The role of faculty members in integrating technology into the teaching of English: the case at the department of English language and literature at Damascus University

Worldwide, Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have gained a vital importance in satisfying the requirements of both the new Education System and the revised Curriculum for English Language Teaching (ELT). The experience of introducing different ICTs into the classroom and other educational settings worldwide suggests that teachers' effective integration of technology into their curricula largely depends on their perceptions and attitudes to the value of these tools to achieving their instructional purposes. This research seeks to evaluate the readiness to integrate ICTs into the current teaching practices of the faculty at the department of English Language and Literature at Damascus University. In a context of large classes where resources are minimal and staff members are in short supply, using technology assisted learning at Damascus University may help enhance education by giving learners more flexibility and helping them evolve into more autonomous learners. Investigating the current faculty’s reading of the value of technology as a means of overcoming some of the restrictions imposed by their context will uncover potential limitations on the use of ICTs in the existing context and suggest workable solutions.

Promoting Learner Autonomy through ELT Classroom Interaction

The present research aims to illustrate teachers' use of tasks which promote learner autonomy in ELT classroom interaction. Extracts taken from video-recorded classroom interactions have been selected for analysis and examination in an attempt to identify the strategies which give learners more responsibilities for learning. The findings show that teachers use certain strategies such as structuring classroom discourse to add support for learners' independent learning, providing an amount of choice for self-directed learning, collectively constructing the discourse, setting up collaborative tasks to be completed independently, and engaging students with problem-solving activities. The findings indicate that such strategies train learners to develop independence in their approach to learning. It is proposed that the implications for promoting learner autonomy through classroom interaction should be incorporated into teacher-training programmes.

Using Content Videos to reduce Interlingual and Intralingual Transfer of Vocabulary in an EFL Context: A small - scale study on students in Mega Soft Institution

استخدام ملفات الفيديو للتغلب على المشاكل الناتجة عن اللغة الأم و التعميم الخاطئ للمفردات في تعليم المفردات: دراسة أجريت في مؤسسة ميغاسوفت للتدريب