Primer semestre de 2019 ▪ pp.

177-196

Digital Literacy
Segunda época
N.o
49
and Basic Self-Regulation
Habits in Early Childhood
Learning of English as
a Foreign Language

Alfabetización Alfabetização
Digital y hábitos básicos Digital e hábitos básicos
de autorregulación de de autorregulação de
aprendizaje de inglés aprendizagem de inglês
como lengua extranjera como língua estrangeira
en población infantil na população infantil To cite this article

Arias Soto, L. y González Gutiérrez, Y. (2019).

Digital Literacy and Basic Self-Regulation
Habits in Early Childhood Learning of English
as a Foreign Language. Folios, 49, 177-196.
doi: 10.17227/Folios.49-9404

Luz Dary Arias Soto*

Yury Andrea González Gutiérrez**

Article received
26 ▪ 10 ▪ 2017

Article approved
* Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, School of Humanities, Languages Department, Bogotá, Colombia. 20 ▪ 06 ▪ 2018
E-mail: larias@pedagogica.edu.co
** Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, Cali, Colombia.
E-mail: y.gonzalez@uao.edu.co

pp. 177-196 177

 Segunda época
N.o
49
Primer semestre de 2019 ▪ pp. 177-196

Abstract
This article is a report on how a group of young learners improved their speaking skill and sub-skills and enhanced their self-
regulation by means of digital literacy in their process of learning English as a foreign language (efl). The main goal of the
investigation was to determine the possible effect of using Information and Communication Technology (ict) tools on overcoming
the difficulties that a group of first graders had when expressing progressive actions orally. The study was done with a group
of first graders in a private school of Bogotá. Data was collected by means of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews,
voice recordings and a form to be completed by the students’ parents. The results indicate that the students improved their
speaking skills, particularly in regards to intonation, pronunciation, and extent when expressing continuous actions, besides
fostering some basic self-regulatory attitudes.

Keywords
young learners; digital literacy; speaking skills; self-regulation; efl (English as a foreign language)

Resumen
Este es el informe de una investigación acerca de cómo un grupo de niños mejoró sus habilidades y micro habilidades de
expresión oral y su autorregulación por medio de la alfabetización digital en su proceso de aprendizaje de inglés como lengua
extranjera. El objetivo principal de esta investigación fue determinar el efecto del uso de herramientas de la tecnología de
la información y la comunicación (tic) en la superación de la dificultad de un grupo de estudiantes de primer grado al
expresar acciones progresivas de manera oral. El estudio se llevó a cabo con un grupo de niños de primer grado en un
colegio privado de Bogotá. Los instrumentos utilizados para la recolección de datos fueron cuestionarios, una entrevista
semiestructurada, grabaciones de audio y un formato para que los padres diligenciaran. Los resultados indican que los
estudiantes mejoraron las micro habilidades de expresión oral, tales como entonación, pronunciación y extensión, además
de desarrollar algunas actitudes básicas de autorregulación.

Palabras clave
Estudiantes jóvenes; alfabetismo digital; expresión oral; autorregulación; inglés como lengua extranjera

Resumo
Este é o relatório de uma pesquisa sobre como um grupo de crianças melhorou suas habilidades e micro-habilidades de
expressão oral e sua autorregulação mediante a alfabetização digital em seu processo de aprendizagem de inglês como língua
estrangeira. O objetivo principal desta pesquisa foi determinar o efeito do uso da tecnologia da informação e comunicação
(tic) como ferramenta para superar a dificuldade de um grupo de estudantes de primeiro ano ao expressar ações progressivas
de forma oral. O estudo foi realizado com um grupo de crianças de primeiro ano em um colégio particular em Bogotá. Os
instrumentos utilizados para a coleta de dados foram: questionários, uma entrevista semi-estruturada, gravações de áudio
e uma ficha para os pais completarem. Os resultados assinalam que os estudantes melhoraram as micro-habilidades de
expressão oral, como entonação, pronúncia e extensão, além de desenvolver algumas atitudes básicas de autorregulação.

Palavras-chave
estudantes jovens; alfabetismos digital; expressão oral; autorregulação; inglês como língua estrangeira

178
 Digital Literacy and Basic Self-Regulation Habits
in Early Childhood Learning of English as a Foreign Language
Luz Dary Arias Soto / Yury Andrea González Gutiérrez


Introduction having inquired about the criteria behind its use, it

was found that neither the students nor their parents
The new trends and the latest digital tools that have
knew how or why these tools were used in class. It
appeared to make our lives and mainly education
was also determined that several tools had not been
more accessible and practical do not only require
used appropriately by students, parents and even
users to own the latest digital equipment and have
teachers, and that there was not enough awareness
specialized knowledge to understand and use it, but
of the real benefits that the educational community
also to have basic digital literacy to take advantage
could get from the responsible and conscious use
of all those tools and their relevant virtual environ-
of technology-mediated tools. This conjecture
ments. Teachers and students as digital users must
was reinforced during the application of the needs
understand that, to achieve excellent results while
analysis and assessment of the quality of speaking
studying or learning by those digital means, they
production and oral skills. The results confirmed
need to know that, if they are literate enough to use
that, although students used and liked digital con-
digital tools, the process of teaching, learning and
tent to study and to practice English, those devices
practice will be more enriched.
were not being well used for the learning process of
When using digital media tools wisely and being English as a foreign language.
aware of their possible benefits, digital users can
Additionally, the use of a voice recording made
acquire digital literacies—for instance, multimo-
during the class and some empirical observations
dality, which allows users to combine the different
revealed that the students did not have the confi-
modes in order to create original digital productions
dence to talk about personal information in English.
as defined by Kress (as cited in Beach, Campano,
It was observed that, when responding, students
Edminston, & Borgmann, 2010). This suggests that,
displayed different behaviors like hesitation, the use
with the conscious use of digital environments,
of Spanish, answering with incomplete sentences, or
media and ict tools, students can improve their way
limited oral production. These students could not
of learning, as in the particular case of this study. As
talk about a given topic for more than a few seconds.
Blanchard and Moore (2010) explain, students from
early ages can also take advantage of technology All these considerations led the researchers to
and digital tools to enhance their learning process, reflect on the possibility of helping students improve
which requires that teachers make the most of digital their speaking abilities by the conscious use of the
tools and digital trends to help them overcome the appropriate digital media and ict tools, and raising
weaknesses they have. their awareness of the benefits these devices and
technology could have on their learning process and
Teachers need to use ict responsibly in order to
of how they were also useful for improving speaking
gain the expected results regarding academic goals,
skills and some sub-skills, keeping in mind their
and they, as well as parents and students themselves,
developmental stage and cognitive level. Therefore,
must take advantage of the virtual content and envi-
with this study, the researchers intended to analyze
ronments available to enrich the learning process.
the insights of the efficient use of different ict tools
In the specific case of English as a foreign language,
to improve the students’ speaking skills, especially
learners can attempt to reach a more efficient com-
when expressing continuous actions (a topic that
munication level if they are guided by their teachers
was mandatory in the first-grade syllabus) and to
and parents on how to use ict tools responsibly.
demonstrate that digital literacy skills can be inte-
Given the above, and after observing first grad- grated to the improvement of a foreign language. It
ers at Colegio Corazonista, as well as the school’s also aimed to help learners become self-regulated
high tendency to using digital tools and devices in order to use the ict tools provided by the web 2.0
to practice and study topics in English, and after in a more conscious and responsible way.

