Virtual Environment, Digital Hypertext, Reading and Writing in Foreign Language

International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Science (IJAERS) [Vol-5, Issue-4, Apr- 2018]
https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijaers.5.4.1 ISSN: 2349-6495(P) | 2456-1908(O)
www.ijaers.com Page | 1
Virtual Environment, Digital Hypertext,
Reading and Writing in Foreign Language
Joyce Vieira Fettermann, Elaine Teixeira da Silva, Annabell del Real Tamariz, Carlos
Henrique Medeiros de Souza, Fabricio Moraes de Almeida
1
Doutoranda do Programa de Pós-graduação em Cognição e Linguagem da Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense
Darcy Ribeiro (UENF). Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. E-mail: joycejvieira@gmail.com.
2
Especialista em Ensino de Língua Espanhola pela Universidade Cândido Mendes. Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
E-mail: elaine.ts@gmail.com.
3
Doutorado em Engenharia Elétrica (UNICAMP). Professora do Programa de Pós-graduação em Cognição e Linguagem da
Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF). Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. E-mail: annabell@uenf.br
4
Doutor em Comunicação (UFRJ), Coordenador do Programa de Pós-graduação em Cognição e Linguagem da Universidade
Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF). Rio de Janeiro, Brasil - E-mail: chmsouza@uenf.br
5
PhD in Physcs (UFC), with post-doctorate in Scientific Regional Development (DCR/CNPq). Researcher of the Doctoral
and Master Program in Regional Development and Environment (PGDRA/UNIR). Leader of line 2 ― Technological and
Systemic Development, and Researcher of GEITEC ― Federal University of Rondônia, Brazil.
E-mail: dr.fabriciomoraes001@gmail.com.
Abstract— This work intends to analyze – in an activity
carried out with students from the third period of the
Language (Spanish) undergraduate course of a college
located in Itaperuna, a town in the State of Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil - how the digital hypertextual reading can
facilitate the selection of information in order to facilitate
the writing process of texts in Spanish that can be
broadcasted in the virtual environment, verifying how this
may happen, so that these productions are shared, also
allowing the interaction of the subjects with the language
and with their peers. For this objective, we used the
qualitative methodology (Erickson, 1986) with action
research, seeking foundation in what theorists such as
Lévy (1996, 1999), Coscarelli (2006, 2009), Gomes et al.
(2015), Bannell et al. (2016), among others, investigate.
As results, we emphasize that the subjects of the research
actively participated in the construction of their own
learning regarding the aspects covered in the foreign
language class, and with this they were able to practice
reading, writing, and the usage of the vocabulary and
grammar studied. Finally, we conclude that the hypertext
worked here as an inclusive device, facilitator of reading
and propitiator of writing, making the participant
students authors of digital texts that provided them with
learning throughout all the process they have been
through.
Keywords— Hypertextuality. Spanish Language, Virtual
Environment.
I. INTRODUCTION
According to Coscarelli (2009), there is no way to talk
about technology and education without mentioning
language, because the forms of reading and writing are
different and the dispositions of texts are as well. Thus, as
the researcher complements, dealing with a computer
requires dealing with languages, both the verbal, “[…]
like the other semiotic systems, and the icons and all
programs non-verbal language (tools bars), programming
languages, such as HTML, animations, video, radio, etc”
(Dias & Corrêa, 2014, p. 3-4)1
.
In the context of foreign language teaching, it is not
different, once they have “an important role in the entire
development of the student and their teaching and
learning Provide him with new experiences, skills
development, understanding of cultures and new world
understanding” (Fettermann, Silva & Paula, 2016)2
. This,
in the current days, has been largely made possible
through the use of Digital Technologies of Information
and Communication (DTIC), which have opened doors to
1
“[...] como os outros sistemas semióticos, como
os ícones e toda linguagem não verbal dos programas
(barras de ferramentas), as linguagens de programação,
como HTML, animações, vídeo, rádio, etc” (translated by
the authors).
