the application of web technologies for enhancing learners’ cognitive and communication skills in...

13
The Application of Web Technologies for Enhancing Learners’ Cognitive and Communication Skills in Teaching Foreign Languages Ani Hakobyan Yerevan State Linguistic University after V. Brusov The principal goal of modern foreign language (MFL) education policy in particularly developing countries of the world, like the Republic of Armenia, is the improvement of foreign language teaching quality for promoting cross-cultural dialogues. The rapid expansion of revolutionary web technologies over the past decade necessitates seriously considering the main objectives of language education and reshaping language-teaching programs. Advanced web-based approaches should be widely adopted by schools and higher education institutions as a medium of foreign language instruction. In the context of teaching foreign languages for specific purposes, they can also be integrated into content-based syllabi at higher education institutions. In response to the developing digital technologies applied in the learning environment, there is an urgent need to reconsider what other skills are taught to learners (i.e. schoolchildren and students), besides the linguistic competence in foreign languages. In order to access digital information, analyze and conduct a research on a topic, and participate in the global learning community, foreign language learners should not only be functionally, academically and critically literate, but also be technologically proficient. As Shetzer and Warschauer /2000/ maintain, electronic literacy is the ability to apply electronic tools for communication, construction, research and autonomous learning. Moreover, it is the ability to interact with new digital text formats (e.g. hypertext and interactive multiple media), new reader-related issues (e.g. new purposes or motivations for reading a text) and updatable online activities (e.g. publishing blogs, participating in online group projects and forums, etc.) /Coiro 2003/ When developing electronic literacy among learners, it is very important to consider some of the main features of digital texts, which are as follows: they have no space restrictions, the information in the digital texts can be updated, removed, added and/or rearranged, hyperlinks provide numerous reading paths, creating ever-evolving reading content, the interactive nature of digital texts helps engage both the writer and reader in generating content. Readers’ role involves not only reading, but also replying, posting comments and links, and participating in forums. Thus, for being able to cope with the previously mentioned features of digital texts, it is crucial to develop new thought processes and digital literacy skills, such as 1

Upload: annie-hakobyan

Post on 17-Jul-2016

2 views

Category:

Documents


1 download

DESCRIPTION

How web 2.0 tools can be used in the teaching process

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: The Application of Web Technologies for Enhancing Learners’ Cognitive and Communication Skills in Teaching Foreign Languages

The Application of Web Technologies for Enhancing Learners’ Cognitive and

Communication Skills in Teaching Foreign LanguagesAni Hakobyan

Yerevan State Linguistic University after V. Brusov

The principal goal of modern foreign language (MFL) education policy in particularly developing countries of the world, like the Republic of Armenia, is the improvement of foreign language teaching quality for promoting cross-cultural dialogues. The rapid expansion of revolutionary web technologies over the past decade necessitates seriously considering the main objectives of language education and reshaping language-teaching programs. Advanced web-based approaches should be widely adopted by schools and higher education institutions as a medium of foreign language instruction. In the context of teaching foreign languages for specific purposes, they can also be integrated into content-based syllabi at higher education institutions. In response to the developing digital technologies applied in the learning environment, there is an urgent need to reconsider what other skills are taught to learners (i.e. schoolchildren and students), besides the linguistic competence in foreign languages. In order to access digital information, analyze and conduct a research on a topic, and participate in the global learning community, foreign language learners should not only be functionally, academically and critically literate, but also be technologically proficient. As Shetzer and Warschauer /2000/ maintain, electronic literacy is the ability to apply electronic tools for communication, construction, research and autonomous learning. Moreover, it is the ability to interact with new digital text formats (e.g. hypertext and interactive multiple media), new reader-related issues (e.g. new purposes or motivations for reading a text) and updatable online activities (e.g. publishing blogs, participating in online group projects and forums, etc.) /Coiro 2003/ When developing electronic literacy among learners, it is very important to consider some of the main features of digital texts, which are as follows: they have no space restrictions, the information in the digital texts can be updated, removed, added and/or rearranged, hyperlinks provide numerous reading paths, creating ever-evolving reading content, the interactive nature of digital texts helps engage both the writer and reader in generating content.

