This week's theme was listening and speaking, which I feel can be greatly aided through the use of CALL. With listening, it is great to use videos or audio clips (from Youtube, podcasts, etc.) because such varied material exposes learners to something other than just their teacher's voice. There is also the idea of extensive listening, and internet materials are great, as students can choose what to listen to based on their interests. Of course, scaffolding and access to some content can affect this decision, but the option is there. With regard to speaking, CALL is beneficial because there is software that can help with pronunciation and such, but more importantly, students can speak via the internet to people in their class or even to people around the world, thereby encouraging intercultural communication.
I also presented Terantino's article on using Youtube in the classroom this week. What really interested me about this article is the idea of a "digital native," or someone who has grown up with technology (Prensky, 2001). Many of our students fall within this group, and to an extent, many students in our CALL class do, too. Because of this situation, it seems that students approach learning with a different mindset, which is something to keep in mind when constructing lessons.
Lastly, I would like to comment on podcasts. I enjoyed Bek's presentation on the development of his podcast aimed around teaching vocabulary. This is a great example of a podcast that combines listening with vocabulary, but with the images involved, reading as well. Of course, with teaching vocabulary, there is a little grammar thrown in as well. For this reason, a podcast like this seems helpful to learners.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Week 9 Reflection: Reading and Vocabulary
I'm writing this blog from my hotel room in Dallas, excited for the TESOL conference to begin! That being said, I'm hoping to attend some CALL sessions over the next few days, which will probably make their way into this blog at one point...
Anyway, last week we talked about using CALL to teach reading and vocabulary. One of the most interesting concepts--which I wholeheartedly agree with--is that the internet especially provides endless opportunities for these language skills. This fact makes learning so much more exciting because learners can easily pick reading material that interests them, which motivates them and promotes extensive reading. There is just so much to read, and so much of it is authentic!
However, this wealth of knowledge, so to speak, can hinder learners because there is no scaffolding. In this way, it's i+a million, not i + 1, as Krashen (1985) suggests. To overcome this obstacle, one thing teachers can do is bring reading materials of interest into the classroom so students are still motivated, but with the teacher scaffolding, the activity will be more beneficial. Moreover, teachers can teach learners strategies for taking on the internet, which helps with learner autonomy.
When it comes to vocabulary, the best way to learn is through exposure, meaning that without reading, students might not be learning the amount of new lexical items that they should be. However, that doesn't mean that they cannot learn vocabulary in isolation (i.e., through drills). For instance, vocabulary games can be fun, which is useful for motivation purposes. Words with Friends is just one that comes to mind.
Overall, I feel the internet alone provides so much opportunities for teaching materials and for student access to reading and vocabulary materials.
Anyway, last week we talked about using CALL to teach reading and vocabulary. One of the most interesting concepts--which I wholeheartedly agree with--is that the internet especially provides endless opportunities for these language skills. This fact makes learning so much more exciting because learners can easily pick reading material that interests them, which motivates them and promotes extensive reading. There is just so much to read, and so much of it is authentic!
However, this wealth of knowledge, so to speak, can hinder learners because there is no scaffolding. In this way, it's i+a million, not i + 1, as Krashen (1985) suggests. To overcome this obstacle, one thing teachers can do is bring reading materials of interest into the classroom so students are still motivated, but with the teacher scaffolding, the activity will be more beneficial. Moreover, teachers can teach learners strategies for taking on the internet, which helps with learner autonomy.
When it comes to vocabulary, the best way to learn is through exposure, meaning that without reading, students might not be learning the amount of new lexical items that they should be. However, that doesn't mean that they cannot learn vocabulary in isolation (i.e., through drills). For instance, vocabulary games can be fun, which is useful for motivation purposes. Words with Friends is just one that comes to mind.
Overall, I feel the internet alone provides so much opportunities for teaching materials and for student access to reading and vocabulary materials.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Week 7 Reflection: Synchonous CMC, Materials 1, and Google Docs
This week has been interesting. In class, we focused on synchronous CMC, and learning about Blackboard Collaborate was useful. In building my course shell for ENG 105, I've noticed the tab, but I never really knew what it was. Having tested it out in our CALL class, it may be something I would be willing to try in 105, though if a group of grad students started adding cat pictures while using Collaborate, I'm not sure I'd trust 24 freshman to not abuse it. Hmm...
Materials 1 was also due this week (see last post). I chose to adapt a lesson that I taught this week (sans technology) and then add technology.
