The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 1

Self-Access

Summary

In this section we will briefly consider the range of resources which can be used for self-access purposes. We will examine the features necessary to make self-access materials successful. It is important that learners are trained in ways of maximising their study time and their use of such resources, and we will investigate ways in which you could provide this training. Many of the resources under consideration in this section were described over the course, but we will briefly revisit some of them here, as well as providing a further investigation into some of the uses for IT in self-access centres, both for whole class activities and self-study purposes.

Objectives

By the end of this section you will:

• Have considered the range of resources which can be exploited for self-access purposes.

• Have analysed the features necessary to ensure that self-access materials can be successfully used by learners.

• Have discussed ways in which learners can be trained to maximise their use of such resources.

• Have thought about how you might set up a small self-access centre.

• Have read about a range of ways in which ICT can be used for self-access and class activities in a self-access centre.

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 2

Contents

1. What is self-access?

1.1. Resources

1.2. Features of Self-Access Materials

1.3. Promoting Learner Independence - Training

2. Setting up a Self-Access Centre from Scratch

3. Using ICT for Self-Access

3.1. Background

3.2. Technological Developments

3.3. Training

3.3.1. Training Teachers

3.3.2. Training Students

3.4. Why should we use ICT?

4. Ideas for Using ICT

4.1. The Internet

4.1.1. Skills

4.1.2. Language

4.1.3. Other Considerations

4.2. Email

4.2.1. Teacher – Student

4.2.2. Between Students

4.3. Internet Relay Chat

4.4. Word Processors

5. ICT, ELT and the Future

Recommended Reading

Recommended Web Sites

Appendices

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 3

1. What is self-access?

Task 1: Brainstorm (5 mins)

What would you expect to find in a room in a language school labelled ‘Self-Access Centre’?

When you have compiled a list, read on.

Depending on where you work / have worked, it is likely that different things spring to mind. For some there is the image of a sparklingly resourced, spacious room full of computers, TV/videos, DVDs, audio material, stacks of book etc. For others this might be simply an area in the school in which learners can work quietly, using borrowed materials (either published or specifically designed by the school for the learners). Self-access actually means all of these things; at its simplest level it would involve the use, perhaps of grammar references and worksheets; it would be an area in which learners are able to continue their study outside class.

“The primary aim of such facilities is to enable learning to take place independently of teaching. Students are able to choose and use self-access material on their own and the material gives them the ability to correct or assess their own performance. By using such a self-access facility, students are able to direct their own learning.”

Sheerin in Self-Access page 3.

The important principle here is that learners should be able to use self-access facilities independently of a teacher. Note that this does not mean that no training will be required, however. See sub-sections 1.3 and 3.3.

Self-access facilities are designed to complement classroom study, not replace it. They should provide learners with the opportunity to supplement their lessons, providing them with the resources and materials to follow up on areas of interest, weakness or specific need.

1.1. Resources

A whole range of materials can be adapted to make them suitable for self-access study and there are many materials designed and published specifically with self-access in mind. It is worth pointing out in this section that there are 3 broad types of self-access material:

1. Published materials. These may have been designed specifically with self-access in mind e.g. workbooks (with answer keys), grammar and vocabulary reference books (with practice exercises and answer keys), graded readers, CD ROMs and computer software, dictionaries, BBC World Service publications etc.

2. Authentic materials which can be adapted for self-access purposes. Examples would be music tapes/CDs, newspapers, DVDs, novels, magazines, menus, pictures, letters/postcards/emails. Teacher-designed materials (worksheets, instructions, answer keys etc.) need to be added to these.

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 4

3. Specially designed in-house materials (which could incorporate elements of both sections above). Sheerin gives some useful advice in her section on Materials Design and production in Self-Access page 23.

1.2. Features of Self Access Materials

Task 2: Adapting Materials for Self-Access (15 mins)

1. Think of a piece of authentic or published material you have used recently with a class. Remind yourself of your aim(s) in using this material.

2. How would you need to adapt the material for it to be suitable for self-access study? Is there any additional information you would need to give? How would it be presented?

3. What conclusions can you reach about the desirable qualities of successful self-access materials? Make a list of the features necessary for learners to use a piece of material alone in a self-access environment.

Now read on for some suggested answers.

