PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DEL ECUADOR

FACULTAD DE COMUNICACIÓN LINGÜÍSTICA Y LITERATURA

TOPICS IN LINGUISTICS

PORTFOLIO

MARÍA JOSÉ MARTINEZ

CHRISTIAN PUMA

JENNIFER SILVA

MGTR. JOSÉ LEMA

SEMESTER I 2014 – 2015

Outline

This portfolio is based on the book Key Issues in Language Teaching, chapter 19. This

chapter is about technology and it has some questions that we answered bases on the

information that we found in the chapter, in some web pages and other based on our

experience as students.

This chapter is divided in:

19. Technology

19.1 Introduction

19.2 Ways to use technology

Ways to interact with technology

19.3 The emergence of technology and its benefits

The emergence of technology in language teaching

The benefits of TLLT

19.4 TLLT and current teaching approaches

Communicative language teaching

Content-based instruction (CBI and CLIL)

Task-based language teaching

19.5 TLLT and language skills

Teaching the four skills

Teaching other language and communication skills

19.6 The challenges of TLLT

19.7 Testing and assessment in TLLT

Institutional or large-scale testing

Classroom assessment

19.8 Conclusion

Discussion questions

So, based on this content we did this portfolio.

Introduction

To answer the questions of this portfolio, we took into account the chapter 19 (Key

Issues in Language Teaching), our experience as students, as teachers and we use

internet to search for information that complement our answers.

1

1 Images took from: http://www.clipartbest.com/internet-cliparty http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-437/sets/85811-educationhttp://www.clipartbest.com/teachers-and-students-cliparthttp://www.myenglishteacher.eu/blog/english-grammar-9-websites-to-learn-and-practice-english-grammar/

Chapter 19

STUDENTS

INTERNET

TEACHERSBOOK

1. Have you ever tried to incorporate a new technology into your classes?

What issues did you face doing do?

First, we, as students, can notice that most of our teachers have tried to

incorporate technology in their classes in order to get better results with us. In

our French or German classes, our teachers use different pages to explain a

new topic or to practice the language; for instance, they use You Tube to

practice our listening skills or they use other pages such as

http://www.francaisfacile.com2 to practice grammar. Also, teachers use the

Moodle platform to organize their courses, however, some of them never use

this tool because they find difficult to learn how to use it. So, this is a problem

with teachers who are not accustomed to use technology in their class. This is a

common problem that some teachers have and it could be caused by the lack of

knowledge about how to use new technology or just because they are afraid of

use new tools in their class. In addition, one of the major problems of

technology us that sometimes it could not work as the teacher want. For

instance, if the teacher needs internet, sometimes it will not work and the

teacher is forced to improvise or just change the activity.

Second, in our experience as teachers, we try to incorporate technology such

as the use of computers, but sometimes it is difficult to use because schools are

not equipped with this tools. So, we need to bring our equipment such as

laptop, infocus, etc.

Finally, there are other issues when teachers use technology. For instance,

teachers use most of the times internet connection, but this could be a problem

when the internet does not work and they need to have other options if they

have this problem. Also, the use of new technologies can be challenging for

teachers, and they prefer to avoid using those tools even though new

technology can improve their language classes.

2. What are some benefits students can get from collaborative blogging?

2 French Course, level 5. Teacher: Giovanna Ruggiero.

First, it is important to know the definitions of collaborative blogging.

This is a type of weblog in which posts are written and published by

more than one author. The majority of high-profile collaborative blogs

are based around a single uniting theme, such as politics or technology

(Wikipedia, 2014).

According with this definition, we think that collaborative blogging can help

student to improve their communicative skills and they could start to work in

groups. First, students will fell more confident when they try to communicate

with others. Also, they could not be afraid of making mistakes and they will fell

free of express their opinions. Finally, the most important benefit is that students

are able to work in groups and in this process they will discover that they have

to be respectful with others and they have to learn that people will have different

opinions that they must understand.

3. Which of the aspects of technology above are available to teachers and

students in schools in your country?

