Training citizens as users of languages and digital technology. Real-world tasks to tame the digital wilds

Abstract

Abstract Developing digital literacy and, more recently, digital citizenship is one of the objectives promoted by the major international organisations involved in the education sector. However, in order to integrate digital citizenship into education a thorough understanding of the intended outcomes is required. This is why a meta-analysis of recent texts was carried out. The paper presents the result of this literature review consisting in a structured compilation of all the defining elements that constitute our profile of citizens as users of languages and digital technology. We suggest a way in which to integrate digital citizenship education into language education and describe the socio-interactional pedagogical approach adopted in the context of two projects, elang citizen and Lingu@num. This approach is based on the execution of authentic tasks, referred to as real-world tasks. We also present the results of a questionnaire carried out by teachers who explored these tasks and reported that by engaging in them, language learners can experience authentic communication and action as citizens in the “digital wilds” beyond the classroom walls and develop both their language skills and their digital citizenship.