Third week's reflections

During this week we worked on Oral skill- building websites, social bookmarking and explored projects developed by former students.

I read different articles about CALL for listening, speaking and pronunciation and explored websites which can be used by teachers and students in class to develop oral skills. I participated in the discussions in Nicenet and checked some links and web tools. I found the online speaking lesson plans interesting and varied so the teacher can adapt those materials to suit students' needs. I included some websites on my blog and bookmarked some others in Delicous. As I mentioned in Nicenet, I opened an account in Delicious last year but I prefer DIIGO because it gives me the possibility of highlighting websites, including comments and sticky notes.

It was a great idea to show sample project reports from past Webskills classes. I got an idea of what we are expected to do and shared my views with my classmates.

All in all, I think this week was full of resources and I'm learning a lot from my classmates. This is what I call a learning community. Happy to be part of it!

Developing speaking skills

This third week we had to visit a number of sites designed for English Language Learning. In this post I'd like to comment on The Best Sites To Practice Speaking English by Larry Ferlazzo. As a teacher, I have tried many of them. Let's take a look at four examples:

Voxopop: this tools allows to create "voice chatboards". Students can record themselves talking about a topic and respond to one another. Teachers can leave speaking assignments or even reply to students recordings. They can also create chain stories or even present different topics. Here's how I used it:
 
After reading a book chapter on language learning, students record their opinion and how they would apply the concepts discussed in their own teaching practice. In this way, students practised their oral skills, used voabulary related to education and integrated theory and practise. For these students, this task was useful because they needed to practise speaking skills (fluency, pronunciation, accuracy) as they were undergraduate Early Childhood students who would be teaching English to very young learners.

Babblerize: I'm a lecturer in Materials Design and as part of their e-portfolio, students recorded some final thoughts about the subject they attended. One of my students, Marilú Rodriguez, chose this web tool which allows you the possibility of creating "talking photos". Here's an example:



Fotobabble: by using this tool you can also create "talking photos".  After exploring the use of visuals in the classroom, my students chose a royalty free image, edited in Photofunia and created a talking photo. They included their reflections on the task. Take a look at this example by Celeste Fernandez Goncalves:

                      

Vocaroo: after discussing the use of podcasts and authentic materials in the lesson and the use of editing software such as Audacity, students used Vocaroo to record a message about the integration of digital audios in their lessons. In this example you will listen to Roxana Da Silva talking about that.

Audio recording software >>

Listening & Speaking Skills

During the third week we were introduced to some articles about Teaching Oral Skills. In this post I'd like to comment on the article Developing Listening Skills with Authentic Materials by Lindsey Miller which focuses on the importance of using authentic materials to teach listening skills. As I wrote in Nicenet, I agree with the fact that "listening skills" are valuable and often disregarded by many teachers who focus more on "speaking skills". I'd also like to highlight the importance of using authentic materials with our students even if they are beginners. As Miller mentions, the aim of listening lessons is to foster students' autonomy when confronted with listening to the foreign language in a real world context.

Here's a list of some websites which may be come in handy when you are looking for podcasts and radio programmes:

BBC World Service  In this website you'll find different radio programmes and if internet connection fails you can download podcasts.  You can choose podcasts by genre or radio station. I personally like "The English we speak" and "6 minute English". They are short digital audios which focus on a specific feature of the English language: everyday English phrases and information on different topics with examples and explanation.

VOA Voice of America is another great option. I discovered the section "The classroom" which includes videos and audios with explanations and examples about the use of idioms and how to pronounce certain words in American English. You can also find lessons and words and their origins. Let me share "Dress to kill"

If you want to work with videos, you can find good resources at English Central and Teacher's Tube. I also found some useful ones to work with my students on Teacher's TV which are now available on You Tube. These are video clips to develop creative writing.