Handbook of Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning

Citation

Anh Tran, L. (2010), "Handbook of Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 730-731. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378831011096420

The emergence of Web 2.0 applications has been widespread and rapid during the last few years. While this emergent technology has been adopted by many sectors (business and commerce, governments, education and training, etc.) because of its advantages, such technology also poses some dangers. This book addresses one of the dangers of Web 2.0 in education: few teachers seem to be applying Web 2.0 in the classroom. In part to help address this situation, this book is one of the first collections of Web 2.0 applications in pedagogy. Specifically, it contains three sections on network communities, web creation and pedagogy in association with second language learning.

Section 1 (Network Communities and Second Language Learning) creates the foundation for Web 2.0 applications in second language learning. The section's nine chapters define the criteria for the successful implementation of ICT‐enabled tasks, and examines current and potential applications and implications of Web 2.0 technologies in language education. In association with the educational contexts, the chapters discuss principles of output orientation in language learning based on Swain's output hypothesis. Furthermore, this first part explains and analyses some important issues of Web 2.0 in language learning and in the teaching process. These issues include:

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  Information overload (called infoxication 2.0) as one of the main disadvantages of Web 2.0 in language learning.

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  Roles of online communities and their development through the use of Computer Mediated Communication (part of the social software that creates the architecture of Web 2.0 technologies).

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  Strengths and weaknesses of the Skype service as a tool for tandem language learning and facilitating study and research in this area.

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  Uses of communities in a virtual learning environment, such as Google community, or Blackboard community.

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  Implications of “digital native” effects on language learning in cyberspace.

Section 2, titled The of Read/Write Web and Second Language Learning, focuses on practice. It provides ten chapters for examining social networking sites and critical language learning, podcasting, and blogging in various countries. Specific chapters address such topics as Japanese social‐culture and metaphors in terms of peer group dynamics of a language community; the use of language learner blogs for self‐determination with L2 learner journals, and for language education; the use of technology (such as mobile phone, video diaries, podcasts, etc.) for teaching software skills and employability skills as well as for language learning and education.

The final section, Pedagogy 2.0 and Second Language Learning, explores a wide range of themes in association with the pedagogical implications of Web 2.0. It contains nine chapters on reading strategies in a virtual environment; a task‐based assessment (TBA) approach for implementing courses on reading and writing online; the crucial notions of corpus linguistics in the Web 2.0 era. Significantly, this section explains the improvement of online readability in a Web 2.0 context, Internet and mobile technologies, and personal learning environments for language learning. Finally, the final three chapters draw up the pedagogical potential of interactive whiteboards 2.0 (IWB) to support constructivist practice in the language classroom; the composition of Web 2.0 courseware management systems (CMS); and the relevant functions and features to second language written acquisition.

This book has much useful content for educators involved in second language learning using Web 2.0 applications. It will bring teachers update quickly on the value of Web 2.0 in pedagogy so that teaching can make greater use of podcasts, wikis, blogs, and even twitters in their twenty‐first century teaching. The collection is a tribute to its editor, Michael Thomas, Associate Professor of English at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business in Japan.