I've created this blog as a means of communication among second language teachers around the world. The focus will be in English as a Second Language (ESL) and French as a Second Language (FSL) and French Immersion (FI). The goal of this blog is for you to learn easy and cost efficient ways to maximize learning potential when teaching and learning in a second language environment.
Each month will feature a specific teaching or learning strategy of Information Communication in Technology (ICT):
1. How it can be incorporated into a second language learning envirnoment
2. Benefits of using the technical method in the classroom
3. Comments, feedback and suggestions from students, parents and teachers involved in second language learning and ICT's.
It is my goal to have this blog as a means of bilingual (French and English) communication. Please feel free to post your comments, suggestions and feedback in French or English.
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6 comments:
Adrienne
I'm interested in how you might promote your blog to 2nd larnguar learners and their parents.
Petrea
Hi
Do you encourage your Second Language Leaners to participate or are they already self motivated. I teach students that are Arabic 1st Language and English 2nd language and its a constant battle to encourage them to learn English
Shafiek
Thank you for visiting my blog. Second language learning is a battle is its own, but we must keep in mind as teacher, parents and students that lifelong learning is the key to success. For the moment, I will not be involving parents in this blog since my current teaching context is with adult university learners. My goal is to extend this blog to my colleagues in Canada who are teaching in the French Immersion system to give them ideas on how to integrate technology into their classrooms and have the parents of their students become involved in the learning process. Homework activities that involve parents are always great ways for them to get involved, children love it when their parents help them with their work, even if they may not need it. I'd like to eventually start training my students to train their parents and teach them about what they are learning at school.
Motivation of second language learners is sometimes difficult because students find it very hard to communicate and most importantly be themselves. In ESL learning, the students begin with this tiny English person inside them that doesn't understand, and has difficulty communicating their emotions, feelings and opinions. As times passes, this little person becomes bigger and bigger and will eventually become even with their mother tongue language person inside.
I've found that technology does motivate, rather it be children or adults. We need to remember that we are teaching a group of emergent learners who learn very differently. Multitasking and teaching and learning approaches need to be adapted to fit with their learning styles. Check out a great site by Marc Prensky at http://www.marcprensky.com/. I'd recommend reading some of his articles about Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants. It might give you some perspective on our new learners and how to engage them enough to be self motivated learners.
Hi Adrienne. Nice Blog site, very informative. I am quite interested in the motivation principle in second language learning. I teach both English and French as a Second language. English is compulsory but French is chosen as an option. The difference in motivation between the two sets of students is considerable. My French students are far more motivated and thus progress more quickly. I know for a fact that second language learners shy away from speaking for fear of making errors. Reading and writing are usually the strongest skills areas. I feel the idea of an audio blog is an excellent method for encouraging the spoken word in second language learning. Students can record their own blogs without the fear of making a mistake in front of their fellow students. I have also looked at the idea of video diaries in second language learning. Of course posting this videos onto a blogsite is a good place to save them and can allow a student to see how they have improved over time. It also means they can restict access to it if they lack confidence in their language ability or share it with the world if they are confident enough.
Sorry, forgot to put my name at the end. OOPS. Fellow con member, Austen.
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