AN APPRAISAL OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AS NEW MEDIA TOOLS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA

Today, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have redefined the way communication is carried out and further pushed the envelope with regard to the way information is disseminated, creating more channels of interaction between stakeholders in the society. Studies are ongoing on how ICTs can be useful in language teaching and learning in tertiary institutions today. The impact ICTs have had in improving governance, agriculture, medicine, banking and commerce, education, inter alia, so far, is being predicted to have the same impact when utilised for language teaching and learning. Thus, ICT tools like PowerPoint, e-conferencing, compact disks (CDs, VCDs and DVDs), technology-aided distance learning, among others, are instruments that can facilitate knowledge acquisition, language teaching and learning in tertiary institutions. Through ICTs, the teacher-student interaction in the learning process is situated within a dynamic pedagogical context that could go beyond the four walls of a traditional classroom. This situation forebodes better days for teachers and students alike as more channels of interaction are created, thus enhancing language teaching and learning. It now behoves teachers and students to take advantage of these technologies in furthering knowledge acquisition with regard to language teaching and learning. Among other things, in this paper, the authors have critically appraised the use of ICTs in language teaching and learning in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, identified the various limitations to this process and made recommendations that can be useful to policy makers and stakeholders involved in tertiary educatio