Readers’ role involves not only reading, but also replying, posting comments and links, and participating in forums. Thus, for being able to cope with the previously mentioned features of digital texts, it is crucial to develop new thought processes and digital literacy skills, such as the ability to navigate hyperlinks skillfully in order to locate and access the

necessary information, the skill to use new search techniques and work with diverse search engines,

developing strategies for better searching information, the ability to master the language for engaging both in “one-to-one” and “many-to-many”

communications, thus creating space for electronic discussion forums, the ability to take a critical approach to any digital context, judging the credibility of the information, the skill to work with the content received from multiple sources and synthesize pieces of information

for carrying out writing assignments, etc. In the context of enhancing learners’ technological literacy while increasing opportunities for learning the target language, the efficiency of WebQuests and Web 2.0 tools should be explored as a useful platform for communicating within learners’ community, developing their reading and writing skills, and critical thinking. Most Armenian foreign language instructors, both at schools and higher education institutions, may not be familiar with WebQuests, which can be integrated into content-based syllabi; some also show reluctance in acknowledging the importance of Web 2.0 tools, such as blogs, wikis and Facebook, to mention a few, for promoting collaborative learning, learner autonomy and critical reflection. If successfully used in the teaching process, they can help enhance students’ learning potential and cognitive skills, boost motivation and improve language skills particularly in reading and writing.

1

Page 2: The Application of Web Technologies for Enhancing Learners’ Cognitive and Communication Skills in Teaching Foreign Languages

For reinforcing learners’ writing and reading competence particularly in digital environments, Webquest/ Language Quest model can be adopted by language instructors, as the general framework to design language learning tasks. WebQuest model, developed by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University in February, 1995, can promote the development of digital literacy and encourage autonomous language learning. Dodge /1995/ defines a WebQuest as an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from online resources on the internet. Thus, they are online inquiry-based activities in which learners complete a task by interacting with and transforming information coming from online resources; these activities help students interact effectively within their disciplinary community. They offer a plethora of resources on the Internet for carrying out authentic projects and analysis. They encourage students to read topics related to their discipline, developing such academic abilities, as skimming, scanning, note taking, summarizing, paraphrasing and synthesizing; they perform tasks of increasing complexity, create oral or written texts to present the results of their online work, discuss their topics and express their critical attitude. WebQuests have the following format:

1) An introduction that serves as a pre-activity stage and provides some background information for carrying out the assignment,

2) A task, which engages students in responding to a set of questions and tackling real world subject-related problems. Students work collaboratively on diverse websites pre-selected by the teacher, and complete the assignment by working in groups. Each student can also be provided with a specific website, depending on their role in performing the task,

3) The teacher should give students guidelines on how to successfully complete the task: this can be done by working out a learning route and schedule for the students’ work, which will help students plan their activities in time; the students in their turn can give feedback on the group’s activity,

4) Evaluation of students’ work in the form of a rubric, which sets assessment criteria,5) A conclusion of the quest, during which students mention what challenges they faced, what they liked or disliked in the process, what should be improved during the next quest, and so on /http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about_webquests.html/. Though the above-mentioned WebQuest format can serve as a model for teachers, it has evolved since its creation for satisfying learners’ needs and keeping pace with the ever-improving capabilities of the Internet. Nevertheless, the main goal of WebQuests remains unchangeable - to engage students in performing authentic simulation tasks by providing up-to-date information on a topic and by helping them develop critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and synthesizing skills. They aim to foster cooperative learning and promote writing with a purpose for a real-world audience. The principal attributes of WebQuests are as follows:1. Scaffolding, i.e. teacher’s support to students,2. Internet resources that are interactive, media-rich, contemporary, contextualized or of varied

perspectives /March 2003-2004/,3. The web pages used in WebQuests may contain not only texts, but also pictures, sounds and animation,4. Authentic motivating tasks, which correspond to Keller’s ARCS Model of Motivational Design /1983/.

These tasks should attract students’ Attention, be Relevant to their needs and interests, boost their Confidence in achieving success, and give them a sense of Satisfaction in their achievements,

5. Activities should encourage the SQ3R formula: surveying, questioning, reading, recalling, and reviewing /http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_02.htm/ materials under study,

6. Stimulating questions, which are based on and activate students’ prior knowledge, and propel them to engage in further explorations,

7. They enrich students with a better expertise for conducting research,8. They transform information into basic knowledge.

