Afterword

Without doubt, the digital technology allows SLA learners the best learning environment and at the same time thrusts its teachers the most challenging task in the history. The rich L2 language environment offers learners “the third space” in which real communication is possible to occur. Tools like YouTube and Podcast make task/problem-based output of L2 more attractive to learners. But to digital immigrant teachers like me, especially those who regard themselves as the “master of knowledge”, teaching digital natives is a job to invite embarrassment and nervousness. As a digital immigrant, I have fear to touch the digital technology. And what’s worse, I escaped to face the problem.

Through this course, I saw how far I fell behind this society and realized how important it is for a ESL teacher to face the reality and catch up with the step.

Staggering to finish to tasks for the class, I myself began to build up my own digital literacies, from knowing and using the tools, to making some trail digital works, from guessing the owner/writer of the website to figuring out the reliability, from download the software to handing on them. I was pushed to be involved in the huge tornado.

This course pushed me to see a big picture of digital reading and writing, or digital literacies in both theoretical and practical sense. I appreciate the instructor’s guidance and the design of the tasks. The reading materials for this course lead me to see skeleton of the big whole. Whenever I lost myself in the ocean of technology and information, the reading materials and the instructors comments allowed me to see something solid and all of a sudden, figuring out my position (by the way, I am a holistic learner).

Further from here, I probed for a new direction in my research, which I never dared to give a single glimpse. Out of my own experiences, I realized the significance of the design of the task in the pedagogy of L2 teaching. This is going to be the focus of my later research.

Also there are some questions remained that will engage more of my effort. I still have difficulty in seeing the overlapping relationship among L1 digital literacies, L2 digital literacy and L2 digital literacies.

The effects of guided careful online planning

Ahmadian, M. J. (2012). The effects of guided careful online planning on complexity, accuracy and fluency in intermediate EFL learners’ oral production: The case of English articles. Language Teaching Research, 16

(1) 129–149. doi: 10.1177/1362168811425433

This is a big article to read. From the theoretical frame to the methodology, from the research design to the data analysis, this article is a serious report of a carefully designed experiment which proved that the variable of guided careful online planning had had positive effects upon the accurate production of English articles as well as the global complexity of language in learners’ speech.

Thought what this article reported is the positive function of the guided careful online planning, I saw the significance, from the oral side, of the process of the output procedure of the second language acquisition.

But to be honest, the guidance here introduced is not very special, as I expected.

What’s more, this article did a thorough and thoughtful literature review.

Just-in-Time Edcucation and Second Language

Ragoonaden, K. (2011, June), Bonjour/Hello: Just-in-Time Education and Second Language. 6th International Conference on e-Learning ICEL-2011, Canada.

This article is presented in the 6^th International Conference on e-Learning ICEL-2011 held in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.

By introducing the problems met in the practice of the French Immersion pedagogy, the Just-in-Time Education theory, interactive multimedia environment and participatory cultures theory, this article proposes that an increased exposure to French language can occur through electronic networking and interactive media by exposing second language students to authentic contexts and more importantly to authentic communications with Francophones on a wide array of subjects.

This article reinforces the significance of multimedia environment and the output of the target language, to the second language acquisition. What sounds impossible right now in my teaching context is the authentic communications with the native speakers, which finishes the second language learning half way.

Language distance learning

Durán-Cerda, D. (2010). Language distance learning for the digital generation, Hispania, 93(1).  

The author sees language distance learning as the trend of future education.

I got many interesting suggestions for the distance learning course design and some recommended practices.

Experiences from Korea

Meurant, R. C. (2010, April). How Computer-Based Internet-Hosted Learning Management Systems such as Moodle Can Help Develop L2 Digital Literacy, International Journal of Multimedia and Ubiquitous Engineering 5(2).

 

The author reported the employment of Computer-based Internet-hosted Learning Management Systems (LMS), for example Moodle applied in the research here. By setting the LMS to force English to be used exclusively throughout a course website, the author found that students developed the ability to use English to navigate the internet, access and contribute to online resources, and engage in computer-mediated communication. Students’ significant improvement made in L2 Digital Literacy was observed.   

 

This article draws back my confusion again with the L1 digital literacies, L2 digital literacy, and L2 digital literacies.

What do “L2 digital literacies” include? What is the deficit between a person’s L1 digital litercies and his L2 digital literacies if he is absolutely L1 literate? Is it a second language only?

What is the difference between L2 digital literacy and L2 digital literacies?

Does anyone have any explanation? Thanks.