Ideally, through “blogs” (acronym of the terms “web” and “log”), students would create content and construct knowledge using the wonders of these publishing tools that abound online. They are free Internet sites which are frequently updated, the latest entry always showing first, allowing the visitor to post comments about the entries. Besides uploading text, users are able to upload material such as “podcasts”, audio and video (Johnson 2008). Even though the concept of blog is relatively new, it has already been overcome by devices like “twitting” and “facebooking”. We definitely believe in the power of blogs to improve students' abilities while learning a language in an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context. However, blogging doesn't simply happen. The word has been spread about the potential of blogging for the language classroom, but there needs to be more than an idea to convince students that they can really profit from this tool on the read/write web. There are numerous options for blogs, depending on the goals set for them. In the EFL setting, one can find blogs for professional development, class blogs, and students' individual blogs, among others. In this sense, unleashing the potential of blogs for language learning will be directly related to teachers' understanding of the pedagogical benefits of such a tool, and the students' perception of its value in their learning process.
The main objective of the course is to help students identify and produce the symbols of the “International Phonetic Alphabet” belonging to RP English, in other words students are expected to acquire an accurate pronunciation of the sounds of the target language. The 8-period subject can be taken in the first term of the first academic year. It is usually attended by 100 students every year and has a staff of about 7 graduate teachers. Although students are encouraged to check the Department of Modern Languages notice-board in order to keep updated from day one, it takes a while for first-years to develop this habit. In other cases, students do not go to college every day because they have a job or simply because they choose to take few subjects. Therefore, in April 2008 the chair of “English Phonetics & Phonology I” opened a blog. This virtual device proved to be an effective communication tool as it cannot be removed from the notice-board like most notices on paper posted by the teacher.
The following useful information is available to the student at:
www.foneticayfonologiainglesa1y2.blogspot. com
· Names, position and e-mail addresses of the teaching staff.
· Course schedule: times for different theoretical, laboratory and practical lessons.
· Mid-term exam dates
· Links to pronunciation practice sites
· Links for downloading phonetic fonts for free
· Links for listening to radio and watching videos in RP English
· Guidelines and submission deadlines for different assignments
· Activities carried out class by class for those students who have missed a lesson
· Comments and questions posted by students
· Topics and bibliography to be discussed in forthcoming lessons
· Optional weekend activities such as pronunciation puzzles, games and tips
We hope to have our own webpage in a near future, as the server we are using at present does not allow us to upload very heavy files like the subject´ s syllabuses, transcriptions using phonetic fonts and articles written by the teacher-researchers of the chair. We also expect to open a “FAQ” (Frequently Asked Questions) section formulated by the students about the essential contents of the subject and also upload sets of self-authored exercises specially suited to fit our students´ needs.
The implementation of new technological devices is not meant to challenge the model that implies the teacher´s centrality, instead it proposes a tool that can enrich his/her job and enable him/her to access better contents (Iaies 2004). This proposal pursues two further goals: to train first-year students to develop a certain degree of autonomy beyond the college premises and to offer them the chance of experiencing learning in a different context appealing to the learning style of each and every student. |
Iaies, G “Introducción a las nuevas tecnologías: el caso Argentina”, en Brunner & Tedesco (comp.) (2004) Las Nuevas tecnologías y el futuro de la educación. Buenos Aires: Paidós.
Johnson, D “Blogging y el especialista en medios”
www.eduteka.org/EspecialistaMedios.php (consulted on 24/04/08)
Litwin, E (comp.) (1995) Tecnología Educativa, Buenos Aires: Paidós. |