In the CALL class, we have talked quite a bit about not adding technology just to add it. Thankfully, in (re)creating this lesson, I did not feel like I was doing that. Sure, the lesson worked fine without technology. (Note: I somewhat different activities but still had the same number.) However, with technology, the lesson feels more fun in some way. It also feels more organized at points. My favorite part is the Google Docs segment.
While I am on the topic, I feel Google Docs is a wonderful educational tool. In fact, I plan on incorporating it into my 105 class more. Though I used it sporadically in the past, since using it earlier this semester in the lab, I have been using it to work on assignments. Indeed, there seem to be many assignments that require students to co-author, and so Katie and I have discussed our plans for the assignment in person and then complete it online. So far, it has worked well.
In applying this idea to the classroom, there are a few important factors to keep in mind: the number of people who have access to any given document and whether they will be accessing the document at the same time. I believe Google Docs has worked for Katie and me because it is just the two of us, and since we are working at the same it, the document turns out to be highly collaborative. When we compare this idea to the Google Doc we did in class, it began well but ended up a mess, as most everyone wanted to contribute something funny. In contrast, other Google Docs have worked better with larger groups if the groups are not necessarily posting at the same time, or if there are fewer people posting per section of the document.
Materials 1 was also due this week (see last post). I chose to adapt a lesson that I taught this week (sans technology) and then add technology.
In the CALL class, we have talked quite a bit about not adding technology just to add it. Thankfully, in (re)creating this lesson, I did not feel like I was doing that. Sure, the lesson worked fine without technology. (Note: I somewhat different activities but still had the same number.) However, with technology, the lesson feels more fun in some way. It also feels more organized at points. My favorite part is the Google Docs segment.
While I am on the topic, I feel Google Docs is a wonderful educational tool. In fact, I plan on incorporating it into my 105 class more. Though I used it sporadically in the past, since using it earlier this semester in the lab, I have been using it to work on assignments. Indeed, there seem to be many assignments that require students to co-author, and so Katie and I have discussed our plans for the assignment in person and then complete it online. So far, it has worked well.
In applying this idea to the classroom, there are a few important factors to keep in mind: the number of people who have access to any given document and whether they will be accessing the document at the same time. I believe Google Docs has worked for Katie and me because it is just the two of us, and since we are working at the same it, the document turns out to be highly collaborative. When we compare this idea to the Google Doc we did in class, it began well but ended up a mess, as most everyone wanted to contribute something funny. In contrast, other Google Docs have worked better with larger groups if the groups are not necessarily posting at the same time, or if there are fewer people posting per section of the document.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Materials 1: Speech Acts
For the Materials 1 assignment, I chose to adapt one of my practicum lessons, which is based on the following speech acts, including greetings and partings. Because I am used to teaching with no available technology in the classroom, I thought it would be interesting to see how I would teach the same lesson, but with computers. Below is my lesson plan, technological tools used, and an overview.
Source: http://busyteacher.org/uploads/posts/2011-09/1315976620_form.jpg
Activity 1: Formal/Informal situations and appropriate greetings
writing utensil and paper
Activity 2: Greetings activity using Google Docs:
goo.gl/SOqgj
Activity 3: Partings activity uses Voicethread:
voicethread.com
As previously mentioned, this lesson plan is adapted from my ESL practicum class. The class lasts for two hours and is held once a week from 6-8pm. There are usually about 6-10 learners any given week, and although week to week it is usually the same learners, occasionally there is a new learner who comes in. The learners are mostly beginners, with the exception of two. It should be noted that most of the students are parents of elementary school children (we teach at the school), which is why there is reference to talking to the teachers of the students' children. One important factor here is that in this scenario, there are computers available for the students to use.
The purpose of this lesson is to combine practical language with pragmatic knowledge to reduce the amount of miscommunication occurring as a result of misuse of greetings and partings. Although the students will most likely come to this class having known some of these regular greetings and partings, they may not be as familiar with how we should formality or politeness within English or how we change our language in doing so. This lesson strives to tackle these goals, as learners must know them to be communicatively competent.
The technology chosen for this lesson was done so with purpose. For instance, in Activity 2, I thought the collaborate nature of Google Docs would be beneficial early on, as students could work together and could draw on one another's strengths for this communicative activity. Another reason Google Docs seemed fitting is that at the end of the activity, I ask students to share their conversations, and I like that students can follow along if necessary. At the end of the activity, they also have a good resource they can look at for reference after the lesson. As for Activity 2, I wanted students to work together again due to the communicative nature of the lesson. Voicethread seemed fitting, as it's a fun tool for students, and they can be creative while practicing useful language. Also, digital stories are great activities for integrating skills. In addition, students can share these digital stories. Finally, Activity 1 does not use technology other than a pen or pencil and paper, as I felt like using technology here would just be too much of a stretch, as this activity seems far simpler when done the "old-fashioned" way.