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Strategy Selected to children and adults acquire the language differently”

Address the Problem (Krashen, Sferlazza, Feldman, & Fathman, as cited
in Gürsoy, 2011, p. 757). Given this assumption, it
As Heider and Jalongo (2014) suggest, digital
is important to take advantage of this acquisition
literacy has a positive impact on the students’
process to develop speaking skills while the student
learning improvement when it is implemented in
is still young and involved in an environment that
the study routine inside the classroom and also
is focused on helping him or her achieve this goal.
at home. Besides, if the students become aware of
In this case, the school and the classroom seem the
the importance of being digitally literate, they will
best settings to do it.
take advantage of ict and will create a routine for
using these ict tools more wisely, which will make As stated in Saville-Troike (2006), “the scope of
them more self-regulated. For all these reasons, sla includes informal L2 learning that takes place in
digital literacy was selected as the strategy to solve naturalistic contexts, formal L2 learning that takes
the problems that the researchers identified in first place in classrooms, and L2 learning that involves a
graders at Colegio Corazonista: They showed poor mixture of these settings and circumstances” (p. 2).
speaking skills and sub-skills when expressing con- Moreover, Ellis (1997) asserts that sla is defined as
tinuous actions, they were not digitally literate and the process in which people learn a language other
needed to start some habits to become self-regulated than their mother tongue; this learning can be
learners. To this end, this study looked into: developed in any environment or inside a classroom.
This research study was carried out with a group
• the influence of a digital literacy plan to over-
of first graders in the latter setting presented, the
come the difficulty that first graders had when
classroom, in which formal L2 learning took place.
expressing progressive actions orally
sla theory is used in this study, as it focuses on the
• the extent to which the students might have unconscious process of the acquisition of a target
acquired self-regulation routines language. Therefore, this process is advantageous for
young learners because this way of acquiring a sec-
Conceptual Framework ond language helps students acquire the knowledge
and abilities to communicate with more confidence
Second Language Acquisition without thinking about correctness and rules, and
Keeping in mind that this investigation was carried taking the risk of speaking and expressing ideas
out with a group of first graders aged between six freely (Krashen, 1982).
and seven years old, who were in the stage in which The affective filter from sla theory is one of the
learners can acquire their mother tongue (L1) and a hypotheses that this research study will highlight
second language (L2), Second Language Acquisition as important, since the participants of this research
(sla) theory will help to identify the characteristics study demonstrated in the needs analysis that their
of a learner at this stage of the acquisition process. As lack of speaking abilities could be the result of
Nunan (2011) argues, if the learner is still young, the negative affective and emotional aspects, such as low
acquisition process will be developed in a better way. self-confidence and anxiety. Krashen (1981) explains
This is explained in the critical period hypothesis, how low or high levels of anxiety may interfere with
which states that it is important to take advantage the students’ performance in oral production; similar
of this period before the neurological changes behaviors are perceived when students are not self-
appear and the learning language process becomes confident; thus, learners that face these difficulties
more difficult to develop. In other words, “natural may understand but not acquire the target language.
and complete acquisition of a language can occur That is why building positive learning environments
only between the ages two and puberty, and also… during class sessions can help students overcome

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 Digital Literacy and Basic Self-Regulation Habits
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Luz Dary Arias Soto / Yury Andrea González Gutiérrez


these issues and give them the confidence to take sounds and utterances. The sub-skills presented were
risks when participating or making contributions selected keeping in mind the learner’s ability and their
orally so that they can succeed in their learning or basic level of performance in the English language.
acquisition process. Intonation is defined by Wells (1996) as the
“melody” of oral production. This involves rises and
Speaking skills and sub-skills
falls of the voice, rhythm, accent, and stress, among
In regards to these skills, it is necessary to define other features, which allow speakers to convey
the kinds of abilities that were intended to be rein- meaningful expressions. This description allows
forced and improved in this study. Nunan (2011) us to analyze the connection between the impor-
defines speaking as the activity that a person does tance of intonation explained in Gangal (2012)
every day in order to communicate in an effective as a useful element to recognize different kinds
way. Furthermore, according to Ekbatani (2010), of sentences, such as questions and affirmations.
“Speaking is the productive skill in the oral mode. Interaction is defined in the Dictionary of Language
[…] Speaking in a second language is considered the Testing (Davies, Brown, Elder, Hill, Lumley, &
most challenging skill to assess” (p. 3). Considering McNamara,1999) as the exchange of meaning that
this, the aim of this research study seemed difficult to commonly occurs between two or more speakers. In
accomplish. That is why, with this study, we intended the context of this study, this interaction will occur
to develop the speaking sub-skills of the students mainly between two learners, and the accuracy in
because, by enhancing the speaking sub-skills meaning that they reach when intending to convey
through the use of ict tools and digital literacy, the ideas is going to be proportional to the time that
speaking skills of the students could improve as well. students have been exposed to the English language
The British Council (n.d.) defines sub-skills as and the competences acquired in this period of
“[…] specific behaviors that language users do in time, which is of approximately one year and a half.
order to be effective in each of the skills” (n.p.). Finally, the last speaking sub-skill that was taken
Speaking sub-skills are listed in Nagaraj (1996) as into account, as previously mentioned, was extent;
different abilities that can be improved in class by in the case of young learners, this needs to be limited
the use of different activities, namely being able to to their capacities and ability of expression and the
produce meaningful sounds (pronunciation), to construction of short meaningful chunks in order
produce meaningful chunks, to use the appropriate to create interaction in and outside the classroom.
syntactic patterns in order to produce language; to
Digital Literacy
focus on intonation, rhythm, and stress, to ask and
answer, and to be able to use appropriate vocabulary This new term emerged when digital media appeared,
and the appropriate register; and to be able to use and it was strengthened during the last decade by
facial gestures, body language and verbal language the creation of digital devices and new forms of
to convey information. Other sub-skills are fluency, communication and the use of technological tools.
appropriacy, turn-taking, extent or relevant length, Literacy, according to Kern (2000), is the use of
repair and repetition, appropriate use of discourse socially, historically, and culturally situated practices
markers, among others (Lackman, 2010; Brown, of creating and interpreting meaning through texts.
2000; Harmer, 2007). Thus, based on the context
It entails at least a tacit awareness of the relations-
of this investigation, the target sub-skills selected
hips between textual conventions and their contexts
to improve the students’ oral production were:
of use and, ideally, the ability to reflect critically on
intonation, interaction, and extent, which could those relationships. […] literacy is dynamic-not
be developed and improved in depth as long as the static- and variable across and within discourse
students use the language and produce meaningful communities and cultures. […]. (p. 16).

