Do the Math: ESP+Web 2.0=ESP 2.0!

Abstract

AbstractAs university teacher of English, the author of this paper has been concerned with exploring and exploiting the potential of Web 2.0 tools and applications for English language learners. To this end, I have complemented face-to-face teaching with collaborative Web 2.0 tools, such as blogs and voice threads (online media albums that can hold any type of media, and can be shared with anyone we wish). More specifically, I came in contact with Mr. Larry Ferlazzo, a US teacher who invited my students from International Relations to join a project he had designed and which was called Sister Classes. Our students interacted on an edublog using English, created a few presentations, left audio and written comments on each other's work, exchanged ideas, shared links, podcasts and videos. Other countries from around the world became involved, and we built a community of practice.Thus, in the present paper we assert that creating meaningful content for the students’ specific purposes (in this case, practicing English), is as important as creating connectivity, and that collaborative language learning can prove very efficient. At the same time, we have also identified some methodological limitations to teaching English with the aid of Web 2.0. Consequently, our pedagogical approach may serve for an invitation to further research