Random Quotes

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."


(Helen Keller, US blind & deaf educator , 1880 - 1968)

Task 3:Lesson Plan

LEVEL: Form 2 (Intermediate)

TIME: 40 minutes

TOPIC: Are you a team player?

THEME: People

LANGUAGE CONTENT: Grammar - Simple Future Tense

EDUCATIONAL EMPHASES: ICT Skills, Learning How to Learn Skills, Multiple Intelligences

PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE:
1. Students have learnt how to obtain information from the World Wide Web.
2. Students have learnt how to write using the simple future tense.

AIMS:
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1. Apply their informational skills by obtaining relevant information from the World Wide Web and transferring it into the worksheet given.

2. Apply their writing skills by constructing a short paragraph in the simple future tense based on the information they have attained.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:
1. One computer for 2 students.
2. Internet connection
3. Web Browser

PREPARATION:
1. Locate the ‘Jengga’ game from the Onlinegame.net website
2. Play the game to make sure it is suitable for the students and matches the topic of the lesson
3. Prepare a worksheet based on the information available in the website


WEBSITE:
http://www.onlinegames.net/games/749/jengga.html


PROCEDURE:

Activity 1 (4 Minutes)

1. Teacher recalls the previous lessons on obtaining information from the Internet and also on the simple future tense.

Activity 2 (10 Minutes)

1. Teacher asks students to be in pairs. Each pair will work on a single computer.
2. Teacher instructs students to surf this specified website: http://www.onlinegames.net/games/749/jengga.html
3. Teacher asks students to play the game.
4. Teacher offers assistance to students if necessary.

Activity 3 (12 Minutes)

1. Teacher asks the students’ feeling while playing the game in pair.
2. Teacher connects the students’ feeling with the topic “Are you a team player”
3. Teacher discuss on the importance of being a team player and teamwork.
4. Teacher distributes worksheets to students.
5. Teacher instructs students to fill the worksheets
6. Teacher offers assistance to students if necessary

Activity 4 (9 Minutes)

1. Teacher selects a few students to present their answer to the class.
2. Teacher discusses students’ answer and relates their answer to the traits of a team player.

Conclusion (5 Minutes)

1. Teacher asks a student to recap the day’s lesson.
2. Teacher inculcates moral values on teamwork to the students.

Follow-up Activity:

Teacher asks the students to write a short paragraph on what will they do in a group to make sure the group task’s mission is achieved? Their answers must be in simple future tense. Their end-product must be submitted to teacher via e-mail. (See appendix for example)

The Game

Appendix

Worksheet

Frog

Frogs vs. Toads: Frogs and toads are amphibians, meaning they start off as water-breathing juveniles and develop into air-breating adults. No clear distinction exists between frogs and toads, although the skin of a toad tends to be rougher and drier than frogs. Toads also tend to be covered with warts.

Deadly Tongue: Both critters are characterized by their short, ridged body and wide head. Large protruding eyes and a noticeable eardrum on each side of the head are always on the alert for the next meal. A large mouth houses a long, sticky tongue that quickly flicks out to capture live prey. Without teeth and unable to chew, a frog's meals are swallowed whole.

Vulnerability and Defense: Frogs and toads are very vulnerable as they have no defenses against predators. Their best bet to escape being eaten is their ability to jump quickly or their talent for blending into their surroundings. Some species have evolved glands that secrete a poisonous and distasteful substance on their skin. These animals are usually brightly colored to give warning to a predator ready for a meal that it best look elsewhere.

TASK 2: Article Review

Title - Using Blogs in the Foreign Language Classroom: Encouraging Learner Independence

Journal - The JALT CALL Journal, 2005, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 12-24

Author - Kathleen Pinkman,
English Language Instructor,
Kwansei Gakuin University,
Japan.

Source - http://www.jaltcall.org/journal/articles/1_1_Pinkman.pdf

The aims of the research – The project was an out-of-class project to motivate the students to practice language skills and communicate with others authentically. In this research, blogs are used as a medium to improve their language and communication skills. Thus, the aimed of this research was to determine the usefulness of incorporating blogs in the foreign language classroom as well as to assist foreign language professionals in developing learner independence by using blogs. It was also to provide students with forum in order to present critical thinking and express opinion by conveying their thoughts, reflecting on lesson learnt in class and to question one another.

