Regional center for in- service training and retraining of teachers under the karakalpak state university

ICT resources
The incorporation of technology in the language classroom (ICT) has radically changed the teaching-learning dynamic in general, the reading practice in particular. Now the teacher stays no longer in front of the students with the textbook in her/his arms waiting for them to read aloud by turns. Now the practitioner can select a varied media to attract students’ attention. However, these revolutionary educative practices that refer to the use of the text on-line have only been put into practice in five European countries, out of the half of the European members that agreed their inclussion. The incorporation of ICT permits the appliance of multiple sources of information and implements motivating strategies in the classroom. New technologies are giving an innovative format to the medium of the text, to the extent that the relation between reader and text changes radically and consequently the message that can be derived from its reading. All the elements around the act of reading have an effect on the readers’ mind and none of those should be misled. All these elements are referring to the pragmatics of the reading performance and include such meaningful elements as the structure and division of the text, the material it is printed on, the cover design, the illustrations it might contain, etc.
Today, even the mechanics of reading have been changed by technology and readers have to confront their reading activities with new and efficient competences. For example, with the book format the reader just paged through it while reading, nowadays the reader waits for the message to appear on a screen and reads its content by dragging the mouse across the surface of the table. Teachers have to be aware of the present panorama in order to create adapted strategies for their students and to help them develop those new reading competences according to modern exigencies: “technology is changing the reading and writing demands of modern society. Reading and writing in the fast-paced, networked world require new skills unimaginable a devade before.”
Still, there are two divergent opinions in respect to the use of technology in the language classroom. The supporters of the first one consider technology as a major assistance in the dynamics of the class meanwhile the defenders of the second opinion affirm it to be just another distractive element in the classroom. The two opinions are based either on a positive or a negative perspective: the first considers technology a major assistance in the dynamics of the class and the second regards it as an enemy against the new generations’ learning progress, another distractor. The latter would probably think past customs and its culture are being neglected today abandoning old good practices.
The present project work supports the idea of profiting technological advances in reading for better results. The opposition to technological advances will not help programming an efficient reading program for present and future ESP students because reading entails being more conscious than ever of the things around us. While reading we get to know more about the world and the intricacies of its society. For this reason, the experience can no longer be related to any kind of alienation or an old-fashioned perspective; on the contrary, the reading task is not only the recover of the past, its history and memory, but also the awareness of present time ideas and situations.