The Use of Interactive Whiteboards for English Foreign Language
Education
Xiaojun Wang
a
, Jiří Dostál
b
and Hana Bučková
c
Faculty of Education, Palacký University Olomouc, Zizkovo nám. 5, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Keywords: Interactivity, Whiteboard, Computer, English Foreign Language, Education.
Abstract: This paper highlights the usefulness of interactive whiteboards in improving teaching and learning English as
a foreign language. For language learning, it is important to develop learners’ communicative competence as
language is a vehicle for communication. It is not uncommon that learners who master grammar principles
nevertheless fail to speak confidently in real situations. Interaction, which involves input and output, is critical
in developing communicative competence in a language. The interactive whiteboard, as implied by the name,
can increase interaction between teachers and learners and among learners, as opposed to a plain whiteboard,
since the main function of interactive whiteboards is its interactivity. Thus it can be an effective tool for
English education. This paper explains from both the theoretical and the practical viewpoint the advantages
and techniques involved in the use of interactive whiteboards in teaching English as a foreign language in
order to encourage educators and English foreign language teachers to implement interactive whiteboards in
teaching so as to improve the outcomes of English education, and it also points out common pitfalls the
teachers should avoid.
1 INTRODUCTION
English has become an international language and
plays an important role in our lives. With the help of
English, people with different cultures and different
language backgrounds can communicate with each
other. Governments worldwide attach much
importance to English education in their countries.
The big challenge of learning English in many
countries is a lack of authentic language speaking
environment and limited time for communication in
class. It was reported that there is a lack of interaction
for real communication in English foreign language
classes (Gklouzeli, 2015). The English classroom, in
most circumstances, is formed by a teacher standing
before a podium and students taking notes during the
lesson. The lack of authentic language speaking
environment and limited chance of communication
will lead to a lack of proficiency in communicative
competence of language. With the increasing
frequency of communication between countries and
people, the demands of communicative competence
a
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2569-4419
b
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5070-0812
c
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7740-9961
of English language increase. No matter language is
a vehicle for the expression of functional meaning or
a vehicle for the realization of interpersonal relations
and for the performance of social transactions
between individuals (Richards and Rodgers, 1986),
communicative competence is of pivotal importance
as an indicator of language level.
The coming of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) and the studies proving that ICT
can enhance the outcomes of education suggest to us
using modern technology to achieve more effective
ways of teaching and learning English as a foreign
language. The development of digital technology
offers us a variety of options. Among the various
kinds of ICT tools, the interactive whiteboard can be
an ideal ICT tool for English education. An
interactive whiteboard is a modern instructional tool
proved to be an effective technology facilitating
teaching and learning. According to findings from
British Education Communications and Technology
Agency (BECTA, 2003) (BECTA is that
government’s lead agency for Information and
Wang, X., Dostà ˛al, J. and BuÄ kovà ˛a, H.
The Use of Interactive Whiteboards for English Foreign Language Education.
DOI: 10.5220/0007720601690174
In Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2019), pages 169-174
ISBN: 978-989-758-367-4
Copyright
c
2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
169
Communication Technology in education),
interactive whiteboards can provide benefits to both
teachers and students. For teachers, interactive
whiteboards can encourage spontaneity and
flexibility, allowing teachers to draw on and annotate
a wide range of web-based resources; enable teachers
to save and print what is on the board, including any
notes made during the lesson, reducing duplication of
effort and facilitating revision; allow teachers to share
and re-use materials, reducing workloads; have been
widely reported to be easier to use than a computer in
teaching. For students, interactive whiteboards can
increase enjoyment and motivation; provide greater
opportunities for participation and collaboration,
developing students‘ personal and social skills;
reduce the need for note-taking through the capacity
to save and print what appears on the board; etc.
