Instructional Techologies in the Language Classroom

[Maria Bicbic]

A pleasant day to all!

With the advent of science and technology, are we, the language teachers, finding ourselves more effective and efficient in teaching English with the use of more sophisticated instructional materials?

To what degree are our methodologies and techniques better than to what we call "traditional'?

How are your students responding to these new IT and has this made them better communicators of the L2?

Thanks!

Language teachers are the best!!

[Tdol]

If you take a site like this, most of the traffic comes from individual learners coming here, so there is a huge demand from learners for English through IT, which makes them more independent learners. However, assessing the degree and success of their learning is a different question altogether, as they come here without assessment, except self-assessment.

[Anna Xpomoba]

Thanks to technological progress, not native teachers can get more information about the language!

In my point of view it's great to use new technologies such as internet sites, DVDs with movies and songs, computer programms, etc. for teaching

To my mind it makes lessons more exciting and efficient. Students become more motivated.

I enjoy the way of science progess influences teaching English.
It's just more interesting to learn and to teach this way!

[Tdol]

When I started teaching in the 1980s, my knowledge of American English was restricted to a few list of differences in vocabulary, but the internet put me in daily contact with American and other speakers and my knowledge grew considerably. I agree with Anna- the internet puts native and non-native speakers in regular contact and enables them to learn and teach each other. I learn a lot of from non-native speakers and hope it's not a one-way traffic.

[Maria Bicbic]

It seems that we are enjoying the use of IT a lot! Indeed, language teaching is more enjoyable now with these materials at hand.

By the way, any of you who use software with Multiple Intelligence in TESL?
If so, what are your experiences with this?

Thanks!

[Tdol]

The variety of stuff available will cater for this in many ways, but the only experience I have had of saftware that claimed directly to deal with multiple intelligances was something that was supposed to tell us what our learning preferences were, but the students I tried it on were not greatly impressed with the results.

[beauty3]

Sorry I have been able to participate for quite awhile. This is because I was on Maternity Leave. Well, now I am ready to work.

Instructional Technologies in language classroom have been a very good development. One can use IT development in teaching grammar in the L2 environment and it will be effective. Also IT can help in the teaching of register and essay development.

Is there any IT for handwriting? Some of my students can't write legibly. They don't see anything wrong with their handwriting.Is there any IT that can help students to organise their flow of thought in essay writing under exam condition?

How can we teach Literature effectively so that the student will be able to appreciate a text easily?

[Tdol]

There are e-raters: SAGrader - Computerized Essay Grading