Thursday, April 23, 2009

The challenges of teaching listening skills

Beare, Kenneth the challenge of teaching listening. English as a second language, Retrieved 04/23/2009, from http://esl.about.com/cs/teachinglistening/a/a_tlisten.htm

The author started the topic convincing that listening is the one of the most difficult
skills in teaching language and students can become frustrated because of this; they can come to an end that they can’t understand any thing from what they listen to so mental block will happen. Although listening is a global learning style and a lot of students have this style, but they can learn better when they listen to topic using their own language. The author said that it’s important to train student to listen to short topics like five to ten minutes and then gradually they can expand the time of listening like learning other skills, for example if some body wants to learn to jog for a long time, he should start with jogging for a few minutes and then gradually he will be able to become fit. The author thinks that the human brain can become amazing if it has given time to do that.
As a teacher of foreign language, I believe that this author gave a very effective explanation to the strategy of teaching listening, and teaching Arabic language should have the same strategy of enhancing listening. In DLI, and by using the available technology, it’s easy for teachers to follow objective steps to help students to develop their listening skills. In my counseling sessions for the students, I found that many of the students are suffering from listening and so many teachers may observe the same phenomena so all teachers should encourage students to practice listening step by step until they come to the result that they are able to listen for a long time.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Teaching with technology

Hooper, S., & Rieber, L. P. (1995). Teaching with technology. In A. C. Ornstein (Ed.), Teaching: Theory into practice, (pp. 154-170). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
http://www.nowhereroad.com/twt/

The author spoke about the role of teachers in the classrooms and what are their roles beyond sparking knowledge; the role is that teacher should be a manager, psychologist, counselor, and more over he should manage the technology to communicate with students. He thinks that technology is not the number of computers and devices in the classroom, but also the benefits of these tools that help in reinforcing the learning process, the educational technology makes the students evolved in applying ideas from various sources to create the best learning environment possible for students. The author thinks that using technology in teaching is different than using technology in other fields; it needs plans and goals specifications, the goals that connected with the needs of learning and then the kind of technology must be used and this will prevent the misuse of technology. The author stated five phases for the traditional role of technology like familiarization, utilization, integration, reorientation and evaluation. As a foreign language teacher in the DLI, I am considering what the author of this journal, that it’s important to understand the role of teacher in selecting and evaluating the appropriate type of technology that is suitable to my students and in the same time is beneficial for them instead of getting lost in the big field of technology which contains a lot of entertainments that serve the goal of advertisement and business

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Technology in Environmental Education

Wolf, Clancy (05/2003). Technology in environmental environment . New Horizons for learning, Retrieved 04/12/2009, from http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/environmental/wolf.htm


The author said that the reason for integrating technology in educational program are audience demand, state Ed. requirement and kids relate to technology; and integrating technology into our educational program provide students with additional tools to enhance learning. Students can understand their experiences through verbal, written spatial, quantitative or graphical means using a variety of learning tools. The author chose what he think is a simple definition for technology and that is technology is how human change/ control their environment. The writer mentioned specific ways to infuse technology into programs at Island Wood where he worked as a coordinator of technology, like using a camera to capture and save images and using devices to hook microscopes to screens; also he talked about high speed movies which can allow students to slow down time and many other devices that can help the students for better understanding to the surrounding environment. In the end the author emphasized the importance of training for staff and students and he think that the time the students spend in how to use technology should be minimized while the time of learning should be maximized.
As a teacher foreign language at DLI, I will take in consideration the ideas of this expert person about the importance of technology as an effective move to connect the student with environment in a way that help him to develop a better understanding in the field of Arabic language. Students will explore in different dimensions of the language and culture and using technology will make it much easier.
Clancy J. Wlof is a technology coordinator in Island Wood, he designed and supervised an activity for the university of Michigan; he also created EEL link ( a website for environmental education information)

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Weblogs for Use with ESL Classes

