CALL – Using technology to teach English

My contributions on the debate about CALL:

The integration of technology in the content areas to help the students better understand the subjects is very valuable and here in the USA we use it a lot.  All the classes have Smartboard, and computers, besides a computer a lab, where the students have lessons on how to use the Internet as a research tool.

I have recently used GOOGLE EARTH in my lessons and it is amazing to see how much we can benefit from that. So,I suggest a discussion on GOOGLE EARTH.

Podcasts and blogs are very interesting topics too and I am sure we are going to learn a lot from each other on how to use those.

POD means (PERSONAL ON DEMAND), so if you have an IPod, you can listen to the songs at the time that you want…

Here is a link of video showing how Google Earth can be used in class.

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/google_earth

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I think that the use of CD’s is very important because of the right pronunciation.  I taught American English for some time and then got a job at Cultura Inglesa and the English taught there was British English. I could tell the big difference in  the pronunciation and wouldn’t start a lesson without listening to the CD for my own sake.  Here in the USA is even more important, because I am from Brazil and my students are from different nationalities , so I need a source that will help me be the right model for my students.

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…to which extent teachers are qualified enough to manage technology.  Only now some classes are getting Smartboard, others classes have always had it. Teachers had to go to a training and there were the ones who were really excited about that and others who didn’t even want to be there because they didn’t even use an overhead projector in their classes, so traditional they were. They simply freaked out! Besides that, they receive a mini laptop to prepare their lessons to use with the Smartboard. Imagine the situation if you are not even familiar with a desktop??!! I think it might be true for many people. Not only for the fact that they are not familiar with technology, but because they see it as a big challenge to their teaching styles. ..We can handle at least the basic use of technology as a CD player and a TV for example. Even the blackboard/white board could be considered technology…

Materials and Resources

Let’s suppose the following scenario. A friend offers you a lesson plan about a unit that she taught and you are going to teach. She explained everything to you and it sounds just perfect and great because you won’t have to sit and plan your own, right?

Wrong!!Teachers are not expected to use a material without knowing what it is all about. You have probably done something like that and know for sure that this does not work. It might have worked for her group, but even though the unit is the same, key points vary from class to class and here is where the importance of evaluations of materials come.

 Evaluations of materials and resources are crucial for a successful class. Evaluations should not only take place during lesson planing, but while and post-use of the teaching practices used in the lesson plan. Teachers must know what they are going to use to deliver the lesson, including all the supplementary materials and make sure that the media that is going to be used works.

Based on Tomlinson’s 12 point procedure for evaluating materials I am going to analyse Unit 10 of the course book Gude, Kathe and Michael Duckworth 2002. “Matrix Pre-Intermediate Student’s Book”. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Overview

I am going to start with a picture walk in the unit just to have an idea of what the unit brings. I have never taught this coursebook, so I am going to describe my first impressions of it and make a pre-use evaluation to see how much I like it and if I would adapt any kind of activity or even add a supplementary material.

The unit brings clear pictures that support the topic “Off To See The World”. It starts with an unusual picture that invites the students to think about it as for building background for a reading activity. I can tell it is for at least an intermediate level class due to the grammar presented and complexity of tasks.

It works with the four skills starting a reading activity, followed by a listening comprehension as part of the grammar presentation and listening for specific information based on transportation. The speaking part is great because it brings pictures to support the conversation and chunks of words as a model to start the speaking activity. The writing brings a great sample to give students an idea of what they are expected to do including  steps to better writing to guide the students. The unit wraps up with a word focus that recycles the unit vocabulary and skills and with a great reading activity that enables students to practice their comprehension skills and learn new words  by the context.

I agree with Tomlinson when he described that even the most rigorous evaluation can fail to predict the actual effect of the materials is use. My impression of this unit is that it allows a lot of interactive activities and that the communicative apporach is clear to take place.However, as I have never seen this unit in its true colors and don’t know if the activites are going to work as I pictures them to…

Individual Factors

Index

1-Introduction

2- Learner’ Self-Reports and Analysis

2.1- Learner 1

2.2- Learner 2

2.3- Learner 3

2.4- Learner 4

2.5- Learner 5

2.6- Learner 6

2.7- Learner 7

2.8- Learner 8

2.9- Learner 9

2.10- Learner 10

2.11- Learner 11

2.12- Learner 12

2.13- Learner 13

2.14- Learner 14

2.15- Learner 15

2.16- Learner 16

2.17- Learner 17

2.18- Learner 18

2.19- Learner 19

3.Conclusion

4. Bibliography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1-Introduction

 

During the study of the subject Individual Factors we had the opportunity to review and learn more about the factors or differences that influence the learning of a second or a foreign language as well as to better understand our students’ weaknesses and strengths in the process of language learning.

 

In this assignment we are going to analyze 19 learners self-reports and identify the type of motivation, learning style, learning strategies and personality factors as they appear in the reports.