Research showed that interactive whiteboards can
improve student learning because there are increasing
attention and participation in the learning process
(Olivares and Castillo, 2018). A study by (Tertemiz,
2015) indicated that both teachers and students held
the view that interactive whiteboards can reduce
distractions and attract student attention. Luo and
Yang (2016) researched the effect of the interactive
functions of whiteboards on elementary students’
learning. The findings showed that teachers’ use of
the interactive whiteboards’ basic interactive function
helps to enhance students’ willingness to learn and
enjoyment of learning. It is an undeniable fact that
through active involvement in instruction pupils learn
more effectively (Dostál, 2011).
This article aims to introduce the interactive
whiteboards as instruments for teaching English as a
foreign language. Features of the interactive
whiteboards and scientific basis of incorporating
interactive whiteboards will be presented.
Educational applications of interactive whiteboards
in English foreign language education will also be
highlighted. To conclude, the issue of the effective
use of interactive whiteboards in real situation and
suggestions to effective integration will be provided.
2 METHODOLOGY
The paper aims to elaborate the potential of
interactive whiteboards for English education. This is
achieved by studying the affordability of interactive
whiteboards, the scientific basis of using interactive
whiteboards in teaching and the previous research
published in journals and conference proceedings
included in Web of Scientific and SCOPUS, with
respect to using interactive whiteboards for English
education. In other words, theoretical and qualitative
analysis is employed in the study.
3 FEATURES OF THE
INTERACTIVE
WHITEBOARDS
Interactive whiteboards are a conglomeration of all
previous educational technologies like the chalkboard,
plain whiteboard, television, video, overhead
projector, CD player and personal computer, but with
the added advantage of being able to interact with
various elements of these media (Hall and Higgins,
2005). BECTA (2003) gives the definition of
interactive whiteboards as follows:
An interactive whiteboard is a large, touch-
sensitive board which is connected to a digital
projector and a computer. The projector displays the
image from the computer screen onto the board. The
computer can then be controlled by touching the
board, either directly or with a special pen. Among
the potential applications are:
using web-based resources in whole-class
teaching
showing video clips to help explain concepts
demonstrating a piece of software
presenting students’ work to the rest of the
class
creating digital flipcharts
manipulating text and practicing handwriting
quick and seamless revision.
Interactive whiteboards include three main parts:
the whiteboard, the projector, and the computer. The
projector shoots an image onto the interactive
whiteboard. Materials and software on the computer
can be displayed on the interactive whiteboard.
Normally, we operate a computer with a mouse, but
with an interactive whiteboard, we can use our hands
and a tool. The whiteboard is touch-sensitive.
Whether a Word document or PowerPoint, you can
open it just by tapping on the screen with fingers. You
can write anything on the board by hand, and your
handwriting can be cleaned by hand or by a digital
eraser.
The electronic touch-sensitive whiteboard can act
as an overhead projector screen, as well as a platform
that operations can be made on it. The electronic pen
can be used to edit, modify or save previously written
CSEDU 2019 - 11th International Conference on Computer Supported Education
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text. With the electronic pen, the difficult information
to teach and important points can be marked with
different colours, helping students know well the
difficult and important points in the learning.
Meanwhile, the edited materials can be saved in a
different format and sent to students so that students
do not need to take notes in class, allowing the
students to devote their attention to participation in
class. Teachers can make a real-time record of the
whole classroom teaching process for students to
review learned knowledge after class. Compared to
projector multimedia, the main function of which is
used for displaying text, pictures, WORD,
PowerPoint, etc., an interactive whiteboard, by
enabling teachers to make marks or notes on the
materials, is a more effective instructional tool. In
addition, interactive whiteboards include various
kinds of digital teaching materials, teachers can direct
use these resources or utilize the materials to make
individual teaching plan and courseware.
Most interactive whiteboards contain interactive
textbooks containing videos, audio, hyperlinks and
extra materials, helping teachers save time for
preparing lessons. There are many interactive
software programs, such as ActivInspire, Smart
Notebook, etc., built in the interactive whiteboards.
