WHAT IS TOEFL?               

     TOEFL is an acronym that stands for Test Of English as a Foreign Language. It measures test takers’/students’ proficiency in the English language in an academic context. Most universities and colleges in the US, Canada,  and post graduate programs in Indonesia require students to take the TOEFL test if students want to apply for a place to study there, and  in Indonesia TOEFL score is also used to meet one of the requirements to graduate from universities (as mentioned above). In many countries nowadays, IBT (Internet-Based Test) — the latest form of TOEFL test— is used to measure students’ proficiency. This means that students have to follow, do the test, and answer the questions interactively from the computer just as in Computer-Based Test (CBT).                

     At the moment there are three versions of the tests, depending on which part of the world the test is taken. In Indonesia, TOEFL tests are still Paper-Based Tests which consist of the following disciplines: reading, listening, and writing. If students want to score high marks in all three sections, their English should be sufficient to take the tests. The three versions of the TOEFL tests are:

 1. The traditional Paper-Based TOEFL test (PBT)

2. The computer-Based TOEFL tes (CBT)

3. The Internet-Based TOEFL test (IBT) 

I. The traditional Paper-Based TOEFL test(PBT)   

      The examination lasts for approximately two hours. It is divided into three sections:

Section 1. Listening comprehension (35 minutes – 50 items)

Section 2. Structure and written expression (25 minutes – 40 items)       

Section3. Reading comprehension (55 minutes – 50 items)

     TOEFL scores for each section are reported on a scale that can range from 31 to 68. The scores are then scaled to give the total score. TOEFL total scores are reported on a scale that can range from 310 – 677.

II. The Computer-Based TOEFL test (CBT)               

      At the beginning of July 1998, the Computer-Based TOEFL test was introduced in certain areas of the world. The Computer-Based TOEFL has four sections: Listening, Structure, Reading, and Writing. The Computer-Based test is reported on a new score scale. This new score scale has been designed to distinguish score received on Computer-Based TOEFL from those received on the Paper-Based test. For the Computer-Based test, the examinee receives four scaled scores: Listening (0 to 30), Structure/Writing (0 to 30), and Reading (0 to 30), and total score (000 to 300). The three section scores and a total score are reported on the score report. The essay rating is integrated in the Structure/Writing score; in addition, the score on the essay is reported as an independent rating on the report.  

III. The Internet-Based TOEFL test (IBT)               

      In September 2005, the TOEFL test changed in significant ways. The Internet-Based TOEFL test measures all four skills of communication: Reading, Writing, Listening, and for the first time Speaking. It also uses questions that ask students to combine their skills to show how well they can use English to communicate. As a result of these changes, TOEFL has established a new scoring scale of the test. Score reports will contain five different scores: one total score on a scale of 0-120, and four skill scores, each on a scale of 0-30. Scores from the new TOEFL test provide information about performance in the four skill areas students need for success in an academic environment. Listening               0-30        Reading 0-30        Speaking               0-30Writing   0-30        Total Score           0-120 Correlation between Paper-Based TOEFL scores, Computer-Based TOEFL scores and Internet-Based TOEFL (IBT):

Paper-Based TOEFL        450         477         500         527         550         577         600

Computer-Based TOEFL 133         153         173         197         213         233         250

Internet-Based TOEFL    45           53           61           71           80           91           100                

      As we know, TOEFL score is not only needed by students to graduate from their universities or to pursue their further education abroad or local universities, but also by private or state-owned company employees to get promotion or to get scholarship from their offices. There are three sections in Paper-based test: Listening, Structure, and Writing. I’ll analyze one by one why using computer CD is more effective than using books and cassettes.

Listening               

       Listening practice comprises of three sections: short conversations (30 questions), longer conversations/ talks (1-8 or 10 questions), and long talks/ lectures (10-12 questions). The most difficult part is the last one (long talks/ lectures), then longer conversations. If students are not used to listening to native speakers talking, they surely have some problem to do it because the topics of the talks are long, and the speaker talks fast. Test takers listen to the conversations only once, so if they miss the conversation or talks, they will have some difficulties to answer the questions.

