THE USE OF ENGLISH EDUCATIONAL PORTALS IN ESP TEACHING AND LEARNING

ABSTRACT:

Besides reading and writing, the learning and development of listening and speaking skills have affected and worried a great number of learners, especially in the ESP context. Some studies have focused their attention on finding these difficulties and proposing solutions that can perhaps minimize these problems. Aiming to contribute to the debate, this study investigates listening and speaking activities displayed in five English educational portals with the objective of identifying what kind of pedagogical tasks and exercises are suggested and their textual configuration in the digital context. The results revealed that the majority of activities can be considered as additional instructional materials which can be used in the classroom because of the relevant issues presented. However, to be used directly in the digital context these activities need to be reformulated and adapted to allow teachers and learners to use all the technological resources in an effective and functional way.

KEYWORDS:
Educational portals; Activities; Listening; Speaking