The computer in the classroom: Developing writing skills

Abstract

Computers can be useful allies for helping our students improve their writing skills in a second language (in the first language too, but that is not the subject of this paper). A Computer can be best conceived as just another learning tool among several useful ones we may use; it is no panacea for solvíng all the problems involved in foreign language learning; it is not going to supplant the role of teachers, nor is it going to magically implant knowledge in the minds of students, but it can carry out in an efficient and friendly way a number of tasks related to learning a foreign language, especially those connected with the development of writing skils. Since this is a paper based on a workshop, and therefore a basically practical session, we are not going to devote much time to the theoretical aspects of writing in a foreign language with the help of a computer, (those of you interested in more theoretical questions will find a basic bibliography at the end of this paper) but we will at least keep them in mind while having a look at several computer programmes which can be especially useful for the development of writing skils.