Digital play for language development in the early grades

Leonie M Van Der Westhuizen,Donna M Hannaway

doi:10.4102/sajce.v11i1.925

Leonie M Van Der Westhuizen, Donna M Hannaway

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v11i1.925

Copy DOI

Abstract

Background: The digital world and the concomitant changes in early childhood education have created uncertainty for teachers not knowing how to adjust their pedagogical practices of using digital play to enhance language development. Aim: This study aimed to analyse what teachers understand by digital play and how they use it for language teaching in the early grades, with specific reference to the reception year. Setting: The researcher chose a primary school in an urban area that had digital technology available in the classroom involving eight Grade R teachers. Methods: Semi-structured questionnaires and focus group interviews were used to collect data on how teachers interact with learners using digital technology. Non-participatory observations of these interactions were also noted. Data analysis considered teacher views about the role of information communication technology (ICT) in education, digital games, and the extent to which digital pedagogies can enhance language acquisition. Results: The analysis found that the teachers are willing to experiment with digital games. However, there is a need to understand more about digital technology and increase their knowledge on using digital games when teaching language. Teachers shared the view that digital games should, as is the case with traditional play-based pedagogies, be used to enhance language teaching as this generation is growing up in a digital environment. Conclusion: It was clear that the emphasis needs to be on the development of games, which use digital technology relevant to language teaching. Furthermore, the findings suggest that those pedagogies that use digital games relevant to the Digital Era be adopted. There is a need for further enquiry into teachers’ beliefs and digital literacy and practices in more diverse settings to further understand the value of digital play in language teaching.

Highlights

The 21st century is known as the Digital Era, or the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which means that ‘our devices will become an increasing part of our personal ecosystem, listening to us, anticipating our needs, and helping us when required’ (Schwab 2017:11)
Teachers seem to have a poor understanding of digital play methods but are keen to explore the potential of these methods, especially because they are used to the traditional play methods as prescribed by Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS)
Especially digital play, in language learning for the Grade R learners is extremely important

Summary

Introduction

The 21st century is known as the Digital Era, or the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which means that ‘our devices will become an increasing part of our personal ecosystem, listening to us, anticipating our needs, and helping us when required’ (Schwab 2017:11). Teachers need to embrace and incorporate digital technology into their teaching approaches so that young learners acquire language proficiency early (Dietze & Kashin 2013:5). This is a challenge for teachers, as they have to understand how to incorporate digital technology into their usual teaching practices. Teachers need to be skilled in the use of digital technology and need to create digital solutions to problems (Murcia, Campbell & Aranda 2018:251) Various authors, such as Edwards, Straker and Oakey (2018) and Murcia et al (2018), state that in both the formal and informal environments, social inclusivity and learning are improved with the use of digital technology. The digital world and the concomitant changes in early childhood education have created uncertainty for teachers not knowing how to adjust their pedagogical practices of using digital play to enhance language development

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion