Week 3: Podcasts! A good way of developing listening skills.

Rate: 3

Listening is a fundamental skill that we need to develop in  order to communicate better. Listening has always been taught in a traditional way. Whenever you start learning a new language, the listening skill is developed by playing audios with CD players, which is not a practical way to learn and develop that skill because sometimes to hear an audio in that way is boring for some students.

Nowadays, there is a good method of learning and developing the listening skills of students which is by listening to podcasts. There has been reluctance in  the use of podcast when teaching-learning the listening skills however, when podcast are used by teachers to start developing the students' listening skills those get them acquainted with the language they are learning by listening to native speakers in a natural environment and in situations that are related to the real world.

Students can use podcasts to sharpen their listening skills at any time and by using wherever device they feel more comfortable with making it easier for them to learn.

Week 2: A new method to increase the learning process in an effective way

Rate: 4

When students start to study, it is necessary for them to keep track of their learning process, so they can improve in the areas they are failing and to get autonomy over their studies. A good way they have to keep track of their learning is by self-monitoring their learning progress. They can do it by setting their own learning goals in order for them to know where they are in their learning level and where they need to get to succeed in their studies.

Students can rely on technology (ICT tools) to learn and monitor what they are learning and the level of knowledge they own. It is important as well that teachers infuse technology in the classroom in order to motive students to gain motivation in learning in an autonomous way. The use of ICT tools provide students with a great deal of resources such as: seeing videos, doing exercises to improve their grammar and listening skills, they can practice their reading skills and even their writing skills. If students add ICT tools to their learning process this way, they will learn to be responsible with their own learning, consequently, they will create an effective study habit for their learning process.

Week 1: Integrative CALL- The Key for Language Learning.

Rate: 3

When it comes to teaching and learning, there are a variety of methods and tools that teachers and students alike can use in order to learn a new language. These tools and methods have evolved and changed throughout time due to the constantly evolving world we live in.

From all of those tools and methods used in the teaching-learning process, the one that has been of most use is the Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL). This method went through different teaching-learning stages that were either accepted or rejected but that led to a new perspective on technology and language learning; this new perspective was named Integrative CALL.

Integrative CALL is a method that, as his name states, integrates the various skills of language learning and technology to make it easier for teachers to teach and for students to learn in a more sophisticated and attractive way. With this method students will rely on computers to practice what they learn on each class in a daily basis, dispel any sort of doubts they may have from subjects they have been studying, and look for any information they may need or want to learn about. Consequently, this method will encourage students to self-study and to create their own ways of learning a new language.

Friday, January 26th, 2018