Group items tagged

Abstract This study contributes to the body of research that aims to understand the relationship between online communication and foreign language (FL) learning, in particular when teachers seek to provide authentic opportunities for interaction for their learners. The study was motivated by efforts made in the New Zealand context to overcome the geographic limitations of interaction between FL learners and native speakers. We report on the findings of an exploratory study into an online reciprocal peer tutoring program established to enhance the FL learning of a group of beginner eleven-year old students of Spanish, with particular focus on the benefits of written corrective feedback. The project aimed to examine the processes by which students tutored each other in the online environment as they responded to each other's texts. The analysis of the students' messages focused on (1) the aspects of language corrected by the tutors, (2) the frequency with which tutors accurately identified and provided input on errors, (3) the types of feedback provided by the tutors, and (4) what the learners did with the corrections and feedback. The findings indicate that the students were willing to contribute to peer correction and used different strategies and correction techniques to foster attention to linguistic form, although they were not always capable of providing accurate feedback or metalinguistic explanations.

Larry Ferlazzo writes a column for the New York Times about using the NYT for ELLs - but these ideas could easily be adapted for FL teachers using news sites, too.   You should also check out Ferlazzo's blog.

The why and how of using digital stories in language ed

Digital storytelling is so awesome! I got a chance to create a digital story through the Minnesota Writing Project Invitational Summer Institute and it was an awesome experience. I'd highly recommend looking into your local branch of the National Writing Project to see what resources or professional development are available.

Definitely one of my passions as a teacher- helping students get to the point where they can tell their own stories.

website maintained by Judy Shoaf, director of the Language Learning Center at the University of Florida since 1993. She now writes a column on legal issues for the IALLT journal Language Learning and Technology

Another side of the cursive argument. I know it doesn't have much to do with language teaching, but it does go with technology. I survived 12 years of Catholic education and had some very bad experiences with my poor cursive writing and nuns.

Use the Lingt editor to improve and assess spoken proficiency by making online spoken assignments as integral to your homework schedule as your usual reading and writing assignments.

Discussion on how technology is being used and why we're still struggling to give more control of learning to students. A good read!

"A 2014 paper by researchers at Michigan State University, in East Lansing, provides a tangible example: Teachers and students in the small-scale study were found to be making extensive use of the online word-processing tool Google Docs. The application's power to support collaborative writing and in-depth feedback, however, was not being realized. Teachers were not encouraging group-writing assignments and their feedback focused overwhelmingly on issues such as spelling and grammar, rather than content and organization." This really gets to the heart of the idea of combining education and technology: the technology has to serve the goal and it doesn't sound like the teachers' goals were the same as the stated goals of the assignment. So obviously Google Docs is a fantastic tool, but it has to be utilized appropriately for it to be effective.

I must say I have sat through many workshops in my tenure at my university that included the modification of some practices and even included, to my frustration, the basic structure of a lesson from stating outcomes to assessment. The problem with our particular situation is that usually it is directed to a "one-size-fits-all" use of a given technology that may not apply to many disciplines. I have found them somewhat useful for upper-level courses at times, but the language classes often pose the need for a kind of collaboration and interpersonal technology that isn't presented. Hence my desire to take this course. Another difficulty is the overwhelming number of technological applications presented--I can't tell you how many--and the students really become overwhelmed, since they often have to learn new technologies in almost many courses. Some work and some don't, and since they are the guinea pigs and there are no guarantees that everything will work as planned, and given the astounding changes in tech, the newness never seems to end, neither for the student nor the teacher. So focusing on just 1 or 2 to begin with seems like the only way to deal with it. Finally, I think that, at least in our university, the huge courses found often in the sciences reflect the slowness to adopt meaningful change. Many in these disciplines have simply used the tech to deliver more lectures on topics students must memorize, perhaps adding clickers for comprehension checks. There seems to be a great disconnect between what happens in the classroom and the amazing advances in tech they have made for their hands-on work--labs, collaborative work, etc.

Abstract "Digital storytelling is a compelling activity for the language classroom. Easy to use for both writing and speaking practice, digital storytelling can be a good way to motivate students to use the language both inside and outside the classroom. Many teachers report high motivation levels, and not only for their students! In this practical article I will briefly outline what digital storytelling is and give some tips on how to get started."

I found this by chance just exploring around. If you check the SUPPORT section on the VoiceThread site, you will find a list of publications. They posted a collection of abstracts with links of scholarly articles written about using VoiceThread for language learning, K-12, higher education and professional development. I just skimmed through the lists, and some of the articles are accessible, while some are behind a password.

This is a collection from Joe Dale.  He writes:  "Somewhere to store ideas on useful iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad apps for language learners and teachers."

This is "a how to" resource to help you prepare Presentational Tasks.

PDF of presentational communication strategies. Includes both speaking and writing strategies and ideas for technology inclusion.

This is a really good suggestion Vivian! It is always nice to have plan B especially when using technology!

The author says that CMC helps in all of these areas, but doesn't provide any information about his sources. I think this shows the value of including links to other websites in blog posts about education!

Matt writes: "I was introduced to a new twist on an old way of planning lessons this weekend at CUE BOLD, billed as "The Premiere Lesson Design Event for the West Coast." Includes links to 30 lessons and their slide decks. The idea: let's build lessons that utilize technology through the framework of the Madeline Hunter Lesson Plan."

See how to adapt popular apps to get students speaking, listening, reading, and writing in the target language. If you're not familiar with Edutopia, you should take some time to browse around their site. This is the Technology Integration section, but there is much, much more - very innovative, creative group!

Wow, that was quick! Yes, I like this group. I will definitely read more articles on their site.