In order for them to be accessible and useful for students, self-access materials need to have the following characteristics:

• Answer keys need to be provided, possibly with explanations. Certainly, feedback needs to be given to the learner otherwise demotivation will quickly result i.e. where appropriate, learners need to know if their answers are right or wrong (and why they are right or wrong).

• Instructions need to be clear and understandable so that they can easily be followed and not misconstrued.

• Materials need to be graded according to level. It is demotivating to work with material that is too easy or too difficult. Level needs to be clearly labelled.

• Materials need to be relevant to the learner. Again, this is partly an issue of labelling, which should be done in such a way that a learner browsing through can envisage what a piece of material is like, what it practises etc.

• The aims/purpose behind materials needs to be clear to the user. This is closely linked to the point above. For example, if they want to work on their pronunciation, but do not know what connected speech is, they may not choose to use a piece of material which is actually very relevant to them.

• Materials and activities need to be inviting to the users e.g. attractively presented, not obviously dated in appearance (visuals etc.).

For further ideas, read Sheerin’s Self-Access pages 23 and 24 where she describes criteria for the design of successful self-access materials.

1.3. Promoting Learner Independence - Training

Even the most motivated learners can become disenchanted with a self-access centre if they feel that they are getting nothing from their time investment. Firstly, it is

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 5

extremely important that they have a sense of what they want to get out of their self -study – they may well need to be pointed in the right direction by a teacher who knows them well. Secondly, they need to understand how they can go about their self-study. For example, there is little point in a learner working alone through exercises in a language laboratory unless they regularly pause to review their work, comparing it perhaps to a native speaker performing the same task, or to a previous attempt of their own. In other words, they need to gain a sense of direction and progress. Without this there is little value in what they have been doing. This sense of progress can be quite difficult to achieve when working with something like a novel. This is not to say that working with a novel is not a potentially worthwhile self-study pursuit, but clearly there is a wider learner training implication here. The learner needs to have considered their strategies e.g. how they will react when they come across a word they don’t understand, or when they get an answer wrong. It is important that they realise the importance of repeating an activity and comparing their score, or of noting down and reviewing new vocabulary acquired, or of looking up something which they have got wrong.

A second, but equally important training angle is in the use of technology. If learners are to be offered free access to a language laboratory, or computers, it is vital that they are trained in how best to use the equipment and who to contact for assistance if something goes wrong. Without this training, many learners will soon be put off. Both Self-Access (page 7 on potential problems, and Chapter 2) and Establishing Self-Access (Chapters 2 and 9) have useful sections on training learners and promoting learner independence. Let’s look at an example:

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 6

Task 3: Orientating Students to Self-Access Materials (10 mins)

Look at the activity from Self-Access below. Do you think this is a good way of orientating learners to self-access materials?

See Appendix 1

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 7

Sheerin, S. 1989 Self-Access Oxford University Press (pages 35 & 36)

A final point worth mentioning here is that teachers also need to be trained in the use of self-access facilities. In order to be able to advise their learners, they need to be confident and familiar with the materials and resources available.

2. Setting Up a Self-Access Centre from Scratch

As we have already seen, the setting up of a self-access facility can be viewed as a hugely expensive investment. However, it is possible to provide a range of materials with a minimal investment. For example, most language schools have old cassettes which are no longer used in the school because the coursebook has been replaced with a more up to date one. Use these tapes rather than letting them gather dust –

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 8

provide 2 or 3 walkman (secured to a table to prevent them from disappearing!), photocopy some worksheets (laminating them makes them last longer!) and you have a listening facility. It could be possible to extend this by recording the BBC World Service news once a day, and providing a tapescript of the headlines (perhaps with a generic worksheet to encourage learners to go on to listen to the actual stories and make notes). Teachers could perhaps provide copies of favourite music tapes etc. Reading materials are similarly easy to collect. A small membership charge can be used to help to recoup some of the initial costs and to invest in further materials and equipment.

As we have already said, there are a lot of published materials available for self-access study. Some of them, including CD ROMs are mentioned in the reading section below, but this is an area which is developing all the time. For up-to-date information on what’s available, contact publishers directly. You can find their web addresses the Career Development section.

