UNIT 1: ENGLISH STUDIES DATABASES AND ONLINE LIBRARIES

1.INTRODUCTION
The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp) is a European Union initiative which was
established in 2013 by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) in partnership with
stakeholders from across Europe. It is a reference framework that outlines the key competences
necessary for citizens to thrive in a digital society, recognising the growing importance of digital
technologies in modern society and the need for individuals to possess the skills and competences
necessary to fully participate in a digital world.
The DigComp identifies five key areas of digital competence:
 Information and data literacy: the ability to find, evaluate, and manage digital information
and data effectively and efficiently
 Communication and collaboration: the ability to communicate and collaborate with others
using digital technologies
 Digital content creation: the ability to create and edit digital content using various tools and
media formats
 Safety: the ability to protect personal data and devices and navigate safely in the digital
environment
 Problem-solving: the ability to identify, analyse, and solve problems using digital
technologies.

2.INFORMATION LITERACY
Very different ways of defining it, conditioned by the technological context of the moment. In 1989,
the American Library Association (ALA) defined IL (Information Literacy) as a skill or an ability to
“recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively
the needed information”. Few decades later it was defined as “the set of integrated abilities
encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is
produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating
ethically in communities of learning”. last definition has two important elements: ¨ethics¨ and
¨communities¨. “Communities” refers to spaces for sharing and enriching our knowledge.

3.DATABASES AND BIBLIOGRAPHIC PLATFORMS

Wikipedia: ¨A bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records, an organised digital
collection of references to published literature, including journals and newspaper articles,
conference proceedings, reports, government and legal publications, patents, books, etc.¨ At the
beginning they provided information about bibliographic references, nowadays they are integrated
with journal providers and other bibliographical platforms. UNED subscribes services to the
Consorcio Madroño, several databases can be accessed through it.

MLA (Modern Languages Association) publications

Founded in 1883, the MLA is an association of professionals related to the field of languages and
humanistic disciplines to promote the teaching of English Studies all around the world. The MLA is
particularly well known thanks to its two databases:
 MLA International Bibliography, which includes bibliographic references (books and articles)
in the fields of linguistics, literature, culture and cinema. In the case of UNED, the MLA
Bibliography is provided by ProQuest.
  MLA Directory of Periodicals, a directory with information about the journals indexed in the
bibliography. This is more useful for academics wishing to obtain information about a journal
related to this field (language, subscription, frequency, editors, website, etc.).
MLA is also a guide to academic style, others, like the APA, are preferred when dealing with topics
related to education and the social sciences, and also Applied Linguistics.

ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)

The most important database dealing with Education and can be freely accessed by independent
researchers using their own account. Many institutions, including UNED, access it through the EBSCO
or ProQuest platforms. It can also be considered a repository, since several publications are available
in full-text view.

JSTOR
This platform provides content from e-books and journals related to Language Studies and resources
in the form of digitalised manuscripts of historical documents. There is also a tool called “text
analyser”, which scans an article to find other articles of interest related to the text itself.

Literature Online (LION)

LION contains a collection of full-text works in English dating from the Anglo-Saxon period to the
present, including publications from American Literature and others. For full access you need to be
logged into Campus UNED or your own institution. LION was first launched in 1996, and almost 30
years later, it is a reference in its field thanks to the quantity and the quality of its content.

Other databases not subscribed to by UNED

 Linguistics Collection: Full coverage of phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and
semantics and more. Apart from articles and other electronic resources, you can find full-
text dissertations which cover the areas mentioned before.
 Linguistics Abstracts Online: This is a database of linguistics abstracts containing more than
72,000 abstracts drawn from more than 600 specialised journals. Similar to Oxford
Bibliographies in Linguistics, where you will find bibliographies and comments on them
related to specific topics included in the field of Linguistics.

America: History and Life

This database belongs to EBSCO and provides access to journals relating to the history of the United
States of America from 1955 to the present. A total of 1800 titles are shown in the lists. You can try it
for free by using the demo.

Early English books online (EEBO)

EEBO contains digital facsimile page images of works printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales
and British North America, as well as works in English from 1473-1700. It has access to full-text
documents in several disciplines: Fine Arts, English Literature, Linguistics and History. It can be
consulted through ProQuest via some institutions.

4.GENERIC BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASES

Dialnet (UNED)
Dialnet is a Spanish database developed by the University of La Rioja. It already has more than 2
million users and it is a key reference for most researchers and professors working at Spanish
universities. Access to full-text versions of the entries depends on the involvement of your
institution, though the possibility of borrowing a document from another institution is available.
Most of the publications linked to here are based in Spain, which means that, they will mainly be
written in Spanish.
EBSCO
EBSCO, the world’s other leading information and publishing company along with Science Direct, will
lead you to many other databases, including European Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750, Teacher
Reference Center and e-books like the EBSCO eClassics Collection.

REBIUN
It is a collective catalogue, offered by most Spanish University Libraries, where you can find the exact
location of a resource.

The UNED Library platform

During the academic year 2019-20, Consorcio Madroño and all the libraries included in it, migrated
from Linceo + (Summon technology) to ExLibris a ProQuest tool used by many other universities to
manage their library catalogues. In the catalogue, you can narrow your search to a range of years,
authors, disciplines, etc.

5.OPEN ONLINE RESOURCES

Google Scholar
Google Scholar is one of the most useful used search engines in the academic world. You can create
alerts to receive notifications when there are new publications related to your “keywords”. You can
also follow the publications of some authors from your profile. Once in “settings”, you can add
access links to your library/Institution. This way, whenever you perform a search from Google
Scholar, you will know whether or not you can retrieve it from your library in its full-text version.

Google Books
Google Books is another powerful tool. Although you cannot read the whole book if you do not
purchase it, the sample view can help you get an idea of the contents inside, and in some cases a
few pages will be enough. You can order them by using your own shelves and creating a wish-list to
buy the book if needed.

E-journals
Each library has its own collection of e-journals depending on the packs that have been purchased
from the main journal retailers. You can find the journal in different providers, with different time
periods subscribed to. Directory of Open Access Journals means that all the journals contained
provide free access to the complete text of each article. Meta-searcher is a seacher to find full texts
and if we can access or not. The most important collections are Wiley Online, Academic Search
Premier, Ingenta, Sweetswise, Springerlink, Taylor & Francis, Sage Journals, Oxford Journals, and
Cambridge University Press.

E-books
 Ebook Central (previously ebrary): It belongs to ProQuest and has an extensive collection of
work from different fields. Creating an account is compulsory for reading books, but you will
also be able to create shelves, take notes, add favourites, highlight, etc.
 O’Reilly Safari Books Online gives you “access to our 35K+ books, 30K+ hours of video,
curated learning paths, case studies, interactive tutorials, audiobooks, and O’Reilly
 conference videos”. It is a good place to find handbooks to learn how to use different
applications, all of them recent. You need to access it from our library link and enter your
UNED email account. You can create your own content playlists, highlight, and share
resources with other colleagues.
 Elsevier / Science Direct: one of the most widely used journal providers and specialised e-
books. Some are compilations of chapters written by various authors, which are very similar
to articles. Their references are easy to export to a variety of formats.
 E-BUNED: it is another platform for reading e-books which is being used by many public
libraries in Spain. Although you can only borrow books from the library for a limited time.

6.OPEN ACCESS LIBRARIAS

Guterberg project
Featuring more than 60,000 e-books, The Gutenberg project is a very well-known project that
compiles classic books in English so as to spread literature, and the love for literature, across the
Internet. Now there are versions in other languages such as French, Portuguese and Dutch. It is very
useful for locating the first editions of classic books.

Open Library
It is open to the whole world of the Internet in the form of a wiki. Everybody is invited to share
books, either uploading them entirely by scanning all their pages, or by offering to lend the book to
anyone else who may need it.
The difference between the Gutenberg Project and the Open Library: Project Gutenberg is a place to
download and read thousands of free ebooks. Open Library’s goal is to list every book —whether in-
print or out-of print, available at a bookstore or a library, scanned or typed in as text. In other words,
we provide access to all of Project Gutenberg’s books, but we have hundreds of thousands of others
as well.

Europeana
It is an open online library which comprises not only books, but also multimedia files such as videos,
audios or artworks produced in Europe. It may be useful if you need to find cultural and historical
documents for your end of degree dissertation or for your future research.
7.SELF-ASSESSMENT
1. To have digital competence implies…
a) Knowing how to search for information depending on our needs.
b) Knowing how to evaluate information depending on our needs.
c) Knowing how to manage information depending on our needs.
d) All answers above are correct

2. Consorcio Madroño is…

a) A subscription agreement which allows UNED students to access various databases.
b) An e-library available for all the universities in Madrid.
c) An e-library available for all the public universities in Madrid.
d) A collection of databases that students can access on a paid subscription service.

3. Google Scholar allows to…

a) Follow the publications of some authors from your profile.
b) Know authors’ biographies. c) Download its content for free.
c) Download its content for free.
d) Access to the entries called “citations” by a simple click.