Nowadays, Ecuador has changed education in many aspects. The most

important is that the government tries to incorporate technology in all education

levels. For instance, the government wants that each school has their own

computer lab and their own internet access in order to improve education. In

addition, the president wants to give tablets to students of primary school

because he thinks that “computer labs are good for high school while tablets

could help students of primary levels to develop their skills with technology” (1

millón de tablets en el Ecuador ofrece Rafael Correa al abrir clases, 2014). So,

we can see that in our country there are aspects that help teachers and

students in the physical level, management level and applications level.

However, it is important to say that this is a new process and there are some

places, such as rural areas, that do not have this benefit and other places

where teachers need training to learn how to use technology in a correct way.

4. How has the use of technology changed since you started teaching or

learning a language?

We could notice many changes since we started to learn a new language. At

the beginning, we used to learn a new language (English, French, German) in a

traditional way, it means, we used to use our physical books, cd’s, and the

material that the teacher prepares. It was not bad because in some way we

learn the basis of the language, however we could not improve our

communicative skills. Now, thanks of technology, our classes are more dynamic

and the most important thing is that our teachers have different ways of prepare

their classes. For instance, if they want to practice grammar, they could use

Technology

The physical level

The application

level

The management

level

internet, if they want to practice listening, they could use songs or videos with

subtitles in order to improve our speaking, etc. As we could see, there is a big

change and we consider that language classes are better today than in the

past. Other options that teachers use are the different platforms to organize

their classes; for example, at PUCE, teachers use Moodle to plan their lessons,

share information, send homework, etc.

Finally, there is another important change concerning books. Nowadays,

teachers and students have the opportunity to get electronic books. This is

because of the development of technology and it is a good way of facilitate the

learning process. So, the students could access to their books or workbooks at

any time in a computer, table or cellphone.

5. What sources are available in your school? Consider the computers and

the software installed on them, the resources in the computer lab and the

materials in the library and on your network (if you have one) and that you

use in your classroom. Would you classify these as behavioristic,

communicative or integrative?

In our school there are computer labs, however, each class has its own

computer and infocus. There is not specific software for language teaching but

each teacher has different ways of improve their classes with their own favorite

internet pages. For instance, French teachers usually use the web page

http://www.lemonde.fr/ to search articles and practice reading.

Finally, our school does not have a network for language purposes. So, most of

the times, the teacher is the one who decide how to communicate with their

students.

6. Can you choose three benefits from those listed above that you think

offer the strongest reasons for the use of technology?

7. What do you think are the most difficult challenges teachers face in

moving to TLLT?

We consider that the most difficult challenge for teachers is to be updated with

the changes of programs, apps, etc. As we know, programs, apps or platforms

are developing every day to provide a good service to people. It is challenging

because teachers need to know all the changes and they have to be prepared

for everything. Most of the times, teachers are afraid of use these tools because

they consider that it is difficult to learn and they will spend a lot of time planning

a class using those tools. In addition, we could find other challenges3.

3 https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/TechReforms/chap4c.html

Increased opportunities for authentic interaction: TLLT allows

learners to connect with other learners worldwide and to

participate in real communication. (Chapelle, 2005).

Supports different ways of learning: TLLT allows students to find

learning resources that match their preferred way of learning, for

example visual or auditory.

Access to more engaging materials: TLLT provides access to content that is often very engaging for learners, such as digital games,

YouTube content and so on.

Learning how to use a variety of technology applications.

Using, adapting, and designing technology-enhanced curricula to meet

students’ needs.

Expanding content knowledge.

Taking on new roles.

8. Which of the potential benefits for teacher above have you experienced

yourself?

In my case, I’ve experienced many potential benefits. First, in our classes we

have labs were each student is able to use a computer in order to follow what

the teacher is explaining or doing. On the other hand, there are many software

that, as teachers, we have used. There are also, as in the example, programs

that help us to make videos. Once, a teacher used a software to do make a

video and then, the student made it with other types programs. There was a

great variety of videos about one topic. These videos were made individually or

in group. There is also the benefit called “Creates a better learning

environment”. This benefit helps the teacher to make the class more dynamic in

order to stimulate the students and help them to get all the new information. In

our case, all the technology in class helps the students to understand better

about any subject because of the visual, audio examples provided by

computers, laptops and cellphones.

