DUE WEEK 3, January 26 to 29: BLOG POST 1 -- Evaluation of Sample CALL Software for Vocabulary and Grammar Teaching.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
About Me
- Eric [AL 8620]
- Eric Friginal specializes in applied corpus linguistics, sociolinguistics, cross-cultural communication, distance learning, discipline-specific writing, bilingual education, technology and language teaching, and the analysis of spoken professional discourse. Prior to joining the GSU faculty, he was a lecturer in the Literacy, Technology, and Professional Writing area of the English Department at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and an instructor at the NAU School of Forestry where he taught on-campus and online courses in technical and professional writing, professional editing, and rhetoric and writing in professional communities. He has also taught ESL/EFL classes and conducted training courses in business English in the Philippines, China, and India. His main research program focuses on the exploration of professional, spoken interaction; the acquisition of fluency in ESL; and the study of language, culture, and cross-cultural communication in the context of outsourced call centers in the Philippines and India serving American customers.
Hi all -- Please post Blog Post 1 here before midnight January 29 (Week 3). From the syllabus (p. 2 "Requirements"), I mentioned that this activity requires an "evaluative feedback" of around 250 to 300 words. You could choose to evaluate any of the sample VOCABULARY and GRAMMAR activities (or a combination) for Week 3 topics from the CALL book CD-ROM, then decide how you would like to present or structure your opinions and observations. There will be SIX blog posts this semester (graded 10 points total) and the due dates for posting will be every Friday (up to midnight) of that particular week when there is an assigned blog post. I will be grading them by the end of the semester based on overall quality and clarity of critiques and observations. Looking forward to reading your evaluations!
ReplyDeleteAs an ESL teacher, I frequently use corpus informed materials in my class, so I was quite interested in exploring Lextutor’s options as presented in Chapelle & Jamieson’s book and CD ROM. Though I am familiar with this site, I’ve never used it help me prepare materials. The book and CD ROM mention that it’ll pronounce the word for you, which is definitely a benefit, especially for students working from home. Alas, my trial with the program was not as successful as I hoped. First of all, the words are not pronounced on my computer, though I downloaded the speech plug-in. Secondly, the dictionary comes up only in a new window on the right hand side of the screen, thereby cutting off some of the letters, and I couldn’t figure out how to move it over. Since I was using Firefox, I thought my problem might be browser related, so I tried again on Internet Explorer but had the same result. Now, I may be a digital immigrant, but I’m not an idiot on the computer. I can’t help but wonder if learners working from home would experience the same sort of challenges and become frustrated. I also find that the layout is not user friendly. There were a bunch of buttons and terms with which I’m not familiar, and though I played around with them a bit, I was unable to figure out their purpose. Perhaps a more user-friendly, intuitive interface would be less intimidating, especially for students who are not technologically minded.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of corpus lines being available with the click (or double click) of the mouse. Once again, though, I was disappointed with the results of my trial run, (perhaps that’s why I carefully hand-pick corpus lines for instructional purposes in my class). My sample word was “mistake.” The first example sentence was obviously from a line of dialogue in a fiction story, or something of that nature: “Oh no, Miss, you make a mistake.” This sounded odd to me in present tense, so I expanded the view for the larger context, and indeed, it seemed to be uttered by a NNS, and would have sounded better with past tense. Of course, “make a mistake,” and even “you make a mistake” are fine phrases, but this example brings to mind all sorts of potential problems that can arise with students’ unmonitored use of corpus lines. Of course I am well aware that this is a minor issue. One need only remind the students that people don’t always speak or write correctly, especially when dialogues are used in fiction stories. The benefits of seeing the word in context definitely override these occasional lapses, and this is, after all, used for vocabulary, not grammar. But then again, it’s hard to separate vocabulary from grammar!And the site can be used for grammar as well.
In summary, I like the site and would not hesitate to recommend it to my students, despite the technical difficulties. Having so many authentic examples of words in context is definitely a beneficial learning tool.
