DIGITAL RESOURCES IN ENGLISH AS L2: DESIGNS AND AFFORDANCES

This edition of Ilha do Desterro Journal, published as a contribution to the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Association of Applied Linguistics of Brazil - ALAB, is characterized as a thematic issue, bringing to the field of applied linguistics the important discussion on the role of technology in teaching-learning-use of a foreign/additional language (L2). As such, its organization aimed to gather research studies and updated discussions on different aspects related to the use of digital resources in the teaching-learning-use of L2 not only in the context of the pandemic but also beyond in relation to the changes that will come and remain in the use of technologies permeating the use-teaching-learning of L2.

The view of digital resources adopted in the call for this edition was very broad encompassing any materials created digitally or converted to digital format, or any platform, application or program available digitally that allows/promotes the teaching-learning-use of L2. An effort was also made to contemplate and reflect on conceptions and/or principles underlying the planning and use of digital resources in the teaching-learning-use of L2 which included, among other aspects, the ergonomic/structural, cognitive, affective and/ or pedagogical.

We write this introduction during the pandemic that has been going on for almost two years now and we cannot help but reflect on the role technology played not only in the production of vaccines in record time, but also in enabling remote learning and virtual connection during the challenging times of social distance. In this sense, although this issue does not specifically focus on the context of the pandemic, some articles brought here reflect the uses of technology in the context in which we live.

In addition to its effect on globalization, with fast and democratic flow of information, products and services (Finardi & Porcino, 2014), technology has contributed to the use-teaching-learning of languages even before the pandemic. Technology has always been part of our daily lives and pedagogic practices (Tumolo, 2014) as in analogic resources such as books, pencils, chalk, blackboard, mimeograph, overhead projector, audio- and video-cassette, among others, and/or as digital resources including equipment and instruments for L2 use-teaching-learning inside and outside the classroom. More recently, digital technology has made available resources based on computers that process digital data with a visual and sometimes also oral interface, which are no longer limited to the notebook, now available in the palms of our hands on smartphones, tablets, etc. Several programs and/or applications have been developed for the most varied areas and different functions and in this edition we highlight the work of applied linguists in the creation, evaluation, adaptation and use of these programs and applications for the use-teaching-learning of L2.

Many studies in the field of digital technology in applied linguistics focus on the use of digital resources (for example, Pires & Tumolo, 2020), essentially involving the pedagogical aspect, that is, their use for teaching and learning purposes. This issue sought to encourage the sharing of research also focusing on development (design), on the concepts and/or principles underlying the planning of digital resources, such as the principles put forth by Mayer (2009). Likewise, it sought to involve aspects beyond the pedagogical one, expanding to cognitive and/or affective aspects.

Considering the present situation, many articles published in this issue focused on of the pandemic. The article by Rodrigo Esteves da Lima-Lopes and Terezinha Marcondes Diniz Biazi, with the title Open education resources in the global scenario: Highlights and challenges, presents important information and reflection on the Open Education Resources (OER) Global Report 2017 and Ljubljana OER Action Plan 2017. The article also allows for the understanding of how the two documents contributed to elaboration of the actions and strategies for the 2019 UNESCO OER Recommendation and the production of an OER Guide under the Pandemic COVID-19 in 2020, as well as for the recognition of openly creating and sharing teaching and learning materials.

Fábio Alexandre Silva Bezerra, in Remote English teaching-learning experiences in the teaching degree in English during the covid-19 pandemic: digital multiliteracies and intersectionality, brings a discussion on the use of digital resources for remote study and/or work in the context of social isolation, with emphasis on content-based instruction, multiliteracies, emergency remote education, and intersectionality while highlighting the importance of student proactivity, teacher flexibility, topic choice and text adequacy for good learning results.

In Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teacher Education: digital resources in online education during and beyond pandemic times, Cíntia Rabello reports on a research study whose aim was evaluating the experience of learning a language with the mediation of digital technologies and of identifying that contribution to learning English. The author brings various possibilities to use digital resources and proposes ways to integrate digital resources into language teaching and learning practices in face-to-face, online, and hybrid contexts.

Claudia Marchese Winfield and Ana Flávia Will, in The adaptation of speaking practices in English as an L2 from in-person to remote mode, present a discussion on the necessary adaptation of the project Movie Talks to a remote version, to an online project accessible, contextualized and meaningful for the participants, with the use of digital resources for all the activities aiming mostly at developing oral and written comprehension and production. The authors bring into the discussion principles of automaticity, meaningful learning, intrinsic motivation and strategic investment with the use of technological resources for the emergency remote teaching during the pandemic.

