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Chapter 3

Review of Related Literature

3.0 Introduction

Review of related literature provides an empirical framework to carry

out future study. It helps to get insight into the problem by studying the

past research work which already has been done and provides a

direction for the type work required to be done further. It provides an

orientation to the researcher regarding the type of research that has

been conducted in the field earlier. Realizing the importance of

Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Computer Assisted

Language Learning (CALL), Technology Assisted Language Learning (TALL)

and multimedia materials, many researchers were taken up.

Review of Related Literature is a valuable guide to defining the problem,

recognizing its significance, suggesting promising data collection devices,

appropriate study designs and sources of data. It gives us information

about work that has already been done and that can be meaningfully

extended or applied. It also provides a basis for establishing the context

of a problem and significance of a problem. Thus, review gives a line of

direction and helps in planning the study properly.

3.1 Book Reviews

In this section, the researcher has attempted to review books that are

pertinent for the present study. The review helped the researcher to

understand key issues, such as, first language acquisition, second

language acquisition, problems of a bilingual child, course design,

concept of remediation and so on. It helped him to confirm his beliefs

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and reassured him that he was on the right track. It also alerted him

regarding certain misconceptions. The perception of remediation which

is very significant has changed over the years. It is relevant to review

those remedial courses that have shown major shifts in remediation.

The other important issues which the researcher has tried to explore by

reviewing books are as follows:

1. Use of translation

2. Use of communicative tasks

3. Treatment of errors

4. Approaches to ELT

5. Teaching of formal grammar

6. Use of light language activities

In the following pages, the books are reviewed in a particular format.

The book review begins with the title of the book and the author’s name.

This is followed by stating the main objectives of the book. Then the

researcher discusses the contents of the book and its significant

contribution. In some cases, the researcher presents some tasks from

the book to give the ‘feeling’ of the authors’ ideas.

3.1.1 Five Minute Activities - A Resource book for language teachers (1988) Cambridge University Press

– Penny Ur and Andrew Wright

This small book is very valuable for ELT practices. It serves many

purposes. Mainly it tries to supplement what the teacher is primarily

teaching. For example, if the teacher is teaching some grammatical

structure, his/her teaching can be supplemented by a grammar activity

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from this book. To give one concrete example, if s/he is teaching

‘questions’, /she can use activities like quiz on general knowledge or

interview of an interesting personality from this book. The second

purpose of this book is to bring in variety in the classroom activities.

Normally, the teacher is doing some serious work in the class.

Occasionally, students require some relief, some change from this

continuous regular work. These activities provide them a necessary

change and the change is light as well as lucrative. The third purpose of

these activities is to come to the rescue of a teacher who is badly in need

of a time-filler. It is possible that one of his colleagues is on leave and

/she has to engage his/her class. In that case, such activities come

handy because they are like instant food.

The activities included in this book have a communicative value. They

promote the learners to think, to analyse, to compare, to guess, to

imagine, to interpret and so on. And since these activities are done in

small groups, the learners are required to interact and to use their

rhetorical skills.

In the introduction, the authors elaborate on the purpose and nature of

activities. They point out that such activities are needed as they serve as

‘a quick warm-up’ before the actual teaching begins. Secondly, they can

work as ‘an idea for a brief vocabulary review’ before opening up a new

topic. Thirdly, they can provide as ‘light fillers’ which in turn can provide

‘relief’ to tensed students. And last but not least, these activities can

serve as ‘a game’ or an amusing item to finish the lesson on a happy

note.

Talking about the activities the authors note that they have a ‘learning

value’. The efforts of the students and the time spent will not go in vain.

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Their grammatical structures will be strengthened or vocabulary will be

enriched. There will be some sort of benefit, to be precise, a linguistic

one as a result of these activities. Secondly, these activities can be used

at a variety of levels – elementary, middle and advanced. The materials

presented in the boxes clearly indicate this. For example, an activity

dealing with correction of errors contains wrong sentences at three

levels. The teacher should identify the level of his learners and use the

adequate sentences. The most convenient feature of these activities is

that they are not time-consuming. If done properly, they will not take

more than five-minutes. Maybe, initially it will take more time but once

the students get used to it, they will be quicker. So nobody will complain

that they are consuming the time meant for real teaching. One more

advantage of these activities is that they are partially prepared and in

some cases fully prepared. Each activity is provided with some sample

tasks with detailed instructions. The teacher can use the activity as it is.

S/he does not have to run around to look for materials – like a clever

housewife who makes instant noodles thereby saving her energy and

time and at the same time satisfying her guests. The sample tasks also

help the teacher understand the task clearly.

The activities are organized on a dictionary pattern, that is,

alphabetically. There are about a hundred and fifty activities. The

activities are described thus. First, the title of the activity is given. For

example, categories, chain story magical entertainment and so on. Just

below the activity the objective is mentioned. For example, below ‘the

chain story’ the authors write ‘narration - use of the past tense’ which

means after doing this activity the learners will learn how to use past

tense and they will learn that through narration. The objective is

followed by a procedure. The learners are given detailed instructions as

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to how to go about the task. Sample sentences, exercises, pictures,

charts are provided for clarity. The whole book is written in such simple

and clear English that any teacher having the basic knowledge of English

can use it independently. To drive the point home, a couple of activities

from the book are presented hereafter.

Activity – compare yourselves getting to know each other: use of

comparatives.

Procedure: In pairs, students find different ways of comparing

themselves with each other, and write down or simply say the

appropriate sentences.

You are taller than I am.

Tina has longer hair than I have.

Jaime is older than Luiz.

Variation: To encourage more interaction, tell the students they may

not use aspects (such as, height, hair or colour) that are immediately

apparent, but only things they have to find out through talking. For

example,

Peter has more brothers than I have. Marie knows more

languages than Diane.

As a follow up, share some of the things participants have found

out with the rest of the class.

Activity: Five-minute writing storms

Writing Procedure: Tell the students that they have exactly five

minutes to write about something. Set a subject which you feel will

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focus the students’ mind but encourage personal rather than

generalized responses. (See the box.)

Five-minute writing

storms

Themes

The best thing in the lesson

today

The worst thing in the lesson

today

The best thing to happen to me

today

Something which is not fair

A jealous moment

Tell them that you will not mark any mistakes of language but will only

be concerned with the idea or experiences they describe. (You can note

down general errors and give a language focus activity on these forms

at another time).

For the next lesson, prepare general comments and select texts written

by the students to read out.

Variation: The students write for exactly three minutes and then take it

in turns to read what they have written to each other.

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3.1.2 Play way To English - Language Games (2000) Anand Press

– Damayanti J. Umra

Teachers of English at almost all the levels are always on the lookout for

some short interesting language activity to get relief from the routine

textbook work. This book can surely come to the rescue of such

teachers. The book has a collection of wonderful language games.

These games can be used to good purpose. They can be warm up

activities before starting a new lesson. One can create a proper mood

for learning. The games have a fun element. So they make learners

happy and relaxed and thus the learners are positively oriented. Certain

games can be used to revise vocabulary. Language games can motivate

them to learn and use new words. One more advantage of language

games is that they can provide a welcome change from serious work.

For example, the teacher may have taught them seriously for one week

and they need a break. In that case, light language games can provide

some comic relief.

These games can also be used to move from one topic to another. They

can serve the purpose of changing their orientation. Last but not least

the games can be used to conclude the teachers’ work in a happy mood.

For example, if the students have done a reading comprehension

session, they may be tired by the end. If the teacher sums up his/her

work with an attention-grabbing game, students would go home with a

smile. Thus there are a number of uses of language games. The use of

this book will not only entertain the students but also give them rich

language practice.