CALL software for teaching vocabulary and grammar presented in Capelle & Jamieson’s book enlarged my views on the ways to teach vocabulary and grammar in L2 classroom using technology. First, I was amazed to see what a wide variety of software and web-sites exist for teaching vocabulary and grammar. Second, I liked that Capelle & Jamieson presented CALL software and Internet sites in a structured way: from selecting materials that will fit learners in terms of level, topics and activities (Tip 1) to suggesting useful programs for helping learners to develop lifelong strategies to learn the language (Tip 6). I think such structured way to present CALL programs is more useful for language teachers, since it helps them not to get lost in the enormous amount of computer programs and Internet sites which aim to help ESL teacher and ESL learners.
ReplyDeleteCALL software and Internet sites which help learners to develop the language learning strategies seem very useful to me, since they allow learners to develop skills for learning the vocabulary and grammar outside the language classroom. Being an L2 learner myself, I know how important it is to develop language learning strategies and how helpful they are for improving vocabulary and grammatical accuracy.
Also, I liked the sample software in the Vocabulary chapter, called Vocabster. What appealed to me in this software is that it allows teachers “to add their own vocabulary words, exercises and pictures and audio by using an authoring tool” (p. 30). In this way, the software provides not only a two-way interaction between the learner and computer but adds a language instructor as another active participant in the learning/teaching process. I think this particular feature of Vocabster software allows teachers to make vocabulary teaching more customized and fitting learners’ needs at a certain stage of their lexical proficiency.
Vocabulary teaching has always been to me a slightly controversial theme. Discussions on what the best way to teach vocabulary are still common on AL literature and class discussions. During my evaluation of chapter 1, I found my analysis to be divided into two categories: the first relates to the overall quality of the websites and programs presented, the second relates to the theoretical aspects of using CALL to teach vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the websites and programs presented were useful only in very specific contexts. For instance, Vocaboly is a software that presents a highly decontextualized list of vocabulary words targeted to SAT, TOEFL, GMAT, etc. These words are most likely forgotten after a short period of time. Yet, the software can be very useful for listening to audio files and associate the grapheme to its corresponded sound. Thus, the teacher may have to adapt some functions and purposes of the programs presented in order to achieve his/her goal. I wish there were more websites in a “Rosetta Stone style”, which, though not ideal, are more filled with contextual information, which helps students remember vocabulary items. Since these developments have to start somewhere, their existence is justified…
As for the theoretical analysis, chapter 1 of the Chapelle and Jamieson text builds its rhetoric on the fact that many students can derive unwanted and inaccurate meaning from teaching vocabulary in context. The authors imply that it could undermine learning. Given this assumption, they advocate an approach that includes explicit instruction as form of acquiring vocabulary, overlooking the advantages of learning vocabulary in context.
A close evaluation of the text, more precisely on the third paragraph of page 11, confirms a “needless-to-mention” desire to teach vocabulary, which, in it of itself, is almost completely obvious in the context of language learning and therefore not problematic (vocabulary learning is good, everybody knows that). However, the quasi absence of the ever-present recommendation of teaching vocabulary in context, given by our professors throughout our academic lives, concerns me. As it appears, to pinpoint this recommendation is to undermine the validity of some websites presented in the chapter and, to some extent, of some ideals of CALL. We spend quite some time talking about disadvantages of using a dictionary in pedagogy-related courses; it seems odd not to include the discussion when in a CALL context.
