LING611 Thorne reading

Thorne, S.L. (2006) New technologies and Additional Language Learning. CALPER Working paper No. 7. The Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research. The Pennsylvania State University. pp1-26.

This review essay, as the author Thorne calls it, seemed more like a computer techie’s literature review of the research on the Internet’s impact(s) on communication. Three topics of Internet communication technologies most related to the educational setting that Thorne chose to focus on were: chat, cross-cultural communication in second language education, and additional language learning for participation. The issue of equity as a factor in the incorporation of digital technology in the classroom was strongly expressed to be a serious issue that the education system cannot afford to ignore, especially because the borders being crossed today from the Internet should indicate to the schools the importance of utilizing the it in a meaningful way for language learners.
After reading this paper, the strongest point I got out of it was the issue of equity. Now that I’ve read about equity issues caused by the Internet, I can see this problem in our school district, which has laptops for jr. high and high school students, to use. This equity issue arises when it comes to their eligibility for Internet privileges. Even in my class, I’ve used the computers as an incentive for staying on task and at times as a reward for good student behavior. I did eventually realize of who was benefiting and who wasn’t from this system within my classroom, but now imagine the guilt trip I’ve been having about the ramifications! I’m sure the students are aware of this issue. I guess this is where I’d have to have a class discussion about this issue to find an equitable solution, I hope. This feels like the first and least I could do until other solutions are found, which I noticed weren’t specifically suggested in this article.