 

2- Learner’ Self-Reports and Analysis

 

2.1- Learner 1

I think one problem for me and perhaps everyone else learning a language is you have to be stimulated to learn.

The lack of self-motivation is clear in this report, thus he needs to develop intrinsic motivation to help him feel comfortable with the process of learning a language and reach his goal. His high external locus of control should be worked towards the reason why he is learning to keep himself motivated…

Developing Language Skills

1.Introduction

2.Reading

2.1 The Traditional Approach

2.2 Authenticity

2.3 Types of Question

2.4 A Top Down Bottom Up Approach

2.5 Conclusion

3. An Overview on the Language

4.Writing

4.1  A Traditional Perspective

4.2 From Product to Process

4.3 Audience and Feedback

4.4 Conclusion

5.Speaking

5.1 An Interactive Approach

5.2 Grouping

5.3 Topic or Task?

5.4 Conclusion

6. Listening

6.1 General Considerations

6.2 Activities

6.3 Conclusion

7.Bibliography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Introduction

 

The discussions and unit analysis during the subject Material and Resources in EFL gave us a broader view of how to better choose materials for our classes. During the study of the subject we learned how to proceed micro and macro evaluations on the content, curriculum as well as on the supplementary material, design and adaptation of materials. This analysis enriched our knowledge as English Teachers making us more aware of what to choose for the preparation of our lessons looking forward to having a positive feedback from our students.

 

This subject, Developing Language Skills, invited us to go through a comprehensive analysis on how the four skills are applied into course books units. Understanding how each skill is going to fit the students’ needs and how it is presented in the unit is extremely important for the success of lessons. This subject has definitely enhanced our views on how to make a better use of each part of a unit without skipping it for assuming it is challenging for the students or for the teachers themselves.

 

The goal of this assignment is to analyze how the unit Teen Links from the course book Bachillerato Made Easy from Richmond Publishing deals with the four skills according to the theory examined in this subject.

Teacher Academy at Elon University-NC

June 28 -July 2

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the workshop “Raising ESL Students Achievement” at Elon University as part of the North Carolina Teacher Academy program.  I was with a group of 7  teachers from my school. We had a wonderful time together  and could develop our personal and professional skills leaded by highly qualified instructors who made the classes interesting and interacting. Besides that, we had a great variety of food at the cafeteria and yummy snacks during the breaks. We also exercised a lot! At 6:30 am we were ready to go  for a 3 mile walk !!!!! We had to stay at the campus during the workshop, which made this experience even more interesting for me because I had never stayed at a campus before, so it was my College experience.  THANK YOU” TEACHER ACADEMY” FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY.

Urban Education Symposium

June 15 -18 I attended CMS Summer Teacher Conference at Waddell High School this week. The workshop I chose was about Urban Education and it was very interesting to learn about this topic and see different points of views from the teachers attending it.

Here are the highlights:

*We received the book “The Dreamkeepers”  to be read in advance with  a set of activities that had to be done prior to attending the conference;

* We kept a journal as a reflection of all the thoughts of the day/activities;

*There was one presentation about Second Language Acquisition in which the teachers were ESL students learning Vietnamese;

*We explored our school profile to get to know more about the students and community;

*Integration of arts to represent experiences;

*Bullying: Addressing the Violence;

*Visited learning labs;

*Critical Literacy and

*Action plan. Each teacher was expected to set goals as an action plan.

Camping at the Outer Banks -NC

June 12 – To get into the Summer mood nothing better than going to the beach to spend the weekend. We camped at the Ocean Waves Campground. The site is right at the beach. Wonderful place and the weather was perfect! The camping has clean bathrooms with showers  and  you can even take your TV or laptop because they have cable and Internet. Here is the link for the campsite www.oceanwavescampground.com

 

Broadway show + Chima Brazilian Steakhouse = End of school year, start of summer vacation

June 11 – Last day of school for students was yesterday. This means the beginning of the summer vacation for teachers. We will get back to work on August 18.

To celebrate , I had lunch with my friends after school at  Boardwalk Billy’s ( a place in Charlotte that reminds me of PIER 21 in Brasilia) and went out last night and saw the Broadway show “The Phanton of the Opera” and stopped by at Chima Brazilian Steakhouse for a quick bite and a caipirinha. It was a great way to start my vacation!

http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/us_tour/

http://www.chima.cc/

http://www.boardwalkbillys.com/

Lazy 5 Ranch

This was an awesome experience!

If you are in North Carolina, you ‘ve got to  visit this place.

http://www.lazy5ranch.com/

It is SPRING TIME!! Well, almost SUMMER!!

I LOVE IT!!! After that snow in the beginning of March I thought that we would never get warm weather again. However, Spring arrived bringing all the beauty of this season preparing us for the Summer that is just around the corner. Temperatures now get to almost 30 degrees C and of course it includes the hurricane season and heavy thunderstorms, which I am still trying to get used to.