The activity I would like to evaluate is Crossword Puzzles for ELS Students (http://iteslj.org/cw/). I felt the idea of using crosswords to help learn vocabulary is great! I’ve done so in my classroom, but I timed my students. I would suggest that others do so as well; it gives an extra level of motivation. I found a few problems with this particular site. First, I found the easy levels to be quite difficult and I’m a native speaker. Under “Parts of a House” puzzle there were several clues that I couldn’t determine the answer. For example, “it’s outside the entrance” was the clue. The answer is: porch. I have never lived in a house that had a porch and I would have never guessed this answer. I think that if this is true for me, what would it be like for an ESL learner? Needless to say I really feel that the clues need to be clarified and some completely changed. Second, I really do not appreciate the “hint” aspect; what the website does is give you the first two letters of the word. I don’t feel that this is the appropriate way to aid the learner. Why not take the hint section to elaborate on the already proposed clue? For example, the hint for the previous example could say, “many houses have them screened in.” I did find that the advanced levels were good for teaching idioms and other explicit nuances of English. Unfortunately there are not as many to choose from, and the teacher would have to ensure that all of the words/phrases in the puzzle had already been taught. I would suggest using: www.puzzle-maker.com where you can make your own. That would make it much more specific to the vocabulary that you want your students to learn.
ReplyDeleteThe software Lingonet used to reinforce vocabulary was interactive, as it claimed, as well as provided hints and clues needed when students were unclear of the correct choice. Overall, this program does not use the language authentically like it would be in a more communicative-based practice activity, but it provided the necessary first steps of exposure, guided practice, explicit teaching,and preparation needed to help students build a confidence with the vocabulary before they interact in more authentic language with it. This would be a great piece of software to use after introducing new vocabulary to students, since it reinforces the new words through a fill-in-the-blank type activity. It would also provide the students ample opportunities to ask each other for clarification, use the hints from the computer, and practice in a smaller group setting. For students who might be shy to ask questions about new vocabulary, this software would create a safe environment for them to have the new material reinforced explicitly. Therefore, as it relates to SLA, this software appears to be in-line with Folse’s view that vocabulary needs explicit learning and teaching in order to effectively acquire words.
ReplyDeleteFor grammar, the software Understanding and Using English Grammar---Interactive takes individualized assessment to the practical level. In comparison to a teacher creating and implementing different assessments and breaking down the results into different grammatical subcategories to better help the student evaluate their progress, this software would help a student as a pre-test to know exactly what to concentrate on in order to perform well on his or her tests. Although the teacher’s advice for the student should be heeded first, this additional tool would be an asset to the student. However, I believe the teacher should go through any test he or she gives the student and make sure that each question is one that the students are prepared for and matches the goals and objectives of the class.
I also looked at the Crossword Puzzles for ESL Students website, and my first thought was “Dear God, this website’s ugly.” We talked briefly in class about whether site design was important, and I think the answer is yes. For one thing, as easy and cheap as it is to create a website, there’s absolutely no reason NOT to make a fun, interesting-looking one. Secondly, one of the oft-cited reasons for using the internet in the first place is that students find it motivating—why nullify that advantage with a site design that looks like the NY Times stock quotes? So first and foremost, this site needs some zing.
ReplyDeleteThen there’s the organization. At first glance, it doesn’t look too bad: there are headers to indicate difficulty level of the puzzles, and a link to the rest of the levels at the bottom. So far so good, though a linked table of contents at the top might be an improvement. But then I looked up at the top menu. Grammar E, Grammar M, Grammar D? By clicking on the home page link I figured out that these are for easy, medium, and difficult. The home page, though, has a much larger list of activities to choose from, and for some reason the crossword puzzles are categorized as “easy” and “not-so-easy.” Again, some kind of dynamic TOC frame would be helpful.
Getting to the actual puzzles, I wondered where the author’s ideas of “very common words” was coming from. The site is not annotated, nor does the “About Our Website” link on the home page provide any information about sources. The site is maintained by The Internet TESL Journal, so presumably they know what they’re talking about, but it would be nice to know where they’re getting their data. Secondly, I wondered about authorship. The easy puzzles are all attributed to one Charles Kelly. Who is this guy? A link to his website reveals that he is an ESL and EFL textbook writer, so again, presumably he knows what he’s doing. The other puzzles are attributed to various authors with no other information.
The puzzles themselves seem reasonably good to work with; the interface is intuitive and user-friendly. However, I agree with Marsha that many of the clues seem ambiguous; in some cases more than one answer is possible, and in others, the right answer isn’t always apparent even to a native speaker. It seems many of these were probably written under native speaker intuition, and not checked or tested before publication.