Teachers can use these interactive programs to
create tests or questions and students can do
exercises by directly operating the whiteboard
during the lessons, which increases interactions in
class. Interactivity is an approach to learning in
which the teacher and learners interact to ensure
understanding, enhance conceptual development
and stimulate debate. Learning is stimulated through
participation rather than through the rote or passive
learning which characterizes didactic approaches
(Thomas, 2010).
The response system is another attractive function.
All students can have boxes resembling mobiles
phones, with which they can interact with the
interactive whiteboard simultaneously. When
teachers create exercises or activities, students are
asked to press buttons to choose their answer.
Afterwards, they can see the feedback immediately.
This affordance increases students’ engagement.
4 THEORETICAL BASES
4.1 Constructivism
Constructivism is an influential theory in the field of
education that delineates and sheds light on the
essence and nature of education. According to
constructivism, learning is a process of constructing
meaning, which is achieved by the interaction
between existing knowledge and new ideas. That
means learning is a process of discovering the
relationship between what is already known and
something new. In other words, knowledge is not
merely imparted to the student by the teacher but
gained by construction of meaning which is
conceptualized within the existing context. From a
constructivist point of view, a context is important
to learning because the construction of meaning
cannot take place without a context (Slavin, 2003).
The aforementioned context is better referenced in a
learning environment in which the teacher can
interact with students and students can also interact
with each other. It is acknowledged that a better
learning environment or atmosphere plays an
important role in learning in that it can facilitate
students’ understanding of knowledge.
For English language study, language
environment is crucial. The biggest challenge of
learning English in non-native speaking countries is a
lack of an authentic English speaking environment. In
most cases, students cannot access a real language
environment in the traditional classroom. Interactive
whiteboards enable teachers to integrate a large
number of teaching resources such as educational
software, audio, videos, pictures, animation, etc., into
the teaching process, which enables students to listen
to native speakers’ spoken English. The use of
educational software, audio, videos, images,
animation also helps effectively activate the
connection of the old knowledge and the new
knowledge, thus helping students understand and
process the new knowledge. In addition, the use of
interactive whiteboards capable of integrating various
Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
and multimedia in the classroom can provide an
authentic language learning environment, promoting
interactions between teachers and students. A
constructivist classroom is student-focused, and the
teacher acts more as a facilitator than in the one-
directional model of the traditional teacher-centered
classroom.
Constructivists believe that student-focused
instruction can help students become active learners,
instead of just passive learners. Active participation
is crucial to the retention of usable knowledge. The
main affordability of an interactive whiteboard is its
interactive function that increases classroom
interactions between teachers and students and
among students themselves.
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171
4.2 Theory of Second Language
Acquisition
Humans acquire language in only one way - by
understanding messages or by receiving
‘comprehensible input’ (Krashen, 1985). Speaking
is a result of acquisition and not its cause.
Speech cannot be taught directly but ‘emerges’ on
its own as a result of building competence via
comprehensible input. If input is understood, and
there is enough of it, the necessary grammar is
automatically produced (Krashen, 1985). Although
comprehensible input is necessary for acquisition, it
is not sufficient. The ‘affective filter’ is a mental
block that prevents acquirers from fully utilizing
that comprehensible input they receive for language
acquisition. When the acquirer is anxious,
unmotivated or unconfident in the process of
receiving a message, he or she may understand what
he hears and reads, but the input will not reach the
LAD (Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device:
LAD). When this happens, we say the filter is up.
