The University of Melbourne

An exploratory study of Primary GEP students' and teachers' readiness in adopting Corpus CALL and tele-collaborative tasks or projects in the language classroom

In Singapore, much emphasis has been made on the need to use information and communications technology (ICT) in education. The Gifted Education Programme (GEP) in Singapore highly encourages the use of ICT in the classroom. However, little is known about the way Primary GEP English Language teachers use ICT in the classroom. The aim of this research is to try to understand teachers' and students' readiness for adopting the most effective pedagogy in using text-analysis software and computer mediated communication (CMC) tools like chat rooms, discussion forums and email in their English classes. The participants will be primary GEP English teachers and their students from the 9 primary GEP schools. Teachers will be asked to fill in an online survey after they have given their consent to participating in the study. Similarly, a letter of consent will be given to the student participants and their parents. Once consent is given, the survey will be conducted in schools. The questionnaire for teachers will touch on teaching philosophies, attitudes towards technology, how they incorporate the use of these resources into classroom activities and what support they need to help them integrate technology effectively into their lessons. Survey questions for students will touch on learning styles, attitudes towards technology and their views on how IT is presently used in the language classroom. From these, the students' and teachers' readiness to use text-analysis software and CMC tools in their English lessons will be investigated.