Being in the position of setting up a self-access centre is probably not on the immediate agenda for most of you. However, if you are interested in investigating this area further, the following references are invaluable: Self-Access Chapter 1, and Establishing Self-Access, Chapters 4, 6, 7 & 8 and Case Study 4 (page 257).

The remainder of this section will focus on the use of ICT in self-access, as this is both one of the largest growth areas in ELT, and arguably the most popular feature of established self-access centres with learners.

3. Using ICT for Self-Access

In this section we will examine the use of ICT in more detail. The majority of ideas and techniques discussed in this section are well suited to being used by learners independently, but as part of their training it is probably a good idea to use them in class time in the first instance.

3.1. Background

In the early days of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), now often referred to as Technology Enhanced Language Learning (TELL), developments were largely driven by computer enthusiasts enchanted by emerging technology. Often the expectations of their colleagues were unreasonably high. Rather than considering the emergence of Information Technology (IT) as an additional tool in their pedagogic repertoire, there was an expectation of a revolution, a new teaching method. Computers, after all, sent men to the moon, they controlled defence systems, they calculated our taxes, they built our cars. It seemed reasonable that one day soon they would be teaching our students. The early applications of IT were modifications (or sometimes direct copies) of cloze and gap-fill type exercises. They were, in many ways, the on-screen equivalent of the traditional grammar exercise book. That is not to say, however, that the programs were not successful within their own limitations. Repetitive self-study could now be made somewhat more attractive with sound, animation and automatic feedback.

Recent years have seen the development of 2 distinct aspects of IT used in EFL classrooms. The cloze, right/wrong exercises, and multiple choice quizzes remain and have an enthusiastic following among many students. However, as technology has improved, so has the sophistication of the delivery of such materials. More current developments include materials providing for integrated skills development through attractively presented texts and materials.

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 9

The second type of use of IT in the ELT classroom fits more comfortably under the description Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The difference, by definition, is the aspect of communication through use of technology. The use of ICT in ELT classrooms goes back to the eighties when schools in Australasia experimented with email links (although it had yet to be named as such). Nowadays, connection speeds are high enough, costs are low enough and technology has become advanced enough to enable such tools as the World Wide Web (WWW), email and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) to be treated as valid tools for the EFL teacher.

3.2. Technological Developments

How is technology developing? The development of high-speed connections for access will revolutionise students’ everyday use of the Internet. Technologies such as ADSL are now inexpensive and give speeds some 10 to 50 times faster than previously. This has made immense differences. Previously classes may have linked internationally with the use of IRC. This can be done with a little co-ordination between schools in similar time zones which have students of the same level. Even with technical hitches this exercise can be hugely gratifying for both students and teachers. New speeds of data transfer will allow these text-based ‘meetings’ to use real-time sound and video. There will remain uses for text-based interaction in this manner - text-based IRC practises skills differently to video-conferencing - but probably only as long as students continue to use the text medium in their lives outside school. As for the Web, the immediate effect of the new speeds has had a profound impact for ELT resources. Currently, audio and video on the Web are the same quality as traditional television broadcasting.

3.3. Training

3.3.1. Training Teachers

Without adequate training, teachers will not use any new tool to its full potential. The teacher’s training need in the use of ICT is clearly lower if s/he is able to concentrate on the educational aspects, leaving the technical side to someone else. This could be the basic maintenance of the computers or the setting up of appropriate programs before students arrive. Both of these are increasingly the case in large language schools which have invested heavily in ICT. Even with this support, some training is essential, if only to reassure teachers that they do already have sufficient knowledge and that they are not expected to:

a) Be technical geniuses.

b) Use some new and radical methodology.

Teachers need to be clearly aware that they are simply using another tool. Comparisons to video and audio facilities can be useful. As with audio and video, there are aspects specific to the tool which must be considered when planning and managing a class. With computers these considerations might include student technophobia, gender differences (men often take control of the mouse/keyboard, and thus direction of the activity, when working with a woman) or computer failure which means the activity has to be aborted completely (the unique capacity for the complete failure of an activity using ICT can never be ignored!). As well as methodological restrictions, ICT brings with it the need to consider the teachers’ attitude to the new technology and its uses. It might be tempting to view the use of technology in class as an end in itself, with the novelty of surfing the web taking over from considerations of the impact the activity has on the students’ language ability. Similarly, some teachers may shy away from the use of computers, believing that the

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 10

amount of planning required to incorporate their use into teaching outweighs any potential benefit. The aim of the sections below is to redress these views.

