Göteborgs universitet
Elin Ericsson, PhD student at the Department of Applied Information Technology at University of Gothenburg
I have a background in teaching French, Spanish and English and experience as a development and process manager within digitalisation and education. I have a great interest in foreign languages and how the implementation of Information Technology (IT) can be understood in relation to language learning and teaching. In autumn 2018 I became a PhD Student at the Department of Applied Information Technology and is now part of the research school CUL (Center for Education Science and Teacher Research) and the national graduate school GRADE focusing on digital technologies in education.
My research interest is about the use of digital tools and how they can transform and complement the learning and teaching of foreign languages (third language like French and Spanish in Sweden). The focus of my thesis will be on investigating if and in what ways technology could enhance the development of oral proficiency by using interactive digital tools for practising speaking and their learning analytics for refining the skills. The study will use digital tools with synchronous interaction with a chatbot or intelligent avatar (applying speech recognition) in real-life scenarios in an immersed or virtual reality (VR). The research project will include teachers, students, the chosen digital tools and the context.
The research area is within the fields of TELL (Technology Enhanced Language Learning), and SLA (Second Learning Acquisition). The theoretical framing is a Sociocultural perspective of learning. A long-term goal is to contribute to bridging the gap between schools and research in order to transform newly gained knowledge from practical education research to students and teachers. It could be beneficial for both students and teachers by raising the understanding of the new landscape of language learning, changed roles, VR, oral proficiency, and the technology transformation’s possibilities and limitations within language learning and teaching of foreign languages.
Supervisors are Johan Lundin and Sylvana Sofkova Hashemi.