Use of Authentic Internet Resources with School Foreign Language Learners in Difficulty

Abstract: This paper describes the latest phase in the author's school-based initiative supporting foreign language learners with difficulties and investigating how electronic resources originally designed for mother-tongue speakers of the target language can be exploited in the foreign language classroom. Having successfully trialled on-line and on-disc travel software in French and German with lower achievers approaching the end of key stage 3, the author's project now focuses on the ability of the Internet to deliver other curricular topics (School, Daily Routine, Weather, Health, Arranging Meetings and Holidays) to such learners and to contribute to their reading development, vocabulary knowledge and cultural awareness. The author has extensively searched the World Wide Web, identified a range of relevant authentic texts commensurate with the level, interest and ability of the learners, devised accompanying target-language tasks and trialled the materials with two Year 9 groups of slow learners.