NURSING PROFESSIONALS’ EVALUATION IN INTEGRATING THE COMPUTERS IN ENGLISH FOR NURSING PURPOSES (ENP) INSTRUCTION AND LEARNING

ABSTRCT

This study was designed to examine the pre- and in-service nursing professionals’ perceptions of using computers to facilitate foreign language learning as consideration for future English for nursing purposes instruction. One hundred and ninety seven Taiwanese nursing students participated in the study. Findings revealed that (1) the participants felt benefited using computers to aid their language learning mostly in reading skills development (ex. reading medical reports, doctor’s orders, and English magazines and newspapers), followed by vocabulary skills (ex. acquiring more medical terminologies), listening skills (ex. listening to English broadcast media) and writing skills (ex. writing nursing notes/reports in real situations). They also expressed the computers provide “least” help as they try to become more proficient in speaking at seminars, making presentations and participating in groups discussions using English; (2) statistical significance was noted in terms of students’ perceptions of computer-mediated learning in English speaking based on their division/rank using an ANOVA test; (3) a Pearson Product-Moment Correlation analysis revealed a statistically significant, positive association between participants’ perceptions of using computer to facilitate language learning and their self-evaluation of their macro English proficiency. Based on these results, researchers and educators could find meaningful ways that will improve the attitudes of students in the digital learning environment, and continue to evaluate ways to help these students connect with the process of learning.