4. What is ERIC?
a) It is a collection of full-text works in English.
b) It is the most important database dealing with Education.
c) It is a database that contains full-text dissertations covering the disciplines of phonetics,
phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics.
d) It is a collective catalogue comprised by most Spanish University Libraries.

5. Which of the following is one of the most useful search engines in the academic world?
a) Dialnet.
b) Google Scholar.
c) EBSCO.
d) E-journals.
 UNIT 2: MANAGING BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES WITH SPECIALISED
SOFTWARE
1.CONTENT
The Concept of Bibliographic Management Applications (BMA)
Also known as Reference Managing Software (RMS), these are tools that enable the creation,
organisation and management of bibliographic references so that they can be easily retrieved in
later searches. Additionally, they help us to create lists of bibliographic references in different
formats.

Main Elements of a BMA

Basic aims of a BMA: adding new data or references, managing new data, and generating

bibliography
 Adding new references to BMA: Once we start using a BMA we will be able to import new
references in four different ways:
1. Manually, by individually typing out all the fields of the bibliographic reference.
2. Directly, by transferring the citation reference to your BMA from the source with a
single click. This can be done through a complement or extension, downloaded and
installed in your browser.
3. Indirectly, saving the citation information in a file before being imported, using
formats such as TXT, XML, RIS format or BibTeX etc. Each tool works better with
some of these extensions or even has its own format. These extensions can also be
used to migrate references from one tool to another.
4. Other methods: directly accessing external library catalogues, RSS, etc. (e.g.,
RefWorks) from your BMA, or extracting bibliographical information from a PDF file.
 Managing data: The references that you add to your BMA can be easily classified by adding
tags (keywords), putting them into folders, or even adding notes and commentaries to the
new entry or body of the article (e.g., Mendeley). You can also set up your application to
save your references in a specific standard by default (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.). Being
organised from the beginning is vital if we want to get the best out of these applications, and
not only our own sake, but also if we want to share our references.
 Generating bibliographic references automatically: One of most useful functions of these
applications is the possibility to create bibliographies in a different style with a single mouse
 click. These tools normally already include a list of the most common citation systems, which
are automatically updated when a new version appears. Additionally, you can adapt those
already included to other purposes, adding your own styles to follow a special guideline
required by a journal if necessary. Once the list has been generated, a final revision by the
author is recommended. Two types:
1. Generating bibliographic references directly from the application: If the application
allows it, this method is the easiest way to obtain a quick list from a single folder
rather than selecting the citations that you need one by one. They use the provided
standards by default, while some of them allow us to add our own or even modify
some of their elements.
2. Generating bibliographic references using a Word Processor: Although the later
versions of word processors like Microsoft Word include this function by default,
some BMAs offer the possibility to download and add a macro to your word
processor, so that you can access your references whenever you need to. This way,
you will be able to insert citations while drafting your document. This is particularly
useful when you can fully concentrate on your work without being distracted by
formatting issues.

BMA Typology
Some authors divided these applications into three types: classic, web-based and social networks;
but they were later reduced to two modalities: open-source and commercial software. Nowadays,
most of them have a web-based version and allow references to be shared easily. Types:

COMMERCIAL BMAS
They are the pioneers. Nowadays, there are several BMAs:
 EndNote (one of the pioneers): one of the leading BMAs. It is a bibliographic management
application that allows users to create, organise, and manage their references and citations.
It is commonly used by researchers, students, and academic professionals to keep track of
their sources and generate accurate and consistent citations in their papers and
publications. With EndNote, users can import references from online databases and library
catalogues, as well as manually enter and edit citation information. The software offers
various citation styles, such as APA, MLA, and Chicago, that can be customised to fit specific
requirements. It also provides tools for creating bibliographies and footnotes, as well as for
adding annotations and notes to individual references.
One of the main advantages of using EndNote is that it can save time and effort by
automatically formatting references and citations according to the selected citation style.
Users can also share their reference libraries with others, collaborate on research projects,
and search for full-text articles within the application. EndNote is available as a desktop
application for Windows and macOS, as well as a web-based version that can be accessed
from any device with internet access. It is widely used in academic and research settings, as
well as in other industries that require accurate and efficient reference management.
 RefWorks: one of the most widely used BMAs by researchers and academics, and the
number of users has increased rapidly since its creation in 2001. One of the main differences
between EndNote and RefWorks is that the former has a desktop application and a web-
based version, whereas RefWorks is solely a web-based application. It means that users do
not need to install any software on their device, and it can be accessed through a web
browser on any computer or device with an internet connection. Another advantage of
 RefWorks is that it permits the simultaneous direct exportation of references from several
databases and online resources.
One possibility is to see the key elements of RefWorks in “normal view”, “table view”, “full
view” or “citation view” to check that there are no missing fields or typos.
The main features are References and Folders:
1. References: y attention to the name of the author, the title and source. If the name
of the author is all written in capital letters, you must change it. You can do so by
clicking on the entry, which will then be highlighted in blue and will show on the
right-hand side all the fields that need to be completed or modified. Each reference
can appear in two folders at the same time. Observe how each reference has a
unique number (ID). Make sure you do not use the same title with two a different
IDs; this will mean that you have duplicated references in your database. Most BMAs
can detect these references automatically so that you do not have repeated entries.
You can also add tags (keywords) to the references, making it easier to locate them
later. Some of these are already included when the reference is imported.
2. Folders: These are located on the left-hand side of the entries. The number in
brackets shows how many references are contained in each folder. If you click on
the three dots to the right of the folder, you will be able to edit it, share it or add
sub-folders. One of the core features of RefWorks (not included in others) is that
you can create a bibliography out of a folder with a single click. You can also copy
and paste isolated references to any document, already in the format required.
RefWorks offers the possibility of installing an extension to grab web references, or to insert
in-text citations in your Microsoft Word document while writing. You will need to install a
Microsoft Word extension. This is how it looks, once installed in your word processor.
One of the strongest points of RefWorks is that we can long lists of references from
databases such as Dialnet. All you have to do is to select all the references you need and
send them to your RefWorks account with the direct export option as provided by the site.
The image shows how to select items. Once this is done, you will need to click on the pin to
move on to the next step. RefWorks is one of the best BMAs for simultaneously exporting
references and converting them into lists of references with a single mouse click.
 Mendeley: it is a free reference manager that can help you store, organize, note, share and
cite references and research data”. It can generate bibliographies automatically, it allows
you to collaborate with other researchers online, you can easily import papers from other
research software, find relevant papers based on what you are reading and access your
papers from anywhere online. But it is mixed because it offers some premium features for a
fee, so it cannot be considered completely open-source.
One of the strongest points of Mendeley is its potential for collaboration and the possibilities
it offers for commenting on the body of the article (PDF version). It is flexible, accessible
from different platforms and devices, and has a clean, user-friendly interface. Main features:
1. Web importer: Thanks to this browser extension you can incorporate different types
of resource (books, websites, reports, articles, etc.) into your database. Before
saving your record, you can edit the fields of the captured reference or even add
more specific data to the information.
2. Adding references: Do not forget to synchronise your database when you finish, so
as to see your changes in the Web Importer. All your insertions can be made either
to your library - only you can find your references - or to a particular group /folder.
There are different methods for adding references:
o Manually
 o Indirectly, by importing files in different bibliographic formats. Thanks to the
indirect export, we can import several references simultaneously and
automatically. These are the most common bibliographic formats used
nowadays:
I. Bibliographic Software (EndNote, Reference Manager, ProCite: saves
the database in a tagged format that can be imported into another
bibliographic management program. This format is sometimes called
the RIS Format or Reference Manager Format, and it can be
imported into Reference Manager, ProCite, EndNote, or any other
program that supports the RIS Format.
II. BibTeX – Ref ID: saves the database in the file format for use with
the LaTeX document preparation system.
III. Citation List: creates a list to use when writing your paper offline.
The format includes the RefID, Authors Primary, Title Primary, and
Publication Year only.
IV. RefWorks Tagged Format: saves the database in a format similar to
that of the bibliographic management software. This is a tagged
format. The data layout, however, is patterned after the RefWorks
database as opposed to tags that match with other bibliographic
programs. Use this format for backup purposes and for sharing data
with other RefWorks users.
V. RefWorks XML Format: saves the data in an XML version of the
RefWorks Tagged Format.
VI. Tab Delimited: saves all your data organised into fields, each
separated by a tab. It may then be loaded into other programs that
are designed to read this type of format.
o In PDF format
o The direct method, by using the Web Importer. You will often find this
option in journals such us Cambridge Journals or Science Direct, just as you
can find the RefWorks icon for direct export.
o Adding in-cites and generating bibliographies: there is no way to create
bibliographies from the folders contained in your Mendeley database, but:
I. In the case of single references, copying and pasting by using the
right button on your mouse to select “Formatted Citation”.
II. If you need to write a whole article, essay or work, using the
Microsoft Word macro would be the easiest option. To do this, we
click on “References”, bringing up a list of buttons. Once there, you
can insert citations whenever you need.