       To practice listening section, test takers/ students may use books and cassettes or CD software available in book stores or computer software stores. Using CD software is an effective way to improve their listening skills because of the clarity of the conversation/ talks and the availability of the feedback. As we know that computers use digital technology while tape recorders use analog technology. The quality of the voice produced by computers is much better that that of tape recorders.

After finishing doing the test/ the practice, the students can get the feedback directly from the computer. For the Listening section, each of the “Description” sections presents a thorough explanation of the different item types normally encountered on a TOEFL exam with a sample item that may be played and practiced. Each of the “Practice” selections leads to a long set of practice items. When “Play Dialog” is clicked a QuickTime control panel pops up which permits the student to replay the dialog in part  as many times as required. Once the correct answer has been selected, a box explains why the other choices were wrong. They can do it several times easily.                

      Computers will also tell the users/ students their specific weaknesses that they have to give more attention to them. When they use a cassette, they have to rewind it several times, and it is very time-consuming. They can also read the conversation/ tape script at the last page of the book.  Using computer CD is very effective way to improve the students’ ability to understand the conversations especially for beginners who try to improve their TOEFL scores. CD TOEFL software also provides excellent listening comprehension activities, given a good listening guide prepared for the students. Depending on the language level, students listen for just the main idea or a segment, or they listen for specific facts in the program.

      Besides some advantages as mentioned above, there are also some disadvantages of using computer CD. The prices of original CD are expensive, and to get excellent voice needs a sophisticated computer meaning more money to spend. In term of the effectiveness, practicing listening through the computer is excellent. When using books to practice TOEFL, students especially in the lower level will also get an advantage because they can read the tape script beforehand, so they will feel more comfortable to do the practice. The listening feature using CD, however, is superior to the non-tech alternative of using a text with a cassette tape since it is much easier to find and repeat specific passages.

Structure/ written expression

      This part consists of a number of various choice questions that test students/ test takers knowledge of the structure of English sentences and error recognition questions that test their knowledge of correct written expressions.On the Paper-based test, there are two types of questions: structure and written expressions section.

1.       Structure (15 problems, from number 1-15) comprises of fifteen sentences. Each part of the sentence has been replaced with a blank. Each sentence is followed by four answer choices. Test takers must decide the answer that completes the sentence in a grammatically correct way.

2.       Written expression (25 problems, from number 16-40) comprises of twenty-five sentences. There are four words or groups of word have been highlighted. The test takers must choose the highlighted words or groups of words that is incorrect.

        Paper-based test questions are presented in linear order. Questions number 1 to 15 and questions number 16-40 progress from easy to difficult. The score is based on the answer of these forty questions.

      Structure and written expressions might be the most difficult part for students who take the TOEFL test because the questions are very tricky and unpredictable. It needs thorough understanding of sentence structures, and there are also some tips to do this part. Practicing structure and written expression from CD is effective. The practice is arranged in linear order. It will start from the easiest one to the most difficult test, and the feedback is also available. After finishing doing the practice, the computer will show the test result automatically. It also shows the mistakes that the students made. Students can review the test by checking the right answers. Before doing the practice test, it is advisable that students study the strategies to answer the questions. In Longman TOEFL test, there are 55 skills/ strategies that will help students to implement the strategies and procedure in the structure questions. Each skill is also graded from a simple one to a complicated skill. Unfortunately, beginners will have some problems if they study and practice the structure section only from CD because the explanation of the grammar points is very simple and short. Questions on grammar section are very tricky and complex. It needs a thorough explanation to be successful to answer them. It is advisable that beginners do not spend time puzzling out the feedback on their answers since the explanations are often unsatisfying. Using books will be more effective for beginners because they will find more thorough explanation, but for advanced learners, studying structure from CD is more challenging and effective because the activities provided are varied.  

