Podcasting for EFL Learners

Podcasting for EFL Learners

            Podcasting is an effective and innovative way to teach students specific content and skills through audio or video. This week I discovered a podcast that is catered to English language learners: ESL Pod. It was a pleasant find and I could search through the hundreds of episodes on varying topics that my students could benefit from.  Furthermore, ESL Pod has a “learning guide” feature where lessons are created based on the audio podcasts; although, this is only available through a monthly subscription fee. Nonetheless, the podcast is free, the target vocabulary terms are bolded and teachers can create lesson on their own based on the audios and transcripts, which are available to anyone on their website. ESL Pod is also available on iTunes.

            One podcast I came across was entitled, Parts of a Hospital and I found that it would be a great and relevant topic for my oral skills course, since it consists of all pre-medical and pre-health sciences students. If I were to create a lesson or activity using this podcast, I would first begin the session introducing the target language (i.e. vocabulary terms). The target vocabulary terms in this podcast are: emergency room, trauma unit, heart condition, cardiology, ICU, pregnant, obstetrics, gynecology, neonatal, neurology, oncology, burn unit, look her up, admitted, go out of my mind, and bedpan. I would have images on a slideshow to first elicit the meanings from students and then define words they may not know. Afterwards, my students would go to the CALL (computer-assisted language lab) center and I would have them listen to the entire podcast at their computers individually. Students will then complete a gap-fill worksheet testing their knowledge of all 16 terms. This would be a two-day lesson, so on the next day, I would group students and have them create a short skit, role-playing a hospital scenario in which they would have to use at least 8 of the target vocabulary terms. I look forward to utilizing this new resource and hope to develop my own podcasts in the near future.

Performance Indicators My Students Could Demonstrate from this Podcast:

Performance Indicator- ESL.C.9-12.1.1.7: Students present information clearly in a variety of oral and written forms for different audiences and purposes related to all academic content areas.

Performance Indicator-ESL.C.9-12.1.1.12: Students convey information and ideas through spoken and written language, using conventions and features of American English appropriate to audience and purpose.

Performance Indicator-ESL.C.9-12.4.1.9: Students use appropriate vocabulary, expressions, language, routines, and interaction styles for various audiences and formal and informal social or school situations, noticing how intention is communicated in different ways through language in various contexts.

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Comic Strips for Language Learning

Comic Strips for Language Learning

           

            Comics in academia—we’ve come a long way in defining what is considered ‘educational.’ With 21^st century learning, students can engage in activities which were once viewed as leisure, but can now be incorporated in academics. Today I made my first digital comic strip using an online tool called Strip Generator. There are several other tools to create comic strips, dialogues and stories, such as Dvolver and one I personal like Storybird, however, Strip Generator is an easy start for beginners.

            The comic strip I made is entitled “At the Doctor’s Office.” This semester, I’m not teaching Medical English, but this comic strip could be used to introduce new vocabulary words (by teachers) or show the proper use of new words in context (by students). In this comic strip, the target vocabulary words are: symptoms, temperature, blood pressure, fever, prescription, medication, and follow-up.  

Performance Indicators My Students Could Demonstrate by Creating Their Own Comic Strips:

Performance Indicator- ESL.C.9-12.1.1.7: Students present information clearly in a variety of oral and written forms for different audiences and purposes related to all academic content areas.

Performance Indicator-ESL.C.9-12.1.1.12: Students convey information and ideas through spoken and written language, using conventions and features of American English appropriate to audience and purpose.

Performance Indicator-ESL.C.9-12.4.1.9: Students use appropriate vocabulary, expressions, language, routines, and interaction styles for various audiences and formal and informal social or school situations, noticing how intention is communicated in different ways through language in various contexts.

How Will I Assess My Students?

            Depending on what the purpose of the assignment is, I would assess my students accordingly. For example, if my writing students were making a comic strip to create a narrative, then I would assess whether they follow the structure of narrative writing that I have taught them, using time-order signals, and whether or not there is unity in the storyline. On the other hand, if my oral skills (or any) students were using this tool to create a comic in order to use their new vocabulary in context, I would assess whether or not each vocabulary term is used accurately and if the dialogues are meaningful.

