Developing digital literacies for second/foreign language teachers

这场全球大流行带来的为数不多的积极成果之一，是一个重新思考如何利用数字技术支持学校教学的机会。同样，在英国脱欧之后，英国需要关注的一个方面是第二语言/外语教育，因为全球参与的需求非常强烈，而额外的语言和不同文化的知识将使人们能够实现这一目标。在这种背景下，研究如何在S/FL教育中发展数字素养是很重要的。数字素养可以理解为与数字媒体相关的沟通、联系、思考和“存在”的实践。它们涉及诸如评估材料、使用数字工具进行合作以及通过不同媒体进行有效和批判性沟通等技能。教师在培养学生这些技能方面发挥着重要作用，但他们并不具备这些技能。此外，教师在语言教育中使用技术的准备要么忽视了数字素养，要么专注于学习现有技术，而不是使用能够改变教与学的创新和前沿技术。因此，面对丰富的资源（如网站和应用程序），教师往往很难选择合适的工具/材料。迄今为止，关于第二语言教育中数字素养的研究主要集中在语言学习中技术使用背后的理论，特定技术（如社交网络）对语言领域和技能（如写作）的影响以及教师和学生的意见。此外，大部分工作都是在高等教育的学生中进行的，现有的关于培养和培养精通技术的第二语言教师的研究仍然集中在IT问题上。本项目旨在汇集对促进中学第二语言教师数字素养感兴趣的研究人员和研究用户，探讨和提出研究思路或方法。我们还将扩大现有工作，收集第二语言/外语教师教育中数字素养的证据，并制定和巩固广泛干预和评估项目的计划。该项目还将使研究人员能够分享最佳实践，加强跨文化知识交流，并提高语言教师在发展数字素养方面的意识。还将探讨更广泛的问题，如与数字素养相关的平等机会、道德和福祉。我们认为扫盲是一种社会实践，因此这次交流机会将探讨如何将数字扫盲在不同的社会文化背景下语境化和实践，以及可以确定哪些共同问题，使语言教师能够培养这种扫盲能力，并在课堂上适当地整合技术。我们将通过建立一个在第二语言教师教育、技术增强语言学习和有效教学法方面具有专长的研究团队来解决这些问题。我们将发展四个相互关联的工作领域来解决这些问题，即：一个包括文献综述和利益相关者调查的初步概况项目，一个由四个国际研讨会组成的系列研讨会，两次研究访问和两次重点三天讲习班。用户将完全参与网络项目。这个网络项目的一个重要特点是让教师和政策制定者从项目一开始就参与进来，这样他们就可以为研究战略的制定和研究本身做出贡献。他们还将参加研究讨论会和讲习班。还将为他们设计一个后续实践讲习班。

One of the few positive outcomes from this global pandemic is an opportunity to rethink how digital technologies can be used to support teaching and learning in schools. Equally, after Brexit, one aspect that the UK needs to focus on is second/foreign language education as there is a strong need for global engagement and an additional language and knowledge about different cultures will enable people to achieve that. Against this background, it is important to examine how digital literacies can be developed in S/FL education. Digital literacies can be understood as the practices of communicating, relating, thinking and 'being' associated with digital media. They involve skills such as evaluating materials, collaborating using digital tools and communicating effectively and critically through different media. Teachers play an important role in developing these skills for students but they are not equipped with these skills. Besides, teacher preparation for technology use in language education either has neglected digital literacies or focused on learning the existing technologies rather than using creative and cutting-edge technologies which can change teaching and learning. As a result, facing abundant resources (e.g. websites and apps), teachers often find it hard to choose the appropriate tools/materials. To date, research in digital literacies in second language education mainly focuses on theories behind technology use in language learning, the impact of particular technologies (e.g., social networking) on language areas and skills (e.g., writing) and teachers' and students' opinions. Besides, the majority of work has been carried out with students in higher education and existing research in preparing and developing technology-proficient second language teachers still focuses on IT issues.This project aims to bring together researchers and research users who are interested in promoting digital literacies of second language teachers in secondary schools to explore and propose research ideas or ways forward. We will also expand the existing work, gather evidence of digital literacies in second/foreign language teacher education and develop and consolidate plans for extensive intervention and evaluation projects. The project will also allow researchers to share the best practice and enhance knowledge exchange across cultures, and raise awareness of language teachers in developing both digital literacies. Wider issues such as equal access, ethics and wellbeing around digital literacies will be explored too. We believe literacy as a social practice, so this networking opportunity will explore how digital literacies can be contextualized and practised in different social-cultural contexts, and what common issues can be identified to enable language teachers to develop such literacies and integrate technology appropriately in their classrooms. We will address these issues by building a research team with expertise in second language teacher education, technology-enhanced language learning and effective pedagogies. We will develop four inter-related areas of work to address those issues, namely, a preliminary profiling project with a literature review and a survey with stakeholders, a seminar series consisting of four international seminars, two research visits and two focused 3-day workshops. Users will be fully involved in the networking project. An important feature of this networking project is to involve teachers and policy-makers from the very start of the project so that they will contribute to both the formulation of the research strategy and the research itself. They will also be involved in research seminars and workshops. A follow-up practical workshop will also be designed for them.