ERIC Number: EJ1153835
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Aug
Pages: 15
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1072-4303
EISSN: N/A
Coding and English Language Teaching
Stevens, Vance; Verschoor, Jennifer
TESL-EJ, v21 n2 Aug 2017
According to Dudeney, Hockly, and Pegrum (2013) coding is a deeper skill subsumed under the four main digital literacies of language, connections, information, and (re)design. Coders or programmers are people who write the programmes behind everything we see and do on a computer. Most students spend several hours playing online games, but few know how to create a game. Learning to code encourages students to become creators, not just consumers of the technology they use. When children, or adults for that matter, learn to code, it helps them to develop essential skills such as problem solving, logic and critical thinking. Through coding, we realize that there's often more than one way to solve a problem, and that simpler and more efficient solutions are often better. Analysing and discussing the processes of critical thinking and problem solving can result in meaningful language practice. Though this paradigm applies across all aspects of the curriculum, the focus of this article is on how it applies to English teaching, and more specifically, on how English teaching can be done in conjunction with encouraging students to work with code, so that between the two, they inculcate aspects of the 21st century skills mentioned here while promoting language development.
Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Critical Thinking, Computer Games, Computer Software, Problem Solving, Programming, Teaching Methods, Technological Literacy, Lifelong Learning, Communities of Practice, Language Teachers, Programming Languages, Faculty Development
TESL-EJ. e-mail: editor@tesl-ej.org; Web site: http://tesl-ej.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A