I agree with the point that virtual environment does benefit to second language learning, especially for the reduction of anxiety when communicate with native speakers or speak in an open environment.
I am a second language learner and I used to be an English teacher, I find that most English learners in mainland have great anxiety when speaking English, especially speak in public. This is a common phenomenon and I think most second language learners have such kind of experience. As a student who wants to be a future teacher, if the teaching environment permits, I’d like to lead students to learn second language in the virtual environment. If face-to-face communication makes students feel anxious, why not provide an environment which can make them feel more relaxing.
Class discussion on-line, chat-room, and e-mail with native speakers are all good way to increase their opportunities to participate in communication and language production. Keeping sending e-mails with native speakers can help students improve their writing skills, since you always write something or discuss something in more formal language with each other. Before sending the e-mail, you have plenty time to think over your choice of words, the native speakers can also check the correctness of you sentences. Communicating in chat-room or MSN on-line can help students improve their abilities in language fluency. Since most on-line language is informal and oral style, it can help learners to improve the ability of speaking and feel more freely and easy when communicate with others.
All the theories need to be test in real teaching practice, and several problems should be pay attention to carefully for both teachers and students, so there are still much knowledge to learn and lots of researches to do in the future before you can use virtual language learning environment to make efficient teaching and learning.
2010年2月7日 星期日
Something about Week Three's Reading
Many findings of some previous researchers show that a virtual environment may create a more relaxed atmosphere than a classroom, and the low level of inhibition and social anxiety would be good for foreign language learning and increase language production.
A project called Virtual Department for Minority Language (VDML) is a two year project which aims to produce guideline for students and teachers of less widely taught languages on how to create a virtual language department including making templates for a shared resource bank and suggesting ways in which collaboration between institutions of three UK university can take place. The project provides new experience for both students and teachers to learn how to work in a virtual environment and gives new teaching implications with regard to computer assisted language teaching. For second language learners, it is really important to participate in L2 language conversation, but students may always feel anxious in a face-to-face learning situation, and furthermore decrease the opportunities to join in the communication. However, if speaking in a virtual environment reduces anxiety in language learning, it would be a hidden benefit of computer assisted language learning. This article will focus on research into the psychological aspects of using the computer and internet in an education setting
Students always feel quite anxious when speaking to native speakers, but if instead the language students e-mail the native speakers, their anxieties would immediately be reduced. There is an illusion that language learners experience less anxiety when communicating via computer, and our behavior changes in a variety of ways when working online.
The study investigates a group of students’ behavior in the virtual learning environment through an on-line task in a chat room. Every student’s behavior is carefully examined and analyzed.
The results of the study show a number advantages for language students when working online. One of the advantages is that there is no accent to be distracted by, no time pressure and no interruption, which are all factors that would make students to feel anxious and reluctant to speak. In addition, there are no immediate reactions such as giggles or raised eyebrows. There is an illusion that online work gives a definite advantage to the shy and introvert language student. Finally, there is the advantage of increased participation.
There are also some issues that teacher and learners need to pay attention to when working in a virtual environment. First, exchanging the classroom for a virtual environment may change the old group dynamics; secondly, a virtual learning environment is likely to lower the level of language anxiety, but this does not solve the problem for students of foreign languages.
A project called Virtual Department for Minority Language (VDML) is a two year project which aims to produce guideline for students and teachers of less widely taught languages on how to create a virtual language department including making templates for a shared resource bank and suggesting ways in which collaboration between institutions of three UK university can take place. The project provides new experience for both students and teachers to learn how to work in a virtual environment and gives new teaching implications with regard to computer assisted language teaching. For second language learners, it is really important to participate in L2 language conversation, but students may always feel anxious in a face-to-face learning situation, and furthermore decrease the opportunities to join in the communication. However, if speaking in a virtual environment reduces anxiety in language learning, it would be a hidden benefit of computer assisted language learning. This article will focus on research into the psychological aspects of using the computer and internet in an education setting
Students always feel quite anxious when speaking to native speakers, but if instead the language students e-mail the native speakers, their anxieties would immediately be reduced. There is an illusion that language learners experience less anxiety when communicating via computer, and our behavior changes in a variety of ways when working online.
The study investigates a group of students’ behavior in the virtual learning environment through an on-line task in a chat room. Every student’s behavior is carefully examined and analyzed.
