The increasingly growing inventions, innovations, and overall technological development has rendered technology so integrated in modern society that individuals no longer conceive it as complementary, but rather as indispensable for their daily lives. Since the advent of technology, the quest for the ‘optimal’ language learning and thus teaching method have pushed curriculum developers, educators, teachers, and applied linguists to investigate the impact and effects of computerization, multimedia devices, mobile phones, audio/visual effects applications, social media, the internet and all-encompassing information and communication technologies (ICT) on foreign and second language learning, aiming at drawing correlations or cause-and-effects relations between the autonomous reluctance on ICT or its integration in formal education from the one hand, and developing competence in a target language on the other.

This article takes Gui and Tabatabaei’s article The Impact of Technology on Teaching and Learning Languages as a starting point to further investigate the positive impact as well as the challenges and negative effects of i) the learning and acquisition of specific linguistic systems autonomously with the help of ICT and other technologies, ii) the teaching of specific linguistic systems solely through ICT and other technologies; and iii) the incorporation of ICT and other technologies in parallel with other face-to-face second language teaching/learning approaches and methods.

Comparing modern technology with that of 2011, the article’s date of publication, rises concerns towards the validity and reliability of its results. For this reason, with the article’s results in mind, this paper dives further into the relationship between technology and second/foreign language learning and teaching, incorporating prominent theories within applied linguistics with the large body of literature concerning computer assisted language learning (CALL), mobile-assisted language learning (MALL), robot-assisted language learning (RALL), and, broadly, technology-enhanced language learning (TALL) to speculate on and demonstrate the contribution of technology in existing language teaching and learning methods and approaches, as well as its advancement of new online methods.

Reflections on the impact of technology on autonomous language learning, i.e., learning on one’s own without a formal language teacher or instructor, are usually limited to thinking about individuals watching YouTube 101 videos, playing in mobile applications (e.g., Duolingo, Memrise, etc.), or chatting with other individuals, natives or non-natives, through social media platforms. Nonetheless, answering the question of how can technology be deployed to develop linguistic competence first requires distinguishing between the two independent ways in which such competence is developed and then speculating on the effects of technology on each. Krashen (1982), in his acquisition-learning hypothesis, distinguishes between acquisition, the natural, subconscious process through which the lexico-grammatical and discourse-semantic features of language is internalized, and learning, the conscious and formal way through which these features are explicitly taught and subsequently learned. With this in mind, and assuming the validity of innateness hypothesis, it is possible to argue that using technology to simply provide enough linguistic input should result in the gradual development and eventual mastery of any linguistic system (even the ones common-sensically considered difficult to learn such as Chinese, Arabic, etc.). Adding Krashen (1982)’s comprehensible input hypothesis and Vygotsky’s similar Zone of Proximal Development as a premise to the foregoing argument proposes that the ‘enough linguistic input’ should also be comprehensible (i+1). Hypothetically, if individuals are exposed to continuous and extensive amount of comprehensible input of a specific language via technological tools (e.g., watching shows, reading e-books, navigating online material in a target language, etc.), then these individuals should achieve proficiency in that target language. Though some children do indeed succeed to internalize a remarkable amount of a specific language by watching cartoons speaking that language (Moroccan children acquiring Standard Arabic from TV channels broadcasting in Arabic, for instance, despite the absence of empirical evidence is required), practically, it is common to see adults spending lengthy hours watching specific programs (Turkish Drama, K-Drama, Japanese manga or anime, etc.), but only succeeding to acquire few common expressions at best. So what is the reason behind that?

From a critical period hypothesis perspective, it is possible to argue that since the first few years of life is the crucial time in which an individual can acquire a language, even with similar linguistic input, children are more likely to acquire the target language via technology. And apart from innate justifications, other reasons include the lack of intrinsic or instrumental motivation in parallel with the high affective filter (Krashen, 1982) among adults compared to children. In fact, one common reason for why adults do not succeed to acquire language even with massive linguistic input is simply the poverty and insufficiency of that very input. Adults might seem to watch Korean drama or Spanish soap opera, but it is likely that such shows are dubbed or, at best, subtitled.

Also, arguing for acquiring language autonomously via technology assumes the autonomy, motivation, and independence of the learner, as well as the awareness and strong belief in their ability to acquire any given language of individuals. Yet, just as technology grants access to a plethora of materials in most (but not all) languages, it also offers similar, or at times, the exact same materials translated to one’s native language. Based on this, one can say that technology’ provision of linguistic input -which is difficult or impossible to access otherwise- can either facilitate or obstruct the process of second/foreign language acquisition.

Apart from acquisition, the contribution of technology in conscious learning of a target language is clearer. Again, assuming autonomy, even without traditional language teaching classrooms, a number of individuals demonstrate proficiency in target languages through online learning alone. The learner can engage in meaningful authentic language practice with native speakers or communities of other learners textually or audio-visually through social media and other computer-mediated communication (CMC) platforms, play and interact with online games hosting other native speakers or learners, , access and read countless books, novels, news, and writings, study countless language courses provided by a countless language instructors or teachers, use dictionaries and online translation to translate and memorize vocabulary, ‘google’ a specific question and instantly receive the answer, develop learner autonomy and allows informal learning experience, take online assessment tests, and sometimes receive one-to-one feedback.