2 “[...] um importante papel no
desenvolvimento integral do aluno e seu ensino e
aprendizagem proporcionam a ele novas
experiências, o desenvolvimento de habilidades,
compreensão de culturas e novo entendimento de
mundo” (translated by the authors).

new forms of communicating in the contemporary world.
Connected to that, the language teacher seeks strategies
which allows a more significant and dynamic learning to
the student, provided by the digital technologies. One we
approached here is the new way of reading and searching,
called digital hypertextual reading. According to
researchers, it can help the reader to select the
information needed, quickly. This reading approach can
facilitate the writing process and allow the learning to be
more interactive e connected to the current demands.
Thus, it is possible to assert that the digital technologies
have been more and more used in the context language
teaching, due to the advantages the internet can cause to
the teaching and the learning process. One of the tools
which, according to current researches, have
demonstrated important results is the social network
Facebook, and its use applied the language teaching can
cover and make varied forms of reading and writing
possible, besides entering the student in wider social and
cultural contexts.
Considering that the virtual environment can be used as a
resource to teach and learn, we intended to observe the
potential of the digital hypertextual reading and, as a
consequence, the text production in the classroom, as well
as its post on Facebook, resulting in an interaction of
students with their peers and the language, during the
learning process.
We opted, in this perspective, for the application of the
activity in a group of the third period of Languages
(Spanish) of a college in Itaperuna/RJ, a town in the State
of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, supporting the study in theorists
such as Lévy (1996, 1999), Coscarelli (2006, 2009),
Gomes et al. (2015), Bannell et al. (2016), among others.
1 Hypertext, new readers and writers
In the last years, the modern Foreign language teaching
has counted on the extra support made possible by the
experience with the diverse technological tools. Thus, the
hypertext became an element that contributes with the
technologies, once the internet converted itself in a source
of information Which help its users to surf in a not linear
way, seeking new knowledge about the language studied,
both grammatical and social cultural, confirming what
Süssekind (2004, p. 107) defends, when she says that the
hypertext is “[…] a cultural and social practice, allied to
the technical instrument”3
, which we call here digital
environments.
The hypertext in this paper is not the one found in a
printed text, that is full of extra information like images,
bottom page notes, among others that can lead the reader
3 “[…] uma prática cultural e social, aliada ao
utensílio técnico” (translated by the authors).
to a not linear reading. However, it is hosted in digital
environments. Coscarelli (2009, p. 554)4
, clarifies that
“[...] hypertexts are not linear texts that offer links or
connection links to other texts, which can be images,
graffics, videos, animations, sounds”.
The internet as a digital support contributes to new types
of reading and writing produced collectively (Lévy,
1996), taking the students to an interactive environment.
As Dias and Corrêa (2014, p. 4) highlight, “Reading and
writing ways are different today and the ways in which
texts are available are as well”5
. That can make hypertext
a collaborator in the teaching and learning process of
reading and writing in a foreign language.
In this sense, Lévy (1996) points out that the digital
hypertext allows students to perform their research in a
fast and intuitive way, facilitating the understanding and
production of new meanings and making the reading
more meaningful and dynamic. Therefore, if reading
consists of selecting, schematizing, constructing a
network of internal references to the text, associating
other data, integrating words and images into a personal
memory in permanent reconstruction, “Then the
hypertextual devices constitute, indeed, a kind of
objectification, exteriorization, virtualization of the
reading processes” (Lévy, 1996, p. 43)6
.
From a hypertextual reading, the student ends up
widening the cognitive, favoring a practice of writing
both in digital and on paper, because “the hypertext as a
new conception of writing finds the theories of text at this
extreme point which is the intersection of semiotic
heterogeneities” (Süssekind, 2004, p. 107)7
.
Thus, reading in digital environments provides the
students with information which will be useful in their
knowledge acquisition and language learning, besides
allowing the reader to become also “a co-author, once he
can add information to the text” (Coscarelli, 2009, p.
551)8
, and this hypertextual reading, powered and
4 “[...] hipertextos são textos não lineares que
oferecem links ou elos de ligação para outros textos,
que podem inclusive ser imagens, gráficos, vídeos,
animações, sons” (translated by the authors).
