4th post on any topic

Dragon teaches English in America

Dragon in hospitals


Above, two links. The first is to an article in Buisness Week and the second is an article from the Financial News.

The Buisness Week article is a review of Dragonal Natural Speaking voice recognition software, something I continue to be interested in. However, Buisness Week is not impressed. One thing in paticular that they point out that I agree with (although I am personally impressed with Dragon) is if you mumble and talk to yourself when you compute, you could be in trouble with this technology. I used Dragon 's basic package and found myself going back and deleting out many "doh"s "shoot"s and "gosh dang it"s.

Perhaps the more expensive packages are better, and it seems so because the second link is to how this technology is being promoted in hospitals as part of the new health care system according to the second link. Financial News reports that Nuance holding, the company behinde Dragon Natural Speaking, are in talks for a contract that will part of the new health care package. Hospitals would be required to use their software, so the higher end stuff must be nearly flawless. I think it is cool to think some of the same CALL we study, is also used in hospitals and law offices around the country.

Reading Prompt 10

After reading Richardson, what ideas do you have for using images and programs such as Flickr in the language learning classroom?

Kern gives a broad overview of issues in CALL, with specific examples from three areas and implications for teaching and research. Select and share your own thoughts and opinions on one or more issues that Kern raises.

Using big photos and pictures of things is one of favorite ways to teach and learn langugae. The Richardson text gave many suggestions for doing some thing like that using Flickr technology. For starters, Web 2.0 social networking capabilities like privacy settings and friend invites means you can easily create a virtual class. The ideas Richardson gives in the book, read like a list of our quick share lessons from class: slide shows, virtual field trips, teaching social software, and teach geography (Richardson, 101). Finally, the abliltiy to annotate a picture that Richarson mentions is pretty awesome. What a great way to teach science and history but I can imagine creating language classes, too. How about an Oxford Picture Dictionary created with annotated photographs the class creates?

The Kern article also offers much food for the brain. I especially like that it included quotes from Dr. Mark Warschauer (I learned about him recently). The area which I concentrate on here is CMC. It is an area, which I mentioned in my presentation a few weeks ago, which you think as reached its potential(word processing) or that there is much more future in it. Kern mentions the potential, and I agree with the ideas, here are some interesting things worth pointing out: corpus linguistics is becoming a part of CMC. Sucessful CMC results in schools involve (1)equally committmeted teachers(2)agreement on central focus(3)continual attetion to logistics; I think the first ideal is far fetched but the second two are in the reach of individual schools. CMC and the private/public divide is discussed, and of course from discussing social networking we know how important this idea is and obviously any work in CMC has to consider it.

3rd post on any topic

I shouldn't have started talking about video games. Just as I was ready to put the blog down for the week, two articles trickled in. Nintendo has answered the hedgehog CALL to more educational software in gaming. The fight has begun. Nintendo plans on releasing new line of DS lite CALL. Check out the link... Mario teaches English Personally, I like what they already have for learning Japanese, and their English stuff is already good, too. Nintendo guru talks education

2nd post on any topic

Hedgehog teaches English

Above is a link to recent blog in the WSJ. It says there is new CALL in Japan combining language learning and gaming. The same group of designers that created Sonic the Hedgehog are involved.

Moonshot, the company designing all this is making a useful product. Especially the net native student should appreciate this CALL. Built on the old idea that kids love playing games as opposed to traditonal desk learning, the software looks fun and educational. Their concept could help language teaching move foward, take a look at the article it has link to Moonshot HQ.

Reading Prompt 9

What is Corpus Linguistics? And why are some language teachers so excited about it? What applications can you envision for your current or future classroom?
Corpus Linguistics is a philosphy for language teaching. It is a rejection of some of the previous ways grammar has been taught and a new approach to teaching language. The ideas are based on teaching how the language is used, rather than simply how it had been taught previously. It is a radical approach to teaching, so controversial.

For teaching English, among other languages, allowing for dialects means a lot. For one, allowing variety in the ways grammar is perceived and taught as is Corpus Linguistics as opposed to traditional ways means there is no set of correct grammar, and instead you allow for a variety of grammars. This in turn allows for a wider conversation about, and how language is used and taught. Although the ideas look to be earth shattering, educators are excited about this new pedagogy.

CALL is certainly ready to adapt to Corpus Linguistic teaching. A classroom taught through the intergration of both Corpus Linguistic and CALL can create great things. For TESL classes, it means specialized assesment. Imagine test and assesment that gain accurate insights and answers to what has is becoming a more and more specific learner. It changes the game, teachers will have access to useful evaluations, and quicker than ever. Learners can have hand-tailored lessons through the integration of these two ideas and everyone wins.

