“There has never been a time when so many nations were needing to talk to each other so much. There has never been a time when so many people wished to travel to so many places… And never has there been a more urgent need for a global language” (Crystal, 2003, p. 14)
School links projects are the first step to become global citizens. They involve schools in different cities and countries. Students can benefit from them learning from authentic resources, showing their work, understanding other cultures, sharing ideas and learning from peers. Teachers can also benefit from these projects motivating their students to participate, collaborating with and learning from colleges, and developing themselves professionally.
To plan a successful project, it is important to take into account some recommendations as to have a clear topic and objectives, the need of an international relevance, that last two or three weeks and students’ knowledge with the applications to be used.
Tools like eLanguages, Rafi.ki and epals are available to any school in the world. They offer teachers the opportunity to share authentic resources and suggest appropriated projects to use in their schools. Facebook, Skype, and Wikis are also useful sites to consider when doing this kind of projects. They are useful tools to improve our students’ skills giving them exposure and practice to the English language.
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