Practical support is also one important benefit. The student not only learn the

theoretical part of the assignment, but also the practical part. The student is

able to see how something works, or how to do something in real life through

technology.

9. How do you think computer-mediated communication can lead to

“increased participation”?

First, I think that computed-mediated communication helps the student to

interact better with the language. There are many programs that make the

student participate in many activities in order to practice what he/she has just

learned. I think that the student should first learn how to develop his/her own

communication strategies. Then there is a necessity to use language in a

natural way. The usage of language as a natural language will help the student

to use technology in an easier way, which will help his/her to be really used to

that language. Once the student is used to the language, this method of

mediated communication through a computer will help the student to participate

more in different activities. I think that the teacher could create one kind of

conversational program or activity in order to make all the students participate.

In this way, the teacher is able to give feedback about the mistake made by the

students. In computer programs, there is not this possibility to receive feedback

of every word they produce. The student will be encouraged to participate and

to use the computer-mediated communication.

10. Have you observed differences in your students’ communicative behavior

during traditional classroom speaking practice and online

communication?

Yes, there is a difference between a traditional classroom speaking and online

communication. As the text mentions, there are many environment where the

students are able to produce speaking communication. The traditional class is

always prepared; of course, there would be little fragments of spontaneity, but it

is a script that the students should follow. The student tries to practice the topic

that he or her just learned and that is his/her limitation. On the other hand, in

online conversation there are a lot of vocabulary of daily conversation. The

student is able to learn more words that would use in a daily conversation and

in a spontaneous one also. Online conversation involves different topics, this

helps the student to be prepared to any type of questions, and the student is

able to ask and to receive feedback from different people. The spoken

interaction becomes more real and the student learn from the others.

Classroom conversations have feedback from the teacher but it is limited to the

topic or environment the teacher has created.

11. In what way does reading a text in a book differ from reading a text

online?

There are many things that differ from reading a book of reading a text online.

Reading texts online facilitates the students to choose the level of reading they

need. They have access to many electronic dictionaries that would help them to

search for words that they do not understand. There is also the opportunity to

participate in online blog and in status updates.

On the other hand, the results of these texts online are different from the text in

a book. The student will be able to develop hi/her skills. There are letter-sound

exercises that help the student not only to develop his/her reading skills, but

also his/her listening skills. There is also, an exercise about fluency, where the

student is able to develop the velocity in which he or she reads a text. There are

many other activities online for reading. In this way, the student is able to

develop it and to improve each time his/ her reading skills. With text in books, it

is not possible to reach these type of benefits in the same way online texts do.

12. Which of the above have you tried yourself? Can you think of additional

purposes for each of these uses of technology?

There is the first one about videos in YouTube. I had many teachers that used

videos in order to teach us different things such as vocabulary, syntax and

rhymes. I’ve also tried the second one, my teacher made us record a video of a

topic in order to practice our English. On the other hand, I have tried the one of

Jasmine. Our teacher allow us to bring our mobile to class, we can use it to

search for more information, new vocabulary, images or videos. Even when we

do not print the document we are using in class, we are allowed to open it on

the cellphone. I have not tried the same that David, but a teacher made us

translate a song in a computer in order to make it rhyme with our first language.

It was great because we added more thing of our own language and we made it

more significant in the other language.

Other purposes: the first one, technology can be used to not just to show the

videos but also, to make the students elaborate their own videos. That`s what a

teacher made us to do and it worked very well. The second one, the teacher

would use those recorded videos in order to share them with people from other

countries and to ask for feedback. The third one, the teacher can use web

pages as virtual classrooms in order to make courses not only in the real

classroom but also, in other parts of the country. The one of Lina could be used

also to use the email with another purpose, for example, she can use email for

sending extra activities to correct the exercise of a classmate. The next one

could be used in order to use mobiles to take a test in it. The teacher will send

the test to the mail and then, the student takes it online and on his/her

cellphone. With the last one, as I mentioned before, the teacher could use

music in order to teach translation of songs and then the rhyme in the other

language.

13. How much training and support is available for teachers in your schools,

in the use of technology? Draw up a plan for the kind of training program

that you think would be useful. Particularly for new teachers.