 Reading

    This section is designed to measure the test takers’ ability to read and understand short passages similar in topic and style to those found in North American universities and colleges. They read a variety of short passages on academic subjects. Each passage is followed by a number of questions about the material. To avoid creating an advantage to individuals in any one field of study, sufficient context is provided so that no subject-specific familiarity with the subject matter is required to answer the questions.

     On Paper-Based test TOEFL, the third section is called reading comprehension. This part consists of 5 passages and fifty questions (although some tests may consist more). Test takers have fifty – five minutes to complete the fifty questions in this section. There is only one type of question in the reading comprehension section of the paper TOEFL test, namely, Multiple-choice questions. The questions on the Paper-Based test are presented in linear order, just like in the previous sections listening and structure. The passages progress from easy to difficult, and the questions are presented in the order in which they appear in the passage.

        There are some advantages that students get when practicing reading section. When they encounter some difficult words on the passage(s) while doing the practice test, they can use the dictionary in their computer by clicking the words, and the translation will appear. (Of course, it depends on the feature of their computer. The more sophisticated the computer is, the more features available in it). Using computers offers freedom for users to choose any topic in the TOEFL reading practice test they may choose any topic in the practice test that interests them.

        Besides those advantages, there are also some disadvantages .When practicing the tests, the user can return to previous items by laboriously clicking “back” In the Reading Comprehension section, even though the questions for each passage generally proceed in order from beginning to end, each new item resets the reading passage to the top, forcing the test-taker to scroll down again to the relevant section. Reading a long passage from the computer is slower, more difficult, and tiring while using books is more convenient because books are small enough to be carried out, so students can do the reading practice whenever and wherever students wish In conclusion, from the explanations above, the effectiveness of using computer to enhance students’ TOEFL score is more dominant than that of TOEFL books/cassettes even though there are also some disadvantages.

Some more advantages that students get from using CALL to improve their TOEFL score:

·         The computer adds variety of TOEFL exercises for students.

·         The computer individualizes learning. The learner is not dependent on other members of a class, but can choose the pace at which he or she progresses, control the degree of difficulty (e.g., by leaving out elements which are too easy or too difficult), decide whether and how often to repeat an exercise, and so forth.

·         Study material on CD-ROM /software holds great promise since more information can fit on one disk than could fit in an entire book.

·         In CALL TOEFL exercises, the computer can give immediate feedback for each answer.

·         Using the computer can save teachers time and work, with routine marking, for example, that can then be used for more creative aspects of language teaching such as, giving more explanation to the students who have some difficulty in their lesson. (Thus benefiting the learner).

·         CALL is a helpful environment for student-computer interaction.

·         Students are motivated to use the computer for all types of activity.

Besides, the advantages there are also some disadvantages of using CALL:

·         The prices of original TOEFL soft ware are expensive.

·         Learners must have computers. They can use computers at school, but the opening hours are very restricted.

Some advantages of using books and cassettes to practice TOEFL:

·         Practice grammar and structure books in TOEFL give more thorough explanation than TOEFL CD soft ware, and it is more beneficial for students in lower level.

·         Books are small enough to be carried around and studied wherever and whenever students wish. ( Ansel, et al, 1992).

·         Students don’t have to spend a lot of money to buy sophisticated technology: computer, CD ROM/ soft ware.

The disadvantages of using books/ cassettes to practice TOEFL:

·         Using cassettes to practice listening test in TOEFL is considered to be much less handy because the quality of the voice from CD ROM is much better that of the cassettes.

·         In books/ cassettes exercises, they cannot give immediate feedback for each answer.

·         The practice is not as varied and challenging as the practice in CD TOEFL soft ware.    

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hartoyo. 2006. Individual differences. In computer-assisted language learning (CALL). Semarang: UPT UNNES Press.

Phillips, Deborah 2001.  Longman introductory course for the TOEFL test. Preparation for the computer and paper test. White Plains, New York: A Pearson Education, Inc.

