Task 4: Designing an ESL Website (10%)

Hye everyone..

this is the last assignment for CALL TSL 641..

I had decided to use weebly for this task..

here is the link to my website..

http://englishbytes.weebly.com/

till we meet again..TQ

Task 3-Web Based Lesson Plan

Level : Intermediate-Advanced
Time : 2 Periods (70 minutes)
Form : 2
Language Focus : Adjectives (comparatives and superlatives)

Aims/ Learning Objectives : To enable the students to identify,and use comparatives and superlatives adjectives accurately.  

Learning Outcomes : By the end of the lesson, students should be able to
1) Identify the function and rules of comparatives and superlatives adjectives
2) complete the worksheet by filling out the appropriate superlatives and comparatives adjectives and achieve at least 80% accuracy
3) Find and locate the comparatives and superlatives adjectives within the world interesting facts in the websites
4) transfer the comparatives and superlatives adjectives found in the website to class wikispace

technical requirement :
1) one computer per student
2) internet connection
3) web browsers

Procedures :

Set Induction (5 Minutes)
1. Teacher gives times for students to settle in the computer lab. Every student should have one computer each,
2. Teacher asks the students to turn on their computer and go to this link https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/c7e03413-a1f9-47c0-b7cb-fdb1e9bf7b48
3. Teacher tells students that they will play a quiz on the world interesting facts and asks students to be ready for it.
4. Teacher plays the quiz after every students have logged in in Kahoot.It
5. Teacher discusses the answers
...........- the hot water freezes.....faster...than cold water
...........- the "sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the ......toughest...tongue twister in English
............- The Earth is 0.02 degrees ....hotter... than normal season during a full moon.

6. Teacher asks students to recall the adjectives used in those three sentences.
7. Teacher tells students that they are going to learn about the new type of adjectives which is comparatives and superlatives adjective in world interesting facts.

ACTIVITY 1 (20 minutes)
1.Teacher asks students to read the online notes regarding the comparatives and superlatives adjectives. They need to go to this link

http://nurulnajihan.wikispaces.com/Comparatives+and+Superlatives+adjectives 
https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/sites/teens/files/gs_comparative_and_superlative_1.pdf

class wikispace

notes 2

2.Teacher explains the notes after the students have finished reading 
3. Then teacher asks students to play the video in this website 
https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar-vocabulary/grammar-videos/comparative-and-superlative-adjectives
and at the same time they need to verbally identify the types of adjectives used in the dialogue.
4.Teacher distributes handout 1 to students and gives about 8 minutes for them to complete it
link to handout 1 https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/sites/teens/files/gs_comparative_and_superlatives_-_exercises_0.pdf

Worksheet1 

worksheet 1

5. Teacher asks students to swap their papers with their friends.
6. Teacher discusses the answers and check students' understanding
7. Teacher explains more if the students need further help.


ACTIVITY 2 (25 Minutes)
1. Teacher explains to students that they will do another activity
2. Teacher asks students to form groups (3-4) per group but they can work independently in their own computer
3. once the students have selected their group members, teacher explains that they are going to search for world interesting facts using the web browsers.
4. Each students need to find four interesting facts and in these facts, they need to use 2 comparatives and 2 superlatives adjectives
5. Teacher asks students to open their class wikispace
link --> http://nurulnajihan.wikispaces.com/WORLD+INTERESTING+FACTS

6. Teacher demonstrates on how to do the activity.
7. Teacher gives 5 minutes for  each group to discuss among the group members
8. After 5 minutes, they need to go back at their own seat and start to search for the information
9. After all groups have completed the activity, teacher gives several minute for the students to look at other groups pages.
10. Teacher discusses students' work and gives feedback.


CONCLUSION (10 Minutes)
1. Teacher recapitulates lesson by asking students the function, rules and several examples of comparatives and superlatives adjectives.
2. Teacher inculcate moral values from what they have learnt today.