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Being literate demands being aware of continuous Program for the Use of New Technologies), focused
changes and dynamics in terms of culture and com- on training teachers all around the country to
munication. Thus, being digitally literate, according become digital literate and on helping those teachers
to the British Columbia Government (n.d.a), includes acquire certain abilities in order to take advantage
having “the interest, attitude and ability of individuals of ict tools to design digital resources and environ-
to appropriately use digital technology and commu- ments to implement them in their classes. Teachers
nication tools to access, manage, integrate, analyze were also trained in the appropriate use of tools to
and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, create texts, images, web pages, and digital commu-
create and communicate with others in order to nication channels. However, there is no document
participate effectively in society” (p. 1). related to the competences an elementary student
Littlejohn, Beetham, and Mcgill (2012) stated must acquire to be considered digitally literate.
that “By digital literacy we mean the capabilities Baker (2010) mentions the relevant aspects of
required to thrive in and beyond, in an age when digital literacy in “young contexts” and highlights its
digital forms of information and communication importance to promote not only the handling of the
predominate” (p. 547). They state that communicat- computer, the understanding of its environments and
ing by digital forms is easier nowadays, given that the use of technology in general, but also the learning
the Internet is present in almost the entire world, process of the child when acquiring literacy by using
and these virtual and digital environments persuade a computer when, in fact, learners also improve their
people to develop skills to create, use sources, evalu- communicative abilities with this innovative way
ate, add contents and acquire knowledge and learn of learning. Consequently, learners simultaneously
more via the Web. improve their speaking, writing, listening and reading
Arrieta and Montes (2011) define the term skills by implementing these kinds of literacy.
digital literacy in several ways, keeping in mind the Given that the focus of the current study is sla,
perception of different authors. One of the defini- it is also important to mention Hicks and Turner’s
tions provided is that digital literacy is the ability (2013) suggestions to English teachers to become
that a person has to read, produce, and recognize the advocates of the new ways of teaching, keeping in
meanings and information provided by a site and, mind that digital literacy offers the advantage of
in addition, a digital literate is necessary to produce innovating teacher practices, without forgetting
information and to develop strategies to develop the our traditions, but framing them into digital and
aforementioned skills. The Government of British technological contexts, and challenging ourselves
Columbia (n.d.b) organized the Profile for Technology as teachers to new ways of teaching and learning
Literate Students as divided by ages and describes what by getting involved with technology and diverse
5–8 year old students must achieve to be considered tools that can enhance the quality of the profession
digitally literate: (a) independently apply digital tools and achieve the expected results from students.
and resources to address a variety of tasks and prob- Hence, it is clear that teachers are relevant in the
lems; (b) demonstrate the safe and cooperative use of process of complementing their teaching practice
technology; (c) communicate about technology using with the use of technology in order to be updated
developmentally appropriate and accurate terminol- and to become digital literates, which means that
ogy; and (d) demonstrate the ability to navigate in this profession will be enriched with all the content
virtual environments such as Web sites. and the benefits that digital environments can offer
In Colombia, the program “A que te cojo ratón,” teachers. However, this also requires engagement
implemented by the Ministry of Education of and commitment by teachers to integrate all these
Colombia (2005) and supported by the Programa new tools in their daily work to help students change
Nacional de Uso de Nuevas Tecnologías (National the idea that the Internet and technology are only
used for entertainment purposes.

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Luz Dary Arias Soto / Yury Andrea González Gutiérrez


Self-regulation Pintrich (2000) considers self-regulated learn-

It is a desire for teachers to instill in the students ing as a process of active construction in which the
not only the motivation to improve their learning learner monitors, regulates, and controls his/her
by following their teacher’s advice and suggestions cognition, motivation and behavior. As we can see,
and by doing the activities and using the strategies in his model, Pintrich (2000) gives special attention
proposed by them, but also to help them find ways to the affective and motivational dimension of learn-
to create or apply learning routines that demonstrate ing. In this dimension, the learner examines his/her
that they can take advantage of ict tools in order possibility and capacity to achieve the goal, evalu-
to acquire knowledge and interact. This allows ates task difficulty as well as its usefulness and his/
students to acquire knowledge by themselves and her own interest in it. In other words, according to
to develop learning processes more consciously. Pintrich (2000), motivation is related to self-efficacy,
However, as Zimmerman (2002) highlights, teachers goal orientation, perception of task difficulty and
must identify young learners’ strengths and weak- value, interest in the task, be it extrinsic or intrinsic,
nesses and make them aware of them so that they and causal attribution, which refers to the causes of
can take action to overcome their difficulties and failure or success.
strengthen their abilities, and thus improve their We can then say that it is possible and appropriate
learning processes. to promote self-regulation in young learners so that
Zimmerman and Schunk (2011) argue that they can identify what their difficulties are, the tools
promoting self-regulation in the elementary stage that can help them improve their skills, and reflect
has relevance in and impact on the process of young upon the importance of monitoring themselves,
learners’ learning, motivation and development keeping in mind the motivation they might have
and the use of different strategies to improve their when developing a certain activity and the time that
academic performance. Zimmerman (2000) for- they spend doing it. These strategies or behaviors
mulates three phases of the self-regulation process that young learners can develop will have a positive
(i.e., forethought, performance, and self-reflection), impact on their language learning and even more
in which several skills take place. In the forethought benefits could be obtained if self-regulation behaviors
phase, we can find the skills of setting learning goals, are integrated into a digital learning context.
analyzing the level of difficulty of a learning task, and According to McDonough (2001), other strate-
selecting appropriate learning strategies to achieve gies that can be used in order to improve self-reg-
goals. These are not only learning strategies but also ulation when learning languages include cognitive,
the ones related to time use, resources, and space to affective and metacognitive strategies. This author
learn or study. In this first phase, we can also find self- also highlights that these strategies can be developed
motivation beliefs, which refer to outcome expecta- by young learners who are more likely to develop
tions, task interest and self-efficacy. This last element and control their own cognitive processes than the
is considered as the positive feeling of the individual affective and metacognitive ones. Additionally, Cho
that he/she will be able to reach the goals set. In the and Shen (2013) mention that when self-regulation
performance phase, we can find two processes: self- is used or applied in digital contexts and when the
control and observation as ways to monitor whether teacher is in charge of the accompaniment of the
the process is going well or if any changes need to be learners, this can help the students to achieve self-
made. Finally, in the self-reflection phase, we can find efficacy, since it challenges learners and motivates
the skills to evaluate performance, strategies, objec- them to invest time and effort in accomplishing the
tive achievement, and to analyze causes of failure or objectives set. The teacher also has the duty to design
success, among other skills. virtual scenarios and digital materials that have a

