Schedule: 2009-09-10 (15:45 - 16:30)
Parallel Session 4 (Room A-2)
Title: Incorporating Wiki Writing Projects in an ESP course for Tourism
Authors: Isabel Gallarde, Aleksandra Malicka, Anne Zanatta
Abstract: While the use of Web 2.0 software has become a frequent trend in the EFL/ESL classroom, blogs and podcasts still seem to be the most frequently used. This presentation will first focus on the use of wikis: their history, characteristics and features as well as the learning theories they are based on in order to expose the enormous potential they have to be not only an effective language learning tool but also a resource that students and teachers are left with even once a course has ended.
Secondly, a case study incorporating the use of wikis in a face-to-face English for Tourism course at CETA University College of Tourism in Barcelona will be presented detailing the initial training of English language teachers and university students enrolled in a 3-year tourism degree programme, and the classroom process writing projects developed and carried out on the PBwiki open-source wiki software site. The presentation will conclude by highlighting student and teacher perceptions of the experience based on interviews and questionnaires carried out during the study and, the implications that these findings have for language learners and teachers in general.
Keywords: web 2.0 tools, collaborative learning, socio-constructivist learning theory, process writing
Main topic: New role of writing as a tool for communication
Biodata: Isabel Gallarde has been an EFL teacher of English for Tourism at CETA University College of Tourism for more than 10 years. She is a keen user of wikis and ICT in general, in the EFL classroom. Currently working on a Masters Dissertation in Process Writing, Aleksandra Malicka has been teaching EFL at the university level for several years. An EFL teacher for more than 20 years, Anne Zanatta is currently working on her PHd dissertation focussed on the use of wikis in the LL classroom.
Type of presentation Paper presentation
Paper category Reflective Practice
Target educational sector Adult education
Language of delivery English
EU-funded project Yes