The results of the study show a number advantages for language students when working online. One of the advantages is that there is no accent to be distracted by, no time pressure and no interruption, which are all factors that would make students to feel anxious and reluctant to speak. In addition, there are no immediate reactions such as giggles or raised eyebrows. There is an illusion that online work gives a definite advantage to the shy and introvert language student. Finally, there is the advantage of increased participation.
There are also some issues that teacher and learners need to pay attention to when working in a virtual environment. First, exchanging the classroom for a virtual environment may change the old group dynamics; secondly, a virtual learning environment is likely to lower the level of language anxiety, but this does not solve the problem for students of foreign languages.
2010年1月24日 星期日
Week Three's Reading
Chapter 7: Sample Web Projects
This chapter describes several projects which explain how teachers use the Internet in different contexts. There are ten examples in total, five from K-12 schools and five from universities. I’m going to explain it one by one.
1. Primary School Webfolios
This project was carried out by Rachel Arenstein, who teaches English at Arazim in Maalot, Isreal. Fifth- and sixth- students were asked to create portfolios and design their own web pages on webfolios in English during the computer laboratory time.
Topics and tasks for the portfolios corresponded to the specific elements of a portfolio recommended the national English Inspectorate of Israel.
The merit is that the project has tapped students’ multiple intelligences well, but the downside is that it takes a great deal of time for children to master the computer skills and carry out the tasks.
2. A Primary School E-Mail Cultural Exchange
This project was carried out by Teresa Almeida d’Eca, who teaches six-grade English in Portugal. D’ designed a whole-class cultural exchange project via e-mail as part of her curriculum. The project began in October and lasted until early January.
Students were asked to work in groups of five with some topic, including Christmas decorations, shopping, and the meaning of Christmas during class, with d’Eca’s assistance. After school, volunteers from each group took turns typing the letters on school’s computers, and D’ sent the e-mail from her home computer.
Students’ enthusiasm for English increased a lot because of this project. Their writing skills also improved a good deal.
3. A Middle School Web Publishing Project
A web publishing project in a seventh-grade English class based on a detective story was carried our by Markus Kneirum and Alexander Mokry, who teach English and social sciences in Germany.
Aim of this project is to give their students the opportunity to develop their writing skill for more natural and communicative purposes.
Students need to finish three writing assignment for the project, including a short summary of the book, a writing activity with students working in groups to develop ideas on a topic, and a personal home page that were include in the site.
This project imposed many new expectations on students, like independence, creativity, cooperation.
4. A Junior High Virtual Classroom
Jack Tseng, who teaches junior high in Taiwan, created a bilingual virtual classroom on the WWW called Jack’s English Classroom to assist his in-class teaching of a grammar-based curriculum.
Students can access the virtual classroom through their computer at home. They can post homework and discuss them on-line, and sometimes they discuss the on-line activities during the regular class time.
5. A High School E-Mail Exchange Project
A collaborative, task-based e-mail exchange project was developed by Roseanne Greenfield , who teaches English at a secondary school in Hong Kong.
Exchange between Greenfield’s students and a class of native English speakers from the U.S involved three elements: project-based learning, cooperative learning, and process writing.
In the e-mail exchange, student in this project worked on essays in two genres of academic writing, descriptive essays and imaginative essays. First, they exchange personal letters containing their own descriptive essays; second, they work in groups at each home school to propose topics for the imaginative essays; then, students employed peer-editing techniques by using a grading rubric developed by teachers.
The project helped students see English as a valuable tool for international communication rather than only as a subject required for the national examination.
6. An Internet Research Project in an Intensive English Program
7. A University-Level Content-Based Course
This content-based language course which was taught by Randall Davis in a university in Japan called Crossing Borders via the Internet. This course can help students to develop skills and knowledge about hands-on technical, language and intercultural communication via the Internet.
Students need to learn how to get information and materials from a variety of Internet sources. A research paper and home page project were also included in this project.
8. A University On-line Writing Course
John Steels’s on-line writing class is set up to maximize students’ opportunities to communicate in writing with each other while teaching them to access resources from the www. Students can get textbook, post homework, get teacher’s answers and other’s comments through the home page and e-mails.
9. A University-Level Problem-Based Learning Course
This course was established by Susan McGregor to help students develop their Internet and English skills while solving a practical problem related to their own life goals. This language courses focuses on many things, including planning projects, preparing curriculum vitae, developing written communication skills and oral communication skills and so on.
This course helps students develop language and technical skills as they work on a task important to their own future.
10. A University Environmental Project.
This chapter describes several projects which explain how teachers use the Internet in different contexts. There are ten examples in total, five from K-12 schools and five from universities. I’m going to explain it one by one.
