Technology in the ESL Classroom - Term Paper Example

?Technology in the ESL room: Whiteboards and Pedagogical Objectives [ID For ESL interactivity and the use of technology isimportant (Stott, 2001; Kasper, 2003; Ybarra and Green, 2003). Interactive methods and the use of HTML-based and online teaching can help activate schemata, associate concepts, and get over the frustration and learning difficulties that are part and parcel with ESL teaching (Stott, 2001). One of the most impressive pieces of technology is an interactive whiteboard, which can be used to supplement textbooks, encourage class discussion, and allow interactive feedback and class participation (Wappel, 2010). The pedagogical validity of this piece of technology is incredibly high, particularly for the ESL classroom. One of the primary ways that the whiteboard can be used to help ESL teaching is in student motivation: “[O]nce a chapter section or story has been assigned and read for homework, the teacher can use an electronic “flip chart” presentation, displayed on a screen in front of the class, that visually emphasizes academic vocabulary and important content from the lesson. The flip chart allows a teacher to hide, reveal, and highlight text and images as necessary to motivate students” (Wappel, 2010). The flipchart allows vocabulary to be presented in interesting ways and can be used to encourage immediate participation. “To enhance and complement the teacher’s chart, each student is given an interactive tool. Using these hand held devices, the classmates can record their responses to quiz or test questions, either in an objective (true-false or multiple choice) format or using complete sentences” (Wappel, 2010). Teachers can pair immediate reinforcement with students' answers, and students can feel that their participation is being immediately noted and rewarded. Whiteboard programs also allow collaborative on-line text editing and participation. “The on-line texts are particularly helpful in trying to get a large group of language learners to focus on one element of a lesson together. The format allows a teacher to have better control of a class and maintain continuous eye contact while directing attention to a particular sentence, paragraph, or picture in the text. The online texts also offer practice quizzes and tests, a writing lab and interactive questions, all of which may be sent electronically to the teacher” (Wappel, 2010). Eye contact during ESL teaching is one of the ways to build schemata and encourage interactive learning, making the process seem more human and less difficult (Stott, 2001). Students can be put into online groups, able to discuss and work together, figuring out each others' weak points and letting them build confidence collectively on assignments. “A bank of computers in Solebury’s ESL Center enables students to become part of an online community through e-mail, chat rooms, and posting and reading announcements and homework on the school’s web site” (Wappel, 2010). Any instructor knows that one of the most important elements is staving off boredom and prompting interest (Wappel, 2010). Whiteboard software allows teachers a wide variety of approaches. Stress, rhythm and structure exercises can be specially created which are not only different from the regular classroom process but also interactive, giving immediate feedback. In particular, the ability to encourage participation in other areas besides direct, verbal participation is useful. Shore argues that one of the ways to encourage participation and reduce stress for ESL students is to “Encourage participation in less language-demanding subject areas: music, art, physical education” and provide opportunities for success. Whiteboard projects can allow students to sing along, make presentations with their own prompts, and otherwise demonstrate their skills in a non-threatening manner and setting. Whiteboards also allow participation to be immediately rewarded (Jeffrey, 2003). Jeffrey proposes a “participation points” system for ESL students, giving them an incentive to participate. This can be extra credit, but Jeffrey recommends a token reward, something like a poker chip. With a whiteboard system, when a student answers a question correctly, or does it first, or participates, the teacher can immediately give them either a physical or electronic token. These tokens could be used to defer assignments, give extra credit, etc. The participation point system can also, sparingly, be used as a disincentive. If a student becomes too passive or speaks too much in their native language, one or two points could be taken away. Another thing that whiteboards can do for an ESL classroom is allow for an online discussion (Gross Davis, 1993). Gross Davis recommends, “Use electronic mail to start a discussion. One faculty member...poses a question through electronic mail and asks the students to write in their responses and comments. He then hands out copies of all the responses to initiate the class discussion” (1993). This works in general to improve participation, but it is particularly helpful in the ESL environment because it gives students the opportunity to try out language, write out responses, and say something about which they may have an opinion in English. Teachers can even let students respond in their native language and in English, so that a healthy class discussion can be had and students still get practice. Encouraging participation through direct, formal means is particularly important for Asian students (Lacina, 2001). Both Korean and Japanese students tend to expect teacher-centered lectures, and they often try to avoid initiating topics directly. Because students of all cultures are more likely