Fostering Oral Skills Through the Use of Participatory Web 2.0 Technologies in the Project-based EFL Classroom

Activity: Talk or presentationGuest lecturesResearch

Torben Schmidt - Speaker

'Broadcast Yourself' – Fostering oral skills through the use of participatory Web 2.0 technologies in the project-based EFL Classroom (Research and Practice) Participatory Web 2.0 applications such as weblogs, social networks, video portals and podcasts are rapidly achieving mainstream adoption in our media culture. These technologies offer foreign language learners novel possibilities for language acquisition, not only in terms of passive reception but also – and more crucially – for their productive engagement with a foreign language. Using Web 2.0 technologies, the language learner is the author and producer of his or her own foreign language content, and is provided with the much larger public stage of the Internet for the presentation of his or her unique personality, cultural identity, ideas and perspectives. Following a discussion of the impulses, possibilities and changes that result in classroom settings with the use of Web 2.0 applications, both in terms of project-based teaching and the presentation of learning contents, this presentation aims to show how participatory Web 2.0 applications can be integrated in project-based, process-oriented foreign language lessons with a focus on the production of oral performances.
11.01.2011