Abstract:

Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, undergraduate university programs in Chile switched from on-campus to online instruction; the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teaching program at Universidad de Atacama was no exception. Course instructors have adapted their practices to increase students’ opportunities to learn and use language while studying from home over the internet. Under this scenario, Technology of Information and Communication tools are a useful strategy to foster oral fluency in English when combined with a pattern of discourse organization. In this virtual presentation, we highlight one effective use of computer-mediated instructional tools to support EFL learners’ language development.

Effective communication in a foreign language starts with an understandable and organized set of ideas that follow a logical, consistent pattern. The Problem-Solution pattern provides focus and guidance to a speaker’s oral discourse to ensure that the stated aim is fulfilled. EFL learners, however, struggle with logical structuring of discourse and need additional guidance in organizing and presenting ideas.

With the goal of increasing students’ ability to organize their ideas when retelling narratives, the researchers created an intervention in which students learned to use infographics to structure their creation of problem-solution narratives. An infographic is a form of communication that presents information in visual form. By representing relationships spatially and graphically, it can seize attention and improve comprehension. It can be incredibly effective, thanks to its capacity to divide complex information into easy-to-understand elements.

Twenty-five Chilean students with CEFR A2-B1 English proficiency participated in this interpretative action research study which explores the use of this tool combined with the practice of the pattern enhances oral performance. The teacher-researcher introduced the concept of infographics in conjunction with instruction in the problem-solution pattern in oral narratives. Over three weeks, students analyzed model narratives and infographics, then created their own and recorded themselves narrating the story.

Data collection included pre- and posttest screen capture recording of students narrating common fairy tales to identify the use of coherence devices connected with parts of the problem-solution pattern, as well as the infographics students created themselves. The recordings were analyzed for the use of coherence devices, and the infographics were analyzed for students’ use of multimodal affordances in retelling the stories. Preliminary findings suggest the infographics supported students to better structure their narratives and to include coherence devices in their retelling. Implications for language teaching and research are provided.

Keywords:

Infographics, Problem-Solution Pattern, Oral Performance, Virtual Context.