Scaffolding of Wikipedia translation for technology-enhanced language learning

Abstract

This paper reports on the fi ndings from training on language learning of pre service language student teachers on the translation of English Wikipedia articles into Oshikwanyama and Oshindonga. The interpretative framework of scaffolding was used to conduct the training. The study involved a group of 24 pre-service language student and teachers from a university in Namibia. Data was generated  through the observation of the Wikipedia translation  intervention referred to above. An openended questionnaire that served as a tool for refl ection on the translation was also used. The participants made use of several mediating technological tools (computers, internet, the  Wikipedia website, and online dictionaries) as well as language books and  dictionaries to translate articles on the Wikipedia website from English, the students’ second language, into Oshikwanyama/Oshindonga, their home languages. The fi ndings suggest that Wikipedia is a good resource for helping student teachers integrate the use of technology into their language learning in the fi rst-language classroom. It also offers student teachers a chance to develop strategies that scaffold learning in a structured way, using both technological and language mediating tools that are accessible and convenient to use.