Improving adult English language learners’ speaking skill

In communication, speaking is most used and it is the easiest way to express someone’s ideas. Speaking links the structures, vocabulary, pronunciation…. .But in our daylife, it is a bit different because of the learners’ purpose, such as Vietnamese pupils; They learn foreign languages at school for their tests but not for communication. The standard of the learners is marked by their fluency.

            Out side the class, they use speaking most, but inside they use both speaking and listening, even writing.

            Many researchers give different definition for speaking. It is the combination of grammar structures, vocabulary,intonation, traditions… in such situations, in which someone uses to express his ideas. Speaking is quite different from written language. Sometimes, speaking is helped by the body language, gestures.

            When teaching, the teacher helps the students to find out the right ways to use the structures ,vocabulary, pronunciation, intonation correctly in most suitable ways, selecting words.

Technology and change in English language teaching

Moon- June 6th, 2008.

          Nowadays, English is widely used all over the world in different fields. The growth of English has a close relationship with the growth of computers. As Graddol’s research, he pointed out that in the year of 2010, English learning could  peak and the growth of computers could be the same because 80% of information stored on the internet is in English.

          One of the most emerging problems in influence of English learning and computer using is the development of vocabulary or the change of language itself. Many new words are created when people use computers such as: Email, chat, bookmark, infanview ………… In the world of messengers, the language changes a lot: Single letters can replace words, single digits can replace words, a single letter or digit can replace a syllable, other text language ………… People do not pay attention to grammar and spelling mistakes. Internet slang has been developed through three main ways: texting messages, sending instant messages and registering as members of an Internet Forum. Internet slang has appeared to meet the demand for conveying emotion, attitude and even personality of Internet users.

          Eg 1:    Please come see me in my office.

          Eg 2 :  Plz come c  me in my office.  ………..

          As for all teachers, computers are helpful for them to check information, look for materials and save them, prepare the lessons, use the websites as a place for the students to express their ideas. There are many web sites which are used for the students to practice 4 skills. The teacher can record the lesson and the computer can repeat that lesson again and again with out being “tired or bored”. A computer with a internet line is a great book for all teachers.

 

Language Learners & Computer Games

                                                                         

                                                                      Moon- May 29th, 2008.

          Nowadays, games on computers are widly played. People, esecially students spend hours staying in front of the computers playing games.That is  why language teachers use games in teaching English.

             When people learn to play video games, they are learning a new literacy (Gee, 2005, p. 13).

          Which games are chosen  for teaching? They must be educational games. Many maths teachers use games for teaching maths. What can a language teacher do with the game? Differrent kinds of exercise are created for language learning:

- Gap-Filling. - Walkthroughs. - Relay Reading. - Jigsaw Reading.

- Game Dictogloss. - Listening/Questioning. - True/ False. ………..

           Why teaching language through games is good . It is because games interest the learners much. They learn but do not know that they are learning, they only think that they are playing so that they can remember much and  do not forget for a long time. Games help the teachers create different types of exercises. Learning by games costs a lot of money to pay for the dishes but the problem is solved when there are many web sites which have  educational games but we do not have to pay much. We can see the web sites       http://www.slideshare.net/bcgstanley/wiaoc2007-games-may-2007

http://www.samorost.net/samorost2/]

http://www.gotmail.jp/apps/bar_e.html ………….

Games make you much more interested in learning.

The Use of Computers in Teaching Listening Skills

Listening is regarded as one of the most important componant in teaching and learning English because they thinl that people get information through listening first. They express their ideas through speaking and writing. Reading comes later than others.

          Listening is divided into two approaches when teaching:

- The natural aproach: focus on comprehensible input and the optimum affective state.

- Total physical respond: Focus on psychomotor anf lowing of the affective filter.

          Computer is widely used in teaching and learning listening. The teacher can record the text and use for along time, it can be repeated so that the teachers do not have to talk again and again. Many teachers are not native speakers but they can use the records of the original language for the students to practise. The learners can learn the lessons when they are far from the teacher (as our class). One of the easy ways of learning listening is to listen to songs, audio texts in computers, liten to the news…. When speaking with a computer, the learners are not afraid, they loose their shyness. The materials are designed for different levels. Coputer can provide live actions for the learners, games which help the learners in their studies.

          When teaching , the teachers can use the bottom up or top down processing,  but they have to support the purposes of teaching. When learning English in computers, we can find the thing you want in:

     - Learning Oral English Online

  - Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab – Listening Quizzes for Academic Purposes

  - BBC Learning English: Watch and Listen – Welcome to London

  - Adult Learning Activities - California Distance Learning Project

            I hope, computers can help you much!

Blogging in the classroom

Nowadays, when the high technology develops much, computers are widely used as a most covenient way for communication. Teachers and students use more and more computers in their teaching and studying. One of the way is blogging. Blogs (Web blog) is a tool in which people can save thing they want to keep. Blogs not only can relate the students and teachers’ understanding where the teachers can check all the students’ information very easy but also everyone around the world.

When establishing a blog, we learn much from it. We have to think of the ideas to add in the blog. This is the time when the editor thinks of the selective language she uses in her articals  she posts in her web site to attract everybody. She has to think of the topics for people to write comments and she herself  finds out the ways to reply to that comments. People can share the materials with many other ones. In oder to make the blog more attractive, they learn how to use the cameras, recorders, video recorders……… and the way to post them on the web sites. It means that they have to learn many different things at the same time. When she posts an audio, she has to make her voice correct and perfect. Listening to the audio, students practise listening and the editor practise speaking. 

However, using blogs at school is not an easy work. First, not all the teachers can become the administrators so that they can not check the students. 

The second thing is that students do not have enough computers at home, and they have to pay much for internet- line.