The Role, Importance, and Power of Words (by a guest)

I haven't posted an article for a while and this time I'm sharing an article one of my blog readers wrote. Some months ago I received an e-mail saying:

Hi Marisa,

I'm a researcher/writer for a resource covering the importance of English proficiency in today's workplace. I came across your blog linguisticconsultancy.blogspot.com as I was conducting research and I'm interested in contributing an article to your blog because I found the topics you cover very engaging.

I'm thinking about writing an article that looks at how the Internet has changed the way English is used today; not only has its syntax changed as a result of the Internet Revolution, but the amount of job opportunities has also shifted as a result of this shift. I'd be happy to work with you on the topic if you have any insights. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best,
Alexa


And I thought it would be a good idea. Here it is:

Today’s post by Alexa Russell focuses on both the challenges and opportunities the Internet offers to teachers of the English language, particularly with the proliferation of social media sites. Alexa researches and writes about studying English in the 21st century, including articles on the availability of open courseware English classes and courses. Here, Alexa builds on the Linguistic Consultancy’s blog post about how to approach teaching English with flexibility and an eye toward motivating students, often by using the social media tools available on the Internet.

The Role of Teachers in The Complicated Relationship Between the English Language and the Internet

The Internet has proven most paradoxical as far as the English language is concerned. On one hand, the web is home to a wealth of English language education opportunities, many of which are free or low-cost; but at the same time, linguistic experts complain that ‘webspeak,’ or shorthand and morphed English used on the web and in text messages, is effectively ruining English spelling and grammar. Today, many experts agree that licensed English teachers can play a crucial role in providing positive learning opportunities for e-students without exposing them to the confusing influence of Internet shorthand.

As New York Times correspondent Eric A. Taub recently noted, there are many online resources free of charge to those who wish to learn English. They include:
       

• BBC Learning These English lessons for children and adults use multimedia and an interactive format to improve speaking and writing skills.
• Busuu.com These interactive English lessons include social networking opportunities and downloadable apps for smartphones and tablet devices.
• Open Culture This forum-style site features links to various English lessons, as well as videos, eBooks and other supplementary materials.

       
But formal English courses are not the only resources that can aid web users in learning English. English mini-lessons (with titles like ‘How to Use Adjectives and Adverbs’ and ‘Writing for a North American Business Audience’) are available through the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL). And since many teachers utilize newsprint during their lessons, the international Online Newspaper Index is a valuable resource that demonstrates the worldwide variances in English writing.

With the worldwide rise of social media, many education experts have touted various platforms as valuable English learning tools. For example, a recent article in ESchool News noted that Twitter, a platform with roughly 465 million accounts (as of January 2012), is useful to educators as an accurate gauge of current events, trends and pop culture. Furthermore, most ‘tweets’ are composed in English, and their content is indicative of contemporary language usage. 

While many educators tout the informative qualities of social media, many have spoken out against its detrimental effects on the English language.These complaints are bolstered by a recent study by the American Institutes for Research, which found English proficiency scores have noticeably worsened over the last decade – even as math proficiency has improved. Social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest – as well as the surge in text messaging – are largely blamed for this steady decline. If this is the effect social media has on native English speakers, critics argue, then Twitter and Facebook could not possibly benefit ESL learners.

However, many teachers have found considerable success by using social media to teach English. The San Marcos Unified School District of Northern California, for example, instituted a social media profile program two years. Sixth, seventh and eighth grade students use Facebook to upload finished essays, and then provide feedback and critiques to classmates for their work. Incidentally, the school’s standardized test scores rose from 64.6 percent to 80.3 percent in the year after the program was launched.

Ultimately, noted Guardian UK Contributor Ryan Owen Gibson last April, social media is not only a strong educational resource but also a relevant cultural phenomenon – and those who ignore it are “missing out on a world of opportunities.” He urges teachers to utilize Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and blogging programs to build basic language skills with young people – and warns them not to underestimate the power of social media. “By refusing to engage with our children in the digital playground that is social media,” he noted, “we will never truly understand their needs and never fully realise its potential as a language learning tool.”

The English educators who find the most success with social media are those who teach it under well-established guidelines (i.e. no ‘webspeak’). This structure ensures that children will not only be able to build their skills in an interactive setting, but also that their grammar and spelling won’t suffer.  