All these key aspects of WebQuests boost students’ motivation and encourage them to learn in diverse Web 2.0 environments, which are beyond merely completing WebQuests. Learners develop capacities to work in a team, interact with each other, create and share content. This learner-centered approach to the teaching content makes them decision-makers who are in charge of their learning process. This corresponds to March’s idealistic, but quite feasible CEQALL model – Choice (learners choose their goals and outcomes), Quality [learning], [positive] Attitude, and Labour of Love /2007: 8/.

2

Page 3: The Application of Web Technologies for Enhancing Learners’ Cognitive and Communication Skills in Teaching Foreign Languages

Having made progress in accomplishing teacher-oriented WebQuests, language-teachers at higher education institutions can also opt for Web Inquiry Projects (WIPs) for upper-intermediate and advanced level students, which promote their autonomy and restrict teacher’s role in setting guidelines and selecting websites for students’ projects. It is the students who determine their own task, define their own procedures and work schedule, and independently find online resources. Teachers act as supporters in the process1. WIPs support a six-stage spiral path of inquiry-oriented activities, which are

1. A hook (these are motivating questions provided to students by the teacher for sparking their interest in the task),

2. Inquiry-based questions (asked by the students),3. Procedures (defined by the students who receive assistance by the teacher),4. Data investigation (by the students),5. Analysis,6. Findings (summing up the results through graphical presentations and

rhetoric) /http://webinquiry.org/stages.htm#three/. Considering the efficiency of WebQuests for language learning, it is also significant to highlight the role of the TalenQuest/Language Quest/LQuest project2, aimed at designing realistic and content-based tasks for language acquisition. The Language Quest project originates from the Dutch TalenQuest Project (“Talen” is Dutch for “languages”). This state-funded project was initiated by the National Bureau for Modern Languages in 2000 and aimed at developing the concept of “TalenQuest” as an innovative approach in language education. The project's main goal was to adapt the WebQuest concept to the specific requirements of second language acquisition (SLA). This project is supported by the European Centre for Modern Languages, an initiative of the Council of Europe to promote Language Education in Europe. The LQuest workshop in 2006 aimed to familiarize the 23 participants from 21 countries with the LQuest concept and the underlying SLA principles, and combine efforts in enhancing the quality of designing effective Language Quests. The endeavors of the project participants resulted in the expansion of the TalenQuest/Language Quest/LQuest network into a professional community of practice /http://www.lquest.net/index.php? - option=com _content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=34 /. Thus, it should be assumed that a TalenQuest is a WebQuest with a focus on foreign language learning /Koenraad 2002/. WebQuests designed for language learning significantly differ from the ones designed for other disciplines. When designing LQuests, teachers should consider students’ linguistic competence to understand resources and to use second language to produce the output. Pérez /2007/ proposes some strategies to overcome these challenges by assigning less proficient students less complicated tasks, giving them more support, providing scaffolding appropriate to the students’ needs (background content, lexical, syntactical and grammatical support), conducting a workshop for improving language skills, etc. WebQuests can also be integrated into the foreign languages for specific purposes curricula. This content-based approach spurs students on to more explorations, as they are usually motivated by different needs and interests, suited to their subject area. Language Quests not only aim at teaching grammatical and vocabulary elements, but also enhancing students’ ability to work with hypertexts, developing linguistic, semiotic, cognitive and intercultural skills for communicating in the new medium. These skills can be developed by considering such aspects as a) helping students correctly work with online resources and 2) providing support/scaffolding which promotes a reflective learning behavior. Monitoring, feedback and assessment are particularly important for improving the quality of designing and accomplishing Language Quests. Learners control their own learning process by means of e-learning diaries and/or blogs. Online forums facilitate feedback delivery among peers and teacher-learners. Online tests make it possible to objectively evaluate the learning outcome. Among Web 2.0 tools that can be applied in the foreign language classroom particularly for developing reading and writing skills, the efficiency of blogs or weblogs should be highlighted. They can be used as an electronic portfolio and can facilitate group interaction. Being easily accessible, they help teachers monitor

