The linguistic future of the Internet 235
and an excellent medium for promoting rapid responses, but their
utterances represent only a small part of the grammatical repertoire
of a language.
Finally, the Web offers an unprecedented array of opportunities
for both students and teachers. Whatever complaints there may
have been in the past, over the lack of availability of ‘authentic
materials’, there must now be a general satisfaction that so much
genuine written data is readily available, with spoken data on the
horizon (see above). (Indeed, the pedagogical problem is now the
opposite – to evaluate and grade what is available, so that students
are not overwhelmed.) Another benefit is that the Web can put
learners in contact with up-to-date information about a language,
especially through the use of online dictionaries, usage guides, and
suchlike – though at present these are in limited supply, with prob-
lems of access fees and copyright still awaiting solution in many
instances. Web sites can provide a greater variety of materials, at-
tractively packaged, such as newspaper articles, quizzes, exercises,
self-assessment tasks, and other forms. As a publishing medium,
moreover, the Web offers unprecedented opportunities to students,
for both individual and collaborative work.^16 David Eastment es-
timated that (in 1999) there were a thousand ELT sites devoted to
language learning activities, resources, and materials.^17 At the same
time, he was firm about the need for caution:
A few ELT sites are worthwhile; but at the moment, they are few
and far between, and the learner, whether in class or studying
alone, would be better advised to concentrate on conventional ELT
materials.... At the time of writing, it is clear that a shelf of EFL
workbooks and coursebooks would offer far more in terms of
exercises, activities and ideas than the whole of the World Wide
Web.The situation will change, but only after there has been much more
progress in the adaptation of materials, to the screen and in teacher
training. Eastment puts it this way:^18
(^16) See Bowers (1995). (^17) Eastment (1999: 23–4). (^18) Eastment (1999: 28).