Web resources for
Language Teachers
1st Edition
Fernando Mesquita January 2012
“This is a time of challenge and a time for experiment. It is a time to put existing pedagogies, practices, and educational philosophies in question and to construct new ones. It is a time for new pedagogical experiments to see what works and what doesn’t work. It is a time to reflect on our goals and to discern what we want to achieve with education and how to achieve it.” (Kellner, D.M., ‘Technological Revolution, Multiple Literacies, and the Restructuring of Education’, in I. Snyder (ed.), Silicon Literacies: communication, innovation and education in the electronic age, London, 2002, p.166)
Google Images How would you teach the meaning of the word
skyscraper/Gratte ciel?
http://www.google.com/imghp
How about the word
selfish/ĂŠgoĂŻste?
http://www.google.com/imghp
Google images is a great way to illustrate concrete vocabulary words and to give more power to your definitions of abstract words. The principle behind it is that associating meaning to an image is more memorable than just hearing a definition or example. Having the visual and the audio input will certainly enhance your students` comprehension.
Wordle
Click here to use Wordle
Wordle is a website that creates word clouds. In order to use it, you need to install the software QuickTime on your computer. Using it is simple. Just paste the words you want in your word cloud into the text box and the website will prepare it for you. There are several options to make your word clouds more visually attractive.
Wordle in LANGUAGE TEACHING
Taken from Alter Ego 2
In the language classroom, wordle can be used to activate students` schemata, that is, students` prior knowledge of a specific topic. It is an ideal warm-up before reading or listening comprehension activities. In the example below you will see how wordle can be used to introduce a reading comprehension passage. 1. Before showing your students the text above, ask them to look at the word cloud on the previous page and guess the topic of the text they are about to read. 2. Have them discuss the vocabulary in pairs and then guess the main topic of the text 3. Ask your students to add other words to the word cloud. 4. Show them the title of the reading passage above and ask them which words in the word cloud they think will be associated with Men and which words will be associated with Women. 5. Ask them to read the passage in order to confirm their prediction.
Delicious
Delicious in LANGUAGE TEACHING
Click here to use Delicious
What Delicious is an online bookmarking tool that creates lists of specific links and gives you the option to share them with your students and colleagues. When Use it to save your favorite links and websites. Why It is an effective organization tool that gives you quick access to your important links in one single address
Glogster What Glogster can be used in several language projects. It is a platform that enables students to make electronic posters that can contain text, pictures, videos or audio. The posters can be shared on social networking websites such as Facebook.
When For homework, class presentations, when discussing home countries, likes and dislikes, friends, travelling, cultural habits‌ Why Student-centered activity that caters to students with diverse learning styles.
Glogster in LANGUAGE TEACHING
Glogster
Bubbl.us Bubbl.us is a tool that enables students to take part in online brainstorming and mind-mapping activities. It not only helps students get more organized but it enables groups to share and save one another`s brainstorming results and mind-maps without using paper!
Bubbl.us in LANGUAGE TEACHING On American Headway 4 p. 7 the students are supposed to work in groups and make a list of advantages/disadvantages of living abroad. Bubbl.us will help the groups share their ideas with the whole class.
Click here to try Bubbl.us
Real Player
Downloading videos with real player is useful in the following situations:
Your internet connection is not reliable. Your activity or project is very important and will be used many times in the future. You received a video file by e-mail and can’t open it. You want to convert a video file to attach it to a PowerPoint presentation.
One click is all you need to download videos from any website. With Real player you can convert different types of video into almost any format you need. Real Player - Click here to try Real Player
Shutterfly
Click here to try shutterfly
Advantages of having your own website/blog Store lesson plans, images, YouTube videos, links, tests, worksheets, students` assignments, answer keys‌ Organize and manage your courses and store your resources for future use.
PBworks
Click here to try PBworks
PB works is a website that can be used to promote collaboration in distance learning or hybrid courses. Students can download your course syllabus, worksheets, videos, images, lists of links and etc. Share documents, calendars, promote interaction with the use of student-generated videos or through writing, correct homework and give feedback on assignments.
Check how one of our teachers uses PBworks in his classes
Penzu
Click here to try Penzu Use Penzu for journal writing
Journal writing allows students to take risks and experiment with language The goal is to write for meaning, not for form. The teacher is a participant in a written conversation with the students.(short comments/questions are ideal to motivate the students to write more) Grammar errors are not corrected. It is a great tool to assess learners` needs and progress It is consistent with learner-centered instruction Give clear guidelines and prompts! “Describe a perfect vacation” “The qualities that make a best friend are…”
Eyewitness
Click here to try Eyewitness
Why not start your lessons with amazing pictures taken by photo journalists? It is a great way to inform your students of what is happening in the world. You can get your students to describe the pictures, guess where and why they were taken, and write a news story. Show them the piece of news that accompanies the pictures and discuss it in class.
Pixton
Click here to try Pixton
Making comics is an effective way to check whether your students are able to use a language structure in writing. Ask them to create comics to show that they can use verb tenses, phrasal verbs, idioms‌
“Teaching languages effectively means facilitating learning, not transferring knowledge.� Fernando Mesquita