And the filter is down when the acquirer is not
concerned with the possibility of failure in language
acquisition and when he considers himself to be a
potential member of the group speaking the target
language. The filter is lowest when the acquirer is
more involved in the message (Krashen, 1985). We
can summarize that comprehensible input and a low
affective filter are two important factors
encouraging second-language acquisition (Krashen,
1985). Using interactive whiteboards can help
students achieve comprehensible input and a lower
affective filter. Firstly, when using interactive
whiteboards in teaching, the teacher can use videos,
pictures, images, and animation, which are built-in
or stored in interactive whiteboards, to help students
understand knowledge. Sometimes knowledge and
ideas are abstract and complicated so that it is not
easy for students to understand without the help of
these aids. In other words, these technological aids
make input more comprehensible. Additionally,
with the help of an interactive whiteboard, the
teacher can integrate words, pictures, images, videos,
audio, animations, etc., into the teaching material,
presenting teaching content in a vivid way, and
students can also physically manipulate the texts on
the whiteboard, making learning more enjoyable,
thus reducing the anxiety and enhancing students’
motivation for learning.
5 APPLICATIONS OF
INTERACTIVE
WHITEBOARDS IN EFL
EDUCATION
A noteworthy number of studies have accredited that
interactive whiteboards can improve the outcomes of
English education. In an article by Zezulková (2017),
the interactive whiteboard was used to teach English
lessons. The subjects were 11 to 15-year-old students.
In the study, the teacher designed speaking,
vocabulary, grammar, writing, reading and listening
activities with the help of an interactive whiteboard.
For example, for developing students’ speaking skills,
the teacher created an activity called “one story”.
Firstly, the teacher presented an image on the board
and then told the students to tell a story. The first
student would initiate the story and stop in the middle
of a sentence. Then the second student continued the
story. Like the first student, the second student also
stopped in the middle of a sentence. And the rest of
the student followed the same pattern until the teacher
told them to finish it. For vocabulary learning, the
teacher created an activity called “one body” in which
the teacher presented a person’s silhouette and icon
(speakers) on the interactive whiteboard. By clicking
on the icons, the students can listen to the words about
body parts. The students can come to the whiteboard
and drag the body parts to the right place on the
silhouette. Grammar learning is not infrequently
unpopular with students. Interactive whiteboards can
make grammar learning more interesting. In the
research, the teacher used the “word order” activity to
teach grammar, in which a few sentences were
divided into single words and can be dragged on the
screen. The students were invited to come to the
whiteboard to put the words in the right order.
The writing activity in the study was similar to the
aforementioned speaking activity. In the writing
activity, the students were told to write a short story
together. The teacher prepared a blank page on the
whiteboard and the first student was asked to come to
the front to write one sentence but stop in the middle
of the sentence. The second student would finish the
partial sentence and start a new one, and the rest of
the students followed this pattern until it was finished.
In the listening activity, students were required to
listen to some people talking and drew what the
people had been talking about. Likewise, the students
were asked to come to the front to draw something
which can be drawn simply, such as a house, the sun,
a car, etc., according to what they hear. The recording
can be replayed if necessary, and the pictures can be
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saved and used to retell the story next time. As to the
reading activity, the teacher prepared one or more
poems or rhymes in the interactive whiteboard. The
students were asked to come to the board and drag the
rhyming words to pairs. Then the students practiced
the pronunciation with the teacher. Finally, they read
the whole poem. The result indicated that the
activities designed by using an interactive whiteboard
led to an increasing interaction and cooperation
between the teacher and students and amongst
students. And students became more active in the
class.
Gkiouzeli (2015) studied the role of interactive
whiteboards in English as a foreign language class in
Greece. He reported that interactive whiteboards
increased the students’ participation when the
pedagogical tools the teachers used were
complemented by stimulating materials presented on
the interactive whiteboards and the way the
interactive whiteboard intervenes and affects the
interpersonal exchanges between teachers and
students looks like real life exchanges. Language is a
living thing, so the best way to learn a language is in
an interactive and authentic environment (Lin and
Chu, 2018). In other words, the study showed that the
use of an interactive whiteboard can facilitate English
teaching and learning.
