Innovation in Language Learning

With the Covid-19 pandemics, education went online, and teachers faced another even bigger problem: how to motivate and involve students in a multimodal environment. Starting from the idea that interactivity is not defined by the type of the resources the teacher is using, but by way in which the lesson is built, this research provides a solution for the lack of students’ involvement and motivation during online classes. The target group of this project was represented by 64 students aged between 11 and 14, from Olga Gudynn International School in Voluntari, Romania. The students were studying French during an optional course at a beginner level – A1 according to CEFRL. The research was carried out from March 2020 until June 2020. The methodology included observation grids, tests and a self-assessment questionnaire. The lessons I designed and taught were built using either apps – which have a good potential to be interactive, but also static documents, as PDFs for example, which are often considered unsuitable for being used as interactive resources. The results of the research were positive. The observation grids have shown that all the students’ motivation and involvement increased. Moreover, the progress tests revealed that the students’ communication competences had improved. The self-assessment questionnaire the students filled in at the end of the school year highlighted that the interacting with the digital content was the most enjoyable approach to learning French.

Keywords: motivation, interaction, gamification, apps.