Migrating Bibliographic References from RefWorks to Mendeley

One of the advantages of BMAs is the chance to migrate references from one tool to another. To do
this, we need to export the saved references to one of the provided formats, then importing it later
by using the desired BMA. Once you have located the folder into which you would like to import the
references from RefWorks, or after you have created a new one, open the desktop application, go to
Add Files and choose the RIS file you wish to import.

OPEN-SOURCE BMAS
  Zotero: it is one of the most widely used open-source applications for the management of
bibliographic references. Developed by George Mason University in 2006, it is available as a
free download for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems, and also as a web-based
application. It allows users to import citations and full-text articles from online databases,
library catalogues and websites, and to create and organise collections of sources, add notes
and tags to sources, and create bibliographies in a variety of citation styles. Besides, it has a
built-in PDF reader with which you can annotate and highlight documents. Like Mendeley,
Zotero is designed for collaborative work, and its browser extension is key to when
retrieving data from the web.

2. SELF-ASSESSMENT
1. Which of these is a characteristic of a BMA?
a) Generating bibliography.
b) Creating new data.
c) Sharing collaborative researches.
d) Digitalisation of academic texts.

2. You can annotate PDFs with…

a) RefWorks.
b) Mendeley.
c) Dialnet.
d) MLA.

3. What is one of the advantages of BMAs?

a) The possibility to migrate references from one tool to another.
b) The possibility to export references in PDF Format.
c) The possibility to save references simultaneously.
d) None of the above is correct.

4. Which of the following is an advantage of RefWorks?

a) It allows the user to incorporate different types of resources to your database.
b) It allows the user to classify and look for new references.
c) It permits the direct exportation of several references at the same time from several
databases and online resources.
d) It compares the functions included in different BMAs.

5. Which is the strongest point of Mendeley?

a) The possibility to comment on the body of the article in PDF version.
b) The possibility to incorporate lists of references with a mouse click.
c) The possibility to obtain screenshots from websites and add them to the citation.
d) It allows the user to export long lists of references from databases at the same time.
 TEMA 3: STUDYING AND RESEARCHING COLLABORATIVELY WITH
TECHNOLOGY
1. INTRODUCTION
BMAs can help us make the process of gathering and updating our list of references an easier task,
but, being able to work collaboratively is an extremely important competence nowadays if we want
to improve our work. Communication is an essential element of our everyday life.

2. COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE (CoPs) AND PROFESSIONAL FORUMS

According to Wenger (1998), one of the pioneers in the study of the Communities of Practice, these
are described as groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn
how to do it better as they interact regularly. Three main elements are inherent to any CoP:
 The domain: A community of practice is not merely a club of friends or a network of
connections among people. It has an identity defined by a shared domain of interest.
 The community: In pursuing their interest in their domain, members are engaged in
everyday activities and discussions, help each other and share information. They build
relationships that enable them to learn from each other.
 The practice: A community of practice is not merely a community of interest--people who
like certain kinds of movies, for instance. Members of a community of practice are
practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, and
ways of addressing recurring problems — in short, a shared practice.
Communities of Practice are not new at all, and they are not exclusively related to learning contexts.
They have existed for ages with the added value of having become virtual in the last two decades.
They began by using Bulletin Board System (BBS), consisting in sending messages to an online board
to ask questions to other members of the community, share opinions about a particular topic, etc.
The first communities were started by people suffering any illness that made contact to try to obtain
relief to their pains. As time went by, these boards became distribution lists, and later became more
sophisticated forums with tools to upload files, images, deliver polls, etc., for example, Yahoo
Groups. However, they seem to be going out of fashion.

CoPs for language teachers and researchers

Some of these CoPs began with a simple distribution list and have been transformed into Social
Networks with different dedicated elements. They experience pitch and down periods depending on
the issues covered, but the important thing is that their members have a meeting point whenever
they need to share an enquiry, ask any doubt or to find out information in order to start with some
incipient research. Some of these communities are in fact professional associations with a presence
in different social networks, which are used to publicise their publications, events, communications,
etc.

WEBHEADS
For many years, it has been one of the most active CoPs, integrated by more than 1000 language
teachers from all over the world, who search for new ways of teaching through technology. They
built their first CoP with a Yahoo Group and then migrated to an alternative site. They have a long
tradition of organising open virtual courses online for language teachers on the most relevant and
innovative topics all around the world. This is the case of Electronic Village Online, which started as a
TESOL Special Project of the CALL Interest Section. They also have a wiki with their upcoming events,
but their Facebook page contains more up-to-date information. Over two decades later, Webheads
continues to be a reference in CoPs in languages. Their founder and leader, Vance Stevens, passed
away in 2022, so only time will tell whether some of the members of this CoP continue his legacy.
AEDEAN (Spanish Association for English and American Studies)
AEDEAN and AESLA are the two main Spanish associations related to Philology. In the same way as
AESLA, it organises an annual conference. It also has its own distribution list, to which you can only
subscribe if you are a paying member. This association covers the following areas: Comparative
Literature, Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Feminist and Gender Studies, Film Studies, Historical
Linguistics, Language Teaching and Acquisition, Lexis, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Modern
and
Contemporary Literature, New Technologies, Phonetics and Phonology, Postcolonial Studies,
Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis, Short Story, Sociolinguistics & Dialectology, Syntax, Translation
Studies & US Studies.
Articles related to these topics can be found in their publication ATLANTIS, Journal of the Spanish
Association for Anglo-American Studies. Additionally, they publish the magazine Nexus twice a year.
This association is connected to The European Society for the Study of English (ESSE) and The
European Association of American Studies (EAAS). Both associations have their own journals: The
ESSE Messenger European and Journal of American Studies. Along with AEDEAN, all these
associations also
publish the proceedings of the conferences they hold every year (two, in the case of EAAS). AEDEAN
has recently opened a Twitter account.

AESLA (Asociación Española de Linguística Aplicada)

The distribution list is only for members, in the same way as AEDEAN. Their specialised panels cover
areas closer to linguistic than cultural or literature matters, like in the case of AEDEAN. RESLA Revista
Española de Lingüística Aplicada / Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics (RESLA/SJAL) is the name of
its publication. Its topics coincide with the specialised panels of the association. They also publish an
electronic journal, RAEL.

TESOL (International Association of English to Speakers of Other Languages)

Although it is based in the United States, this association has members and local delegations all
around the world, for instance, TESOL-Spain. The Interest sections (ISs) of this associations include:
Adult Education; Applied Linguistics; Bilingual Education; Computer-Assisted Language Learning;
Elementary Education; English as a Foreign Language; English for Specific Purposes; Higher
Education; Intercultural Communication; Intensive English Programs; International Teaching
Assistants; Materials Writers; Non-native English Speakers in TESOL; Program Administration;
Refugee Concerns; Second Language Writing; Secondary Schools; Social Responsibility; Speech,
Pronunciation, and Listening; Teacher Education; Video and Digital Media. These topics are dealt
with in its publications: TESOL- Journal, TESOL Quarterly and specialised books. They also have
presence in the following social networks: Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language)

If TESOL International is one of the most representative English Teacher associations in the United
States and other parts of the world, its equivalent in the European continent is IATEFL (International
Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language). Its annual conventions are held in
different parts of the UK. Its Special Interest Groups (SIGs) also have their own events within and
outside the general convention. IATEFL active SIGs are: Learner Autonomy; Learning Technologies;
Literature; Pronunciation; Research; Teacher Development; Testing, Evaluation & Assessment and
Young Learner and Teenagers among others. One of the most actives SIG isBLTSIG (Learning
Technologies SIG).

EuroCALL (European Association of Computer Assisted Language Learning)

It is a professional association dedicated to language learning and teaching with new technologies. It
holds an annual conference in a European country. It also has several SIGs: Computer-Mediated
Communication (CMC); Corpus; Joint Virtual Worlds and Serious Games (together with CALICO);
Mobile Assisted Language Learning; Intelligent CALL; CALL Teacher Education; Graduate; Language
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses); Less Commonly Taught Languages. It has social Network
presence in Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. RECALL is the name of their main publication; it can be
read in its full-text version from 2001 through the library. They also have a second journal, The
EuroCALL Review.

CALICO (Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium)

It is the CALL association based in the United States. Its SIGs include: Computer Mediated
Communication; Gaming; Graduate students; ICALL (Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language
Learning); LTLT (Language Teaching and Learning Technologies); SLAT (Second Language Acquisition
and Technology; Teacher Education and Virtual Worlds. They publish the CALICO Journal, and some
of its articles can be read in the full-text version for free.

Examples of CoPs designed for students of foreign languages

The Web 2.0 has been considered an efficient and easy way to use tools to create an environment
where one can exchange impressions and ideas with people from all over the world. This new
environment has enabled the emergence of several spaces to practice any language freely and in an
easier way. Two popular examples are Busuu and The Mixxer.

BUSUU
It is a CoP based on video chat to practice foreign languages. Its name comes from a language in
Camerun spoken by just 80 people. The free version includes Flash cards, writing exercises and
correction from native speakers.

