Nadzrah Abu Bakar

Gender differences in attitudes towards learning oral skills using technology

This paper reports a quantitative study on gender differences in attitudes when learning oral skills via technology. The study was conducted at Tafila Technical University, Jordan, with 70 female and 30 male students, to find out if female students are better and faster in learning a language than male. Specifically, it seeks to investigate differences in attitudes between females and males in terms of practicality, confidence and anxiety. The results of the study show that there were no significant differences between female and male students when comparing the pre- and post-test mean scores. Both genders establish the same levels of attitudes before and after undergoing this course, which suggests that the exposure to language learning using technology did not contribute to any significant gender inequality. The paired sample t-test results showed improved attitudes toward learning oral skills in both females and males. The study also indicates female and male improvement in the anxiety dimension showing that their initial strong apprehension toward this course was greatly reduced at the end of the course. In terms of confidence, female showed better enhanced confidence level than male at the end of the course.

Fusion of Technology with Language Learning: Blog Community

This paper reports findings of an innovative teaching and learning tool which utilizes the weblogs or blogs to increase and widen the ESL learners’ learning opportunities. It firstly reports on the implementation process of the online blogs community as a learning instrument in a tertiary-level ESL classroom. Secondly, it highlights the learners’ feedback being a part of the online blogging community in order to help them enhance their mastery of the English language. The study which involved a select group of low proficiency learners in one Malaysian university utilized online blog discussion activities, interviews and reflection journals as data collection tools. An online blogging community was created and students participated in the group discussion for a duration of one semester. Qualitative analyses of the blog discussion content, interviews and students’ reflection journals conclusively indicate that online blogging community activities, if done in an organized and structured manner, can widen students’ learning opportunities beyond the physical classroom and provide a fresh and effective learning environment for the ESL learners to improve their command of the target language. Keywords: ICT; Blended Learning; Tertiary-level; Blogs Community; ESL Learner