Interactive Language Learning on the Web

Web based language learning activities is one of the best recourses for language teaching and learning. Also, using web will be attractive to both instructor and learners and the learning process will be interactive too. Moreover, using online language materials, exercise and test will provide authentic material for language teaching and learning and that will be helpful for students. So, teachers can create their own interactive language learning activities that relate to their courses and help the students to develop their learning process. There are many advantages for creating this kind of activities. These advantages are accessibility, renewability and adaptability.

There are many challenges in creating web-based activities. The first challenge is depending on the teacher who does not have the technical skill and knowledge to do so. In addition, many teachers have lack in learning the basic HTML skills. Also, they do not have time to get these skills. The second difficultly is depending on students such as the variability of students access to computers, the type of computers and browsers that student are used and the connection speed they are used. Teachers must ask students about this information and take it into account while  designing online activities.  Moreover, teachers can design web pages for students with special needs. Also, teachers can provide an activity for individual and help them to develop their thinking and learning process.

As a result, basic language skill can be improve with the use of web-based activity and the teacher can use the basic tools of discussion boards and web.

In our context, Saudi Arabia:

Teachers do not use web-based language activities in language teaching and learning but if they used, they will make a big differences in language learning process. The most important difference is student’s basic language skills. It can be enhanced with the use of web-based activities. If the web-based activities will be used in our educational field, it will improve the student’s performance. For example, Students can solve the activities and teacher can correct it to them directly. Also, he/she may explain to them why it’s not correct and giving them his/her feedback by this way student will learn from her/his mistakes directly. Moreover, they will not have to go to their teachers and ask them face to face about any difficulties or question they may faced in these kinds of activities. Some of the students feel shyness in asking the teachers face to face in contrast to asking them on the web, they may fell more much comfortable than face to face interactions.

  If the teachers will applies the web based language learning activities in our context, they will change the traditional way of teaching completely. Also, the traditional way of testing could be changed and become online tests instead of paper tests of face to face tests.      

As a result of this way of learning, students will become proficient in using the internet and especially the web. Also, web-based language learning has a positive effect on our students today and they may master the difficulty of learning the skills through solving the online activities daily. Then, they can achieve the level of proficiency in language learning. So, why teachers do not try to applied in our schools?