The role of technology in language teaching and learning
Eliana Pacheco Fereira
Eliana Pacheco Ferreira has worked for an English Language School called Cultura Inglesa in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for four years now. She presented "The role of technology in teaching and learning" during a teachers' seminar organised by this institution in August 2005. She has been an English, Portuguese and Literature teacher for 23 years. Preferred age groups: kids and teenagers .
E-mail: liapach2000@yahoo.com.br
Menu
Introduction
Lesson Outline
Procedure
Internet resources
Variation
Introduction
I truly believe that language educators should help their learners gain apprenticeship into new
discourse communities by providing them with the tools for their social, cultural and linguistic
exploration, and technology creates opportunities for authentic and meaningful interaction within
and outside the classroom.
What I aimed at showing during the Cultura Inglesa Teachers' Seminar in August - 2005 in
Rio de Janeiro with the activities I selected is that the key to successful use of technology in
language learning lies not only in the hardware or software, but also in the humanware. The role
of the teacher before, during and after the process is crucial. The capacity to plan, design and
implement effective educational activities will lead the learners to develop skills and become more
autonomous. Language learning is an act of creativity, imagination, exploration, expression,
construction and profound social interaction and cultural collaboration. If we use technology,
especially the internet, to fully humanize and enhance this act, rather than to try to automatise it,
we can help bring out the best that human and machine have to offer.
Aim: Practice and Production of Past Tenses and Passives
Procedures
1) Preparation: Brainstorm a list of inventions and discoveries which SS think have changed
people's lives. Get ten up on the board and ask Ss to put them in order
of importance. Which ones could they live without, and which not?
Next, tell Ss to do the following matching activity:
Can you match the person with their invention or discovery?
| 1. Alfred Nobel |
a) Kodak camera |
| 2. Alexander Graham Bell |
b) light bulb |
| 3. Alexander Fleming |
c) dynamite |
| 4. George Eastman |
d) elevator |
| 5. John Logie Baird |
e) radio |
| 6. Thomas Edison |
f) telephone |
| 7. Guglielmo Marconi |
g) television |
| 8. Chester Carlson |
h) penicillin |
| 9. Elisha Otis |
i) photocopier |
Check answers and ask them:
| a) Do you know when these things were invented / discovered? |
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b) Which of them do you think are important? |
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c) Which of them could you do without? |
2) On-line: Pair up Ss and take the inventions and discoveries which Ss thought were
important and distribute them round the groups. Have Ss find more about the
inventor and discovery. Provide them with the net resources
3) Off-line: Ss share what they have found out about the inventors and discoveries. Which one
was the most prolific? Which was the most important?
4) Follow-up: Talk about things that haven't been invented yet, e.g: flying cars, teleportation
and space colonies.
Ask: What would you like to live to see?
What are going to be the most important advances over the coming years?
Working on writing biographies of famous inventors and discoverers can also make a good
follow up activity.
Internet resources:
www.invent.org
www.yahoo.com
www.google.com
Variation
You can also help your Ss to work on environmental problems.
During the PREPARATION stage elicit from the Ss some of the environmental problems we've
been dealing with and list them on the board. Which are the most / least serious ones?
During the ON-LINE stage groups are asked to find more information about one or two problems
and what people in general, scientists and governments have been doing to help the environment.
During the OFF-LINE Ss share what they found out about the problems and solutions.
In the FOLLOW-UP stage Ss give their opinion about what should be done to save our planet.
It's an excellent opportunity Ss have to work on giving advice.
Sites to be visited:
www.greenpeace.org
www.google.com
Please check the Secondary Teaching course at Pilgrims website.
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