RESEARCH AND OBSERVATION

RESEARCH AND OBSERVATION 

COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING

THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY WITHIN YOUNG ENGLISH LEARNERS

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can be used to aid young learners in the process of English Language learning.

The characteristics young learners have enhances the use of cutting edge technology many of us didn't not have access when being that age. Children learn by playing and there is a great variety of sources provided in diffferent websites to which anyone can have access for free.

In the graphic above an experience using technology with children is evident in the PROJECT: Travelling through art. It's worth having a look at it as it is explained how it was done step by step.



WHAT DO EXPERTS SAY?
David Crystal gives some insights on how technology impacts on the field of English language teaching. Here is an interview made by the BBC. Watch: Interview to David Crystal: Technology in ELT

Who is David Crystal?
He is a linguist, writer, editor and broadcaster. "He is the Patron of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) and honorary vice-president of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP). He has also served as an important editor for Cambridge University Press." (Wikipedia)

A WEBPAGE I LOVE!

Learn English Kids by the BBC: You'll find amazing activities and ways on how our students can practise the language by playing.
I especially love the stories!
Learn English Kids

Go deeper into the page and see they also have Learn English Teens! See how Reading English skills can be practised by using technology!

INDIVIDUAL FACTORS IN FOREIGN / SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING

INDIVIDUAL FACTORS

When learning a foreign or second language there are three main factors that influence this process.

One of them is the Cognitive Style each of our students bring with them. Have a look at the following presentation:

Individual Factors: Cognitive Styles in Learning a Foreign Language

Then, the Psychological factor does play quite an important role as attitude and motivation may determine whether the learner's affective filter as Krashen suggests is ready for learning or not.

LEARNING STYLES AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING

"My learning style as regards language learning"

‘When are we listening to music?’ ‘Not now, sit down!’ ‘When are we playing?’ ‘You’ve come here to study, not to play’  ‘When are we watching a film?’ ‘We don’t have time for that.’ Are these questions familiar to you? Are the answers familiar to you? In the English language learning classroom students are likely to expect to do all of the former activities; is it because they only want to have fun? The physiological, social, psychological, cultural and other characteristics of the learner influences the way they assimilate the learning process taking place in the classroom, this is known as learning style (MacKeracher, 2004). Personally, since language learning is closely related to the use of it in real life situations, it offers a great opportunity to cope with the different learning styles our students have; however, this seems not to be taking place in the classroom.

To start with, the student must be aware of the manner in which they will be more successful in learning. In other words, they ought to know what learning style they have. According to Biggs (2001) ‘The more successful the individual is at solving the problems she/he faces, the more she/ he will take over their lives”. Identification and knowledge of the learning style makes the student take responsibility for their own learning process and future success. Unlike a learner who is oblivious to how he learns, a better informed student will even give direction to what is given in the classroom and even suggest activities to the teacher. Thus the teacher must encourage this identification of learning styles by using for example the Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire (PLSPQ) (Reid, 1987). So, what are those learning styles our students must recognise?

There are various categorisations or models of the learning styles which have increased in number through the years. For instance the Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI) which classified students into extraverts, sensors, thinkers and judgers and was based on Jung’s studies in the early 1900’s proved to be complicated to categorise the different combinations of these types for individuals. Since then, many a theorists have attempted to make this classification easier and more accurate being one of them Kolb and his Learning Style Model presented in 1984. Four different types of learning were presented by Kolb: concrete, reflective, abstract and active. Nowadays the most widely used and accepted model is the one presented by Flemming (2001), the VAK model (Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic). Although there is a tendency for individuals to have developed only one type of learning more than the others, it has been proved in later studies that the VAK model clearly shows the dominance of two of these types are plausible. The predominance of one style of learning may respond to the preference of the individual and the kind of task he / she is faced to. That is to say that for one task he/ she may use certain learning styles and for a different task others.   

Then, the question is: how do these different learning styles can enhance language learning?

A Visual learner may prefer to watch and receive visual stimuli. They like to learn through reading or writing; however, they have difficulty with the written language and do better with charts, pictures or graphic organisers. Shouldn’t we offer activities which involve watching a film?

Auditory learners would often talk to themselves, reading out loud, listening to audios and talking to others about the things they are to learn. Here is the one who likes singing.