I give this site a C. I’d use it as a motivating warm-up activity, possibly as a diagnostic tool, but not as any significant part of a vocabulary teaching curriculum.
--Joyce
After reviewing all websites mentioned in Chapter 1, I was surprised by how few or none of these programs allow for much movement between lessons. Research by scholars--such as Nassaji--demonstrates that students should immediately look up unknown words in the reading in order to avoid memorizing an incorrect definition. However, none of the cheaper programs mentioned seemed to be very search-friendly.
ReplyDeleteTip #6 explains that the teacher should familiarize the students with easily accessible and affordable programs so that they can improve their vocabulary skills in the future. There is one up-and-coming site that I found called wordia.com, a visual dictionary. I’m not sure how well the site editors verify that the definitions are correct, but each definition is a video post with accompanying text providing a spoken explanation of the word and an enactment of the meaning.
Out of all the sites mentioned in Chapter 1, I preferred WordSmart Challenge. While it was difficult to read the Performance Report, I liked that this test seemed more like a placement assessment than the others. If the student got two questions wrong, the assessment would be over; if the student continued to answer correctly, the assessment would continue. Additionally, as was addressed in class, aesthetics play a large role. This program is much more interactive than the other black-text-on-white-background sites. With a program like this, as long as some attention is paid to explaining how to read scores, the students might be more inclined to continually self-assess.
I would like to recommend one of my favorite sites for vocabulary and grammar, www.wordreference.com. Part of the greatness of wordreference (WR) comes from the way the site integrates its individually strong components to create some synergy. For example, the extensive user generated content of the language forums, is automatically displayed as context appropriate links on their excellent dictionaries. So, what are the aspects of the site that I find so appealing?
ReplyDeleteCome on down! It’s time to play the price is right. I love the fact that WR is free. Registration is required to post to the forums, but the process is not onerous. And it’s free. :)
They have dictionaries, both single language, and two language dictionaries. I’m learning Spanish and usually rely on www.reverso.net to help me with dictionary work and translations, but I often find that WR has the answer after reverso has disappointed. WR’s English definitions (single language) dictionary has the unique feature of providing links to WR’s English Only forum (which I’ll have more to say about later), as well as links to Merriam-Webster and dictionary.com. If that isn’t enough, you can post a question in the language forums.
In our class people were surprised by the suggestion that vocabulary should be explicitly taught because the strategy of trying to learn words in context is unreliable, especially to develop a sense of the fine meanings of words instead of the general sense. I’ve made over 1500 posts in WR’s English Only forum, and the time I spent their developed my intuition to understand this point at a gut level. Seeing how ambiguous English is in low context situations, helps build empathy for ELLs as they grapple with the combinatoric nightmare of having sentences where most of the words have many possible meanings. We usually don’t appreciate the amazing power of our three pounds of brain matter to use context to force sentences into the ‘obvious’ meaning, much as figure-ground optical illusions show clearly one of the possible pictures. The forums provide the place where real people answer other’s real questions, which cannot be satisfied by consulting a dictionary. Here is where you can get debate on word meaning AND usage (grammar).
Wrapping this together is first class tools for search. The forums have been in operation for years and many questions have already been discussed at length. This is a powerful resource for language learners and teachers. Since I’ve already shot my word quota, I’ll defer mentioning how the forums allows one to take a quick read on regional dialect differences or the difference between British and American English.
In summary, I like wordreference, give it a try (the preceding was not a paid testimonial).
When I first began teaching as a tutor for high school students, I often used the free grammar cites that Nina mentioned in class, such as grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar. One way in which I liked to evaluate grammar websites was through their adaptability to paper format. As a tutor, I had no access to computer labs, but I was also not paid for prep time (nor did I have a computer with which to prepare). So, simple and adaptable websites were key for me. I tried to avoid websites where the question only popped up one at a time. Not only is that inconvenient for copying and pasting, but it is also annoying for students. In my experience, students prefer to skip questions and come back when they’re testing themselves. Often, another question will remind them of a grammar point that another question requires.