FOLLOW UP ACTIVITY:
Using Powtoons or another movie maker program, students are required to create a simple video regarding 10 comparatives and 10 superlatives adjectives in any topics.

TASK 2 - ARTICLE REVIEW 10%

Assalamualaikum and hi everyone =p. This is my article review for CALL Task 2.

PART A

TITLE : The Effects of "WhatsApp" Electronic Dialogue Journaling on Improving Writing Vocabulary Word Choice and Voice of EFL Undergraduates Saudi Students

JOURNAL : AWEJ Volume 4, Number 3, 2013 page 213-225

AUTHOR'S NAME: Basma Issa Ahmad Alsaleem 
from Allmam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University Saudi Arabia ;
The World Islamic Science and Education University-Jordan

link to the journal <- 

pdf 


PART B

The Aims of the Research

Basically the research that I had chosen to review aims to explore the effect of "WhatsApp" electronic journaling on Improving Writing Vocabulary, Word Choice and Voice of EFL Students. It discusses on how this new application in the smart phones can improve the writing skills of EFL students particularly in Saudi Arabia. In this action research, students are required to post their reflective comments on different topics to their group which was created through WhatApp application. The researcher who conducted this study believed that the WhatsApp application has positive impact especially when it comes to second or foreign language learning. As had been mentioned by (Dyment & O'Connel 2008), journaling has been an approach used by teachers to allow students a place for reflection in order to improve their writing and traditionally they prefer pencil and paper journaling. However, as time goes by and the world of ICT evolves, the technologies such as BBM BlackBerry Messages and WhatsApps messages emerges. (Lenhart 2007) support this statement by saying that these technologies are widely used especially among undergraduates students today.

The Methodology and Subject/Samples

The study was conducted at Translations and Language College in a a female branch of Allmam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University. It involved 30 EFL undergraduate female students. Apart from that, the researcher conducted quantitative and quasi-experimental study in which involved pretest and post test.The students scores of their writing journaling had been given according to the guidelines of the rubrics from Read Write Think and the National Council of Teachers of English.

The Finding of the Research

It is found that the students react well to the dialogue journaling via WhatsApp application. At the end of the experiment, the students' word choice, voice and writing skills had improved. Plus, results indicate there is significant different in terms of the writing score  of the pretest and post test of the students who journaled in the WhatsApp. Hence, this finding prove that using WhatsApp would eventually help the students to improve their writing skills in general.

PART B

My Reaction

Does the research interest you? 
what is/are the implications of the research in the teaching and learning of ESL?

This research did catch my interest as it suggests that using WhatsApp particularly in language learning context is one of the ways that can enhance students' writing skills. Apart from that, it gives an insight to the current phenomena which is happening in educational field. In Malaysian context, it is  believed that most of the students or current generation have easy access to the internet via the data plan or through Wifi. Plus, smart phones become pocket computer and a must have item for many people including the students. WhatsApp is one of the top applications among the current generation due to its fastness and easy performance of exchanging the message using Internet at almost free of cost. I personally think that journaling or having dialogue session via WhatsApp is a good way of practising the skills of writing especially outside of the classroom setting. We know the fact that English teachers will not have ample time to cover all the topics and the students as well do not have sufficient time to practise the target language in the classroom setting. Thus, language learning outside of the classroom is seen as an effective way to encourage them to communicate in the target language.

Other than that, when it comes to group discussions via the applications, it generally provides equal opportunities for each of the students to share their view regarding certain topic and thus, no students will left behind. The sense of enjoyment while contributing their ideas informally in the WhatsApp will eventually boost the students' motivation to use English, Plus, I think that this method is suitable to all students of varying proficiency levels. The immediate feedback or comments from the peers in the WhatsApp group will aid the students to learn from their mistakes as they progress. They can also learn the target language in a more fun and relaxing way. 

