A Travel Blog for Young Learners
Sabrina Bechler, Germany
Sabrina Bechler is a lecturer at the University of Paderborn, Germany. She prepares students for their six-months’ placement in a primary school and supports them during that time. She is also one of the editors of a magazine for primary-school English teachers. E-mail: sabrina.bechler@googlemail.com
Menu
Introduction
Development of an intercultural awareness
Technology in language lessons
Blogs and language learning
A travel blog for children
Creating a blog for and with children
Conclusion
References
This article focuses on using a travel blog for young learners who attend primary school and whose level is A1. First it indicates how intercultural awareness can be developed and briefly shows some possibilities of how to do this with young learners. Then technology as an important tool for language learning is highlighted, to show how media education can take place in language lessons. The appropriateness of blogs for young language learners is made clear, both how they can be used and how they can be created. A concrete example of a travel blog especially aimed at children who are learning English is introduced. It gives insights into other countries and enables intercultural learning. Finally, ideas are presented for creating a blog for and with the children.
Among the competences that language learners develop is - besides language awareness - intercultural awareness. Doyé (1999: 21) sums up cultural awareness in four aspects:
- to arouse interest in culture and the variety of cultures
- to convey knowledge about culture and particular cultures
- to enable learners to analyse and interpret culture-bound behaviour and cultural products
- to improve competence in intercultural behaviour.
In primary school, the children’s cognitive level might not yet allow them to notice, analyse and interpret differences in behaviour. When teaching culture in primary school, Brewster and Ellis (2004: 148) suggest presenting aspects of culture from a child’s perspective, using authentic materials, creating or exploiting authentic situations (such as how an English girl celebrates her birthday), and encouraging the use of skills such as observing, questioning, comparing, reflecting, discussing and researching information.
Typically, intercultural learning takes places through authentic material, such as songs, rhymes, games, stories and fairy tales from English-speaking countries, as well as texts and pictures in textbooks that give an insight into the English-speaking world. Popular topics that can be found in primary school lesson planning and resources, are for example festivals such as Halloween and Thanksgiving, animals in Australia, a school day at an English school, and sights in London. Resources available in German primary schools tend to focus on Great Britain, the USA and Australia – all countries that most children have heard of, know something about already and might have visited themselves (or know someone who has). Other interesting countries in which English plays a major role as a common language (e.g. Ghana, Jamaica, Malta, Hong Kong, Philippines) tend to be given less focus. Considering these other contexts where English plays a role can open the minds of children to new and different places, communities and cultures, as well as to an appreciation of how useful it is to be able to communicate in English.
The reason why technology should play an important role in education is clear. “Younger learners are growing up with technology, and it is a natural and integral part of their lives. For these learners, the use of technology is a way to bring the outside world into the classroom” (Dudeney and Hockly 2008: 7). The experience of many children is often limited to the area where they live, and through technology they can broaden their horizons. Brewster and Ellis (2004: 204) give a survey of the psychological, linguistic, cognitive, social and cultural benefits of using technology in the young learners’ English classroom. To list some examples, technology:
- is fun, motivating, stimulating and provides variety.
- can cater for children with different learning styles, can provide successful learning experiences and develop confidence and positive attitudes to the foreign language and language learning.
- can develop all skills and be used to introduce or revise new words and phrases.
- enables children to maximise their abilities to infer from context.
- develops motor skills, keyboard skills, information and research skills as well as independent learning.
- helps bridge the culture gap by providing background cultural information.
- helps bridge the credibility gap – children see what it’s really like in an English-speaking country.