Pamela, J Sharpe. 2003. How to prepare for the TOEFL test. Test of English as a foreign language tenth edition. India: Galgotia Publication Pvt. Ltd.

Goldenberg, Lauren. 2005. TOEFL Mastery. http://www.ala-usa.com/software (accessed February 5, 2008).

Broukal, Milada. 1997. Peterson’s Toefl reading flash. The quick way to build reading power. Canada: Heinle & Heinle. 

A. TALK NOW PLUS ( LEARN ENGLISH ) 

FOCUS/MAIN SKILL : LISTENING 

1. Interactivity: This program is fully interactive with some help activities for beginner levels and young learners. There are many activities which involve the learners actively ,and the instructions are easy to understand. The feed back is also available. 

2. Usability (flexibility) This program is easily-operated and navigated. The topics/activities are varied and interesting. The sound system is excellent. Besides, Learners can choose what particular topics/activities and how long they want to learn. 

3. Content and appropriateness This program provides adequate materials to practice. The main skill of this program is listening. The embedded skill is pronunciation. The topics are easily understood by young learners. They can also boost their vocabulary because the vocabularies are varied and arranged systematically.  

 4. Effectiveness This program is quite effective for listening activities. Moreover, if students want to know more how to pronounce the words, it is provided with recorder with pronunciation checking.

 5. Program The layout and screen are very colorful and eye-catching which make children get interested in doing the activities. The illustrations (picture, diagram, charts) are also varied and interesting. 

The limitation(s): 

B. EASY TO SING 

1. Interactivity  There is almost no interactivity in this program. This program is for young learners and beginners. There isn’t any feedback available, but there are Karaoke subtitles. 

2. Usability (flexibility) This program is quite interesting for young children because the songs are easy to sing, and the subtitles are available. It’s difficult to navigate the program because it needs supporting software   to operate it. 

3. Content (appropriateness) This program is suitable for young children. The songs are varied and easy to sing. 

4. Effectiveness This program is not really effective to improve students’ ability to speak English because this program is only for fun. The only exercise is singing. The linguistic component in this program is only pronunciation and listening, but they are not the main skills. 

5. Performance  The performance and appearance are fair and monotonous.   

The limitation(s): The program is diifficult to install because it needs supporting software (power DVD) to operate it. The video is also bad.

 C. TALK MORE/SPEAK ENGLISH 

FOCUS/ MAIN SKILL: LISTENING 

1. Interactivity This program is fully interactive with on-line connection. Feedback is also available. The level of difficulty is graded from easy to quite difficult ones. This program is suitable for basic to intermediate levels. 

2. Usability (flexibility) This program is quite interesting with varied activities. Learners get the experience to learn American and British English. It is not really difficult to navigate this program. 

3. Content and appropriateness  This program has varied activities. Learners get interested to learn because it’s easily-understood by students. These activities are very suitable for students who want to know more about the difference between American English and British English and how to pronounce the expressions in British and American English.

 4. Effectiveness This program is quite effective to improve speaking skills because there are many expressions for different occasions available in this CD. The main skill of this program is listening. And the linguistic component included is pronunciation. 

5. Performance (attractiveness) The illustrations (picture, diagram, charts…..etc) are interesting. The sound system is good and clear. 

The limitation(s):

D. ISSUE IN ENGLISH 

FOCUS/MAIN SKILL : WRITING, SPEAKING, AND LISTENING 

1. Interactivity This program is fully interactive, and the feedback is also available. The level of difficulty is also graded from easy to more difficult ones. The topics and exercises are varied, and it makes this program more challenging. This program is suitable for basic to intermediate levels. 

2. Usability (flexibility)  This program is very interesting because students will learn a lot from it. The program provides a wide range of English skills such as grammar, reading, listening and speaking. The learners can choose particular activities they want to study. 

3. Content and appropriateness As mentioned before, this program is suitable for basic to intermediate levels. The materials are easily understood and learned. This program is also suitable for students who want to develop their pronunciation because it is equipped with recorder and pronunciation checking. 

