HOW BLENDED LEARNING CLOSES THE LANGUAGE GAP BETWEEN NATIVE STUDENTS AND SPANISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Pablo Ortega Gil, Francisco Arcos García
2010
Abstract
Children of immigrant families with little or no knowledge of Spanish are referred to as Spanish language learners (SLL). During their first year in Spain, they spend some hours in pullout groups for learning the language, but many of them do not develop academic Spanish even after four or five years of schooling. As a supplement to those pullout groups and special programs, interactive tasks (integrated in a Learning Management System LMS such as Moodle) can greatly improve the linguistic abilities of SLLs for a number of reasons. First, these tasks often include recordings of academic Spanish. Second, some of these tasks involve working cooperatively with several native speakers. Finally, interactive tasks within an LMS can be done outside the limited framework of school time because they are open and ready to be used 24/365 days a year. The article provides details of an LMS for SLLs being actually used at a secondary school. The school had 15 SLL students enrolled in an experimental project involving the LMS while another group of 15 SLL students went on doing the traditional pullout groups. The results show that those in the first group have learnt faster and deeper than those in the second one.
References
- Arcos, F., Amilburu, A., and Ortega, P. (2007) Un nuevo modelo de instrucción en la enseñanza del idioma a través del aprendizaje mixto (Blended Learning). In Merma Molina, G., et alter (Coords.) Aportaciones curriculares para la interacción en el aprendizaje, Marfil: Alicante.
- Driscoll, M. (2004) Blended Learning: Let's Get Beyond the Hype, IBM Global Services: New York.
- España: Organic Law of Education. (2007). Madrid: Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia.
- Hill, J.D. and Flynn, K.M. (2006) Classroom Instruction That Works With English Language Learners, Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
- Krashen, S. D. and Terrell, T. D. (1983) The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom, Hayward, CA: Alemany Press.
- Koper, R., and Van Es, R. (2004) Modeling units of learning from a pedagogical perspective. In R. McGreal (Ed.) Online education using learning objects, London: Routledge Falmer.
- Merrill, M.D. (1994) Instructional Design Theory, Englewood Cliffs: Educational Technology Publications.
- Nieto, S. (2002) Language, culture, and teaching: Critical perspectives for a new century, Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
- Omaggio, A. (1986) Teaching Language in Context, Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
- Ortega, P., and Arcos, F. (2008) 'How e-homework can solve the homework debate in primary schools', ENMA2008. International Conference on Engineering and Mathematics, pgs 5-10. Bilbao: Kopiak.
- Ortega, P., and Arcos, F. (2009a) 'How can Moodle help Struggling students?78 EDULEARN2009. International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies, pp. 2337-2340.
- Ortega, P., and Arcos, F. (2009b) 'Blended learning: an efficient response to some of the problems raised by youths at risk', INTED2009. International Technology, Education and Development Conference, pp. 637-642.
- Ortega, P., and Arcos, F. (2009c) 'CLIL enhanced through digital storytelling', ENMA2009. International Conference on Engineering and Mathematics, pgs 228-231. Bilbao: Kopiak.
- Ortega, P., and Arcos, F. (2009d) 'Moodle applied within a special needs classroom', IASE 2009, 11th Biennial Conference, pp.204-207.
- Ortega, P., and Arcos, F. (2009e) 'Zeroing in on truancy: the use of blended learning to keep truants in the classroom', IATED 2009, pp. 288-291.
Paper Citation
in Harvard Style
Ortega Gil P. and Arcos García F. (2010). HOW BLENDED LEARNING CLOSES THE LANGUAGE GAP BETWEEN NATIVE STUDENTS AND SPANISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS . In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 2: CSEDU, ISBN 978-989-674-024-5, pages 90-95. DOI: 10.5220/0002777000900095
in Bibtex Style
@conference{csedu10,
author={Pablo Ortega Gil and Francisco Arcos García},
title={HOW BLENDED LEARNING CLOSES THE LANGUAGE GAP BETWEEN NATIVE STUDENTS AND SPANISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 2: CSEDU,},
year={2010},
pages={90-95},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0002777000900095},
isbn={978-989-674-024-5},
}
in EndNote Style
TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 2: CSEDU,
TI - HOW BLENDED LEARNING CLOSES THE LANGUAGE GAP BETWEEN NATIVE STUDENTS AND SPANISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
SN - 978-989-674-024-5
AU - Ortega Gil P.
AU - Arcos García F.
PY - 2010
SP - 90
EP - 95
DO - 10.5220/0002777000900095