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SUCCESSFUL INTERNET LESSONS IN THE ELT CLASSROOM

By Paul Drury

Unfortunately, trouble-free Internet lessons are rare but as long as you are prepared there is no reason why you will not be able to cope with the possible pitfalls. Below are some common problems experienced by ELT teachers using the Internet for lessons together with suggested solutions.

1. Students get lost, open the browser ten times, or end up reading something totally different to the rest of the class.

Give specific addresses; take the student directly to the relevant page. Although information searches can be an important part of the lesson, make sure that you have an idea of what is available and be prepared to provide addresses.

2. Students are writing e-mails home. (A very common problem for teachers with students who are living away from home.)

This suggests that the task set was too vague. Presented with a magazine many people will flick through with no particular purpose. As teachers, we always ask our learners to focus on specific articles/areas/language. This should be the same when using the Internet.
Have a good reason for using the computer. Could the work be done just as easily on paper?
Negotiate time for your students to write that e-mail home i.e. after they have finished the work.

3. Some students are not comfortable with technology.

Consider doing some remedial teaching. Everybody should be able to point and click, copy, paste, highlight, recognise links, recognise the back/forward buttons on the browser.
Give students clear instructions, preferably written. Talk them through the steps of the lesson (show them on screen) and make sure the objectives are clear.
Pairing a strong student with a weak student is not always the answer. The stronger will become frustrated and the weaker may take on a passive role.

4. The Internet is not working as quickly as it should. The relevant page won’t open...

It is a good idea to give students addresses on screen so they only need to click. Physically typing the address increases the chance of making a mistake. Always have material to fall back on. Computers and the Internet are temperamental beasts.
Always check the sites/computers before the lesson, what was there last week may not be there this week.

5. Many people will not read extended pieces of text on screen

Make concessions for the medium, it is physically more taxing to read on screen, use texts that are manageable chunks or interspersed with pictures or activities.

 

TEXT 8.

USING THE MOTHER TONGUE IN THE CLASSROOM

By Tim Bowen

Somewhere along the line (probably in the late 1970s or early 1980s) the idea seemed to get around that using the mother tongue in the language teaching classroom was a “bad thing”. Everything should be done in the target language, giving the learners maximum exposure to that language (in this case English). This is fine in principle but, as ever, the reality turns out to be somewhat different. While it is perfectly possible to use only English in class, this approach fails to take account of a number of factors. First of all, general recommendations of this type tend to originate in the world of the multi-ethnic language class in an English-speaking environment. In this situation it is not only desirable to use English at all times, it is, for the most part, essential, given the mixed linguistic background of the learners. This situation does not, however, apply to the vast majority of EFL classes around the world, most of which will typically be taught by a non-native teacher of English and will consist in most cases of learners from a single linguistic background and culture. Many teachers in this second teaching situation will endeavour to use English as much as possible in the classroom, giving instructions in English, teaching basic English classroom metalanguage, requiring learners to use English when asking questions, insisting that they use English in group and pair work and so on. This is all extremely positive and probably produces good results. However, where the non-native teacher of English enjoys a particular advantage over his or her native-speaker colleague who is ignorant of the mother tongue of the learners is in the ability to use the mother tongue as and when it is required. The mother tongue can be used to provide a quick and accurate translation of an English word that might take several minutes for the teacher to explain and even then there would be no guarantee that the explanation had been understood correctly. (To avoid over-dependence on translation, some teachers have a policy of not giving a verbal translation of a particular word when asked but of writing the translation on the board when absolutely necessary in order to limit excessive and automatic use of the mother tongue in class). The mother tongue is also particularly effective with younger learners and adult learners at beginner level to check instructions, to ensure that concepts have been correctly understood and for general classroom management. In the case of concept checking, for example, if the teacher has just been presenting the difference in concept between present perfect and past simple as in “John has gone to Paris” and “John went to Paris”, asking the class to give a quick translation into the mother tongue will enable the teacher to be absolutely sure that the concepts have been understood. Using the mother tongue can also be very useful in establishing the general “rules” for the class at the beginning of the course, one of which may of course be “English will be used at all times”! Perhaps the greatest potential advantage of a knowledge of the mother tongue of the learners, however, is that it enables the teacher to contrast the language with English and to know which structures are difficult and, possibly even more importantly, which structures are easy and need very little attention. The teacher with a knowledge of the mother tongue is also in a position to know potential problems with vocabulary items – false friends, words easily confused, words with no equivalents and so on. Finally, some learners need the security of the mother tongue. They may be the type of learner that needs to relate concepts in English to equivalents in their L1. This may be their most effective way of learning vocabulary. They may also feel that having a mother tongue equivalent is a far more efficient way of arriving at meaning than a constant process of working things out.