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positive influence on the language learning and the of the findings of this study reveal that students are
self-regulated learning process of the students. able to develop and recognize the relevance of cre-
The above-mentioned aspects provided a guide ating study routines and how to expect more from
that was useful for the researcher in order to themselves in terms of being committed to their
accomplish each of the objectives of this study. It follow-up activities. Moreover, they discovered that
was expected that young learners who participated time management is an issue that improved with the
in this study would take advantage of their sla implementation of the ict tools and that motiva-
process and take this to new learning scenarios in tion grew. They also found that students became
which ict and call (computer-assisted language more reflective and aware of the improvement of
learning) provide different and new experiences for their language skills, especially their speaking. As
improving different skills and focusing on speaking. self-regulation was one of the key constructs in this
The responsible use of these tools will help students study, it was expected to get similar results in the
to become digital literates and at the same time present study. For instance, creating routines that
develop language-learning strategies that will guide allow the students to be more organized and helping
them towards the path of becoming self-regulated them develop autonomy in their early school stage
young learners. This must be done keeping in mind through the use of digital content that contributes
the students’ age and language level. to improving speaking skills.
McClelland and Cameron (2011) wanted to
State of the art demonstrate the importance of self-regulation in
Several research studies have been based on the the life of young learners, so that they can have
constructs that this research took into account in more control over their feelings and behavior in
order to help the participants improve their speak- social and learning environments. The authors
ing skills and sub-skills by being digitally literate defined self-regulation as the “integrative construct
through the implementation of call and different that includes controlling, directing, and planning
ict tools and by focusing on the development of cognitions, emotions, and behavior” (McClelland
learner self-regulation. & Cameron, 2011, p. 32). The researchers consider
Marsh (2011) has focused on highlighting the self-regulation important in order to achieve school
different literacy strategies and processes that a success and argue that it allows students to develop
young learner can create and experience through several abilities, such as flexible attention, working
the use of virtual worlds. In this study, the author memory, and behavioral aspects. These abilities lead
found that the majority of the worlds are designed students to higher performance levels, and then the
for playing and creating avatars and also found school can also show that, by means of this, students
that literacy and multimodal communication are can finish their studies successfully. It was previously
two elements that were important in the creation mentioned in this section that the development of
of the social component in the study. Moreover, self-regulation skills is one of the main objectives to
it was found that children had the opportunity to achieve in this study. This is because the participants
participate in digital environments that gave them were in their early school years and they could create
the experience of working with authentic material a culture of organization, time management and
and activities as well, and this was helpful for them adaptation to new learning environments faster and
to experience how the digital and virtual scenarios easier, thus, these abilities would be developed in
work and what they offer. order to help the students become digital literates.

Ariza and Suárez (2013) demonstrated the According to Mahmoodi, Kalantari, and Ghaslani
importance and the effectiveness that ict tools have (2014), when a student develops self-regulatory
in developing a sense of autonomy in students. Some strategies appropriately, then he or she is also able

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 Digital Literacy and Basic Self-Regulation Habits
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Luz Dary Arias Soto / Yury Andrea González Gutiérrez


to learn better and to be more motivated to do so. gies carefully selected as the use of digital literacy
The authors demonstrated that students can develop and the fosterage of self-regulatory habits. After
strategies to learn, perform, create, and do better in the plan was designed and implemented, students
learning environments, as Pintrich and De Groot both improved their speaking skills by using dif-
(1990) said. The researchers wanted to find out which ferent digital tools responsibly and consciously and
of the self-regulatory strategies were most commonly became self-regulated learners applying strategies
used among English language learners in Iran, and adjusted to their level.
also to demonstrate the relationships that could
exist between language learning, self-regulation, and Data Collection and Procedures
motivation. After the implementation and analysis,
Several data collection instruments were designed,
the researchers found these to be the most common
piloted and administered. First, a questionnaire,
self-regulation strategies: students made associations,
which was piloted, was sent to the parents in order
studied additional hours, evaluated themselves in
to evaluate some aspects that were likely to change
English, changed the perception of seeing English as a
during the intervention. The questions were aimed
difficult subject, and took notes. Another finding has
at gathering data about the students’ behavior when
to do with the relationship that researchers discov-
using ict tools at home and at determining to what
ered exists, to a great extent, between self-regulation
extent they improved digital literacy when practic-
and motivation. They also found that there is no
ing and studying in order to enhance speaking
significant relationship between self-regulation and
skills by using the digital tools provided. Second,
L2 learning but that the learners are more aware of
a semi-structured interview was also piloted and
the learning process, which is demonstrated by them
administered. It was semi-structured so that its
implementing strategies that improve their achieve-
open questions and its flexibility would help the
ments in L2 learning.
researcher explore and discover aspects by having a
conversation with the interviewee. With the applica-
Method tion of this instrument, students had the opportunity
The research approach selected to carry out this study to express what they felt during the intervention and
was the action-research method, since, according to if they found this experience was worthy or not, if
Burns (2010), its purpose is to find a solution to a they felt motivated to learn, if they used the digital
problematic situation, inviting the researcher to be a tools consciously in order to learn and improve
reflective and critical investigator in his or her own the speaking skills, or if they were simply getting
teaching context. Furthermore, thinking about the distracted with those tools.
context, necessities, and expectations of this study, The third instrument was voice recordings of the
the researcher took into account that action-research students’ speaking performances at the end of the
supports, to a great extent, the changes that a teacher intervention in order to prove the possible improve-
desires to make in a specific situation in their own ments in their speaking skills. Those recordings
context—in this case, the classroom—in order to consisted of short talks to describe, using the present
“increase understanding” (Kemmis & McTaggart, as continuous, the actions that the students saw in a
cited in Nunan, 1992, p. 18). picture or in a video that the teacher showed them.
This study fits the principles of action-research This instrument was selected because, as Pinnegar
because there was a problem that the researcher and Hamilton (2009) suggest, voice or audio record-
identified by means of empirical observation inside ings give the researcher the opportunity to go back
a classroom, related to the students’ speaking skills to the recorded scene and analyze the improvements
when expressing progressive actions. Then, the or areas to improve. The recordings were evaluated
problem was intended to be solved using strate- and analyzed according to a rubric designed by the

