Thursday, March 08, 2007

SUMMARY WRITING ASSIGNMENT

LANGUAGE LEARNING GAMES:

According to the article “Language and learning games”, games are a good way for learners to acquire and practice vocabulary, grammar and structures unconsciously, since their attention is not on the language when they play. These games can be used several times a week by teachers to revise certain aspects of the language. In the article, three types of games are mentioned. First, there are number and letter games, with which students can practice numbers and letters not in the ordered way they are learned, but in the way they occur in real life (dates, prices, and so on.). In this kind of games we have bingo, secret messages, prices, and count again. The kind of games that are used to revise vocabulary are called word games, and they are word sets, word building, card scrabble, my shopping basket, anything to declare?, sound chains, letter chains, word associations, and the grammar focus game. Finally, there are speaking games, which allow students to practice both speaking and listening. Also they help students to develop their creativity. These games are what’s my line?, animal, vegetable or mineral?, and chain story. Due to the fact that games are a way to learn a language, they should be prepared taking into account the most important aspects of the lesson the teacher wants to review. They can be easily adapted to any lesson since they can be as long as the teacher wishes; it means that there is a lot of flexibility to prepare them.
"looKing to the future of TESOL teacher education: web-based bulletin board discussions in a methods course"

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to providethe result of a research into the use of a computer Mediated Communication tool in a course of L2 teaching. It compares the discussions with their participation in Web-based Bulletin Board discussion. There were twenty students who participated in this study, thirteen were non-native and seven were native English speakers. The information for the report was gotten using the following instruments: Computer use survey, interview protocolar, videotapes of whole class, face-to-face discussion and transcripts of the Web-based B.B interactions. This is a descriptive investigation, where the students participated in whole class, presented five mini-lessons and finally participated in asynchonous Web-based B.B discussions. the results indicate that the use of these tools in such course helped students to develop knowlege and gave them experience in learning through technology. Finally, the lack of information related to this topic suggest more future researches related to the use of Web-based BB systems in the preparation of TESOL teachers.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

MORE ABOUT PARAPHRASIS:

A paraphrasis is...

  • your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.
  • one legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source.
  • a more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.

Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because...

  • it is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage.
  • it helps you control the temptation to quote too much.
  • the mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

PARAPHRASIS: It is a statement explained in other words or another way, to simplify or clarify its meaning. It can be used to express someone else´s ideas in our words.

IMPORTANCE: It can be used as a replacement for a direct quotation when the original text is unavailable or under copyright restriction.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

My first experence.. using blogger. It was the first time that I got into this website so I did not know what to do. We just followed all the instructions given for teacher Maria Irene, we started filling all the blank spaces with our personal information and then we were part of this community. Now I think it was a good idea to create my page in here because we can meet people, share with friends and make our homework... all at the same time and place!!!