Thursday, October 28, 2010
i got a bear!!
next couple of weeks are the weeks for final exams..a.k.a. stressful weeks a.k.a. soon-to-be-crazy weeks..have to mark tonnes of essay.michilgot ga'tae..jebal, dowajwo~~~~
nway..to my beloved form 5 children*heheh* thanx so muchh for the pooh!! love u guys -- afiq,khalid,adel,syahira,ainun,huda,hajar,aishah,zaki,absyar,jawad,fakhrul,akid n shasha..all da best for ur SPM n for ur future!!!
Friday, March 19, 2010
WWW LESSON PLAN
TIME: 70 minutes
AIMS: By the end of the lesson, Ss should be able to practice speaking and writing skills by using sequence connectors.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:
- a computer for 3 - 4 Ss per group
- internet connection
- web browser
- locate the suitable website: http://www.andyrunton.com/
- prepare worksheets
Set Induction (10 minutes)
- T asks about the Ss' holiday.
- T calls a S to explain where he/she went and what he/she did at the place.
- T writes down the sentences made by the S.
- T highlights certain words (sequence connectors).
- T explains to the class about the topic of the day.
Task 1 (20 minutes)
- T explains and gives notes and examples regarding sequence connectors.
- T distributes worksheet 1 to Ss.
- T asks Ss to finish the Worksheet 1 in 10 minutes.
- T discusses the answer with the Ss in class.
Task 2 (30 minutes)
- T asks Ss to form a group of 3 to 4 per computer.
- T instructs Ss to open the website: http://www.andyrunton.com/
- T explains to the Ss on how to search for mini comic on the website.
- T gives 5 minutes for each group to search for their own favourite mini comic.
- T asks them to brainstorm and create a story based on the chosen mini comic by using suitable sequence connectors (20 minutes).
- T guides each group in completing the activity.
- T asks every representative to present their story to the class.
Conclusion (10 minutes)
- T recaps the lesson.
- T inculcates the moral values of the stories.
Follow-up activity:
- T asks each S to write a simple paragraph (Worksheet 2) about what they presented in class individually.
- T asks all Ss to submit their homework via email before the next class.
Friday, February 26, 2010
BLOG TASK: HYPERTEXT & HYPERMEDIA
Archaeological evidence found by the Stonehenge Riverside Project in 2008 indicates that Stonehenge served as burial ground from its earliest beginnings. Since it was made by people who lived there in the prehistoric times, they might have intended the site to be auspicious for performing some sort of religious rituals. As human bones have been recovered from beneath the site it is also assumed that it might have been used as an altar for performig human sacrifices. Plus, the orientation of midsummer sunrise mentioned above gave the idea that the tribes which installed these stones had worshipped celestial bodies like sun, moon and the stars.
However, the stone that we see today represent Stonehenge in ruin. Many of the original stones have fallen or been removed by previous generations for home construction or road repair. Still, Stonehenge is surely Britain's greatest national icon. It symbolizes mystery, power and endurance as the real purpose of bringing such huge stones to this place and arranging them in this particular pattern is subject to much study and speculation.
TASK 2: ARTICLE REVIEW
Susan Gass is University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Languages at Michigan State University. She has published widely in the field of second language acquisition and has served as President of the American Association for Applied Linguistics and of the International Association of Applied Linguistics.
Tetyana Sydorenko is a Ph.D. candidate in the Second Language Studies Program at Michigan State University. Her research interests include computer-assisted language instruction and testing, second language curriculum and materials development, and second language acquisition. She has published book chapters on computer-assisted language learning and testing.
