Learning of English as a Foreign Language and Gifted and Talented Students: The Role of ICT in Educational Innovation

Introduction

The need to offer students with high intellectual abilities an educational response which is better adjusted to their characteristics and needs is a prevailing social reality, given their visibility in the classroom, in which a greater presence and recognition by teachers has been observed. This increasingly evident reality implies an educational demand that has to be met and a significant challenge for the school as a key element in the teaching-learning process that has to respond to these demands. Gifted and talented students need flexible curricular proposals that are motivating and appropriate to their interests, needs and pace of learning. According to the personal experience of the authors of this chapter and their extensive experience close to families of children with high intellectual abilities, it is evident that many children show great interest in their knowledge and learning of a second language (L2), such as English, from an early age. This may be derived from informal contact with an L2 from a very young age, possibly before their non-gifted and talented peers. This approach to a foreign language can mean that, at the beginning of its formal learning, it becomes routine. It should be noted that there are authors who express the impact of early learning of a L2 in later learning (Huertas, 2015, 2016) and in the promotion of language acquisition skills (Halliwell, as cited in Okan & Ispinar, 2009). It is therefore possible that, when they enter the educational environment, they have achieved a level of linguistic competence for the foreign language (L2) which causes a motivational decrease in terms of their learning in the classroom. The literature shows that these students, faced with routine educational proposals, tend to show boredom in the school environment (Wallace, 1988). Thus, the learning of a second language for gifted and talented students becomes a repetition of unattractive and flexible knowledge and/or resources that, consequently, cause a loss of interest for these students. This lack of interest in learning an L2 can also lead to poor competency achievement in the classroom and, therefore, poor performance in this area.

In this sense, it is important to emphasize that the Spanish education system advocates the active use of innovative methodological proposals, consistent with the characteristics and educational needs of students as seen in the Organic Law 8/2013 of December 9th for the improvement of educational quality (LOMCE, 2013) and Decree 97/2015 of March 3rd, which establishes the organization and curriculum of Primary Education in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. However, with regard to students with high intellectual abilities, even when a change is observed in the actions implemented in the classroom, these actions are inadequate, leading to a high probability of school failure (Garcia, 2014). For this reason, the chapter aims to provide a flexible and motivating proposal that promotes the interest of these students, while facilitating the teaching of a second language from an inclusive education perspective. The cornerstone of this proposal is the incorporation and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which promote interactive learning (Abakumova, Bakaeva, Grishina & Dyakova, 2019) and facilitate the use of attractive and innovative methodologies in the classroom. In this respect, Cabero (2015) suggests the inclusion of current student-centered models and, in order to promote more autonomous and collaborative learning among students, Trillo, Vilches and Muñoz (2017) have observed the need to use more modern approaches, such as the Flipped Classroom in the face of new social and educational demands for the teaching of a foreign language. This is especially important when on the basis of Galindo's conclusions (2018), it can be seen that this approach and its application is scarcely used for the teaching of a second language in relation to gifted and talented students in Spain. Contributions in this sense derive from Fernández & Barreira (2016), with their focus on Early Childhood education.