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The previous blog post on Dogme 2.0 sketches out how the web is becoming increasingly a normal part of our lives as well as an enormous source of both language learning content and opportunities to interact with others as part of the learning process. However, it is really the questions of relevance, meaning and motivation that are the key links between Dogme ELT and web 2.0.

If we see learning as a process of constructing meaning, and therefore one where relevance is key to enabling the learner to both find and create meaning, then the actual medium (be it online or offline) is not necessarily so significant. What seems more pertinent is the ability to create excitement and engagement such that language learning opportunities surface in class.

French 2.0

I find my French classes engaging, precisely because I use topics such as “web 2.0 in language learning” as vehicles for the development of my French. I bring in texts from sites such as Apprendre 2.0 and I write blog posts for a personal blog of mine. As I get better in French I hope to play a more active role in online communities such as Apprendre 2.0. I find these opportunities to use French in a way that is meaningful to me very exciting and enjoyable. Furthermore there are two observations about these classes that stand out for me:

1. the classes implicitly draw upon Dogme ideas: there are no textbooks; language emerges from my interaction with texts (that I read or write) and the activities are very real for me

2. the web plays a critical and highly enabling role in the lessons: the materials used in class can only be accessed online and the lesson topics are so real for me precisely because I am able to connect with others via online communities.

This is not to suggest that coursebooks should be avoided – just that it seems difficult to see how a French textbook could satisfy my desire to communicate about what interests me most. Likewise I am not suggesting that lessons must involve the internet – just that drawing on the potential of the web helps me connect with others (in a specialized field), and therefore jointly create meaning, with other people who are also interested in the same topics.

Relevance, Motivation and Communication

I see communication as essentially being driven by a desire to be heard and understood. And that we are motivated to communicate what we find relevant to our lives: if something resonates with a student and sparks a desire to be heard on the subject, then she/he will be motivated to express themselves as best they can. This becomes a springboard for learning (through language emergence etc). As a teacher, how can I tap into this desire to enable the student to achieve more effective communication in a foreign language? How can teachers facilitate relevance in the classroom (virtual or physical) so that students are naturally able to engage in constructing meaning – in our case in a foreign language?

As such, this question can be seen from both views (2.0 or Dogme). For a Dogme-inspired teacher, the question points to using the web to find greater relevance; to finding content and opportunities for online collaboration that will inspire the learner to engage. For teachers already keen on the internet, the Dogme principles offer a pedagogical structure for how best to draw on the web to ensure relevance and enable communication that leads to language emergence and therefore learning.

Ensuring Relevance for the Learner

Not all classroom teachers should use the web in class, nor should online teachers follow a Dogme dogma (although I am certainly sympathetic to the latter). Rather that focusing on the construction of meaning within the learning process, we are naturally led toward the question of relevance for the learner. And as our lives increasingly take place online and our learning becomes more and more specialized, the search for relevance benefits from using the internet.

Moreover, if two-way communication is seen as the central vehicle in language learning, then online communication (in a variety of forms) can help the learner connect with a far wider audience (or far more exact audience) than is possible within the four walls of a classroom. In its 2.0 form the web is highly interactive and the audience becomes a conversation partner – indeed a collaborator in the process of knowledge co-construction.

For me the question is not about whether to use the internet; it is more about how to use the net – precisely because the English teaching I do is entirely online. However the far more significant question is how to ensure relevance for the learner.

This post is adapted from a message on the Dogme ELT Yahoo Group.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 at 2:08 pm and is filed under ACTIVITIES, AUTHOR: HOWARD VICKERS, PEDAGOGY. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.