The role of WeQuests in learning a foreign/second language?.

A WebQuest is a scaffolded learning structure that uses links to essential resources on the World Wide Web and an authentic task to motivate students’ investigation of a central, open-ended question development of individual expertise and participation in a final group process that attempts to transform newly acquired information into a more sophisticated understanding.

Web-based learning, such as WebQuests, can provide an answer to the quest for interactive “English as a Second Language” (ESL) classrooms. Contrary to the traditional ESL classrooms, with the use of WebQuests, students can actively participate in group discussion when exploring an issue. They can develop search skills and critical thinking skills when finding information from resources on the Internet. They also have a chance to actually use the target language in the form of reading web pages, writing presentations, listening to peers’ opinions, and discussing ideas on critical issues. Evidently, several learning theories and concepts are embedded in WebQuests. These concepts and ideas relate to critical thinking skills, second language acquisition, and social constructivism, to name a few. WebQuest, therefore, is an option for ESL teachers to engage students in authentic and meaningful activities while learning English language at the same time.

WebQuests allow students to complete authentic projects and use technology to find and present information and, at the same time, alleviate some of the barriers teachers may find in their attempt to work in the confines of project-based learning. Generally,WebQuests are cooperative activities where students assume different roles relative to an authentic problem. The WebQuest itself provides structure to the investigation of the authentic topic, thereby increasing the ability of students to successfully navigate a highly unstructured environment such as the Internet. Students then develop a product which then demonstrates their knowledge of the problem and its potential solutions.