One final point about training in the use of ICT in ELT is the opportunity it provides for cross-training between different members of a teaching staff. In many instances, the most computer-literate teacher will not necessarily be the most experienced in teaching. By pairing with a more experienced, but less computer-literate, teacher to examine possibilities for using ICT in class, both can benefit from sharing their knowledge.

3.3.2. Training Students

We are considering here ways in which ICT can be used for self-access purposes. This means that much of the training a teacher has received needs to be passed on to learners. This is not to say that there will never be a teacher present when a learner is using ICT for self-access, but in order for the learner to feel confident in tackling say a CD ROM, they need to know how it works, how they should use it and, of course, what to do if it should go wrong!

3.4. Why should we use ICT?

Task 4: The Pros and Cons of Using ICT (15 mins)

What do you think the advantages and disadvantages of using ICT are in English language teaching? (You answered the same Task in Unit 4 Section 1). Have your views changed?

See Appendix 2 (and Unit 4 Section 1, Appendix 13).

4. Ideas for Using ICT

4.1. The Internet

Probably the most exciting form of ICT in terms of its potential, the Internet can be used for all aspects of language teaching. Reading and listening resources are provided by the huge number of texts on the Web. Analysing these texts in various ways allows the teacher to focus on lexis and structures, and the productive skills of speaking and writing can be built into the lesson by the teacher.

4.1.1. Skills

Reading is the most obvious skill which can be practised on the Net. It is particularly good for developing skimming and scanning skills in order to filter out unnecessary information.

e.g. Students look at a site about films. They have to find a film review, and filter out the irrelevant information such as advertising, interviews with actors etc.

Students are sometimes much more tolerant of unknown words if they encounter them on screen rather than in a book, so this can help with improving reading speed,

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 11

especially for examination students or those who lack confidence or are unused to reading.

There are many different genres of text on the Web – for example, newspaper articles, book and film reviews, informal letters, interviews, reports etc. As a result, most of the reading activities which we do in class can be replicated via the Internet, but with a much wider range of current texts.

e.g. Students read the same news story twice – once in a tabloid news site and once in a broadsheet news site. They examine the differences in style, such as phrasal verbs as opposed to Latinate verbs, biases as opposed to neutral language etc.

e.g. Students read a different book review each. They collect useful language and study the organisation of the information in each one. Then they compare with other students to find common patterns of organisation.

There are now many websites which provide listening as well as reading material. The BBC for example, has live radio as well as pre-recorded daily offerings. (See Website list under Reading for addresses). Students can listen first and extract key information and then read the text to confirm what they have heard or analyse for differences and extra information.

e.g. Students listen to a text from the BBC. They note down the key words they hear and then read the text to see how many they found.

Audio texts can be exploited in the same way as commercially available materials for key phonological features. The range of accents to which students can have exposure far exceeds those in published ELT sources, however.

e.g. Students listen to a text and write down examples of words that are linked, or that are stressed, or weak forms; whatever the teacher wishes to focus on.

The productive skills of writing and speaking come into play by the way the teacher sets up the activity before and after the reading/listening. Using the net alone does not generate writing and speaking unless the students are given tasks to encourage these skills. Some examples of how to do this include:

• Putting students into pairs to choose and negotiate which sites they want to look at.

• Telling the rest of the class what they have learned whilst reading/listening.

• Giving students similar types of texts to study, e.g. horoscopes for their star sign, and comparing the similarities and differences between them.

• Jigsaw information activities. E.g. students plan a trip to Paris. One group chooses a suitable hotel, one group organises the flight, another finds out what exhibitions are on and they share the information at the end.

• Giving their opinion or reporting back on a text they have read, e.g. a controversial news article.

Any speaking tasks can then be extended or adapted for writing, just as they would in the normal classroom.

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 12

e.g. students write a summary of what they have learned, write their own horoscope, write an itinerary for a trip to Paris or write an essay outlining their opinion.

