Mar Gutierrez-Colon PlanaUniversidad Rovira i Virgili | URV · Department of English and German Studies (DEAA)
Mar Gutierrez-Colon Plana
Ph.D.
About
64
Publications
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Introduction
Mar Gutiérrez-Colón at the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in Tarragona, Spain, holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics. She has coordinated the URV Official Master's Degree in Foreign Language Teaching (EFL). She has led research projects on the use of new technologies in language acquisition and distance learning (eLearning and mobile learning), and has published key articles in these fields.
Additional affiliations
February 1996 - present
January 1998 - July 2014
Publications
Publications (64)
This study investigates the digital competence levels of Lebanese preservice and in-service teachers using the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu). The research aims to explore the existing gap in digital competence between these two groups through a cross-sectional descriptive survey, involving 170 in-service te...
This study investigates the digital competence levels of Lebanese student teachers and in-service teachers using the DigCompEdu framework. The study employs a cross-sectional descriptive survey design, analyzing data from 170 in-service teachers with varying years of experience and 399 student teachers across five academic years. Results indicate t...
This paper explores the use of gamification in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) within Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL). The aim is to investigate the effects of a gamified learning environment, specifically Moodle, on psychobehavioural factors and English learning achievement, and to discuss the affordances of gamification based on empi...
This study investigates the digital competence levels of Lebanese student teachers and in-service teachers using the DigCompEdu framework. The study employs a cross-sectional descriptive survey design, analyzing data from 170 in-service teachers with varying years of experience and 399 student teachers across five academic years. Results indicate t...
This chapter aims to pinpoint the features characterizing a mobile app that make it effective to learn a foreign language. To reach this aim, the authors used two types of instruments: publicly available efficacy reports on four popular language learning apps and a framework for evaluating language learning apps. A correlation study was conducted b...
The study focused on examining the self-perceived digital competences of Lebanese school teachers and compared their opinions to those of school leaders. The study aimed to investigate whether the digital competence levels of school teachers meet the needs of schools as perceived by school leaders. The European Framework for the Digital Competence...
The impact of digitalisation on everyday life has necessitated the need for learners to acquire digital competence as part of their education. In order to prepare students to become digital citizens, it has become necessary for teachers to acquire and implement digital competence in the classroom. This study applied the DigCompEdu framework to Leba...
Testing MS Translate as a speech-to-text translation tool to remove linguistic barriers in a multilingual class.
With an increase in international student enrollment and participation in student mobility programs year over year, the goal of this project was to determine whether Microsoft Translate could be used as a simultaneous translation tool in the classroom to help foreign students understand course material, especially in situations where the instructor...
Este artículo presenta un modelo para la evaluación de la competencia pragmática y gramatical del español para estudiantes sinohablantes. En concreto, se presentan dos tests, ambos creados especialmente para estos alumnos y se realiza un estudio piloto para comprobar si existe una correlación entre el nivel de gramática y el de pragmática en alumno...
The on-going implementation of the new curriculum of the new education system in Kenya includes the administration of technology in the classroom. In this study, this was achieved through the use of a gamified app in a local private school in Kenya, a gamified Swahili app. As Swahili is the language that is Kenya's national and one of two official...
El objetivo principal de este trabajo es presentar un test de nivel de comprensión pragmática para estudiantes sinohablantes de español como lengua extranjera. Este artículo de investigación describe de una manera sucinta la creación y desarrollo del test y lo presenta íntegramente en el anexo al final del mismo para que pueda ser utilizado por pro...
L’objectiu principal d’aquesta recerca és analitzar els
esdeveniments referents a Catalunya recollits per la
premsa internacional durant l’any 2020, la manera en
què aquests assumptes s’han tractat, així com la imatge
de Catalunya que se’n deriva. Per dur a terme aquest
objectiu, hem analitzat totes les peces periodístiques
en les quals es menciona...
p>Using the concept of a journey through time, this article examines the theoretical foundation underpinning the use of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool in the language classroom. It describes the arguments developed by Dewey, Piaget and Vygotsky, which form the basis of social constructivist theory and the work of Kolb from which experie...
This paper examines factors relating to teaching English at a public university in LAO PDR in order to, firstly, ascertain those issues that inhibit the development of proficiency in English and, secondly, to identify possible solutions. The following research question was posed: What factors are needed in Lao PDR to improve
English language learni...
