Integrating Websites in Second Language Teaching (SLT)

Abstract

This study aims to explore the nature of websites and their practical integration in a specially conceived English class - a radically new approach in the context of Albanian teaching traditions. The comparative analysis between two classes based on a broad range of data on the relative merits of traditional and innovative teaching methods leads to the conclusion that websites serve as a catalyst in the process of acquiring the various language skills. They are particularly helpful in integrating these skills as organic parts of a solid linguistic competence and contextualizing them in the ever-broader framework of intercultural communication - a distinctive feature of contemporary global society. Notwithstanding the drawbacks and difficulties that attend the application of web-based methods in SLT, the resulting advantages are so great as to constitute a paradigmatic shift in teaching practice and a qualitative leap forward in the promotion of autonomous and content-based learning.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n11p577