1 Examples of Web Inquiry Projects can be found at http://webinquiry.org/examples.htm2 Good samples of TalenQuests can be found at http://webquestmaker.nl/zoeken/talenquest/talenquests_engels and http://www.theconsultants-e.com/resources/webquests/repository.aspx, which can serve as models for designing successful Language Quests in English

3

Page 4: The Application of Web Technologies for Enhancing Learners’ Cognitive and Communication Skills in Teaching Foreign Languages

students’ blogs, track development and assess the learning outcome. Blogs have a simple interface, user-friendly options and are easy to construct. By opening an account on blog sites and completing some steps, everyone can become a blogger3. Besides texts, blogs can contain music and pictures. They are interactive and promote a blogger (blog writer) – reader, reader-reader communication by posting comments. Among its features are free hosting and unlimited space services. Matheson defines a blog as an online journal that can be continuously updated by users in their own words (2004). As Hill metaphorically pinpoints, blogging “is throwing the Internet forward and backward at the same time. Forward into a new era of consumer empowerment, and backward to the grass-roots spirit of the early Web.” /2006: 1/ Writing in blogs stimulates critical thinking. In the context of language teaching and learning, “language learners could use a personal blog linked to a course as an electronic portfolio, showing development over time.” /Godwin-Jones 2003: 13/ Language learning activities carried out by blogs fall into three stages: 1. picking up a topic and setting problems (by a teacher or learners), 2. creating and maintaining a blog and 3. blog discussions by posting comments, editing and/or updating the content. The principal educational advantages of blogs are as follows: Blogs encourage reading, writing and reflective learning. Most teachers complain that learners less

willingly carry out their reading and writing assignments, whereas they may chat within social networking sites and extensively read online texts and post comments, which may not even relate to their courses. The interactive nature of blogs, i.e. the possibility of reading, commenting and engaging in discussion forums in a written form, can provide a stimulus to developing students’ reading, writing and critical thinking skills. Interactive reading and writing creates an open space for exploring, learning, debating, sharing viewpoints and challenging ideas. It helps develop such academic skills, as note taking, paraphrasing, summarizing and synthesizing information, as well as scanning and skimming. Blogs have a diary-like format and user-friendly options, and they can be accessed anytime and anywhere. Godwin-Jones (2003) also maintains that through blogging, people are able to document their reflections about things relevant to their daily life experiences, sharing their emotions and feelings with their friends, families and/or group members. Thus, blogs can be excellent language tools for promoting reading, writing, creative thinking, exchanging information and broadening knowledge relevant to learners’ needs and interests. As Ford observes, blogging requires higher-order thinking skills such as the ability to evaluate and synthesize /2007: 9/.

Blogs are useful for building community and accomplishing group projects. Language teachers can ask students to collaborate with each other and create blogs on certain topics (e.g. tourism, environment, politics, language, etc.), which will be shared by those who have a mutual interest in a specific topic. This helps students unite and collaboratively set common objectives, blog formats and features. This activity creates a strong sense of community and enhances students’ teamwork capacities. Thus, blogging creates an enjoyable learning environment for collaboration and creative activity.

Teachers and learners can provide hyperlinks to other online resources within their blogs. This enhances students’ learning motivation, facilitates finding information and helps new readers follow the previous course of the discussion. Teachers can add hyperlinks in their blogs, which relate to other learning resources and online testing sites. They may provide links to sites with useful audio and video materials.

Blogs create a learner-centered environment. They provide scaffolding, student-centered learning, the incorporation of multiple perspectives and learning communities. Learners choose their topics according to their interests and subject area, and they pool efforts in producing a written material, which is open to everyone. Teachers can have access to students’ works, monitor the blogging process and provide feedback on students’ progress or failures. Blogs, whether created individually or by a team of students, facilitate both peer and teacher assessment. They can be used as virtual language classrooms. They are ideal as discussion forums for sharing viewpoints and expressing ideas in a target language. Blogs are particularly useful for less proficient students who need more time to pick up the necessary words for expressing an idea and think over sentence structures. They become stressed during face to face communication, whereas blogs provide them with a non-stressful learning environment. However, it should be observed that while using blogs in the classroom, language teachers are expected to carry out multiple functions besides pedagogical activities, which can be quite challenging. First of all, not all students are technologically proficient, and they may anticipate technical problems when publishing, editing