The Bottom Line

For a quick, simple, and easy storyboard project, I’d say Strip Generator is the tool to use. However, for more elaborated projects, Storybird is a better tool.

To Flip or Not to Flip? That is the Question...

To Flip or Not to Flip? That is the Question...

A few weeks ago, I was expanding my professional networks and posted that I joined the Flipped Learning Network, so this makes this post all the more relevant. In the article Three Reasons to Flip Your Classroom, Marshall discusses the benefits of flipping the language classroom. In a flipped classroom, “Direct instruction takes place out of class while practice and application take place in class, (Bergmann & Sams, 2012).” This relatively new approach to learning and instruction has benefits, but requires adequate preparation and may have some caveats. What I love about this method of teaching, is that it changes the traditional classroom setting and allows students to engage in more collaborative activities with feedback given to them by the teacher during class time. Though in a flipped classroom, it’s essential that the instructional videos (or text) students are learning from at home are on their levels, as learners do not have the option of asking for clarification on confusing matters at home. Nonetheless, with the at-home learning, students are able to study at their own individual pace until they comprehend the material, unlike the limited 45-minute period some of us educators may only have.  The flipped method gives students more responsibility and compels them to come to the classroom prepared for discussions, activities, and collaboration.

Before, reading the article Flipping Your EL Classroom: A Primer by John Graney, I was thinking to myself whether or not I can use the flip method to teach or introduce a grammar concept for my English 101 writing students who are ESL/EFL learners. When teaching grammar, I tend to use an inductive approach, which is more student-centered, however I never tried using the flipped classroom method in teaching a grammar point. When I read the above mentioned article, I was pleased to see that the first example of a lesson Graney discusses is a grammar lesson on subject-verb agreement. Students would watch a video on the topic (or study from a textbook, website, slideshow, etc.), come to class prepared to work individually, in pairs or groups, and get assessed and given feedback by their teachers. This lesson layout seems very doable and effective and I intend to try it out with my learners for their next grammar lesson on simple past and past continuous verbs.  All in all, I encourage language teachers to experiment with this approach with their students. Perhaps the effect of such a shift may change the language abilities of our learners.

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Connected Knowledge

         

Connected Knowledge 

 A learner is like the New York City subway system. The train system in NYC is one of the largest in the country and in order to service commuters well, it must make connections and transits to allow people to reach their destinations. Through these purposeful interactions and crossways of the train lines, the subway system is able to function efficiently on a daily basis. Similarly, learners of today must connect with others and cross different paths in their quest in learning and gaining knowledge.

            In George Siemen’s article (2005) on Connectivism entitled Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, this idea and perspective of learners having to connect with one another are expressed. He states, “We can no longer personally experience and acquire learning that we need to act. We derive our competence from forming connections” (Siemen, 2005). This is a profound statement. As explained in the article, considering we must have different forms of knowledge in order to keep up with its exponentially growth in our digital and technological age, learning from other people’s experiences is imperative. This could only be done through establishing and developing networks and connections to learn from one another. In Connectivism, learning (i.e. “actionable knowledge”) can happen through external means, making “the connections that enable us to learn more…more important than our current state of knowing” (Sieman, 2005).   

In the video The Changing Nature of Knowledge, Sieman further elaborates on the notion that knowledge is not only within someone’s mind as viewed in traditional learning theories (i.e. behaviorialism, cognitivism, and constructivism), but that knowledge is accessible and sought from others. Moreover, he addresses the view that knowledge is constantly evolving and because of this, people are now relying on the connections formed with one another. Sieman states, “The network becomes the learning, the network that learners create.” This network of gaining knowledge externally is what is essential because of the fact that knowledge is constantly changing. What is relevant now, may become irrelevant and obsolete as Sieman mentions. Through connections, learners can stay up to date in their continual pursuit of knowledge.  

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