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There are many books on language games. But this is a unique one. It is

well designed and more pedagogic. The appearance and layout of the

book is pleasant – light pink cover page with a picture of a game on it.

Inside the book, there are pictures, tables for almost all the activities.

There is good spacing in the text and the letters are also prominent. This

is good especially for young learners. The cover page is glossy and one

feels like handling, reading the book. In short, it is an ‘interesting book

with a beautiful look’.

The book does not make use of the mother tongue of the learners. The

writer is confident that she can explain things in English properly.

Pedagogically also, it is appropriate that students struggle to understand

the text and use more and more English. This should also convince the

learners that they can learn / do things in English without the help of L1.

The book is divided into five sections dealing with grammar, vocabulary,

reading, writing and pronunciation. There are games for each area. The

games are presented systematically. One page is allotted to each game.

The name of the game is given in capital letters. It is followed by focus

and procedure. Focus gives the reader information about the structure

that is used in the game. The procedure describes how the game is

played. It is followed by an example. Then there is a pictorial illustration

of the game. The language used for illustration is very simple, lucid and

direct. The use of pictures and examples bring in clarity and proper

understanding. There is a useful appendix at the end. It throws light on

which game can be used for which grammatical item.

A few sample games are given below.

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Game 1: FIND SOMEONE WHO

Focus: Questions and polite replies

Procedure: Each student is given a completion sheet. The students have

five to seven minutes to walk around the class and find out the person

who fits the given description. Example: student A might ask student B

‘Were you born at home?’ If B says ‘yes’ then A can write down B’s

name on his or her sheet. ______was born at home.

The teacher tells the student that the winner is the person who

completes the sheet and gets the maximum number of names.

Example : Completion Sheet

Find someone who

. . . has killed a snake

. . . is afraid of lizards

. . . was given an award.

Game 2: SCRATCH YOUR HEAD

Focus: Spelling

Procedure: The teacher writes a word on the board pausing after each

letter giving time for the students to guess what it is. If a student

guesses it right the teacher tries to elicit the rest of the spelling from

the students.

Example: S1 : School ? T: No

S2 : Score ? T: No

S3 : Scale ? T:Yes,you’re right

Now spell the word. What is the next letter?

Students: a

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The samples show that the games provide both information and

entertainment resulting into linguistic infotainment. There is an element

of competition and pleasing tension and variety. Students are activated

to do something with language. The book, thus, lives up to its title ‘Play

way to English’.

3.1.3 Techniques and principles in language teaching (2003) OUP

Diane Larsen – Freeman

This is a notable book on methods in English language teaching. It is a

historical survey as well as the evaluation of different approaches to ELT.

While sharing their thoughts with the teacher educator, they explain

why knowing methods is an asset to them. To begin with, she points out

that a method helps the teacher reflect on his/her practice and shows

him/her the link between ‘thinking and practice’. Secondly, the

knowledge of methods can help him/her ‘to choose to teach differently’.

It will help him to participate in a ‘professional discourse’ and have a

‘dialogue’ with his/her peers. It will update his/her knowledge and

‘expand’ his ‘repertoire of techniques’. Thus the aim of this book is to

‘inform’ and ‘stimulate’ its readers. It will encourage them to reflect,

inquire and experiment.

The book discusses all important methods in language teaching. The

methods are: 1.The grammar translation method 2. The direct method

3. The audio-lingual method 4. The silent way 5. Desuggestopedia 6.

Community language learning 7. Total physical response 8.

Communicative language teaching 9. Content-based, task-based, and

participatory approaches 10. Learner strategy training, co-operative

learning and multiple intelligences.

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These methods are discussed in such a manner as a practising teacher

can understand its theory and practice thoroughly. The writer begins

with a brief introduction in which she describes the most salient feature

of that method. For example, she writes, ‘the direct method receives its

name from the fact that meaning is to be conveyed directly in the target

language through the use of demonstration and visual aids, with no

recourse to the students’ native language’.

Next she takes the reader to the real classroom to get the better

understanding of the method. The ‘experience’ section recounts

minutely how the whole lesson is taught using a particular method.

This is followed by ‘thinking about the experience’. In this section, the

writer lists important observations. The principles that underline these

observations are written against them. For example, here are a few

observations from audio-lingual method.

Observations Principles

1. The teacher introduces a new

dialogue

Language forms do not occur by

themselves; they occur most

naturally within a context.

2. The language teacher uses only

the target language in the

classroom. Action, pictures or

realia are used to give meaning

otherwise.

The native language and the

target language have separate

linguistic systems. They should be

kept apart so that the students’

native language interferes as

little as possible with the

students’ attempts to acquire the

target language.

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This kind of presentation helps the reader understand the ‘purpose’ of

doing certain things in the class.

Then the writer invites the reader to review the principles. The review is

done in question answer format. The questions touch upon various

aspects of the methods. The ten questions that are asked of all the

methods are:

1. What are the goals of teachers who use this method?

2. What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the

students?

3. What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning

process?

4. What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is

the nature of student-student interaction?

5. How are the feelings of the students dealt with?

6. How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?

7. What areas of language are emphasized? What language

skills are emphasized?

8. What is the role of the student’s native language?

9. How is evaluation accomplished?

10. How does the teacher respond to student errors?

The writer has answered these questions so that it will add to the

reader’s understanding of each method and allow them to see some

major differences among the methods.

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Just as there is a review of principles, there is a review of techniques as

well. The purpose of the book is to make the reader versatile in the use

of techniques. Each method uses a set of techniques. The writer has

explained them using lucid language. About ‘The Role Play’ in CLT, the

writer comments ‘Role plays are very important in CLT because they give

students an opportunity to practise communicating in different social

contexts and in different social roles’. Role plays can be set up so that

they are very structured or loosely structured. The later is more in

keeping with CLT because it gives the students a lot of choice. Notice

that role plays structured like this also provide information gaps since

students cannot be sure (as with most parts of communication) what the

other person or people will say (there is a natural unpredictability).

Students also receive feedback on whether or not they have effectively

communicated.

The writer raises a number of questions and wants the reader to relate

the ‘presented’ information to his/her own experience. Finally, there

are two types of activities. One is for checking the understanding of the

methods and the other is for applying this information to readers’ own

classroom.

Thus the book is a complete guide on techniques and principles in

language teaching. Written in lucid language, it can help the beginner

understand key methods and it can help the advanced educator to

evaluate his/her own performance. It is not only the conceptual clarity

that the book aims at but it also encourages ‘action’ on the part of the

reader. And the most striking trait of the book is that it is in no way

prejudiced against or for any method.

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3.1.4 A Remedial English Grammar for Foreign Students (1968)

Macmillan

– F. T. Wood

This book is one of the landmarks in remedial teaching and represents

the structural approach in remedying learners’ performance. The author

states in his preface that the aim of the book is- to concentrate on, and

to attempt to correct, the most frequent grammatical mistakes made by

foreign students of English. Naturally the emphasis is on the teaching of

grammar. However, the whole grammar is not dealt with. Only those

areas where learners are found weak are sorted out. Those topics are

explained in simple language along with appropriate illustrations. They

are followed by a number of fill in the blanks or substitution type of

exercises.

F. T. Wood justifies inclusion of mechanical exercises by saying that ‘they

are intended to serve the correction of specific mistakes and the

removal of particular difficulties’. Of course, he has no problem with

other fancy exercises but he believes that concentrating on a point with

a heavy dose of mechanical practice can stamp out errors.

