Page 71 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 8(2) (2020)
P. 71
ia universitatishas also highlighted some issues. First of all, digital skills (in terms of theoretical knowledge,
the sectoral nature of said studies, which of- operational skills and assessment skills) showed
digital and multimodal liter acies in for eign language lear ning: theor ies and application 71 ten focus on exploring an extremely specific as- that they achieve better results in operational
pect, like the effect of a particular device (such skills but are limited in the use of certain types
as smartphones in Bromley 2012, or tablets in of technologies. Also, many learners rarely ques-
Hutchison, Beschorner & Schmidt-Crawford tion the accuracy of information and have a ten-
2012; or Northrop & Killeen 2013) or their ap- dency to equate the amount of information with
plication (Twitter, in Morgan 2014) on educa- its quality (Walraven, Brand-Gruwel & Boshu-
tional outcomes within the learning environ- izen 2009; Goldman et al. 2012; Barzilai & Zo-
ment; the use of multilayered and multimodal har 2012; Zhang 2013; Coiro, Coscarelli, Maykel
texts in language teaching, which would allow and Forzani 2015). According to a recent report1,
learners to better interpret the social, ideologi- digital competence levels in European children
cal and cultural elements embedded in every and adolescents remain inadequate, and an-
specific text; literacy as a basis to further inte- other study2 from 2014 indicates the existence
gration, while simultaneously encouraging the of a wide discrepancy between young learners’
students’ to strengthen their individual ethno- self-assessment and their actual knowledge of
linguistic identity, and promoting heritage lan- computer skills. Son, Park and Park (2017), for
guage maintenance (Parra, Otero, Flores & Lav- example, report that their participants assessed
allée 2017; Zapata 2017), and so on. This does not their own abilities very positively, despite a low
allow to easily obtain a complete overview of the mean score of 5.4 out of 10 in the general digital
situation, essential when trying to take into ac- literacy test they took. Another survey conduct-
count so many different factors. Not only that, ed among Italian university students revealed
we must also bear in mind the fact that recent that most students have very low digital securi-
research has shown a tendency to focus on the ty skills when it comes to connection, authori-
digital or on the multimodal, overlooking how zations, installations, access protections.3 In the
complex it actually is to introduce contemporary context of language learning, some students still
literacies in the classroom; furthermore, parts of prefer the use of paper-based materials (Fratter
these studies require constant updating and re- & Altinier 2017; Fratter 2018 and 2019), while
valuation, given how quickly technologies tend the multimedia materials are generally chosen
to become obsolete. for an in-depth analysis of the paper book. The
reasons behind this preference concern different
Moreover, while most studies generally con- aspects: general order of materials, sequence of
firm the positive effect of multimodal and digi- contents, practicality in carrying out each activ-
tal literacies in a learning environment, they have ity.
also brought to light a series of problems that re-
quire further analysis. For example, the fact that Classroom literacy and learning
students seem to prefer to use technology main- objectives
ly for personal and social reasons, despite being Demographic and technological changes are cre-
able to use it quite easily, and rarely turn to on- ating new “multicultural” societies and provid-
line tools for academic purposes (Ophus & Ab- ing access to huge amount of information an-
bitt 2009; Ng 2012; Ivala & Gachago 2012; Mok ywhere, at any time. As can be seen from the
2012). Surveys focusing on the use of digital de-
vices by foreign language students reveal that 1 NMC and the European Commission “Horizon Report Europe:
not everyone considers themselves to be dig- 2014 Schools Edition”, 2014.
ital natives (Williams, Abraham and Bostel-
mann 2014). Gui & Argentin (2011) and Gobel 2 “An online study makes it possible – new ECDL – reframing the cli-
& Kano (2014) found that testing the students’ mate of public opinion”, Austria, 2014.
3 Tech and Law Center, “Security of the Digital Natives”, Italy, 2014.
the sectoral nature of said studies, which of- operational skills and assessment skills) showed
digital and multimodal liter acies in for eign language lear ning: theor ies and application 71 ten focus on exploring an extremely specific as- that they achieve better results in operational
pect, like the effect of a particular device (such skills but are limited in the use of certain types
as smartphones in Bromley 2012, or tablets in of technologies. Also, many learners rarely ques-
Hutchison, Beschorner & Schmidt-Crawford tion the accuracy of information and have a ten-
2012; or Northrop & Killeen 2013) or their ap- dency to equate the amount of information with
plication (Twitter, in Morgan 2014) on educa- its quality (Walraven, Brand-Gruwel & Boshu-
tional outcomes within the learning environ- izen 2009; Goldman et al. 2012; Barzilai & Zo-
ment; the use of multilayered and multimodal har 2012; Zhang 2013; Coiro, Coscarelli, Maykel
texts in language teaching, which would allow and Forzani 2015). According to a recent report1,
learners to better interpret the social, ideologi- digital competence levels in European children
cal and cultural elements embedded in every and adolescents remain inadequate, and an-
specific text; literacy as a basis to further inte- other study2 from 2014 indicates the existence
gration, while simultaneously encouraging the of a wide discrepancy between young learners’
students’ to strengthen their individual ethno- self-assessment and their actual knowledge of
linguistic identity, and promoting heritage lan- computer skills. Son, Park and Park (2017), for
guage maintenance (Parra, Otero, Flores & Lav- example, report that their participants assessed
allée 2017; Zapata 2017), and so on. This does not their own abilities very positively, despite a low
allow to easily obtain a complete overview of the mean score of 5.4 out of 10 in the general digital
situation, essential when trying to take into ac- literacy test they took. Another survey conduct-
count so many different factors. Not only that, ed among Italian university students revealed
we must also bear in mind the fact that recent that most students have very low digital securi-
research has shown a tendency to focus on the ty skills when it comes to connection, authori-
digital or on the multimodal, overlooking how zations, installations, access protections.3 In the
complex it actually is to introduce contemporary context of language learning, some students still
literacies in the classroom; furthermore, parts of prefer the use of paper-based materials (Fratter
these studies require constant updating and re- & Altinier 2017; Fratter 2018 and 2019), while
valuation, given how quickly technologies tend the multimedia materials are generally chosen
to become obsolete. for an in-depth analysis of the paper book. The
reasons behind this preference concern different
Moreover, while most studies generally con- aspects: general order of materials, sequence of
firm the positive effect of multimodal and digi- contents, practicality in carrying out each activ-
tal literacies in a learning environment, they have ity.
also brought to light a series of problems that re-
quire further analysis. For example, the fact that Classroom literacy and learning
students seem to prefer to use technology main- objectives
ly for personal and social reasons, despite being Demographic and technological changes are cre-
able to use it quite easily, and rarely turn to on- ating new “multicultural” societies and provid-
line tools for academic purposes (Ophus & Ab- ing access to huge amount of information an-
bitt 2009; Ng 2012; Ivala & Gachago 2012; Mok ywhere, at any time. As can be seen from the
2012). Surveys focusing on the use of digital de-
vices by foreign language students reveal that 1 NMC and the European Commission “Horizon Report Europe:
not everyone considers themselves to be dig- 2014 Schools Edition”, 2014.
ital natives (Williams, Abraham and Bostel-
mann 2014). Gui & Argentin (2011) and Gobel 2 “An online study makes it possible – new ECDL – reframing the cli-
& Kano (2014) found that testing the students’ mate of public opinion”, Austria, 2014.
3 Tech and Law Center, “Security of the Digital Natives”, Italy, 2014.