3 Though there are loads of blog websites that can be searched for online by search engines, www.blogger.com and www.wordpress.com are among the conventional and popular ones. Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, Twitter and other popular social networking sites also integrate blogging tools and encourage self-expression by writing notes and posting comments

4

Page 5: The Application of Web Technologies for Enhancing Learners’ Cognitive and Communication Skills in Teaching Foreign Languages

and maintaining blogs. Language teachers are expected to continually provide a technical support and guidance to students, which may be quite time-consuming, assume an advisory role, manage the whole process, check the updated content posted by the students lest they are related not to their topic, read the feedback provided by them on their blogging experience, reply to students’ e-mail requests and send them reminders related to their activities. Nevertheless, in case of mutual cooperation and support, this innovative language e-tool can be successfully introduced in the foreign language classroom with positive outcomes. After accomplishing each project, language teachers are expected to consider all the factors, which positively or negatively impacted the activity, reflect on the process and alter, refine or upgrade their teaching methodologies for better tackling problems emerging during each assignment. Thus, blogosphere can potentially be applied as a collaborative and supplementary communication tool in the e-learning environment. Wiki is another Web 2.0 tool that can be applied for developing learners’ writing skills in foreign languages and for showcasing students’ works to the wider community outside the classroom. Ward Cunningham4 invented the “wiki” concept in 1995. The term “wiki-wiki” means “quickly” in Hawaiian. Cunningham used the term "wiki" after riding on the "Wiki Wiki Shuttle" buses that run between Honolulu Airport terminals /http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki/. One of the most popular wikis is Wikipedia – an updateable online encyclopedia. A wiki enables to write documents collaboratively, using a web browser. It is an easy-to use and easy-to-maintain database for creating, editing, updating, restoring and searching through information. It promotes interaction and collaboration between net users who may simultaneously be both readers and editors. However, some of its drawbacks are the ease to modify content, which is not reviewed or censored before being posted online. This easy-to-share feature can facilitate abuse of the system. However, private wiki servers require user authentication to edit pages, and sometimes even to read them /http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki/. In foreign language teaching and learning environments, wikis can allow learners to edit the web-based content and share information. If blogging helps students develop subjectivity and explore their own ideas, emotions and attitudes in a writing space, wikis promote consensus between students and encourage them to share a community attitude. Blogs take the form of online diaries, whereas wikis are online databases for sharing information through reading and writing. Wikis allow many authors to participate when creating the site, and this feature makes them convenient tools for group projects and collaborative assignments. For educational purposes, it is advisable to run internally hosted wiki software on a school or university Internet server. This facilitates monitoring students’ online collaboration. Free wiki software can be downloaded and installed on an Internet server of a school or university. Some of the popular networking services, like the Twitter, a microblogging site, Facebook and MySpace are favorites of the youth, who apply them mainly for socializing and entertainment. This is due to the fact that little attempt has so far been made to integrate such cutting-edge web tools in the foreign language teaching and learning environment for encouraging students to participate in forums and exchange written materials on a wide range of topics. Individuals create profiles for themselves, through which they share information, photos and videos, and provide links to other sites. In foreign language teaching and learning environments, such social networking tools can be utilized for sharing educational materials and creating individual profiles, which can be accessed by a limited number of students, or forming students’ groups for accomplishing collaborative projects. Other social networking tools that can be integrated in the foreign language teaching environment are Ning (http://www.ning.com/), LearnCentral (http://www.learncentral.org/), and TeachStreet (http://www.teachstreet.com/)5, to name but a few, which incorporate blogs, e-portfolios, chats, discussion forums, webinars (web seminars), teaching resources, instant feedback and content sharing features /http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking_service/. Such user-friendly sites foster a sense of community among students, as well as teachers, and help forge strong relationships between students and teachers. Social networking sites become a sort of virtual classroom with endless learning possibilities. For ensuring Internet safety and gaining good results, access to such sites should be restricted by teachers and students. Schools and universities can create virtual learning environments (VLEs) on their Internet servers by running software and using web tools that are designed for educational purposes and are password-protected.