His thinking is in line with the structural approach which emphasizes

habit formation through practice. If the rules are learnt wrongly, one

has to understand them properly and remember them with practice.

One can see the influence of behavioural psychology here.

F. T. Wood’s concept of remediation is correction of errors, repairs of

damaged parts. It is not teaching the language again in a new way.

There is a heavy concentration on grammar because a large number of

errors are found in this area. He also believes that learners make errors

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because they do not know the rules. He advocates teaching grammar

explicitly and giving practice in a mechanical way. His book does not

provide any reading material, does not give any writing tasks and does

not entertain fancy exercises. If the reader goes through the contents of

his book s/he would find that thirty seven out of forty two chapters deal

with structures. Thus there is a heavy concentration on grammar. The

treatment of language functions is cursory. He talks very briefly about

polite expressions and greetings.

His style is prescriptive. The whole book is about Do’s and Don’ts. Here

are a few examples from chapter one.

1. Do not put ‘the’ before the names of substances if

they are used in a general sense.

2. Do not put ‘the’ before the names of meals if they

refer to the meals generally.

3. But ‘the’ must be used when the meal is a particular

one.

The book is full of explanations of grammatical rules. Here are some

examples.

Plural nouns standing for the people of a particular country however are

not preceded by ‘the’ if the people in question are thought of

individually.

Along with the rules he has also discussed exceptions. The best feature

of the book is the rules are well-illustrated. For example -

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‘The’ is used before a singular noun to express what we call ‘the

generic singular’ i.e. the one thing mentioned is taken to represent all

of that kind.

The tiger and the cat belong to the same family of

animals.

The elephant is very strong.

The plane is the fastest means of travel.

In each chapter, the presentation of rules is followed by exercises.

These exercises are, as the author himself has admitted, mechanical.

They are mostly fill-in-the-blanks type and contain isolated sentences.

Exercise: Fill in the blank spaces in the following sentences with the word

given in brackets at the end, using either the plain noun, or the noun

preceded by ‘the’ (whichever you think is correct).

1. The box was made of …………. (wood)

2. Some coins are made of ……… and some of …….. (silver, copper)

3. ……….. in that stream is not suitable for drinking. (water)

There is no language exposure in terms of reading or writing tasks. That

is because F. T. Wood firmly believes that rigorous effort in correcting

grammatical errors is more than enough to improve the language of

underachievers.

F. T. Wood is not alone to follow common error - based approach to

remedial teaching. Prof. Yadurajan in his book Current English (2001)

brings out finer distinctions in the use of apparently synonymous words.

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It is really a nice guide for advanced learners. Another useful book

Indian and British English (1979) by Nihalani, Tongue and Hosali

describes systematically errors of Indian learners. The book is not

prescriptive in nature. It only says that the British don’t use certain

expressions that Indians use. However, this handbook is very useful for

the Indians who want to be intelligible abroad. The third book that

compiles errors for remediation is To Err is Human by Govind Vyavahare.

The book lists seventy typical errors of Gujarati learners learning English.

The explanation of errors is both in English and Gujarati and there are

several exercises for practice.

The problem with common-error-based approaches is that they deal

only with grammar and that too selectively. Moreover, in this approach

there is no language exposure through reading or writing.

3.1.5 A Remedial course in English for colleges: Book I, II & III (1981)

OUP

– B. K. Das and A. David

This book is a radical departure from the books that concentrate on

grammatical errors. The authors believe that remediation is not just a

correction, nor is it a cosmetic surgery here and there. For them,

remediation is re-teaching and that re-teaching has to be in a new way.

Their objection to error-based-approach is that it only focuses on what

learners do not know. It demoralizes the learner by telling him that he

does not know this or that. Thus it is negative and may end up

frustrating the learner. Today many learners shy away from English

primarily because their teachers have hammered their failures.

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The authors are also against teaching grammar for the sake of grammar.

They point out that learning grammatical rules does not entail

proficiency in English. The learners can learn grammar rules and they

can do what they are told in a given exercise. But when it comes to

using language in real situation they are at a loss. This shows that only

teaching grammar or only explaining errors does not help. One needs to

show them how this grammar can be put into practice. In other words,

they advocate teaching of grammar in a new way and also suggest that

grammar should make room for reading and writing.

The noteworthy aspect of this course is that it considers confidence

building measures as very important. Underachievers are normally

indifferent or depressed. They consider English as a difficult language-

as something they may never attain. The authors attribute it to the

negative approach of the teachers. They point out that in our existing

system we tend to ignore what they do with English and focus only on

their errors. This should change if we want remediation to be successful.

So this course is positive in approach and tries to improve the learner at

his pace.

The remarkable feature of this book is that it takes care of language

exposure. Practising language with isolated sentences is not enough. In

fact, it does not help. One needs to listen to some English or read

something in English so that s/he can express his/her views or pass on

information and thus get opportunities to use English. The authors have

prepared excellent reading materials for learners. This text can be used

for a number of language activities.

The course has integrated good features of different approaches to

make it effective. For example, like the traditional approach it also

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explains grammatical rules. Grammar is discussed in all the chapters.

Like the structural approach it also contains a number of fill-in-the-

blanks or replacement exercises. And using the communicative language

teaching approach they have given open- ended exercises.

All the three books in the course are well-planned, integrated and

graded. Book I contains several narratives. There are stories and

anecdotes to sustain the interest of learners. Book II has more

challenging passages. Book III is still advanced. It contains literary texts

and demands better responses.

All the three books have the same design. They all begin with a reading

passage. The passage is followed by a glossary. Students are supposed

to refer to it for better comprehension of the text. Then there are a

number of exercises dealing with reading comprehension, grammar and

vocabulary. The last exercise is normally communicative.

Each book has proper guidelines for the teachers. The authors have

their own convictions and they believe that the books can be profitably

used if certain things are kept in mind. For example, they clearly point

out that the teacher should not do everything for the class. S/he should

not volunteer to give meanings of new words. S/he should persuade the

students to guess the meanings. Even while getting the responses, s/he

should not quickly give the answer. S/e should allow them to think.

Thus the learner is required to struggle, work through the materials. The

teacher has to encourage him to talk, discuss, read and write. The

teacher should give him/her the freedom to express his/her opinion.

Thus the classroom should have a democratic set up.

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The books are rich in terms of the topics and the exercises. The topics

are appealing to the interest and taste of the learners. The exercises

also have a wide range. In Book I, simple exercises like ‘Say whether the

following statements are true or false’ or ‘choose the best answer out of

the possible answers given’ or ‘fill in the blanks’ are found. In Book III,

however, the exercises are more challenging. For example, Answer the

following questions. You should be able to find reason for your answers.

For vocabulary, there are exercises like this – Rewrite each of the

sentences below using the word or phrases given in brackets. The first

sentence has been worked out.

1. He was an intelligent boy, but he failed in the test. (in spite of)

(In spite of being an intelligent boy he failed in the test).

The books contain a number of controlled communicative tasks. For

example,

Imagine that you are a farmer’s younger son, and tell the story in

your own words, using the outline given below. Use one word

for each blank space. (The outline gives only a part of the story).

My brother and … lived on a farm with ….. father. We ….. him to

look after ….. we were very …. together.

To conclude, it can be said that this is a balanced course where all the

skills are integrated. It is not just a ‘touching up’ operation. It seeks to

re-teach the language in an effective way. It takes care of learners’

psychology by boosting their morale and by appreciating their all round

progress. The choice of materials and exercises is excellent encouraging

the learners to work on their own. However, this course does not

recognize the significance of L1 and its use for remedial purposes.

