An update of ADELEX: developing the lexical competence of Spanish university students through ICT in the ESHE

Abstract

The educational experience related over the following pages is the result of several research projects undertaken after an evaluation of the vocabulary size of final year English philology students at the University of Granada (Spain), who were found to have a significant deficiency in their lexical competence. In view of the results obtained, which, amongst other things, demonstrated a clear cut lexical shortfall for future teachers of English, a group of lecturers from the same department formed the research group ADELEX and designed a semi-virtual course to redress this perceived deficit. The initiative was to become one of the first subjects to be sanctioned under the auspices of the Centre for Virtual Learning at the University of Granada (CEVUG). Later on, this online learning experience joined the Andalusian Virtual Campus (Campus Andaluz Virtual) and the new ADELEX was transformed into a fully virtual course, which obviously gave the project a wider scope. In its present incarnation, this updated version of ADELEX has a twofold purpose. On the one hand, its aim is to research into the nature of lexis (i.e. lexicology, semantics, pedagogical lexicography, phraseology etc.) as well as to focus on state-of-the-art digital methodology to solve real and meaningful problems that promote linguistic interaction in addition to autonomous and cooperative learning. On the other hand, it seeks to question Spanish university education on three fronts: (i) the integration and pedagogical use of new technologies in university pedagogy; (ii) European convergence and the implementation of the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System); and (iii) educational innovation aimed at bridging the gap between the university and the reality confronting students both in social and vocational contexts. Finally, this learning experience has been awarded the European Label for Pedagogic Innovation by the European Commission and the Spanish Ministry of Education, and is funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation within the National Research Programme.

Keywords:

• lexical competence
• web-based learning
• ESHE
• Spanish university students

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their deep gratitude to Dr Tony Harris for his invaluable help in the elaboration of this paper.

This work has been financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under the auspices of the R&D contract HUM2007-61766/FILO entitled ‘Assessing and developing lexis through new technologies’.

Notes

1. ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) refers to a way of measuring learning achievements among European universities in order to transfer them from one institution to another.

2. ESHE (European Space of Higher Education) started in 1999 with the signing of the Bologna Declaration and is concerned with the convergence of the institutions of higher education in the European Union. It implies the official approval and homogenisation of university studies in Europe.

3. ‘From ancient times, grammar has been perfectly systematised, in the same way as phonetics […]. Lexis, by contrast, is a monster with a hundred thousand heads […] which has simply been arranged in alphabetical order, which is utter semantic disorder.’

4. ‘Nowadays, paraphrasing Descartes, we can say: “I am informed, so I exist.” A person isolated from information may survive everyday routine, but won't be able to maintain a dialogue with a new society which is forging and freeing up sustained knowledge, permanent learning and technological development.’