English and the Language Arts: Opening New Doors to Literature and Literacy

Chapter 5

The world of a language extends beyond imaginable words. It grows bigger with each opportunity to explore and to learn more about the language. The more exposure to different tools to learn it, the easier it is for the learner to be proficient. Teaching students to read and write a languagewith the Internet is an excellent way of helping students learn fast. The Internet offers a world of opportunities; it functions as both the source of new challenges as well as the source of excellent instructional supports. The Internet provides teachers with the necessary tools to present learning experiences that last forever. In the process of learning a language, students have the opportunity to participate in electronic discussions about famous books and writers, view a video of an important author explaining her writing process, read eBooks, post comments and ask questions, collaborate with other students to create projects, join a global discussion group via email, and much more. Teachers give students the opportunity to participate in collaborative projects with students from around the world, in turn, helping students build a deeper appreciation for the differences and important aspects of other cultures.

Several techniques allow teachers to present many opportunities to enrich children’s literacy experiences. They are enhanced by integrating the Internet into classroom instruction. Some of the techniques include:
· Teachers helping and getting ideas from one another, visiting other teachers’ websites
· Teachers creating instructional resources that other classroom teachers can use
· Teachers posting Internet Project ideas for others to join and learn from their successful experiences
· Teachers planning new visions for literacy and learning

The internet provides opportunity for supporting literacy learning by supporting all four of the language modalities: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. It allows students to communicate about their work. As students use the Internet to create projects, not only do they communicate in ways never done before, but they also increase their writing skills as they read and write to collect information needed for the project. In addition, Internet projects help with the development of speaking and listening skills. Listening and speaking experiences evolve naturally out of Internet projects, as students exchange information and plan their presentation. Also, students are more careful with their grammar because they know that their projects are posted on the Web for everyone to see and comment on.

Another reason that makes the Internet a great tool is the fact that students can become writers at an early age. They can publish their work and invite comments from others, correspond with experts about their writing, read responses to their writing, and write messages back to others. One site that opens new doors to authentic writing experiences is Poetryexpress. Here the students get ideas for creative writing. This site walks students through the poetry writing process and provides different types of poems to get them started.

In closing, as a Spanish teacher I have experienced the power of the Internet to teach languages. Because students are able to copy and paste text, images, videos, and audio, among others, they have the opportunity to create great multimedia projects that enhances the learning of a particular language. Also, teachers benefit from the vast amount of resources available to language learners. Students can view other students’ projects and more. Because the Internet permits rapid, written and oral communication between students around the world, they can practice the language in authentic settings such as speaking Spanish with a native speaker. What I really enjoy the most about the new literacies is that the Internet makes it possible for them to be seen by others, to be public. Through the Internet, teachers communicate with one another to help each other by sharing ideas to improve the teaching of a language.