4.1.2. Language

Language and structures may need to be ‘fed in’ by the teacher during the lesson.

e.g. If the students are going to read film reviews and choose a film to see, the teacher could focus on language for suggesting, agreeing and disagreeing after they have read the reviews and before they talk about them.

The teacher can decide on the best time to introduce the language needed, and this can be before the students go online.

e.g. Students are going to choose a good restaurant to go for dinner. The teacher can introduce language to describe the qualities people look for in a good restaurant, such as value for money, sophisticated ambience etc.

Other language can be extracted from the texts themselves, and studied in more detail after the reading/listening stage.

e.g. The students can find and look up new words in the dictionary when they are reading and then teach each other.

e.g. The students can look at the tenses which are used for film reviews, or which linking phrases are used, and then do an exercise afterwards to practise this language.

4.1.3. Other considerations

The most successful Internet lessons often have the following features:

• a fairly narrow topic range;

e.g. recipes for traditional English/Brazilian food, not food.

• a specific task;

e.g. “Find a recipe and tell your partner how to make it”, not “Look at this interesting site on food”.

• a selection of two or three sites marked in the favourites folder.

These dramatically reduce the time used by students surfing aimlessly to find what they want. Just as you would not normally give students a whole newspaper to read from in a single lesson, so it is better to limit the amount of information which students have access to at any one time.

To exploit the Internet fully it needs to be an integrated part of a carefully-structured lesson, just as a reading or listening text would be. This would normally include some kind of warmer or introduction to the topic beforehand. The teacher can then build in interaction and productive skills by creating tasks before, during and after using the Web and guiding the students carefully through the lesson. An overt focus on language at some stage during the lesson will enable the students to see what they are learning.

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 13

4.2. Email

Email is a written medium which falls somewhere between speaking and writing, containing features of both spoken and written language. The style tends to be more informal than a ‘real’ letter, and because the medium is relatively new, the rules and conventions have not yet settled into a fixed form. For example, do you start your email with, “Dear Mary”, “Mary” or just launch into the main part of the letter? This ambiguity can be confusing but can also represent an element of freedom of expression for the student. Some of the most significant features include a very informal and compressed style, with more use of ellipsis, contracted forms, flexibility with or omission of punctuation, capitals, lack of formulaic phrases such as I am writing, yours sincerely, etc. and much greater use of language which is considered to be predominantly spoken rather than written.

Email in ELT can be used in two main ways – between teachers and students, and between students.

4.2.1. Teacher - Student

First of all, email between students and the teacher can create an extra channel of communication which is private and personal. It can take the form of a diary, where the students write about things that are important to them and then send them to the teacher, who responds to the content. In this case, the act of writing is an exercise in fluency, especially good for students who have script problems or do not write much in their own language.

This line of communication can also help students who are very reticent about speaking in class. They may use email as an extension to class participation, or they may find that writing about something first gives them increased confidence to experiment with language in class. The process of writing is different to the process of speaking, but as the language gravitates towards spoken English, this can have a positive effect on their oral ability.

Taking this idea a step further, the teacher can respond to the content and then correct the language or style of the email. Again, the correction is private and a corrected email looks less demotivating (no red pen!) than a paper document.

Other possibilities include getting students to mail homework to the teacher, and for very low levels, asking students to write just one or two sentences, or a simple postcard message.

4.2.2. Between students

The activities which can be done in class with a group of students are varied. Basically, the most successful activities mirror the use of email outside the classroom, and are useful for improving fluency in writing. Students may need some help with guidelines for writing emails and a useful introduction would be to collect some emails and give them to students to analyse for language and conventions (see above). Examples of activities for students within the same class include:

• Arranging a night out with the other students in the class.

• Sending a gossip mail about what the student did last night.

• Sending an email to another student asking about their family/friends/country etc.

If the students are studying English for business purposes, all normal business correspondence can be replicated and exploited in class. Examples include:

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 14

• Sending details of an order to another department.

• Arranging a time for a meeting between three or more people.

• Responding to a request for information.

• Summarising the contents of a long report.

4.3. Internet Relay Chat

If email can be likened to sending notes, then IRC is the electronic equivalent of holding a phone conversation. Users ‘speak’ to each other via the computer. The difference is, of course, that they have slightly more time to formulate what they are going to say, they don’t have to worry about pronunciation, and they have to think about spelling. These differences can be used by the teacher to help improve the speaking skills of the students as well as their writing skills.

