Teaching ESP Through the Use of ICT in Turkish Military Academy: A Study on Youtube

Author(s):

Yasin Kucukyilmaz(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

ERG SES H 09, ICT and Education

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-08

11:00-12:30

Room:

328. [Main]

Chair:

Norman Brady

Contribution

Learning military terminology in English is very important because during international military exercises, joint operations Turkish officers are required to have competence in military terminology in English or else they may face communication problems. The design of materials that will boost the learning of military terminology in English is a need. There is an immense number and variety of materials providing learners with military terminology in English and they are available via internet or multi-media technology. According to Brett (2000) multimedia may provide an environment rich in opportunities for learners to develop their understanding. Students have a positive stance when it comes to the adaptation of technology in education.

Another problem with the teaching of military terminology is that the materials and activities already available on the course books are not interesting enough, up-to-date or various. Hirschel and Fritz (2013) state that enriching the classroom settings is a must. Similarly, Ulrike and others (2014) also claim that learning materials that show interesting illustrations might be effective because they trigger interest. Footages, documentaries, pod-casts and speeches available on internet serve a wide variety of military terminology. If these sources are exploited by the teachers to prepare supplementary materials, students might have higher attention span and interest in the lessons; therefore, they will be able to learn an important sum of military terminology. Long term retention of military terminology is also a challenge. As a natural result of being exposed to the target vocabulary with the use of ICT and multimedia sources, the stimulation of both eyes and ears is possible.

Thanks to the experience of using the ICT and multimedia to learn military terminology, the Cadets can continue learning further terminology or improve their overall English competence via the use of ICT and multimedia technology. Kavaliauskienė and Kaminskienė (2010) state that the internet activities promote learner self-monitoring ability and encourage the use of multimedia and network technology. This might result in learner autonomy for further language development. Most language teachers are unaware of the benefits of footages on Youtube for specific vocabulary teaching. The results of this study might provide new ideas for vocabulary teaching.

The study aims at finding answers to the following research questions:

Do the use of ICT and multimedia to teach ESP expand students’ specific vocabulary knowledge better?
Do the use of ICT and multimedia to learn ESP create motivation?
Do the use of ICT and multimedia to teach ESP help improve overall English competence?
Do the use of ICT and multimedia to teach ESP help develop learner autonomy?

Significance of the Study

If the use of ICT and multimedia to teach military terminology prove to be helpful, the English curriculum of military educational institutions can be enriched. Students’ learning habits and experiences via ICT may also result in an increase in learner autonomy. Learner autonomy is very important because most TMA graduates have difficulty in improving or maintaining their English competence levels after graduation. The students need guidance in order to be able to learn how to make use of up-to-date materials in ICT and multimedia. It is hoped that suggestions that will be given depending on the results of this study can be beneficial for:

English teachers all over Turkey.
English teachers in military educational institutions in Turkey.
schools teaching ESP.
the further studies of ELT Departments of faculties in Turkey.

Method

Research Design In this experimental study, it is assumed that both control and experimental groups have similar academic and English competence level. However, a pre-test will be prepared and applied to the students testing their knowledge of military terminology when the study starts. Secondly, cadets will be given a post-test just after they finish studying the materials designed to teach military terminology. The Cadets will be given a scale assessing their attitudes towards the use of ICT. It will be given at the end of the study. Lastly, the Cadets will be given the late post-test, to measure long term retention. Through the survey, cadets’ attitudes on the use of ICT and multimedia to learn ESP will be detected. Participants The total number of cadets who will participate in this study will be 70. Data Collection Devices A pre-test, post-test and late post-test for vocabulary comprehension and retention levels. A questionnaire will be conducted to see Cadets’ attitudes towards the use of ICT. Measurement Reliability The pre-test, post-test, late post-test and questionnaire will be prepared with the guidance of the academic personnel in TMA so that it can be made sure that the items used in the tests and the scale will have the necessary qualifications to test and elicit Cadets’ comprehension levels and attitudes towards the use of ICT correctly. The Validity of the Use and Comments of Measurements The vocabulary tests will cover the vocabulary items in the footages and short videos obtained from ICT and multimedia sources. The items that will be tested in the tests will be the same. Data Collection To find the answer to the first research question “Do the use of ICT and multimedia to teach ESP expand specific vocabulary knowledge better?” a pre-test and post-test will be applied. Secondly, a questionnaire will be given in order to find the answers to the second, third and fourth research questions as follows: “Do the use of ICT and multimedia to learn ESP provide motivation? Do the use of ICT and multimedia to teach ESP help improve overall English competence? Do the use of ICT and multimedia to teach ESP develop learner autonomy? As a final application, late post-test will be given. Data Analysis For data analysis, SPSS 19.0 will be used. Finally, interviews with the academics in Turkish Military Academy will be made too in order to support the hypotheses of the researcher.

Expected Outcomes

Expected Findings Prior to the study, a pilot questionnaire was given to a class consisting of 35 Cadets to see whether they have positive stance to the use of ICT and multimedia technology to learn military terminology. The result of the pilot questionnaire provided the researcher with the findings that the Cadets are highly motivated and they find the use of ICT and multimedia more interesting and motivating than the traditional methods of using the course books only to learn the target vocabulary. In accordance with the pilot questionnaire findings, by the end of the post-test it is expected that the Cadets who will learn the military terminology through the use of ICT and multimedia technology will have a better level of military terminology comprehension than the ones who will study the same military terminology by traditional methods. Moreover, the questionnaire which will be given to the Cadets after the post-test will most probably prove that the Cadets have a positive attitude to the use of ICT and multimedia to learn military terminology. Thanks to the stimulation of multi senses while using ICT and multimedia technology for learning the military terminology, it is expected that better long term retention of the military terminology will also be achieved as the result of late post-test. Furthermore, it is expected that the Cadets who will have the experience of learning terminology through the use of ICT and multimedia technology will have gained the capability to learning themselves. The Cadets will learn how to use the materials available on internet and multimedia on their own, which means helping develop autonomous learners.

References

Brett, P. (2000). “Integrating Multimedia into the Business English Curriculum: A Case Study” Retrieved December 11 from http://www.elsevier.com/locate/compedu Hirschel, R., Frits, E. , (2013). Learning Vocabulary: CALL Program vs Vocabulary Notebook. Kavaliauskienel, G., Kaminskiene, L. (2010). “Using ICT in English for specific purpose classroom” ESP World, Issue 1 (27) Retrieved December 2014 from http://www.esp-world.info Ulrike, I.E and others (2014). “Triggering Situational Interest by Decorative Illustrations Both Fosters and Hinders Learning in Computer-Based Learning Environments” Learning and Instruction Magazine

Author Information

Yasin Kucukyilmaz (presenting / submitting)

Turkish Military Academy

Department of Foreign Languages

Ankara

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