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3.1.6 Translation (1989) OUP

- Alan Duff

Realizing the potential of translation as a teaching technique, Alan Duff

proceeds to show how it can be exploited maximally in SL classroom. In

his introduction to ‘Translation’ he says, ‘Translation develops three

qualities essential to language learning: accuracy, clarity and flexibility.

It trains the learner to search (flexibility) for the most appropriate words

(accuracy) to convey what is meant (clarity). Translation is not a new

thing. In fact, it was a major resource of learning in the medieval ages.

It was always associated with grammar. And since grammar was thrown

out of the classes in the 20th century translation also became unpopular.

The structural and communicative approach does not recommend the

use of L1 in the classroom mainly because it deprives the learner of

second language exposure. This implies translation has no place in the

English class. Translation also earned a bad name because teachers used

it mechanically as a shortcut to learning.

Alan Duff points out that translation - based tasks should be used in the

class because translation is a natural process. When one speaks or

writes in L2, s/he is engaged in a continuous process of translation.

Again in multilingual contexts, translation is very useful. Mass media

uses different languages at different levels. In India, we have a news

bulletin in Hindi, English and almost all local languages. Advertisements,

signboards, announcements use different languages. Moreover,

translation is a useful technique in the class. Authentic materials, such

as, translated stories, advertisements, instructions, printed forms etc.

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are easily available. Teachers can put them to good use. With

translation, one can have group work. Before translating, learners can

have oral discussion in small groups. There are always options in

translation and justifying a particular choice can always lead to good

discussion. Moreover, translation is a two way process. The learner has

to operate two languages and eventually s/he masters both the

languages. Finally, translation creates awareness of both accuracy and

appropriateness. While translating, learners get the feel of registers and

styles. They come to know which word fits in which contexts.

Having made a case for translation Alan Duff goes on describing different

tasks to teach grammatical structures. The book is divided into five

sections, each dealing with a particular area. For example, section I

deals with context and register while section II deals with word order

and reference. In each section, there are a number of units. For

example, for context and register; there are eight units describing

different activities such as context clues, matching pairs, implications

etc. These activities are organized in three parts: 1. Preparation 2. In

class and 3. Comments. In ‘Preparation’, the teacher is required to

design some materials or tasks. ‘In class’ describes procedure of

conducting the task. And ‘Comments’ indicate ‘outcome’ or other

possibilities. As a sample, one activity is given below:

Word Play

Preparation

1. Make a selection of ten to twelve titles (books, films, plays, etc.) and

or advertising slogans. These should be titles or slogans that can be

easily understood. If you wish, add a short explanation, for example.

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Man watching – a book on human behaviour. The task sheet for this

activity gives suitable examples.

2. Make up a similar task sheet and prepare enough copies for

everyone in the class.

In class

1. Divide the students in groups of four. Ask them to imagine that the

book, film, or product is to be distributed in their country. Each group

should suggest translation for the titles or slogans.

2. After discussion, the group offers their suggestions to the

whole class.

Comments – This is a useful warming up (or cooling down!) activity. It

should be kept short, that is, to ten or fifteen minutes at the most. Ask

the students to keep their eyes open for other examples which could be

used in later classes.

Task Sheet – Below is a selection of titles of books, films, TV

programmes, and advertising slogans. Imagine in each case that the

book, product, or programme is to be distributed in your country.

Suggest how the title or slogan could be rendered in your own

language. (Feel free to use your imagination)

1. A Taste of India

(Title of an illustrated book on Indian cooking)

2. Johnny Walker – Born 1820, and still going strong

(Advertisement for Johnny Walker Whisky)

3. The Heart of the Dragon

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(Title of a TV documentary on China)

4. Take the Money and Run

(Title of a film – a farce, with Woody Allen as an

unsuccessful crook, who repeatedly ends up in jail.

Alan Duff thus shows that an enlightened teacher can use translation

profitably in the class. Its senseless use can be avoided and interesting

challenging communicative tasks can be designed to hone the skills of SL

learners.

3.1.7 An Interactive Grammar of Modern English (1999) Frank Bros &

Co.

- Shivendra K Verma, Hemalata Nagarajan

Both the authors are from English and Foreign Languages University

(EFLU), earlier known as Central Institute of English and Foreign

Languages, Hyderabad. Like most remedial textbooks, this book is also

designed to help tertiary level students to improve and extend the range

of their communication skills in English. As the title itself suggests, the

main objective of this book is to teach grammar. But through grammar,

the authors want the learners to attain reading, writing and speaking

skills. Thus the purpose of teaching grammar is not academic but it is

used more as a means to achieve the goal of communication. It is a

grammar book that helps a learner interact in English.

This book is different from error-based texts. It deals with grammar in a

comprehensive manner. The book has covered almost all the

grammatical points needed for communication. In F. T. Wood’s book,

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only problem-areas are found or in Nihalani’s book on Indian & British

English the inventory of errors only is found. This book attempts to re-

teach complete grammar. Moreover, it seeks to highlight error-prone

areas. Thus the book is an improvement on earlier remedial works.

The book has a fresh approach to grammar. The authors believe that

conceptual clarity can help learners master the language. Hence there is

a detailed discussion of grammatical structures. The book shows

relationship between functions and structures. For example, describing

present habits is a function and it goes with the structure – the simple

present or giving orders is connected with imperatives. Thus the

grammar aims at developing ‘correctness’ and ‘appropriateness’ in the

language of learners.

One more salient feature of this book is its production section. In this

section, learners are given opportunities to use language on their own.

They are invited to imagine, evaluate, guess, compare, analyse, sort out

etc. This is the most crucial part of learning: applying rules of grammar

in proper contexts. This is where our learners fail. The authors have

understood it and made amends by designing a number of useful tasks

with rich variety.

This book does not make use of L1 either for explanation or instruction.

Nor does it use translation as a teaching technique.

There are five chapters in the book, each woven around a semantic

category. For example, Chapter 2 deals with the processes, activities and

states. Under this chapter, there are seven units, each dealing with sub

semantic category. For example, Unit 2 deals with describing past habits

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while Unit 4 deals with talking about actions in progress. As pointed out

earlier, the contents show which functions go with which structures.

Each unit is designed systematically. The unit begins with some reading

material. It may be a poem, a dialogue, a narrative or even an

advertisement. It is interesting and related to the teaching point. For

example, Unit 1 begins with a poem on Lord Krishna named ‘Kanayya’. It

describes Krishna’s habit of teasing milk maids. This beautiful poem is by

Sarojini Naidu. It not only motivates the learner but also brings home

the message that the simple present tense is used to indicate present

habits. Thus students are taken from a real language to language

structure.

The reading material leads to the discussion of grammatical points. The

structure is explained using tables, charts, pictures etc. For example, the

following sentence is explained using a diagram.

By next year, I will have been learning French for nine years.

1991 Now ` 2000

1999

Started Learning French

Grammar presentation is followed by ‘Mind your language’ section. It

deals with those areas where learners are prone to go wrong. The

section lists a few erroneous sentences and explains why they are

wrong.

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For example,

* The man came yesterday is my brother.

The man who came yesterday is my brother.

Explanation - It is possible to omit the relative pronoun if it is in an

object position in the relative clause. However, it is not possible to

omit the relative pronoun from the subject position.