MIXXER
It s a community that uses a VoIP client to practice languages (English, French, Spanish, Arabic,
Chinese, etc. You need to specify a group to practice when joining for the first time. What began as a
small project to help professor Meguro at Dickinson College find Japanese partners for her students
has expanded to 30-40,000 active users per month around the world. The site is free and open to
anyone looking to practice with a native speaker in exchange for help with their own. Once
registered, users can search for speaking partners via the Profile Search or submit a short writing
piece and ask for corrections from native speakers. Those using the writing function are asked to
return the favour by correcting short samples in their native language. In this CoP everyone is both
teacher and learner.

3. TOOLS TO CREATE COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

Asynchronous Computer-Mediated Communication tools (ACMC)
ACMC tools are those used to communicate with time delay, this is, not in real-time. The first means
of communication on the Internet was electronic mail. Distribution lists permitted users to send the
same email to different contacts at the same time. BBS (Board Bulletin systems) displayed threads
and long conversations, until blogs appeared.
BLOGS
Stauffer described weblogs or blog as “[A] website that has been designed to be updated with items
in a linear, time-based fashion, similar to a personal journal or diary, except that the contents are
meant specifically for public consumption”. If the concept of blog emerged as something individual,
nowadays they can be constructed in a collaborative way for learning, informing or even sharing
knowledge with the Internet community. There are plenty of applications to create blogs: Blogger,
WordPress, etc. The level of collaboration depends on the options that you wish to activate when
you set it up.

MICROBLOGGING
 Twitter: Although it emerged relatively recently, this tool has revolutionised the world of
information. Nowadays, Twitter is one of most widespread social networks both for the
general and public and for specialised areas. Although it cannot be considered as a
synchronous tool, it is so active and quick that sometimes it can be confused with an Instant
Messaging application. Important terms:
1. Tweet: A message in the social media Twitter.
2. Hashtag #: Symbol used in Twitter and other social media before a relevant keyword
or phrase. It helps categorise tweets and also find them in a Twitter search.
3. Lists: A Twitter list is a curated (filtered) group of Twitter accounts.
4. Follower: A person that receives your Tweets.
5. Following: A person whose posts you are receiving.
6. Interaction: Different ways in which you can engage with someone’s posts in Twitter
(e.g., retweeting).
7. @ Connect: This symbol @ allows a Twitter user to ‘tag’ another account. It notifies
those users that they are being mentioned.
8. Re-tweet: Share, forward or re-post a tweet sent by another user.
9. Trending topic: It is a hashtag (#) driven topic that is immediately popular at a
certain time.
10. Moments: Curated stories about what is happening around the world.
We will find there:
1. Name of the list.
2. Number of members (people/institution followed in that list).
3. Number of subscribers to that list, mostly “you”.
4. Other lists owned by this profile.
5. Tweets sent by the members of the list.
6. Recently added members.
 Instagram: Although it is catalogued as a social network, Instagram is a social media platform
employed by many entrepreneurs, professionals in specific fields of knowledge or content
creators to micro-blog and share their experiences about certain topics with the aim of
boosting followers and getting more engagement. Thanks to them, we can learn very useful
and important information and share it with our friends or family members. Such
information ranges from relevant tips to recipes or daily news on routine matters. As in
Twitter, we can also have the option to follow some hashtags that may be of our interest to
get informed about the latest posts that include the content you follow. We can find a wide
range of niches or social spaces form which we can learn and get inspired by others. The
type of content format that we can find in Instagram are pictures, reels, shorts, videos, and
stories. Creating an authentic and appealing micro-blog on Instagram involves being
creative, constant and good at editing. Aesthetics matters since it may become your sign of
 identity. Posting images or videos that are visually appealing by selecting a colour palette or
using filters would help you enhance your identity and display consistency in your posts.
There are some popular editing and creating tools such as Canva, used to design graphics or
images, and/or Kdan, a well-known tool to edit your videos. In this way, Instagram offers the
possibility of creating strong communities of different niches that usually involve a great
editing and care of the image they portray on their Instagram profiles.
At the educational level, there are many accounts which show blogging tips or content on a
specific subject in a picture or reel format. Therefore, bloggers need to be very descriptive in
their writing and selection of material by adding strong imagery and emojis to their posts.
Among the most popular professional accounts that show interactive content on English
teaching and learning are @englishwithnab, with more than 1.3 million followers or
@mariaspeaksenglish, with over 632 thousand followers.

WIKIS
One of the best definitions of a wiki can be found in the Wikipedia, the most famous wiki on the
Internet. It describes a wiki as “is a hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its
own audience directly using a web browser”. Given that technologically speaking a wiki is a website
comprised of different HTML pages, some elements are essential to facilitate the edition of content.
For this reason, we find these three elements in each page:
1. Edit function: Thanks to this function, all the members of the wiki can edit all the contents of
the page easily. In some cases, like Wikipedia, these editions can be moderated for security
reasons.
2. Discussion: This is a space aimed to debate on some possible conflicts and perspectives of
the topics dealt in each page.
3. History of editions: All the changes, mainly based on editions and insertions, can be tracked
through this function.
There are different tools to create wikis, for example, PhpWiki8, PBWorks9. Microsoft Teams can
integrate a wiki as well.

SOCIAL NETWORKS IN PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC CONTEXTS

Most of the CoPs mentioned before are using social networks as a means of communication among
their members, and at the same time they can generate knowledge. The Cambridge Dictionary
defines “social network” as “a website or computer program that allows people to communicate and
share information on the internet using a computer or mobile phone”. This is probably the best way
to transfer and generate knowledge nowadays. The characteristics of these connections may vary
from website to website. There are many classifications of social networks on the internet. One of
these is attending to the audience intended:
 social networks for the general public (Facebook): it is an example of a social network that
was originally designed for purposes different to the strictly academic or professional ones,
but it is being used by some associations and online communities as the main way of
disseminating information among their CoP members (Twitter is another example of this).
Facebook was founded in 2004 by a group of undergraduate students. It is by far the most
extended social network. It has more than 500 million followers. The associations described
before are using individual profiles, groups and websites to share their knowledge.
Functions:
1. Individual profile. This is generally used by individuals rather than institutions You
can find plenty of information by following academics such as Elizabeth Hanson-
Smith, Agnes Kukulska-Hulme and any others who interest you.
 2. Groups. These can be “closed” (only members can see posts), “public”, or “secret”
(only members can find the group in the directory). Some examples of CoPs who use
this option are LTSIG, CALICO, New Webheads Online Community, IATEFL TTed SIG,
WorldCALL Lounge, WikiEducator, EuroCALL.
3. Pages. Its appearance is not very different from individual profiles, but one of its
advantages is that one profile can have more than one pages with different topics.
Some examples of pages can be seen on AESLA, AELFE (European Association of
Languages for Specific Purposes), TESOL-Spain, TESOL-International, and many
others.
4. Events, very useful for announcing conferences and getting an approximate number
of attendants, either online or face-to-face.
After the emergence of social networks for general aims, some new ones were created with
a focus on spreading information and contacts at a professional level.
 social networks with professional purposes (LinkedIn): It is one of the most widely known
and it is used all by most of the CoPs. It was officially launched in 2003, and nowadays it is
leading the professional networks on the Internet with more than 530 million users in more
than 200 countries. Although its most famous feature is helping people find jobs, it is used
by some of its members to set up debates on specific topics, announce events or to look for
professional and academic contact. In the same way as Facebook, there is a “wall”, or
“state” site where you can share information, and you can create groups of members to
share common interests. Some groups are:
1. Comparative and Historical Linguistics
2. Natural Language Processing People
3. Metacognition: “Learning to Learn”
4. Computer Assisted Language Learning
Once you are in the group, it is very similar to most social networks: you can create your
own conversations, or “like”, “recommend” or “comment” and share other messages. One
of the added functions of LinkedIn is the possibility to add articles and presentations, apart
from writing short messages. It is very useful if you are looking for a job or want to keep in
touch with contacts related to your professional context. Similarly to Facebook, its
management becomes simpler if you access it through the mobile app.
 social networks for academics (ResearchGate and Academia.edu): We are living the era of
Information, where being ‘visible’ in the digital environment is very important if you wish
your work to be recognised in the international academic context. On the other hand,
thousands of articles and books about different disciplines are being published every day, so
knowing what is being published about your specific topic is becoming increasingly difficult.
This is the reason why networks of this nature have experienced a high increase in the last
decade. Tools such as Academia or Research Gate have been specially designed to expand
research and connect researchers with close interests:
I. Research Gate: It is an academic, social network specialised in spreading scientific
production of its more than 14 million members. Its creation was quite expected,
but casual at the same time. It began when two researchers discovered firsthand
that working with a friend or colleague based on the other side of the world was no
easy task. The rapid evolution of technology has opened the door to change; by
providing you with the right tools, we strive to facilitate scientific collaboration on a
global scale. It works very similarly to other social networks. Given that one of the
aims of this network is to spread your research, once you create an account you will
be asked to search your publications automatically so that they can be added to
 your profile (CV). Then, you can add more publications manually. It does not matter
if you do not have any publication to share. You can skip that step and begin to
follow other researchers of your interest. Every time they publish something new
you will receive a notification, in case you want to read it or share it, follow it,
comment on it or just keep it for further reading. Most publications are grouped by
projects so that you can locate and follow researchers or your interest through their
publications. Additionally, this tool provides you with statistics of your visits and
citations, provided you have publications added to your profile. Although most
publications can be read in their full-text version, there are others in which only the
reference and abstract are shown. You can send author a private message and ask
for the full-text version. Its basic functions are:
o Home
o “Projects”, refers to research projects as such or to a collection of
publications related to shared topic.
o “Labs”, has been devised for groups of academics who work collaboratively
in one or more projects. All the registered users can follow publications,
projects, questions, etc. They can also share other users’ publications or
recommend them publicly.
o Questions, are queries sent by different users, asking for help about some
research topic, etc.
o Jobs, are also displayed every day in relation to your CV and areas of interest
specified in your profile.
o The bell, shows you the most important updates and activities generated in
your profile.
o The envelope leads you to your private messages
o The blue button allows you to add new papers, articles, conference
presentations, etc.
II. Academia.edu: it s quite similar to Research Gate, with more than 103 million
researchers subscribed. As an academic social network, it connects researchers,
scholars and students from different disciplines worldwide. Its aim is to facilitate
knowledge sharing, collaboration and dissemination of academic research. Once you
publish your work, you will receive alerts in your email box every time it is quoted,
or read, etc. There are premium options that require you to pay a fee, but the basic
package is enough to spread and follow your topics of interest.

Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication tools (SCMC)

It is described as the communication processes or channels where participants interact at the same
time, in contrast to asynchronous communication or deferred communication. This technology has
improved immensely in the past years, the quality of the sound and image for instance is now quite
good, which enables a better environment for online meetings and other kinds of events.

INSTANT MESSAGING (IM) VoIP

It is a way of communicating over the Internet, which offers an instantaneous transmission of voice
messages from sender to receiver. Most of them add the possibility of including video to the
conversation, so face-to-face meetings are being replaced by this sort of technology.
 Skype (for business): Thanks to its quality sound and reliability, Skype has become a highly
valued VoIP tool. Although you need to pay to speak from phone to phone, it is entirely free
 if it is used to communicate via PC. It can also be installed on mobile devices with good
results. Among other functionalities, it offers the chance to create groups of speakers, share
your desktop with other users, record conversations, etc. It was acquired by Microsoft in
2011, so it has been integrated into some Microsoft products. Thanks to this, Office 365
users can now enjoy a better quality of sound, image and additional functions via “Skype for
Business”. This application lets you add up to 250 users to the same conversation, when the
basic one permitted a maximum of ten. To use it, you need to install a different application
to the basic Skype.
All in all, due to the effort that Microsoft is making to promote Teams, it is likely that Skype
for Business will soon be replaced by Teams (a chat application) in the future. It is important
to know that there is no need to belong to any Team to chat with individual users. To call
someone, open Teams and click on the chat icon. Type the complete name of the person you
want to talk to and wait for a response. You can use text, voice or video.
 Office 365 Teams chat: Teams is offered as part of the Office 365 suite. Many universities
included UNED, offer a free email account with the Office 365 suite, as well as a whole range
of applications at your disposal. If you access your email account and then click on “Office
365”, you will see these applications ready to use for free. Office 365 allows you to maintain
real-time conversations, arrange and record meetings, and share files. Each Team can also
include different channels with their own conversation threads, file space, etc. This
application can be used via web, desktop or by installing an app on a mobile device. It allows
you to make phone calls even to external phones. All the files shared in the channel can be
edited by all the members of the Teams by using the web, desktop or local application
(Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.). All the files can be synchronised with your own PC, which
means that you can work locally if needed. Teams aims to substitute the use of email and
VoIP systems like Skype. All the members of an institution can be included in Teams. To
invite external users, they need to have Office 365 in their institution and be accepted by the
ITs of the host platform.

MOBILE APPS
In a world with more mobile phones per citizen than PCs, synchronously written communication led
by desktop IM has been replaced by mobile apps like WhatsApp, Facebook IM, Telegram or Viber.
 WhatsApp: it s one of the most common mobile IM platforms. The latest versions allow us to
create groups and distribution lists, send voice messages, share locations and send the
chatlog to an email account so that it can be saved for later analysis or discussion if needed.
Each group can manage pictures, links and other documents so that they can be exported to
other tools. It can also be installed on a computer from links.

TOOLS FOR VIDEOCONFERENCING AND WEBINARS

Webinars are “virtual” seminars. The term “webinar” was firstly mentioned by Eric R. Kolb in 1998 to
describe the online meeting service his company was developing. They are synchronous, real-time
online conference events that gather people together at a given moment to listen to, observe, and
participate in a presentation. They began as video conference tools to be used in a room prepared
for that aim. New webinar tools are based on constructivist learning theories, which can hold
seminar sessions with collaborative new ways of learning.
Most of these webinar tools share similar features: voice and text chat, creation of different profiles
to attend the conference (whether as a guest, presenter, or administrator), record the whole
session, display documents, etc. Types:
  BigBlueButton: Most of these videoconferencing tools require a proprietary license, except
for cases like BigBlueButton which is part of Mozilla’s Open Innovation program.
 Blackboard Collaborate: it is a web conferencing tool that allows you to conduct online
meetings and class sessions. It includes options for moderation, group creation, recording,
etc., mainly using voice. It could be integrated within multiple platforms, including mobile
and LMS.
 Adobe Connect: you may have seen it in some of the webinars organised by the publisher
Macmillan or by RefWorks. It allows for online collaboration, remote training, web
conferencing and online presentations
 MS Teams: It is one of the preferred video-conferencing tools at the moment. It supports up
to 250 members in a single Teams meeting, team and personal file storage and real-time
collaboration with Office apps, which is especially useful in our educational context. The only
thing that you need is an Office 365 account with the appropriate Office 365 license, which is
provided by many universities, such as UNED, for free.
 Zoom: This is another popular video-conferencing tool which has gained prominence during
and after the pandemic. The free version hosts up to 100 participants and one of its
peculiarities is that it allows ‘Video breakout rooms’, so you can split your Zoom meeting in
separate sessions for discussion, collaborative work, etcetera. It has a limit of 40 minutes,
which may be a problem at times.
 Google Meet: This is another excellent tool for videoconferencing at university level. Like
some others, it can host meetings with up to 250 participants, record them and livestream.
Google users will find it particularly interesting, since it is integrated with G Suit and you can
join meetings directly from the calendar or an e-mail invite. It also allows real time
collaboration editing documents, presentations or spreadsheets, and it can track the
changes.

4. SELF-ASSESSMENT
1. Which elements are inherent to Communities of Practice?
a) Domain, community, and practice.
b) Domain, community, and expertise.
c) Community, practice, and dissemination.
d) Domain, community, and discussion.

2. What is the correct definition for the term “Wiki”?

a) “It is a hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience
directly using a web browser”.
b) “It is a collaborative platform for the creation of educational resources”.
c) “It is an online repository which is created and managed collaboratively”.
d) “It is a tool to create CoPs”.

3. With …, you can have all your files synchronized with your own PC, which means that you can
work locally if needed.
a) Skype
b) Facebook
c) Research Gate
d) Teams

4. Which are the two main Spanish Associations related to Philology?

 a) AEDEAN and AESLA.
b) AEDEAN and CALICO.
c) CALICO and ESSE.
d) CALICO and AESLA.

5. Which application would you use to create a Blog?

a) Blogging.
b) CALL.
c) LiveJournal.
d) Busuu.
 TEMA 4: COLLECTING AND ANALYSING DATA WITH SPECIALISED SOFTWARE
Collecting Data: Most student research projects in English language studies involve the collection
and
analysis of data. Indeed, for students interested in topics related to applied linguistics, translation or
education, the data component will likely be central to the study. A librarybased study involving the
analysis of a literary text might be more usual for students of literature, however. Before launching
into collecting data, you need to consider which data collection method would be best suited to
elicit the information required to answer the research question(s). Subsequently, attention needs to
be given to the data collection instrument, the location, the informants (or respondents), the timing
and
obtaining permission to collect data from your selected informants.
As stated there, most student research projects in English Studies involve the collection and analysis
of data, and those related to applied linguistics, translation or education will feature a data
component which is central to the study.

