My OperaBlog Assisted Language Learning
Sunday, November 28, 2004 2:04:48 PM
A significant part of my prospective work will be about teaching my native language, at least for a few years... This is why a significant part of this blog, from now on, will be dedicated to reflection on language teaching and learning.
An interesting and new tool that can be used in language class is a collective blog. Jason M. Ward, a teacher of English as a foreign language discuss its possible use in an article on the TEFL Web Journal , a journal aimed at helping teachers of English to improve their classroom teaching.
The most important feature of using weblogs in class is disinhibition , that is to say the fact that the illusion of anonymity, when communicating online, reduce public self-awareness and social anxiety, helping develop confidence. Also the possibiliity of peer reviewing enhances student involvment and reflexivity. The fact that they are, at the same time, writers and readers leads to a better understanding of writing as a communicative process. Reading other's works and criticizing it has a feedback on ones own writing that becomes more purposeful.
There are also negative sides to be considered (such as the risks of superficiality in reading and sloppiness in writing) but, on the whole, the author believe in the usefulness of the blog as a teaching and learning tool.
This article was mentioned in Blog-EFL , a blog written by Graham Stanley and Barbara Dieu , teachers of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) in Barcelona and Sao Paulo respectively. This blog is specifically interested in observations and comments on the use of weblogs in English Language Teaching.
Bee has also her own blog called Webhead .
An interesting and new tool that can be used in language class is a collective blog. Jason M. Ward, a teacher of English as a foreign language discuss its possible use in an article on the TEFL Web Journal , a journal aimed at helping teachers of English to improve their classroom teaching.
The most important feature of using weblogs in class is disinhibition , that is to say the fact that the illusion of anonymity, when communicating online, reduce public self-awareness and social anxiety, helping develop confidence. Also the possibiliity of peer reviewing enhances student involvment and reflexivity. The fact that they are, at the same time, writers and readers leads to a better understanding of writing as a communicative process. Reading other's works and criticizing it has a feedback on ones own writing that becomes more purposeful.
There are also negative sides to be considered (such as the risks of superficiality in reading and sloppiness in writing) but, on the whole, the author believe in the usefulness of the blog as a teaching and learning tool.
This article was mentioned in Blog-EFL , a blog written by Graham Stanley and Barbara Dieu , teachers of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) in Barcelona and Sao Paulo respectively. This blog is specifically interested in observations and comments on the use of weblogs in English Language Teaching.
Bee has also her own blog called Webhead .