ReplyDeleteTeaching discrete grammar in an academic setting does not last long, however, and teachers often need to turn to grammar that is applicable to writing. The American corpus is a good tool for the writing process, after the first draft has been written. If students are having trouble with collocations, or lexical bundles (are they the same thing?), they can use the American corpus to check frequency and to see what words usually follow. The only trouble with the American corpus is that it draws its sources from a variety of genres, which can be a little confusing. Certainly, what’s acceptable in spoken television or radio is not always accepted in academic texts.
Whatever the level of the student we are teaching, it’s important and often exhausting to remember that although the Internet offers a variety of materials, there’s almost always a piece or a page of it to supplement, explain or modify.
As an EFL/ESL teacher, I am convinced that both issues, vocabulary and grammar, are essential components when understanding and producing a second language. So I liked the idea that CALL starts its chapter-sequence with these two topics. Although both are interesting and attractive for me, I will focus my comment on vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteIf somebody would ask me in this moment what website I would use with my students (I bring to mind my middle school EFL students in Mexico), my answer would be Crossword Puzzles for ESL students. This answer is based on the fact that most of middle school students like to use technology and interact between themselves, instead of being exposed just to the teacher's explanations on the blackboard. Then, this website provides opportunities to practice and discuss the language in pairs. Language interaction will always be beneficial for learners' language achievements. Thus, I definitely would use this tool with my students.
However, I completely agree with Marsha and Joyeuse13's comments about some drawbacks in this website.Probably the inconveniences are there because this website was created some years ago. An additional drawback, for example, is the word 'lift'in the Vocabulary Demonstration part. Learners need to use the word 'lift' to fill out four blank squares. The point is that the word 'lift', referring to 'elevator', is not used in the American English but in the British English.
So, what is the purpose of teaching decontextualized vocabulary as the word 'lift' if learners will almost never hear that word in day to day communication in the US? This is an issue on how to teach vocabulary in context (already discussed by Rodrigo).
Anyway, I will use this website as a tool to teach vocabulary to my middle school students in Mexico because it might be helpful and motivating for them. Finally, I will say that constructive feedback to this website might be welcomed by the authors. So, in the short future, this website may become a more effective tool to teach vocabulary to EFL/ESL learners.
As a foreign language learner of English, although I accumulated lots of academic words, which may exclude me from the very beginning level, I still experienced a hard time in understanding some low level vocabulary like, denim, sub, and ranch etc. Probably, my situation may also be applied to other language learners, who learn a language in classrooms rather than real communicative situation. Usually, the difficulty of vocabulary is judged from native speakers’ point of view and academic words are considered to be superior over vocabulary in daily conversation. However, for language learners, this conception of difficulty may not always work. The special vocabulary building sequence of language learners also predicts EASY’s potential of introducing low level vocabulary to learners across levels, although EASY is introduced as a language learning tool targeted at beginners in our textbook. Actually, I learned a new word- price tag, while I was watching the sample videos on line. I usually just would call price tag ‘ price label’.
ReplyDeleteAs shown in our textbook, EASY has five functions: watch & Learn, Listen& Speak, Instruction, Grammar and Practice. This integration provides learners an opportunity of practicing all the four skill related to certain vocabulary and grammatical features. The most important feature of EASY, as far as I am concerned, is that it relates the vocabulary to the real things it refers to through video presenting. As for most language learners, they failed to learn some very basic vocabulary, as these things may not even exist in their native countries. For instance, students from countries where do not celebrate western festivals, may have never seen a ginger bread or eggnog before. Verbal description and translation are almost impossible to achieve complete comprehension by the learners under this situation. In addition, this strategy of vocabulary teaching can successfully cater to learners with different preferences, like visual learners or auditory learners.