5 “As formas de ler e escrever são diferentes
hoje e as formas de disponibilização dos textos
também são” (translated by the authors).
6 “[...] então os dispositivos hipertextuais
constituem de fato uma espécie de objetivação, de
exteriorização, de virtualização dos processos de
leitura” (translated by the authors).
7 “[...] o hipertexto enquanto nova concepção
de escrita encontra as teorias do texto nesse ponto
extremo que é o cruzamento de heterogeneidades
semióticas” (translated by the authors).
8 “[...] um co-autor, uma vez que pode

interactive, will insert the learner in a significative textual
production context. This way,
When the hypertext structure system of
visualization in real time (or its dynamic
cartography) is well known, or when the
search can be made in a natural and
intuitive way, the open hyper documents,
accessible through a network of computers,
are powerful instruments of collective
writing-reading (Lévy, 1999, p. 57).
Therefore, it is possible to conceive the hypertext as an
accelerator tool to the foreign language teaching-learning
process, for allowing the learner, after his reading with
big scale information, get a wide vocabulary that will help
him in the writing production, because “with the
hypertext, all reading is a potential writing” (Lévy, 1999,
p. 61)9
.
II. NEW READING AND WRITING
PRACTICES
As already mentioned in this text, Lévy (1996) declares
that the digital hypertext can facilitate the comprehension
and production of new senses and make Reading more
significative e dynamic, through rapid and intuitive
searches. In this case, the reader/learner wides his
cognitive skills, what can lead him to a writing practice,
which can happen both in the digital environment and on
paper.
This possibility was verified in an activity performed with
students of the third period of Languages (during the
subject of Spanish I), in a private college in Itaperuna-RJ.
For the class, the students were sent to the informatics
laboratory at the institution, and they were asked to search
about two contents of grammar, Reglas de acentuación
(Word stress rules) and Palabras heterotónicas
(Heterotonic words), which had already been worked in
previous classes, for, after the search, explaining it in a
short text and posting it in the class’ Facebook group.
The activity happened in three steps, with the support of
action research: 1. Hypertextual research; 2. Online
Writing production; 3. Teacher mediation.
The first step consisted of the hypertextual search on the
proposed contents, in Which the students searched on
several web pages, having Google.com as a starting point,
what took them to access various websites and links,
choosing the most interesting ones for the task. It is worth
mentioning, according to Coscarelli (2006, p. 8), that
“Links do not carry meaning, but indicate a path for their
adicionar informações ao texto” (translated by the
authors).
9 “[...] com o hipertexto, toda leitura é uma
escrita potencial” (translated by the authors).
construction”10
.
The second step was the written production by the
students, happened after the readings. It was possible to
note what Lévy (1996, p. 43) defends about hypertextual
devices: they work as “[…] a kind of objectification,
exteriorization, virtualization of reading processes”11
,
because it allows the reader to select, schematize,
integrate "[…] words and images to a personal memory in
permanent reconstruction”12
(Fettermann, Silva & Paula,
2016, p. 4). This can be observed in the figures below:
Photograph 1: Student during the hypertextual research
Source: Teacher's
collection
Photograph 2: Student during the textual production
Source: Teacher's collection
Thus, the content searched in the hypertext search was
used to produce the explanatory material that was then
posted on the social network by the students. In
10 “Links não carregam sentido, mas indicam
um caminho para a construção deles” (translated by
the authors).
11 “[...] uma espécie de objetivação, de
exteriorização, de virtualização dos processos de
leitura” (translated by the authors).
12 “[...] as palavras e as imagens a uma
memória pessoal em reconstrução permanente”
(translated by the authors).

agreement with what Bannell et al. (2016, p. 118) stands
out,
[...] the educational objective pursued is to
stimulate the participants' active learning, with
an emphasis on the sharing of knowledge and
dialogue as a form of interaction.
In this perspective, the students were able to participate
actively in their own learning related to the aspects
covered in the Spanish class. With this, we highlight the
skills that were practiced during the proposed task:
reading, writing, vocabulary use and the practice of the
grammar addressed.
