Innovation in Language Learning

Since its first appearance in pedagogy, Web-Enhanced Language Learning (WELL) has turned educators’ eyes to a novel approach in education. Though, many believed that integration of web into learning environments would go no farther than one way teacher-learner interaction, the development of web 2.0 has added to the sociality of the web even more than ever before. Moreover, according to the socio-constructivist approach, this sociality can encourage student-generated content and this, in turn, can lead to more autonomy on the part of the learner. Extensive research has been carried out to show the effectiveness of web 2.0, specially social networks, in promoting language learning and learner autonomy when the web is used in a traditional classroom setting. However, researchers have not treated the effectiveness of integrating social networks into the context of web-based Learning Management System (LMS) in much detail. This study investigates the impact that learning with Diigo®, a social bookmarking website, can have on learners’ autonomy and use of reading strategies when embedded in Schoology® - the LMS selected for this study. It is proposed that while the LMS provides L2 learners with a less controlled learning environment, social bookmarking helps them to move from being consumers of online materials to being creators of them. The participants of this study consist of 40 advanced EFL adult learners divided into two control and experimental groups. The learners in both groups receive instruction on different reading strategies and practice using them by bookmarking several articles on a given topic in Diigo over a 13-session treatment period. They use its toolbar to highlight, capture pictures, or tag different parts of the web content. Every week, each group prepares presentations based on their overall understanding of the content of the bookmarked links while focusing on a specific reading strategy. The control group  submit their assignments to the instructor, present their work to the class and receive feedback in a conventional  way. However, the experimental group uses the LMS as a platform to share the bookmarked links, upload their presentations on the assignment page and receive teacher and peer feedback in the discussion room of the LMS. At the end of the treatment, the students in both groups will be compared in terms of their use of reading strategies, reading ability, and perception of learner autonomy. The required statistical analyses will be performed following the completion of the process of data collection, and the results will be known in due course.