Computers in the ESL Classroom

As we move into the 21st Century, computers are becoming more and more a part of our daily lives. They are recognized as powerful tools, essential in getting some of the most basic tasks accomplished in the workplace, such as: communicating with colleagues and customers, doing research, and writing proposals. In fact, it could be argued that computer literacy is steadily becoming integrated into what it means to be literate within industrialized societies. Because of its usefulness in literacy tasks and its importance in the workplace, universities are finding places for computers, in labs and classrooms and within curriculums. Most disciplines take the computer, and its multiple uses, as a given part of a student’s academic arsenal in accomplishing a myriad of assignments involving reading or writing.

Given these facts, it seems necessary that these literacy tools find their way into ESL programs and classrooms, where they can have a positive effect on language acquisition and the development of writing abilities in English. However, there are fundamental questions that need to be addressed as instructors work to integrate these powerful tools into their curriculums and classrooms. What advantages does the computer bring to this group of university students specifically? Will computers contribute or distract from the primary goals of ESL programs and composition courses? What difficulties are introduced along with computers? Just how much should computers be a part of a curriculum? In this paper, I hope to address these questions and argue that despite the difficulties, the computer can have a positive impact on an ESL classroom in several ways. Instructors should begin to or further integrate the use of computers into ESL programs where they will contribute to the overall goals of ESL programs and better prepare students for future academic challenges and the increasingly computer dependant workplace.

The use of computers for language acquisition has been around since the 1960’s,and "featured repetitive language drills, the so-called drill-and-practice method" (Lee). With the advent of the personal computer in the 1980’s, students began to "focus more on using forms rather than on the forms themselves" (Lee). But the role of the computer was still limited in regards to writing. With the rise of the socio-cognitive view of instruction, the computer takes on a more communicative role in language acquisition. Instructors begin "to integrate the various skills of language learning (listening, speaking, writing, and reading) and to integrate technology more fully into language teaching" (Warschauer & Healey qtd.