The error section is followed by practice. It contains ‘fill in the blanks’

exercises. But there are also activities with the element of function. For

example, a game called ‘What have you been up to?’ . Each student in

class acts out something. The others have to guess what you have been

doing till then. For example,

Guess – you have been running / jogging / exercising

The last section is production in which learners are given some topic,

some props and they are asked to work through a task. For example,

there is a match-making agency called ‘Made for each other’ which

provides the right partner according to one’s taste/liking. Write a

letter to this agency, describing yourself and indicating how the man/

woman of your dreams should be. A sample letter is provided below:

In conclusion, we can say that ‘production’ is the best part of the book

many creative teachers are like to get inspired to design similar

communicative tasks.

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3.2 Review of Past Studies

Kumar (2009) states that a large part of review of literature actually

needs to be done even before the research projects are formalized. This

is essential to make sure that the researches are not repeating the work

that someone has already done earlier. Sometimes, if the research has

already been undertaken earlier, then it provides an option of modifying

the work by adding a new perspective or altering some of the methods

of research to obtain a perspective that will be different from earlier

works and thus more valuable. Occasionally, the work may be exact

repetition of the work done earlier, but with a different set of data or

sources of facts, and purpose of the research may just be seen if the

results are similar to earlier works.

Review of related literature “provides ideas, theories, explanations or

hypotheses valuable in formulating the problem” (Phumphuang 2012, p.

61). It also suggests methods of research appropriate to the problem, to

locate comparative data useful in the interpretation of results and to

contribute to the general scholarship of the researcher. Review of

related literature has its own value in the sense that it allows the

researcher to have encounters with differences in opinions,

contradictory findings and conclusions.

In this section, the researcher has presented brief reviews of some

research studies and scholarly articles in the areas of use of multimedia

materials, video instructional materials, remedial teaching, error

analysis, teaching of grammar and computer assisted language learning

(CALL). Studies reviewed by researcher cover the studies conducted in

and outside India. They focus mainly on use of multimedia and CALL

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materials for English language teaching and learning, and not on

teaching of Science, Social Studies, Mathematics, History, Statistics or

such other subjects at different levels. However, there are a couple of

studies in this section that talk about the use of information and

communication technology for general purposes.

3.2.1 Studies Conducted in India

Study 1

Karandikar (1996) developed video instructional package to teach Diet

to the students of Standard VIII and studied its effectiveness in terms of

achievement. Tools used for the data collection were:

Junior Index of Motivation Scale

Socio-economic Status Scale

Anxiety Scale

Achievement Test

Major findings of the study were:

There was a significant difference between mean achievement of

Higher SES and lower SES group of students studied through Video

Instructional Package.

There was a significant difference between mean achievements of

male students studied through Video Instructional Package.

There was a significant difference in mean achievement on

immediate retention test of students belonging to experimental

and control group.

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Study 2

Zyoud (1999) studied the development of Computer Assisted English

Language Teaching for VIII standard students. The major objectives of

the study were:

To develop a Computer Assisted English language teaching

program for standard VIII Gujarati medium students.

To study the effectiveness of the Computer Assisted English

language teaching program on students achievement in terms of

Vocabulary grammar and comprehension by taking pre test and

IQ covariate.

To study the effectiveness of the Computer Assisted English

language teaching program on the experimental group students’

achievement of all above mentioned with respect to their

intelligence, motivation and attitude.

For the development of the software package, four lessons were

selected based on the opinion of teachers and students regarding

difficulty level of these lessons and the difficulty of teaching them. After

selecting lessons, content analysis was carried out.

Students studying in standard VIII Gujarati medium were taken from two

schools to serve as the sample for the study. Students of one school i.e.

Rosary School, Baroda formed the experimental group and student of

the other school i.e. GEB school, Baroda formed the control group. The

tools used in the pilot study were also used in the final experiment

namely pre test, Raven’s progressive matrices sets A, B, C, D and E

(Raven, 1960). Junior Index of motivation by Frimer (1970) and

translated into Gujarati by Dr. Desai (1970) and post test. To study

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attitude of the students towards the package the researcher developed

and administrated an attitude scale on the experimental group only after

the final experiment.

The findings show that when the computer is used to its full potential, it

can create an atmosphere where the students can learn and interact

with the computer without being afraid of the teacher’s presence. The

computerized exercise can help the student become familiar with

significant amount of vocabulary, grammar and comprehension because

it provides effective individualized instruction.

Study 3

Jain (2002) studied IGNOU Teleconferencing for Distance Learning. The

major objectives of the study were:

To analyse teleconferencing programmes of IGNOU subjects in

terms of contents, methods, media and modes.

To study the effectiveness of teaching the distance learners

through teleconferencing in terms of mean achievement scores.

To study the view of IGNOU personnel involved in planning,

production, co-ordination, and implementation stages of IGNOU

teleconferencing programmes.

The major findings were:

Very few participants were found attending the teleconferencing

programmes. Usually the participants were found attending the

programmes attentively.

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Participants waiting to ask questions seemed more interested in

the programmes.

It was found that the time allotted for the talkback session usually

was not enough.

Some learners having vernacular background expressed

apprehension about the comprehensibility of the programmes.

Study 4

Shah (2005) studied ICT Awareness, Use and Need of Secondary and

Higher Secondary Teachers of English Medium Schools of Vadodara City.

The major objectives of his study were:

To study the ICT awareness of secondary and higher secondary

school teachers.

To study the ICT use of secondary and higher secondary school

teachers.

To study the ICT need of secondary and higher secondary school

teachers.

To study the variables related with the ICT awareness of

secondary and higher secondary school teachers.

To study the variables related with the ICT use of secondary and

higher secondary school teachers.

To study the variables related with the ICT need of secondary and

higher secondary school teachers.

Findings of the study showed that there was a low degree of awareness

of secondary and higher secondary school teachers in computer,

internet, and other components of ICT. It also shows that there was a

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low level of usage of ICT resources by the secondary and higher

secondary school teachers.

Study 5

Panchal (2006) developed and tried out self-learning materials in English

subject on the unit of ‘Active and Passive Voice’ for the Students of

Standard-XII. The study incorporated a total of 44 objectives. The Self-

Learning Material on the topic of Active and Passive was well developed.

Experimental Group - Control Group pre-test post-test design, as well as,

single group pretest post-test design were employed for the Study. A

sample of 192 students was drawn using compatible sampling

techniques. Two pre-experimental groups were constituted, each having

32 students, one from rural area, whereas, the other one from urban

area, wherein, the sample units were duly distributed as science stream

and general stream, boys and girls. Similarly, one experimental group

and one control group were constituted from urban area, whereas,

another set of experimental and control groups was constituted from

rural area, each having 32 students distributed fairly stream-wise and

gender-wise.

The data were gathered and analysed systematically using t-test,

ANOVA, ANCOVA, and Chi-square. Desai Verbal and Non-Verbal Group

Intelligence Test, and the Sub-Criterion Tests, Main Criterion Test, and

Opinionnaire constructed by the researcher were used for the Study.

The characteristics of all the tools used for the study were well

established.

The Study arrived at quite meaningful findings as follows:

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Students were found to have well understood Simple Tense, Continuous

Tense, Perfect Tense, Simple Modal Auxiliaries, Perfect Modal

Auxiliaries, Infinitive, Participle, Active and Passive Voice, Causal

Construction and Imperative Sentence through self learning material as

evident through the pre-test and post-test status through mean

achievement on respective sub-criterion tests.