1. VISUALISATION OF INFORMATION
Before starting to write, it is crucial to have a general idea of what you would like to communicate
and how to do it. This is the reason why good brainstorming before conducting any research is so
important. There are several information visualisation techniques.
A concept map is a top-down diagram showing the relationships between concepts, including cross-
connections among concepts and their manifestations.
A mindmap is hierarchical and shows relationships among pieces of the whole. It is often created
around a single concept, drawn as an image in the centre of a blank page, to which associated
representations of ideas such as images, words and parts of words are added. Major ideas are
connected directly to the central concept, and other ideas branch out from those.
A conceptual diagram is a systematic depiction of an abstract concept in pre-defined category boxes
with specified relationships, typically based on a theory or mode.
A visual metaphor is a graphic structure that uses the shape and elements of a familiar natural or
manmade artefact or of an easily recognisable activity or story to organise content meaningfully and
use the associations with the metaphor to convey additional meaning about the content.
These representations are also used to analyse relationships between members of a community,
through messages exchanged in a forum, a social network, etc.

Information visualisation tools

MIND MANAGER
It was one of the first tools created to design concept and mind maps. It can be integrated into some
Office applications, generate a PDF, synchronise with mobile devices, etc. It also allows us to capture
information from the web to be organised later, with the possibility of synchronising with your
mobile device, which may be useful if you need to take notes when travelling or you do not have
your PC with you. The extension of the files created with this tool is .mm and, in the same way as
with BMAs, you can also import and export from some formats to others.

FREEMIND
It is an open-source tool that allows us to create mind maps. It is very similar to Mind Manager, but
with fewer functionalities; it does, however, allow us to export content to many extensions (HTML,
PDF, Word, .rft, etc.). It is written in Java, but it cannot be synchronised with tablets and can only be
installed on PCs. When you use the program, on the left you can find plenty of icons that can be
added to the nodes while you are working. At the bottom you can add notes for each node. From
“Archive” you can export and import extensions.

CMAPTOOLS
Free software. It allows connections between published concept maps, but it requires CMap Server
to do so. This is the front page of the CMapTools website. One of the main characteristics of
CMapTools, which is free to use, is that you can share and elaborate your maps in collaboration with
other users.

GOCONQR
GoConqr has launched a new tool to create flowcharts (diagrams which show a workflow or
process). A flowchart processor cycle can also be described regarding an outline, so long as the
outline indicates the progression of steps either forwards, backwards or looping. There is also an app
for mobile phones, which is quite easy to use.

2. DATA COLLECTION
Data collection is the process of gathering information or data from different sources to answer
research questions or test hypothesis. It involves the organised collection, analysis and
interpretation that are relevant to a particular topic of study. It can be done using a variety of
methods, and the choice of method will depend on the research questions, the type of data needed,
the available resources, etc. Besides, it is essential to follow ethical guidelines when collecting data
—obtaining informed consent from participants, protecting their privacy, ensuring confidentiality—.
That will ensure that the data collection process is valid and reliable.

Tools to improve the retrieval and analysis of data

There are two ways of doing this:
 Following statistical methods (qualitative research).
 conducting research based on more subjective techniques (interviews, observation, etc.).
Although data can be obtained through other methods which may not be mediated by technology,
these tools improve your efficiency in your work. If used correctly, they will help you save time, and
serve to other contexts:
 To analyse the needs of your teaching environment (in order to improve your teaching
quality)
 To design the syllabus of a new subject
 To elaborate your end of degree dissertation
 To plan a collaborative project at work
 To study for competitive exams (e.g. “oposiciones”)
 To write papers, etc.
Regardless of the type of research we are carrying out, we will explore two sorts of tools:
 Quantitative, are aimed at the collection of data.
 Qualitative, are used to study the data retrieved.
 3. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Qualitative research entails collecting primarily textual data and examining it by using interpretive
analysis. The main way to collect data is by creating questionnaires (mostly open), preparing
interviews, observing the process to be analysed, etc. Main features of the five approaches/ varieties
of qualitative research:

Qualitative research is quite important in English Studies, since we can use an approach such as
narrative inquiry to do some research on literature, or a case study, action research and even mixed
methods in research topics which involve English language teaching and learning. The computer
programs designed to assist researchers in analysing qualitative data are called CAQDAS, “Computer-
assisted qualitative data analysis software”. These tools will help us manage this sort of data, and
help researchers organise, manage and analyse large volumes of qualitative data efficiently. Some of
them are specially designed to compile and analyse qualitative data (Atlas.ti, NVivo). Others are
applications which have been created for other purposes, but that are also enormously useful for
qualitative research purposes (Evernote, Audacity, Excel, etc.).

Qualitative research techniques for obtaining data

These tools will help us in the process of gathering information that derives from the main
instruments of qualitative research: observation, questionnaires and interviews:
 Observation: it can be used to gather data for your qualitative research. You can simply take
some notes while you watch, or record everything for later study. Some years ago, the only
way to record notes for a research project was by writing down by hand everything you
observed. Now, thanks to Web 2.0, there are tools specially designed to save multimedia
notes. Although one of the pioneer ones was Evernote, inspired by traditional post-its,
nowadays both Google (Google Keep) and Microsoft (OneNote) have launched their own
apps. Most of these tools share the same basic functions: creating and sharing text, image
and audio notes, which are then organised into tags and made accessible through different
platforms and devices.
 Questionnaires: defined by Brown as “any written instruments that present respondents
with a series of questions or statements to which they are to react either by writing out their
answers or selecting from among existing answers”. They are very useful and amongst the
most common research teachers that EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers use when
performing some kind of research. Questionnaires could be applied to mixed methods or
even pure quantitative research when they are analysed statistically. If we want to design
useful qualitative questionnaires, the ideal would be to leave most items as open questions,
but it is more efficient to make use of Likert scale methods or even true-false items.
Traditionally, questionnaires were developed and delivered on paper, and often had to be
processed manually. Nowadays, there are plenty of tools to create online forms that you can
download from the Internet for free, or as a demo with restrictions. For many years
SurveyMonkey or Zoomerang, have been the main options, but they were not free, had
some limitations of use and showed a high amount of advertising while submitting.
This is why many users have resorted to Google Forms, included in the cloud storage system
known as Google Drive. It makes forms easy to create, deliver and complete, even from your
mobile device. These online office applications offer the possibility of working entirely online
without the need to install anything on your computer. In the case of smartphones or
tablets, this can be a very suitable option if you need to access your information from
different places. Therefore, Google Forms offers different views:
I. Editing view (to create your form, even in a collaborative way).
II. View form, the final version ready to be sent to your respondents.
III. Responses summary (including automatic percentages and graphs).
IV. Spreadsheet view (downloadable into your PC in different formats).
Google has a vast support site. You can also create forms in Office 365, you will need to think
of a title, add different questions and share the resulting URL so that other students can
access and complete it. Only UNED members can fill it out by default, but you can customise
it so that others can access as well.
 Interviews: Another way of collecting data in a qualitative study is by interviewing the
participants. Dörnyei distinguishes different types of interviews, depending on the number
of participants involved, the structure and its purposes:
I. structured interviews (with a predetermined set of questions or topics that are
asked in a fixed order)
II. semi-structured interviews (with a flexible set of open-ended questions that allow
the interviewer to explore topics in more depth and follow up on interesting
responses)
III. unstructured interviews (with no predetermined set of questions or topics; they are
more conversational in nature).
Very frequently, these interviews are recorded and processed for later analysis. If you need
help with the transcriptions of the dialogues, you can make use of specialised software.
Software used in qualitative research
TOOLS TO RECORD CONVERSATIONS: AUDACITY
When you hold an interview, there are two main ways of doing it:
 face-to-face interviews. The most usual method of recording is video recording, especially if
body language and gestures are relevant to your study.
 meetings held on the Internet either through VoIP or another kind of synchronous Computer
Mediated Communication. For recordings on the Internet there are different options:
1. Using the operating system’s recording software (included by default in most
computers).
2. Using the Webinar option, if this is the chosen environment.
3. Installing programs to edit sound files. This is the case of Audacity or Praat (for
phonetic purposes mainly).
4. MS Teams.
Audacity is one of the most widespread tools. It works with many different extensions,
including .wav and .mp3. The interface is quite user-friendly, and it offers many options to the user.
However, you can always use your operating system sound recorder, but it will probably deliver
lower sound quality,
and it does not have as many sound editing options as Audacity.

SOFTWARE TO TRANSCRIBE INTERVIEWS: TRANSANA

When using qualitative research methods you will need to transcribe all the gathered audio data, so
that the categorisation of the different topics and themes discussed can be done more accurately.
The use of the specialised computer programs will help us with this task.
Transana is not only one of the most widely used tools for transcriptions, but also for performing
other
qualitative tasks. It identifies analytically interesting clips, assigns keywords to clips, arranges and
rearranges clips, creates complex collections of interrelated clips, explores relationships between
applied keywords, and shares your analysis with colleagues. The result is a new way of focusing on
your data and a new way of managing large collections of video and audio files and clips. You can
synchronise your data with video as well. This tool can be compared to the functionalities of other
specialised software for qualitative studies, because in its latest versions it includes categorisation,
collaborative research, and data integration among other features. A similar non-paying option for
transcribing audio files can be TranscriberAG. However, it is less effective if your aim is to work with
non-native speakers of English, and it is not as fully featured as Transana.

