ICT tools have gained particular importance in the English as a foreign language classroom in order to promote students’ interaction, exchange of opinions, negotiation of meaning, or digital competence. Technological development and the impact of multimedia and virtual spaces on students’ lives make educational institutions and teachers explore new tools and strategies to learn the target language. Podcasts present content available on the Internet and can become an influential teaching strategy that may improve the teaching–learning process of EFL. This study aims to investigate the effect of audio podcasts, which deal with social inequality issues, on secondary education students’ EFL linguistic competence. A sample of seventy-eight students was randomly distributed into a control and an experimental group during a term in a high school in Madrid (Spain). As instruments for data collection, the grades obtained in the different skills in the pre and post-tests and the different task performance scores were analysed in both groups. The methodological framework is defined as a quasi-experimental design that provides quantitative data. The results confirm the hypothesis that the creation and use of podcasts are beneficial for improving EFL linguistic competence, especially speaking and listening skills. Practical implications aimed at organising English classes to improve EFL proficiency are discussed. Graphical Abstract

Tacora is a village in the Chilean highlands with an extraordinary natural and cultural landscape. During the last years, its population has migrated massively to the city of Arica. In 2018, the community and the Fundación Altiplano organized a training program for the restoration of the façades of its buildings. The program employed and qualified community members in traditional building trades related to construction with earth, stone and wood. This training program opens up a horizon of new opportunities for sustainable development related to the extraordinary cultural heritage of Tacora.

El uso de herramientas digitales puede ser una práctica motivadora y efectiva para mejorar los contenidos curriculares en educación secundaria. Este trabajo propone utilizar la técnica de Stop Motion para integrar los contenidos de ILE, CCSS y EPVA desde un enfoque práctico. Se realizó una intervención empírica con estudiantes de educación secundaria para promocionar una cultura común creativa, mejorar el aprendizaje de ILE y fortalecer su conocimiento histórico. Se utilizó un diseño descriptivo, inferencial y relacional para evaluar la eficacia de este proyecto en el rendimiento de los estudiantes integrando la metodología AICLE, ABP y la herramienta de Stop Motion.

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