Abstract:

Man had an enormous need to communicate:
In each country, mother tongue turns out to be directly related to its social participation given the close relationship of language with the environment that surrounds it.

It is through language that man communicates, has access to information, can express his opinions or defend his point of views, share and /or build worldviews or produce new knowledge.

Language learning proves to be crucial for the progress of citizens and for the development of a nation. Portuguese teaching and learning (a language spoken in many countries such as Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe and Mozambique), has been much discussed since the decade of 80, focusing on the need to improve this process, especially in the country where the language originated (Portugal).

It is essential that students can read, write, communicate and interpret the language, correctly. However, apparently, one of the main difficulties schools feel is to teach their students to read, write and express themselves properly.

Nowadays teachers have before it a new generation of students who live every day with technology. This reality should be considering when planning and defining strategies and resources to be used in the learning and teaching process.

A first change in teaching Portuguese as mother tongue appears in the 80's where the literature already identifies some studies about how to teach and learn this language.

This paper describes the results of a study carried out in Portuguese schools, in order to identify new ways that can improve the process of Portuguese teaching and learning.

In this study, we designed a course named TAEP (Technology Supporting Portuguese Teaching), supported by a LMS, where we carried out a series of experiments in some schools in Portugal in order to assess the potential and the constraints of the use of technology in Portuguese teaching and learning process.

The study addresses four variables: students, teachers, "the Portuguese language" and technology.
The technologies used include mobile devices, lecture recording, production of audio and video, access to online dictionaries, themed games and collaborative writing.

The results suggest new forms of Portuguese teaching and learning, appearing to have potential to contribute to a better language learning process, motivating students in this process.

Keywords:

Language education, Portuguese teaching/learning, Language, Technologies, TAEP.