ANALYSING DATA WITH CAQDAS (COMPUTER ASSISTED QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS SOFTWARE)
Once we have gathered all the data, we will need to categorise and analyse it. these tools are
particularly relevant for research studies, so you may not need to use them just yet, but it is good to
know that they exist because they can save you time and improve the quality of your work. In the
case of qualitative research, this sort of software is known as CAQDAS (Computer Assisted
Qualitative Data Analysis Software). In comparison to the software designed for quantitative studies,
there are few options available and they are all quite recent. This is due to a more solid tradition in
quantitative research, typical in empirical sciences such as physics, maths, etc. Two important
platforms:
 NVivo: it is one of the best-known CAQDAS with a proprietary license. It allows the user to
work with the main elements of qualitative research and in multiple formats. Although the
license is quite pricey, there is the possibility of downloading a 30-day demo if you want to
try it. It also includes the possibility of working with mixed methods (qualitative &
 quantitative), including data from several web 2.0 applications (social networks, Evernote,
Twitter, etc.).
 Atlas.ti: it was first developed between 1989-92 by researchers from the University of Berlin
as an interdisciplinary collaborative project between psychologists, computer scientists,
linguists and future users. The menu is mainly divided into four sections: Documents,
Quotations, Codes and Memos. Although you need to pay to use the complete version of
this application, the demo can be used for an unlimited period with limited functionalities.

4. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
This methodology involves collecting data, primarily numerical, and analysing statistical methods.
Important terms:
 Sample: Group of participants whom the researcher examines in an empirical research
project. There are different ways of selecting the sample, with the aim of being as precise as
we can.
 Population: Group of people who are the subjects of the study.
 Type of close-ended items contained in the questionnaires, which might be most of them.
These might be formulated according to the ‘Likert scale’, which takes its name from their
creator. They consist of a particular statement, with respondents asked to indicate the
extent to which they agree or disagree with it by marking one of the responses ranging from
‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’. Other question types may be included, such as true-
false, multiple-choice, open-ended questions, etc.
 Hypothesis, described by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as a ‘proposition tentatively
assumed in order to draw out its logical or empirical consequences and test its consistency
with facts that are known or may be determined’.
All these tools can divided into:
 applications to collect data
 software to help you when analysing the results.

Quantitative research software for obtaining data

Apart from the questionnaires, we can also obtain data directly from primary texts, measuring some
phenomenon objectively by controlled means (e.g., assessing response time or behavioural
frequency).

CORPORA TOOLS
A corpus is a collection of representative pieces of language text in electronic form, selected
according to external criteria. When dealing with texts and oral communication, corpora may be of
great help. Although we may have free access to several corpora, we can create our own corpus with
texts we gather ourselves.
One of the best-known corpora tools is WordSmith Tools, set up in 1996 by Oxford University Press
and Lexical Analysis Software Ltd. Most corpora software features these three elements: concord,
keywords, and frequency. This program is used by Oxford University Press to develop their
dictionaries, but it also is being used globally by language teachers and students, researchers and
translators. There are other programs such as AntConc, although a more complete one is WordSmith
Tools

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH SOFTWARE FOR MANAGING DATA

Once you have collected a minimum quantity of data to begin your analysis, you may be able to
export the dates, directly or indirectly, to a statistics program. Web-based tests and questionnaires
usually present their results in CSV format, which can be read by any spreadsheet. In the case of
Excel, creating a graph using the data retrieved from a questionnaire is quite easy. SPSS is probably
the most famous statistics package, but it requires a proprietary license. If your institution has not
paid for it, you can find other alternatives such as R, PSPP or MATLAB.
 SPSS: It is the most common software for performing applied statistics, although it is
presented by its IBM developers as a business product. It is integrated into a family of
products that address the entire analytical process, from planning to data collection to
analysis, reporting and deployment. Once it is installed you can add more than 12 functional
modules to improve your research.
 PSPP: It s very similar in appearance and functionalities to SPSS, and is used by market
researchers, psychologists and sociologists. SPSS has a data view tab (spreadsheet), a
variable view tab (to create variables and define their characteristics) and features an easy-
to-use point-and-click interface.
 MATLAB: It works with spreadsheets or traditional programming languages such as C, C++,
or Visual Basic. ‘These products combine a powerful numeric engine and programming
environment with interactive tools for statistical analysis, image processing, signal
processing, and other domains’. Among other features, you can:
1. Access data from files, spreadsheets, databases, test equipment, data acquisition
hardware, other software, or the Web.
2. Explore your data to identify trends, test hypotheses, and estimate uncertainty.
3. Create customised algorithms, visualisations, and models and publish customised
reports.
4. Share your analysis tools as MATLAB code or as standalone desktop or Web
applications.
 R: it is some free, open-source software for statistical computing and graphics. It provides a
wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques for data analysis and visualisation. It is
used in many fields, including statistics, data science and social sciences.

5. SELF-ASSESSMENT
1. A concept map is…
a) A systematic depiction of an abstract concept in predefined category boxes.
b) A graphic structure that uses the shape of elements to organise content meaningfully.
c) A top-down diagram showing the relationships between concepts.
d) A hierarchical map showing relationships among pieces of the whole.

2. Which one is NOT a tool for creating mind maps?

a) FreeMind
b) Mind Manager
c) CMap Tools
d) CMap Launcher

3. Which of these is NOT a tool for quantitative methods?

a) R
b) SPSS
c) Atlas.ti
d) PSPP

4. … entails collecting primarily textual data and examining it using

interpretative analysis.
a) Qualitative research.
b) Quantitative research.
c) Both qualitative and quantitative research.
d) None of the above are correct.

5. What is the tool we would use to transcribe interviews?

a) Praat
b) CAQDAS
c) Transana
d) NVivo
 TEMA 5: ACCESSIBILITY AND EMERGING FORMATS IN THE PUBLISHING
INDUSTRY
PLAN OF RESEARCH WORK

1. MANUALS OF STYLE
In the field of the Humanities, there are two main academic formatting styles:
 MLA (Modern Language Association): it was initially devised for topics related to Modern
Languages and Humanities in general.
 APA (American Psychological Association): it was initially used in Psychology.
Nowadays the APA manual of style is preferred for papers in the fields of Linguistics and Education,
while the MLA is recommended for publications related to Literature. Another formatting style is the
Chicago Manual of Style.

Formatting your Paper

When you begin to write your academic papers, the first thing to do is check which academic style
needs to be followed. You should also make sure that the language of your spell check is English or
the required language.

MLA STYLE
The Modern Language Association (MLA) promotes the study and teaching of languages and
literature and includes different initiatives. Some of them are related to databases. The first edition
dates from 1951, when William Riley Parker, the executive director at that time, published “The MLA
Style Sheet” with the aim of serving as a guide to some of the association’s journals.The last edition
is the 9th Edition (2021).
Publications related to Literature and Linguistics usually follow the rules contained in the latest
edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Here you will find recommendations
dealing with font size and type of text and quotes, margins, spacing, title, etc. You will find all the
measures indicated in “inches” (one inch is 2.45 centimetres).
In the MLA Book of Style and other related handbooks, you will find information about how to add
graphics and illustrations to your work, when to use capital letters, when to highlight a word,
revision of the punctuation rules, etc.

APA (AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION)

This style is commonly used in the areas of Applied Linguistics, Psycholinguistics and Didactics,
among other related fields.

REFERENCING ARTICLES, BOOKS AND WEBSITES

You will need to incorporate a list of cited works (bibliography) at the end of your essay, article or
academic assignment. Before explaining how to create bibliographical lists automatically with the
help of the BMA, it is important to know the elements of the main styles: MLA & APA.

One key visual feature when formatting bibliographic references is the “French indentation”, which
means that the second line starts after a blank space.
Book

Using BMAs to quote and create bibliographic lists of references

To learn how to insert them in the text and how to generate a list of references automatically, we
use one of these formatting styles:

IN-TEXT CITATIONS
When you start working on the State of the Art/background section of your academic paper, you will
need to read several articles in order to be able to justify your topic theoretically. You will have to
quote some authors, and each style has different guidelines for this. These in-text citations can be
retrieved from a journal, book, or even a website. In any case, you must know how to cite
appropriately, either by using the APA or MLA guidelines.
If you are using RefWorks, you will need to download and install a tool called “Write-N-Cite”.
For Mendeley users it is easier to use the desktop version: Mendeley Reference Manager.

GENERATING A REFERENCE LIST

With RefWorks, there are two options:
1. Using Write-N-Cite. Once you have finished drafting your document, a list of cited references
will be automatically generated with all the in-text citations found in it. This is the best way
to make sure that all the references have been included in the list.
2. Using the RefWorks website. Select the folder you would like to convert into a list of
references and choose the style (MLA or APA). You can choose whether to visualise your list
on the screen, as HTML, or to request to have it sent to your email account. This is the best
way to share lists of references with other people who do not have RefWorks.
Mendeley does not offer the possibility of generating reference lists from inside a folder, so you
must create them within the word processor. Once you have inserted all the citations, click on
Bibliography and follow the instructions on the screen. Go to View-Citation style and choose the
desired style.

