Week 9: Blending Vocabulary

Articles read:

·         Using Technology to Assist in Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension (Andreea I. Constantinescu).

·         Online English-English Learner Dictionaries Boost Word Learning (Ulugbek Nurmukhamedov).

Rate: ***** 5

Karla Diaz

My initial impression of this article was that finally I know how to deliver vocabulary. In both articles I noticed the importance that vocabulary has with respect of the others skills. Even though vocabulary it is not part of the four main skills, it is considered such a huge part when learning the second language. How can we listen, read and write new words if we do not know them? I like the fact that we can blend all the skills with vocabulary. Also, my favorite quote from the article was “Good readers have rich vocabulary” sometimes as teachers we forget the importance of reading; however, if we focus on enhancing this skill, we can closely relate reading comprehension with vocabulary.

I like the use of dictionaries when the meaning of the written form is not clear, but I did not know that monolingual dictionaries are designed for native speakers only. Fortunately, when I was reading this article I could find other types of dictionaries that help students with examples, and the word is highlighted for a better understanding. As a future teacher, I expect to teach the differences between a general use dictionary and the learner-use dictionary. I learned in a difficult way, and I do not want my students suffer the same. It is not the same write thousands of pages with new words, according with this article, it is recommendable to write only those useful words. If we do this, we will be capable to understand at least the 95% of any text.

Week 7: Real Purpose of Blending Technology/Syllabus

Read articles:

ü  Using Internet ­Based Children's Literature to Teach EFL (Larry J. Mikulecky Mikuleck)

ü  Using the Internet in ESL Writing Instruction (Jarek Krajka)

Rate: ***** 5

Karla Diaz

What I did not know about this article it was that using internet in a writing class; it allows enhancing other skills such as peaking, reading and vocabulary. We have a great advantage as English’s teacher because if we look for information or programs, we will discover that almost everything is written in English. This advantage allows us to expand our resources and to blend our syllabus with the use of certain web pages. I really enjoyed reading this article because it makes me aware of the great effort some teachers have shown when they taught me English in a different way. For example, once I wondered myself what was the importance to create a web page? Fortunately now I know. I had been asked to create a web page to write about the importance of using technology in education and post links and information related to the topic. This experience has been useful to me, because in the future I will ask my students to do the same. Why? Because it will help them to practice their writing skills, they will think critically and they will read real information that is in the internet.

I learned that before implementing technology in a writing class, it is recommendable to teach vocabulary and the steps that students will need in order to accomplish a task. When they are ready, they will have that task to search, read, write and analyze any topic. What about literature? It is something we have forgotten, but we can rescue. Most of the students only practice the target language inside the classroom; however, we can deliver a task where they need to read a piece of a story or an online book. But before asking to read, we have to learn how to create our own story. For example in the web page www.storyjumper.com I had fun creating my own story where my future students will be asked to read and share their opinions in class. 

Week 8: Self-Correction in Writing

Read article: Online Collaborative Writing Using Wikis TESL-TEFL (Paul Sze)

Rate: **** 4

Karla Diaz

I did not know the term “Wiki” when I started reading this article. It is a fantastic idea to use another tool to improve our writing skill. It is difficult to motivate students to write about a specific topic and even more if it is about self-correcting. The idea of using a certain program where all students can share their ideas and fix the mistakes by themselves will definitely enhance the writing skill. It was new to me conceiving the idea of writing a paragraph in groups where we have been taught that this task is always done individually. Like a typical expression says: Two heads think better than one. Having a task where groups need to think critically about the proper ideas, it will increase the motivation of students, especially if they realize that anybody can read their written work.

ESL learners use wiki tools not only to improve writing skill but build community. It is true that the learning process took place individually, but I consider necessary to share and ask for help to our classmates. Pair work and group works are a good source of information and self-correction.  The teacher role is always to control what students write and how is the manner they edit mistakes. I think that these practices help to improve your confidence when you write, because it allows that students think better before writing.