The role of WebQuests in learning a foreign/second language
The term WebQuest has been defined as “Inquiry-oriented activities in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web”(Mosaic 1993). The use of WebQuest in language teaching is better than using the traditional ways of language learning and teaching, it has several advantages. One of these advantages could be that the use of WebQuest improves the students’ critical thinking. They will be encountered with lots of issues that they have to analyze and solve. They have to gather information, analyze, decide the suitable one, ask questions and summarize what they find.
WebQuests are student-oriented tasks, that require students to depend on themselves not on their teachers and collect information through out the provided resources not from their textbooks. WebQuests based on authentic tasks or problems that have to be done in groups. This will develop the students cooperative and collaborative learning. They will share experiences, discuss issues and what the suggested solutions. This work will be beneficial for their improvements of interacting skills. They have to define the role of each member, share the findings and relate them together.
The knowledge that the students have to gather or use when performing WebQuest tasks is enquiry-oriented language use. They have to use their own effort to search and gather any kind of information through out the provided resources. They will not just follow the textbook information. They also, have not to take the information only from their teachers. This will help students to become autonomous (and motivated) learners through the development of study/research skills and critical analysis.
Project-based learning is an instructional method that provides students with complex tasks based on challenging questions or problems that involve the students' problem solving and decision making. This approach supports the use of the WebQuests. It allows for a variety of learning styles and multiple forms of intelligence have a real world authentic orientation, take place in a risk free environment that have positive feedback and allows for student choice, and encourages higher-order thinking.
Finally, when I become a teacher one day Inshallah, I will use this type of task, that will make the students interested and excited to the learning process. I think that the traditional ways of teaching and learning have took enough time and the time now is for technological ways.
