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WebQ uest s and the development of the reading skill Máster en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria Tutora: Mª José Luzón Marco Alumno: Rodrigo Muñoz Acevedo INDEX Acknowledgements .. 2 1. Introduction ........ 3 1.1 ICTS for developing different skills ... 4 2. What is a WebQuest? ... 6 2.1 WebQuest definition and overview .9 2.2 Underlying learning theory and related pedagogical approaches ... 10 2.3 WebQuest for learning languages ... 11 2.4 A CLILQuest for learning History . 13 3. How effective are WebQuests for developing the reading Competence?................ .. 16 4. Conclusions ... 19 5. References . 21 6. Appendix materials  24 Acknowledgements: I owe my deepest gratitude to Mª José Luzón for all her support and patience throughout the research process and my entire Master studies. I would also like to thank all professors of the Master who contributed to this work with the contents of each of their subjects. Finally, thanks to all my classmates for standing by my side during the process of this work and the course in general ABSTRACT “Information becomes knowledge when it is searched”. This TFM seeks to overview the uses of ITCs in developing the reading skill in ESL classes. The main purpose of this research project is to analyse the basis of the implementation of WebQuests to enhance reading skill and the impact of this tool on the students. The research relied on the study and comparison of several studies, theoretical ones and case studies that show the level of improvement in the critical reading skill of the students, which is directly related to their performance in the WebQuest assigned as for the rest of their learning process. 1. INTRODUCTION The origin of this research dates back to the moment when I bought an e-book reader. The purposes of buying this kind of device were clear: to facilitate the storage of all the books and files that I wanted to read and study in a single portable storage unit. The fact is that, things did not turn out as I expected: I experienced some difficulties in studying texts from this device. Indeed, I realized that it wasn’t the same studying my pdf class notes than just reading an e-book for leisure. At that time I did not know what was really happening to me and it is through the passing of this year studying this Master that I have learnt more about the learning processes and the acquisition of some specific skills like reading. Nothing strange was happening to me. It was just a question of “digital literacy” (Leu, 2001) Instead of reading I was skimming without being conscious of it. Skimming a text implies a fast reading in order to get the main idea. I started leaving some parts of the text and, as my speed was increasing my comprehension was decreasing. This is the consequence of an extensive reading instead of an intensive one. The last result of this process was that as a result of this skimming I had banned some useful information that I tried to find by means of scanning the pages again with the result of getting completely lost. The next question that came to my mind as a teacher was: If I am already having some problems trying to gather relevant information from this device written in L1/L2 language, what could happen to a L2 student of English in a similar situation? Are ICTS useful tools for teaching ESL? What about WebQuest? Thus, based on the preceding information, the next research questions arise: 1) Are WebQuests a useful tool to develop the student’s critical reading skills? 2) Which aspects of the reading skill are successfully developed through this kind of activities? The main objectives of this research project are to answer the questions above by analysing previous research on the effectiveness of WebQuest to develop reading competence. Nowadays we are living a “Digital Age” and WebQuest can be used as a part of a project devoted to help students to develop skills for autonomous learning and electronic competences (Luzón, 2010) The use of new learning technologies has been revealed as relevant opportunities for informal and continuing literacy learning in all phases of the education programmes. According to UNESCO some ICTS could enable skills development, encouraging the use of learner-generated materials and promoting awareness-raising and learner motivation. Indeed this organization catalogues some technology uses in education as “promising examples of how ITC can contribute both to the creation of a literate environment and to the enhancement of literacy learning opportunities” with examples such as interactive websites, chat-rooms, listservs, web-based courses and online libraries. 1.1 ICTS for developing different skills - Key competences and foreign languages Documents such as the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF), the European language portfolio and the Aragonese Curriculum emphasise the importance of a language teaching methodology is suited to the development of a number of the key competences, among them the competence in linguistic communication and the competence in processing information and use of ICT. - Competence in linguistic communication: reading Learning a foreign language contributes to progress in this competence by improving student’s communication skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Student’s written and oral communication skills are enriched by understanding the way language is structured. Students must show that they can use language conventions appropriate to the situation, and can understand that discourse must be adapted to suit different contexts. They should be able to relate this to the study of other languages. Thus, to some extent, all activities in the language class have a communicative outcome of some kind. - Competence in processing information and use of ICT Knowledge of a foreign language enables students to access a broader range of information. Learning a foreign language should also involve learning how to process online information and use it for different purposes: to create a Wiki with all information they gather from several web sites or for planning a travel