The most common use of technology will be computers and the internet. Computers are, according to Legutke et al. (2009: 100) “a powerful tool”, because they can be used to access resources (e.g. stories and games), to access peers from other countries (e.g. e-mail ventures) and for learning (e.g. activities for vocabulary practice). Furthermore, it is possible to obtain information through them. The websites that the children visit should carefully be chosen by the teacher, so that they suit the children’s needs. It is essential that the presentation of the site is clear, uncluttered and easy to navigate, that the information provided on it is correct, the source reliable and regularly updated (Read 2007: 263). In addition, attractive visuals or film clips are important, as they support understanding (ibid). Another advantage of using computers and the internet is that the learners can create something themselves and contribute actively to the world-wide web. “Children generally enjoy experimenting with different software programmes, such as PowerPoint or Creative Writer, to produce work they have previously written or prepared in assorted colours, layouts, fonts and page design. This enhances the quality of presentation of their work and can also be a significant support in developing spoken production skills” (ibid: 265). There are strong reasons to combine language learning with technology, and it seems inevitable now that media education is starting to play a bigger role in schools. It will play a significant part in the new curriculum in Berlin that comes into effect in the school year of 2017/2018 and is meant to be developed on an interdisciplinary level.
A blog, short for weblog, is a website that can be used to keep others up to date. For example, this can be done by writing, sharing information, links, photos and videos (cf. Heim and Ritter 2012:145f). There are many different blogs to be found on the internet, including some that are directed at English-language learners to improve their proficiency, and some that are made by language learners themselves to display their work. An important benefit of a blog for language learning is that it is interactive and collaborative. “It is an ideal space for posting thoughts and sharing ideas with others where you are likely to experience the added perk of receiving comments, feedback, support, and maybe even kudos from a community of readers” (Langer de Ramirez 2010: 13). Another advantage is that the learners leave their classroom virtually and acquire experiences that really make use of the foreign language. “By publishing the blog on the Internet, the student has the possibility of writing for readers beyond classmates (…). Readers in turn can comment on what they've read, although blogs can be placed in secured environments as well. Self-publishing encourages ownership and responsibility on the part of students, who may be more thoughtful (in content and structure) if they know they are writing for a real audience” (Godwin-Jones 2003: 13). A survey of research on the use of blogs in English language learning can be found in Aydin (2014).
The children’s motivation can be influenced in a positive way when they create texts and visuals themselves that can be presented on the internet. “The inclusion of photos the children have taken as well as photos of themselves personalizes their work and adds to their motivation and enjoyment (as well as incidentally developing visual observation and photography skills). The polished-looking results of electronically produced work can often lead children to make an increased effort and inspire them to produce more ambitious work” (Read 2007: 265). This can have a great impact on language development and motivate them to participate actively in the online community.
On a travel blog, travellers can document their trips and therefore give insights into other countries and what they have experienced there, raise interest and motivate their readers to travel themselves. The concrete benefits of using travel blogs in English lessons are:
- Getting information: the learners can find out about other countries through texts and photos (intercultural learning).
- Developing reading and writing skills: the learners can read about adventures and comment on the blog entries.
- Producing material: the learners can take photos and create texts for their own blog.
- Creating a blog: the learners can learn how to create content on a blog (media education).
On the internet, there are numerous travel blogs, but it is rare to find one that is especially aimed at children. It is clear that a blog for children should not only be interesting and fun to look at, but also be easy to understand. Ideally, a blog can be started by the teacher to meet the pupils’ needs. It is easy to create and update a bog, and children can be involved actively.
It is easier to use a puppet as the main character on all the trips. It can be used without getting permission from the parents (unlike photos of the children themselves) and can easily be taken anywhere. As an example, Sally’s travel blog is presented here.
Image: Header Sally’s Blog
Sally, the Australian kangaroo, is a character from the textbook Sally (publisher: Oldenbourg). The textbook comes with a hand puppet that teachers can use for interaction with the children. Sally can only understand English, so the children cannot use their mother tongue when communicating with her. The advantage of using a puppet is that different people can take it on holiday and you can get new photos quickly.
The children can visit the blog, look at the photos and read about Sally’s adventures. They can write comments or ask questions which will then be answered by Sally (who is the moderator of the blog). English can be used in an authentic-like context. The children can learn about what the landscape looks like in other countries, famous sights, things you can do there, things you can eat and many other aspects.