4 Howard G. "Ward" Cunningham (born May 26, 1949) is an American computer programmer who developed the first wiki5 It should be observed that there are some distinctions between the above-mentioned networking tools, e.g. Ning is a tool for creating social websites, whereas LearnCentral is a virtual meeting room through which community-generated resources are shared, and educational events and webinars are held; TeachStreet is an online community for teachers and learners

5

Page 6: The Application of Web Technologies for Enhancing Learners’ Cognitive and Communication Skills in Teaching Foreign Languages

Microsoft Corporation also offers innovative solutions in the learning environment. Its projects (Partners in Learning, Innovative schools, Innovative teachers and Innovative students) /http://www.itn.am/default.aspx/ promote the application of ground-breaking web technologies in education institutions, enhancing teaching quality and teachers’ and students’ technological literacy not only by developing programs, but also by offering alternative teaching resources, methodological guidance and downloadable tutorials. Its Microsoft Live@Edu is a multi-featured tool, which has been introduced at some Armenian schools and is paving its way to higher education institutions. It helps create a flexible, rich and supportive environment at education institutions, facilitating online collaboration and document sharing. Teachers and students open an account at Live@Edu if their institution is enrolled with it by providing domain to set up an administrator account. It offers communication service (emailing, calendaring and instant messaging via Outlook Live), collaboration (forming groups, accessing, storing and sharing information via SkyDrive, facilitating communication between students, faculty members and departments, and fostering alumni cooperation with the university) and productivity (blogging, editing and sharing online documents) services /http://www.microsoft.com/liveatedu/new-student-email.aspx?locale=en-US&country=US/. Another free web tool that is ideal for sharing ideas and collaborative brainstorming both by teachers and learners is Wallwisher (http://www.wallwisher.com/). This virtual notice-board is created by “building a wall” and posting ideas, images, videos and useful links to other websites that promote communication and debating. Podcasting is also a useful tool for developing students’ listening skills. A podcast is an audio or video file that is stored on the Internet, and can be downloaded to a computer and/or mobile listening devices (such as an MP3 player, PDA or smartphone) (http://www.theconsultants-e.com/training/courses/podcasting.aspx). Teachers can download free web-based podcasting software and create their own podcasting projects. A web tool that can be used for improving schoolchildren’s and basic level students’ speaking and listening skills via self- and peer assessment, is Audacity – a free audio software (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) for recording and editing MP3 files. Vokis (http://www.voki.com/) also promote speaking in a target language by recording; they are especially useful for elementary classrooms. Voxopop (http://www.voxopop.com) is another Web 2.0 tool that is great for developing speaking skills by providing a feature for recording speech. Teachers can also give online dictations via this tool. It develops both productive and receptive skills, i.e. it provides communicative speaking and listening practice and helps teachers track improvement of students’ pronunciation. Another tool that trains students’ listening and writing skills by offering dictation exercises is Listen and Write web tool (http://www.listen-and-write.com). Listening skills can be developed by the ESL Video tool (http://www.eslvideo.com/index.php). Teachers can create interactive multiple-choice web quizzes based on videos, add the transcripts of videos and insert notes. They can provide a link to the videos and quizzes right in their blogs. Primary schoolchildren can also be motivated by a collaborative storytelling tool – Storybird (http://storybird.com/). Its easy-to-use features stimulate schoolchildren to create and share their own illustrated storybooks online. Xtranormal is a movie-making tool that is ideal for schoolchildren and basic level students. Pupils practice their writing skills by creating animated characters that read back their texts to them with good pronunciation in a motivating movie clip (http://www.xtranormal.com/movie-maker/). This tool is great for developing both writing and listening skills, as well as pronunciation. A useful web-based tool that can assist students in completing writing assignments and essays is Eyeplorer (http://eyeplorer.com/). This application facilitates finding information about related concepts by typing a keyword. The links of the articles are also provided, which helps to cite sources in the written work. Technological innovations shape the world anew and advance the development of humankind. We live in a Cybergenre Age where the booming growth of web technologies necessitates keeping abreast of the latest technological breakthroughs that can be successfully applied in all spheres of life, including the foreign language teaching classroom. There are innumerable web tools the benefits of which should never be underestimated by some skeptical teachers who may think digitalized education undermines their role. On the contrary, teachers are not only active participants in the process of familiarizing students with the endless possibilities of web technologies, but also web content creators and mediators between learners and the web. Their role is unique in that they are the ones who explore the best and the most useful that can be fit in with their pedagogical practice for enhancing language learning quality. Online communication does not replace face-to-face communication or any useful classroom activity, but it enhances teaching quality and provides innovative approaches to organizing foreign language teaching. It promotes socialization, creates a strong sense of community, fosters collaboration and develops teamwork capacities among students. Web is a virtual reality, and instead of fighting their existence – web is an