to an agreed destiny. When learning a foreign language, it is important to be exposed to a range of resources an genres of speech and writing. The regular use of digital learning resources, including websites and interactive whiteboard materials, directly adds to the development of this competence. . This paper explores the use of WebQuests in EFL classes. The main purpose of this TFM is to analyse if reading skills could be improved by means of using Webquests, and to determine the level of impact of this instrument on learners through the study of several critical studies about this issue. Therefore we will try to see how this skill (one of the main five skills to assess the knowledge of a language) is achieved by students through the use of ICTS. Having come this far, we should note that new interpretations and concepts arises from this new conception of teaching through ICTs. Thus, the team of the research project ATC21S (Assessment and Teaching of 21stCentury Skills) state that classical skills are being substituted by e-skills/21th skills: o Ways of thinking o Ways of working o Tools for working o Skills for the living world In this context, literacy could be divided into several sub-types and learners should acquire new ways of these literacies in order to adopt the level of today culture. According to Shetzer and Warschauer (2009) the concept of electronic literacy refers to the ability to use electronic tools for communication. As we all know, the way in which knowledge is measured nowadays consists of a series of competences. We no longer check what someone knows just by testing the concepts he or she acquired, but by seeing if he/she is competent. A competence is a sum of abilities and knowledge which enables one to communicate. Knowing a language consists of many varied competences (linguistic, paralinguistic, intercultural, pragmatic, etc.); however, in this project, we will focus on the Reading skill, as it refers to what students should be capable of doing as far as reading in English is concerned. As we have already mentioned, our project is designed for working with 3ºESO classes. However, before focusing specifically on this academic year, the Aragonese Curriculum gives already a global aim for the whole ESO stage concerning the reading competence: “students will be able to read and understand varied texts of an adjusted level to their capacity and interests so as to infer general and specific information, apart from enjoying reading as an enriching activity”. This objective in the curriculum tends to summarise what students are expected to achieve. What we want to see is how this aim is achieved. 2. WHAT IS A WEBQUEST? 2.1 WebQuest definition and overview Before going forward in deep explanations about some pedagogical approaches it is necessary to explain the reason of the selection of WebQuest to stimulate and improve student’s reading skills and critical criteria. I´m going to start this point by giving this definition: “A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet” (Dodge, 1995). The model was designed and developed by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University in 1995. Since the very beginning there are two types of WebQuests that are distinguishable one from another. Short Term WebQuests: the target of a short term WebQuest is divided into two phases as Marzano states in his research “Dimensions of thinking” (Marzano 1992), that is: knowledge acquisition and integration (Marzano’s model nº2). The purpose of this task is to make students get on the issue of gathering relevant information and make sense of it. The length of this kind of WebQuest is designed to be completed in one to three class periods. Longer Term WebQuest: The target of a longer term WebQuest is also divided into two phases as Marzano (1992) also states (Marzano’s model nº3): extending and refining knowledge. At the end of a longer term WebQuest, a student should have analysed an entire block of meaning in a deep way, transforming it, and he/she should have revealed an understanding of the theme by means of producing and output that others can reply to, on-line or offline. The length of a longer term WebQuest is designed to be completed between one week and a month in a classroom setting. A WebQuest is a task that develops different types of thinking and that helps the student to work on his/her critical thinking in order to engage with the text (Dodge: 1995). Thus WebQuest can promote several sub-skills which are necessary for a critical reading. See table 1 below. All these thinking skills have to do with the management of information and are useful tool to acquire in order to work on the different literacies of today society. Dodge also states that WebQuests are the perfect frame where the students can develop these skills in order to create a discovery process that leads them from an initial stage of looking for information to a final stage of synthesis and conclusions by means of a process of gradual reuse and refinement. Thus, the conclusion we can extract from this that completing a WebQuest involves not only a process of searching information but also a process of analysis and synthesis (Yoder, 2005) Thinking skills promoted by WebQuests. Marzano (1992), as cited by Dodge (1995) Table 1. Thinking skills promoted by WebQuests. Marzano (1992), as cited by Dodge (1995) WebQuests of either short or long duration are purposely designed to take the most advantage of learner's time. In order to obtain the highest number of benefits as possible from this process , WebQuests should contain at least the following parts: 1. An introduction that presents the WebQuest by setting the context and gives some background information. 2. A task that includes the aim of the WebQuest and the targets to be covered 3. A set of information sources which students are going to need in order to complete the task successfully. 4. A description of the process the students should follow in accomplishing the task. The process should be divided into clearly defined stages. 