Exploring Pedagogy Enhancement with eLearning for 21st Century Language Education

Abstract

With increasing globalization, English Language Teaching (ELT) materials are in need of renewal so as to help learners meet the needs of the twenty-first century. Not only linguistic skills but also Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) (Byram, 1997) have to be explicitly instructed. In this paper, I argue that from elementary level through to advanced level of language learning, textbooks and teaching methodology often demonstrate a lack of ICC elements. Current resources are inadequate to prepare students to meet the complex and various challenges that learners will face. In view of this, after analyzing certain prototypical materials and practices in Hong Kong as well as some Asian contexts, adaptations to the materials and pedagogy are recommended. With the incorporation of Web 2.0 resources and critical reflection of teachers' role as well as technology, it is hoped that teaching professionals can rethink about the best ways to provide learners with new cultural knowledge and linguistic skills to cope with a rapidly changing world where English is taught and learnt as an international language.