TEXT 9.

Alaska species

 

Wildlife can be found everywhere in Alaska, from cities where moose, bears and wolves roam to more than 18 million acres designated by Congress as wilderness areas as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. However, most refuges in Alaska require travel via air transport, making them difficult and expensive to reach. Many species in Alaska such as black and brown bears, wolves, moose and many others are on the verge of Extinction. They are interesting in their own way. So, let’s learn about them more than we do.

Black bears are usually smaller than brown bears. They can look alike, but there are several ways you can tell the bears apart. Black bears don't have a shoulder hump like brown bears. Black bears also have a straight face, compared to the brown bear's bowl-shaped face. Their paws are different too. Black bears' claws are short and curved and brown bears have longer, straighter claws. Black bears have been known to live in every state, except Hawaii. They can be found in most forested areas in Alaska. Like brown bears, black bears hibernate in the winter. They start hibernating in the fall and come out of their dens in the spring. Their dens are found in hollow trees or rocks. They also build dens on the ground. A person may walk right over a bear den and not even know it, unless the bear wakes up, of course.

Moose like bears can be brown or black but they have longer legs and larger body than bears do. Alaska is full of moose. In Anchorage, you have a good chance of spotting a moose on the Coastal Trail or in Kincaid Park early in the morning or just before sunset. Moose like to roam along roads and highways that are close to rivers and ponds. They also take walks through the city and neighborhoods.

Musk oxen look huger than bears and moose. They are large animals with humped shoulders and dark brown shaggy fur that is so long it almost drags on the ground. A light brown patch of fur is on their back. Their legs are also light brown. Musk oxen have horns that look like big curls on the sides of their head. During the winter, they use their hooves to dig through the snow for grass to eat, but they try to stay in areas where the snow has blown away. The fur on a musk ox helps it survive the cold and windy winters on the arctic tundra. Under their brown shaggy fur is another layer of soft brownish fur that keeps them warm. Musk oxen have so much fur that if you were to shave it all off, they would only be the size of a small cow. If we move from the forest to the beaches we will see walruses. They are big and they eat a lot. Some can weigh up to two tons. They eat hundreds of pounds of clams, mussels, snails and sea worms almost every day. Using tiny whiskers on their face, they feel around for food on the bottom of the sea. When they find a clam, they use their lips to suck the meat out of the shell.

Walruses change color when they go in and out of the water. On land, they are reddish-brown and when they swim, their skin turns pink or white. Their skin is so tough and thick that only killer whales and polar bears can chew through it. The polar bears are the world’s largest land carnivore. The bears can weigh more than 1,000 pounds. These “sea bears” are excellent swimmers. They use their front feet to dog paddle and their back legs to steer. But the walrus is faster so can kill a polar bear by swimming under it and stabbing the bear with his long ivory tusks.

Other sea species that you can see in Alaska are sea otters. They’ve been nicknamed “Old Man of the Sea” comes from the silver hairs and whitish-silvery head of older otters. The underfur is brown, dark brown or black; pale brown or silver guard hairs.

Puffin’s nickname “Parrots of the Sea” because of their brightly colored beaks. But these birds aren’t always colorful. At the end of breeding season, their black feathers turn brown and their white face patches become dark, almost turning black.

So, it must be very interesting to know how species are breeding. First of all, males should attract female’s attention. For example, male walruses sing love songs to female walruses underwater. The songs sound like church bells. They also grunt and snort, and they stink like pigs.

What is happing after that? As for puffins, both of parents incubate the single egg for 42 to 47 days. After it hatches, the chick stays in the nest for another 45 to 55 days, until it can fly.

This is the variety of Alaska’s wildlife. Many species are so beautiful but everything can’t be so good in our life. There is one “little” problem: EXTINCTION!

 

 

TEXT 10.


Date: 2016-01-05; view: 778


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