5. A guidance in order to help students about how to organize information. This can take the form of guiding questions, or directions to complete organizational frameworks such as timelines, concept maps, or causeand-effect diagrams as described by Marzano (1988, 1992) and Clarke (1990). 6. A conclusion that brings the outcome to the quest. It helps the students to revise what they've learned, and maybe inspires them to use this type of task into other areas. 1. - Comparing: Identifying and articulating similarities and differences between things 2.- Classifying: Grouping things into definable categories on the basis of their attributes 3.- Inducting: Inferring unknown generalizations or principles from observations or analysis 4.- Deducting: Inferring unknown generalizations or principles from observation or analysis 5.- Analysing errors: identifying and articulating errors in one’s own or other’s thinking 6.- Constructing support: Constructing a system of support or proof for an assertion 7.- Abstraction: Identifying and articulating the underlying theme or general pattern of information. 8.-Analyzing perspectives: Identifying and articulating personal perspectives about issues. 2.2 Underlying learning theory and related pedagogical approaches The learning theory underlying WebQuest is constructivism. Social constructivism focuses on the importance of social context for learning. This theory of learning promotes learning environments that reflect real world, building on previous knowledge to construct new knowledge, and using activities that promote dialogue, interaction, meaning negotiation, and collaboration (Bonk and Cunningham, 1998). Web-based learning such as WebQuestS can provide a useful context for the development of the social interaction where the learners are able to commonly construct the knowledge of the target language by being engaged in meaningful activities (Simina & Hamel, 2005). This implies a change in focus of the classroom. By means of this change from teacher dominated to student-centered in a constructive environment learners obtain more independence and they fell freer in order to interact with the result of a collaborative work. Other principles behind WebQuests are Krashen’s input hypothesis and the Acquisition-Learning hypothesis. .- The input hypothesis is based on the acquisition of new language knowledge due to the slightly difference of level between the learner and the input. Krashen called this level of input “i+1” where “i” is the language input and “1” is the higher level of language acquired. By means the inquiring process that the WebQuest involves, learners acquire new linguistic structures and terms by means of reading. In general terms this i+1 input implies not only linguistic devices but also our knowledge of the world and the situation. .- The Acquisition-Learning hypothesis related to the way that humans develop their language ability. As Krashen (1977) states, there are two different and independent ways in the way we, as humans, develop our linguistic skills: acquisition and learning. Acquisition is related to a subconscious process in which we are immersed as learners of which the individual is not aware. Thus, the learner acquires part of the language in a direct but unconscious way and the acquirer generally does not realize that he possesses any new linguistic capacity. In that way, through WebQuests learners will be acquiring new linguistic structures and knowledge as means as they are immersed in the inquiry process. Learning a language, as a contrast, is a complete conscious process in which the learner plays an active role. Thus, in a WebQuest activity, learner may learn the specific structures or linguistic items that are focused on. A WebQuest combines the benefits of several pedagogical approaches like the inquiry-based approach, project based approach, content-based language learning and gamification. Inquiry-based learning: the process of inquiring starts when learners have to apply their senses in order to gather some required information. Thus, learners look for appropriate resolution to some concrete questions and issues acts like navigation, reading, and interpretation skills, including effectiveness and evaluation (Luzón: 2010). At the same time electronic formats implies new way in thought processes (hypertextuality and interactive multiple media). As Luzón and Ruiz-Madrid state (Luzón: 2010), the WebQuest format provides ESL teachers a useful tool that encompasses all these terms, that is: provide the students a multidisciplinary frame for work in order to develop genre awareness and promoting the development of new technologies. In this new context, where electronic literacy is so important, the reading and writing competence would be integrated into a wider competence, the wreading competence (Luzón and Ruiz Madrid, 2010) causing the necessity of development of particular skills: .- Linguistic and semiotic skills (e.g. ability to relate different semiotic codes) . - Cognitive and metacognitive skill of information, elaboration and management (e.g. the ability to evaluate the usefulness of online information) The fact is that the reading competence is dealing with a new paradigm and that the focus of the reading skill, the text, has changed. As Luzón (2010) states, resources should also reflect the textual complexity of the web in order to train learners to manage this complexity. Coiro (2003) characterizes digital texts as “hypertextual networks” which are compound by multitude of new formats and new thought processes for making meaning. Thus, according to the new paradigm of the reading competence two questions arises as to whether it is possible the utilization of WebQuest help to improve EFL learners’ reading skill and what EFL learners’ attitudes towards WebQuestbased teaching of reading are. Some experimental studies have shown that WebQests are effective to develop the reading competence. In her research on the use of WebQuest for language learning Trong Tuan (YEAR) sought to answer the two previous questions. The author introduces a new variable that is: the motivational component. Not all people react in the same way when they deal with something new, and of course, if they have to implement it to their learning processes. According