LINK: http://llt.msu.edu/vol14num1/winkegasssydorenko.pdf
The Effects of Captioning Videos Used for Foreign Language Listening Activities
With the rapid development of technology nowadays, lots of information being shared online. All we have to do is just type what we want to know about. Be it sports, entertainment, politics, education, just name it. And in a split second, you’ll get it, in most cases. A list of all related information will appear right before your eyes. In education alone, myriads of enhancement for pedagogical tools have emerged to help learners learn better. For instance, I’ve came across this research entitled ‘The Effects of Captioning Videos Used for Foreign Language Listening Activities’. As the title suggests, the purpose of this study is to investigate L2 learners’ use of captions while watching videos in a foreign language. This is because there is accessibility of authentic videos which is very useful indeed for foreign language learning. The instructors for foreign languages just have to provide captions for these videos which are from DVD, YouTube or other sources. For your information, caption in this research refers to “on-screen text in a given language (target language) combined with a soundtrack in the same language” and it is not to be confused with subtitle which referred as “on-screen text in the native language of the viewers that accompany the second language soundtrack of the video material” (Markham and Peter, 2003). In specific, the researchers of this study are trying to find the answers of their research questions about the overall effect of captioning, the effect of the order of caption presentation, the differential benefits derived from the ordering effect of captioning depending on the target language and also whether the proficiency differences affect any benefits related to the ordering effects of captions. This study is an experimental research because the researchers were able to test the hypotheses in order to establish cause-and-effects relationship regarding the use of captions in this study. There are one hundred and fifty students (subjects) who participated in this study. All of them are from a large Midwestern university in the
Personally, I am very interested with this research even when I first saw the title. This is because it is the study about foreign language which I have experienced it before when I learned my third language, Korean. So, I can relate with this article more or less. I absolutely agree with the current and previous studies that various modalities facilitate vocabulary and comprehension. Based on my experience back then, I do not have the chance to learn with various modalities due to the lack of technology enhancement. I recalled that I only learned through aural that is from radio. However, with the schemata that I have about Korean, I found that it is more interesting when I watched any video to learn Korean or other language which are available on the web by myself, especially the one that are enhanced with captions. Even when I was no longer attending the class, I still can gain some novel vocabularies and also learn the structure of the language, just by watching the caption-enhanced videos. I usually got this chance when I watched Korean movies or dramas. This is because nowadays we can download the movies or dramas and get the captions (subtitles in various languages) uploaded by generous internet users. All we have to do is turn on the captions (choose subtitles in Korean). As for me, when I found certain sentences spoken by the actors unfamiliar but interesting, I will pause and play the video as much as I like until I am satisfied with what I just found out. With this, I am not only able to learn new language structure, but also can learn the right pronunciation with native-like intonation. There are times when I do not understand some words. But with the visual and aural help, I manage to grasp what the situation is all about. Even though the knowledge that I gained is limited but it is very satisfying. Therefore, from my own experience, I would say that I am strongly agreed that multiple modalities indeed aid in comprehension and novel vocabulary recognition. In my opinion, the research is very well-conducted. The researchers know very well what they wanted to get from this study from the presentation of their research questions. They also referred to previous researches so that they know what to expect. Plus, the findings of this study has yielded a number of observations about the use of captions, confirming previous research that indicates that captions are beneficial for a greater depth of processing by focusing attention, reinforce the acquisition of vocabulary through modalities and allow learners to determine meaning by decomposing the language chunks. Other than that, this study also provides several useful recommendations for future research in order to expand, update, and enhanced this topic. There is implication of the study in the teaching and learning of ESL. For example, when we watched an English film in class, we were provided with captions (English). I would say that captions are very useful because the audiovisual materials enhanced with captions are powerful pedagogical tools that are believed to help improve L2 listening and reading comprehension skills (Borras & Lafayette, 1994; Danan, 2004; Garza, 1991; Markham & Peter, 2003). Captions facilitate language learning by helping learners visualize what they hear, especially if the input is slightly beyond their linguistic ability (Danan, 2004). Captions may also serve to increase language comprehension by facilitating additional cognitive processes, such as greater depth of spoken-word processing (Bird & Williams, 2002). With the help of captions, learner now an active processor who explores, discovers, reflects and constructs knowledge – based on constructivist. Therefore, listening to the video alone is not enough to improve in learning languages. The learners need to be provided with captions in order to confirm their consensus, just like a quotation from Confucius (Chinese philosopher & reformer, 551 BC - 479 BC), “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” This quotation proved the importance of captioning videos in language learning to help learners understand better.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Blog Entry
In my opinion, it is important because i will know whether the courseware, websites, materials etc are suitable or not to my students. the evaluation is also important so that i am well prepared before going to the class. i will make sure that the courseware or website that i am going to use will make them learning the language and fulfill the objective of the lesson. besides that, by doing the evaluation first, i will make sure the class is sufficient for me to conduct the lesson when using the CALL courseware or website. during the evaluation, i will consider anything that will hinder my lesson. the evaluation of CALL courseware is indeed important so that it will cater my students' level of proficiency and abilities. in short, the evaluation will help me to prepare what is the best lesson for the students in order to tackle their interest in learning English so that, hopefully, one day they will be able to apply the knowledge outside of the class.
