03/02/2017
An English language teacher from Durango has won a scholarship from a department of Cambridge University for his ideas on how digital tools can help English language learners improve their speaking skills. Bogar Vallejo Martínez has been awarded the Cambridge English: Dr Peter Hargreaves Scholarship.
Bogar will be funded to go to the IATEFL conference in Glasgow, Scotland, which is attended by thousands of language teaching professionals from around the world. His award-winning essay caught the eye of an expert judging panel, and he was chosen from over 500 English language teaching and language assessment professionals who applied for the Cambridge English Scholarships last summer. He describes how he creatively introduced podcasts and QR codes in the classroom to help students improve their speaking skills. He commented:
‘It's important to consider that it is not only a matter of having the necessary digital tools, we need to design different and efficient strategies that will enrich the use of technology in order to create specific learning environments which will ultimately, promote better speaking skills.’
The judging panel was made up from experts from Cambridge Assessment English, a department of Cambridge University. Helen Allen from the Digital and New Product Development team at Cambridge English and part of the judging panel said:
‘By successfully integrating digital tools and resources such as podcasts and QR codes, Bogar is motivating and engaging students to practise their communication skills. His approach focusses on creating meaningful and authentic speaking practice for an academic environment.’
The Cambridge English: Dr Peter Hargreaves Scholarship, is awarded in memory of a former Chief Executive of Cambridge English and leading expert in language testing and applied linguistics.