IN INTEGRATING ICT TOOLS IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN MALAYSIAN SCHOOLS

The unparalleled development of information and communication technology tools within the last thirty years has given a tremendous boost in supporting new modes of delivery in training, teaching and learning. ICT tools can indeed assist students in acquiring English Language competency as well as enhance the quality of the learning experience. This paper examines the available ICT resources and the level of ICT skills of English language teachers and tries to determine if serving teachers are able to promote ICT integration in the teaching and learning of English Language in Malaysian schools. This research is based on the findings of a questionnaire survey conducted over a period of five months (i.e. from 1st September 2004 to 31stJanuary 2005). The survey findings reveal that a fairly large number of teachers have the necessary ICT skills but yet the utilization of the available ICT resources in English Language teaching and learning is far from satisfactory. In the concluding part, the researcher looks at poss ible reasons for this. S ome obvious obstacles to ICT use in the teaching and learning of English are discussed and the researchers suggest the use of ICT tools that promote interactive lessons and strongly encourage e-learning among pupils to speed up the teaching and learning of English.