ERIC Number: EJ995582
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1083-5415
EISSN: N/A
Developing Language in Digital Natives
Badia, Ingrid C.
Learning Languages, v17 n1 p25-28 Fall-Win 2011
The Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools (FLES) program in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) provides an opportunity for all students in an elementary school to learn a world language at an early age with a focus on developing students' communicative competence. Technology plays a major role in helping students develop communicative skills in a foreign language. Students' ability to engage in digital activities that involve computers, videos, video games, electronics and instant communication is becoming a necessity to succeed in today's world. Therefore, the FLES teachers in the program have become experts in integrating technology in the classroom in order to keep students, the digital natives, attentive and engaged while learning a foreign language. This article shares instructional practices involving technology. Without a doubt, technology plays an integral part of students' lives and it is the responsibility of language teachers to use these tools to engage students while teaching a language. The FLES teachers in the program have discovered that activities that focus on productive skills along with activities that involve technology should occur simultaneously in order to enhance students' ability to become communicatively competent.
Descriptors: FLES, Public Schools, Elementary School Students, Second Language Learning, Communicative Competence (Languages), Technology Uses in Education, Technology Integration, Second Language Instruction, Audiovisual Aids, Story Telling, Educational Games
National Network for Early Language Learning. Winston-Salem, NC. e-mail: nnell@wfu.edu; Web site: http://nnell.org/journal.php
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Virginia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A