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teacher/researcher, which assessed if the students Vision of learning

met some criteria that gave account of the improve- The pedagogical intervention was also developed
ment in their speaking skills by paying special atten- under the guidance of constructivism. This approach
tion to intonation, the ability to interact with other is defined by Martin and Loomis (2006) as the way
partners by expressing utterances about progressive in which learners merge previous knowledge with
actions, and the extent of those utterances. new knowledge and, as a result, they will give per-
As the fourth instrument, during the implementa- sonal meaning to what they have learned. With this
tion stage, parents were asked to fill in a weekly form in mind, the intervention intended to incorporate
about the behavior of the children when trying to digital literacy in these children’s learning process
become self-regulated learners while practicing and so they could merge the new knowledge acquired
using the digital tools to improve their speaking skills by learning through digital environments with the
at home. To analyze the responses of these instru- knowledge they already had in order to improve
ments, it was necessary to analyze discourse with each certain language aspects and speaking skills.
of the responses that parents provided. This analysis Furthermore, connecting constructivism with
consisted of reading each answer and then transform- esl instruction, according to Reyes and Vallone
ing it in the way that could be read and analyzed in (2008), would help learners develop more than
terms of pedagogy and language learning. the learning of language, content, and process; it
would give students the opportunity to investigate,
discover and criticize, all of them at the same time.
Pedagogical Intervention
In this way, it was expected that the digital literacy
process would be enriched by means of this practice
Vision of language
of constructivism in the esl process.
By thinking of the possibility of helping students Moreover, it is also worth mentioning the inte-
improve the way they express their ideas orally, gration of the Zone of Proximal Development (zpd),
and of the importance of encouraging an appropri- a concept that was developed by Vygotsky (as cited
ate mastery of the language functions in a foreign in Kozulin, 2003), which suggests that a person who
language, one of the aims of this research study was has more abilities can assist another one with less
to help students improve their speaking sub-skills abilities. This was applied in the implementation of
when expressing continuous actions based on the this study in the assistance that parents provided
communicative approach, which has been defined their children to help them develop the digital activi-
by Berlin (2012) as the possibility that students ties and to appropriately manage the equipment
have to use the language learned in a context, and needed for the purpose of acquiring and improving
which favors a more “student-centered” classroom. the learning related to the virtual and web tools and,
Moreover, Byram (1997) states that, following hence, the speaking skills.
Hymes’s concept on communicative competence,
language learning is not only a matter of grammar, Instructional design
but also a way to learn how to use the language The implementation stage was carried out over five
appropriately. These two concepts guided the way weeks, for one hour daily, which means that 25 hours
that the researcher conceived her strategy to help were dedicated to fulfilling the objectives of this
students improve their speaking ability in class and study. This stage had steps that needed to be followed
encourage them to be active participants of such in order to support the pedagogical implementation
change, while being the main agents in the class and of the strategies chosen: defining, finding, creating,
inviting them to produce language orally and thus evaluating, and communicating, as explained in
communicate and interact with others, not thinking the Somerset Learning Platform (Somerset County
of the grammar of the language but of using func- Council, 2014).
tions appropriately.

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 Digital Literacy and Basic Self-Regulation Habits
in Early Childhood Learning of English as a Foreign Language
Luz Dary Arias Soto / Yury Andrea González Gutiérrez


The topics and content covered in chronological by expressing utterances orally by using continu-
order in each of the stages were as follows: In the ous actions. After that, the step assessing to collect
defining step, The approach to digital environments, results was developed. In this stage the researcher
in which the students and the teacher explored the checked the students’ learning process by assessing
digital tools and devices that were to be used dur- their contributions and reflections in order to reflect
ing the implementation, their use, the pros and and create content and thus, to support the research
cons, and the level of efficiency. In the finding step, design through observation.
Building analytical scenarios, in which the students In the last step of this implementation stage,
were in contact with some of the different digital the participants were invited to communicate and
and virtual tools that would be part of the classes. exchange information, experiences and thoughts
For instance, web quests, pbs kids, Nick Jr., interac- about the process developed. At the end of this stage,
tive book, SpeakPipe, and teacher’s blog, among the cards of the follow-up process of the home and
others. The third topic, in the creation step, was school routines were collected. Such cards corre-
related to the Implementation of ict by means of sponded to charts that intended to collect data from
call and follow up of the routines. During this parents’ and teacher’s views regarding the time spent
stage, digital content, ict tools and online activities by the children doing the computer activities, their
were integrated to the class. All the activities were emotions, their understanding of the activities and the
focused on improving the students’ speaking skills topics, as well as the skills in using the tools (Table 1).

Table 1. Follow-up card

Student’s
Name:
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5

Course:

Parent’s
Comments

Teacher’s
Comments

Source: Own elaboration.

Findings
The Grounded Theory approach (Corbin & Strauss, concepts by means of open coding (Table 2). Such
2008) was used to analyze the data collected. For common concepts became patterns that, in turn, led
that purpose, the first step was to find common the researchers to find codes.

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Facultad de Humanidades

Table 2. Illustration of open coding

  week 1 week 2
 
 
 
  Approach to Digital equipment New e-learning environments

Para ella es divertido estudiar por Emotions Motivation

Se emociona con actividades
K1 medio del juego, especialmente
nuevas. Se motiva.
si es en el computador Games Emotions

Desde el principio del año, el

Suitable K2 sin dudas ha aprendido
K2 enfoque ha sido muy adecuado Learning
methodology mucho en esta materia
para K2, a ella le gusta mucho.