4. Effectiveness This program is quite effective to assist language learners to learn different skills. I don’t think the students can improve and master grammar significantly because the grammar points provided are still basic. 

 5. Performance (attractiveness) The presentation is fair, but the sound system is good. The illustrations are also fair. 

The limitation(s):

Best regards,      

Diah 

                              my beloved boys

 my family

I wrote this paper as my assignment of my mid-term test in ICT course in UHAMKA. I have been using the internet for years, but I only use it for sending and writing e-mail,browsing and surfing some interesting and new information. I had never realized that the internet could be utilized to enhance students’ capabilities of listening and speaking. It really erouses my curiousity to know more about it. Hopefully, I can make a good use of this technology to improve my students’ ability in listening and speaking later on.

Syaadiah Maula

Happy reading…………….

LISTENING AND SPEAKING ACTIVITIES THROUGH THE INTERNET  

            The use of computer technology in the classroom, known as Computer Assisted Learning (CAL), has facilitated students greatly in learning, such as learning how to type using computer, learning more about computer programs, learning languages, and others. When CAL is used for language learning in ESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms, it is known as Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). CALL has been widely used to help and facilitate students or learners to improve their capabilities of using foreign languages. One subdivision of CALL is called Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), and it focuses on how students can use the internet to enhance their speaking, listening, and pronunciation skills in foreign languages. The impressive developments in audio, video, and computer-mediated communication programs have given teachers many possibilities to construct and conduct the activities around listening to news programs, watching related videos, doing conversation in real-time, repeating or imitating how to pronounce the words said by native speakers, doing the note – taking based on the listening materials, and then rewriting it using the learners’ words and many other activities. Communication activities on the internet can be categorized as receptive or interactive. There are some benefits as well as limitations of using these technologies. This paper will discuss those aspects in details.

            Before discussing the topic above, it’s important to distinguish the internet from World Wide Web (WWW). The internet is a net work of networks connecting computers all over the world, allowing them to share information using various languages. Any modern computer can be connected to the internet using existing communication system. Schools and universities normally access the internet via their educational networks, but private individuals usually have to take out a subscription with an internet service provider (ISP). They can then connect their computer to the internet via modem and their local telephone system. Because there are wide varieties of information on the internet, search engines are important tools that allow users to limit the results of information searches. The popular search engines are Google (http:// www.google.com), Yahoo Search (http:// yahoo.com), and Alta Vista (http:// www.altavista.com). The Web is a section or a part of the internet that uses a special format called HyperTextTransferProtocol (http) to transfer information. Users access and navigate website, or webpage, using web browsers such as Internet Explorer (http:// www.opera.com/) and Mozilla Firefox (http://: www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/).

When website is accessed, the user will typically see portions of text that are highlighted or underlined. These known as Hyperlinks, or links, they contain coded text that transfer the user to other websites or different parts of the same website. These links can also perform an operation, such as printing document or displaying a picture.

 Receptive communication on the Web 

            Receptive activities are those done by single users, and involve listening. In receptive communication, students receive information from the Web in form of texts, images, audio, and video. To practice the listening skills, students can access websites that contain stored audio or video files, or transmit live broadcast. In order to listen to and/or watch the material, they must download files by clicking a link or button, which typically labeled Listen, Audio, Watch, Video, or Live. The links that perform these operations are often designated by an icon, which may be an image of headsets to listen, or of a video camera to watch. In order for the sound and pictures to play, the user’s computer must contain special hard-ware and software that support audio and video. The hardware necessary to play sound and images include video cards, audio cards, and speakers. Although headsets are not always necessary, they are strongly recommended to prevent noise of individual voices in the classroom or lab. In addition to web browser, computer must have audio and video software. The most common program all available as free downloads, are RealOnePlayer (http://www.real.com/), Windows Media Player(http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/) and Quick Time (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/) For the activities, teachers can either create their own activities or have students access websites that include prepared exercises. While many free websites are available, some require a fee for access. CNN’s San Francisco bureau (http:// www.literacynet.org/cnnsf/) has free on line literacy website that contains an archive of stories in several categories that comes with audio, video, and corresponding written text as well as several listening comprehension exercises. Many other websites contain exercises in minimal pairs, tongue twisters, diphthong, and phonetic alphabet, and they are available for free to provide students with listening and pronunciation practice. A listing of these websites is available fro the U.S Department of State’s office of English Language Program (http://exchanges.state.gov/education/engteaching/eal-res.htm).

