CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING CALL IN PAKISTAN 1

Samina Yasmin
Dr. David Betts
LRC 530
December 1st 2014
Research Proposal

Challenges in Implementing CALL in Pakistan

Abstract

For the last decade, the researchers from underprivileged countries are exploring

the possibilities of CALL classrooms and the issues faced in this innovation. These

researches have looked not only at general implementation of technology, but also on

different technological tools in particular countries. This study aims at exploring the

technology use, challenges in the use of technology and suggestions for improvement

in the language classroom in Pakistan. Data will be collected primarily through the in-

depth interviews of 10 English language teachers and classroom observations.

Introduction

The invincible spread of technology has not spared Education from its fruitful

influences. Consequent on this development, Computer Assisted Language Learning

(CALL) has gained significant spread, both horizontally (around the world) and vertically

(throughout language curriculum), (Chappele, 2010). But the undeveloped or less-

developed world is still lacking in its integration of technology in the field of education.

Language pedagogy is no exception and it still rests on outdated methods and tools of

teaching in countries with limited technology resources. It is important to study the

conditions in such countries to determine what could be done to make the use of

technology in education better adopted.

Significance of the Study

CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING CALL IN PAKISTAN 2

It is not a recent research topic for developed countries to explore the challenges

that are faced in the implementation of technology in education. But the undeveloped

and developing countries are still working to explore the hardships that the practitioners

face in the implementation of technology in education. This study will help bring to light

the types of technology used in language teaching in a developing country, Pakistan.

More importantly, there have not been any studies to focus on the use of modern

technology in language education.

Research Questions

Through the data of teacher interviews and class observations, this research

study aims at 3 major questions to explore:

1 What kind/s of technology is used by the current language teachers in Pakistan

and how often is it used in or outside classrooms?

2 What are the challenges in the use of technology in or outside classroom, if any?

3 What do you do to overcome those challenges or what do you recommend to

overcome them?

Literature Review

Research abounds in studies conducted on different contexts to explore how, how much,

and how often are technological tools in language pedagogy since 1970s. Recently, the

researchers from developing countries have also ventured into conducting researches

incorporating CALL in language classrooms. These studies have concluded what challenges the

teachers, administrators and students faced while trying to blend technology in language

pedagogy.
CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING CALL IN PAKISTAN 3

Barron’s (1987) study on the use of technology in library sciences in United states

concluded the issues of “funding, lack of appropriate course ware, logistical complexities,

inadequate faculty knowledge and skills, and inadequate rewards and incentives for faculty”

(p.288) serving as the barriers in the use of technology. Although these findings were observed

in United States of 80s, these issues can be found in many underprivileged countries even now a

days.

Tiene (2004) analyzed the “digital divide” (Warschauer, 2003) and the adoption of

Information and communications technology (ICT) in less developed countries to improve

educational efforts. He concluded that many of such efforts to introduce ICT in these

underprivileged countries fail because of the barriers like “the lack of ongoing support and a

failure to include teachers in ICT planning” (as cited in Richardson, 2011, p. 11).

Egbert & Yang (2004) focused on the use of technology in language pedagogy and have

tried to explore how to deal with the challenge of “limited technology context” (p. 282). They

presented a framework to make optimal use of available technologies negating the general

perception that only “advanced and cutting-edge technologies” (p. 280) can be effective in

creating affective CALL activities. Rather than focusing on the “digital divide” between the

people who have access to advanced technologies and people who do not, they focused on

“effective and ineffective use of technology” (Egbert, 2010, p. 1). Their argument is that “rather

than lamenting the fact that our tools are not the latest and greatest, we must pay attention to

using the tools at hand to students’ best advantage” (p.280). They gave examples of some classes

with limited technologies and proposed some possible CALL activities, arguing that these

limitations can be overcome with “creativity, efforts, and collaboration” (Egbert, 2010, p. 1).
CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING CALL IN PAKISTAN 4

They explained the solutions of possible challenges in such contexts that are “set curriculum,

lack of time, class size, and teacher attitudes” (p. 288).

Later, in the introduction to his book, Egbert (2010) elaborated further on the issues faced

in the use of technology in limited technology contexts that is more common in undeveloped

countries. He mentions different limitations in the use of technology in limited contexts such as

limited access to technology, limited internet connection, no software or old software, limited

hardware, limited training, limited funding, limited technical support, poor hardware

maintenance, lack of culturally relevant electronic sources, harassment by norm-driven

colleagues, and the lack of trained personnel, and the lack of student instruction for resource use.

He also lists certain strategies to deal with these limitations. First strategy is to establish a Linux

terminal-server model to connect one server CPU which would cost lesser resources. He also

suggested about the need of keeping the maintenance of computer labs constant on more frequent

terms.

Richardson (2011) examined the challenges and successes in the use of technology in

education by teacher trainers in Cambodia through a mixed method study, incorporating surveys,

interviews, and document analysis. His study revealed that “hardware incompatibility;

complexity; language barriers; the lack of electricity, computers, Internet access, and of practice

for trainees; and the inability to understand the advantages of these technologies” (p. 8) are the

major issues being faced by educationists and practitioners while using technology in

classrooms.

Highlighting the example of Bangladesh, Shohel and Kirkwood (2012) explores the

difficulties and challenges in using technology in learning and teaching in technology poor

countries. Especially with the desire to advance in education through implementing technology
CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING CALL IN PAKISTAN 5

in education, developing countries are trying to use technological tools and devices in teaching

and learning. But the researchers argue in this article that more research is needed to explore the

issues being faced in this implementation of contexts with limited resources. Studying the use of

ipods in language classroom by Bangladeshi teachers, they found that teachers faced a lot of

issues. Paralell to what Kukulska-Hulme (2009) findings, they concluded that these challenges

include the nature of ownership of the device, the use of multiple versus single device, and the

usability of the device. Along with that, lack of teacher training and access is a big hurdle in the

implementation of technology in such developing countries.