Why have a conversation through a computer when it is easier to do it face to face? First of all, the time factor is significant. In real conversation students have to concentrate on what the speaker is saying, the content of the reply and the language needed to formulate that reply, all in a very limited period of time. Any undue hesitation is going to aggravate the listener. This is a difficult task and a common result is that the student’s fluency or accuracy suffers. With IRC, the ‘listener’ will tolerate a longer pause, and this allows the student more time to formulate their reply, which in turn creates the opportunity for the production of a higher level of language. Examples of activities which can be used to exploit this factor are:

• Students interviewing each other about their job/country/childhood.

• Students being given a topic to start with (e.g. work) asked to continue the conversation for as long as possible without drying up.

• Students having a ‘telephone’ conversation about a particular topic (e.g. booking a ticket for a musical).

IRC can be seen as a valuable tool for rehearsal or planning time before students do a speaking task. As mentioned before, the longer the students have to plan, the better the performance of the task will be. Any of the above tasks can be done first on IRC and then repeated ‘live’ in class.

Perhaps a more exciting reason for using IRC is its potential to connect users in different countries. Using IRC, a student in Barcelona can communicate with a student in Brazil, thus creating a real need to use English.

e.g. Two teachers arrange a time to connect two similar level classes. Each class prepares questions about the other country. At the appointed time they start writing to each other to find the answers to the questions they have prepared.

This is exciting for students, especially those in monocultural classes, as they learn something new about another culture. Furthermore, this use of IRC creates a multilingual virtual student group requiring students to use English as the medium of communication. As the only way in which the students meet is through their written ‘conversation’ it is possible that the impetus to create a good impression will have a beneficial effect on the quality of the language they produce.

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 15

IRC can be used to simulate ‘conversation’ in written form. Students have the opportunity to improve the complexity of their language whilst becoming more fluent in writing.

4.4. Word Processors

What does a word processor have that pen and paper don’t? The significant differences are that you can edit, cut, paste, move text around and play with different ways of saying the same thing with few problems. Tools such as spell check, grammar check and thesaurus are beneficial for two reasons. Firstly the student can take risks, make mistakes and draft and redraft as much as they want and still produce a document which is presentable without the laborious process of writing and rewriting. Secondly, the checks and thesaurus give the student the opportunity to learn independently of the teacher.

Activities which exploit the drafting and redrafting element are especially effective with WPs. Process writing can be done as an ongoing dialogue between the teacher and the student, with worked stored on a shared drive or a floppy disk.

e.g. the student writes the first draft of a composition. S/he saves it on a disk, and gives it to the teacher, who reads it and then writes comments and advice at the end. The teacher gives it back to the student who works on the piece again, and hands it back to the teacher. This step can be repeated as many times as necessary.

Other activities make use of cutting, pasting and deleting and adding words to texts. Some examples include:

• Students read a text with no punctuation and add the punctuation.

• Students read a jumbled text and put the paragraphs in the correct order.

• Students fill in the gaps in a text.

• Students read a text with an extra word in each line and delete the extra word.

• Students insert missing sentences in a text.

To summarise, WPs can be used for all types of writing activities, with the advantage that the student can change the text as much as s/he likes without making a mess. The cutting and pasting tools are useful for accuracy and controlled exercises, either focusing on grammar, vocabulary, discourse or punctuation.

5. ICT, ELT and the Future

Even as you read, ICT is bringing innovations to the world of the language teacher and learner. Currently, developments in methodological approaches, as highlighted above, are providing a means for integrating the use of ICT more effectively into the range of tools which teachers and learners use with ease. However, this type of development affects not only teaching and learning, but also the important area of language testing.

Developments in the area of language testing mean that many organisations now conduct placement and assessment tests via computer. Software which allows for adaptive testing, where questions are adjusted to the student’s level as the test proceeds is now available in many institutions. Within a few years, technology for

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 16

recognising voice and script will bring changes to all forms of language testing, including the grading of spoken and written work.

Just as technology is having a profound effect on teaching, it is also creating new opportunities for the training of teachers. New distance courses proliferate and, as the technology for events such as video conferencing develops, opportunities for interactive distance training and development become more feasible.