As WhatsApp is quite simple, it is suitable for teachers who are uncertain to use technology due to lack of skills or confidence or high level of anxiety. Getting started with simple tool may be a helpful way for them to explore and incorporate new technology because simpler technology permit users to minimize their risk and "performance anxiety". Teachers or instructors can easily monitor their students' discussion at anytime and anywhere due to its mobility and portability. Besides, it is a technology people and especially all students are familiar with as they use it on daily basis. (Linhart 2007) supported this statement by claiming that a new generation of teenage writers are created due to the emergent of instant messages and e-mail; enables them to translate their every thoughts and feeling into words. 

The only drawback of this approach is that not all students in Malaysia can afford to have smart phones; concerning the students from rural areas. There might be students who are unfortunate, struggling to survive and  they are unable to buy such gadget. Hence, before this approach is being implemented in the classroom setting, teacher must take note and make sure that all students in her/his classroom have assess to this kind of technology. 


Do you think the research well-conducted?

Frankly speaking, I think that this research is well conducted though there is certain elements that can be improved. First and foremost, the organisation of the research paper is clear and structured where the points and subheadings are organised  accordingly. The research starts with clear introduction, precise points in subheadings such as the definition of the dialogue journal, WhatApp, Academic Effect of WhatsApp messaging, WhatsApp messaging and writing; just to name a few. Then, the paper proceed with the problem statements, significance of the study until the conclusion and recommendations. It also has a solid and strong theoretical foundation.  This paper has a smooth flow, hence makes it easier for us to understand and grasp the focus ideas of the study.

The points that have been elaborated in this study are specific, convincing and well supported by past researches however, there are several repetitions of the ideas. In my opinion, the researcher should plan her work so that there is no redundant in terms of the issues that have been put forward in this paper. Apart from that, I think the methodology of this study needs some improvements in order to come out with reliable and excellent results. Despite only having pretest and post test of the same respondents, I think the use of control group will help the researcher to have better finding of her study. It means that the existence of control group can help us in comparing results with the experimental group. Hence, readers can know to what extent WhatsApp application will affect the experimental group. Nonetheless, this study gives clear insight to the readers on how the use of this technology can help students to improve their writing skills. 

ESL Website Evaluation - 10%

Hola guys. ..=)
For this particular assignment, I have decided to evaluate this ESL website
http://www.learn-english-online.org/

1. What does the website attempt to teach?

This website obviously offers to teach English grammar and extensive British English vocabulary sections along with  free English magazines, diary, games, lessons, quizzes and tests as well as an insight into British cultures, traditions and customs. Instead of offering all these kinds of grammar elements, I believe that this site also serves beyond that whereby it also helps students in terms of sentence structure which apparently will contribute to their writing skills. Apart from writing skills, this ESL website also stresses on the reading, listening and speaking skills. This could be seen through its drop-down menu where it gives freedom for students or teachers to monitor their progress in those mentioned skills. For examples, in one sections of the drop-down menu, there are some tips on how to improve your English, listening, speaking, writing, pronunciation, vocabulary as well as grammar. It also has some notes on the learning skills, learning styles and learning strategies. 

This site also provides graphic notes, interactive games, quizzes as well as tests. There are about 12 units of lessons in this site and these units have been further divided into 3-4 more categories. Once the students have completed each topic, they can test their understanding through the provided exercises. This site offers various exercises in order to help learners to improve their proficiency in English. The examples of tests that are available in this site are Business English, Confusing Words, Dictation, Gap Fill Grammar, Memory Placement, Reading and Comprehension, Sorting and Matching, Spelling Test, as well as Vocabulary. The immediate feedback is available to each of the tests, hence, the learners can immediately learn from their mistakes while they are taking the tests. These available tests and quizzes are arranged according to the difficulty such as beginner, intermediate and advanced so that they can cater all proficiency levels of students. Thus, in my opinion, I personally think that this website is suitable and helpful for different kinds of learners at a given time and at the use of particular setting. 