One of Sally’s first trips was to Belize. Unlike the other countries in Central America, the official language of Belize is English. The climate and the natural environment are very different to what children from European countries know. Tourists can do a lot of things, so that the language focus is on activities such as sailing, caving, hiking, swimming and snorkelling. The photo below shows an example.
“In this photo, I’m flying in a plane to the Blue Hole.
The water in the hole is dark and deep. It is a natural wonder!”
So far, there are only three countries documented on the blog (Belize, Great Britain and the USA), two of which are countries that are somehow familiar to the children. In the future, there are going to be more trips to countries that the children know less well (e.g. Sri Lanka).
If you don’t already have a (hand) puppet in your class, think about which one would be most suitable. The advantage of a kangaroo is that it is an Australian animal and thus a “native speaker”. It should be an animal that cannot be found in the country where the children live (apart from a zoo). Other options would be for example a (polar) bear or moose from Canada, a racoon from the USA, or a parrot from Australia (a bird can fly everywhere and therefore does not need an aeroplane). It is advisable to choose a puppet that is the size of a baby doll (usually between 35-40 cm), because there are a lot of accessories (e.g. a hat or sunglasses) available for dolls which can also be used for puppets.
You can take the puppet on holiday to an English-speaking country or ask colleagues or friends for help. The photos should show aspects that are age-appropriate and interesting for children. They can also include situations that could take place anywhere, such as the puppet relaxing in the sun or reading a book. This means you can repeat vocabulary that the children already know. When taking photos, try to think about appropriate language as captions. Between one and three sentences should be enough for beginners and the text should be understandable, but also contain new words.
You can create a blog for free on www.wordpress.com. It would be good to create the first blog entry yourself, so that you can show it to the children as an example. To encourage them to leave a message for the puppet, you can ask direct questions that the children can answer.
All entries afterwards can come from you or the children. Whenever children visit an interesting (English-speaking) country, they can take the puppet with them and take photos. The text can be created together with the whole class and the teacher, and a real audience (such as children from other classes or schools) can read the blog.
After having visited or created the blog, you can give printouts of the photos to the children. They can create a photo album or a guide book. With the help of the internet, they can research and find out more about other countries. It is also a good idea to reflect on one's own country and culture to make differences and similarities clear and to understand that differences are normal.
A travel blog makes it possible to leave the classroom virtually and to enter the real world. The children can learn about other countries, improve their language and computer skills. Documenting the travels of a puppet is an age-appropriate way to introduce the children to the “blog” medium. It is easy to use and create, brings a lot of fun for the teacher and children and enhances creativity.
Aydin, S., (2014) The Use of Blogs in Learning English as a Foreign Language, Mevlana International Journal of Education (MIJE), 4(1), 244-259
Brewster, J. & Ellis, G., (2004) The Primary English Teacher’s Guide, 5th impression, Essex: Pearson
Doyé, P., (1999) The Intercultural Dimension: Foreign Language Education in the Primary School, Berlin: Cornelsen
Dudeney, G. & Hockly, N., (2008) How to... Teach English with Technology, 3rd impression, Essex: Pearson
Godwin-Jones, R., (2003) Emerging Technologies. Blogs and Wikis: Environments for On-line Collaboration. Language Learning and Technology, 7(2), 12-16
Heim, K. & Ritter, M., (2012) Teaching English: Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Paderborn: Schöningh
Langer de Ramirez, L., (2010) Empower English Language Learners with Tools from the Web, Thousand Oaks: Corwin
Legutke, M.K., Müller-Hartmann, A., Schocker-v. Ditfurth, M., (2009) Teaching English in the Primary School, Stuttgart: Klett.
Read, C., (2007) 500 Activities for the Primary Classroom, Oxford: Macmillan.
Sally’s Blog. A kangaroo’s trip around the world. www.sallystravelblog.wordpress.com associated to the magazine Sally’s World, published by Oldenbourg
Please check the Practical Uses of Technology in the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Practical Uses of Mobile Technology in the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Methodology & Language for Primary course at Pilgrims website.
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