1. Primary School Webfolios
This project was carried out by Rachel Arenstein, who teaches English at Arazim in Maalot, Isreal. Fifth- and sixth- students were asked to create portfolios and design their own web pages on webfolios in English during the computer laboratory time.
Topics and tasks for the portfolios corresponded to the specific elements of a portfolio recommended the national English Inspectorate of Israel.
The merit is that the project has tapped students’ multiple intelligences well, but the downside is that it takes a great deal of time for children to master the computer skills and carry out the tasks.
2. A Primary School E-Mail Cultural Exchange
This project was carried out by Teresa Almeida d’Eca, who teaches six-grade English in Portugal. D’ designed a whole-class cultural exchange project via e-mail as part of her curriculum. The project began in October and lasted until early January.
Students were asked to work in groups of five with some topic, including Christmas decorations, shopping, and the meaning of Christmas during class, with d’Eca’s assistance. After school, volunteers from each group took turns typing the letters on school’s computers, and D’ sent the e-mail from her home computer.
Students’ enthusiasm for English increased a lot because of this project. Their writing skills also improved a good deal.
3. A Middle School Web Publishing Project
A web publishing project in a seventh-grade English class based on a detective story was carried our by Markus Kneirum and Alexander Mokry, who teach English and social sciences in Germany.
Aim of this project is to give their students the opportunity to develop their writing skill for more natural and communicative purposes.
Students need to finish three writing assignment for the project, including a short summary of the book, a writing activity with students working in groups to develop ideas on a topic, and a personal home page that were include in the site.
This project imposed many new expectations on students, like independence, creativity, cooperation.
4. A Junior High Virtual Classroom
Jack Tseng, who teaches junior high in Taiwan, created a bilingual virtual classroom on the WWW called Jack’s English Classroom to assist his in-class teaching of a grammar-based curriculum.
Students can access the virtual classroom through their computer at home. They can post homework and discuss them on-line, and sometimes they discuss the on-line activities during the regular class time.
5. A High School E-Mail Exchange Project
A collaborative, task-based e-mail exchange project was developed by Roseanne Greenfield , who teaches English at a secondary school in Hong Kong.
Exchange between Greenfield’s students and a class of native English speakers from the U.S involved three elements: project-based learning, cooperative learning, and process writing.
In the e-mail exchange, student in this project worked on essays in two genres of academic writing, descriptive essays and imaginative essays. First, they exchange personal letters containing their own descriptive essays; second, they work in groups at each home school to propose topics for the imaginative essays; then, students employed peer-editing techniques by using a grading rubric developed by teachers.
The project helped students see English as a valuable tool for international communication rather than only as a subject required for the national examination.
6. An Internet Research Project in an Intensive English Program
7. A University-Level Content-Based Course
This content-based language course which was taught by Randall Davis in a university in Japan called Crossing Borders via the Internet. This course can help students to develop skills and knowledge about hands-on technical, language and intercultural communication via the Internet.
Students need to learn how to get information and materials from a variety of Internet sources. A research paper and home page project were also included in this project.
8. A University On-line Writing Course
John Steels’s on-line writing class is set up to maximize students’ opportunities to communicate in writing with each other while teaching them to access resources from the www. Students can get textbook, post homework, get teacher’s answers and other’s comments through the home page and e-mails.
9. A University-Level Problem-Based Learning Course
This course was established by Susan McGregor to help students develop their Internet and English skills while solving a practical problem related to their own life goals. This language courses focuses on many things, including planning projects, preparing curriculum vitae, developing written communication skills and oral communication skills and so on.
This course helps students develop language and technical skills as they work on a task important to their own future.
10. A University Environmental Project.
Helen's feedback about the presentation
After the presentation on Monday’s class, I find that the situation in Mainland China is quite different from the situation in Hong Kong.
Many teachers in Mainland, especially primary and secondary teachers, use less new technology in their classes. I think there are several reasons for this issue. Firstly, many schools are equipped with poor hardware facilities, teachers or students are not permitted to get access to enough technological tools or tools of high quality. This is a common phenomenon in Mainland China. Secondly, teachers don’t have enough knowledge about new technology or skills of using technological tools. This maybe because new technology in language teaching hasn’t been taken so important recently and teachers really lack such kind of training. Thirdly, PPT is usually the most common skill and the only skill that many teachers can use in their classes. Its effect is limited Students would lose freshness and feel boring when looking at it every day. Fourthly, Mainland English course is always strictly carried out according to the teaching syllable. Teachers always have corresponding teaching tasks of every class. They usually don’t have time to give specific training programs of language skills to their students. Using on-line programs in schools is often impossible because the condition of network doesn’t permit. Lastly, class number of students is also a problem, too. It’s quite common that most classed in Mainland have over 60 students. It’s really hard for teachers to control such big classes especially when students get excited.
