Learning lexically with digital tools: An exploratory study of lexical use in writing by 3rd grade ESL students at a bilingual school in Buenos Aires

Abstract

Latest trends in education inevitably lead schools and teachers to reformulate their views of how a second language is to be taught. Two decades ago, a paradigmatic shift in ESL teaching was caused by the change in focus from grammatical mastery to successful communication. Teaching materials were therefore redesigned to foster socio-linguistic competence and teachers were encouraged to adopt a broader, more holistic outlook on language. Most recently, the boom of technology, globalization and 2.0 tools have given birth to a new profile of students with different needs and who also approach learning differently. They are often highly visual multi-taskers that process in parallel and have short attention spans. These social learners enjoy working in teams, prefer to discover rather than to be told and are used to constructing their own learning by assembling information and tools from different sources (Hart, 2008).