Didiê Ana Ceni Denardi, Raquel Amoroginski Marcos, and Camila Ribas Stankoski, in their article Impacts from Covid-19 pandemic in English language classroom, present the results of an investigation on teachers’ reactions to the need of emergency remote classes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Results of the study show that remote teaching caused several difficulties for the teaching and learning process, but, at the same time, promoted teachers’ digital literacy.

Elaine Maria Santos, in the article Emergency remote teaching and the use of digital resources in English language classes, presents an analysis of students’ perceptions on the use of digital resources during the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on an analysis of planning, action, observation and reflection of the material and on the application and evaluation by the students, it was possible to identify the important role of interactivity of the resources for the successful learning.

In Quizizz in English as second language classes: a brief analysis, Nukácia Meyre Silva Araújo and Karlucy Farias de Sousa present an analysis of the potential use of Quizizz with a focus on the necessary use of digital resources during social distancing caused by Covid-19 pandemic. The exploratory research study employed three groups of criteria, namely technical, theoretical and practical, showing the relevance of Quizizz for the teaching, learning and using of English.

In addition to the period of pandemic and, oftentimes, the need for emergency remote teaching, other topics appeared. In the article The potential of podcasts for the development and improvement of the oral comprehension ability in English learning, Elisangela de Fátima Berto and Saionara Greggio discuss the potential use of podcasts for the development of oral comprehension in English. Based on their research endeavor, they argued there was development of the oral comprehension with the activities used, as well as a positive perception of the potential of podcasts for exposure to language spoken by native and non-native speakers in different contexts.

In Discursive Representations of Digital Artifacts in an EFL Classroom: Analysing Discursive Voices of Pre-Service Teachers of English, Oleksandr Kapranov presents an analysis of the discursive representations in digital artifacts – argumentative essays produced by pre-service English teachers. The analysis showed that there are discursive representations shared among participants and some that are group-specific.

Fernanda Mota Pereira, in the article A decolonial perspective on the use of technologies for English language teaching, proposes a discussion on the decoloniality and the use of technologies for teaching English. With that aim, she illustrates her point with an analysis of a lesson of an English course that showed the presence of decoloniality principles related to the epistemologies of the South in technologies that follow mostly precepts representing epistemologies of the North.

In Principles of curation of Open Authoring Systems of English as a Second Language in Electronic Learning Organizer, André Firpo Beviláqua, Alan Ricardo Costa,^,Vanessa Ribas Fialho, and Vilson José Leffa present an analysis of curatorial practices used with the Electronic Learning Organizer (ELO) Cloud. For that, the authors carried out a study with an applied and qualitative methodology, following five principles of digital curation, namely, collection, categorization, critiquing, conceptualization and circulation, concluding that they are incorporated in the ELO.

Felipe Furtado Guimarães and Carlos Alberto Hildeblando Júnior, in Digital resources and English as an additional language in higher education: possibilities for internationalization, propose a discussion on digital resources for using English in the process of internationalization of higher education. The authors resorted to bibliographic research comparing different approaches to language teaching with technology, such as COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning), MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) and EMI (English Medium Instruction) to digital resources used in Brazilian universities. The authors concluded that digital resources combined with alternative approaches to content and language teaching can promote internationalization of higher education.

Vládia Maria Cabral Borges, Keyla Maria Frota Lemos, and Sâmela Rocha Barros Pereira, in the article Correlation between reading comprehension and text production in digital media, present a correlation of various levels of reading comprehension and fluency and the cognitive effort in text production in computer, tablet and cell phones, based on cognitive models of text production and of reading comprehension. The results of the study showed a strong positive correlation between fluency and cognitive effort in written production in cell phones, a weak negative correlation between reading comprehension and fluency in written production in cell phones and between fluency and cognitive effort in tablets.

In A proposal of formative assessment in EFL teaching and learning: online writing and peer-review activities, Kátia Muck and Bill Cope, with a perspective of formative assessment, investigated two types of feedback given by peer reviewers during the development of online writing in English, with the use of CGScholar. The analysis showed that this type of activity may be used to enhance EFL learning.

Rafael Vetromille-Castro and Helena dos Santos, in Active Methodologies and digital resources for L2 teaching: A review in ways and possibilities, present a review on active methodologies and digital resources focusing on L2 teaching to children and the integrated use of digital resources. The authors stress the need to bring that discussion to the arena of pre-service teacher education.

