AWEJ Volume.4 Number.1, 2013 pp. 166 – 174
High Tech & Low Tech Out-of-Classroom Language Learning for Arabic L1 Speakers of English
Anthony K. Kripps
Salalah College of Technology, Sultanate of Oman
Abstract
As early as the nineteenth century the value of foreign language learning outside the classroom was recognized. In the 1960s, a statistical correlation was found between learners’ extracurricular use of the target language and their scores on standardized foreign language proficiency tests. Subsequently, a direct correlation was found between TOEIC/TOEFL scores and extracurricular use of English, as reported by test-takers. Finally, in the 1990s out-of-classroom language learning (OCLL) was dubbed a strategy. Increasingly, researchers are acknowledging that more second language acquisition takes place outside the classroom than inside. This article surveys research into both low-tech and high-tech extracurricular language learning in the light of measurable proficiency gains. High-tech includes blended learning and Computer Mediated Communication. Special attention is paid to the situation of Arabic L1 learners of English.
Keywords: blended learning, CALL, CMC, extracurricular learning, proficiency gains