El objetivo de este estudio es la elaboración de los parámetros que deberían reunir los manuales de E/LE cuando sus destinatarios son alumnos de español de fuera de las fronteras lingüísticas españolas. La hipótesis principal es que el mejor manual debería enseñar a la vez la lengua española y la cultura española. Para ellos se ha creado un corpus...
If the studies of pragmatics of the interlanguage are few, there are still fewer that are carried out for the development of the pragmatic competence assessment in foregin/second language through tests that evaluate pragmatics. There is neither a level test to measure the pragmatic understanding of Spanish nor is there a test specific for students...
Knowledge building occurs when students work together and participate in idea-centred discussions where they share information and create knowledge collectively. This research explores whether knowledge building in knowledge forums using English as the lingua franca can facilitate in foreign language learning. An analysis was done on how Catalan st...
Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) is a fast-developing field that is constantly growing and evolving in education. There is a lack of publications focusing on implementation studies of MALL as a means to enhance second language/foreign language (L2) reading comprehension. Building on Burston's (2013). Mobile-Assisted Language Learning: a Sel...
Research on self‐disgust is relevant to psychopathologic tendencies because it has been shown to play a critical role in several mental disorders. Examining self‐disgust and exploring its role in mental health are significant goals. The purpose of this study was to translate the questionnaire for the assessment of self‐disgust (QASD) into Chinese a...
h4>This paper focuses on a fairly new motivational technique, the so-called Gamification, which consists of introducing game mechanics in non-game environments to promote motivation and engagement. By the turn of the 21rst century, Gamification took off in the business field and soon after became an attractive concept for researchers and profession...
El objetivo principal de este estudio es la creación de un test de nivel de comprensión pragmática para estudiantes sinohablantes de español como lengua extranjera. Los resultados de este estudio muestran un test estandarizado que cumple con los requisitos de utilidad (autenticidad, interactividad, impacto, practicabilidad y valoración y puntuación...
Mobile assisted language learning (MALL) has developed and gained importance
over the years in foreign language learning settings. However, mobile phones are
still perceived as distracting devices in most of the schools. Within the field of
second and foreign language learning, one of the most difficult things for school
teachers is to give feedbac...
This study presents the results of an experiment designed to determine whether knowledge building can facilitate foreign language acquisition. We examined how groups of Catalan students in secondary schools worked together on collaborative writing tasks in English, their foreign language. The students were participating in the Knowledge Building In...
This paper presents the first phase of a study conducted to analyze Knowledge Building forums for evidence of second language acquisition. This study is an analysis of the posts within an existing forum in search of evidence of foreign language learning. The analysis found that the collaborative writing project shows evidence that the students pass...
Kenya has traditionally adopted a teacher-centred teaching methodology and is now aiming to make improvements by replacing this approach with an education system that is more child focused. The purpose of this study is to examine the Kenyan teaching system. It is an exploratory pilot study, which tries to establish whether governmental directions m...
This study investigated the effect of cooperative learning and blog instruction in a culturally mixed group on decreasing intercultural communication apprehension. The study was implemented in classrooms that include Lebanese and non-Lebanese participants at two universities in Lebanon. The study used a pretest–posttest experimental design, whereby...
Abstract
This paper presents the first phase of a study conducted to analyze Knowledge Building forums for evidence of second language acquisition. This study is an analysis of the posts within an existing forum in search of evidence of foreign language learning. The analysis found that the collaborative writing project shows evidence that the stu...
This study investigated the effect of blog-mediated instruction and culturally -mixed group work on enhancing the perceptions of intercultural communication and writing projects.
This study assumes that integrating blog-mediated instruction along with small
culturally -mixed group work might improve the university students’ perceptions
of both intercultural communication and writing research projects. The study
rationale emerges from the meta-analysis of the literature which asserts that the
current technological developmen...
The present study reports the perceptions that the teachers have of the usefulness of a combined strategy instruction for the improvement of the reading comprehension skill in students with dyslexia. These students are placed in regular classes on a full-time basis (inclusion) and their situation has not been changed for the purpose of this study....
En el presente estudio analizaremos, en primer lugar, la evolución lingüística a través de la historia en Argelia: como han influido los diversos pueblos que se habían instalado en alguna época en esta región, y ver la permanencia o no de esta influencia hasta hoy día. En segundo lugar, tratamos de introducir la realidad lingüística en Argelia: los...
En el presente estudio analizaremos, en primer lugar, la evolución lingüística a través de la historia en Argelia: como han influido los diversos pueblos que se habían instalado en alguna época en esta región, y ver la permanencia o no de esta influencia hasta hoy día. En segundo lugar, tratamos de introducir la realidad lingüística en Argelia: los...