2. What are the learners/visitors required to do?

Learners and the visitors should have basic computer skills such as browsing the internet. This site does not require any registration or fees so learners and visitors can freely use this site anywhere and anytime that they want. In order to explore the content of this site, they can just choose whether they want to learn English from unit to unit or they can also read the notes or tips that are available in the drop-down menu. Furthermore, they can straight away choose whether they want to learn English, play language games, learn new vocabularies, read magazines, chat with other people, ask questions in forum or take a test. As this site are a wealth source of learning, there are plenty of external links whereby  learners and the visitors are  only required to click them in order to get access to other website, pages or application. In addition, there is also a section for teachers. This section provides advices for the educators on how to use this site in order to enrich their teaching and learning process in the classroom. It provides free lesson plans and handouts and teachers can customize them according to their students' need.

3. While you are going through the website, does it remind you of anything you do in a classroom?

This site does remind me of things that I do in classroom with teachers, fellow classmates or in my self study. These how it reminds me :

• The lessons have been arranged according to the level of difficulty. This is normally what a teacher does in a classroom. In this site, the topic starts with basic knowledge as basic as ABC and how the letters sound in English (Phonetics and Phonology are applied here). Thus, it really helps the second or third language learner to start learning English because it is very important to know how to pronounce the words correctly. There are play buttons in this site whereby learners can click on them in order to listen to the respective sound that he/she want to listen to. This part somehow reminds me of my primary school days (perhaps kindergarten as well??) where teachers would show some flashcards and we had to follow how teachers pronounce the words. Oh, how I miss my school day's moment ...
• Secondly, this site also includes the videos and songs for each of the topics. Learners and visitors will definitely enjoy this kind of learning. In addition, learners can enhance their understanding regarding certain topics based on the guidelines given via the songs and videos, This ultimately reminds me of my English teacher during my secondary school years whereby we will learn parts of speech through songs. My teacher believed that chalk and talk method is a really boring technique to teach, thus she would always show us videos and songs so that we would be "attached" to English. The most memorable moment that I can recall is we used to listen to Westlife's song Season In the Sun in order to learn about simple past tense.

4. Does the website present learners with something that cannot be done in a textbook /workbook? 

Yes, of course. The resources such as notes, exercises and quizzes are presented in various forms such as animations, video, images, songs ; just to name a few. Thus, the students with various kinds of learning ability and learning styles will definitely gain benefits from this site. Other than that, this site also provides immediate feedback and the learners can check their progress whether they have obtained the required score or not and this immediate feedback will not be offered through the textbooks.  Besides offering the learners with various kinds of activity or resource materials, this site also enables the students to have the opportunity to join E-pals and chatting room whether with native or non-native speakers. This will help the learners to gain confidence in using English and learn more about the ways the native speakers use expressions in their daily life conversations.  Apart from that, learners can join forum through this site where they can post questions, exchange ideas and discuss the problems they face in English online. 

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

I believe that this site operates based on several theories and the first which is apparent is behaviorist theory. This theory has been founded by Skinner and Thorndike and though this site cannot offer the tangible rewards, but as far as I noticed, it employs kind of positive reinforcement. Let say a student managed to answer the quiz or test and got all correct, then they would be some words of recognition such as "Correct! Well Done!". This somehow will definitely motivate the learners to do more exercises via the site as the praises acts as the catalyst for them to have more learning, In addition to that, as this site focused more on grammar and lexical items, I think that Grammar Translation Method has been applied here as well. This is crystal clear as learners will learn grammar rules through notes and then practice the rules by doing grammar drills. Apart from that, this site puts strong emphasis on student-centered principle that allows learners to work on their own. Such materials are structured and embody two important features which are interactive learning and individual learning. 