Kinesthetic learners prefer active participation experiences like role-plays or moving around. Games are suitable for these learners.

To sum up, the identification of the learning styles that our students have is as important as the students’ self-awareness about them. Our classes must involve activities for students who learn by watching, hearing and doing otherwise, our students’ success in language learning is quite limited and predictable to failure and even cause frustration in students and teachers. This individual factor must be present in our everyday teaching practice. If only my English teacher in Secondary had known, I had the auditory and kinesthetic learning styles!

REFERENCES

James Cook University. Australia.Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic (VAK) learning style model. Retrieved from: http://www.jcu.edu.au/wiledpack/modules/fsl/JCU_090460.html

Institute for Learning Style Research. Overview of the seven Perceptual Styles. Retrieved from.  http://www.learningstyles.org/styles/visual.html on June 19th, 2011.

Pourhossein Gilakjani,  Abbas. (2011) Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic Learning Styles and Their Impacts on English Language Teaching. Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran

English Language Department.

Šabatová,  Jarmila. (2008) Learning Styles in ELT. Masaryk University- Faculty of education. Department of English Language and Literature.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT - GROUP WORK

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Who hasn't ever had a group for whom you feel like stepping away from the classromm and never come back? May be it is the poor level of English, the misbehaviour,or any other reason that make us reflect on whether this is the right career for us. Classroom management tells us that there are many things to bear in mind before blaming it on the students such as: the sitting arrangement, the use of L1, pair or group work, the feedback, among others. Knowing how to handle situations at the right time and in the right way will help us love our career again!!!

Here is a video that reminded me of my days as a Spanish Language Assistant in UK. I'm sure this website will be useful to look at and discuss with colleagues.
Video of teacher in a Spanish class in UK

While doing an essay on working in groups in EFL. I found this interesting website from our colleagues in Costa Rica. This is a country that has taken the learning of English seriously. I know this from a friend that works for the government there and had the chance to meet in a cultural exchange in USA, Sandra Araya.

Revista Actualidades Investigativas Educativas

Group work in TEFL, useful strategy?

In the field of Teaching English group work has proven to be effective to learn and acquire the target language. For one thing, communication naturally flows among students as their chances to talk are wider than those in a ‘whole’ class interaction. As a result, independence is promoted because the teacher is mainly a monitor or a facilitator while the students are discussing, making decisions or fulfilling a task.  Harmer (2007) says “Group work and pair work give the students chances for greater independence.” Advantages like these are numerous. However; group work also has some drawbacks that teachers should be aware of, otherwise; the experience of working in groups can become an obstacle to language learning rather than a useful strategy.

The first disadvantage is that students can become noisy while working in groups. The excitement of changing their sitting arrangement and everybody talking at the same time in order to fulfill the task can make students loud as they are now talking to their peers, not to the teacher. Students need to know that they do not have to shout to be heard. One way of avoiding this ‘noise’, is that as the teacher goes round the classroom checking everybody is working; he/she should also check for noise. So, if a group is being too loud, he/she stands up next to the group holding a ‘shush’ card. Personally, this has worked very well in my class and is accompanied with a punishment students previously agreed like being the first to present their work or assessing their work with a lower grade, provided the noise has persisted for too long.

Second, together with ‘noise’ comes the use of the mother tongue; in our context ‘Spanish.’ This is likeable to happen even when not working in groups. Nonetheless; group work seems to be the perfect excuse to use L1 more often. The first thing to examine is why the students switch to their mother tongue. According to Bassano (2003) students use L1 for three reasons: when the task requires more English than the level they have, when the instructions are unclear; and when students are invited to experiment. Knowing this, the teacher should be aware of which of these reasons led the students to use their L1. Consequently, to overcome the use of the mother tongue the task the teacher gives should be suitable for students’ level, the instructions must be clear; and the activities should respond to students’ interest and motivation.

Third, when students are grouped more mistakes can happen without any kind of correction. Many teachers believe that if immediate feedback is not given, then the mistakes will fossilise. On the other hand, Brown (2009) states that “errors are a necessary manifestation of interlanguage development and we (teachers) do well not to become obsessed with their constant correction.” This disadvantage of group work can be converted into an opportunity to encourage students for self-correction and peer-correction. They should know that their errors are part of their process and that we also learn from mistakes. Moreover, students’ independence is promoted through these types of correction.