This study reports the relative effectiveness of the inclusion theory when the combined strategy instruction on improving the reading comprehension of narrative and expository texts for students with dyslexia is implemented. A total sample of 298 students of English as a foreign language from both public and private schools participated in the stud...
El pilar básico de la educación continua es el hecho de que provee a la población con las competencias necesarias para un mundo laboral cambiante. El modelo de la educación industrial de los años 60 está totalmente obsoleto. Este cambio de paradigma coincide con la cuarta fase en la evolución de la tecnología educativa (que empezó en los 90 con la...
This paper addresses the conclusions drawn from four Mobile-Assisted
Language Learning (MALL) projects conducted at the Rovira i
Virgili University in Tarragona, Spain, over a period of five years. More specifically,
the authors discuss three of the challenges that stood out upon conducting
these projects. The first, in terms of implementing the te...
This chapter focuses on the results of a project conducted with university students in Spain to explore the benefits and drawbacks of using instant short messaging systems such as WhatsApp to improve learners’ reading skills in English as a foreign language (EFL). The authors report on the rationale underlying the project, the pedagogical criteria...
En este artículo se abordan los resultados de un proyecto realizado con estudiantes universitarios españoles para analizar los pros y los contras de utilizar sistemas de mensajería instantánea de telefonía móvil, tal como WhatsApp, para mejorar la comprensión lectora en inglés como lengua extranjera. Los autores se referirán a la motivación del est...
Actualmente, las universidades españolas acogen cada año a un gran número de alumnos que quieren aprender el español en programas de inmersión lingüística. Sin embargo, los estilos de formación que han desarrollado en su tradición de aprendizaje distan mucho de los adquiridos por aprendices de lenguas en Occidente. Esto hace que, a menudo, las post...
Background:
The reason for this study was the low interest that high school students, particularly females, show for the subject of mechanical engineering (ME). We assumed that this problem was partly due to: (a) lack of understanding of the tasks involved in ME, and (b) a distorted and negative perception of the professional environment and worki...
This paper focuses on the results of a project conducted with university students in Spain to explore the benefits and drawbacks of using instant short messaging systems such as WhatsApp to improve learners' reading skills in English as a foreign language (EFL). The authors will report on the rationale underlying the project, the pedagogical criter...
This paper discusses how virtual learners of English at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) use hedges (a strategy by which speakers mitigate and soften the force of their utterances) in written discourse (electronic mails). It begins with a description of the methodology, in particular the taxonomy used, which adopts and transforms elements...
p>The aim of this experimental study was to find out the potential of using mobile phones in teaching English as a foreign language, specifically the use of SMS as a support tool in the EFL class. The research questions formulated were: (1) Is using SMS messages via a mobile phone an effective tool in terms of motivation and engagement? (2) What ty...
Using students' diaries as a frame of reference, this research project set out to learn more about how they experience foreign language classes in their first university year, over two semester periods (from September to June of the academic year 2007/08). The diaries were produced by 35 students of English Studies at the Universitat Rovira i Virgi...
This article investigates the use and function of written formulaic sequences and its relation to second language proficiency level (English). This is a cross-sectional study in which data are gathered from 138 students from 5th and 6th grade (from 10 to 12 years old) from 8 different schools in Catalonia. The paper analyzes: 1) the relationship be...
The present study is based on a previous pilot study (Gutiérrez-Colon, 2008)[1]. The present study aimed at widening the scope of the pilot study and increased the sample size in number of participants, degree courses and number of universities. This time, four Spanish universities were involved, and the number of participants was 197, who were reg...
Many language teachers, students, and institutions of virtual learning environments are well acquainted with the feelings of loneliness and frustration that many students experience due to the fact that many virtual language courses base their methodology on simply uploading the material into the virtual classroom. Teachers should be aware of the l...
Many language teachers, students, and institutions of virtual learning environments are well acquainted with the feelings of loneliness and frustration that many students experience due to the fact that many virtual language courses base their methodology on simply uploading the material into the virtual classroom. Teachers should be aware of the l...
Aquest estudi analitza l'ús de la llengua anglesa als missatges electrònics dels alumnes de l'assignatura d'anglès de la UOC. L'estudi es basa principalment en els matisadors o hedges (una estratègia per la qual els aprenents d'anglès mitiguen i suavitzen el seu discurs) que apareixen en els seus textos. L'article comença fent una descripció del ma...