An examination of EASY also leaves me an impression that it did not explore its potential deeply enough. Most of the vocabulary introduced is very general words like magazine, apple, orange juice that can be learned even through reading the translation. However, cultural-related words and very specific words like trench coat, pea coat, are rarely mentioned. These are the words that students really need to visualize. Another limitation of EASY is that it could also shoulder the responsibility of exposing the learners to the environment of English speaking countries, but some of the scenarios only aimed at teaching the words. Overall, EASY can be improved through including more specific vocabulary and adding real life scenarios.
--Hong
In my survey of vocabulary CALL sites featured in chapter one, I find that none of them succeeded to my liking in using vocabulary in both a meaningful way and encouraging interaction among learners. Instead, the majority of the programs favor a fill in the blank or drill like approach. I believe this is due in part, since software has not yet reached the complexity in which to fulfill my communicative expectations. However, I believe in the future my desires will be fully realized. Until that day arrives, I contend that the key in using vocabulary CALL software effectively is to see it as a supplement to lessons and not as the vehicle of instruction.
ReplyDeleteI find Vocaboly to be extremely useful when viewed in terms of a supplement for test preparation. The purpose of the site is to help its learners learned vocabulary for either the GRE, GMAT, TESOL and SAT test. As a result, the site employs varies drill and fill in the blank exercises. This includes a memory card game where learners must successfully match the word with its definition. In addition, the site features a Star Wars inspired game in which players must type the word out before the allotted time expires. There is also a feature in which the definition is shown after successfully spelling the word. While the game is clearly focusing on memorization, I do believe the typing practice is helpful for students who will need to be adequate typist in order to complete the computerized GRE and GMAT tests.
Vocaboly is an extremely user-friendly site. The colors are particularly pleasing. I also find that one is not required to read the directions for the activities in that the exercises utilize many of the same components that one could find in a grade school setting. The only negatives to the program are that the word lists have no connections to each other. I feel this could be resolved by perhaps arranging the words by roots, which in turn could promote better acquisition for learners. In addition, I feel something must be done about the voice used to pronounce the words. It sounds too much like a computer and is unacceptable considering this is not a free site.
After my examination of Vocaboly, I turned my attention to the ubiquitous Rosetta Stone. Artistically, the program receives high marks. I find the program’s pictures to be very pleasing, and the vocabulary pronouncer to sound very life like. The program begins by introducing the learner to words like girl, boy, man and woman. After cycling through the words, verbs are added. While its difficult to fully evaluate the program with just the demo, I would have liked the vocabulary to have more of a theme associated with it. Furthermore, from the demo, there appears to be no opportunities to interface with other language learners. I find this to be ludicrous considering it carries a nearly six hundred dollar price tag. Strangely enough, these opportunities can be found at Mocha Café, which is a free site designed implementing the same design as Rosetta Stone.
Despite the lack of communicative vocabulary CALL materials, I still believe that the software can be useful supplements in language learning.
I’d like to use this opportunity to point you to a series of podcasts
ReplyDeletedeveloped by the BBC for teachers and learners of English. It is called
Keep
your English Up to Date. In fact the BBC World Service has
produced an interesting collection of English language learning
resources which are available through their web site.
Keep
your English Up to Date is a six-part series of short entries
written by ELT consultants (the first two parts actually by a linguist,
David Crystal). Each entry is an essay-type account of a word of recent
coinage / emergence in English, and is told in a light, often humorous,
anecdote fashion. The whole series amounts to a glossary, indeed an
overview of contemporary English-speaking world language and culture,
and thus makes up for interesting and fun reading. To be sure, many of
the entries, such as facebook,
tweet, and wiki refer to the most recent
developments arising from Internet and CMC applications. Each entry
consists of a short text, which is also available in audio format,
and is accompanied by downloadable lesson plans and worksheets
developed around it, making the material very accessible both for use
in a classroom, or for autonomous and self-access work. The entries are
short enough so as to make the material easy to incorporate in a longer
lesson. The material is appropriate for intermediate and above
intermediate target level classes/students.