Es creativo al momento Creative

Tiempo 20 minutos se
K3 Raise interest de requerir
muestra interesada
ideas innovadoras Innovation

Vocabulary, pronunciation, he is Taking advantage, the kids are

Second language Take advantage of
K4 very interested in hearing his voice, related with the new technologies
awareness new technology
and repeat the exercise many times from very early ages

El niño pasa una hora

aproximadamente en el
Ha reforzado su vocabulario
K5 computador. Algunos días Memorize
y memoriza más rápido
de la semana. Le gustan Engagement
mucho las actividades.  

Puede grabar su voz, pues le El niño accede con más facilidad

K6 Self-learning
gusta y se interesa en escucharla a las actividades por sí mismo

Le llama la atención que pueda Se mostró interés por aprender Interest

Self-correction
K7 escuchar su propia voz para poder nuevos experimentos por medio Emotions
and raise interest
corregir después su pronunciación de Turtle Diary, le gusta jugar Games
Emotions–
excitement
El niño se muestra muy
Use the computer Hace uso de aproximadamente
K8 emocionado de hacer Dedication
with educative 15-20 minutos cada 3er día
uso del computador
purposes

Source: Own elaboration.

Table 2 illustrates how the patterns emerged (see shaded columns). Then, by means of axial coding, we estab-
lished relationships among such codes, as seen in the semantic map shown in Figure 1.

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 Digital Literacy and Basic Self-Regulation Habits
in Early Childhood Learning of English as a Foreign Language
Luz Dary Arias Soto / Yury Andrea González Gutiérrez


Digital literacy has a positive impact

on the improvement of speaking skills
when expressing progressive actions

Insight related Development of

Insight related to
to improvement of self regulatory skills
affective factors
language skills (Zimmerman, 1986)

Cyclic phase model of

self-regulated learning
Improvement Zimmerman & Chunk (1998)
Motivation Confidence Processes
of language

• Repetition • Pronunciation
• Enthusiasm • Memorization • Vocabulary Forethought Performance Self-reflection
• Parents’ support
• Meaningful learning
• Teacher’s support • L2 awareness • Speaking phase phase phase
• Fun
• Learning
• Happiness
environment
• Like
• Excitement
• Understanding • Change perception
• Analysis • Practice about English as a subject
• New content • Teacher’s support • Self learning
• Innovation • Take choice • Creativity
• Integration • Parent’s support • Self initiative
of ict tools • Distractions • Engagement
• Find difficulties • Self correction
• Self improvement
• Interest

Figure 1. Sample semantic map to illustrate axial coding

Source: Own elaboration.

Finally, by means of selective coding, a core category and three categories emerged to respond the research
question and show to what extent the objectives were fulfilled (Figure 2).

Digital literacy has a positive impact

on the improvement of speaking skills
when expressing progressive actions

Insight related to Insight related to improvement Development of self

affective factors of language skills regulatory skills

Confidence Motivation Language improvement Learning strategies Forethought phase Performance phase

Figure 2. Categories and subcategories

Source: Own elaboration.

As shown in Figure 2, the categories can be 1. Insights related to affective factors, divided into
described as follows: A core category emerged confidence and motivation, which were the two sub
known as “digital literacy,” which has positive effect categories that emerged in relation to the emotions
on the improvement of speaking skills when express- that the students experienced during the intervention.
ing progressive actions and which branches out in 2. Insights related to the improvement of speak-
three categories: ing skills include two sub-categories: The first one

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Facultad de Humanidades

has to do with the improvement of several aspects of Me divertí mucho y la profe Begonia1 nos enseña
language, such as vocabulary, the ability to interact, con mucho amor. (I had fun and also teacher
the extension of their interactions, and pronuncia- Begonia teaches us with so much love). (Excerpt
tion; the second one is the strategies that students 7. Students’ questionnaire. October 2014).
used to improve their speaking in English. The previous sample of the students’ answers to
3. Insights related to the development of self- the questionnaire shows the importance of the teach-
regulatory skills, which shows evidence of two of er’s support during the pedagogical implementation
the stages of the cycle of self-regulatory processes, and its quality. Most of them agreed that the support
namely forethought and performance. they received from the researcher was adequate in
quality and quantity and expressed that this process
Insights Related to Affective Factors was successful thanks to the teacher’s encouragement
After analyzing the data collected, it was found that and to her commitment with the learners’ learning
students, aside from increasing learning, also expe- process. When children feel interested in doing an
rienced a variety of emotions in each stage of the activity, they will improve their self-efficacy, which
intervention. Most of these emotions were positive in turn will improve their performance level. That
and demonstrated that the activities and strategies level of self-efficacy can be raised by the teachers’
that were applied motivated and encouraged the encouragement and attitude towards the students and
learners to lower their anxiety and feel confident the class. In the following excerpt it can be seen that
about exploring, discovering, and creating new ways the students felt interested in the virtual activities,
of learning English through new environments. what likely raised their self-efficacy attitude.

Demuestra mayor interés por las actividades

Confidence virtuales. (The student seems to more interested
Krashen (1982) categorizes self-confidence as one in virtual activities). (Excerpt 25. Follow up chart.
of the important elements of the affective filter. He October 2014).
explains that, if the learner is confident and believes Support from parents was also a significant
in what he has learned, the performance when using element for the success of this research study,
the foreign language will be better. This was clearly mainly because they were the ones who guided
demonstrated when analyzing and evaluating the and observed the children’s process at home. They
results of the data, given that students felt confident filled out the follow-up charts in order to provide
to talk, to use icts to express ideas in English and the researcher with valuable information, and it
to create routines to accomplish the assignments of also helped the learners to accomplish the majority
the intervention. of the tasks and homework assigned, all of which
Confidence as one of the subcategories identified was useful to evaluate the process regarding the
in this research study helped the researcher know students’ expression of continuous activities orally
that young learners can develop that confidence and and to reflect on their self-regulation ability as well.
that they do their best if they feel comfortable in the
learning environment which can be either virtual or Motivation
a place, in this case the classroom. This can be illus- One of the most repeated units of analysis encoun-
trated in the excerpts, taken from the instruments. tered when analyzing the data was that students
Siempre le gusta y se anima a hacer tareas cuando
felt motivated about the pedagogical intervention
sabe que es en el computador (The child likes it and expressed this with words and with attitudes.
and gets excited when he/she knows that the acti-
vity has to be done using the computer). (Excerpt
1 The names of the participants have been changed in order to protect
6. Follow-up chart. October 2014). their identity, complying with the ethical considerations of research.

