The impact of teaching english grammar through the use of ict and the communicative approach at Febres Cordero high school Cuenca, Ecuador

Abstract

Nowadays the use of ICT (Information Communications Technology) in the educational field has turned out to be an important tool to motivate learners and enhance learning in general. ICT has become very popular in the teaching-learning process of languages. This thesis investigated The Impact of Teaching English Grammar through ICT and the Communicative Approach in the first year of Bachillerato at Febres Cordero High School in Cuenca. This study involved one Control Group and one Treatment Group (19 students in Control Group and 27 students in Treatment Group). The classes were held five days a week and the study was conducted over a period of eight weeks (40 hours per group) which 25% was dedicated to teach grammar. Data was collected through a pre and post-test, a questionnaire, and an interview. Both, the pre and the post-test were administered in the two groups, as well as the questionnaire. The interview was with the teacher in charge of teaching through both methods. The quantitative data analysis was conducted with the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software and Chi-square Test was used (Pearson´s Test and Fischer´s exact test) to determine the relationship, if any, between the effectiveness of ICT in grammar acquisition compared with a communicative approach. As the interview data were qualitative, the interview was analyzed subjectively by the researcher. The results of the data analysis showed that there is statistical significance in the Effectiveness of Teaching English Grammar through ICT in four variables, compared with any variable found in the Communicative Approach. The questionnaire and the teacher´s interview revealed that the participants were highly motivated working with ICT and they really enjoyed the time they spent in the Compu-lab.