In general I feel like the CALL websites and programs presented by Chapelle and Jamieson to use for grammar could be useful for supplementary instruction, or to answer specific questions. For this blog post, we will take a closer look at the ESL Gold website and discuss what is there, what is not and how it may or may not be useful.
ReplyDeleteWhat is there is a lot of metalinguistic, explicit grammar information. Organized by their 5 level system: low beginning, high beginning, low intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced, although it may be noted that under their advanced section there is only one listing. There are audio files that you can listen to, instead of reading about the grammar and the voice is a pleasant man of woman with model enunciation and intonation. There is an explanation of the grammar point, giving its purpose and then examples of how to use it - including common errors. On each link there is also sometimes a textbook recommendation link for more information and a “see also” section linking to other similar sections of the website.
The list of what there isn’t… is perhaps more subjective. In general the greatest failing is that there is quite a bit of variation regarding the information given on any particular point, which may come from the fact that the site is run by contributors submissions. Let’s take that one listing for the Advanced section and one from the low intermediate for an example. The Advanced link is “preposition collocations with ‘be’.” And true to its name, that’s what it is. A list of preposition collocations. That’s it. When you click the audio file link, it takes you to a separate page and reads the list for you (that’s what happens with all the audio files.) No information on which are more frequent, or when there are options which is better to use, or even definitions. For the low intermediate link for “reported speech” there was a definition of what it is, and how it is used in both conversation and formal situations (based on corpus findings or intuition?)
Overall, this website may be better suited to ESL teachers who don’t have a firm grounding in grammar or the exceptional student who really wants to understand a specific grammar point rather than typical ESL students. As an aside, does anyone else sense that very few, if any, of these sites fit all the criteria placed by Chapelle and Jamieson for their tips for teaching?
~Beth
ESL Software developments are ripe and currently undergoing a bit of a massive surge and as we have discussed, it is often very difficult to stay "of the times" and up-to-date with the hyper-text, cyber-frenetic pace in which so many are currently engaged (by choice or not). All the more timely is this class and most especially this initial chapter and blog posting.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the chapter and observing the presentations, I have chosen to focus on one particular CALL software program that fulfills a very necessary role in ESL education. "Gerry's vocabulary builder/crossword puzzle" strikes me as something that can hold great potential for ESL teachers who are looking for greater control over the activities they prepare for their students. With great control comes greater flexibility and with greater flexibility comes greater engagement with and connection to the students. I (and I imagine many others with far more ESL experience than myself) have found this to be of the utmost importance. Gerry's Vocabulary Builder/Crossword Puzzle allows for customized selection from texts and a teacher's personal input in terms of design and word choices for the template games. As discussed in class, this appears to be one of the select few activities (amongst those provided in the presentations) that offers such hands-on ability for the teacher and it should be lauded for such a feature. However, should not all programs allow this amount of control and teacher-input? The software must stay with the times and user-generated content is indeed the way of web 2.0
Chapelle & Jamieson
ReplyDeleteChapter 1
Vocabulary Teaching
I firmly believe that this is the part of language teaching where computers are highly important as they are in teaching speaking. The reason is because pictures are very useful in order to learn vocabulary items; therefore, any kind of source that integrates vocabulary teaching with visuals will be very beneficial for language teachers.
As I became more curious about the software on vocabulary teaching and was searching on it, I have found this very interesting article by Wood, a professor at Harvard University, called “Can Software Support Children’s Vocabulary Development” (2001) in which she is analyzing 16 vocabulary teaching software. For those of you who would like to have a look at it here is the link; http://llt.msu.edu/vol5num1/wood/default.html
In addition to the resources provided in our book:
I think that crossword puzzles related to the target vocabulary items that you covered in your lessons are very good materials to use especially at last part of your lessons where your students start to lose their attention. I have found this web-site which allows us to download a crossword making software for free and create our own puzzles including our target words. It is easy to download and use. If you want additional features, you can buy the software as well. http://www.supercrosswordcreator.com/