0000000000482327
AUTHOR
Ana Gimeno-sanz
Assessment of competences in designing online preparatory materials for the Cambridge First Certificate in English examination
The implementation of the competence-based approach set out by the Bologna Declaration within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) entails important changes in learning processes and brings new approaches to content teaching and learning, inevitably affecting planning, methodology and assessment (Cano García, 2008). Such is the case of the design and development of the First Certificate in English Online Course & Tester at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV) by the CAMILLE research group. These materials, published through InGenio1, are split into two parts: a preparatory course and a tester platform. This article explores some of the key competences to be included in these p…
Developing a web-based system to create, deliver and assess language proficiency within the PAULEX Universitas Project
This study aims to examine the feasibility of a number of technical solutions implemented in a web-based system designed for the creation and management of online language exams within PAULEX Universitas, a project for the development of an online platform to design, deliver and assess the foreign language exam within the Spanish national University Entrance Examination. The paper provides an overview of the context and a discussion of current changes in Spanish ministerial policies, followed by a description of the PAULEX testing platform and a discussion on the technological solutions adopted. Lastly, the paper reflects upon a quantitative analysis derived from a pilot experience conducte…
Practice and assessment of oral skills in developing online preparatory materials through the InGenio authoring shell
The practice of oral skills is a basic requirement of learning or teaching a new language, as one of the main goals in the field of language learning is developing oral communicative competence, especially needed in contexts where the students¿ L2 is the vehicular language and therefore the main means of interaction. The InGenio online authoring tool allows designers of new materials, as well as language teachers and students, to rethink and imagine new ways of dealing with practice and assessment of listening and speaking skills thanks to the flexibility of its templates, resources and tools. This article explores the ways in which the InGenio utilities, solutions and learning materials ar…
Fostering general and specific competences through online language learning materials
This paper addresses how general and specific competences are dealt with and fostered through the Online First Certificate Course and Tester, designed by the CAMILLE Research Group in Spain. The debate and research on the role of competences is an ongoing issue within the field of higher education. Moreover, the new framework of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has made it more visible and has contributed towards designing and implementing new educational curricula based on a competence-based approach. Keywords: online language learning materials; planning; methodology; innovative approach
Actitudes docentes hacia los ejercicios de la Prueba de Acceso a la Universidad informatizada
Resumen El presente artículo forma parte de la investigación desarrollada en el proyecto Paulex Universitas con la intención de obtener información sobre los ítems más aceptados por los profesores de 2º de Bachillerato de cara al inicio de la fase de pruebas para examinar la viabilidad de la puesta en funcionamiento de la Prueba de Acceso a la Universidad (PAU) asistida por ordenador en España y, más específicamente, los siguientes aspectos: la posibilidad de automatización de la prueba, las tipologías de ejercicios más populares entre los profesores y la relación entre las mismas. Un total de 214 profesores respondieron a un cuestionario diseñado según el método Delphi, destinado a averigu…
The Use of Digital Storytelling for ESP in a Technical English Course for Aerospace Engineers.
Digital Storytelling is a powerful pedagogical tool for both students and educators, which started to be used for teaching and learning purposes a few years ago, becoming more and more popular over time. The use of digital storytelling in non-specific language learning contexts has been widely explored, as shown in the literature. However, its use in technical-scientific contexts of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has not been so widely studied. This paper explores a project of digital storytelling for ESP carried out at the Universitat Politècnica de València, in Spain. The methodology was divided into several stages: completing a pre- and a post-survey, learning about digital storytel…
Examining L2 Learners' Use of Engagement Strategies in Telecollaborative Written Interactions
Based on an intercultural telecollaboration project between two universities from either side of the Atlantic Ocean, this chapter analyzes written discourse produced by advanced learners of Spanish as a foreign language and higher intermediate learners of English as a foreign language in order to explore how second-language learners negotiate their ideological positions, create new knowledge, and build their arguments when discussing their first culture (C1) and second culture (C2) in telecollaborative written asynchronous interactions. Two research questions are addressed: a) the extent to which learners engage in a dialogic activity in online forums when discussing their C1 and C2, and b)…
Analysing students? perceptions of two learning and evaluation modalities in the InGenio FCE Online Course and Tester
Instructors have to make important decisions regarding the type of assessment that will finally be implemented when producing online learning materials, since this has a noticeable effect in terms of the methodology, the approach, and the attitude of all the actors involved (Goertler, 2011). This study investigates students? perception of tutor assessment and self-assessment in an online upper-intermediate level English course (described in Martínez-Sáez, 2015) and testing tool (described in Sevilla Pavón, 2013). After the implementation of these learning resources through the online authoring tool and content manager InGenio4, 95 students participated in the study conducted for the validat…