The true impact of this new technology will only be seen in retrospect. However, just as the language laboratories of the 1960’s did not produce the expected generation of effective language learners, so we must remember that it is the interaction of the learner and the teacher with ICT, rather than the technology itself, which will dictate the changes which this technology will bring to our field.

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 17

Reading:

If you would like to explore this area further:

Suggested Reading

Gardner, D. & Miller, L. 1999 Establishing Self-Access Cambridge University Press

Sheerin, S. 1989 Self-Access Oxford University Press

Sperling, D. 1999 Dave Sperling’s Internet Guide Longman

This is basically an index of web sites listed under topic – a sort of www equivalent of the IH Index of ELT Materials.

Sperling, D. 2000 Dave Sperling’s Interconnectivity Book Longman

30 topic based units ranging from hoary old dragons like ‘crime’ to weirdo things like ‘astrology’. There are a number of worksheets on using The Internet at the beginning with lots of useful language and www skills. Activities in units range from analysing/comparing web sites to finding information and new vocabulary.

Teeler, D. & Gray, P. 2000 How to Use the Internet in ELT Longman

A useful introduction to the possibilities of the www in ELT. Includes an introduction on what the Internet is plus:

• The Internet as a Materials Resource

• The Internet as Classroom Tool

• Internet Based Activities

• The Internet as Coursebook

The book also has an appendix of useful sites. This book was short listed for the Ben Warren prize and comes recommended by Beth (see Vince for Beth’s in depth review).

Windeatt, S. Hardisty, D. & Eastment, D. 2000 The Internet Oxford University Press

Another in Alan Maley’s series. Lots of nice lesson ideas divided into:

1. Core Internet Skills

2. Focus on Language

3. Focus on Language Skills

Most lesson ideas are based on the OUP web site and links found at that web site, although most of the ideas are transferable to other sites. The book also has an appendix of useful sites.

CD ROMs

The following CD ROMs are designed for use with classes and/or for self-access. This is not an exclusive list, and in addition there are numerous authentic CD ROMs, such as Encarta, which can be usefully included in a self-access centre.

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 18

The Grammar ROM Longman

The FCE Grammar ROM Longman

Issues in English Protea Textware

Business Chalnneges Interactive Longman

The Interactive Picture Dictionary Protea Textware

Oxford Learner Dictionaries Oxford University Press

In addition, some coursebook series have started to produce supplementary materials on CD ROM, for example Reward (Macmillan Heinemann).

Suggested Web Sites http://www.tefl.net http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/index.shtml http://www.ihes.com http://www.netlanguages.com http://www.eslcafe.com

A TEFL search engine in the style of Yahoo. The BBC’s Learning English site. Good. Examples of up-to-date materials, well presented and integrated.There is much in the BBC’s site useful for students and teachers. IH Barcelona has provided teaching learning resources on their huge site. International House’s ‘virtual’ affiliate Dave’s ESL Cafe. Probably the most famous English Teaching site. The teaching resources can be poor, but still a useful potential source for ideas.

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 19

Appendices

Appendix 1: Orientating Students to Self-Access Materials

This activity is in the format of a discovering by doing type activity. It would obviously need to be individually written for the self-access materials available. It provides a useful basis for orientation, but is quite brief. Additional information which could usefully be included would be:

• Clear guidance as to support systems e.g. Is there a teacher available at all times to offer advice and guidance? Who should be contacted if machinery goes wrong?, etc.

• More reference materials need to be included, e.g. Where are there dictionaries? Where are grammar reference books to look up language points?

• As well as providing a commentary or answer key, it would be a good idea to either hand out a summary of the facilities available, and instructions on how to use them, or to provide this information in the form of a users’ manual. This could even be a project which advanced students could undertake.

If the self-access facility is quite large, it is probably worth designing separate questionnaires for different sections. For example, in the self-access centre where I work, there are computer facilities (The Internet, CD ROMs, and computer programmes), video facilities, a language laboratory and a library. I would familiarise learners with one section at a time. An alternative to this would be to have different students working in different sections and then showing their colleagues what they have discovered in a peer teaching type information exchange.

Return to text.