Complete reliance on technology to learn a given language, nevertheless, can result in a somewhat negative impact over the language learner. The Heavy dependence on can lead to the isolation of the learner, the disuse of non-verbal cues (when most communication takes place through text messages), and the subsequent failure in direct face-to-face communication. Besides, the continuous exposure to informal discourse through online can yield at the lack of distinguishing between the formal and informal and standard and non-standard use of language. Furthermore, when the learner is not used to autonomous language learning, the lack of formal language teacher can cause him or her to jump from one course to another with no clear objectives, potentially repeating similar courses and eventually losing interest.

Moving to the effects of integrating technology in teaching second or foreign languages, one way to investigate such effects is to examine how it has affected existing language teaching approaches and methods, and how it has brought about new online language teaching methods. The prominent approaches and methods discussed in language teaching literature include the Grammar-Translation Method (GT), the Direct Method (DM), the Audiolingual Method, the Reading Approach (RA), the Natural Approach (NA), Communicative Language Teaching (CLT),) , and the Silent Way.

Besides using technology as a medium of communication in time when face-to-face communication is not an option, e.g., teaching languages in times of crisis (Covid19 for instance), teaching students regardless of their geographical locations, opponents of each language teaching method or approach can benefit from technology in a number of ways. Despite heavy criticism of the method, opponents of GT can provide online materials for students as homework materials to translate, automate the process of assessment and how learner’s errors are identified, gain both time and effort. Adopting a flipped-classroom as a pedagogy in this method enables students to independently use ICT to easily find and learn the grammatical rules prior to the class.

Language teachers adopting DM or NA, on the other hand, can deploy social media platforms to account for the major challenge facing the approach, accessing native speakers. Teachers can encourage and instruct students to engage in meaningful discussions and authentic language use with native speakers, teach other materials using audio-visual tools in the target language to facilitate the process of language acquisition, etc.

Tabatabaei and Gui’s (2011) survey mentions some benefits of using technology to teach Chinese language in 2011. Similarly, A number of consecutive studies were carried out to reveal the importance and positive effects of technology use not just on teaching a specific language, but on motivation and language learning in general (e.g., Akobirov, 2017; Barreto, 2018; Chen & Kent, 2020; Genc Ilter, 2015; Gill, 2006; Gocerler, 2018; Fandino, Munoz & Valandia, 2018; Kalanzadeh, Soleimani & Bakhtiarvand, 2014; Sun & Gao, 2020; Tavakoli, Lotfi & Biria, 2019; Wong, Tan & Lin, 2019) summarized in Aysu (2020). And generally, regardless of the adopted method or approach, the advantages of integrating technology in language teaching include enabling learners to collaborate, co-construct knowledge, and build communities (Kessler, 2018; Reinders & White, 2016), enabling computer adaptive testing, allowing learners to construct a new social identity online which may give them confident to interact with native speakers, i.e., to find a medium between their first language learning and the targer language (Blake, 2016; Garrett, 2009); Godwin-Jones, 2015; Kern, 2006; Kessler, 2018), facilitating individualized learning experiences for learner-centered instruction (Kessler, 2018), enabling access to big data as corpora that can be used by teachers to create authentic learning activities (Godwin-Jones, 2017; Kessler, 2018), enabling immersion in authentic contexts via the use of immersive technologies such as VR AR online games, simulations, telepresence, videoconferencing tools, and providing multimodal hands-on activities of reading, writing, speaking, and listening; thereby accommodating the strengths of different learners (Blake, 2016; Flix, 2008) and reducing language learning anxiety (Hong et al., 2016).

Whether we argue for or against the adoption and reliance of technology to either acquire or learn a target language or its integration and incorporation of within and in parallel with existing face-to-face teaching methods, technology remains a neutral but powerful tool that can either facilitate or hinder the process of second or foreign language learning and teaching based on how it is used or implemented. As the authors assert, One should not try to exactly duplicate the classroom activities to teach the language online and second life as a medium, it should be viewed as a classroom providing new set of activities to practice in teaching the language (Tabatabae & Gui, 2011).

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Aysu, S. (2020). The use of technology and its effects on language learning motivation. Journal of Language Research(JLR), 4(1), 86-100.

Krashen, S.T.(1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford:Pergamon.

Tabatabaei, Manouchehr, Ying Gui. 2011. "The Impact of Technology on Teaching and Learning Languages." Education in a Technological World: Communicating Current and Emerging Research and Technological Efforts, Antonio Mendez-Vilas (Ed.): 513-517 Badajoz, Spain: Formatex Research Center. source: http://www.formatex.org/ict/ isbn: 978-84-939843-3-5 https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/info-sys-facpubs/42

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