 Alexa Russell is a freelance writer who has primarily been working with an online, educational resource devoted to delivering information to students pursuing an English degree. Her primary interests are developing educational technology and the changing nature of communication. Feel free to drop her a line if you ever have any questions. 

Are Students a Source of Inspiration for Teachers?

Throughout my teaching experience I've found out that even when a class is made up of individual students who have their own personality traits, the class as a whole adopts a certain character that makes it particular. For that reason, we teachers should be as flexible as it is possible so as to adapt our teaching practice to a certain class in order to be successful and aid our students in their skill developing process. 

Apart from having a certain character, a class as a whole varies as to its mood to which the way the students feel on a particular day contributes. 

I teach several groups of teenagers and even when they are almost the same age, their attitude towards their learning process varies. And these classes are a source of inspiration to me not only when I plan their lessons but also during the teaching-learning process. I do my best to be flexible enough so as to adapt what I have planned for them to their attitude. 

No matter how much I insist in person and via Internet, I sometimes find it hard to make teenagers aware of the importance of developing independent learners' skills. I make use of strategies in class to help students study and improve themselves.

One of the groups I teach is supposed to be reviewing two units of their coursebook for a test but the tasks they do in class show they are not studying outside the classroom. So I decided to implement a task I designed on the spot thanks to the inspiration I got from my students. I assigned two pages from the units of the coursebook they were supposed to be studying to each student. The aim of the activity was to make students read, remember the information and share it with their partners, which would also help them develop fluency skills. 

The task was successful and my students seemed to enjoy it. How do you make students aware of the need to practise outside the classroom? I'd like to hear about your strategies. 

Brad Patterson´s latest post inspired me to write this post. In it Brad posed a challenge and, personally speaking, I like challenges in life. As to teaching itself, I consider motivating students is sometimes challenging as being successful requires creativity and versatility from teachers.

Returning to Brad's proposal, my metaphor is: "Teaching is like day-dreaming." As a teacher I isolate myself from the world around me when I'm teaching and create a new world. My mind is totally focused on the lesson and on my students. I can forget about everything that forms part of my non-teaching life.

                                                            (From: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net)

As to the second challenge, the non-teaching experience that has brought more to my classroom than anything else has been travelling abroad. It's not that I have travelled that much but it has broadened my mind and made me interact with and meet all kinds of people. That's why it has contributed to my teaching practice.

If you feel like joining Brad's challenges, at the top you'll find the link to his post.

Interactive Practice for Beginners

I haven't written posts for a while due to lack of time. In January and in February I worked in London as an assistant to the supervisor of a firm that organises educational trips for adolescents. And in March I started teaching one-to-one and group classes. Among my one-to-one students, I have beginners who need to practise basic structures such as: verb to be, personal pronouns, possessive adjectives, questions. To this end, I've designed examples and opportunities for interaction so as to practise and remember those grammar points and vocabulary in context through pictures and data.

This material can be simple but I imagine it can be helpful for many of my colleagues who may need it.

All's About Sharing

One of the benefits of having a PLN (Personal Learning Network) via Twitter is the great opportunity of "sharing" it offers. I am extremely grateful to the members of my PLN for all

they have been sharing: My Timeline.

A short time ago, I came across Nadia Bentoua, who has shared her English language e-book. Nadia has travelled widely and she based her book on her travels. Her book is a resource for teachers and a self-study book for students.

In her Website Dynamic English Lessons, Nadia has included sample pages, which I have browsed and have found resourceful to introduce new vocabulary to students.

Is there anything you've created or a fellow educator has issued and you'd like to share? Please accept the challenge and write a post in your blog, making reference to this post.

Cambridge Exam Updates

Last Saturday morning I attended a seminar on Cambridge exams and this is a report on the most significant points covered:

Cambridge offers “standard version” and “for school version” exams. The speaker made it clear that the introduction of “for school version” exams is the result of an informed decision and is not justified by the test-takers’ age.

The decision as to which exam best suits a test-taker’s profile should be taken after engaging in a critical analysis of Cambridge handbooks, which contain precise information.

The format, content and assessment criteria for both versions are identical.

The level has been preserved. What counts is the level accredited by the exam. The school version is not easier.

