Innovation in Language Learning

In this paper, we present a significant case study of the ICoNLingua Online Teaching and Learning Model applied to a project named ICoNLingua – CsF Ciência sem Fronteiras (http://csf.italicon.it/) that was carried out in the past three years with over 1.500 Brazilian students.

­­Ciência sem Fronteiras "is a large scale nationwide scholarship program primarily funded by the Brazilian federal government. The program seeks to strengthen and expand the initiatives of science and technology, innovation and competitiveness through international mobility of undergraduate and graduate students and researchers". In this perspective, the language training plays a key role for the success of the students who come to study in Italy; ICoN was in charge of the language training of these students prior to their arrival in Italy: CsF students with an A1 level of Italian, attended ICoNLingua’s online courses in a ten weeks intensive program.

The students were enrolled in virtual classes (15-18 students per class), and each class was managed by a highly qualified teacher specifically trained in the techniques for the teaching of distance learning Italian language courses.

The Teaching and Learning Model applied in this context in made up of three main components:

-       the close-ended activities, i.e. activities supplied with an automatic correction mechanism: these are closed answer activities in which the system provides immediate feedback; the activities can be assigned by the teacher as independent tasks and practice exercises for the students to carry out;

-       the open-ended tasks: in this case the activity involves a written production task proposed by the teacher in the context of the forum. The open-ended tasks aim to give students practice in written production and in carrying out targeted research on subjects and contents relevant to the lessons. By means of these activities, the students are asked to perform real tasks that require authentic use of language, such as written interaction in Italian with other members of the class, or researching some topic on the web. The open-ended tasks are the result of a carefully designed project drawn up by the community of ICoN tutors; the activities are highly standardized because they are selected from among a range of activities extensively reviewed and validated by ICoN. Among the tasks available, the teacher chooses those best suited to the students’ profile and language needs; the teacher may also create new ad hoc open-ended tasks based on the standardized model;

-       ICoNLingua tutor community: tutors engaged in the courses belong to the “ICoNLingua community”, mainly aimed at sharing teaching materials, exchanging views on language teaching issues and implementing a common teaching philosophy.