Dudáková (2013) researched using interactive
whiteboards in teaching English in the Czech
Republic. The participants were English foreign
language teachers from primary, lower, upper
secondary language schools and kindergartens. A
questionnaire was used in the survey. In the study, the
majority of teachers held the view that interactive
whiteboards are supportive in all areas of English
teaching, including practice, vocabulary, grammar,
listening, presentation, reading, writing, tests,
speaking. They considered that interactive
whiteboards make teaching more effective.
Katwibun (2014) studied the use of interactive
whiteboards in vocabulary teaching. The subjects
were 51 11th-grade students. The research
instruments consisted of three lesson plans, three
interactive whiteboard instructional media packets,
post-teaching teacher’s notes, vocabulary knowledge
tests, students’ participation observation form, and
attitude questionnaire. Visual and audio tools of
interactive whiteboards were used to teach
vocabulary. A vocabulary knowledge test was
employed to assess students’ vocabulary knowledge
after using the interactive whiteboard. The study
showed that implementing interactive whiteboards as
instructional tools in vocabulary teaching can
improve students’ vocabulary knowledge and it can
also increase students’ participation and motivation in
English learning.
Consistent with the above findings, a study by Lin
and Chu (2018) on the effectiveness of the interactive
whiteboards on English language teaching indicated
that the interactive whiteboards can improve the
outcomes of English education. The participants in
the study were 43 students from Grade 3 in Sahes
Elementary School in Taiwan and their language
proficiency level was not significantly different
before the study. The students were divided into two
groups: the experimental group and the control group.
The former were taught through interactive
whiteboard-based instruction and the latter through
normal instruction. After several weeks of instruction,
the two groups were given an immediate test and a
retention test respectively. The results revealed that
the experimental group significantly outperformed
the control group on both the students’ immediate test
and retention test. In addition, most students said that
they enjoyed the interactive whiteboard-based
learning environment.
6 CONCLUSIONS
This paper discusses the potential of the interactive
whiteboards in teaching English as a foreign language.
In general, the majority of studies indicated that the
interactive whiteboards are proven technological
tools. However, it is the teacher who implements it
that makes the changes happen rather than the
functionalities of the interactive whiteboard itself.
Recent research indicated that most teachers use it as
a projector in teaching practice and the interactive
function is in most case neglected. Many teachers
seem to use the interactive whiteboard merely as a
large –scale visual blackboard or a simple
presentation tool. As a consequence, the use of
interactive whiteboards often has no significant
impact on teachers’ pedagogy (Vita, et al, 2018).
Research found out that there is a need for teachers to
improve technological competencies and abilities in
schools. Teachers’ knowledge of effectively using
interactive whiteboards is often insufficient (Olivares
and Castillo, 2018). Exerting the most interactive
effect of the whiteboard depends on teachers because
teachers determine how it can be used in the
classroom. For effective classes, especially for
communicative ones involving lots of interaction in
the classroom, teachers need to focus on developing
their pedagogy because the technology is only the
means for serving to that purpose (Toscu, 2013).
The Use of Interactive Whiteboards for English Foreign Language Education
173
Teachers’ competence in using interactive
whiteboard plays an important role in the integration
of technology in educational settings in which the
affordances of the technology come into play.
Therefore, in order to enhance teaching quality and
effectiveness of student learning, due measures
should be taken to train teaching staff to be competent
in using the interactive whiteboards. Investment in
good quality training on the pedagogical use of this
technology becomes increasingly important. Special
emphasis should be placed on how this technology
can be exploited to develop pedagogical practices
based on a socio-cognitive view of communicative
teaching, which is in line with the latest developments
in language teaching research and practice (Hadadi,
et al., 2014).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The paper was created with a financial support of the
project of Grant fund of the Dean of the Faculty of
Education, Palacký University Olomouc, 2019 in the
framework of the project "Curricular Innovations of
the Subject of Computing in the Context of the
Teachers' Opinion and Research of Optimal
Preparation of Future EFL Teachers for the Use of
Information Technologies in Class".
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