Blog January 22, 2015 by
St Giles
Enhancing your English Learning through Technology
Today, English is spoken by a quarter of the world’s population and it has been forecast that by 2020, two billion people will be able to speak it at a useful level. More and more people around the world are choosing to study abroad in an English speaking country to improve their language level as efficiently as possible. But in today’s society, students not only want to live abroad to improve their English, they also want to supplement their language course with other learning methods, meaning that English language schools around the world must embrace the world of technology to make their courses more interactive and to support their students’ learning outside of the classroom.
In a recent survey carried out by St Giles International, 72.5% of students agreed that the best way to learn English is in an English speaking country with native English teachers
In addition, nearly all of the St Giles students that were questioned said that they also use social media and blogs to help them to improve their English. The most popular social media site used was Facebook, with 54.3% of students using the site to further their language learning.
The Internet and media such as television and radio can also be used to help students practise their listening and reading skills when they are in the UK. Ai Yun Huang, 18, from Taiwan said that watching videos on YouTube helped her to improve her English whilst studying at St Giles London Highgate in 2013.
These days, there are lots of free apps which can be downloaded on smartphones to help students with their English outside of the classroom. The British Council has many great apps available to help students improve their grammar, listening and vocabulary, including My Word Book and the IELTS Word Power app.
But English language schools should not just expect their students to find their own resources online; they must support them as much as possible before, during and after their course. St Giles International has now launched its own online student portal, available for all students that book a course from 2015 onwards. The St Giles e-Learning Zone provides useful exercises to practise grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, listening, pronunciation and spelling. Once logged in, students can also access other useful resources such as web links, videos, teachers’ tips, a glossary and dictionary. This kind of tool enables schools like St Giles to offer a more interactive and supportive service, with built in functions for students to ask questions online, check their progress and set themselves targets.
With technology becoming more easily accessible to students all over the world, the demand for more advanced learning methods and resources is increasing. It is becoming more important for English language schools to keep up with technological trends in order to provide an interactive and high-quality service to their students.
Book a course at St Giles today and take advantage of our brand new e-Learning zone!
