The Future of Education

Within the sociocultural theoretical framework often associated with the application of e-learning 2.0 in language instruction, second language acquisition is seen as arising from the interaction of an individual with his/her social and cultural context, with the notion of learning as an individual and social process in which meaning arises from and is mediated by language, physical artefacts and technological tools. These theoretical concepts can also provide a backdrop to instructional approaches to EFL (English as a Foreign Language) grammar [1]. In this paper we investigate students’ perception of online activities (e-tivities) supported by Web 2.0 tools in a tertiary EFL course. As has been suggested in the literature, the effectiveness of acquisition of foreign language structures can be accounted for by various factors including learner individual differences and type of instruction [2]. Similarly, some of the research foci related to learners’ evaluation of digital collaborative writing tools are their perception of collaborative written activities and their attitudes toward grammar [3]. The empirical study in this paper aims to establish the role of students’ individual preferences for two types of grammar instruction – conceptualized in [4] as the isolated and integrated form-focused instruction – on their perception of online activities in the EFL course. The criterion variables in the study are: student evaluation of: (a) 3 aspects of the constructivist e-tivities; (b) the online tool (wiki) and (c) the learning diary as an individual refection activity accompanying the grammar e-tivities. Results of the correlation analysis of data collected via the survey conducted on a sample of 89 respondents reveal that more statistically significant relationships and higher correlation coefficients were obtained between most criterion variables on the one hand and the isolated instructional type on the other when compared to their correlations with integrated instruction. Such results can be explained by the fact that the conducted grammar e-tivities required students to interpret grammatical content in their own articles in a wiki. In other words, students who prefer to engage with grammar rules and structures are also more likely to favourably assess the specific type form-focused e-tivities in this study.

Keywords EFL grammar, form-focused instruction, constructivism, e-tivities, Web 2.0 tools

References

[1] Celce-Murcia, M. (2015). An overview of teaching grammar in ELT. In M. Christison, D. Christian, P. A. Duff and N. Spada (Eds.), Teaching and Learning English Grammar: Research Findings and Future Directions (pages 3-18). Abingdon/New York: Routledge.

[2] Ansarin, A. A., Arasteh Abbas Abad, B., & Banan Khojasteh, M. R. (2015). Isolated and integrated form-focused instruction from learners’ perspective. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 24(2), 299-307.

[3] Storch, N. (2013). Collaborative Writing in L2 Classrooms (Vol. 31). Bristol: Multilingual matters.

[4] Spada, N., Barkaoui, K., Peters, C., So, M., & Valeo, A. (2009). Developing a questionnaire to measure learners’ preferences for isolated and integrated form-focused instruction. System, 37, 70–81.