RecuRsos digitais e apRendizagem de inglês como língua estRangeiRa digital ResouRces and the leaRning of english as a foReign language Celso Tumolo universidade federal de santa catarina Resumo apresento, neste artigo, o resultado de uma pesquisa sobre quais recursos digitais podem auxiliar o desenvolvimento de inglês como língua estrangeira (le), a partir de recursos disponibilizados na internet, e faço uma caracterização dos recursos identificados. considerando quatro aspectos essenciais para o desenvolvimento de uma le, a saber, componentes da habilidade linguística, interação, integração das quatro habilidades, e motivação, apresento uma reflexão sobre como esse auxílio pode acontecer, apontando formas do uso de cada um para ensino/ aprendizagem de inglês como le. for fim, concluo que o uso dos recursos digitais identificados possibilita satisfazer os aspectos essenciais, tanto para o professor em sua prática docente, como para um aprendiz autônomo, com o objetivo do desenvolvimento de inglês como le.

The use of digital technological resources for educational settings is a quite recent phenomenon (Savi; Ulbricht, 2008). Although recent research emphasizes the importance of integrating technology into the curriculum, its use can only be effective for learning if well integrated in a meaningful way in the classroom (Prensky, 2007; Squire, 2006). This article aims to characterize vocabulary acquisition and the use of the digital game The Sims, and to investigate if and how it can assist vocabulary of English as a foreign language. Data collected involved participants of a public school setting in Florianópolis, SC, Brazil. The instruments used were a pre-test, a post-test, a delayed post-test, as well as a narrative writing. Results indicated The Sims as effective for vocabulary acquisition in EFL, since it deals with routine and familiar vocabulary and offers a new virtual life and contextual learning for players.

This paper presents a reflection on two technologies – automatic speech recognition (ASR) and Text-to-Speech (TTS) – to improve learners’ pronunciation, aiming for successful spoken communication. It sheds some light on the practical usage of these technologies, demonstrating their effectiveness, qualities, and limitations to assist teachers in deciding the most efficient digital resources applied to their students’ needs. A review of literature on previous empirical studies was carried out, with quantitative and/or qualitative studies conducted by researchers in the field, investigating teachers’ and learners' perceptions and the use of ASR and TTS as a pedagogical tool for pronunciation practice. As a result, it was concluded that a) the presented resources seem to have the potential to enhance pronunciation practice, both in terms of perception and production; b) technology can result in considerable benefits to learners, mainly as a supplement to pronunciation teaching; and c) the use of these digital resources is a way of giving learners the opportunity to focus on their specific difficulties and receive personalized feedback while becoming more autonomous in their learning process.

The goal of pronunciation teaching should be to enable learners to develop intelligible pronunciation and, in order to do this, it is important to teach perception and production of the most relevant segmental and suprasegmental features of pronunciation, considering specific groups of learners (CELCE-MURCIA et al., 2010). Technology has played an important role in pronunciation teaching, and the applications developed for pronunciation instruction enable learners not only to engage in pronunciation activities, but to have access to a greater variety of input and immediate feedback. Having this in mind, this study aimed at analyzing the content, the pronunciation teaching steps, the features, and usability resources of pronunciation apps. In order to guide the analysis, a framework was developed based on literature related to the areas of pronunciation teaching and of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL). The results showed that there is a tendency for the apps analyzed to focus more on segmentals. All of them offer description and analysis, listening discrimination, and controlled practice of the pronunciation features, as well as feedback. However, they were limited in terms of guided and communicative practice, of Automated Speech Recognition (ASR), and of variety of input.

RESUMO: O desenvolvimento de testes de qualquer natureza requer um estágio de investigação dos itens elaborados, investigação essa que deve ser feita considerando como critério principal a validade de construto. Neste artigo, trazemos uma análise de itens de testes desenvolvidos para avaliar a habilidade de leitura em inglês como língua estrangeira. Dividimos os itens em defensáveis e não defensáveis: os defensáveis permitem a demonstração da habilidade como definida no construto, enquanto os não defensáveis não permitem coletar evidências para uma interpretação válida da habilidade relevante. Sugerimos uma divisão dos itens não defensáveis em três categorias: itens independentes do texto, itens com pistas para a resposta e itens de vocabulário, cada qual apresentando problemas para validação de construto. É possível concluir que itens usados em testes podem não ser adequados ao objetivo para o qual foram desenvolvidos. As análises e conclusões aqui feitas pretendem colaborar com o desenvolvimento de testes que possibilitem coletar evidências para uma interpretação mais válida da habilidade de leitura em inglês. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: leitura, testes, validade, língua estrangeira.ABSTRACT: Test development of any nature requires a stage for the investigation of the items designed, which must be carried out considering construct validity as the main criterion. In this article we bring an analysis of test itens designed to assess the reading ability in English as a foreign language. We divide the items into defensible and non-defensible: defensible items allow for the demonstration of the reading ability as described in the construct, whereas non-defensible items do not allow for collecting evidence for a more valid interpretation of the relevant ability. We suggest a division

Digital Stories (DSs) have been developed and used for various purposes. This article presents a reflection on their use for L2 instruction, focusing on some approaches to sustain their use, as well as on an investigation on the development process, specifically on a brief review of literature in the area of DS development and on a description of the perceptions DS developers have as to the development process, with data collected with members of a laboratory for educational technology. Thus, a combination of perspectives on DS development is provided, so as to assist their use, receptively and productively, in the realm of applied linguistics, specifically for L2 instruction.

The advancements in mobile technology have made smartphones more accessible and more powerful, and this has led to the growth of the field of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL). Because of this and considering that most smartphone applications for English learning have activities designed to instruct vocabulary (Kim & Kwon, 2012), this study aimed at analyzing the instruction of vocabulary in the three most used applications for language learning until the end of 2018. More specifically, it investigated: a) what aspects of word-knowledge the applications develop; b) whether they provide a number of encounters with the target vocabulary and whether they are massed or spaced; and c) the nonverbal representations employed by the applications. The results showed that the applications: a) instruct the spoken and written form of words, but often neglect other aspects of word knowledge; b) provide multiple, massed encounters with the target vocabulary; and c) employ images and videos as nonverbal representations that are not always relevant to the instruction of target vocabulary. From the analysis, we concluded that the applications can be used as a tool to assist the instruction of vocabulary in spite of limitations such as the lack of chances for language production and decontextualized instruction.

Feedback is an important topic in education, and particularly for language development. This article intends to present some results of a research study aimed at investigating students’ perception concerning the feedback received during the script development in an L2 for the production of a digital story as well as the use made of the received feedback. Participants were students from Letras Inglês course. During the course, participants were required to develop a digital story, and feedback was provided for the script development phase. After the production of their digital stories, they were asked to answer a questionnaire and also participate in an interview, both focusing on their perceptions concerning the feedback received. A comparison between the digital story (the video) and the script with teacher’s feedback was also made to better understand the use participants made of the feedback. Results showed that participants acknowledged the relevance of feedback by emphasizing some aspects that were improved, such as the organization of ideas, punctuation problems, and also the development of an awareness for written productions. Concerning the use of the feedback received, results showed that the production of the digital story (the video) was an encouragement for the incorporation of the feedback received.