There’s a quality assurance system that is in charge of Cambridge exam validity.

KET exam deals with everyday English at a basic level.

Pet exam (preliminary): deals with everyday English at a pre-intermediate level.

Reliability is a key factor. A reliable test can be depended on to produce very similar results in repeated uses.

Reliability is guaranteed by a comprehensive description of the levels.

The exam validity can be classified into:

A. Construct validity: resides in the interaction of the underlying cognitive ability and the context of use. In the past it was based on the CLA model: communicative language ability, designed by Backman in the 90´s. It has been replaced by the socio-cognitive framework, designed by Professor Cyril Weir in 2005. The latter offers the distinction between an internal mental process (cognitive) of the test-takers and the external contextual factors (social). The standard and the school versions have the same level (cognitive) but the context is different.

B. Content validity: is connected to which extent the content of the test represents the target language domain; the area of interest. It is based on the schema theory: the mental structure that represents some aspects of the world. It depends on a collection of organized, interrelated ideas or concepts: the knowledge of the world. It's connected to the reference store from which a person can retrieve relevant existing knowledge (experiential background). One retrieves/remembers information that is relevant to one's own schema. One will try to resist information that is not relevant to one’s own schema. When automatic thought is triggered, one acts effectively without effort. Accessibility is defined as a cognitive shortcut. There is a direct impact on the way the individual processes the task set up in the context.

C. Scoring validity: implies what has to be measured. In the case of writing there is a General Mark Scheme:

Band 5: All content elements covered appropriately. Message clearly communicated to reader. (Excellent)

Band 4: All content elements adequately dealt with. Message communicated successfully, on the whole. (Very good)

Band 3: All content elements attempted. Message requires some effort by the reader. Or, one content element omitted but others clearly communicated. (Good)

Band 2: Two content elements omitted, or unsuccessfully dealt with. Message only partly communicated to reader. Or, script may be slightly short (20-25 words). (Fair)

Band 1: Little relevant content and/or message requires excessive effort by the reader, or short. (10/19 words). (Poor)

Band 0: Totally irrelevant or totally incomprehensible or too short (under 10 words). (Below standard)

In the case of speaking, it implies the interplay between the underlying cognitive ability and the context of use. Now they’ve introduced the terms “speaking examiners” as they assess a spoken test.

In the case of listening, there is overlapping between context and cognitive validity. It’s ephemeral and it’s marked by the absence of paralinguistic information in a testing context.

I think it is necessary for ESL teachers to be well-informed so as to be able to help those students interested in having international certifications.

FlexiMoti in Action

In a post I wrote last year called My Teaching Approach: FlexiMoti I reflected on my teaching practice in response to one of Jason Renshaw´s posts. It was Jason himself who generously coined the name of my approach and I've adopted it.

My attempts to be flexible are designed to meet my students' needs with the aim to motivate them to learn the English language in a way that suits their likes and dislikes. Having those principles in mind, I've also introduced technology in the classroom and we use wikis and blogs so my students can develop long-life skills that would help them become independent learners.

When classes started last March, I felt absolutely satisfied when one of my students from a group I had taught the previous year asked me if we would use blogs and wikis this year. I had already created a wiki for this class and was about to introduce it to them. So I thought the motivation level was ideal. I was too hopeful to consider that my students are teenagers and so their motivation fluctuates. Nothing new so far.

After considering ways to encourage my students to visit the wiki, I decided to start a competition and to offer a reward to the winner. I created a Lino Canvas in which I include a riddle a week and the first one to provide the correct answer as a comment in the wiki receives a prize. The first one I've granted was a chocolate.

I've found out that some of my students seldom visit their e-mail accounts and so when I update the wiki, they don´t realise about it. I hope this competition will be helpful.

I've been reluctant to appear in Facebook as I consider it's a social tool rather than a professional one but I've had to give in. As a Twitterholic myself I haven't found the sense of being on Facebook. Anyway, my students spend most of their cyber time on Facebook and so I've finally opened an account, which I'll try to keep only as a way of updating my students as to the class wiki new material. I'll do my best to keep my Facebook account as a learning/teaching tool.

What are the changes you've been forced to introduce in your teaching practice? I'd like to hear...