to the results of a case study about 44 second-year students, 26 females and 18 males who were attending the third course (reading 3) at the Faculty of English Linguistics the findings revealed that the students who received the Webquest based program made considerable improvement in their reading. The results were complemented with the positive feedback of the students toward the use of webquests. A research by Alshumaimeri (2012) also reveals the positive attitude of students towards WebQuests. Alshumaimeri (2012) stresses the important role of motivation in the process of accomplishment of long-term goals as the fact of learning a language (Guilloteaux & Dörnyei, 2008). As he states, students in all grades have a especial interests in being taught via WebQuest instead of the “traditional” way of learning (Hassanien, 2006). Thus, the author also introduces the concept of blended learning and their benefits to their students in spite of the fact the students do not agree with this concept of education. Considering WebQuest an effective tool to promote foreign language skills, the author of this paper designed an experimental study almost in the same way than the previous one. The study was conducted in a university first year preparatory program. The participants were 83 students in a science and engineering track in the Preparatory year. These students were divided into two groups: a control group of 41 students and an experimental one of 42. In order to ensure that the subjects had the same level of English (proficiency) in reading comprehension, a reading comprehension pre-test was assigned to both groups. The students completed pre-and post-reading comprehension tests to grade the students’ performance before and after the treatment. In the test the students were provided with a passage to read carefully in order to discern the topic and general meaning of the text as a whole. After this, students had to answer five questions with four-option multiple choice answers. The results were enlightening. They show the potential of WebQuests and their suitability for the promotion of the reading comprehension. Nevertheless, as the author states, both teachers and students need to be trained in order to obtain more effectiveness from the use of WebQuests. According to Norton-Meier (2003) a series of observations and interviews with adolescents Internet readers reveals that these readers create new comprehension strategies. These strategies help students in order to better understand what they are reading or, in the case of WebQuesting, this reading strategies provide them enough tools to speed up the searching process of information: Activate prior Knowledge: students reactivate their prior knowledge in order to locate relevant information Monitor comprehension: readers move from big ideas to small ones or details, with a emphasis on efficiency and speed when reading on the Internet. Repair comprehension: students reread texts on the Internet following the curve of a spiral, moving ever closer to the center and the answer to look for the question Determine important ideas: keywords are important for readers, by this means they form a mental plan for their intenet search. Synthesize: sometimes readers need to confirm her own understanding by orally join all the ideas from the text they have read on Internet. 4. CONCLUSIONS At the beginning, digital literacy was largely conceived as the ability to use a computer and to write in programming languages. Nowadays being digitally literate implies being able to understand texts in new media (as most medium have been/are being digitalized), to search and have critical focus about information (with the widespread of the Internet) and to be able to communicate with others through a variety of digital tools and applications (mobile, internet). All these skills belong to different disciplines: media studies; information sciences; communication theories. ICT usage is becoming more extensive across learners: more students are using technologies on a daily basis, for more time and for different drives. This use is moreover derived by the digitalisation of society in general, as many of the activities students undertake have a digital component. Exposure to digital tools related to all these different disciplines embraces the domains of work, learning and teaching. As society is becoming digitalized, the knowledge, attitudes and skills (KAS) that are needed to be digitally competent becomes diverse: being digitally literate today is not limited to the understanding of a certain digital text. For this reason, one of the challenges for nowadays teachers is to provide students enough tools to develop new skills of online reading. New forms of literacy call upon students to know how to read and write not only in the print world but also in the digital world. Every change implies some consequences and this shift in the way that students read changes the way they face this new challenge. Therefore, the idea that arises from this statements is the idea of the student autonomy. How can we as teachers provide students with the right tools to face this new literacy? Student will became autonomous learners as a result of a right training in these issues. WebQuest appears as a suitable combined way to immerse the students in a real world of Literacy, with real helpful texts. WebQuests promote the use of links to essential resources on the World Wide Web developing individual expertise and participation in final group processes. The use of Internet content in the WebQuest process offers a wide range of different text levels according to the student’s interests and necessities. Thus, WebQuests are not only a useful tool to develop the reading but also to carry out online reading strategies as I stated at the end of the previous point. This research provides an implication that WebQuest can promote the teaching of reading. The results of the research show that there are clear grades in the contrastive studies supporting the use of WebQuest to improve EFL learner’s level and motivation. 5. REFERENCES Alshumaimeri, Y. A. 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