Fuchs & Akbar (2013) conducted a quantitative study on 39 student-teachers for

identifying areas of improvement in teacher education programs about the use of technology in

language teaching. The participants were student-teachers in an IEP (Intensive English Program)

in United states doing their MA TESOL. Along with other areas of focus, one research question

focused on the teachers’ perceived challenges in the use of technology. The issues they found in

the use of technology in classroom included the stress of lesson planning, teacher’s personal

preference or dislike of a technological tool, lack of access to technology, low e-literacy skills,

the perception of CMC being deficient as compared to face-t-face interaction. The study was

conducted through the use of a very small survey and the findings are generalized to a greater

extent keeping in view the small sample size.

Context and Participants

The study will be conducted on the privately run English as a Second Language

(ESL) institutes in the city of Abbottabad. It is a small city that is known for its good

schools (0-10 grade) and colleges (11th to 16th grade). Though, the city lacks good

universities for higher education. The ESL institutes offer intensive English language
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classes and preparation for English language proficiency exams like IELTS ad TOEFL.

These institutes are self-sufficient and un-accredited institutions that makes them the

free from accountability and surveillance other than that of the institute’s owner.

The participants will be 10-15 English language teachers in the city of

Abbottabad in Pakistan. These teachers teach ESL intensive courses in different

language institutes and vary in age from 24-40 years of age. These teachers are

generally Masters degree holders in English literature and linguistics that does not

include any training of applied linguistics (pedagogical practices) or technology

incorporation. I do expect the same group of teachers because the basic criterion for

teachers in these language institutes is an MA degree in English (literature or

linguistics).

Methodology

It is a qualitative study of the CALL classes and teacher practices. The data

collection will be primarily through in-depth interviews of the language teachers based

on their teaching practices and experience. The interviews will be in two parts: Pre-

observations interview and post-observation interviews. Pre-observation interview is the

detailed interview about the teacher’s pedagogical practices, technology use, and

suggestions. The post-observations interview will basically target at any query arising

from observations. The interview data will be triangulated through classroom

observations. Each teacher’s classes will be observed for a 5 random days.

CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING CALL IN PAKISTAN 7

Reliability and Validity of Data

Validity of data is ensured through triangulating the findings with a 2-step

interview method with classroom observations. Access issues can be foreseen because

of the difficulty in observing classes. Generally the teachers avoid getting observed in

their classes and it is a threat call for them if they are being observed. Because the aim

of the study is to assess actual teaching practices, one reliability issue in the study

could be the limited number of class observations for each teacher. To deal with this

issue, random classes will be selected by the researcher for observation so that there is

less probability of conscious well-planned classes. The teacher consent form will

include the fact that the class observations will be random and without prior notice.

Anticipated Findings

Based on a prior pilot project and prior research studies, I can predict that the

possible findings may include a less number of people incorporating technology in their

language classes. The type of minimal technology used is still very basic like audio

materials for listening practice. This lack of technology incorporation in classrooms

appears to be due to a lot of challenges and issues that the teachers face. These issues

have been explored in literature and it was concluded that the primary issues are the

hardware incompatibility (Richardson, 2011), the lack of resources to generate and

maintain the technology labs (Egbert & Yang, 2004; Egbert, 2010), the lack of technical

training of teachers (Fuchs & Akbar, 2013), the threatened feelings to the acceptance of

innovations (Richardson, 2011), and the inability to understand the advantages of these

technologies (Richardson, 2011). What I anticipate other than these issues is the
CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING CALL IN PAKISTAN 8

unacceptability of technology for educational use, the skeptical beliefs about

technology, and the social stigmas associated with the use of computers and internet.
CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING CALL IN PAKISTAN 9

References

Barron, D. (1987). The Use and Perceived Barriers to Use of Telecommunications Technology.

Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 27, 4, 288-294.

Chapelle, C. A. (2009). The Relationship Between Second Language Acquisition Theory and

Computer-Assisted Language Learning. The Modern Language Journal, 93(s1), 741-753.

Egbert, J., & Yang, Y.-F. D. (2004). Mediating the Digital Divide in CALL Classrooms:

Promoting Effective Language Tasks in Limited Technology Contexts. Recall, 16, 2,

280-291.

Egbert, J. (2010). CALL in limited technology contexts. San Marcos, Tex: CALICO, Texas State

University.

Fuchs, C., & Akbar, F. S. (2013). Use of Technology in an Adult Intensive English Program:

Benefits and Challenges. Tesol Quarterly, 47, 1, 156-167.

Kukulska-Hulme, A. (2009). Will Mobile Learning Change Language Learning? ReCALL,

21(2), pp. 157-165.

Richardson, J. W. (2011). Challenges of Adopting the Use of Technology in Less Developed

Countries: The Case of Cambodia. Comparative Education Review, 55, 1, 8-29.

Shohel, M. M. C., & Kirkwood, A. (2012). Using technology for enhancing teaching and

learning in bangladesh: Challenges and consequences. Learning, Media & Technology,

37(4), 414.

Tiene, D. (2004). “Bridging the Digital Divide in the Schools of Developing Countries.”

International Journal of Instructional Media, 31, 1, 89–97.

Warschauer, M. (2003). Technology and social inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide.

Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.