For both the schools of rural and urban areas, learning through Self-

Learning Material and Traditional Teaching was found almost equal on

Simple Tense, Continuous Tense, Perfect Tense, Simple Modal

Auxiliaries, Perfect Modal Auxiliaries and participle, as no significant

difference has been reported on the mean gain scores. No significant

difference was found in the mean scores on Learning on Infinitive

through Self Learning Material in urban areas, whereas, it was found

significant in rural areas. No significant difference was found in the mean

scores on Learning on causal construction through Self Learning Material

in rural areas, whereas, it was found significant in urban areas.

Learning of Active and Passive Voice through Self Learning Material was

reported significantly greater in urban as well as rural areas as compared

to that of control groups. The Self-Learning Material had a greater

impact on the students of General Stream than that of the Science

Stream. The Self-Learning Material had a greater impact on the students

of urban area than that of the rural area. Gender, level of IQ and the

interaction between the gender and level of IQ had no significant effect

on the mean achievement of the students on Active and Passive Voice

learnt through Self-Learning Materials. The self-learning material had a

better impact on boys than girls. The students gave favourable opinion

on the self-learning material.

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Study 6

Shikhare (2007) developed a Multimedia Instructional System on

Educational Technology for B.Ed Pupil Teachers. Major objectives of the

study were:

To analyze the conventional approach of teaching Educational Teaching.

To plan Multimedia Instructional System for Educational Technology.

To design and construct Multimedia Instructional System on Educational Technology.

To test the effectiveness of constructed Multimedia Instructional System.

The researcher designed a Multimedia Instructional System (MIS) on the

bases of gathering data from all the teacher educators (50) teaching ET

in 26 Colleges of Education affiliated to Shivaji University, Kolhapur

University and Solapur University, Solapur through a questionnaire

constructed by him, and interviews with 20% (10) randomly selected

teacher-educators out of these. In this research experimental design was

employed. The characteristics of all the tools constructed for the study,

namely, Questionnaire, Evaluation Forms, and Achievement test were

well established. The data has been analyzed with the help of

appropriate statistical and non – statistical techniques. F-test and t-test

have been used for data analysis. The major findings of the study were:

The present setting of Teaching of Educational Technology in B.Ed

Colleges is unsatisfactory for learning of Pupil-Teacher.

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An instructional system for ET instruction through multimedia

technology can be planned, design and constructed.

There is no significant difference between the performance of

Pupil Teachers of Control and Experimental Group.

Study 7

Vyavahare (2007) conducted a study on preparation and try-out of a

remedial course in English for graduate learners who make glaring errors

in writing.

The main objectives of the study were:

1. To design a pre-test to determine and select students who had low

proficiency in English.

2. To introduce teaching of formal grammar to promote conceptual

clarity among the learners.

3. To use the mother tongue of learners to establish rapport and to

facilitate learning of L2.

4. To use reading materials and activities that were intellectually

appealing and catching the fancy of adult learners.

5. To evolve techniques that would promote learner autonomy and

thereby enhance learner confidence.

6. To design research tools to get feedback from experts and learners.

7. To construct a post-test to find out the learning outcome.

The pre-test was well designed on grammar, vocabulary, reading

comprehension and writing. The characteristics of all the tools used for

the study were well established. The experiment was conducted on 27

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Students. The data were suitably analyzed through t-test. The remedial

course was found significantly effective. A highly significant

improvement in Grammar and Writing Skills was observed but there was

no significant improvement in Vocabulary and Reading Skills.

He used different tools like the questionnaire, personal interviews,

observation comments of the experts and feedback by the student. The

major findings of the study were:

1. The group was homogeneous culturally- one State, one language, one

culture. Socially however, it was heterogeneous- different regions,

different castes, and different economic conditions. The use of English

was rather less in those areas. The students were weak in all the areas-

speech, grammar, writing, spelling and even in reading. They were

acutely aware of their inability to speak fluently and accurately in

English. Gaps in the teaching styles and learning styles were found. Most

of the students wanted student-student and student-teacher interaction

instead of the conventional teacher-student interaction.

2. The motivation of the students for attending the remedial course was

fairly high.

3. Teacher’s attitude and involvement in teaching was up to the mark.

4. The reading materials were adequate and meaningful for the

students. However, the use of teaching aids was minimal. Teacher could

have used some aids to enhance student motivation.

5. The speech and writing tasks were found quite appreciable.

6. The learners were excited about the use of communicative tasks.

Except, initial inhibitions, the students increasingly participated

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enthusiastically and talked on the spot. The researcher motivated the

learners using L1 and interesting materials.

7. The error correction technique was found to have a positive impact on

the learners. Peer prompting also helped error reduction.

8. Students were found to react positively towards the Remedial

Program. Their feedback was quite satisfying.

Study 8

Patel (2009) studied the development and Implementation of CAI to

teach English grammar to standard VIII student in different modes. The

objectives of the study were:

To develop the CAI to teach English Grammar to Standard VIII

Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Board (GS & HSEB)

students in different modes (only CAI, CAI with repetition, CAI

with discussion)

To study the effectiveness of the developed CAI in different

modes in terms of students’ achievement in English Grammar.

To study the effectiveness of the developed CAI in terms of the

reactions of students.

To study the relative effectiveness of the developed CAI in

different modes of presentation (only CAI, CAI with repetition, CAI

with discussion) in terms of differences in the adjusted post-test

mean achievement of the student in English Grammar.

The sample of the present study was selected purposively. For it two

schools of Vadodara district namely, Bright day school and Kelvani

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school during the academic year 2008-09 were selected. From the

selected schools, 26 students of standard VIII of only one division VIII-A

of Kelvani School were taken as the Control group and 62 students of

standard VIII of Bright day school were treated as the experimental

group.

The required data were collected with the help of pre-test, post-test and

reaction scale which were constructed by the researcher. In between

pre-test and post-test, the researcher implemented the intervention

program in the form of CAI package for ten days for two hours per day

on the experiment groups and control group was taught the same topics

by their teacher. After the implementation of that, the researcher

administered the post-test after the span of fifteen days and the

reactions of the students, based on teaching with CAI and the developed

CAI itself were taken. The data were collected in three phase.

One of the major findings of the research was that the achievement of

the students in English Grammar taught through CAI was found

significantly higher than that of the students taught through traditional

method. Another finding was that the achievement of the students

taught through only CAI was found significantly higher in English

Grammar than that of the students taught through traditional method. It

was also found that the achievement of the students taught through CAI

with repetition and CAI with Discussion was found significantly higher

than the achievement of the students who were taught through

traditional method. Another very important finding was that from the

three modes of the presentation of this CAI, the mode i.e. teaching

through CAI with discussion was found significantly superior in

comparison to other two modes.

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Study 9

Gohil (2012) worked on preparation and tryout of multimedia materials

to enhance communication skills of ESL students at the UG level in digital

language laboratory. The study was a one group pre-test post-test

experimental research design. The purpose of the study was to establish

the effect of the multimedia materials on communication skills. A total

of twenty students of first year Arts and Commerce streams participated

in the experiment. Tools used by the researcher were a pre-test, a post-

test and a self evaluation checklist. t-test was applied for analyzing the

data. Major findings of the study were:

The multimedia package had been effective in enhancing listening

and reading skills of the participants.

The multimedia package had been equally effective on male and

female participants.

The multimedia package had been equally effective on the

participants belonging to the Arts and Commerce streams.

The multimedia materials had similar and equal effect on the

participants irrespective of the participants’ socio-economic

status.

The confidence and motivation of the participants was elevated

significantly at the end of the experiment.

Most of the participants enjoyed the lesson design that had a

combination of CALL, individual, group and pair work tasks.

