Developing Speaking with 21st Century Digital Tools in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom:

Abstract

In a changing, dynamic world increasingly dependent on technologies, it is necessary to educate children so that they can participate fully in today’s and future society. Literacy thus needs much more than the traditional approaches to reading and writing in students’ first language. After analyzing the concept and implications of new literacies in foreign language learning, a quantitative study was carried out to explore Spanish primary education students’ perceptions (n = 82) on the development of new literacies in the English as a foreign language (EFL) lesson after using the online video discussion platform Flipgrid to practice their oral expression and create meanings in EFL during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis also aims to analyze whether there are differences based on gender, age and educational stage. The results show that the participants in this study were motivated to use this digital tool that enables them to make comments to their partners’ videos, send messages about the oral texts, and include additional media, among many other options, going then beyond reading texts on a computer screen. This study concludes with a series of considerations for possible future implementations.