Appendix 2: The Pros and Cons of Using ICT

The Internet and CD ROMs

Advantages

One of the greatest advantages of the Internet is the enormous amount of information which can be accessed both through the Web, and the wide range of CD ROMs on sale. This variety creates almost limitless possibilities for the teacher and the students. Teachers can find subjects of interest for the most jaded classes and students’ individual interests and learning needs can be catered for.

As most of the material on the Web and CD ROMs is not designed for language learners, it is a very rich source of authentic material which can be exploited in various ways for the development of all language skills and areas, including pronunciation. In addition to this wealth of authentic material, there are also sites and disks designed for students of all levels and their teachers. Teachers can log onto these sites to update their skills and find ideas for lesson plans and ways of teaching. (See list of Websites attached).

Another aspect of the Internet which makes it unique in terms of media is that the materials are updated constantly. Coursebooks, newspaper articles and tapes date very quickly, but someone somewhere is putting new information on the Net every second of the day. Students can read the lyrics of the latest pop songs, get up-to-the-

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 20

minute news bulletins, find out about the newest scientific discoveries or check the state of their shares on the stock market, combining general interests with language learning.

Other ICT Tools

All of the other tools which are included under the ICT umbrella – email, word processors and IRC are tools rather than resources.

Email is a tool which is widely used in business and for pleasure. People write messages and send them to each other electronically, rather like an electronic postal system, although there are differences between the style of email and a normal letter. This creates new opportunities and challenges for both students and teachers. (See sub-section 4.2 on Email).

Chat rooms are found on the Internet. A user logs on and then can have conversations with other people in the chat room about any subject they choose.

IRC, or Internet Relay Chat is a specific chat system which can be set up on computers to connect a number of users together. The users type in dialogue and receive replies from others connected in the relay. There are clear differences between email and chat facilities, both in terms of their immediacy and the language used. Whilst chat rooms and IRC mimic features of conversation, both in language and speed of exchange, email permits greater delay and can demand greater levels of accuracy.

Advantages

First and foremost, in the 21st century it is inevitable that students will need to be

competent users of computer technology. Computers are not going to become obsolete nor the language of international communication likely to change in the near future. Most computer books are written in English, much of the information on the Net is in English (although this may well change) and at the moment, most of the international business in the world is done in English. Therefore using this technology in the language school reflects real life and students are often motivated to learn through this medium.

Secondly, computer technology provides teachers with an extra tool in the tool kit. It is already taken for granted that teachers have access to cassette players, maybe video and OHPs, and any extra dimension which can be added, both provides variety and aids motivation. The visual element to ICT appeals to many learners whilst the kinaesthetic element to most of the tools (students move a mouse, click on things and move information around) may aid learning.

Finally, ICT can take the focus off the teacher for a while and give both students and teachers a break from each other.

Disadvantages

Every silver lining has its cloud. Inevitable though the encroachment of technology into our daily lives may be, there are many who respond by burying their heads in the sand or becoming defensive. This can be true of both teachers and students, who can become demotivated if required to use ICT without proper training. Careful guidance and training (see sub-section 3.3 on Training) is necessary for these in order to provide the reassurance that the technology is not as complicated as it may look.

The Distance Delta

Unit 8 Section 3 21

On the other hand, students who spend hours surfing the Net at home may find it difficult to identify the learning benefit of using the technology in school time. It is important that the aims of lessons which use ICT are transparent to students and that they are convinced of the benefit of using this medium.

e.g. If the students are reading a text from the Web and looking up new vocabulary, the teacher can tell students at the beginning that they are going to focus on vocabulary, and then at the end of the session ask them what they have learned.

Gremlins in the computers are another problem. It is very embarrassing to set up students for a complex Internet activity, only to find that the computer has crashed. Sometimes there is no solution, but forward planning and testing can pre-empt many difficulties.

(See sub-section 4.1 on The Internet.)

The time required to do this forward planning, organising, orchestrating and researching is another disadvantage for the teacher. Many teachers are very busy, and may not be prepared to take on extra work. Furthermore, if the lesson is not set up carefully, it can become a waste of time, non-interactive, chaotic and embarrassing for the teacher. (See sub-section 4.1 on The Internet for ideas on how to avoid this.)

Finally the cost of up-to-date computers, programmes, and software is one that also needs to be taken into account when thinking about how central ICT is going to be in the school.

Return to text.