My school has a lot of support for teaching. There are virtual classrooms. They

have recorders and CDs with audio activities, Internet, infocus, videos, movies,

etc. I think that my school has many technological implements that facilitate the

teaching process. Technology helps to explain better the student all the topics

and it helps to make them practice it. There are sometimes problems with the

connection to the internet but the other thing work well.

Plan:

Video conferences, once a week

Meetings with their supervisor about internal problems of each subject,

each week.

Practical classes for teachers with teachers of other countries once a

month.

Teach the teacher how to teach grammar, once a month.

Teach the teacher how to use technology inside the class, once each

semester.

How to evaluate the student, once each semester.

14. Talk to you teacher in your school (or go inline) and find out what kind of

current websites your colleagues recommend for both teachers and

learners, and why.

The first one is You Tube, the teacher recommend it because this website has

any type of topic. YouTube is opened for everybody and it is free. You are able

to watch the video all the time you think are necessary.

The second one is google; here, you can use it to search for information. This is

a browser so; you can use it to get into other pages. This is the most efficient

browser in the red according to many teachers. The issue of freedom permit the

teacher uses it with the student. Here you can find many exercises that the

teacher and the student would enjoy.

The third one is teacher’s network, here you can find lessons, music, teacher

designed activities, etc.

Education world (The Educator’s best friend). It provides teaching tips, lesson

plans, activities, academic articles, web resources and many more.

Teachers Net is a platform where teachers can get to discover new teaching

ideas and tips, lesson plans, classroom projects and many other things for a

teacher and the student.

15. In section 19.2, Levy lists five levels at which TLLT fits with current

thinking in second language acquisition and can support language

teaching. Can you think of an example of how technology could help with

each of these?

Technology can support language teaching through websites with grammar

quizzes or a CDROM with audio clips and listening-comprehension questions.

On the other hand, Technology also emphasizes the social aspect, so it is able

to connect learners, either with authentic language input, or with native

speakers or other learners.

Regarding to the physical level, technology could help with tools such as

laptops and tablets, regarding to the management level, technology can help

with the learning management system that enables the administration of a

language course, according to the application level, technology could help with

word processing software, email and social networking sites, regarding to the

resource level, technology could help with online material such as newspapers,

language tutors, and finally regarding to the component technology level,

technology could help with spelling checkers, grammar checkers, electronic

dictionaries and important tools.

16. Review the three phases of CALL, identified by Warschauer, and some

defining characteristics of each phase. How would you situate popular

programs like Rosetta Stone in terms of these three phases?

The first phase is the behavioristic CALL, where the computer was used as a

tutor for learning materials. There are programs like grammar drills and

pronunciation-practice software. The other phase is the communicative where

the computer was used for skill practice like reading, writing with more

opportunities for student choice, control and interaction. The third one is the

integrative phase which focuses on the different language skills in a single

program or website. Therefore I would situate popular program in the integrative

phase because it allows everybody to use popular programs where learners

can work together using email, chat, blogs and other communication tools

17. What new skills might learners and teachers need to acquire to use TLLT

effectively?

They might need to acquire the skills such as listening, speaking, writing and

reading, besides the vocabulary, grammar and intercultural awareness in order

to use the TLLT effectively which each one of these has an important roles in

that process.

18. This chapter listed many ways that technology can support the teaching

of the four skills, as well as vocabulary, grammar and intercultural

awareness. Choose one of these areas and develop a lesson plan where

technology is fully integrated.

One of the four skills listed in this chapter is grammar, so we developed a

lesson plan about simple past using technology. Therefore, we found digital

games where students can learn and apply the grammar skill successfully. For

instance, the teacher can use digital games such as ESL Jeopardy game which

is very practical for classroom teaching. Teachers can engage all their students’

attention on these activities. The activity below is an example of a digital game.