Campbell , A (2003). Weblogs for Use with ESL Classes. TESL, VL IX, Retrieved04/05/2009, from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Campbell-Weblogs.html
The author specified three ways to use blogs in TSL classrooms as a purpose of the paper. He defined the weblog as an online journal that an individual can update with his or her own words, ideas and thoughts through software that enable one to easily do so. The author also gave an idea of the history of blogs that it has been existed since the beginning of the World Wide Web, the blogging software appeared in July1999 and because it’s easy to be established, the number of users grew up tremendously. The author specified three types of weblogs for use in ESL classrooms, the tutor blog that is run by the tutor for the purpose of giving daily practice to the learners considering that the teacher knows better about his students who may feel uncomfortable about the assigned materials, to promote explanation of English websites to encourage further explanation, encourage online verbal exchange by use of comment buttons and provide class or syllabus information like homework, discuss topics and provide tasks, also blogs serve as resource of links for self-study. Another kind of blogs is the learner’s blogs they are run by the students or collaborative groups who can direct each other to the suitable links that help in the study of target language so they can use blogs as a journal for writing practice. In the class blog, the author thinks that it’s possible the blog in posting subjects for speaking, develop researches and exchange subjects with other students. Also the author mentioned a lot of web logs soft wares for those who are looking for them. As a teacher of foreign language, I can use the same principles that are used in ESL because I am teaching Arabic as a second language. I can encourage my students to use the blogs to communicate with their teachers and each others. Students will be able to chose the materials they like and it will be easy to follow up their tasks and give them feedback, this is a good way of reinforcing the learning process

Weblogs in Education

Tan, Y.H., Ow, E.G.J., & Ho, P.Y.J. (2005). Weblogs in education (a literature review)

Authors gave an introduction and a definition of a weblog as an essentially a web page ‘logging’ hyperlinks to websites which a web surfer finds interesting. They also described the blog as a website that frequently updated with a high availability of band width and storage space so we can store personal editorship, hyperlink, video and audio clips and comment features. They also described how it’s easy to create a blog and how the blog archive the posts automatically and show the latest post without user intervention. In the field of education, the authors illustrated of blogs as a learning tool and mediation by language; comments enable students to communicate and socialize which will enhance learning in a collaborative environment. Authors offered points to facilitate planning for the use of edublogs such as how to create a reflective journal, start a class blog, have the students create their own blogs and have the class share weblogs. Authors stated some issues of concerns for teaching and learning like students access to computers that are capable of inputting and displaying Chinese and Tamil characters, scaffolding of learning tasks plagiarism and legal liability. As foreign language teacher, I fully understood the benefit of blogs as an effective tool of learning, In DLI, we don’t have blogs yet but we are using the shared folders to facilitate the learning process especially in following up homework and provide materials. I think using blogs in teaching language is a developed way of learning, for language is learned by communication so students can communicate with native speakers and immerse in target language environment especially when they communicate with blogs that made to show social environment

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Lights,cameras, pencils! using descriptive video to enhance writing.

Hoffner, H, (April 2008). Lights, cameras, pencils! using descriptive video to enhance writing. the reading teacher, 61 no7 576, Retrieved Ap 2008, from http://www.reading.org/


These writers explained the importance and effectiveness of movies in developing the learning process. They considered movies as not only entertainment but also educational, and teachers can use movies to supplement the curriculum, especially in the field of special education like students with visual impairment. The idea is to use the descriptive program which has additional audio track that is activated by using the secondary audio program (SAP) feature on a television program. They think that descriptive programming can enhance reading and writing language and motivate the students who are used to the entertainment culture. The authors also described the way of using described video in the classroom with visual description for the film to develop creative writing ability; they found that students can create a description for the scene or the environment of the film. They also provided information about how to obtain described programming through links, DVDs and broadcasting.
As a teacher of foreign language I thing it’s beneficial to use the descriptive video in my class not only for students with visual impairment but also for normal students to reinforce the ability of describing scenes and develop their imaginations. Describing the environment is a basic skill in learning language; describing buildings, scenes, and restaurants is a part of skills exam.