For listening comprehension practice, the web offers students access to radio and television programs, news reports, songs, speeches, interviews, biographies, advertisements, and movie trailers, as well as reading of stories, essays, and poetry. Files range in size from short sound bites to full-length programs and continuous broadcasts. Language teachers can use these web-based audio and video resources to develop their own listening comprehension exercises, just as they would do with other media such as CDs and audiocassettes. There are some suggestions for creating level-specific web-based audio and video listening activities.

            For basic-level activities, students listen to a sound file together and then answer a choice or gist question. For example, after listening to a news headline, students can be asked: “was the story about business or the government?” teacher can then prepare students to listen for specific information before replying the audio. For example, the teacher could say: Listen to the name of the Prime Minister.” They may also write simple sentences that they just listened from the sound file. The activity is also good to practice students’ pronunciation. By imitating or repeating how native speakers pronounce a word, students will be more confident to use the language directly from the authentic sources.

            For intermediate-level listening activities should require students to pick up more specific information. Teachers can prepare true/false or multiple-choice questions for students to answer after listening. Or students can be asked to work in pairs or groups to create a title for the audio. For example, students listening to a news piece can be asked to figure out the story’s headline. With videos, students can script and record their own narration to match the topic. Another activity that can be used is retelling the story / reports and news that they just listened to using their own words. This activity is effective to know about their understanding.

            For advanced-level listening activities, students can be asked to rewrite audio segment in more simplified language. They can also compare different audio files on the same subject. For example, they can listen to and compare the coverage of a top news story as reported by both CNN and MSNBC. Both audio and video clips have the potential to provoke on respective topic. Another activity for this level is note taking. Ask the students to listen the activity several times, and they have to make a note of important information only. Then ask them to write the topic completely using their own words. In this activity students not only do the listening activity, but also do the writing activity effectively.

            Not only does the receptive communication indicate its benefits, but also its limitations which will be discussed below.

            There are several benefits of using receptive communications on the internet with language learners. Theoretically, these materials are available at any time and from anywhere, as long as a computer with internet access is available. This access provides a virtually endless and free supply of current and authentic materials. (Lafford and Lafford). For learners, it is very challenging to study English using the authentic materials (all the topics provided in the internet are from authentic materials). Using authentic materials have a positive effect on learner motivation. Learners are being exposed to the  real language and they feel that they are learning the target language as it is used outside the classroom.

            Besides having some benefits, Audio and video technologies on the internet also have some limitations. In order to successfully utilize these media, an internet connection must be stable and constant. While these features can be used with dial-up connections, they flow more smoothly on high speed broadband connections. Extensive download times of audio and video, or any other technical difficulties such as down server, may discourage both students and teachers to do the activity (Lafford and Lafford 1997). Further more, these programs work best on high end computers with updated software (Paramkas 1999). These factors, individually or collectively, have the potential to exclude students and schools with insufficient budgets because applying this technology at school needs a lot of money.

 Interactive communications on the web 

            Interactive communication activities on the internet can be synchronous or asynchronous (Lafford and Lafford 1977).

             Now, let’s talk about asynchronous communication first. Asynchronous activities involve two or more individuals, do not occur in the real time, and include composing and answering messages on e-mail and discussion boards. Actually,  It is not really an interactive activity. Given their lack of immediacy—an element essential to dialogic mimicry. Asynchronous activities are not discussed in this paper.