Fourth, one of the main disadvantages of group work is that not all the members are involved in the work assigned. There are usually one or two students that outstand while the others are passive being silent or just agreeing automatically. Because of this, some teachers are reluctant to use this strategy. This situation can be reversed by giving specific roles to each member of the group and inter-evaluate their participation in the fulfillment of the task. Another way of dealing with some working and others not, is suggested by Littewood quoted by Harmer (2007) who may ask students to number themselves from 1 to 5 (in a group of 5); but they do not tell the teacher who is who so that later the teacher may call any number. In this way interest and expectation is created as well as everybody’s participation of the task. 

Although there are more disadvantages that can be discussed about group work, it can be concluded that these drawbacks can be overcome only if the teacher is conscious about them happening in the classroom. The usefulness of this strategy lies upon how teachers’ creativity is used in order to make obstacles become learning experiences. Teaching our students how to work in groups is a required skill that goes beyond the English classroom. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.  Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” (Margaret Mead, American writer)

 

REFERENCES

Bassano, S. Helping ESL Students Remember to Speak English During Group Work.

TESOL Journal. 12.1 (2003): 35-36.

Harmer, Jeremy. (2007). How to teach English. Essex: Pearson Longman Education.

Ramirez Salas, Marleni. Grouping techniques in an EFL Classroom. Article published in Revista Actualidades Investigativas en Educación (online) 2005. Universidad de Costa Rica. Retrieved from: http://revista.inie.ucr.ac.cr/uploads/tx_magazine/techniques.pdf

Final quote taken from: http://www.quotegarden.com/teamwork.html

HOW TO DEAL WITH CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE

(Some suggestions bearing in mind 5 factors)

What's 'the method' or 'the approach' that the future will demand in ELT?

The future of English teaching is on teachers

The History of language teaching shows that the interest in finding the ‘formula’ for successful learners of a second and foreign language, and the sake for ‘naming’ such ‘discovery’; has been the tendency since the last fifty years of the previous century. The need for learning a second or foreign language have ranged from bellicose reasons, travelling affairs, to business purposes. Therefore, the approaches and methods have attempted to fulfil such or such ‘identified’ need which theorists and researchers publish, give workshops about and knowledgeable language teachers, especially English teachers are aware of. Nonetheless, that ‘formula’ has not yet been discovered.

English is the first most widely Foreign Language learnt and its learning process does not mainly take place in an English speaking country, plus the teachers are non-native but still the learning occurs. I strongly believe that the existence of ‘the’ approach or ‘the’ method to Language Learning does not and will not appear. No matter how many best sellers on ELT have and will come out. It is the Language teachers who in the classroom create and adapt a great variety of techniques, which at the same time are underpinned by their experience, knowledge of students’ real needs and context; and educational theories of teaching and learning.  Nunan (1995) “From a methodological perspective theories, ideas and research are only as good as teachers make them. Unexpected things happen in the classroom.”

Therefore, Language Teacher Education becomes the cornerstone to the practices and future of language teaching. Prabhu (1990) states that it is important for teachers to have their own sense of plausibility and their own understanding of why they do what they do. A well- educated and informed professional evidences successful practices in their every day practice. Were these pedagogic practices designed and applied by a group of teachers whose local context, objectives and needs place them in a privileged status; action research could be carried out in a greater number.

Thus far, the question now is what should the Language Teacher be like?

To start with, the future professional should have reached language proficiency level (Horn, 2011). Only if do teachers of a language know the language, they can teach it. Next, the language teacher should have developed academic and research skills which will allow him/her to put their practice into theory and not on the other way round, as it happens in the construction of most approaches. Third, the language teacher should have the pedagogical knowledge to make learning happen in whatever context he/she faces. Forth, the language teacher should possess knowledge and analytical skills on global issues. Globalisation requires urgent awareness of the problems the world faces and so the interaction of different subject areas in language teaching should also take place. This globalised world has also implemented high-tech devices which students can access more widely, as well as internet connection in the real or virtual ‘classroom’ have started to be used. These tools appear in syllabus and course designs in different education levels. That is why the fifth characteristic of the language teacher is a good user of ICT.

