Foreign Language Teaching and Learning in a Reading Comprehension and Writing Online Module: A Higher Education Analysis

Abstract

The Spanish section of the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics at The University of the West Indies at Saint Augustine decided to begin teaching a two hour module of the courses: SPAN 1001 and 1002 to first year students, in the online mode in the academic year of 2014-2015. This paper’s principal objective is to reflect upon students’ and teachers’ perspectives on benefits and challenges of the blended learning mode of delivery for Spanish programme. It examines the online reading and writing module to assess student writing interaction as well as to determine best practice in the teaching of these skills in the foreign language at the tertiary level in a twenty-first century Caribbean context. In order to carry out this reflection, action research was used therefore its data collection consisted of observations of the course design before and after the innovation, student surveys and teacher interviews. Among the most relevant findings are: students and teachers prefer to have an online delivery of this class rather than the previous face to face class; the variety of activities lead to higher interaction among students; change of roles for teachers and students, fostering more active learning among students; and a rise of digital culture for academic purposes. However, some restructuring is required in terms of teachers’ feedback delivery and students’ and teachers’ required time for activities. As recommendations the paper suggests continued promoting of this online module since it develops both technological literacy and higher written interaction in the first year of the Spanish programme.