6

Page 7: The Application of Web Technologies for Enhancing Learners’ Cognitive and Communication Skills in Teaching Foreign Languages

indissoluble part of our lives and it governs our lives – and blaming students for abusing them, we should try to think up better ways for fitting the traditional classroom to the virtual one, so that the web may contribute to education and serve its main goals. Web solutions are a tangible reality in the Republic of Armenia where many schools and universities have switched over to the application of groundbreaking technologies. However, there should be more training courses, exchange of experience and workshops that will not only engage junior web-savvy teachers, but also senior educators who may invest their experience and invaluable practice in shaping innovative ideas. Web technologies are multi-purpose instruments: on the one hand, they bridge language teachers worldwide via webinars and video conferences for sharing ideas and pooling efforts to tackle pedagogical issues. On the other hand, they alter students’ role who become decision-makers and autonomous learners: teaching process becomes learner-centered and learner-controlled. It is democratized, which means that peer assessment is encouraged and teacher-learner contact is extended beyond the classroom. Digital classroom is ubiquitous: it is available 24/7 for sharing content, updating information, cooperating, accomplishing group projects, contacting a teacher and engaging in a whole range of exciting activities. E-learning platform impacts not only on students’ minds, but also their lives. However, cyberspace should never become an obsession that will turn learners into isolated geeks, but should serve as a constructive language learning platform that empowers students to become more autonomous, motivated, critical and creative. References

1. Coiro, J. Reading Comprehension on the Internet: Expanding our Understanding of Reading Comprehension to Encompass New Literacies. [Article reprinted from The Reading Teacher 56 (6) (2003). 458-464].

<http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/elec_index.asp?HREF=/electronic/rt/2-3_Column/index.html>.

2. Dodge, B. WebQuests: A Technique for Internet-Based Learning. Distance Educator 1 (2) (1995). 10-13.

3. Ford, P. Reflections on the Effective Use of Blogs in the Classroom. In M. Camilleri, P. Ford, H. Leja & V. Sollars (Eds.), Blogs: Web Journal in Language Education. Council of Europe, ECML, Strasbourg, 2007. 7-12.

<http://archive.ecml.at/mtp2/publications/D1_Blogs_E_internet.pdf>. 4. Godwin-Jones, B. Blogs and Wikis: Environments for Online Collaboration. Language Learning &

Technology 7 (2), May 2003. 12-16. 5. Hill, B. Blogging for Dummies. New Jersey: Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2006. 6. Keller, J. M. Motivational Design of Instruction. In C. M. Reigeluth (Ed.).

Instructional-Design Theories and Models: An Overview of Their Current Status. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1983. 383-433.

7. Koenraad, A. L.M. TalenQuest: WebQuests for Modern Languages. In J. Colpaert, W. Decoo, M. Simons, and S. Bueren (Eds.), CALL Professionals and the Future of CALL Research, Proceedings CALL 2002. Antwerp: University of Antwerp, 2002. 159-168.

8. March, T. The Learning Power of WebQuests. Educational Leadership 61 (4), December 2003- January 2004. 42-47.

<www.ldcsb.on.ca/schools/cfe/WebQuests/Ed'l%20Leadership%20Webquests.pdf>. 9. March, T. Revisiting WebQuests in a Web 2 World. How Developments in

Technology and Pedagogy Combine to Scaffold Personal Learning. Interactive Educational Multimedia, N15, October 2007. 1-17 < http://greav.ub.edu/der/index.php/der/article/viewFile/142/255>.

10. Matheson, D. Weblogs and the Epistemology of the News: Some Trends in Online Journalism. New Media & Society 6 (4) (2004). 443–468.

