Draft:ArcGIS and its Use in L2 Teaching/Acquisition

Geographic Information System (GIS) is a type of software “…that creates, manages, analyzes, and maps all types of data. GIS connects data to a map, integrating location data (where things are) with all types of descriptive information (what things are like there).” (https://www.esri.com/en-us/what-is-gis/overview). Mapmakers create “layers” in order to make maps of a city, state, country, or the world. The map and its layers are connected to data and the user can click on a place on the map to learn more information about that place. The information could be, for example, the language(s) spoken there, the type of government, population, culture, cuisine, significant historical events, and much more.

GIS can be used in L2 teaching/acquisition since it produces maps of places of interest, which can be connected to data related to languages other than the user’s first language. The user can, for example, click on a region of Spain and read more about the dialect (or separate language) spoken in that region, in the language being learned. The user can also read (in the language of the region) about the music, cuisine, culture, politics, history, of the region. The user can become “immersed” in the learning of the L2 without, or in addition to, physically visiting the place.