The use of information technologies and audiovisual media in ELT: The Department of English in El Jadida, Morocco, as a case study

Abstract

Within the framework of the New Reform evaluation, this article addresses the issue of the use of Information Technologies and Audiovisual Media in English Language Teaching at the university level, with a particular emphasis on a set of language courses in the 'DEUG' cycle in the Department of English in El Jadida. A semi-structured interview was used to elicit the students' and teachers' attitudes towards these technologies, the ways they use these technologies to serve their teaching goals and learning needs, respectively, and the problems they face in their attempts to implement such technologies. The aim is to find out whether the attitudes teachers and students have and the discourse produced about the perceived effects of these technologies match with the actual practices. The results obtained indicate that both teachers and students have positive attitudes towards these technologies, but they neither frequently nor regularly use them due to factors related to students' lack of motivation, the unavailability of these technologies and the related infrastructure. We conclude that, despite the little use of such technologies, the positive attitudes that both parties have are a factor that could lead to their frequent, regular and fruitful use.