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Attitudes of AFL Learners towards Using the Internet
Abstract
With the rapid development in usage of web in the various fields including language learning, it has become necessary to take a closer look at this tool and our students’ stance towards it. Many researchers have studied SL learners’ attitudes towards using internet in the language class room and their views about how it may serve student needs (Kuo, 2008; Atamturk, 2007; Aydin, 2007; Son, 2007). This paper will attempt to study specifically attitudes of learners of Arabic as a foreign language towards using the web and how they believe the net could be used to serve them best. Many practitioners feel that the internet has become essential to educators because it benefits them in many ways. For example, usages of the internet could include: Accessing databases and information on the web outside the boundaries of the classroom, promoting learning process by using the internet as an instructional tool, and enabling teachers to implement new instructional models using the web. Moreover, the web has become more essential as a result of the increase in stress on autonomous language learning which makes it necessary that SL learners rely more heavily on tools that could be used outside the classrooms like the web. The question is however: do AFL learners share the same views AFL practitioners hold. The goal of this paper is to highlight the attitudes of AFL learners towards the internet in order to know how to enhance language learning using this tool. Besides, by knowing language learners’ perceptions regarding the internet usage, teachers can build different curriculums that embrace the internet in a manner that matches students’ affective needs. Thus, educators should be able to use the internet effectively as a tool for facilitating the process of learning a new language. This paper will therefore attempt to show through a small scale study on AFL learners in ALI at AUC: 1- Attitudes and beliefs of AFL learners about the using the web to enhance their learning in and out of class. 2- Means of incorporating the web in the language classroom in a manner that takes into account students’ attitudes and beliefs Despite limited number of subjects, the results of this study could be used as an indicator of learners’ attitudes towards this new teaching tool and means of embracing it in the classroom.
Discipline
Language
Geographic Area
Egypt
Sub Area
Technology