Viet Nam has a great opportunity to use information technology in teaching English since 70 per cent of the country’s population use the internet and broadband internet connection is available in every village, Assoc Prof Dr Nguyễn Văn Long, vice rector of the University of Foreign Language Studies, said yesterday.

The International Conference of the Asia Association of Computer-Assisted Language Learning, now running at HCM City Open University, discusses IT application in English learning. 

Speaking at AsiaCALL 2017, which is the 15th International Conference of the Asia Association of Computer-Assisted Language Learning held on November 24-26, Long emphasised the fact that nearly 60 per cent of households have access to the internet and have computers at home.

The country has various policies to encourage the use of ICT in education.

“ICT application helps teachers change methodologies,” he said.

"They are trained to incorporate interaction between students, teachers and computers in each activity in class," he said.

However, there are weaknesses such as lack of qualified human resources and expertise, low ICT literacy among teachers and students, teachers’ resistance to changing methods, and poor professional development, according to Long.

The limited time for teaching English and large number of students in a classroom also prevent ICT application.

The use of IT faces problems like cyber security and limited financial resources.

“Technology can also be a source of distraction,” he said

Assoc Prof Robert Murphy of Kitakyushu University in Japan said motivational teachers should be engaged.

The conference is held by the HCM City Open University in co-operation with the association.

Scholars from Việt Nam and countries like Australia, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and others are discussing adding mobile-friendly activities to the curriculum as part of a coherent digital strategy and the effect of using Facebook on English as a foreign language learning, digital storytelling for language learning, and others. — VNS