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 Digital Literacy and Basic Self-Regulation Habits
in Early Childhood Learning of English as a Foreign Language
Luz Dary Arias Soto / Yury Andrea González Gutiérrez


Many of the answers given and comments that Insights Related to Improvements
parents and students made in the instruments were of Language Skills
related to the good performance students achieved
When the language skills are learned and man-
in second language by following the instructions of
aged by a learner, this learner is someone who
the assignments and the directions that the teacher
has a “higher level of intellectual competence,” as
gave in order to motivate them to carry out these
Vygotsky mentions in Fredericks (1974). This means
tasks. She could then prove that students enjoyed
that when a student of a foreign language is able
the process and the development of the activities
to communicate using these skills, it is not only a
at home by demonstrating different emotions and
fact of merely communicating ideas, but of creat-
positive feelings based on parent’s comments.
ing strategies, processes, and plans that lead to the
El niño se muestra muy emocionado de hacer uso improvement of the language and being in contact
del computador. (The boy is excited using the com- and interacting with others in an intellectual and
puter). (Excerpt 1. Follow up chart. October 2014). systematic way.
This category encloses two elements that iden-
Feliz, emocionada. Entiende muy fácilmente las
actividades, pero requiere cambiar pronto de tified the processes that young learners used to
juego. (Happy, excited. She understands the acti- improve their language, which were not suggested
vities easily but she needs to change the activity by the teacher, but which they did instinctively.
in a short period of time). (Excerpt 2. Follow up They also demonstrated that they could improve
chart. October 2014). in aspects of the language such as pronunciation,
vocabulary, and speaking during the time that the
Excitement and happiness were the feelings that
intervention was taking place.
the students experienced the most according to
the results found in the instruments. The learners Improvement of speaking skills
expressed motivation and excitement when experi-
encing the importance of learning in a meaningful According to the analysis done to the voice record-
way, for instance, when using their knowledge in ings using a rubric, effective spoken performance
English to develop the activities that were assigned of progressive actions was evidenced when the
in digital environments. students could describe a visual aid and convert the
information from the visual aid into utterances and
Manifiesta emociones positivas frente a nuevos oral sentences that expressed continuous actions.
procesos y de acuerdo al tema se esfuerza por
comprender y entender. (The student expresses The student interacts respecting the structure of
positive emotions towards the new processes and the tense to express continuous actions. (Taken
makes an effort to understand and comprehend). from the rubric).
(Excerpt 3. Follow-up chart. October 2014).
Se le facilita la pronunciación y el entendimiento
Porque me divierto y aprendo. (Because I have del idioma inglés. (It is easy for him/her to pro-
fun while I am learning). (Excerpt 4. Students’ nounce and to understand English). (Excerpt 11.
questionnaire. October 2014). Follow-up chart. October 2014).

Porque las actividades son chéveres. (Because the Muestra mejora en la pronunciación, su vocabu-
activities are nice). (Excerpt 5. Students’ question- lario en inglés se ha incrementado (The impro-
naire. October 2014). vements in pronunciation are noticeable, his/her
vocabulary has increased). (Excerpt 12. Follow-up
chart. October 2014).

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Las actividades son muy buen complemento en Something similar happened with the acquisition
especial lo que tiene que ver con la pronunciación. of vocabulary given that virtual learning sites pro-
(They are good activities, especially those about vide thousands of resources that help the students
pronunciation). (Excerpt 13. Parent’s question- increase their vocabulary.
naire. October 2014).
Ahora tiene una mejor expresión y seguridad al
During the implementation, the students had the
hablar, aunque se equivoque en ocasiones. (Now
opportunity to correct themselves, which happened she expresses herself better and she is more secure
thanks to the different video and audio recordings when speaking even if she makes mistakes).
that they listened to and that they could compare (Excerpt 15. Follow-up chart. October 2014).
with their classmates’ recordings and reflect on how
It was rewarding to see how many statements by
differently they pronounced the words. That is why it
the parents and even students revealed that being
is very important to highlight the ability of students to
digitally literate students may help them be better
improve their pronunciation no matter the level, and
language learners and achieve their goals. In respect
motivate the learner to use digital tools for models to
to this category, we can confirm that the students
improve their pronunciation given that these are very
improved in terms of intonation, ability to interact,
accurate models and thus the quality of the learning
and extension of interactions.
in terms of pronunciation will be outstanding.
Furthermore, the results obtained showed that Strategies used by students to learn
the students improved their performance when and improve their language skills
speaking in regards to intonation. Additionally, the
Some of the strategies that the students followed
children were able to talk for thirty seconds or more,
during the intervention to help themselves under-
which was challenging for them as young learners.
stand more, learn better, and apply the knowledge
The student expresses utterances using appro- acquired and which they took initiative to follow are
priate intonation for questions and answers. useful to succeed in the foreign language: memoriza-
(Taken from the rubric). tion, repetition, and awareness of the use of the L2.

The student is able to speak up to 30 seconds.

Most of the parents explained that students turned
(Taken from the rubric). to these strategies (memorization and repetition) to
learn and to remember different elements that each
Another aspect that was evaluated with the rubric activity offered. For instance, a huge range of vocabu-
was the ability to interact using the same topic. lary, new concepts, strategies to manage the ict tool,
The student is now able to establish short dialo- the ability to remember content, and to improve the
gues with their peers. (Taken from the rubric). speaking skills by listening and repeating and memo-
rizing what they were listening to, watching, or reading.
The students were instructed to have a short talk
This can be evidenced in the following excerpts:
with a partner giving an instruction expressed as a
continuous action, and the other student had to act Se identifican acciones, al repetir el ejercicio y se
out that instruction. This process was successful and logra algún grado de adquisición del vocabulario.
demonstrated that the students were skillful enough (Actions are identified, by repeating the activity,
to speak and to improve this skill by means of tech- it is possible to learn the vocabulary). (Excerpt 8.
nological tools and a self-regulated learning routine. Follow-up chart. October 2014).

En el blog aprendí nuevas palabras en inglés. Puedo identificar la palabra de español al inglés.
(I learned new words by using the blog. Excerpt (I can identify the word in Spanish and translate it
14). Students’ questionnaire. October 2014). into English.) (Excerpt 9. Students’ questionnaire.
October 2014).

