THE USE OF MEDIA AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN THE EFL CLASSROOM: A CONTRASTIVE STUDY BETWEEN SPAIN AND MACEDONIA

Abstract

This paper is a comparative study which aims to investigate students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards the use of technology and media in teaching English as a foreign language in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain and Tetove, Macedonia. The main tools used for the analysis have been two questionnaires, one was administered to students and a second one was given to teachers in both countries. In both cases, we have used a representative sample of the general population to be analyzed. The findings show that the use of new technologies is very widespread in the English classes in the aforementioned countries. Based on the study results, both, teacher and student participants offer a positive attitude towards the use of these aids as a good way to teach and learn, whilst they have proven very effective in teaching English. In both cases, where this study was done, it seems that the use of the computer and the DVD in the classes is becoming a necessity.

Keywords: Attitudes, English, Information and communication technology, EFL classroom, Las Palmas de Gran Canari, Tetove.