Apart from instruction, this lesson includes three activities, or tasks, which can be seen as methods of formative assessment. By the end of this lesson, students should have a list of formal and informal situations, as well as appropriate greetings and responses for those particular contexts. The students should also have a class Google Doc with appropriate conversation openers for different situations. Lastly, they will have digital stories, which combine all the ideas from the lesson. After creating these stories, it is my hope that students feel more comfortable using the language and are having fun with it.
Overall, I feel like lesson is comprehensive in introducing and practicing two speech acts--greeting and partings, which can then be developed and practiced in later lessons.
Lesson Plan: Speech Acts
Goals:
- Students should be able to recognize and use certain speech acts—greetings and partings—both formally
- Students should be able to recognize and use certain speech acts—greetings and partings— in oral and written contexts
- Familiarize students with some pragmatic issues in context
- Teacher should accustom learners to technological tools they can use to supplement their education outside of class
Materials:
- computers
- an internet connection
- pre-made Google Doc
- pre-made
- dry erase markers
- whiteboard
Introduction (5):
In past classes we talked about language you can use in conversations and language you can use with your child's teacher. Today we are going to talk about language that we use in everyday conversation. This language is special because when we use it, the person we are talking to expects a special response or answer. When we don't use it, conversation can be awkward or uncomfortable. More specifically, we are going to talk about greetings (how we start a conversation, or how we say "hello") and partings (how we end a conversation or say "goodbye").Transition:
First, let's talk about greetings, or how we begin a conversation.Sublesson 1: Greetings (20 minutes)
- Ask students (Ss) how they typically greet people in English
- Ask if they change the greeting depending on who they are talking to
- What do they say?
- Write answers on board
- What do the other people (people they are talking to) say in response?
- Write answers on board
- Then what? What comes next?
- Discuss the How are you? question
- More formal variants: How are you? How have you been? (haven’t seen the person in awhile)
- More informal variants: What’s up? How’s it going?
- Responses?
- I’m _____. (Doing well/fine/alright/ ok)
- Write on board
- More informal: horrible, so-so, eh, etc.
- Note: Americans expect an answer to this question, but it’s usually “fine,” even if it really isn’t. The person asking does not expect a long answer. They will ask if they think something is wrong. Only then do you go into more detail.
- Note: If we think we’re bothering someone when we start a conversation, we ask another question:
- Do you have a moment? Can we talk?
- Shows that you value their time. It’s polite.
- Person responds: sure. What can I do for you? (other responses?)
- Pass out handouts (list of greetings and partings in English, divided by formal/informal registers)
- Explain how the handout (handout has Tables 1 & 2) is set up
- Have Ss take a minute to look over the phrases (focus on greetings) in Table 1
- Go over any new vocabulary
- Talk about formal vs. informal
- How are they different?
- When do we use formal vs. informal?
Table 1: Greetings, Introductions, Goodbyes
Source: http://busyteacher.org/uploads/posts/2011-09/1315976620_form.jpg
Activity 1 (15):
- Instructions:
- Ss will work alone
- Ask Ss to write out three formal situations and three informal
- Example of formal: talking with the principal of a school
- Example of informal: talking with your brother
- When they are done, have then list 2-3 different greetings they can use in each situation and then how that other person could respond
- Walk around, checking up on Ss and taking questions
- Ask Ss to share some answers with the class and discuss
Activity 2 (20):
- Instructions:
- Pair Ss up, assigning each student a group number and A or B
- Ask Ss to sit next to each other
- Once seated, write "docs.google.com" on the board
- Have Ss go to docs.google.com and sign in using their gmails
- Alternatively, goo.gl/SOqgj will work as well
- Once everyone has the Google Doc open, explain that everyone will be writing in here at the same time
- Regarding the activity, each student will be assigned a role (A or B) according to his or her group (each group has different roles)
- Ss need to write out the beginning of a conversation if Partner A were to start
- Ss then write out the beginning of a conversation if Partner B were to start
- Ss should be encouraged to be creative and have fun, but should also pay attention to the level of formality between the speakers
- Give Ss about 5-10 minutes, longer if necessary
- Teacher walks around, helping Ss as needed
- When everyone is done, have each pair act out their two scripts
- Ss can follow along using the Google Doc
- Wrap up activity:
- Why is it important to understand the different levels of formality in how we start conversations?
Transition:
Like greetings, we follow certain patterns when we end a conversation
Sublesson 2: Partings (10 minutes)
- How do we end a conversation?