The methodology – The project was initiated as a small scale action project. There were only 15 students involved in the project. The project was divided into two parts; Pre-Project and Post-Project. For the pre-project, the students were given questionnaires to be completed concerning their attitudes towards technology and blogs prior to implementing the project. The responses from this questionnaire were used to organize the project which took place for 16 weeks. The students were asked to write blog entries based on lesson learnt in class and they are asked to communicate with other classmates. At the end of the semester, for Post-Project, the students were asked to volunteer to be interviewed by the instructor to discuss the project.

The subject/sample – There were only 15 students involved in the project. It was implemented in a Pre-Advanced English class at Kwansei Gakuin University (KGU) in Japan. The students were all the holder of TOEFL score of 475 and they were from the departments of Humanities, So­ciology, Economics, Business, and Law, and were studying in their second, third, and fourth years (of four-year programs) at KGU.

The findings of the research – All of the learners interviewed responded that they were really enjoyed the project. Most of them learnt a lot through blogging. They benefited interacting with others as well as with the instructors. They comments given did motivate them in improving their skills. Some of them were also claimed that they improved in their writing skills. Some of them even intended to continue blogging after the project. However, there were a few disadvantages commented by some of them which they said it was quite time consuming to write the entries as they had quite difficult time to come out with sentences.

Reaction – The research is capturing my interest as I personally think that it is close to my heart as nowadays, for me blogging has become a part of many people’s life including the young people as well. I personally think that the research was well conducted. The researcher did have a good plan in conducting the project where she divided the project into two stages. This helped in determined the prospect result of this research. Other than that, the sample were also taught on how to blog before they actually get involved in blogging. However, I believe if there are more respondents, the research will have better and reliable results. I also agree that there should be more research to determine the effectiveness of using blog in improving the language. And, it will be great if there is a follow up session with the students who decided to continue blogging after the project ended. This can investigate their learning development and improvement.

As for Malaysian context, I believe that it is a good method to improve students’ language by using blog. It is because the numbers of blogs is increasing and the range of topics they touch on seems to have become infinite. MALAYSIA has about 500,000 active bloggers, ranking the country among the highest in the world after Indonesia and the European Union (The Star, 2008). Hence, I personally think that it is good to expose them to blog as it is not something unusual to do as most of Malaysian students are familiar with daily journal writing. What makes it different just the use of technology. By having blog, students are able to express their thoughts and feeling to be published. It is also a good way for language teachers to develop students’ interest as they are largely writing based, with a great capability to support images, audio and video. By doing so, they are able to interact and comment with one another not only between schoolmates but worldwide. They are also able to learn from others as they read others’ blogs. As time goes by, as the students learn independently, their awareness will develop and their skills will be improved.

For me, teaching and learning process will be more interesting when we incorporate technology. It will have bigger and greater impact rather than chalk and talk as we are in the age of technology span rapidly every second. All in all, by manipulating blog, it will not only make the learning process interesting for the students but it will provide easy access for the teacher to monitor the students’ progress.

ESL Website Evaluation

http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~adelegc/index.html


1. What does the application attempt to ‘teach’?

The website attempts to teach grammar, listening and vocabulary. It consists of only two categories which are for beginner learners and for intermediate learners. The exercises are more on drilling and practices. It may help students who want to improvise their knowledge on grammar. For beginner, the application provides three categories for user to explore; Grammar, Listening and Vocabulary. There are lots of topics under each category that can be chosen by users in order to learn by using this application. For Grammar, some of the topics are Adjectives, Plurals, Articles etc. Meanwhile, for Listening practices, users are able to choose topics such as Personal Information, My Day, A Letter to a Friend etc. As for Vocabulary, on the other hand, users are able to choose Colors, Numbers, Time etc. On the other hand, for intermediate users, there are only two categories which are Grammar and Listening. Some topics for grammar are Past Continuous Tense, Present Prefect etc. As for Listening, the users can choose the topics such as My Husband etc.

