| ˇˇHaz click
sobre la cara!! =>
Click our friend!! => |
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By Isabel Pérez Torres
In my experience, using computers in the English classroom - and particularly word processors -motivates students because we apply for their participation and creativity, especially when they have to perform tasks that imply more than one action. Most of them want to show their abilities in using new technology and that extends to the English tasks they have to carry out.
You have probably heard of theories of Multiple Intelligences, as well as Neuro Linguistic Programming related to the learning process. These are established on the basis that we learn better when the process implies the use of multiple senses. Considering these theories, when we ask the students to do exercises by using a word processor we are offering them the opportunity of using more than one sense, and showing their abilities in varied ways. I think bodily and visual learners are the ones that benefit more from using word processors. Let us consider a few reasons to support this: typing makes [1]kinaesthetic learners learn easily as it implies the sense of touch. The use of colours, varied fonts and other facilities of a word processor attracts the attention of visual learners and helps them to fix what they learn better; even the sound of the keys when typing can help those students with well developed auditory skills.
Bearing the use of multiple senses in mind, this paper will deal with the practical possibilities that a word processor offers to carry out activities, from very simple to more complex ones. I will exemplify this with some sessions ordered according to complexity of the functions and tasks that students have to perform. I have planned the activities in the context of a secondary English lesson with students from the first cycle of ESO to higher levels.
I would refer you to the first part of this paper, published in the previous issue, to understand this second part better. There I stated the general implications and facts about the use of a word processor in the English classroom, and gave examples of activities mainly related to learning vocabulary. But, to introduce this second part, I will summarize some basic ideas to keep in mind:
- The main objective is to allow students to put into practice their reading and writing skills; using a word processor implies manipulating the language quite freely. Students become more autonomous and have no fear to fail, as it is easier to correct or change the answers.
- The activities and exercises should be connected to the curriculum; the tasks will mainly involve revising language aspects, introducing new ones and correcting mistakes. It is important that students know how to use the main functions of a word processor.
- Instructions on what students have to do or not to do must be clear. They also must feel confident with the activity they have to carry out, so that they don’t feel frustrated, because that would be contrary to our aim. They will usually work in pairs, which will permit collaboration in many senses.
The activities that can be carried out by means of a word processor can be as simple as recognizing morphological terms or as complex as completing or writing texts. I will now suggest some possible tasks in order of complexity and listed below each of the three actions that I consider basic:
· Modifying:
- Substituting information, grammatical, morphological or lexical elements
- Correcting mistakes of any matter kind
- Changing the text with new information or a different point of view
· Comprehending:
- Choosing the right answer once after reading the text
- Filling tables with morphological, grammatical or lexical elements
- Ordering sentences, paragraphs or any other discourse elements
- Skimming and scanning information for answering questions
· Producing:
- Filling texts with morphological, grammatical or lexical elements given or not given
- Completing sentences, dialogues, stories, etc.
- Summarizing or amplifying a sentence or a text
- Writing text according to a given model or as an answer to another text
Finally, I will show you some examples of activities with a different grade of complexity from simple to more complicated:
Aim To recognize verb forms and revise different verb tenses. To produce sentences according to the models.
Material List of mixed up sentences written by the teacher or a student, copied or not from a text or grammar book. (Picture1)
Procedure and Tasks This activity is simple and short. The students need to know how to draw text from one part to another and how to change font colours. (Picture1b)
· Working in pairs or individually, students will go through a list of sentences with different verb tenses that are mixed up. First, when they recognize the verb tenses, they have to turn them into the colour proposed by the exercise for each verb tense. When they finish colouring the verbs they have to place the sentences under the corresponding verb tense headline.
· The teacher goes around the classroom checking the students’ work and helping them in case of any problems or doubts.
· The students have to add two more sentences to each group about themselves.
Picture 1
Picture 1b
Procedures and Tasks The students need to know how to highlight, delete and replace parts of the text.
· Firstly, they highlight the words or parts of the sentence that they think are wrong
· Secondly, they copy and paste all the sentences with the mistakes already highlighted at the end of the document.
· In this copy they replace the highlighted parts with the right uses, in bold or using the same font colour for the corrections.
· The teacher goes around checking the students’ corrections and offering them help if they are wrong.
Comments This activity is more complicated than activity 1 because it involves more elements: pronouns, verbs, nouns, etc. The mistakes can be of any kind, providing that they are common. The reason for copying and pasting the sentences once the mistakes have been highlighted, but not corrected, is that it is possible that the students are wrong in finding the mistakes and have to go back to the original sentence. Students usually like correcting mistakes this way a lot, in any case, there is a big difference in their attitude towards traditional correction on their notebook and this new way on the word processor. It can be done with any students because the level of the sentences will depend on their own level.
Material The text comes from a penpal site in the Internet. The teacher has copied and pasted the messages he/she finds appropriate for his/her class.
Procedures and Tasks The students need to know how to highlight text, use bold and colours, copy and paste text from one part of the text to the table. They also need to know how to look words up in the electronic dictionary previously installed in the computer, for them this is easier than using a paper dictionary. They will have a document with around ten messages (Picture 3 shows part of it) and will do the exercises that will be after the messages and you have in picture 3b.
Comments The complexity of the activity falls on the multiple tasks students have to perform and also in the fact that they have to be able to write their own text. Production is always a difficult task for students even if it is guided. Depending on the students’ level, this activity can be carried out in one or two sessions. I have to add again that they enjoy using the electronic dictionary more than the paper one.
Picture 3b
Post-activities summarise Ask the students to write a short composition telling a story they know that may be similar to this one. They can type it on the word processor if they finish soon with the previous tasks, or on a paper or word document at home.
Conclusions
As I said in Part one, word processor programmes do not require sophisticated computer rooms and the majority of teachers can use them. Besides, the activities do not have to be different from the habitual ones in textbooks; for this reason, I suggest you start using word processor programmes in your language classroom.
But there are some more convincing reasons for carrying out these type of activities, like for example: the time usually passes more quickly and students are more concentrated on the tasks and, surprisingly, they want to finish the tasks before the lesson ends. As you can see, what they do in these sessions is more entertaining, they move, they use colours, they correct themselves, they talk and you don’t mind etc. This takes us back to the Multiple Intelligence theory. I think that in a traditional lesson students also use all their senses and imagination, but each sense is paying attention to something different. For example: they may be talking to their classmate about last night, tapping the pen on the table, trying to listen to the teacher, drawing a picture on the book. Whereas, when they are working in a session with computers in general and with a word processor in particular, they tend to concentrate their senses at one time to do the tasks requested and, in my opinion, that means a difference in the learning process.
Isabel Pérez Torres es actualmente profesora en el IES “Isaac Albéniz” de Málaga
References
Revell, J & Norman,S (1997)In Your Hands:NLP in ELT, Saffire Press
Warschauer, M (1996) Motivational Aspects of Using Computers for writing and Communication, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center
Bennet, F (1999) Computers as Tutor: Solving the Crisis in Education Faben, Inc
Eyman, D. A. (1995). Hypertextual Collaboration in the Computer-Assisted Composition Classroom: An Introduction to Computer-Mediated Communication Pedagogy from http://localsonly.wilmington.net/~eymand/thesis.html