- Do we just say “bye” during a conversation, or do we need to say something else first?
- Examples? (Preclosings on handout)
- Go through new vocabulary
- Talk about how preclosings function in conversation and why they are important.
Table 2, from handout:
Preclosings (What we say before we end a conversation)
- It’s been nice talking to you.
- I’m sorry but I have to go.
- Sorry, but I’m late for work.
- I’ll let you go.
- I won’t keep you.
- I know you must be busy.
- Wow, I didn’t realize how late it’s gotten.
- After these, how do we say goodbye?
- Write answers on board
- More formal: goodbye/bye/see you
- Less formal: see you later/see ya/catch you later
- Use Table 1 to supplement vocabulary
Activity 3 (45)
- Instructions
- Assign each S a letter: A or B
- Explain that we are going to work with the same partners as Activity 1 and with the same roles.
- However, we are going to create a digital story.
- Explain what a digital story is.
- Give Ss time to write out a script first, which should include greetings, some content, at least one preclosing, and then closings.
- Note: the content is not the focus here. Rather, the opening and closing of the conversation is.
- Once everyone has a script, have Ss go to voicethread.com and ask groups to create one account for the two of them.
- Once set up, go to "Create"
- Model in front of the class how to google photos and then upload them to the story.
- Ss may use one image for the whole conversation, or they can be more creative
- Then, show Ss how to do a voiceover and how to type in comments (they can choose which they would like to do), and then how to share the activity (link to change viewing settings is at bottom once story is created)
- Give Ss time to create their stories
- Walk around, taking any questions
- When they are done, ask them to email them to teacher (teacher should write email address on board)
- Watch videos in class
End of class (5):
- Wrap up lesson by listing what we went over today
- Discuss how greetings and partings are necessary in any conversation
- Talk about how misunderstanding the expected levels of formality and the answers we are expected to give with greetings and partings can result in miscommunication
- Take any questions that haven’t already been asked
- Assign homework: Listen for different greetings and partings around you, and try to practice different ones.
- Model a situation appropriate parting :)
Technological Tools:
Activity 1: Formal/Informal situations and appropriate greetings
writing utensil and paper
Activity 2: Greetings activity using Google Docs:
goo.gl/SOqgj
Activity 3: Partings activity uses Voicethread:
voicethread.com
Overview:
As previously mentioned, this lesson plan is adapted from my ESL practicum class. The class lasts for two hours and is held once a week from 6-8pm. There are usually about 6-10 learners any given week, and although week to week it is usually the same learners, occasionally there is a new learner who comes in. The learners are mostly beginners, with the exception of two. It should be noted that most of the students are parents of elementary school children (we teach at the school), which is why there is reference to talking to the teachers of the students' children. One important factor here is that in this scenario, there are computers available for the students to use.
The purpose of this lesson is to combine practical language with pragmatic knowledge to reduce the amount of miscommunication occurring as a result of misuse of greetings and partings. Although the students will most likely come to this class having known some of these regular greetings and partings, they may not be as familiar with how we should formality or politeness within English or how we change our language in doing so. This lesson strives to tackle these goals, as learners must know them to be communicatively competent.
The technology chosen for this lesson was done so with purpose. For instance, in Activity 2, I thought the collaborate nature of Google Docs would be beneficial early on, as students could work together and could draw on one another's strengths for this communicative activity. Another reason Google Docs seemed fitting is that at the end of the activity, I ask students to share their conversations, and I like that students can follow along if necessary. At the end of the activity, they also have a good resource they can look at for reference after the lesson. As for Activity 2, I wanted students to work together again due to the communicative nature of the lesson. Voicethread seemed fitting, as it's a fun tool for students, and they can be creative while practicing useful language. Also, digital stories are great activities for integrating skills. In addition, students can share these digital stories. Finally, Activity 1 does not use technology other than a pen or pencil and paper, as I felt like using technology here would just be too much of a stretch, as this activity seems far simpler when done the "old-fashioned" way.
Apart from instruction, this lesson includes three activities, or tasks, which can be seen as methods of formative assessment. By the end of this lesson, students should have a list of formal and informal situations, as well as appropriate greetings and responses for those particular contexts. The students should also have a class Google Doc with appropriate conversation openers for different situations. Lastly, they will have digital stories, which combine all the ideas from the lesson. After creating these stories, it is my hope that students feel more comfortable using the language and are having fun with it.
Overall, I feel like lesson is comprehensive in introducing and practicing two speech acts--greeting and partings, which can then be developed and practiced in later lessons.
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