ICT Resources and Learning Strategies for Speaking Skill Improvement: Activities and Results of a Workshop at University Level

Villa María-Córdoba

Jornada; V Jornadas Nacionales de ElT. Innovations and Challenges in the 21st Century; 2019

Instituto Académico Pedagógico de Ciencias Humanas. UNVM

Extensive oral language for both social and academic purposes must be incorporated into successful literacy development. Speaking is a crucial part of FL teaching and learning at university level. Despite its importance, it is liable to be undervalued by teachers who continue to design activities which tend to be lecture style with a few questions and answers between teachers and students. To introduce communicative speaking activities with as many as 50 learners on average in one classroom requires not only teaching language learning strategies (LLS) but also introducing efficient information and communication technologies (ICT). Consequently, higher education language students are required not only to develop fluency but also to acquire some degree of autonomy. Ideally, they should express themselves using relevant vocabulary, easily comprehensible to each other, and of an acceptable level of language mastery. The integration of ICT in the educational environment has become increasingly important, since they can offer teachers and learners a variety and authentic resources of the target language. Technological resources can bridge the target language culture with the teaching and learning process. This presentation describes a workshop on speaking strategies, which is part of a larger project carried out by the Chair of English Language I whose general objective was to develop learning strategies in an English as a Foreign Language course at university and to introduce the use of some educational technologies that can help raise students´ awareness of the need to take responsibility for their own learning and develop autonomy. Here, we will report some preliminary results and describe the activities used to encourage students? participation and students´ perceptions of their usefulness.