Online resources to learn a foreign language
In order to catch the attention of students and help them to develop their language learning skills, some studies showed how technology and online resources improved the motivation they have to acquire a foreign language. Participants of that study worked on E-meetings where they learn different topics and they give feedback or comments about them. By the way, more than language learning, students showed improvement on their language usage. This way of learning help teachers to identify students problems and use new strategies to help them.
Another study shows how writing skills are developed in familiar contexts, giving students the chance to use technological devices in order to write. Half of a class was asked to use a technological resource to write and at the end, they were happy with the result because is easier to write about interesting topics related to their real life. In my opinion, giving students the opportunity to express their feelings and knowledge about topics they enjoy, would improve their writing skills more than asking them to talk about academic stuff.
One of the most famous technological resources to improve writing skills in students is a blogger. A study showed that half of a class presented a better improvement in writing skills using blogger than the other half which just received classes in classrooms and complete assignments in the paper. I think that when students write in public social media they are more careful than writing on paper because in paper only teachers are going to correct them but in social media, a lot of people would access to their ideas.
Resources:
Yang, Y. F. (2011). Engaging students in an online situated language learning environment. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 24(2), 181-198.
Hwang, W. Y., Chen, H. S., Shadiev, R., Huang, R. Y. M., & Chen, C. Y. (2014). Improving English as a foreign language writing in elementary schools using mobile devices in familiar situational contexts. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 27(5), 359-378.
Arslan, R. Ş., & Şahin-Kızıl, A. (2010). How can the use of blog software facilitate the writing process of English language learners?. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 23(3), 183-197.