To sum up, whether books will be published on new approaches or methods or not, the future of language teaching success does not depend on them but on the language teacher. Language teachers have the challenge to know what he is teaching, how it can be learnt, why certain techniques and tools should be used in their context, how to communicate his/her pedagogical experiences; and how to work with other areas of knowledge to help their local context within a changing globalised world. English teacher Education needs to be revised.

REFERENCES

Horn, Bradley. The future is now: Preparing a New Generation of CBI Teachers. Article published in English Teaching Forum. Vol. 49 Nº3, 2011.

Nunan, David. (1995). Language Teaching Methodology. A textbook for teachers. Phoenix ELT. Hertfordshire.

Larsen-Freeman, Diane. From Unity to Diversity ... to Diversity within Unity. Article published in English Teaching Forum. Vol. 50 Nº2, 2012.

The future of English teaching is on teachers

The History of language teaching shows that the interest in finding the ‘formula’ for successful learners of a second and foreign language, and the sake for ‘naming’ such ‘discovery’; has been the tendency since the last fifty years of the previous century. The need for learning a second or foreign language have ranged from bellicose reasons, travelling affairs, to business purposes. Therefore, the approaches and methods have attempted to fulfil such or such ‘identified’ need which theorists and researchers publish, give workshops about and knowledgeable language teachers, especially English teachers are aware of. Nonetheless, that ‘formula’ has not yet been discovered.

English is the first most widely Foreign Language learnt and its learning process does not mainly take place in an English speaking country, plus the teachers are non-native but still the learning occurs. I strongly believe that the existence of ‘the’ approach or ‘the’ method to Language Learning does not and will not appear. No matter how many best sellers on ELT have and will come out. It is the Language teachers who in the classroom create and adapt a great variety of techniques, which at the same time are underpinned by their experience, knowledge of students’ real needs and context; and educational theories of teaching and learning.  Nunan (1995) “From a methodological perspective theories, ideas and research are only as good as teachers make them. Unexpected things happen in the classroom.”

Therefore, Language Teacher Education becomes the cornerstone to the practices and future of language teaching. Prabhu (1990) states that it is important for teachers to have their own sense of plausibility and their own understanding of why they do what they do. A well- educated and informed professional evidences successful practices in their every day practice. Were these pedagogic practices designed and applied by a group of teachers whose local context, objectives and needs place them in a privileged status; action research could be carried out in a greater number.

Thus far, the question now is what should the Language Teacher be like?

To start with, the future professional should have reached language proficiency level (Horn, 2011). Only if do teachers of a language know the language, they can teach it. Next, the language teacher should have developed academic and research skills which will allow him/her to put their practice into theory and not on the other way round, as it happens in the construction of most approaches. Third, the language teacher should have the pedagogical knowledge to make learning happen in whatever context he/she faces. Forth, the language teacher should possess knowledge and analytical skills on global issues. Globalisation requires urgent awareness of the problems the world faces and so the interaction of different subject areas in language teaching should also take place. This globalised world has also implemented high-tech devices which students can access more widely, as well as internet connection in the real or virtual ‘classroom’ have started to be used. These tools appear in syllabus and course designs in different education levels. That is why the fifth characteristic of the language teacher is a good user of ICT.

To sum up, whether books will be published on new approaches or methods or not, the future of language teaching success does not depend on them but on the language teacher. Language teachers have the challenge to know what he is teaching, how it can be learnt, why certain techniques and tools should be used in their context, how to communicate his/her pedagogical experiences; and how to work with other areas of knowledge to help their local context within a changing globalised world. English teacher Education needs to be revised.

REFERENCES

Horn, Bradley. The future is now: Preparing a New Generation of CBI Teachers. Article published in English Teaching Forum. Vol. 49 Nº3, 2011.

Nunan, David. (1995). Language Teaching Methodology. A textbook for teachers. Phoenix ELT. Hertfordshire.

Larsen-Freeman, Diane. From Unity to Diversity ... to Diversity within Unity. Article published in English Teaching Forum. Vol. 50 Nº2, 2012.

What this blog is for

This blog intends to summarise and share the learning experience while doing the Master in TEFL, which I've just started and hope to have finished by 2015.  I hope teachers of English around the globe find it useful or if useless, let me know!