Reading Prompt VIII

What are some of the technologies used for CMC? What are some of the promising features of CMC for language learning. Comment on any of your uses of these technologies, in particular if you have used any of them for language learning or practice purposes. Finally, comment on the findings of Dr. Sauro's research, and what the implications may be for future practice.

Some of the technologies used for CMC include chat rooms, emails, mailing list, MOOs, message boards, and live conferencing. I have done quite a bit of emailing in my time as an informal way of practicing an L2. When I think about it, emailing has been one of the big reasons I have been able to have some success learning L2s. All of my emailing was done infomally, but it ended up being a big help to me. I am one of those kind of language learners that needs to see the language and think about for hours and days before it sinks in. I like having the time to look things up in a dictionary or check a grammar point to make sure it is right. Emailing was the best way for me to practice an L2, and in the end I found it allowed me to advance to actual conversation in an L2.

Dr. Sauro's research has implications for feedback and utilizing it using SCMC. It really seems to have a lot to do what I mentioned above about how language learners (like myself) benefit from feedback. Dr. Sauros's research focused on chat and compared types of feedback used in that setting. It showed that we haven't figured out the best way to do handle feedback there, but it does provide a direction to go with future research (finding the best way to do it). For now, as language teachers we must continue to keep in mind learners level, how feedback is structured, and how it effects learners over a period of time. It has big implications on us as educators, because I believe we will be "CALL"ed upon to do this type of thing more and more.

Reading Prompt IV

Comment on issues raised by Levy and Stockwell,
CALL educators and the design of CALL products.
Comment on types of RSS feeds .

The part of the Levy text (ch 2) that stuck out for me was task design. If the task included in a paticular piece of CALL is boring and simple, the learner is not going to have much interest. On the other hand, a learner could also complain that tasks are too complex and difficult, and give up on it. Good CALL design is going to keep these perspectives in mind and produce something in between. As educators we need to look for CALL that is desiged with easily accessible task, but also task design that is challenging enough to keep the learner engaged and interested.

As far as RSS, there has got to be hundreds of ways to use this with students. One easy example of how it might be used with a class of L2s is setting up a "feed" to a class blog. Choose a traditional, non-controversial news group (VOANEWS.com) and ask students to write responses to the stories that roll through. The point is that the students are following the news, discussing it, and responding. They practice skills like reading and writing, plus decesion making task can additionally be completed in groups.

As for me personally, and I would recommend this to any teacher, use the RSS to keep up with buisness and financial news, take control of your investments. Follow different companies and play the stock market! Normally, a teacher is far too busy during the day to follow changes that take place every hour in the world of fortune 500 companies. During working hours, a school teacher is literally shut out from the world (most schools in Texas don't even have windows!). By using RSS technology, the playing field is evened up somewhat, and teachers can keep up with everybody else in the financial world. Teachers become day traders, and don't need to spend very much time to do it (only during breaks, and never while giving test). That is to say, you do not have to spend your day wathcing the ticker and cable tv to get rich on wall street. The RSS reader quickly brings tailored news and information directly to you. Set up your RSS to follow news about companies that you have stocks in, open the reader once in the morning and then at lunch, if circumstances are happening in the financial world, quickly make adjustments to your financial portfolio and get rich.

Nobody says teachers have to be poor chumps and live shackled to promises of state retirement money (all of that is based on wall street investments any way). Build your own future with the RSS google reader.

Tags and links

A youtube video that explains how to make a blog using google applications.

The official voice of the United States federal government, this site provides current news with complete audio and text transcripts for English language learners, Voice of America. Free and easy to use. Give it a try.

The UTSA MA TESL's new ning site, technology rules!

UTSA IEP study list, this is from UTSA's own Englsih for International Students site. Here, is a page that contains a list of English language learning activities and their web links.

The conversation partner program is something I administrate as graduate assistant at UTSA. Check out the link. If you email me directly at christopher.pope@utsa.edu, I will gladly pair you up with an international or L1 English speaking student for conversation and culture exchange. If you need some experience teaching, or are looking for someone to practice your Chinese/Turkish/Arabic/English with over coffee and biscuits this might be a something to do.

Reading Prompt III

What challenges did Soares face when using blogs with her ESL students, and what lessons did she learn? How does she feel about using blogs with students in the future? Levy describes several types of technologies. Choose one of them and describe how you might want to use it (or have used it), also discuss some of considerations that need to be taken when using this technology with ESL students.

