Editorial
Josephine Taylor*

It is no longer necessary or novel to point out the increasingly pervasive role that technology plays in our lives, and by extension, in education and learning. As so many of our daily encounters and
experiences are mediated through technology, and specifically online
communication and information, these have come to define us. So
swiftly have computer-mediated experiences come to characterize
many, or for some, most of our interactions, operations and discussions,
it has become quite difficult to describe this reality at any given moment.
In fact, many of us no longer turn to print publications for information
or trends, but rather are participants in the global online reality that
unfolds and is simultaneously the subject of commentary and opinion as
we experience it. Print and even online academic publications struggle
to keep up, and research on the subject of technology in particular is
growing, but changes in online communication and information often
outstrip the insights that are the subject of many research studies.

Such is the challenge for a publication such as GIST when
reviewing articles dealing with technology and learning. It is necessary
for editors to participate in the continuing conversation on the subject
so that we might have the criteria to judge the current state of debate
and research. For example, it is necessary to push inquiry beyond
certain well-treated themes. For example, scholarship that solely
extols the benefits of technology for teaching and learning does little to
provide insights into its use. Obviously, technology is neither good nor
bad; rather it is a given mediator of human relationships and activity,
which like any tool, may be used in a wide variety of ways, with infinite
purposes, good, bad, useful, or harmful. Another perhaps insightful, but
already well-treated topic in the literature is that of digital natives vs.
immigrants, often used to explain why students’ lives are more mediated
by technology than those of many teachers. This situation has led some
or many teachers to be put in the uncomfortable position of knowing
less than our students. However, the conclusions here are also clear and
obvious. Learning from students is a vital part of any teaching-learning
relationship. As far as learning about and using technology, teachers
have a responsibility as with any tool to explore the ways in which
these tools might aid us in our desire to engage our learners in relevant
experiences and in-depth encounters with content.

No. 9 (July - December 2014)

What is needed in the scholarship on technology and language
is inquiry into how phenomena such as multimodal discourse and
digitally mediated interaction affect language and communication,
teaching and learning. In general, educators would benefit from well-
researched questions dealing with key issues that emerge from within
those experiences mediated by online or digital tools and resources;
both of these in an effort to understand more deeply how technological
and digital tools impact teaching, learning and communication. In this
spirit, GIST is quite pleased this semester to offer several such studies
in the hopes that our journal may contribute to a deeper understanding
of technology in our classrooms and our lives.

This issue of the journal also offers a range of other studies from
Asia, Africa and America, dealing with the teaching of specific language
skills, namely speaking, as well as writing and literacy. It also offers
studies that provide insights into the ever-challenging issue of engaging
school-aged learners of English in contemporary issues such as the
environment and problems of violence in our schools and neighborhoods.

Our issue this semester leads off with a study by Palacios and
Chapetón of a program in a public school in Bogotá that focused
on the use of contemporary songs to raise students’ awareness of
issues affecting their lives and to provide a vehicle through which to
engage learners with the English language. Results demonstrate that
by connecting with students’ realities and interests, teachers can tackle
the common refrain that “students are just not interested in English”
in a positive way. Liliana Niño’s article on differentiated instruction
provides insights into the Procesos Básicos program in Bogotá,
which offers literacy and English language instruction to Internally
Displaced Persons. This article also demonstrates the complexity of
making instruction effective in circumstances of delayed or interrupted
schooling while at the same time ensuring learners of their rights.

Mara Salmona shares important research from a bilingual
immersion school in Bogotá that suggests that the use of and instruction
in the first language with very young learners acts as an important
support for learning the second language. GIST is particularly proud
to publish this study, and solicits the bilingual community in Colombia
to continue with relevant research into this topic. This study, as most
research on this topic, points to the supportive role of the first language
when learning a second language. These findings run counter to
pervasive thinking on the topic in our context, which in many cases,
has led most bilingual immersion schools to prohibit the use of the first
language under the assumption that it interferes with or delays second
language learning.

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This issue also shares studies on processes of language learning
and teaching, in both cases offering strong cases for researching learning
processes from learners’ rather than solely teachers’ perspectives. The
first in these articles is Robert Coté’s study of the process of peer review
in a writing course. The study argues for the benefits of peer assessment
and demonstrates that learners are both capable of providing pertinent
feedback as well as considering and following their peers’ input.
Karbalaei and Taji investigate the use of compensation strategies
in students’ speaking. Their findings are consistent with research on
the topic that demonstrates that learners are active agents in their
own construction of meaning, resorting to a range of communication,
specifically compensation strategies when attempting interaction in a
foreign language.

The active role of learners as active agents in their own language
use is given voice in Carlos Arias’ narrative case study of an individual
from the island of San Andres (Colombia). The article outlines how
the subject assumes an active and agentive role in constructing his
linguistic identify through the conscious use of English, Spanish and
Creole in daily, context-specific interaction.

It is with great satisfaction that GIST contributes to the discussion
on technology and learning described earlier with the contributions
of three articles dedicated to the subject. Steve Bode Ekundayo
provides a timely, well-documented, in-depth study of conventions
of textese and e-mailese in Nigerian English. His findings argue that
the development of these new conventions are linguistic devices
coherent with the evolution of language and communication, and do
not pose a danger to the language in the form of “improper” usage.
Yuranny Marcela Romero discusses the role of online interaction in
a blended English language learning environment, and Roux, Trejo
and González contribute further to this discussion in their study of
students’ perceptions of support in a distance education course. Both
studies point to the importance of mentoring and support in the online
environment. These findings urge teachers and researchers to devote
attention to the ways in which said support might be more effective and
sustained in order to benefit learners.

Further support for learners’ active engagement with media and
content is provided by Castillo and Rojas’ action research study of
blending content on environmental care in the English language class
with school-aged children. Findings are consistent with Palacios and
Chapetón’s article that students can connect with language through
attention to stimulating topics and linkages to events in their own lives.

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This semester’s issue offers one reflection article, also dealing with
the integration of technology and hands-on student-centered learning
experiences in biliteracy centers for Spanish and English speakers in
the U.S. The centers proposed focus on the development of integrated
projects focusing on language arts and other academic content areas.
The projects are supported by literacy development and a wide range of
digital tools. Proposals such as this form an important basis for future
research as to their effectiveness.

Finally, GIST is pleased to provide a book review of a new local
publication, Teaching and Learning another Language Strategically,
by Rigoberto Castillo, also an author in this issue. Aglaya Weidner
reviews the text and offers first-hand experience using it with learners
in Germany. With this review, our final issue this year gives voice to
local and international scholars and researchers, and continues to foster
connections and discussion through their efforts. We hope that our
readers find the journal relevant and thought provoking at the same
time, and we welcome all comments and contributions.

Editor

*Josephine Taylor received her BA in English and French
from Emory University and her MS in the Teaching of English
as Second Language from Georgia State University, both in
Atlanta, Georgia. She has been a teacher of English language
and linguistics for more than 25 years, as well as administrator,
curriculum designer, and external reviewer of language
education programs in the U.S. and Colombia. She has also
worked extensively in English language publishing, as author,
course developer and editor. Josephine is currently the Editor
of GIST Education and Learning Research Journal and Adjunct
Professor in the undergraduate and graduate bilingual teaching
programs at the Institución Universitaria Colombo Americana,
ÚNICA.

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