            The next is synchronous communication. Synchronous activities allow two or more users to interact simultaneously from different computers, such as live chat and instant massaging. These interactive communication activities are undertaken by groups of users, with each user stationed at different computer, and the task involve speaking and listening. Felix (1999) categorizes web based language learning tasks by level of interactivity. Low-level point and click activities include those already classified as receptive. More interactive tasks, such as basing lessons on an individual’s own perceptions and experiences, would qualify as high-level activities. Interactive programs on the internet allow users to communicate by writing and answering texts messages in real-time, but many also offer ability to communicate through audio and video. Because their similarity to spoken language, text –based electronic communications are considered beneficial to the enhancement of students’ oral skills.

            Other activities which use of synchronous programs, computer-mediated audio communication programs, are live chat, conferencing, and instant messenger.

            Live chat offers the possibility to chat in-real time with other users from around the world. Communication can take place via text, where users type their messages onto screen, or by voice, where users wear headsets complete with earphones and microphones. Two options for accessing live chat are Internet Relay Chat (IRC) programs and chat rooms (Sperling 1998) both options allow users to select from thousands of channels on various topics, which are specified by the chat room’s name. Users can also create their own private rooms, where they can mediate the discussion and control access.

             These options vary in several ways. IRCs frequently require users download software, whereas chat rooms are accessed through a web browser. Both options usually require user registration, but IRCs more often require fees for service. One benefits of using an IRC is an enhanced connection speed. The internet Relay Chat Help website (http://www.irchelp.org) provides links to popular IRC programs as well as free IRC tutorials.

            Some chat rooms created specifically for ESL/EFL learners include Dave’s ESL, Café Chat Central (http:// www.eslcafe.com/chat/chatpro.cgi), and English Club ESI. Chat (http://learners.englishclub.com/esl-chat/), and ALOUD (http://www.thescec.com/aloud/home.htm), which provides English learners the opportunity to chat with ESL teaches in Canada. Language trade (http://www.languagetrade.com/) offers tandem learning, a service that matches native speakers interested in learning each other’s language. All the above chat rooms require user registration.

            Whereas a chat room is typically a more permanent gathering of up to 50 individuals, a conference on the internet is a temporary gathering of three or more individuals, typically fewer than10. Another difference is the lack of text-massaging capabilities of conference programs. They give users the ability to conference with video. By connecting a web camera, or webcam, to the computer, user can allow others in the conference to see and hear them live. Global School Net Foundation’s classroom conferencing (http://www.globalschoolhouse.com/cu) connects school from around the world using CU-SeeMe (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting/). Both programs require registration, but provide basic services for free.

            Conferencing with audio, video, and chatting is also possible using many instant messenger (IM) programs. Webopedia defines instant messaging as “a type of communications service that enables you to create a kind of private chat room with another individual in order to communicate in real time over the internet analogous to a telephone conversation. Users can communicate with each another with text messaging and frequently with audio and video. They can also access or create topic specific chat rooms. Several instant messenger programs are available as free downloads, contingent upon user registration.

Some of the most popular instant messenger are OAL Instant Messenger (http://www.aim.com/), MSN messenger (http://messenger.msn.com/), and ICQ (http://www.icq.com/download/). Yahoo messenger (http://messenger.yahoo.com) also offers instant messaging, as well as voice chat, file transfer, and videoconferencing function. In order to utilize any of these programs to communicate, users must have the same IM software. However, one program, Trillian (http://www.trillian.cc/) integrates five popular IM program in a single display. Other programs, such as Parvi’s e Tandem Partner program (http://www.etandemlearning.com/), broker tandem learning by connecting adult language learners with partners in different countries; communications can take place via chat, videoconferencing, and e-mail.

            Research into CMC has indicated several possible benefits and limitations of using electronic communication with ESL/EFL learners.