2. What sorts of things is the application user expected to do with regards to learning the content?

The website is easy and simple to explore. The user needs to click the linked items in order to do the exercises. There are lots of interesting topics under each category that can be chosen. Once the user has chosen the category, they will give questions to be answered. The users are able to check their answer and to re-do the same questions. Once the users completed the questions, immediate feedback will be popped out. In short, the users will have to do the questions in order to learn the content.

3. What sorts of computer skills is the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use the application?

In order to do the exercises offered, the users are recommended to have an access to the internet as to browse the website. Once the users get access the website, what they have to do is just to click whatever exercises they like to do. They are required to have basic skills such as know how to type etc. It is really friendly user.

4. While you are “playing”/”accessing”/”assessing” the application, does it remind you of anything you do in the a classroom, or with a teacher, or with a fellow classmate, or in self study?

Yes absolutely, it reminds me those days when I was still schooling. I used to have computer lessons in my primary school where the teacher will brings us to the computer lab in order to access the internet. We are taught on how to do some exercises online and also by using some courseware that the school had at that time. The students including me were very excited as the lesson conducted was not like the usual chalk and talk ones. Rather than doing the usual grammar drills, by having these kind of learning will be able to engage the students to have interest in grammar. I have also used to have these kinds of drills when I did my pre-TESL few years back. We had to do some drills on listening just the way the application offers to the users. Other than that, it is also reminds me to the class that I have with P.M Dr. Izaham recently. The drills offered reminds me on how to create the task. I have just learnt on how to produce the same type of exercises by using Hot Potatoes. It is simple and interesting to do and to apply it as a teacher will make my lesson more interesting.

5. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the application?

"For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them”
Aristotle

There are lots of theories in language learning that I have learnt throughout my study. In term of this application, I believe that Experiential Learning Theory by Carl Rogers suits the objectivity of the application. As the application focus on grammar drilling, it is well said that by doing all the exercises, the users are expected to have good understanding in it. As it focuses on individual learning, once the user make mistake in doing the exercise, they will be able to learn from their mistake. And, hopefully they will not going to do the same mistakes. Other than that, Audiolingual Method may also be applicable. This is because the application offers listening drills as well. The Audiolingual Method drills user in the use of grammatical patterns (Brown, 2000). They learn on how correct sentences are structured based on listening and they may learn on the pronunciation too. The users are able to repeat the sentences in their attempt to answer the questions. By doing this, the users will repeat and mimic the correct words with the correct pronunciation. Moreover, as the application need computer in order to learn, I believe that Behavioristic Computer Assisted Language Learning can be applied. According to Taylor, 1980, drill and practice courseware is based on the on computer as tutor. It means that computer server as a vehicle for delivering instructional materials to students. According to this method, a computer is the ideal tools for carrying out repeated drills since computer does not get bore with presenting the same materials. Thus, the user is able to repeat the exercise to deepen their understanding. By using this tool, the user may proceed to the next level or activity based on their own pace and time.

6. How well is the constructivist theory of learning applied to the chosen website?

Constructivist Theory refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves which each learner individually and socially constructs meaning as he or she learns (Hein, G.E., 1991). It can be understood that Constructivism emphasizes individuals actively construct knowledge and understanding on their own (Santrock, 2006). I believe that the theory does apply in this application as it can be clearly seen that users learn and make their learning independently. They learn the rules by doing it as they explore more about the application. According to Social Constructivism strongly influenced by Vygotsky's (1978) work, suggests that knowledge is first constructed in a social context and is then appropriated by individuals (Bruning et al., 1999; M. Cole, 1991; Eggan & Kauchak, 2004). According to the theory, individuals make meanings through the interaction with each other and with the environment they live. However, this application does not offer any two communication or any mediums to share their views, knowledge etc. This application is only drills and practices. Nevertheless, as they explore more, they will eventually gain knowledge form it. The mistakes they made will help them in learning as making mistakes is a process of learning.

7. In 1980’s and early 1990’s, there was a major debate on whether a computer was a “master” of or “slave” to the learning process (Higgins and Johns, 1984). In relation to your evaluation- was the computer a replacement for teachers, or merely an obedient servant to students?