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Study 10

Hiradhar (2012) studied the effectiveness of technology enabled

language enhancement program to develop the written communication

skills of ESL learners at tertiary level. The study was a one group pre-test

post-test experimental research design. The participants of the study

constituted of an intact group of first year university students who took

the common English course, English for Communication II at Lingnan

University, Hongkong. Out of the 41 students who participated in the

program, twenty six were BBA major and fifteen were Arts and Science

majors. The program was administered over a period of ten weeks. Pre-

test, post-test and an online questionnaire for survey were used as tools

for data collection. ANOVA and t-test were applied for the

interpretation of data gathered. Major findings of the study were:

The technology enabled program could develop written

communication skills in the various components of written

communication skills.

The program was equally effective for both male and female

participants.

The program was equally effective among various academic

disciplines of the study was carried out.

Participants liked the use of technology for language practice.

Study 11

Phumphuang (2012) studied the effectiveness of computer assisted

instruction on learning achievement in career and technology subject for

tenth grade students. To fulfill the purpose of the research, pre-

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experimental research (single one group, pre-test – post-test design) was

employed. The number of participants was thirty seven. The sample of

the study was tenth grade students of Sripuetta School, Bangkok,

Thailand. They were selected randomly. The learning management plan

on career and technology subject taught by the Computer Assisted

Instruction (CAI) title ‘Multi-Meter’ for tenth grade students, the

achievement test and the scale which measured the students’ opinions

pertaining to the Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) title ‘Multi-Meter’

were used as the research instruments.

On the bases of the results of the study, it could be concluded that

Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) proved as more effective method to

enhance the learning achievement (knowledge and understanding,

competencies, and desired characteristics) in career and technology

subject of tenth grade students. It was observed that Computer Assisted

Instruction (CAI) did effect on the learning achievement as it tested for

its significant difference between the pre-test – post-test scores of

learning achievements. One of the major findings of this research was

that the students preferred Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) lessons

over the traditional presentation approach. They enjoyed learning new

materials from Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI).

3.2.2 Studies Conducted Abroad

Study 1

Dalton and Hannafin (1986) studied Effectiveness of Video-Only, CAI

Only, and Interaction Video Instructional Systems on learning

performance and attitude. Based on present scores, students were

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randomly assigned to the three treatment group. At the conclusion of a

lesson on general shop safety rules, students were given a print-based

post-test and a survey to assess their attitudes toward the instruction.

Analysis consisted of a completely crossed 3X2X2 treatment by

achievement by sex factorial design, featuring three levels of prior

achievement. The means for the treatment groups on the performance

measure were 64.98, 73.54 and 70.48 percentage for the video, CAI, and

interactive video treatments respectively; attitude scale means

measured 75.07, 74.26 and 82.87 percentage for the video, CAI, and

interactive video treatment respectively. Results indicated that CAI alone

tends to be the most effective instructional delivery system where the

additional capability provided by interactive video is not required.

However, interactive video instruction did produce significant

improvements in the attitudes of low ability learners when compared

with CAI and video.

Study 2

Beber (2001) designed flexible computer-based learning package

available on CDROM to teach students about the social and political

dimensions of environmental issues. It contains resource material that

can be used by the lecturers in a large theatre, including video clip,

sound recording and overhead projection slides. The major objective of

the study was to develop and implement a teaching concept which

would assist students to attain a deeper understanding and an ability to

critically analyze the social dimensions of environmental issues. The

major achievement of the study was that CDROM was highly successful

and it was general enough to be transferable for use by other lectures in

other institutions who taught similar subject.

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Study 3

Naba’h (2009) investigated the effect of computer assisted language

learning in teaching English grammar on the achievement of secondary

students in Jordan. The sample of the study consisted of (212) students

distributed randomly on four experimental groups and four control

groups. The instruments of the study were an instructional software

program for teaching the passive voice and an achievement test. An

Analysis of covariance was used to find out the effect of the instructional

program on the students’ achievement in the passive voice. The general

aims of this study are the following:

Developing an instructional program for teaching a grammatical

item of English language which is the passive voice, and

Investigating its effect on developing students' achievement in

English grammar.

Four public schools were purposefully chosen from the Educational

Directorate in Zarqa for convenience. In addition, the schools were

equipped with computer labs. Consequently, students were supposed to

have previous experience in using software. The sample of the study

consists of (212) first secondary students assigned randomly to eight

sections. Four sections were randomly assigned to the experimental

group (scientific, literary males and scientific, literary females); each

section consists of (20) students selected and assigned randomly, and

four assigned to the control group (scientific males (20 students), literary

males (27 students), scientific females (45 students) and literary females

(40 students)). The experimental groups were taught the passive voice

via computer while the control groups were taught the same

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grammatical item by the traditional method. The sample students were

chosen from Al-Zarqa Directorate of Education.

An Analysis of covariance was used to find out the effect of the

instructional program on the students’ achievement in the passive voice.

The findings of the study revealed that:

1. There were statistically significant differences (α < 0.05) between the

students' achievement mean scores in grammar attributed to the

instructional method of teaching. This difference is in favor of the

students in the experimental group.

2. There were statistically significant differences (α < 0.05) between the

students' achievement mean scores in grammar attributed to gender.

This difference is in favor of male students.

3. There were statistically significant differences (α < 0.05) between the

students' achievement mean scores in grammar attributed to stream of

study. This difference is in favor of the scientific stream students.

In light of the findings of the study, it was recommended that TEFL

teachers use CAI lessons in their instruction.

Study 4

Naseer and Al-Mansour (2011) investigated the effect of Computer

Assisted Instruction (CAI) on Saudi University Students’ Learning English

at King Saud University. The research was an attempt to study whether

computers in teaching English alongside the traditional method to

university students is significantly different from teaching English

without the aid of computers or not.

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The study was carried out with a sample of sixty students of King Saud

University students following a randomized control group pre-test –

post-test design. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups of

thirty students in each. Each group was assigned randomly to either the

control group or the experimental group. The treatment consisted of

two levels: using computers alongside the traditional method and the

traditional method alone. The experimental group undertook the first

level of the treatment and the second group undertook the second level.

The experimental group used computers three periods of thirty minutes

per week for the eight week duration of the experiment. Both groups

were subjected to a pre-test immediately before the experiment began

and the same test was administered as a post-test at the end of the

experiment. The computer assisted language learning (CALL) was the

major tool of the study. Other tools used were instructional software

developed by the researchers and a twenty item multiple choice test. t-

test and a one way analysis of covariance (ANCONA) were applied as

techniques of data analysis.

The results of the analysis indicated that the use of computers in English

language instruction to the university students had a positive effect on

students’ achievement. It was found that there was a statistically

significant difference between the experimental group and the control

group on the post-test. The achievement of the experimental group,

measured by the difference between the pre-test and the post-test was

significantly better than that of the control group.

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Study 5

Mohaghegh (et al) (2011) in their study entitled ‘Grammatical errors

produced by English majors: The translation task’ investigated the

frequency of the grammatical errors related to the four categories of

preposition, relative pronoun, article, and tense using the translation

task. In addition, the frequencies of these grammatical errors in different

categories and in each category were examined. The quantitative

component of the study further looked at the differences between

literature and translation students in the frequencies in different

categories.

The following research questions guided the study:

What is the frequency of the grammatical errors in the translated

texts?

Are there any significant differences between the frequencies in

different categories?

Are there any significant differences between the frequencies in

each category?

Are there any significant differences between literature and

translation students in the frequencies in different categories?