The first challenge Soares had was deciding what type of blog to create: tutor, learner, or class style blog. After that, there were a lot of issues with her students lack of computer skills, and a lack of desire to use the blog. When Soares posted questions to the class there were usually no responses (she noticed this trend in other education blogs from around the world as she started to do research). Other challenges: blogs work better with older learners, students were not consistent about responding, the students responses were too short.

Soraes learned things that are important for any educators that is considering the use of a blog (but keep in mind, she worked with younger students) : apply explatory practices as a teacher (look around the internet at the competition and have students help), make trial blogs, teach students how to use a blog before starting, consider that students have very different levels of computer skills, remember it is classwork, so students like to work on it in class and not at home, and finally it is best to start out working in groups but students should later work independently. Admittedly, it is a lot of things for the teacher to consider and I can understand why some might balk at the idea of using a blog in class.

Levy gives an excellent summary of current CALL technology. It is worth mentioning the core 5, before focusing finally on the most interesting CALL of all, mobile technology. 1 Learning Managment Systems (LMS) are the teacher-centered techs like WebCT and Blackboard, these are very useful but typical of what often scares off educators. A somewhat complicated piece of technology. 2 Audio-video conferencing is summed up best by looking at Sype technology or perhaps Star Trek That is, talking to educators and students via video conferences. 3 Aritificial Intelligence is something I discussed before on this blog, it is great. 4 Speech/Pronunciation recognition is something I have often heard students complain about, native speakers (me) have even had trouble getting "recognized" on some of this CALL. Finally, 5 Mobile technology is surely the most exciting. The mobile phone Thorton research in Japan sounded especially interesting. With the popularity cell-phone internet technology combined with i-pod and MP3 this area of CALL stands out. If motivation and and audio-visual learners are your concerns, which K-12 would be, this technology could help ELLs or main streamed student alike. For higher level ELLs pod-casting is still a great resource, and should be used by the instructor for things like audio quizzes, and pronunciation practice.

Reading Prompt II

*Egbert describes the optimal conditions for classroom language learning. Discuss how blogs and blogging can be a tool for achieving these conditions with ELL students. Finally, describe your own experience creating your blog this week. What topic or topics do you plan to blog about?

Instead of discussing all parts of the optimal conditions list, let me just say that the entire list meets CALL (computer assisted language learning) conditions for blogs to be used with ELLs (English language learners). Here for brevity, I focus on only one part of the list, condition 7, the principle that a blog gives the ELL a working atomosphere with an ideal stress/anxiety level. This principal is met when students publish on the internet via a blog. ELLs (like any students) can be unmotivated at times, and the stress/anxiety to publish on a blog is a great way to keep students working at the skill. Good old peer pressure works here for the good of education, and additionally, the types of discussions that are held can be adjusted to the level of students involved so that not too much or too little stress/anxiety is applied. It really makes a lot of sense to use one with your class.

Working on this blog has been useful for me. I have seen a lot of blogs in the past, but needed some sort of motivation to create one for myself. This assingment is doing that. My focus these past two weeks has been creating a simple interface, that looks cool, and I continue to make sure all my links are up. The links are a good, simple part of the html skills I have been learning recently, so it is a good way to check my skills.

When I think of things to post here, of course professional work comes to mind, publishing work and having my students post their work and writings. Also, as a historian and family man, I would like to see the living history of my own flesh and blood kept on a blog. Embarrassingly, I have also started to think about how to make money using this technology. Not everyone does (or can do) blogs, I am glad to be part of the group that is in the know.

Reading Prompt I

Blogs are useful for English language learners or ELLs. When ELLs use a blog it is a great way to enhance their learning experience, futhermore it is definitely valued added. Simply having students publish their work on to a blog is a good way to utilize it. Classmates, friends, family, and the instructor can all view their work and even comment on it.

Taking this blog further, let me quickly discuss computer assisted language learning, or CALL for short. I was recently asked to decide on the best way to evaluate CALL software. For what it's worth, here are my two cents...I consider the role of technology to be most important in this CALL software evaluation. How much technology? or what kind of technology? are questions that must be asked in evaluation. In particular, software must have aspects of artificial intelligence (AI) or it isn't worth the time in my opinion. AI a "combination of video and natural language processing technology" became a focus of CALL software projects in the 1980s (Chapelle,2001,14), I can't imagine language software without it. Programs like Rosetta Stone and Tell Me More are full of AI technology and some of the best examples of what type is available to ELLs. I include a blog link, that shows Rosetta Stone is integrating Web 2.0 technology with present AI technology to create the CALL software of the future. http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=10299. It sounds awesome! Technology is such a great value added component of CALL that it should definitely be considered when evaluating software.