<http://canterbury- nz.academia.edu/DonaldMatheson/Papers/291368/Weblogs_and_the_Epistemology_of_the_News_Some_Trends_In_Online_Journalism>.

7

Page 8: The Application of Web Technologies for Enhancing Learners’ Cognitive and Communication Skills in Teaching Foreign Languages

11. Pérez, I. WebQuest: A Collaborative Strategy to Teach Content and Language on the Web. [Paper presented at the in EUROCALL Conference, University of Ulster - Coleraine, September 2007].

<http://vsportal2007.googlepages.com/Perez_Torres_EuroCALL07.pdf>. 12. Shetzer, H. and Warschauer, M. An Electronic Literacy Approach to Network-Based

Language Teaching. In M. Warschauer and R. Kern (Eds.), Network-based Language Teaching: Concepts and Practice. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. 171-185.

(<http://www.gse.uci.edu/person/warschauer_m/docs/nblt.pdf>. 13. http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about_webquests.html 14. http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_02.htm 15. http://webinquiry.org/stages.htm#three 16. http://www.lquest.net/index.php? option=com _content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=34 17. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki 18. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking_service 19. http://www.itn.am/default.aspx 20. http://www.microsoft.com/liveatedu/new-student-email.aspx?locale=en-US&country=US 21. http://www.theconsultants-e.com/training/courses/podcasting.aspx

úî²ð Ⱥ¼àôܺðÆ ¸²ê²ì²Ü¸Ø²Ü ¶àðÌÀܲòàôØ ìº´ îºÊÜàÈà¶Æ²ÜºðÆ ÎÆð²èàôØÀª àðäºê êàìàðàÔܺðÆ Æزò²Î²Ü ºì вÔàð¸²Îò²ÚÆÜ Î²ðàÔàôÂÚàôÜܺðÆ

¼²ð¶²òØ²Ü ØÆæàò

Ðá¹í³ÍáõÙ ¹Çï³ñÏí³Í »Ý ³ñ¹Ç í»µ ï»ËÝáÉá·Ç³Ý»ñÇ ¹»ñÁ ¨ ³ñ¹Ûáõݳí»ïáõÃÛáõÝÁ ûï³ñ É»½áõÝ»ñÇ áõëáõóÙ³Ý ·áñÍÁÝóóáõÙ, ÇÝãå»ë ݳ¨ ëáíáñáÕÝ»ñÇ ×³Ý³ãáÕ³Ï³Ý ¨ ѳÕáñ¹³Ïó³ÛÇÝ Ï³ñáÕáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ, ¿É»ÏïñáݳÛÇÝ ·ñ³·ÇïáõÃÛ³Ý ¨ ùÝݳ¹³ï³Ï³Ý Ùï³ÍáÕáõÃÛ³Ý Ó¨³íáñÙ³Ý Ñ³Ù³ñ: øÝݳñÏí»É »Ý WebQuest-ի, TalenQuest/LQuest/Language Quest-Ç, µÉá·Ý»ñÇ, íÇùÇÝ»ñÇ ¨ µ³½Ù³ÃÇí ³ÛÉ Web 2.0 ·áñÍÇùÝ»ñÇ ï»ËÝáÉá·Ç³Ï³Ý Ñݳñ³íáñáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÁ É»½áõÝ»ñÇ ³ñ¹Ûáõݳí»ï áõëáõóÙ³Ý Ñ³Ù³ï»ùëïáõÙ: سïݳÝßí»É »Ý ÙÇ ß³ñù í»µ ϳÛù»ñ, áñáÝù ϳñáÕ »Ý ¹³ë³í³Ý¹áÕÝ»ñÇ ÏáÕÙÇó ³ñ¹Ûáõݳí»ïáñ»Ý ÏÇñ³éí»É ¹åñáóÝ»ñáõÙ ¨ µ³ñÓñ³·áõÛÝ áõëáõÙÝ³Ï³Ý Ñ³ëï³ïáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñáõÙ ëáíáñáÕÝ»ñÇ É»½í³Ï³Ý ï³ñµ»ñ ÑÙïáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ ½³ñ·³óÙ³Ý Ñ³Ù³ñ:

8

Page 9: The Application of Web Technologies for Enhancing Learners’ Cognitive and Communication Skills in Teaching Foreign Languages

9