in distorted findings and provide

educationalists with data that only reflect one segment of the whole picture. One would need

to understand that education is so much interwoven with our everyday life that even

seemingly unrelated data, such as the average marriage age of women, could provide

important information to comprehend a very complex issue. As a result, though researchers

aim to examine educational issues within their complexities, they would fail to cover all

aspects and thus would not be able to offer more than tentative interpretations of an ever

changing field.

In light of this, what can one say about the future of internet-based English language

teaching? Instead of going into a detailed analysis of possible future models, I would only like

to offer some glances of the future as I see it. It is the task of the reader to either agree or

disagree with them and find supportive or contradictory evidence from their own practice and

work experience.

1. Internet use for English language teaching will certainly rise in Asia where Internet

use, in general, is rising, and where demographic data suggest that female users will

have their growing share of Internet use in the near future.

2. Europe will also follow the trend as the „older generation‟ of teachers retires and

younger colleagues take their places in the classroom. Since they belong to the

Internet generation, for them the use of new technology will be natural and even

desired.

3. In-service courses which focus on the use of Internet in language education will

experience a boom in the upcoming years, but will decline as pre-service institutions

restructure their courses to meet the demands of public education. However, this is not

a very fast process and will take perhaps a decade to produce tangible results.

4. There will still be large areas of the world where traditional teaching techniques are

maintained and where the use of ICT and Internet will be secondary to blackboards

and chalk. This will slow down the predicted changes in the training structure of

higher education courses.

As a final note, it should be pointed out that by the time Internet is considered as natural a

resource material as course books are nowadays, the methodology of both language teacher

education and general language teaching should change significantly. Therefore, the use of

the Internet cannot be considered as the ultimate goal or the only solution for language

teaching problems. There are and will be both advantages and disadvantages of its use. In

sum, it needs to be looked at only as a working compromise – like everything else in

education.

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