#DT1314 : WEEK 3

Week three focused on forums and comments on reflective notes on five articles provided. Through online tutorials once a week, we could discuss, question, and share ideas on the articles provided with the instructor and colleagues on the articles.

 

The first article reviewed came from a chapter in Robert J Blake’s ‘Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Language Learning’. The author provides a general outlook of SLA theories by focusing mainly on those involved with the concept of input (Blake 12). Successful teaching of SLA should get determined by SLA theories and emphasis should get placed on an interaction approach.

The article by Lain Mitchell ‘the potential of the internet as a language-learning tool’ provides literature on how the internet becomes used as a tool that provides new and innovative ways that promote teaching and learning of foreign languages (Mitchell 12). Texts and sound files that become available on the internet can get used by students to improve their language competency and also become acquainted with their target foreign country.

 

In his article ‘technologies in use for second language learning’, Mike Levy provides a description of the technologies that get used for second language learning with consideration of the major skills and language areas; vocabulary, grammar, writing, reading, pronunciation, culture, speaking, and listening (Levy 7). The author provides relevant examples of the technologies that get used for each of the skills and language areas.

 

Mark Warschauer’s ‘interaction, negotiation, and computer-mediated learning’ discusses three different theoretical perspectives on the importance and nature of negotiation and interaction in language learning; socio-cultural perspective, output perspective, and input perspective (Warschauer 5). The article forwards the significance of these perspectives towards computer mediated learning.

 

In her article ‘technology and second language acquisition’, Carol A Chapelle provides the three areas that information and communication technology intersect with SLA. Tasks that get developed through technology provide opportunities for studying SLA (Chapelle 15). Technology can also get used to gather data on learners’ performance. The article calls for further research on the education of SLA through computer assisted language learning.

 

All the five articles reviewed provide details on the influence of technology on second language acquisition. They all provide the potential benefits of using technology to learn and how SLA interacts with technology.