Comparing the presentations between full-time and part-time students, full-time students usually talked about learning experience of new technology, and a few of them who have teaching experience provided some information about new technology in language teaching in Mainland, but really limited information. Oppositely, Hong Kong teachers often had much to say. They shared a lot of useful and interesting experience and ideas about using new technology in language teaching. I think they are quite familiar and skilled to use different kinds of technologies and tools in their teaching. For me, I am most interested in their on-line English programs, and I think using on-line programs is really an effective way in language teaching.
Many teachers in Mainland, especially primary and secondary teachers, use less new technology in their classes. I think there are several reasons for this issue. Firstly, many schools are equipped with poor hardware facilities, teachers or students are not permitted to get access to enough technological tools or tools of high quality. This is a common phenomenon in Mainland China. Secondly, teachers don’t have enough knowledge about new technology or skills of using technological tools. This maybe because new technology in language teaching hasn’t been taken so important recently and teachers really lack such kind of training. Thirdly, PPT is usually the most common skill and the only skill that many teachers can use in their classes. Its effect is limited Students would lose freshness and feel boring when looking at it every day. Fourthly, Mainland English course is always strictly carried out according to the teaching syllable. Teachers always have corresponding teaching tasks of every class. They usually don’t have time to give specific training programs of language skills to their students. Using on-line programs in schools is often impossible because the condition of network doesn’t permit. Lastly, class number of students is also a problem, too. It’s quite common that most classed in Mainland have over 60 students. It’s really hard for teachers to control such big classes especially when students get excited.
Comparing the presentations between full-time and part-time students, full-time students usually talked about learning experience of new technology, and a few of them who have teaching experience provided some information about new technology in language teaching in Mainland, but really limited information. Oppositely, Hong Kong teachers often had much to say. They shared a lot of useful and interesting experience and ideas about using new technology in language teaching. I think they are quite familiar and skilled to use different kinds of technologies and tools in their teaching. For me, I am most interested in their on-line English programs, and I think using on-line programs is really an effective way in language teaching.
2010年1月17日 星期日
First Post
Blog is really a good place for communication and sharing experience, especially for people who are not good at talking, just like me. You can know more about me through browsing my blog, and I'm also quite happy to share opinions with all of you.
Here is my first blog, and I'm going to introduce a bit about myself and share something that I think useful with you.
As an English learner, I usually use PPT and WORD to do assignments and papers. I like surfing the Internet and doing some English listening and watching. Fantastic literature, horror fictions and movies are my favorite. There are also some websites that I usually use to get materials and learn English, and I want to share some of them with you:
http://som.twbbs.org/klee/notebook
http://www.eslpartyland.com/default.htm
http://www.eslcafe.com/
http://www.englishbaby.com/
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com
http://www.eztalk.to/
http://engsite.ncu.edu.tw/database
http://www.nationalgeographic.com
http://chinadaily.com.cn
I will be very glad if these websites would interest you and give you some help in you teaching or learning.
Talking about this course, I hope to learn more concepts about new technology in English learning and the teaching implication it brings to us. I want to know how to choose and use the right technology in specific learning contexts and apply it to my future language teaching.
At last, welcome to Helen's small house and give comments. I'll be really appreciate.
Here is my first blog, and I'm going to introduce a bit about myself and share something that I think useful with you.
As an English learner, I usually use PPT and WORD to do assignments and papers. I like surfing the Internet and doing some English listening and watching. Fantastic literature, horror fictions and movies are my favorite. There are also some websites that I usually use to get materials and learn English, and I want to share some of them with you:
http://som.twbbs.org/klee/notebook
http://www.eslpartyland.com/default.htm
http://www.eslcafe.com/
http://www.englishbaby.com/
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com
http://www.eztalk.to/
http://engsite.ncu.edu.tw/database
http://www.nationalgeographic.com
http://chinadaily.com.cn
I will be very glad if these websites would interest you and give you some help in you teaching or learning.
Talking about this course, I hope to learn more concepts about new technology in English learning and the teaching implication it brings to us. I want to know how to choose and use the right technology in specific learning contexts and apply it to my future language teaching.
At last, welcome to Helen's small house and give comments. I'll be really appreciate.
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