to give undivided, ongoing attention to materials they deem relevant, it is important that teachers understand the expressed needs of their students...Teachers who expect students to complete tasks merely because they are assigned are likely to encounter difficulties with students of Asian heritage. Lack of explanation as to why a student should perform a certain tasks can result in increased anxiety and lowered motivation... One way that ESL teachers can encourage the relevance of a student-centered environment to Korean and Japanese students is to grade students on their classroom participation. (Lacina, 2001) The whiteboard means, with participation point rewards or immediate response to self-directed or participatory responses, lets students see a clear connection between the curriculum and their responses. Interactive computer book reading has a proven track record (Ybarra and Green, 2003). Interactive books can have a voice reading the book, which gives ESL students an immediate pronunciation cue. Music and sound effects can not only help trigger schema (Stott, 2001), but also contribute to the variety of stimuli that students are getting and help keep interest maintained. It is true that, with interactive reading, initial conversation tends to center on the computer and the whiteboard itself; but over time, the stories' content is discussed more and more, which is vital for facilitating comprehension (Ybarra and Green, 2003). Whiteboard technologies can also be used to ease the transition to public speaking (Ali, 2008). “As much as learners may dread speaking in a group or in front of the class, speaking as a skill is essential for acquisition and participation purposes. Nowadays, every profession requires some extent of communicative competence and interpersonal skills. The nature of speaking at the workplace presents itself in various forms: discussions, presentations, negotiation, and even debates....Multiple input in the form of language guide...can be provided for exposure” (Ali, 2008). Whiteboard programs can allow students to first have debates on a purely text basis, then do so over VoIP programs so that they don't need to show their face but can still discuss. Further, group discussions and group participations, which help to create an atmosphere of community and camaraderie, can be facilitated by the whiteboard. Teachers can use the whiteboard to dynamically create new groups: Some groups created for a particular assignment, other groups created over an entire class. Another way that the whiteboard is pedagogically sound is that it contributes to “learners' autonomy”. “At this end, perhaps the ESL learners are not only participating but also contributing to the lively and animated learning environment...empowerment and learners' autonomy. If we were to provide a social context to the ESL speaking class, we have to rely [on] learners' active involvement and contribution” (Ali, 2008). Whiteboards can have students keep on trying to translate a difficult sentence, or write a paragraph that matches the standard, without having the teacher hold their hand through each step of the process. It can be used to encourage students to try for themselves and direct their own learning, while still remaining structured enough. Traditional books are linear: One learns skills in the direction that the book has been written. But whiteboard tools can allow non-linear, branching paths, where each student explores the curriculum the way they need to. In contrast to traditional print, in which information is presented in a linear fashion (i.e., in predefined sequences), the presentation of information in hypertext is nonlinear and represented in a semantic network in which multiple related sections of the text are connected to each other. By following links through the sections of the text, the reader actively engages with that text, choosing a path that is most relevant to his or her needs or interests. Well-designed hypertext systems can facilitate interaction between readers and texts (Rouet, Levonen, Dillon, & Spiro, 1996), thereby enhancing comprehension and building critical reading skills. Because hypertext provides easy access to multiple cross-references on related topics across several documents, or screens, it fosters a nonlinear and flexible pattern of exploration and discovery that encourages a natural juxtaposition of ideas presented (Tierney et al., 1997) and helps to promote cognitive flexibility necessary for the integration and consolidation of knowledge gleaned from a variety of sources (Mishra, Spiro, & Feltovich, 1996) (Kasper, 2003) Whiteboard technologies clearly have immense potential. They allow for an unbroken line where the teacher can present information to the class with immediate participation and automatic rewards, change information on the fly to match their students' cultural and individual needs and preferences, create information in non-hierarchical non-linear fashions that let students learn the tools they need at the points they need it, and facilitate group discussion and communication. They are thus pedagogically highly justified to incorporate into the classroom. References Aebersold, J.A. and Field, M.L. (1997) From Reader to Reading Teacher. Cambridge: CUP. Ali, Z. (2003). Speaking Skills in the ESL Classroom - From Acquisition to Participation. Ezine. Retrieved 2/3/2011 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Speaking-Skills-in-the-ESL- Classroom---From-Acquisition-to-Participation&id=1052583 Anderson, R.C. and Pearson, P.D. (1984) "A Schema-Theoretic View of Basic Processes in Reading Comprehension", in Carrell, P.L., Devine, J. and Eskey, D.E. 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