Communication-oriented English language teaching on Facebook Competency-based language teaching, collaborative knowledge building

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The good teaching practice at a glance

Subject of practice

languages

Target groups

Learner

Educational level

Secondary Education

Short Summary

In the spring of 2012, a  high school class of a secondary school were involved in English language education teaching in Facebook groups. The students were encouraged to interact in the Facebook group specifically created for this exercise.  The learning process was individualization, a method that could become teaching methodology.

Duration of the implementation

2014-05-14 12:45:00 - 2014-05-14 12:45:00

Difficulty of ICT solutions used

Medium

Detailed description

Age of learners

15 - 20

Learning outcomes

Content search, content-sharing, collaborative knowledge development, reflexion, meta-learning, topic-based discussion, deep learning of knowledge, language learning, peer learning

Typical learning time

1 month - 1 semester

Description of challenges faced (Are there any difficulties teachers/learners might face?)

The Council of Europe developed the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ​​(CEF) between 1989 and 1996, which is a guidance document on the Europe-wide definition of level of language knowledge. This document defines speakers / learners competences (Common European Framework of Reference, 2002) general competencies (factual knowledge, skills and competences, existential competence, learning skills) and communicative language competences (linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence). Due to the CEFR, large-scale reforms started in all areas of language learning, language teaching and language learning, curriculum design, textbook writing, language assessment, measurement of the language exam systems and teacher training.

Detailed description

The teachers established a closed Facebook group for the Project, and then invited their students to become members of the Group. The first lesson introduced the topic lectures, presentations. The teachers gained information on the prior knowledge and experience of students on the topics, and   introduced the themes and the idea of the Facebook project, its goals, tasks, requirements.

As a second step, the group held a brainstorming on their selected subjects, and could begin the search for online resources. The students collected texts pictures, videos, web addresses on the subject, which was a shortlisted as referral / information on the wall of the Facebook group and was published. Classmates commented each other’s distributed materials, so content-related conversations developed. Teachers acted as facilitators of the group and took care of the group's page and shared contents and encouraged the participation of students, praising the published content and gave guidance for   further work. The online content was not rated with grades, the activities took place during school hours.

In other classes, teachers responded to the shared content , highlighted important information compensating for the lack of knowledge items that indicated any mistakes, misunderstandings. Students and teachers worked together to assess the progress achieved so far and this method motivated pupils to further work generating in-depth questions by the students that showed a deep understanding of the subject. The last hours have been used to analyse the knowledge collected, the pupils highlighted what they found most important in relation to the topic, what was  the most interesting and the most surprising information. The last step was to post the described reflections on the project and shared it on the group's site.  The role of the teacher was to:

  • encouraging students to work,
  • assist,
  • administer the published content,
  • moderate comments and conversations.

Meaningful learning

The identity of today's teens and socialization is largely determined by the activity in the social web (Szalas, 2012). For them, being online is a real- life extension, they make friends, have conversations, share and obtain information, express opinions, organize themselves in groups around a common interests. The social networking site in their case is a natural environment in which to feel at home, they have a good knowledge of the user interface, possess a certain level of proficiency in communication standards on the web. During the Facebook language lessons the students were able to gain knowledge that was based on their individual interests, it was relevant and meaningful.

Learning Activities / Implementation

see above

Tools used to realise the practice

Facebook

Country of originHungary
Language of the practiceHungarian
Website relatedPresentation in Hungarian
Status of the practiceFinal
Download full practice desciprion
Area of good practice
  • ICT enabled learning - Using digital resources for face-to-face classroom practice & for online learning/blended classroom practice
  • Community Building - Using digital resources to connect learners/build communities
This practice is
Transferable, Adaptability, Acceptability, Effectiveness, Availability, Collaborative

About the author

Name of contributorTimea Szalasi
Affiliation of contributor PhD Student in Educational Sciences, Secondary school teacher
Institution where this practice was implemented
Contact e-mailsuba@eden-online.org