In my opinion, computer is neither a replacement for teachers nor merely an obedient servant to students. Computers are created to help people as it simplifies work. But that does not mean that it can replace the teacher. Learning through computer will not ever be the same with learning through teachers. As human, we are gifted with brain and emotion to be compared to computers. These two features will have enormous impact on students. As teachers, they can understand the need of the students and they are able to motivate the students to learn. As compare to computer, even it can provide with lots of knowledge and immediate feedback, it would not be the same. It will not be able to touch the students’ heart. As the technology develops rapidly, computer plays as an important gadget mostly for everyone. However, it is over generalized if we say that computer is merely an obedient servant. As I mentioned earlier, computer simplifies our work. We can do lots of things by using computer and with the help of internet; we can do lots of stuff in a click away. In term of teaching and learning, by having computers it can provide the learning atmosphere which is more interesting and thus can attract students’ attention. Matter of fact, we have to agree that students nowadays are engaged with technology. Thus, if the lesson is not cooperating any of it and only uses chalk and talk, the students might not have interest in learning. All in all, computers are not master of learning or merely an obedient servant. It is just that they complement each other in getting the best lesson for the students to have interest in.

8. Would you like to use the application yourself in your future work?

Absolutely, I would like to use the application in the future. The application is the simplest way to use and to apply to the students. It is also not require high technology skills as what it takes only simple and basic knowledge on computer. It is also provides arrays of selection on topics that will helps the users learn and understand the context better. Moreover, if I want to teach listening skills, the application offers the faster way in retrieving audio materials. We do not have to wait too long in order to listen to the listening exercises. And, most important thing is by having this application in class will help in the time consuming as it is less time consuming for both teachers and students. The content is well prepared and the immediate feedbacks for the answer will enhance the students’ motivation in the learning process.


9. Suggestions/Recommendations

I would like to use the application in future but there are some suggestions/recommendations that I would like to make. I think the content is well prepared; but, it is only focus on beginner and intermediate users only. What about the advanced users?? If the application is also available for advanced users, it will be more convenient for the teachers to apply or to use the application in class. Other than that, like people says, first impression is important. However, the application does not have any images that will intrigue the users’ interest in learning. It will be lots of fun if there are pictures and more colours used throughout the activities.

REFERENCES

1. Brown, H.D (2001). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. New York: Longman.

Of CALL Evaluation and Hot Potatoes

Good Day.


1. What do you think evaluation of CALL courseware, websites, materiasl etc important?

It is part and parcel of life to evaluate, critics and comment things. We tend to seek for perfection though we know that nothing is perfect other than Him. The same goes to teaching and learning process. As an educator, we have to provide the students with proper knowlegde and latest information as well as latest technology. As we know, technology grows everyday. Thus, it is important to evaluate CALL courseware, websites and materials in fulfilling the students' hunger for learning. By doing this, we are able to determine whether the courseware/website/material is suitable or outdated for the students to use in their learning process.

2. How do you think Hot Potatoes JCloze may help your students learn English?

In the world where information is just a click away, I think it is very important to inculcate technology in learning. Hot Potatoes JCloze is one of the technology that can be utilized in helping the students to learn and get involve in learning English. It can also improve the teaching strategies and boost up the students' interest in doing English exercises. The students will get excite as they are able to get immediate feedbacks. With good colors combination, praising, clues and marks given, drilling activity will be interesting as they can explore the world of learning by themselves. The negative and positive reinforcement given will somehow motivates the students to acquire the knowlegde. Other than that, it is handy to both the students and the teacher. They are not required to bring textbook, exercise book etc. What they have to do is just got to the computer lab and start doing the exercises. Thus, the teachers will have to only facilitate the students as they are exploring the teaching and learning on their own. This can be one of the fundamental ways in producing future generations who are capable to learn not via the spoon feed processes only.

learning is totally fun

salam peeps..

today I learnt about the introduction of CALL..and, alhamdulillah, my friend and i were not late coming to class or else we might not be able to learn..basically, we learnt quite a lot..we were also taught on how to prepare lesson by using technology.. the activities are beneficial for the students as well as the teachers. I think, the use of technology is one of good ways to promote learning is totally fun. wee~

at the end of the class, we were asked to apply the things that we have learnt by preparing a task sheet for the students. the task sheet should be done by using computer and the students could not do it with using paper and pen. that means, the task sheet should incorperate computer and can only be answer by using the computer as well.

so, this is the task sheet that I managed to prepare.