Updated on 6/12/2012
I had a great time at the JALT CALL 2012 Conference this weekend. The venue at Kōnan University's CUBE was beautiful and well-equipped. I liked how most rooms had glass walls similar to the ones at Kanda University of International Studies and the newer rooms at Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages (where I used to teach—boy do they need a new website!).
I gave a presentation on Saturday: Social Networking Tools for Language Teaching. We had a lively discussion. In this post, I will summarize the teaching principles and concepts that I think should be considered when evaluating the appropriateness of using these tools in a language program. In future posts, I hope to cover the tools that we discussed in the workshop and other tools as well. Please leave a comment if you have questions or insights to share.
Principles
Let's look at some of the principles and concepts. I'll list them in alphabetical order and give a short statement on each.
Most thoughtful language educators agree that both language input and output should be mostly authentic communication. While occasional use of decontextualization for practice has a place and purpose in language learning, most of the effort of learning a language should be communicative. Display language (think of "this is a pen") should generally be avoided.
If language learners are to reach their goals, they will need to take responsibility for their own learning. Of course, most younger learners need scaffolding (assistance from a more competent helper such as a teacher or mentor) to learn how to take more control. One way to encourage greater learner autonomy is to give choices within the structure of tasks and lessons.
Constructivists like Piaget state that understanding is constructed by the learner. We cannot pour knowledge into our learners as passive recipients. And social constructivists such as Vygotsky argue that the construction of understanding happens through social interaction.
Flow is a term coined by Csikszentmihaly (1990) to describe an optimal state of performance similar to what athletes call "the zone". Flow can be achieved when a task has balance between being challenging or difficult to require focus without being easy enough to lead to boredom.
Studies of motivation and autonomy these days (Dornyei, Ushioda) tend to include identity. Learners should have opportunities to express themselves with language as opposed to merely reproducing language given to them.
Research shows a strong connection between interaction and acquisition (Mackey 1999, Swain 1986). Language learners benefit from interaction with other speakers and writers through the negotiation of meaning.
One of the biggest topics in language teaching is learner motivation. I prefer to think of it in terms of determination or perseverance since the word motivation can carry with it a sense of having warm, positive feelings. But, as we all know, one can continue to press on toward a goal even when it seems difficult. This determination is needed as language acquisition is a long process.
A concept closely related to constructivism is user-genearated content. The Dogme ELT approach to teaching advocated by Thornburry and others encourages replacing textbooks and other materials with using interaction with the learners as a source of material. Although some proponents of dogme eschew technology, the concept of user-generated content in web 2.0 tools is consistent with the goals of dogme.
Reflection
Reflecting on what one has observed and learned is an important skill and strategy for internalizing knowledge and understanding. In their book on course design, Understanding by Design, Wiggins & McTighe (2005) argue that self-understadning is necessary for true understanding to be realized. Many of the tools we will discuss are excellent for this purpose.
These principles and concepts (and perhaps others) should be considered when evaluating the place of Web 2.0 tools in ELT. We'll take a look at tools in light of the above in coming posts. Another concept not covered in this post is enhancement. I was directed to by Terry Fellner as I put the finishing touches on my presentation. I may see if Terry would like to do a post on the concept. But, for now, you can have a look at the paper where he and Matthew Apple discussed it:
Developing writing fluency and lexical complexity with blogs. (Fellner and Apple).
Please comment, ask questions, share and like!
Please comment, ask questions, share and like!
