This week I am sharing an idea that goes along with the video and our reading. I'm planning on doing this at the start of next year!

This week we saw Ms. Lightwood's video explaining how to use pictures on a mobile phone to encourage our ELLs to talk. Now, I'd like to share this article about using pictures to spark language development. 

The authors explain how they choose a picture from The Times, remove the caption, and post it in their classrooms on a Monday to have the students analyze and tell what is going on in the photo? (WGOITP) The photo is posted on the white board, so all can see it, and the students have iPads to use google translate in case they need to translate words they want to use into English. They also use an app called Skitch to annotate and draw on the photograph.

Once the students brainstorm on their own, the class shares their thoughts. The teachers make sure the students can back up or provide evidence from the picture to support what they think is going on in this picture. The ideas are all written down on a class T chart that the students can refer back to. 

After the discussion, the students are asked to complete a paragraph telling a claim they can make about the photo, evidence to support their claim, and a question about the photo. This activity is differentiated depending on the level of the ELL. 

After this task is completed, they then write these paragraphs on a blog that other users can add their own comments. This provides even more authentic practice with writing and analytical thinking as they also add their own ideas and comments to other's picture ideas. By Friday, the teachers post the picture, along with comments, onto a poster to share with the classroom!

As a bonus learning activity, the teachers take sentences from the blog with errors in them to teach mini grammar lessons! These learning situations provide very real mistakes that students make and the teacher does not have to "wonder" what grammar points to teach. 

As I said at the beginning, I love this activity and will be planning on using this activity at the start of next school year. 

Leon, C., & Montemagno, M. (2018, March 08). Reader Idea | How to Use Interesting Photos to Help Students Become Better Writers. Retrieved March 15, 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/learning/lesson-plans/reader-idea-how-to-use-interesting-photos-to-help-students-become-better-writers.html

It seems as fast as I was excited about spring, winter showed up again! These storms sure do break up the flow of teaching! 

As I was perusing the alerts this week, I found two articles that have information I want to share with you. One is about a few up and coming language apps I think will be engaging for EL students, and the other is how language technology is trying to be improved.

In the article, 5 language apps on the rise, these start-up apps are destined to help language learners to communicate more efficiently. The first one is Chatterbox. This app's teachers are refugees looking to help others learn their native language. This app is basically online classroom teaching. The second app is called Voice Blox. This app is interesting as it takes your voice frequencies into a 3D form where you can trace it with your finger and adjust your pronunciations (Macaulay, 2018). The third app, Linguisticator, is a memory based language learning app. There are grammar maps that are used to advance the learning of a new language. The fourth app, Lexicum, can be used as a personal word dictionary. Learner's look up words and it then gets stored in the ap for future use. This app will expand the language learner's vocabulary!



The fifth app is the one that I will find most useful! It is Wibbu. Wibbu "makes language learning fun through educational video games that emphasise interaction, engagement and enjoyment" (Macaulay, 2018). Check out this game, Ruby Rei, that the kiddos can learn with while they play! Ruby Rei is the the second language game the company has launched. The first one taught Spanish learners English based on the most common language mistakes.

Here is the trailer to get a glimpse of the game: Ruby Rei Trailer
It looks like just the thing to engage and promote our students into learning their target language, maybe without even realizing it! Do you agree?

Macaulay, T. (2018, March 07). 5 UK language learning and translation startups to watch. Retrieved March 07, 2018, from https://www.techworld.com/picture-gallery/startups/seven-language-learning-translation-startups-watch-3673282/

The second article on Contextual Relevance is pretty interesting! The article found in Media Update states,

"Contextual relevance is a unique challenge for natural language processing. If machines don’t know the context in which language is being used, the meaning of words can be ambiguous. It is this ambiguity that artificial intelligence (AI) seeks to decode through advances in technology, database management, and natural language learning" (2018).

We all know we have sent a text or email and the message may have gotten misconstrued because the context was misunderstood When this occurs, we realize that what we meant to communicate isn't actually what was communicated. Or, we have been at a party and join a conversation late. We quickly become aware that we missed "something" that would help us understand the meaning of the discussion. 

This can also occur with our translation apps and programs. But, this is beginning to change!! Media Update explains, "The different technologies that make up AI are becoming better at storing and sifting through vast amounts of data. This will enable machines to have previous knowledge to draw on to understand the context of used language" (2018). 

Media update. (2018, February 16). What is contextual relevance within language processing? Retrieved March 07, 2018, from https://www.mediaupdate.co.za/media/143410/what-is-contextual-relevance-within-language-processing


Language technology is amazingly on the rise! There were so many articles to choose from this week. I read that developers are trying to teach Alexa to do instant translations to mimic the ear buds that already do this work. I also read how as much as these instant translation devices are fabulous, it still doesn't mean that actual language learning should cease occuring. Studies show that being bilingual or multilingual still provides more opportunities mainly because of personal connections!

ESL teachers, and all teachers who teach language, be proud of what you do, and keep finding the wonderful technology being created to assist you in your passion!
                                       
                                                                    THINK SPRING!

Welcome to March! One of my favorite months for a variety of reasons, but mostly it is because this month typically starts bringing some warm weather to our area! THAT is one thing I ALWAYS look forward to! :)

This week's blog is going to be a review of two podcasts I found that I think are useful for an ESL teacher to gain ideas and hints/tips on how to teach each skill or concept. These would also be beneficial for an older ESL student learning independently!

The first podcast that I would recommend is Learn English with Rachel. This audio podcast is produced by Rachel, and features her husband, David. They are upbeat and have fun music that starts off each podcast. Rachel and David are very natural and free speaking so they make it interesting to listen to them. The majority of the segments are about 30 minutes long, and are on practical topics. Some topics include American slang, American culture, different grammar lessons, and at least one tells the listener about their perspective as a non-native speaker when they were in Italy. 

Here is an example of one of their segments: Diphthongs  One of my favorite points Rachel always makes is how the mouth should look and move when forming many of the different sounds!

A bonus is every segment is available in transcript form for free!! 

The second podcast that I found that was interesting is English 2.0 Podcast. This podcast is hosted by Al Slagle, an English teacher teaching English in Japan. Some of his explanations are based off of the Japanese language, but for the most part, anyone learning English will benefit from each of his segments. Mr. Slagle is engaging in his video and audio podcasts, and most of them are less than 15 minutes long. He goes in-depth into teaching pronunciation. Here is an example: 
fast vs. first

Mr. Slagle has podcasts on interview skills, grammar lessons, and other cultural lessons, such as, making eye contact, and how to make a BAD impression. He conducts interviews with ESL professors and other professionals who work with English language learners. These segments are helpful to an ELL as they give them ideas on such things as college academics, college life, and writing.

Mr. Slagle makes it very clear that podcasts cost money to produce and frequently asks for the listeners/viewers to donate "even $1 a month". 

Unfortunately, the last episode that Rachel had done was at the end of December 2017, and Mr. Slagle's last segment was in August of 2017. I'm hoping that each of them produce new podcasts, but it has been interesting and a learning experience as I have perused through the ones that are available! 

Sit back with your coffee one morning, and click on these podcasts and see what YOU can learn and use in your teaching!!!