APPLICATION OF ICT SOLUTIONS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING
APPLICATION OF ICT SOLUTIONS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Summary/Abstract: Successful foreign language acquisition requires a multidisciplinary approach and interactive classroom activities that allow for the provision of timely feedback. Effective foreign language teaching implies presenting the target language items in a particular order (Chomsky, 1968) and practicing using the newly presented items in context, preferably within 24 hours of exposure, while providing feedback and guidance. This requires a combination of individual and group work under a teacher’s guidance and supervision, which can be challenging in terms of time available, teaching resources and the teaching staff. On the other hand, we live in an age of rapid technological developments while the demand for foreign language tuition is constantly increasing – partly due to the globalization, and partly due to the modern people’s needs for learning foreign languages as a hobby or as a result of the rise in the demand for increased cultural awareness and the value of learning new languages. All these factors resulted in a proliferation of language learning materials, primarily of the electronic kind. The advantages of this type of learning include the sheer volume of available learning content; apps and platforms; flexibility in terms of the place of studying and the time spent learning; gamification; possibilities of collaborative learning and adaptability to the users’ needs. This article provides a critical review of the applications of information and communication technology (ICT) in language teaching and learning, and it offers ideas for improving these applications in terms of methodology, motivational factors, meeting individual learners’ needs, and the possibilities for multidisciplinary approaches and organising interactive classroom activities that are enriched by the provision of timely feedback, with or without the aid of artificial intelligence (AI). Special attention will be paid to the use of ICT in distance learning of foreign languages using videoconferencing platforms and the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to create optimal virtual language-learning environments.

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