IMPROVING READING SKILLS THROUGH CALL FOR ESL LEARNERS: A SURVEY

Abstract

Pakistan is a developing country. Its literacy rate is not praiseworthy and is at the low level in the ranking list of literate countries. The situation is even worse in rural areas. English is being used all over the world as an international language. It has become a Lingua Franca and a language of greater opportunities. It also enjoys a supreme status in society. Its sound knowledge is a successful passport for any job. For learning any language, both the oral and written skills are of equal importance. In fact, learning a second language is never easy. Learners have to wrestle with new vocabulary, rules of grammar, pronunciation and more. Computer assisted language learning is gaining popularity among educationists. So the current study determines to explore the perceptions of English teachers on integration of CALL in English language classroom. It also evaluated the ways to improve reading skills through CALL at secondary level. The study contained quantitative paradigm as research design. One hundred students and thirty teachers from Bahawalpur region participated in this study. The data was assembled through a close-ended questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed in SPSS. The results demonstrated that the Pakistani students have shown positive attitude towards CALL using inside the classrooms. The study also spotlighted that it motivated the learners to learn in team. If CALL is implemented efficiently in rural areas of Pakistan, it will be a high ranking tool for language learning. The recommendations and findings of this study should be taken into careful consideration and steps should be taken to implement those in our classrooms. If implemented intentionally, it is expected that the state of the teaching and learning of vocabulary skills at secondary level will be improved remarkably.