Erdoğan KARTAL, Uludağ University, Turkey Arda ARIKAN, Children Research Center, Turkey

1. Future Foreign Language Teachers and the Online Tools They Use to Learn about Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures Erdoğan KARTAL, Uludağ University, Turkey Arda ARIKAN, Children Research Center, Turkey Contact: ardaari@gmail.com

2. Literature in the Internet Age • The Internet changed the ways people read literature • Studentscan now compare and contrast their literary responses with the images from contemporary media. • Students can use online newsgroupsand prepare posters or blogs to reflect on their literary reading. • Literature teaching with the Internet technology has become both a matter of content as well as it is a matter of pedagogy.

3. Comparing Digital and Paper Literature

4. Traditional View of Teaching Literature • Students read the literary text. • Instructor asks questions and informs students about certain points such as the theme, characters, setting, by lecturing and asking and answering questions. • Students read the classroom notes and do some extra research especially to write a paper on a topic given by the teacher. • Instructor checks on students’ learning through lengthy essays or exams.

5. Lecturing as a Traditional Strategy

6. Recent Approaches to Teaching any Content Postmodern methods or strategies Active learning Cooperative learning Constructivism and Social-Constructivism Learning by doing (Hands-on Approach) e-Learning and Blended learning IQ/ EQ Embodied Learning Multiple Intelligences Use of drama and arts

7. New Forms of Literature Teaching Paiva and Arikan (2010) a literature instructor can teach literature through the use of online tools as follows: Reading and discussing the text (online or paper based). Introducing one aspect of the school of criticism. Applying this aspect to the text. Students discussing freely and in a reflective manner. Introducing another aspect and continuing discussions. Repeating processes by using alternative tools. Collaborate in tasks using hypermedia applications. Preparing blogs or online projects to summarize and share their learning.

8. Online tools web pages, wikis, blogs, podcasts, search engines, forums, news groups, e-mails, games, simulations, audio files, music, and videos, web-based software, and other Internet-based tools and environments

9. Situation of Future Teachers of English In Turkey, like in Thailand, future teachers of English are educated in a country in which English is not widely and socially used. Future teachers of English have serious linguistic (grammar), pragmatic (social use of the language) and lexical (vocabulary) needs. Studying literature via online tools should help these learners (future teachers of English) more than traditional learning atmospheres do.

10. Do learners use these tools? We specifically aimed at finding answers to the following research questions: Which online tools and how frequently do pre-service foreign language teachers know to develop their knowledge of culture and literature? What are their reasons for not using some tools that can enable them to learn more about foreign language literatures and cultures?

11. Methods Participants: 60 students attending Turkish universities’ Faculties of Education where they receive education to be future foreign language teachers. Data Collection Tool: A questionnaire which was developed by the researchers. Part 1: How often do they use the online tools whose names are listed? There were 5 options ranging from “everyday”, “once or twice a week”, “once or twice a month”, “rarely” and “never.” Part 2: The participants were given 8 possible reasons for choosing and using the above mentioned tools and they were given 3 options, namely, “very important”, “important” and “not important.” Analysis: A popular statistical package was used to calculate the frequencies, percentages, and arithmetic means to bring a descriptive analysis of the results.

12. Results I: Which tools?

13. Results II: Why these tools?

14. Conclusion This study was a small scale study which focused on future foreign language teachers’ use of some select online tools. Despite the limitations of the instrument used and the small number of the participants, it has given numerical evidence showing which online tools future teachers of English use and the reasons behind their choices.

15. Suggestions Teachers’ knowledge and use of less used tools should be articulated in teacher education programs. Teacher educators should be alert in introducing newer online and e-learning tools so that students and future teachers benefit in using them.

16. Kob Khun Krap!