A total of 60 junior EFL students (30 literature and 30translation), all

studied at Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, participated in this

survey. Four translation tests, three in Persian and one in English, were

given to the participants to investigate the difficulties of the Persian

native speakers learning English. This study showed that the students

had the most number of errors in preposition (100.0%), relative pronoun

(56.7%), article (25.0%), and tenses (6.7%) respectively. The results also

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revealed that there is a statistically significant difference between the

frequencies of the grammatical errors in each category. Furthermore,

there is also a statistically significant difference between literature and

translation students in the frequencies in different categories.

Study 6

Diyyab (et al) (2013) conducted a research on using a multimedia-based

program for developing student teachers’ EFL speaking fluency skills.

The research was guided by the following research questions:

(1) What EFL speaking fluency skills are required for second year

students?

(2) To what extent do second year students master EFL speaking fluency

skills?

(3) What is the form of the multimedia-based program?

(4) What is the effectiveness of using a multimedia-based program in

developing some EFL speaking fluency skills?

The sample of the study comprised thirty students. They were chosen at

random from second year students enrolled in the English section, Sadat

Faculty of Education, Minufiya University, during the first semester of

the 2012- 2013 academic year. The sample represented one group which

was taught using the multimedia-based program. An EFL speaking

fluency test to measure second year students' fluency skills with a rubric

was used as a rating scale in order to fulfill its purpose.

The study sample was taught using the multimedia-based program. The

test was applied to the study sample before using the multimedia-based

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program in order to measure the level of the participants in EFL speaking

fluency skills. Then, the test was re-applied after using the program.

Results of the study revealed that the study sample's EFL speaking

fluency skills were developed after using the program. Accordingly, the

multimedia-based program was found to be effective in developing EFL

speaking fluency skills among second year student teachers.

Study 7

Tsai (2012) studied the integration of multimedia courseware into ESP

instruction for technological purposes in higher technical education.

This study reports on integrating ESP (English for specific purposes)

multimedia courseware for semiconductor technology into instruction of

three different language programs in higher education by using it as a

silent partner. It focuses primarily on techniques and tools to motivate

retention of under-prepared students in an EFL setting. The courseware

design was based on Mayer’s multimedia learning cognitive theory, and

the language learning focus drew on Chapelle’s suggested criteria for

development of multimedia CALL (computer-assisted language learning).

This learner-centered instruction was compared with a traditional

teacher-centered one without courseware integration. Evaluation of the

instruction was based upon data from pre- and post-tests, and two

questionnaires related to students’ learning satisfaction and attitude.

The results suggested that students in all three programs have benefited

from the courseware integration and were satisfied with practices for

learning professional knowledge and English skills provided by the

courseware. Students in the weekend program of recurrent education

who were both older and had greater work experience had a higher

achievement on the posttest, showed better self-discipline, participation

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and motivation, made greater use of the multimedia, and had a better

understanding of teaching goals and professional and English content, so

that they were more competent in the ESP course using the multimedia

courseware. In addition, such a learner-centered instruction with

courseware integration was as good as that with the teacher-centered

one and can offer a potential solution to overcome current problems in

the development of ESP instruction in Taiwan.

3.3 Comprehensive Observations on the Literature Reviewed

On the bases of the 18 studies reviewed by the researcher, the following

observations are made:

Studies conducted in India and abroad mostly focused on

Multimedia, Instructional Package CALL materials and ICT.

Dalton and Hannafin (1986) and Karandikar (1996) have studied

the effectiveness of video instructional package on learning and

attitude and teaching diet at school levels. Majority of studies

have incorporated videos as an important part of the treatments

given. The findings of these studies indicate that use of videos is

enjoyed by the participants and it is found effective at least at

school level.

A research by Jain (2002) went beyond the regular classroom

work. It studied IGNOU teleconferencing programmes of IGNOU

subjects in terms of contents, methods, media and modes. He

observed that learners enjoyed attending such sessions.

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The study conducted by Shah (2005) on ICT Awareness, Use and

Need of Secondary and Higher Secondary Teachers of English

Medium Schools of Vadodara city showed that there was a low

degree of awareness of secondary and higher secondary school

teachers in computer, internet, and other components of ICT.

Panchal (2006), Naba’h (2009) and Patel (2009) studied computer

assisted instructional materials for teaching grammar on

secondary and higher secondary school students. One common

observation among all these studies was that computer assisted

materials were found effective and interesting by the participants.

Phumphuang (2012) tried computer assisted instructional on

learning achievement in career and technology subject for tenth

grade students. One of the major findings of this research was

that the students preferred Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI)

lessons over the traditional presentation approach.

Technology enabled materials, CALL materials and/or multimedia

materials were found effective, useful and appealing by

college/university students as well. This fact was commonly

found in the studies taken up by Naseer and Al-Mansour (2011),

Gohil (2012), Hiradhar (2012), Tsai (2012) and Diyyab (et al)

(2013). Computer assisted (online as well as offline) materials

enhanced the oral and written communication skills of ESL

students and they were also found effective in teaching of

grammar. Beber (2001) designed flexible computer-based learning

package available on CDROM to teach students about the social

and political dimensions of environmental issues. Computers

assisted materials assisted students to attain a deeper

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understanding and an ability to critically analyze the social

dimensions of environmental issues. Therefore, it can be stated

that multimedia/CALL materials have been proved effectual not

only in teaching language but also in other subjects as well.

Mohaghegh (et al) (2011) investigated the frequency of the

grammatical errors related to the four categories of preposition,

relative pronoun, article, and tense using the translation task and

Vyavahare (2007) conducted a study on preparation and try-out of

a remedial course in English for graduate learners who make

glaring errors in writing. These studies observed almost the same

errors made by college/university students as observed by the

investigator in the present study. In the research study conducted

by Vyavahare (2007), a highly significant improvement in

Grammar and Writing Skills was observed but there was no

significant improvement in Vocabulary and Reading Skills. Hence

it can be stated that remedial packages should not focus on many

areas like grammar, vocabulary, reading skills or writing skills at a

time.

3.4 Implications of Reviews Related Literature for the Present

Study

The researcher found that a number of research studies on using CALL

materials, multimedia material and computer assisted instruction have

been taken up at the national and international level. Almost all the

studies found that these materials had a positive effect on learners’

achievement. Hence, the researcher is confirmed that he is not sailing in

a wrong boat. Another thing is that, studies using CALL materials or

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multimedia materials for enhancing reading skills, writing skills, listening

skills and speaking skills at school and/or college levels have been taken

up. CALL materials have also been used for teaching selected

grammatical items but the researcher came across no research study

that prepared and tried out need-based multimedia material for

remedial teaching, to be more precise, in order to remedy the

grammatical errors. Moreover, the present study delivers theme based

units having a harmonious combination of print as well as electronic

media. Last but not the least, the researcher has not come across any

study wherein different types of materials like printed materials i.e.

worksheets, Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) materials i.e.

audio-video clips; power point presentations and language games; all in

an offline mode have been incorporated with view to remedying some

selected grammatical errors. To sum up, it can be stated that the

researcher is on the right track and the present study is unique in that

sense.

3.5 Summary

This chapter discussed a few relevant books, articles and research paper

reviews with a view to exploring the major areas of the present study. It

also included the literature regarding past research studies taken up at

the national and international level concerning the major areas of the

present study. It ended with a brief summary of the observations made

on the reviews of related literature followed by their implications. The

next chapter throws light on the research design and methodology,

preparation and validation of tools, implementation of the multimedia

programme. The next chapter also gives a brief overview of data analysis

and interpretation procedures.