2. How do you think Hot Potatoes JCloze may help your students learn English?
For me, the use of Hot Potatoes JCloze will really help the students to learn English better. this is because of the use of computer in class is quite new compared to the traditional paper practice especially for those students from rural area. thus, it is less boring. for instance, for instance the students can always click on the question mark [?] right after the blank to get a hint for the right answer. this will surely benefit those quiet students, who are not really in favor to ask question in class. if they do the cloze passage in paper, it must be hard for them to finish the required task in certain time limit.
Friday, January 15, 2010
In-Class Task 2 : Electronic Worksheet [edited]
this is for my second in-class assignment.so i'm using the copy and paste technique. but unfortunately im not able to or i can't join this exercise in one picture.idk why??*headache* i think it's my computer which is not modern enough coz i've tried doing this b4 in the lab during the lecture. it worked but now ....hmmm..perhaps, it's boz of the old version of the Window.. T_T
[edited] i've decided to apply the landscape format in page setup, so that everything can be crammed in one picture.fuhh..
credits to: English in Context Idioms: An Effective Aid For the Improvement of English book by Betty Kirkpatrick MA
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
In-Class Task 1
1. Please introduce yourself.
2. How would you rate yourself in terms of your computer skills and why? (e.g. expert, novice,savvy, geek, illiterate etc)
well, i would say im a tech-savvy.in short, im not really expert neither too ignorant.hehe
3. What computer software and hardware knowledge do you have?
emm..well, since i am just a savvy in this field, so i only know basic knowledge of computer software and hardware. the microsoft office, games, antivirus, laptop, printer, CPU, firefox, google, yahoo, IE, opera and such. nothing much to be proud of really..juz basic things...things dat i learnt through time.
4. Have you experienced learning via the computer (online, etc)?
my first learning experience via the computer is when i was in secondary school. my teacher taught us basic things about microsoft office - word, excel, powerpoint etc. and during creative writing days, (the last 3 sems i guess) we started to learn how to use blog. we had to post all the assignments in our blog.just like this one. which i would say make our life much easier.. :D
actually, i have plan for this.i did. but i am at disadvantage. bcoz im teaching for the afternoon session. the morning session teacher holds the keys for computer lab. my friend once tried but it's kind of hard to handle them as the students get tooo excited juz being in the lab. and plus, the students take lots of time to go to the computer lab n back to their class again since it quite far.it really wasting mine and other teachers' time.
6. What is your opinion on the use of computer/technology in language teaching?
in my own opinion, i think it is best to use computer or technology in language teaching regardless of my experience during practicum. bcoz i found out that most students nowadays are tech-savvy and they are very fond of this technology.they know a lot about computer and internet. so as a teacher, we have to guide them to the right path. i mean the computer and internet are not juz for games like dota or maple, but they are actually very useful for the sake of their learning.
7. What are your expectations from this course?
C.A.L.L. computer.assisted.language.learning. looking at these words, i expect that in the future i will be able make something useful out of this course by using computer + technology in helping the future students in learning the language especially in English with great interest like they are playing online games.hopefully... and i want good marks for this course of course.dats fo'sho! ;)