“A target-language-only approach may be distressing for lower level students” (Von Woorde, 2003:7) My stance on the issue of L1 use in the L2 language learning classroom Until now, I have been very ‘anti’ the use of student’s L1, and have never used Chinese in my class. I believe this stems from my CELTA training,…
This week we are thinking about to what extent teachers influence our students’ degree of motivation and their self-esteem. The readings revolved around these core texts: Language Learner Behaviour in a Virtual Environment (Roed, 2003), Students’ perspectives on Foreign Language Anxiety (Van Woorde, 2003) and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (Horowitz K. et al, 1986). Some of…
My experience as a Distance Learner In his book On The Internet, Dreyfus (2001) puts forward the arguement that the physical presence of a teacher is a crucial part of the learning process. Drawing on my own experience, then, as an individual, I would say I am very interested in the power of social interactions…
In an article entitled At The Heart of It: The Concept of Presence, Lombard and Ditton conceptualise the idea of presence or the “the perceptual illusion of nonmediation”. Regarding media (TV, computer, radio etc.), presence relates to how it naturally fits into our lives, “An enhanced sense of presence is central to the use, and…
“Due to the ubiquity of English as a global means of communication, [English mother-tongue speakers]may, in an anglophone country, never hear the sounds of the language they are learning outside the walls of the classroom. Compare this to the average second-language learner of English in almost any country in the world. As well as their…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC0G7TRGbd0&w=560&h=315 Just when you thought it was safe to to use the terms ‘Education’ and ‘Learning’ for the things that kids do at school…Bibblio CEO Mads Holmen flips these concepts on their heads. About Bibblio Bibblio is a social platform for discovering and collecting the web’s best learning materials. According to Holmen, Bibblio “has two…
Coherence and Cohesion How does coherence differ from cohesion? Well, IELTS writing band descriptors define coherence as a ‘logical sequence of ideas, appropriate use of paragraphing, effective use of cohesive devices and referencing, clear overall progression of argument’. According to the presenter, and quoting Thornbury (2006), “A text is cohesive if it’s elements are linked…
ACTION RESEARCH Teaching English as a Foreign Language Background – In order to make practical application of knowledge gained on my Masters course and to better understand the value of technology use in the TEFL classroom, I plan to review the use of the IWB and Activ Table at my school. Plan – Following the…
ACTION RESEARCH This webinar comes at a perfect time. As part of my professional development, I have been considering launching a project at my school to better understand the general use of technology in the classroom. I believe that by gearing up for digital the school (managment), teachers and students alike will benefit. The projection…
This week’s readings covered both VLEs and PLEs. This lead us to draw our own visual representations of our PLEs. Looking back on that exercise, here are some of my thoughts. My PLE is a collection of “something” that transcends physical and virtual environments Parts of my PLE collection are stored physically, such as books…