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 Digital Literacy and Basic Self-Regulation Habits
in Early Childhood Learning of English as a Foreign Language
Luz Dary Arias Soto / Yury Andrea González Gutiérrez


The students are now able to identify what the Los fines de semana planea dedicar más tiempo, le
most important part of the activity is and can also gustan las actividades, es hábil utilizando las herra-
apply strategies and use strategies to learn and then, mientas. (He plans to dedicate more time to the
demonstrate their learning by expressing utterances activities on the weekends, he likes the activities,
in continuous actions. he is skillful when using the tools). (Excerpt 17.
Students’ questionnaire. October 2014).
Considero que las actividades virtuales la motivan
más sobre todo por medio de la parte lúdica, de Continúa trabajando igual tiempo promedio,
esta forma memoriza más. (I consider that the por su iniciativa; se interesa cuando entra al blog,
virtual activities motivate them more, especially mejora en entendimiento, su habilidad mejora.
because of the playful component, in this way it is (He/she continues working for the same average
easier to memorize more.). (Excerpt 10. Parents’ time, under his own initiative, he/she is interested
questionnaire. October 2014). in the blog and it is noticeable that his/her unders-
tanding and skills improve.) (Excerpt 18. Parent’s
Parents and students recognized that, although questionnaire. October 2014).
the participants of this study are first graders, they
used different strategies and processes that were These previous samples of student and parent
developed by them to be able to use the language answers show how students planned the time to do
and to express ideas using progressive actions. the activities and felt motivated to practice at home.
As mentioned before, the tools and the type of work
influenced the decision that they made when they
Development of Self-Regulatory Skills
sat down to do the activities. In this regard, we can
The third category found in the analysis of the data see that two main aspects of self-regulation are
was the presence of self-regulatory skills. It was present in the students’ self-regulatory attitudes,
evidenced that, during the process of the implemen- according to Pintrich (2000), namely motivation
tation, students had to develop certain skills that and behavior. In terms of motivation, according to
demonstrated that they could self-regulate their own the data collected, we noticed that the students had
process, obviously, at their cognitive level, keeping an intrinsic motivation and a sense of self-efficacy.
in mind their age. Tools like the blog, the computer, the games,
To account for this, this study used Zimmerman’s and interactive activities change the perception of
(2008) cyclical model of Self-Regulated Learning homework for students, who invest more time doing
to prove that students achieved certain phases them when tasks are presented through these tools
while developing several activities or they simply and create a sense of responsibility and respect their
demonstrated some special skills that allowed the study routine. Here there is evidence that there was
researcher to establish that children can also self- task value activation, which in turn increased the stu-
regulate their learning process. dents’ motivation, following Pintrich’s (2000) model.

Forethought Performance
The Forethought phase can be identified in self-regu- In this phase, Zimmerman (2008) states that the
lated learners because, as Zimmerman and Bandura important elements are the steps that the students
clarify in Zimmerman (2008), the initial phase of follow to accomplish the tasks proposed and the
the cycle must demonstrate the students’ ability to results that they can get from these tasks. In this
set objectives and to create plans in order to execute phase several aspects were identified that dem-
them while doing the tasks. This phase was identified onstrated the students’ behaviors when trying to
by means of some of the students’ behaviors. self-regulate their learning. For example, finding

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Facultad de Humanidades

difficulties, understanding, practicing, and asking Additionally, findings demonstrated the students’
for the teacher’s and parents’ support. responsibility when using the digital tools, based
The teacher’s and parents’ support are present in on the rules and advice that the teacher gave them,
this study. For students, this guidance was important for instance, controlling the time, not looking at
in their process of learning a language and mostly in any kind of advertising, making sure that parents
the handling of digital tools, given their young age. were with them and helped them in the process of
This is the behavior of digital literates who know that becoming self-regulated students. The participants
it is better to work and to have the support of an adult. could also recognize the progress and improvements
that they had in their speaking skills in every class
Maneja bien el ambiente digital, mientras refuerza and during the sessions that were designed to be
el aprendizaje. (The student handles the digital
developed at home to practice continuous actions.
environment well and at the same time reinfor-
ces his learning). (Excerpt 20. Follow up chart. The routines that students developed at home
October 2014). and the responsibility, commitment and enthusiasm
demonstrated towards the homework assigned is
Likewise, based on Zimmerman’s model, and also a proof that self-regulation is also achievable
bringing back the strategies that the students used, in young learners. It must be acknowledged that the
namely memorization and repetition (explained in participants were willing to follow the instructions
the second category above), the data revealed that the and developed a feeling of self-improvement given
students were strategic in this phase of self-regulation. their belief of self-efficacy.
Even though they are children, the students were also
Regarding the affective factor, this study and
conscious of the strategies they used.
the activities that were done with the participants
In sum, we can say that promoting digital lit- awakened in them several feelings and emotions that
eracy in a group of first graders originated a high increased their motivation towards the implemen-
level of motivation and different positive emotions tation and the activities proposed. For instance, to
in the students and consequently allowed them to use the computer, to visit web sites, to record their
improve the student’s speaking skill, in particular, voices, to study through videos and the change that
the speaking sub-skills (intonation, interaction and the class had in regards to the regular sessions that
extent) when expressing progressive actions. It also they used to have made them feel motivated, happy,
had a positive effect in the development of basic enthusiastic, confident, among other feelings.
self-regulatory skills.
The study also unveiled high engagement from
parents during the process of the intervention at
Conclusions home. All the necessary documents and charts they
In sum, this qualitative action research explored the received with the information and instructions for
possible effect of digital literacy on the improve- the process of the intervention were written in such
ment of speaking skills, particularly the expression way that they felt motivated and helpful in their
of progressive actions, and on the development of child’s process. Moreover, during the interventions
self-regulation routines. The findings obtained from the students received constant guidance from the
different instruments show that the participants parents to do the activities, so parents played an
were interested in learning about digital tools and important role in the completion of this process.
their characteristics, about their use in the class- The digital component was also appropriate
room and at home, and how to take advantage of because students and parents took advantage of it
them to explore the different digital content that and could demonstrate that being digitally literate
the Internet offers, such as blogs, voice recordings, can enhance the language learning process through
videos, images, games, and interactive activities. the several tools and sites that were integrated into

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 Digital Literacy and Basic Self-Regulation Habits
in Early Childhood Learning of English as a Foreign Language
Luz Dary Arias Soto / Yury Andrea González Gutiérrez


this study. Additionally, it was also perceived that grounded theory (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, ca: Sage
young learners have the ability to develop learning Publications.
strategies and demonstrate significant good results Davies, A., Brown, A., Elder, C., Hill, K., Lumley, T., &
in their speaking skills by setting the first steps to McNamara, T. (1999). Dictionary of language testing.
become self-regulated and digital literate learners. Cambridge, uk: Cambridge University Press.
Ekbatani, G. (2010). Measurement and evaluation in post-
secondary esl. New York, ny: Routledge.
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