            There are some benefits of using this technology. Salaberry (1996) proposes that the inherent lack of non verbal communication could lead to an increase in the spontaneity of idea-sharing and a greater representation of minority interests. And in comparing face-to-face interactions of ESL students with electronic discussion, Warschauer (1996) found that electronic discussions tended to provide for more equal participation among students and that the students in the discussions used language that was more formal and complex, both lexically and syntactically.

            The first benefit is learners can successfully negotiate meaning with other speakers, native or otherwise, in chat rooms (Blake200; Tudini 2003). Toyoda and Harrison (2002) provide examples of several negotiations originating from miscommunications between native and non native speakers in a chat room, and they categorize the negotiations by level of difficulty. For example, at the world level negotiation occurred regarding the introduction of new words and the misuse of other words: at the sentence level negotiation occurred when sudden topic changes and inter-cultural communication gaps caused miscommunication. Although the negotiations were not always successful in repairing the miscommunication, the data provides valuable information regarding the types of problems involved. The authors conclude that students should maintain chat logs (record of chat session) so that specific problems can be identified and become the focus of instruction to improve the quality of chat communication.

            Another important benefit is that users can get from this technology is the benefit of successful negotiation of meaning is potential increase in the degree of second language acquisition to carry out both the process of negotiation and the resultant second language acquisition. The World Wide Web, according to Felix (1999), is well suited for task-oriented activities where students have some control over their learning.

            Besides some benefits, the use of CMC has some limitations, which are frequently teacher-oriented (Pramkas 1999). For example, the more interactive CMC is, the less pedagogically useful it may be for some teachers, especially those who are resistant to student-centered classroom. Not to mention that some teachers are resistant to technology, particularly when they feel a lack of control with their students, who are involved in CMC activities that are potentially replete with errors and explicit content. Another problem that users or learners have to encounter is over loaded informal that poses another problem, especially when adequate and sufficient feed back is beyond a teacher’s realistic capabilities/knowledge. Furthermore, chatting activities are typically fast-paced. And as with many computer based activities, students without keyboarding skills are likely to be at a disadvantage. The last important thing to consider is the cost of using this technology. As we know to conduct those activities, the activities use a sophisticated technology; we have to spend a lot of money, users have to buy some software, equipment such as earphones, microphones, headsets, web camera, and other things to support the activities successfully and also the users sometimes have to spend some money pay the registration fees.

In conclusion 

            Computer as a medium is used for the sake of facilitating people in learning, such as learning a language, and it is only a part of the entire learning process, but lately the use of computers in the foreign language classrooms has greatly influenced how teachers teach and students learn the language, and continuing advances in Internet technology will most likely continue to affect the profession. The use of CMC (Computer mediated communication) shows both positive and negative impacts such as the benefits and limitations. CMC can create so many opportunities for real-time English interactions, and makes it valuable tool that teachers can use to enhance the practice of speaking and listening skills. Students have great opportunities to interact in the target language with authentic audience and materials, and are also involved in authentic tasks. Besides that, students have enough time to practice and get feed back from others. In doing the activities, learners are guided to attend mindfully to the learning process. And learners also work in the atmosphere with ideal stress or anxiety level. Due to its sophistication, this technology is also costly, and needs special skills to operate it successfully. However, based on the explanation above, it has been proved that the benefits that users get are more dominant than those of the disadvantages or limitations of this technology.

For the teachers, if they are cognizant of this condition and apply them to Internet speaking and listening communication activities , the new technologies will become optimal tools for enhancing students’ second language learning acquisition.

  REFERENCES GEORGE M. CHINERY (2005). FORUM VOLUME 43. A SURVEY OF INTERNET RESOURCES WEBOPEDIA. (2004). THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE INTERNET AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB. http://wwww.webopedia.com/Did You Know/Internet/2002/Web_vs_Internet.asp.  HARTOYO (1993). INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN COMPUTER-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (CALL).  GRAHAM DAVIES. THE INTERNET AN INTRODUCTION FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS. (Mr. HARTOYO’S HANDOUT)