ICT IN THE LEARNING OF ENGLISH AND FRENCH

ICT, commonly known as Information and Communication Technology, was first implemented in language learning in the early eighties. This was a step in defining new methods of education, as well as human civilization in the next millennium.

In the course of processing knowledge, the human being had confronted problems of accumulating, selecting and systematizing before transmitting information. Thus the store walls of caves, the clay tablets of the Assyrians, the Egyptian papyrus and Greek manuscripts were the first vehicles our ancestors used to record and transmit their experiences of the world to future generations. However, many centuries had gone by before man started giving new perspective to selecting, systematizing, storing and transmitting information.

It is in this context that the entire world system of knowledge has given birth to a wonderful means called ICT, based on the computer, with both corresponding hardware and software.

ICT is transforming language teaching and learning. Today, we use ICT in all our linguistic centres. Compact discs (CD), Digital Versatile Discs (DVD), computer programmes and other mass storage devices are available to make the learning of English and French more fun, easier and more efficient.

Furthermore, the use of specific programmes and tutorials in the language learning process has made language acquisition easier. They offer students the possibility of assuming greater control over their own learning, of being interactive with the learning tools, being communicative amongst themselves, and of working more effectively and efficiently at their own pace, thus developing their autonomy. ICT as multimedia combines and develops the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) at the same time. The Bilingual Training Programme has put in place systems that enable learners, as individuals or in groups, to develop those skills through the use of DVD and CD players in the classroom or in well-equipped Self-Access Learning Centres that develop the learner’s autonomy. ICT places at their disposal a wide range of information sources and resource materials.

In addition to the current lock step teaching, they enable to cater to individuals and become facilitators of learning, rather than solitary information providers. It is at this level that the concept of “virtual classroom” derives its meaning. Can you imagine a classroom that exists everywhere and nowhere at the same time? The teacher in this case lives in a particular country but can get in contact and interact with one or thousands of learners living anywhere in the world.

In using digital hardware and software for teaching, the Bilingual Training Programme aims at meeting our learners’ needs, for their national and international interaction.

ICT offers prospects for strengthening the power of language teaching by revolutionising delivery systems and placing them at the disposal of all, a fabulous tool for lifelong self-access learning.

In this regard, the situation implies automatically a new way of doing things. Distance learning will play a key role in putting ICT at the service of English and French language learning as planned by the Bilingual Training Programme. This implies that the staff too manipulates it effectively thanks to continued training.