6. Does the website fulfill the potential for language learning?

In this case, this site does fulfill the criterion for language learning. Like what have been discussed earlier, this educational site offers English grammar and extensive British English vocabulary sections along with free English magazine, diary, lesson, and test. Thus it is indeed a language learning medium especially for those who need extra attention or additional practices to enhance their English language skills. Other than that, there are notes as well which caters most of the English parts of speech such as verb to be, adjectives, adverbs and so on. The drop-down menu also provide the tips for the students or teachers to monitor their progress in English such as how to improve their fluency in speaking, listening, reading, writing, their types of learning styles, strategies and etc.Furthermore, the notes and the exercises which are available in this site are helpful for the learners as they can use the knowledge in the real world, whereby they are able to use the authentic expressions while communicating with other people. After reading the notes and doing all of the exercises, it is an assurance that to some extent, the learners can understand on how to communicate and use the elements of grammar . Plus, this site is practical and user friendly as learners and visitors do not have to install certain software in order to get access to the materials. Thus, I want to reemphasize that this site absolutely fulfill the potential for language learning. 

7. Would you like to use this application yourself in your future work?

Yes, I will definitely use this application in my future work and if possible I want to make it compulsory to my students. The main reason is because it has the potential for language learning and thus, for sure will give benefits for both; teachers and students. The teacher's section provide advice on how to enrich lesson along with fully printable handouts, so I can make variety to my lesson in the future. I believe that students nowadays love the lesson which incorporate the use of ICTs, therefore, the videos, interactive language games and online quizzes are suitable for this current generation. Apart from that, this website acts as a good application as it promotes self-independent learning to students. So, definitely, I will make use of this wonderful site for my future work. 

That's all for now. Till we meet again guys =p

Hola Everone =)

Assalamualaikum and a very good day everyone.. =)

ღღ Introduce yourself

~ I am Nurul Najihan binti Razali. People call me Jihan. I am actually from Tesl Twinning Programme (IPGKB-Uitm Shah Alam)

☻☻How would you rate yourself in terms of your computer skills and why? (e.g expert, novice, savvy, geek, illiterate etc)

~ In term of the computer skills, I rate myself as a novice learner as I do not have much knowledge in using these kinds of ICTs. Plus, sometimes it needs high-speed internet connection to do things and as far as I concern, my internet connection is always poor. Nonetheless, I love blogging and blogwalking ♥♥♥

ღღ What computer software and hardware knowledge do you have?

~ For software, I think I know Microsoft well. Other than that, I am familiar with Pdf readers, Photoscape and other Photo Editors, Players like Bs Player, Vlc, GOM etc. and for hardware I think I know some stuff like motherboard, Cpu and that's it. 

☻☻Have you experienced learning via the computer online courses, using couseware, websites etc)? 

~ Yes. I had gone through online course which is called FROG VLE while doing my practicum last semester.

 ღღ Did you try to incorporate technology in some of your kessons during your practicum? Was it a success or a faikure? If you did not what was/were the reasons(s)?

~ Yes. I had used videos in order to attract students' attention and I remembered that nt students seemed to enjoy my lesson. I used to teach components of English such as tenses via songs and literature via videos, I had not much opportunity to implement technology in lesson as our school has limited facilities, 

☻☻ What is your opinion on the use of computer/technology in language teaching?

~ I think every single teachers or educators should incorporate the use of technology in their teaching, World has evolved and students are no longer interested in traditional way of teaching which is chalk and talk where my students said that it is boring. Current generation has been exposed to the use of smart phones, gadgets and other technologies so why not we use the technology right? 

ღღ What are your expectations from this course?

~ I hope I can expand my knowledge in technologies as I realize that they have been regard as part and parcel in our current life situation. 

☻☻ What is the topic chosen for your Academic Exercise? Why have you chosen the topic? Who is your supervisor? How do you plan to complete your AE so that it follows the designated processses (chapter by chapter) and can be submitted on time?

~ The topic for my AE is " The Effect of Metacognitive Reading Strategy Used towards Students' English Achievement". My supervisor is Madam Hamidah and she had approved my topic and currently I am hoping that I will find time to edit and re edit my work so that I can graduate on time! Wish me luck!

             

That's all for now. Till we meet again =p

~