2. TOOLS FOR GETTING YOUR WORK PUBLISHED

If the invention of the print by Gutenberg meant a significant change in the history of book
publication, the Internet has brought the chance to publish in a quick and more economical way.
Nowadays, we can create our own newspaper for free or even quickly set up a new scientific journal.
The tools to do it can be divided into two blocks: general topics and academic purposes.

Publications on general topics (Newspapers, Magazines, etc.)

Thanks to the Internet, publishing your own magazine is possible. Most tools require the payment of
a license, but we can at least try out demos to see how they work. We will explore two methods: the
easiest way, by using content curation (mostly free), and by using those based on pagination.

PUBLICATIONS CREATED THROUGH CURATION METHODS

Curation is one of the easiest ways to effortlessly publish the latest news. The Cambridge dictionary
defines “curate” as the verb used to “to select things such as documents, music, products, or
Internet content to be included as part of a list or collection, or on a website”. Such websites are
conceived as a simple and easy way of publishing content online and they have become successful
with the emergence of microblogging and other social networks.
 Scoop.it: it s launched several years ago, with a free version and a more sophisticated for a
fee. It works similarly to Twitter, by the re-scooping of news that you, your followers or
people who read your publications may find interesting. They claim to be the largest and
most connected curation publishing platform for professionals. You can create a “topic
page” on a specific subject and add relevant content to that page by either manually
curating content or letting the platform automatically suggest content based on your
preferences.

PUBLICATIONS BASED ON PAGINATION

Creating online magazines from scratch is perhaps a more difficult task, given the currently available
tools. These have been designed for more professional aims and in most cases are costlier too.
Types:
 E-page Creator: it is an HTML-based tool used to create unlimited digital publications from
PDF, SWF and image files. You will have different options depending on your subscription.
  3DIssue: it is a software tool that allows users to create digital publications such as online
magazines, brochures, catalogues and e-books. The wide range of tools and templates that it
offers enable the creation of professional-looking digital publications. You can import PDF or
HTML files, and then add interactive multimedia videos, such as videos, images, and
hyperlinks to create an engaging and interactive reading experience.

Software for Academic/Scientific journals and conference management

This type of software is not easy to use because it has been designed to be used by professional
associations, universities and other institutions. It is used to manage and publish scholarly journals
and books. It comprises the whole publication process, from paper submission to peer review and
eventual publication. Types:

PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE PROJECT (PKP)

It is an open-source software development initiative that creates free, open-source software and
conducts research to improve the quality and reach of scholarly publishing. TYPES:
 Open Journal System (OJS), One of its best-known products and a widely used web-based
software platform for publishing journals online. Some examples:
1. RIED
2. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & Literature
3. EPOS: Revista de Filología
 Open Conference System (OCS): is another tool included in the PKP software suite, which
allows the management of academic conference and publication of conference proceedings.
Some examples are:
1. Language Science Press
2. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press
 OpenEdition Journals: it is a portal of open electronic resources in the Humanities and Social
Sciences. The platform is part of the larger OpenEdition project, which is a collaborative
initiative between several academic institutions and publishers to promote open access to
scholarly content. Examples:
1. Review de Linguistique et de Didactique des Langues
2. Apprentissage des langues et systèmes d’information et de communication
3. Acquisition et d’interaction en langue étrangère
4. Corpus

Creating books and ebooks

The tools for creating e-books are similar or even the same as those for creating e-magazines. There
are platforms such as Lulu which even help you to send out the book you yourself have edited.
Others, like Storybird can help you create an interactive book to be used and shared in a classroom.
Other tools such as Calibre simply convert a PDF file into an e-book format. It is an open-source e-
book library management application developed by users of e-books for users of e-books. It allows
users to organise and manage their book collections with tools for searching, sorting and
categorising books.
Two mail proprietary software programs in the publishing industry:

QUARKEXPRESS 2018
It is one of the leading applications in the publishing industry for creating books in printed and online
book formats.
ADOBE INDESIGN
It i s a solution offered by Adobe Suite which is very similar to QuarkXpress, but it has been designed
to produce material for electronic devices. It is used to create a wide range of print and digital
publications such as books, magazines, brochures, newspapers, flyers, and interactive PDFs. Its
appearance is very similar to other applications in the same suite.

3. ACCESSIBILITY
It can be described in two ways:
 An online document or tool is accessible when it can be easily understood by everyone,
regardless of what browser or adaptive equipment he or she is using.
 Any document or tool can be accessed by any user regardless of the device (e.g. visual
browser, screen reader, mobile device) he or she is using.
The amount of information across on the web is growing exponentially day by day, with some
documents only available online. It is necessary to ensure that all individuals, regardless of their
physical or cognitive abilities, can access and use digital contexts. These are some reasons why
accessibility is important in digital texts:
 Inclusivity: All individuals, including those with disabilities, should not be excluded from
accessing and benefiting from digital content.
 Compliance: Many countries have laws and regulations that require digital content to be
accessible. In Europe there is the Web Accessibility Directive, and in the US the Americans
with Disabilities Act.
 User experience: Accessible digital content improves user experience for everyone, not only
those with disabilities. Some examples of these good practices are: using clear fonts, enough
colour contrast and appropriate heading structures.
 Searchability: Accessible digital content is easier to search and navigate, e.g., using
descriptive headings, providing alternative text for images and providing transcripts for
videos and audio content.
Some official institutions have their own accessibility guidelines. Two examples are:
 The BBC
 The Open University
 Apple
The Web Accessibility Initiative provides guidelines on how to make web sites accessible. As they
state on their web, “Accessibility is essential for developers and organisations that want to create
high-quality websites and web tools, and not exclude people from using their products and
services”.
Another important concept is usability. It is described by the ISO (International Organization for
Standarization) as “The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified
goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use.” In the context of
digital content, it must be organised in such a way that information can be located easily. Some
principles of usability are:
 Simple and intuitive design: The design should be easy to understand and use, without
requiring extensive training or support.
 Efficiency: Users should be able to complete tasks quickly and efficiently.
 Consistency: The design should include consistent terminology, layout and navigation.
 Feedback: Users should receive feedback about their actions.
 Error prevention and recovery: The design should prevent errors from occurring and
provide clear ways for users to recover from errors if they take place.
 4. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN ENGLISH STUDIES AND RESEARCH
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a broad term used to describe machines that can perform tasks that
typically require human intelligence, such as reasoning, perception and learning. Although the
academic community has been researching AI for many years, its popularity has surged among the
general public with the emergence of widely used systems like ChatGPT. It is a large language model
trained on a massive dataset of text. This allows it to generate human-like responses to written
prompts. It can aid in education and research in various ways: it can translate texts from and into
different languages, it can analyse large data sets and identify patterns and insights, and most
importantly, it can provide assistance with research. For instance, it can users generate ideas,
identifying relevant literature and even assist you with writing drafts.

ChatGPT and English Studies

This tool has several potential applications in English Studies and research. Some of the ways
ChatGPT can be used are:
 Language analysis and research: ChatGPT can be used to analyse and understand the
structure, syntax and semantics of English language. It can help researchers identify patterns
and trends in language use and provide insights into how language evolves over time.
 Analysis of literary texts: ChatGPT can provide insights into literary texts and their style,
themes and language use.
 Language learning: Since this tool generates responses to input from learners, language
learners can input a sentence in their target language and ChatGPT will generate a response
in the same language. It can also provide feedback and corrections to help learners improve
their language skills.
 Translation: It translates text from one language to another.
 Automated writing: This tool can generate text automatically. Writers can input a topic or
keyword and ChatGPT will generate ideas, or even a complete article or blog based on that
input.
 As a research tool: It can help with research tasks such as analysing and summarising texts,
conducting sentiment analysis, and identifying themes and ideas.
 As a writing assistant: It can assist writers by providing suggestions for word choice,
sentence structure and style. It can help writers improve the clarity, coherence and overall
quality of their writing.

5. SELF-ASSESSMENT
1.The APA formatting style is the preferred one in…
a) Linguistics and Literature.
b) Social and Legal Sciences.
c) Linguistics and Didactics.
d) Humanities.

2. Which of these is NOT a tool to create your own publication?

a) 3DIssue.
b) RIED.
c) Scoop.it.
d) QuarkXpress.
3. Which of these is a product derived from “Public Knowledge Project 5” (PKP)?
a) International Journal of Applied Linguistics & Literature.
b) Language Science Press.
c) Open Journal System.
d) EPOS: Revista de Filología.

4. What is the DOI?

a) An alphanumeric string which provides a persistent link to its location on the Internet.
b) An alphanumeric string which indicates the journal of an article.
c) An alphanumeric string which the exact pages of an article or chapter books.
d) An alphanumeric string which is used when referencing a website or any electronic source.

5. What is the purpose of curation methods?

a) To select things to be included as part of a list or collection, or on a website.
b) To introduce in-text citations in different documents.
c) To create a list of references from your own folders.
d) None of the above is correct.