The end of the activity was the third step, the teacher
mediation, starting from the assumption that:
[...] the exploitation of digital technologies
in the space of the pedagogical relationship
between teacher and student implies
perceiving them as a space for dialogue: a
place where words acquire new meanings,
thanks to the experimentation of new ways
of thinking, [...] based on the mutual
exchange between teacher and student, on
the collaborative work to solve problems,
on the application of cognitive capacities to
known and unknown situations and
challenges (BANNELL et al., 2016, p.
121).
The following figure demonstrates teacher mediation in
virtual space. We emphasize, however, that it happened
throughout the teaching and learning process of the
themes worked, from classes outside the computer lab
until after the postings, through the teacher's interactions
with the students using the Spanish language to explain
the new content, clarification of the doubts, suggestion of
the work and tutoring of all the activity in the group of the
class on Facebook.
Fig.1: Written production
Source: Group “Español UniFSJ”, on Facebook
Fig.2: Written production and teacher interference
Source: Group “Español UniFSJ”, on Facebook
Thus, we could observe that the hypertextual readings in
the digital context favored the practice of authorial
writing and allowed the students to increase the capacity
to choose the information researched and then produce
their texts according to the proposition of the activity,

since
[...] in virtual environments users are no
longer external observers and become
active and interacting participants, and
digital technologies provide opportunities
for interaction, self-expression and
authorship never before experienced
(BANNELL et al., 2016, p. 115).
We emphasize that Facebook was chosen, once it has
been the most used social network by the students, and it
is also a space for information exchange, doubts
explanations and interaction between them and the
teacher, as well as an environment of study and incentive
for the students to practice the teaching practice in the
digital scope. “It is a space where all people can teach and
learn from each other” (Bannell et al., 2016, p. 118)13
.
Therefore, we emphasize that the resources offered by the
digital information and communication technologies, such
as the hypertext that enables the search of information to
perform tasks, and Facebook as a virtual environment for
teaching and learning, favor the formation of new readers
and authors, able to select and produce content that will
enable them as future teachers.
III. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
Through the use of digital technologies, it has been
possible to insert new practices in the context of language
teaching. The demands of the modern world lead us to
seek alternatives that are more consistent with the realities
of the students, who are often connected to several digital
social networks in their daily lives.
In this way, this work fulfilled its objective, which was to
analyze - in an activity carried out with students of the
third period of the undergraduation of Languages
(Spanish) of a college located in the municipality of
Itaperuna/RJ – if it was possible and how the hypertextual
reading in the digital environments could facilitate the
selection of information and, later, the process of writing
and posting of texts in Spanish in the virtual environment,
in order to share their productions to interact with the
language and with their peers.
Thus, we observed that through the hypertexts it was
possible to select key information for the researches
carried out by the participants, who, from then on,
organized their writings in an objective way, including in
them only what was proposed by the accomplished task.
Then, we consider that hypertext worked here as an
13 “Trata-se de um espaço em que todas as
pessoas podem ensinar e aprender mutuamente”
(translated by the authors).
inclusive device, facilitator of reading and propitiator of
writing by students who became authors in this context.
In this sense, we verified that this is one of the roles of
this device, since the digital environment has been a place
where they feel more fearless and interested in
participating nowadays, taking advantage of the learning
opportunities that arise.
Facebook, in this context, once again was verified as a
virtual conducive place to the teaching and learning
process, which favored reading and authorship of texts
that can contribute to the training of future teachers,
facilitators of knowledge exchange.
We believe, finally, that the practice reported on this
paper can be applied in different contexts of language
teaching and we emphasize that we do not intend to make
generalizations on this subject, but we also try to propose
that new experiences be carried out in this field so that
relevant debates emerge from the practice shared here.
REFERENCES
[1] Bannell, R. I., Duarte, R., Carvalho, C., Pischetola,
M., Marafon, G., & Campos G. H. B. 2016. de.
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aprendizagens. Petrópolis: Vozes. Rio de Janeiro:
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