Week 6: Communicative Activities in the ESL/EFL Classrooms

Cristian Alberto Menjívar Alemán

Week 6: Speaking and Listening Online: A Survey of Internet Resources 

This week’s article talks about some of the online activities that can be used in ESL/EFL classrooms. It also mentions about the benefits and limitations of these new technologies and how they are making a contribution to learn the target language.

Something very useful from this article is that it presents a variety of different links and activities that can be used with students to practice listening and speaking skills, the majority of websites are for free and some others may have a fee. However you can try these activities in order to help your students’ learning, they include tasks as multiple choices, gap filling exercises, comprehension exercises and some others.

Something that made me want to read more about the article was that there is also some other interactive communication activities such as such as live chat and instant messaging, they can text messages in real life, and is something that we are not that accustomed to. These chat sessions also allow you to use audio and video and is pretty good because you have the chance to interact most of the time with native speakers.

There may be some limitations when using the Internet as a resource for these activities, and is that a good and stable connection is required; otherwise you may be interrupt while performing the activities, also the audios or videos may present technical issues or another may be that the servers are down.

What I learned from this article was that learners have opportunities to interact and negotiate meaning, they will also interact with an authentic audience and can receive feedback to improve in the areas of opportunity.

Rate: 4

Week 5: Thinking Out of the Box

The reading for this week presents important information about critical thinking and the use of technology.  Something that made me want to read more about this article is when it mentions how to make our students the best ones and how technology can make to accomplish that goal.  

Something that is really important and that we as teachers should know is that every student thinks differently, each student have their own way of learning, some may learn faster than others and others may need some dedication.  We as humans are naturally curious, rational and emotional creatures as the text mentions, but we need to get our students’ attention as a whole, we have to focus in their preferences, the things they don’t like, catch their attention in order to make their learning better and faster.

After we have discovered what type of learners we will be working with, they can be kinesthetic who likes to always be in motion, standing up, going to the front; auditory, who prefers listening to CD players, podcasts, etc. or visuals, who loves using flashcards, pictures, diagrams, flow charts, then we can engage them and prepare activities that best suit for each of them.

The use of computers in the classroom will have a positive effect in students’ learning and will help us achieve the target of the lesson, they will be thinking critically and in a creative way, they will also want to learn independently. Something important and that I would like to remark is that if you will use the materials, use them to make your students learn not only to provide the information and pass to a different topic. A quote that I really like was "Don't think about covering the material, think about uncovering it so your students can better understand it."    

Rate: 4

Week 4: Applying Internet into the Classroom

This week's article was about Integrating the Internet into English Language Teaching. What surprised in this article was that less than 35 percent of the world's population is able to get online. That is an incredible number that caught my attention, meaning that the majority of people in the world is able to get online. Teachers can take advantage of this fact since using Internet in the classroom is benefitial in many ways, because it increases learner motivation, engage learners into the class and promotes learners autonomy which will help them to be conscious of their learning process.

In addition when making use of the Internet in the class you can search on the website for different activities to practice vocabulary, grammar and listen to podcasts that will help student improve their pronunciation and listening skills.The text also mentions that will help students being more creative and will foster communication and collaboration.

Something that made me want to read more about this article is that even if you do not have access to the Internet you still have options to facilitate learning.You can use authentic material that means material not created specifically for language teaching or semi authentic materials which are created for language learning purposes by non native speakers of English.

On the other hand, it is interesting the fact that there may be some limits for the use of Internet in the class as the text quotes “the evidence that technology has a direct beneficial impact on linguistic outcomes is slight and inconclusive." This citation is something that makes you think and creates doubts about if the Internet is really been helpful in the classroom or not. I consider that with more findings and investigations will be able to determine if it is accurate or not, otherwise the use of the Internet in the class has helped in a big way.

Rate: 3

Week 3: Using Podcasts in the Classroom

This week we were assigned to read two different texts regarding the use of podcasts during the classroom. The first text is called Integrating CALL into the classroom and the second one is Blending Technology in ESL. What surprised me in both of these articles is how fast technology is integrating more and more into the current classrooms. I do agree with the fact of using podcasts in the classroom, it gives students the chance to practice more exercises, activities or any academic assignments, they can also access them at any time, as long as they have Internet access, a computer or an Ipod.

There are many other areas that help students when using podcasts, for example it helps improving their listening skills, pronunciation and learn a wide variety of new words. Making use of podcasts in the syllabus or course is benefitial either for students or teachers, because you can provide them with more activities or examples of what you taught during the class, that will help them reinforce what they did not understand or was not clear enough.

Another benefit of the use of podcasts is that will keep students motivated, since they will be working with new methods, and updated language tools. One of my favorite quotes from the text was  “Initial reactions of learners suggested that the use of this program was more attractive to them than combinations of books, tapes and videos. This may be due to the way in which individuals can tailor their learning or may be a case of novelty, a matter for further investigation."

On the other hand, there may be some inconveniences when blending technologies in the classroom. It will depend on the institution or school, if they have the resources available, IT support and necessary time the use of the technology will be effective; however if the institution does not count with the resources, or are limited to the tools to use technology it may be affected.

I'm looking forward to continue with the next part of the activity for this week and create the podcast exercises in order to get more involved with the technology when teaching the language.

Rate: 4