The article The body movement in ESL/EFL vocabulary learning in immersive environments, by Maria Cristina Ferreira and Patrícia Nora de Souza Ribeiro, brings a discussion on body movement and its contribution to the learning of an L2, based on the embodied cognition theory, assuming that cognition emerges from the interdependence of body, mind and environment, and that such relationship becomes relevant for understanding the effects of body actions on learning. The authors carried out a bibliographic research, with focus on L2 vocabulary learning in immersive environments – virtual and augmented realities, and concluded that the embodied approach can favor vocabulary learning and retention in memory.

In Webcurriculum designs, and decolonialities in-devir: digital resources as tools for teaching and learning practices, Ricardo Toshihito Saito presents a reflection on the development of webcurricula as movements of learners and teachers to co-design teaching and learning strategies with the use of digital and analogical resources. The author stresses that the affordances of interactive resources/supports as well as the web contents allow for meaning co-construction going beyond what course syllabi or textbooks allow for, while also presents some movements for the co-design of webcurricula.

Susana dos Reis, in her article English online 3D on Moodle: a proposal of digital teaching material to teach English as an additional language in a blended modality, claims for the need of guidelines for the development of digital resources, specifically for the teaching and learning of English, and presents a model for the development of digital teaching material based on sociocultural view of language teaching, as well as on the genre pedagogy and the multiliteracies approach. The author also presents the English Online 3D, highlighting the phases involved in the design of digital material.

In Successful digital resources to enhance English lessons, Cristina Becker Lopes Perna, Heloísa Orsi Koch Delgado and Asafe Davi Cortina Silva present a general view of the Education models 1.0 to 5.0 and the pedagogical implications for digital tools. They also present a discussion pointing to the idea that digital resources may assist the teaching and learning of English as well as the development of social-emotional skills during emergency remote teaching.

Thaiza Zancopé and Michele Salles El Kadri, in Affordances of the prototype “Teaching English to teachers”: Contributions from social justice perspective, antiracist education and the web curriculum to English classes in teacher education programs, present the affordances of a prototype produced for the English language classes of an English language course based on the principles of social justice. Based on their research, they identified a reflection involving the questioning of oppressive relations, the feeling of motivation to fight against discrimination and racism, the learning of technological tools, and the use of new technologies in a reflexive and creative way.

This special issue also had the contribution of two interviews. The interview with Professor Adolfo Tanzi Neto, A socio-historical-cultural perspective of hybrid education and its technologies, by Bruna Quartarolo Vargas and Christine Nicolaides, discusses hybrid education in the perspective of socio-historical theory. The interview with Professor Laura Gurzynski-Weiss, Introducing the TBLT Language Learning Task Bank, by Raquel Carolina de Souza Ferraz D’Ely e Ana Flávia Boeing Marcelino, brings information and contributions of a task bank in the perspective of task based language teaching.

In general, the works published in this issue of Ilha do Desterro reflect the challenges faced today in teaching-learning-using L2 with the use of digital technologies while also allowing for the advancement of important discussions even after the pandemic. As Menezes (2019) claims, the importance of technology for L2 teaching and learning is undeniable.

Florianópolis and Vitória, August 20th, 2021

References

• Finardi, K. R., & Porcino, M. C. (2014). Tecnologia e Metodologia no Ensino de Inglês: Impactos da Globalização e da Internacionalização. Ilha do Desterro, n. 66, pp. 239-282. https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/2175-8026.2014n66p239/27364
  » https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/2175-8026.2014n66p239/27364
• Mayer, R. E. (2005). The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
• Menezes, V. (2019). Tecnologias digitais no ensino de línguas: passado, presente e futuro. Revista da ABRALIN, v. 18, n. 1. DOI 10.25189/rabralin.v18i1.1323.
  » https://doi.org/10.25189/rabralin.v18i1.1323
• Pires, D. R.; Tumolo, C. H. S. L2 Vocabulary Instruction: an analysis of smartphone applications for English learning. Revista Diacrítica, v. 34, n. 1, p. 225-247, 2020. http://diacritica.ilch.uminho.pt/index.php/dia/article/view/303/139
  » http://diacritica.ilch.uminho.pt/index.php/dia/article/view/303/139
• Tumolo, C. H. S. (2014). Recursos digitais e aprendizagem de inglês como língua estrangeira. Ilha do Desterro, n. 66, pp. 203-238. Retrieved from: https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/2175-8026.2014n66p203
  » https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/2175-8026.2014n66p203

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  05 Jan 2022
• Date of issue
  Sep-Dec 2021