First, they click on the word next, and choose the grade of difficulty they want to

play and then the sentence with the gap will appear, so here is when the

student needs to fill the gap with all their knowledge.

http://www.eslgamesplus.com/irregular-past-tense-esl-grammar-jeopardy-quiz-game/

Another digital game that the teacher can use is the next one, which explains the

difference of various tenses, as the teacher only focuses on the simple past, the

student will only have to choose the verb in past tense, and here if the student make a

mistake the computer will not allow that, until the student choose the correct verb.

http://www.eslgamesplus.com/past-simple-irregular-verbs-esl-grammar-interactive-

activity-online/

19. A teacher who gives out homework for students to complete online after

school is making a number of assumptions about his or her learners, their

(preferred ways of) learning and their home situations. What are some of

these assumptions, and are there any pitfalls to be avoided?

From one side, the teacher will assume that giving out his/her students online

homework to complete after school, will mean more advantages for the student

because they are able to work at their own time, without any pressure, and they

will be able to repeat and review the same information the times they want.

Besides, the teachers will assume that they will reinforce all the previous

information learned in class. However, the teacher also will know that their

students will have questions that will not be answered because the computer is

only a machine that will not take the teacher’s place because “technological

methods are restricted to the guiding of tutors and not replacing them” as José

Lema said on the text. Therefore, this questions will be only answered in the

interaction class between the teacher and the student.

20. Teachers often do not allow students to use mobile phones in class. What

are some ways in which mobile phones CAN be used effectively as

learning tools?

Some ways in which mobile phone can be used in teaching class in the

classroom are:

Use as a research tool (for web-enabled devices)

Snap a photo: Of notes on the board in class, of assignments, etc

Use e-books and other digital materials as alternatives to lugging around

tons of heavy books

SMS Chat Room: Teachers can use free group messaging apps (there are a

ton of them out there) to create group chat rooms for classes

Share photos of field trips or projects either via aforementioned SMS chat

rooms or via a blog or app

Use smartphones as mobile diaries: Set reminders, make notes, and

organize schedules using a variety of free apps and tools that often come

loaded on the device

Call a friend: Connect with guest speakers or other classrooms via skype

This information is taken from: http://www.edudemic.com/mobile-devices-in-the-

classroom-2/

21. Do your students have access to Skype? Develop an activity that could be

used with Skype.

Yes, the students have access to Skype, and this technological tool can be very

successfully for the students in classroom. Some activities can be applied at the

moment of using Skype, for instance, if the teacher wants to explain the

contrastive between phonetics and phonology in Spanish and English the

Skype tool would be the best way because here the students can make contact

with other students from countries where they speak English, so here they will

hear the sound variation in both languages, all the features that each letter has

and each student will be able to ask any question regarding the topic. Besides,

Skype also allows the students to know more about different cultures around

the world and the student will have a practical learning in the classroom.

22. How can the internet be used to develop intercultural awareness? Design

an activity that has this as a focus.

Internet is very important to develop intercultural awareness because through

digital media many students can communicate with other people from many

different cultures and they are able acquire knowledge and skills for intercultural

communication. In addition, the internet is helpful because it develops the

sensitivity to the values and practices of people from different cultures and the

students self-awareness of the nature and values implicit in one’s own practices

and willingness to share and experience other people’s cultures and finally the

learners ability to modify one’s own behavior in intercultural settings. An activity

that develops intercultural awareness as a focus can be videogames because

they allow students to interact with other people from different cultures, these

videogames can focused on group works in order to achieve missions or goals

around the world. This kid of videogame will let the students know more about

different cultures and countries around the world.

Sources1 millón de tablets en el Ecuador ofrece Rafael Correa al abrir clases. (2 de 09 de 2014). El

Universo.

Wikipedia. (2014). Recuperado el 29 de 11 de 2014, de http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_blog

Online sites http://www.clipartbest.com/internet-cliparty http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-437/sets/85811-education http://www.clipartbest.com/teachers-and-students-clipart http://www.myenglishteacher.eu/blog/english-grammar-9-websites-to-learn-and-

practice-english-grammar/ http://www.edudemic.com/mobile-devices-in-the-classroom-2/

http://www.eslgamesplus.com/past-simple-irregular-verbs-esl-grammar-

interactive-activity-online/

http://www.eslgamesplus.com/irregular-past-tense-esl-grammar-jeopardy-quiz-

game/