| dc.description.abstract | Due to limited time and resources it is often a challenge to practice with the oral expression
and interaction of a foreign language in the classroom, although it is considered by both students and
experts (Lorenzo & Coulomb, 2005) as the most important skill. All studies confirm (Torrance &
Beuving 2009;Europees Platform 2007; Herder & Bot 2005; Instituto Cervantes 1997-2016; Muñoz,
Tragant & Torras 2010; Krashen, Long & Scarcella 1979; Edelenbos & Johnston 1996) that one should
begin to practice at an early age, but how do you manage to develop the skill of oral communication in
a motivating way starting from an early age?
The overall objective of this thesis is to determine if the use of telecollaboration in classes of
the primary education has a positive outcome on the skill of oral communication. To do so, an
experiment has been conducted with a proposed educational plan which is suitable to include Spanish
as a foreign language (level A1 Framework) starting from the primary education. The educational
objective is to develop the skill of oral communication of a group of Dutch students and intercultural
competence of (mainly) a group of Spanish students participating in this project.
In the theoretical part of this paper the theories about the factors affecting the design of this
educational plan have been analysed, so that we can consider it significant and effective.
Two different methods have been applied: on the one hand a more traditional teaching with
explicit grammar explanations and oral communication, and on the other hand a teaching with a
communicative oral approach based on interculturalism where the student develops linguistic
competence implicitly, using the second language. To implement this educational plan, the digital tool
BBB of TILA (Telecollaboration for Intercultural Language Acquisition) has been used to facilitate
activities of telecollaboration that make the education of the second language a more authentic,
proficient and relevant experience (Jauregi , Graaff, van den Bergh and Kriz 2012; Byram 1997). For the
first time TILA is used by primary school students (Spanish native and two groups of Dutch pupils, aged
11 and 12 years) to consider theories about the benefits of language acquisition at an early age which
are analysed in this paper (Herder & Bot 2005; Nuffic 2016, Cervantes 2016; Muñoz 2008b; Edelenbos
& Johnstone 1996; Blondin et al. 1996, 2008b Muñoz, Muñoz, Tragant & Torras 2010).
The results show that the approach with telecollaboration at an early age has positive effects
on the development of oral communication skills and intercultural competence. The decisive factor of
this result is the motivation of the students that have experimented with the TILA project. At the end
of this paper the complete learning material is attached, which is composed of five tasks with a
communicational and intercultural focus, and a manual with instructions (in native Spanish) for the
primary school being the telecollaboration partner. | |
