Online English language teaching: How effective is it in the communicative language teaching classroom?

English has been influential within the development of globalisation and is often viewed as the global language for communication. The development of the internet has similarly had a significant impact on globalisation and consequently technology has become a vital part of English language teaching (Compton, 2008; Harrison & Thomas, 2009). In particular, young people are strongly affected by Information Technology on an everyday basis. Rosen (2011) asserts that the i-generation is ―immersed in technology‖ (p. 15). As Communicative Language Teaching is the dominant language teaching approach today (Hampel & Stickler, 2005 Richards, 2006; Thompson, 1996; Savignon, 2001; Wang & Chen 2009), the interface between Communicative Language Teaching and Information Technology needs to be addressed so that the diverse needs of the language learner can be met. This chapter discusses the interaction between Communicative Language Teaching and Information Technology and suggests that teaching online presents many opportunities and challenges for teachers. These include appropriate training in the technologies involved and their use in language teaching and learning. Also, there is a need to develop strategies that encourage a sense of community as a means of assisting the Communicative Language Teaching - online classroom interaction.