WIKIS IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES – ENGAGING ROMANIAN STUDENTS IN A 21 ST CENTURY LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Abstract: At tertiary level, traditional language teaching methods are being replaced by a “post-method ” stage where the learning context, a maximization of learning opportunities, facilitating negotiation, fostering language awareness, promoting learner autonomy and reflective practice would ensure optimum results. Thus, teachers and students can participate in curricular/syllabus decision, and in choosing the most adequate / efficient methods. This paradigm change is also due to increasing digital literacy and to the view according to which technology-enhanced learning environments are conducive to higher cognitive performance. The authors created a wiki environment for the blended learning course in English for Academic Purposes for students in social sciences from Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. The face-to-face sessions were enriched by authentic materials presented in various formats embedded in a gradual guided approach (adapted to students ’ needs) to learning in a Web 2.0 environment. Based on our on-going project, our paper will present a statistical study aimed at measuring the effects of introducing the wiki environment in the process of teaching/learning English for Academic Purposes for Romanian students who have basic computer/Internet skills. The findings will provide necessary data to determine the impact of Web 2.0 technologies on students ’ language learning skills and future professional development