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rtm
Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 1003 Location: US
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 6:20 am Post subject: |
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suphanburi wrote: |
Not meaning to pick on you but what pray tell is "standard English"?. |
I purposefully left it undefined precisely because there are many varieties that one could consider 'standard', not a single standard, of course. To be more specific, I meant the varieties whose native-speakers are, currently, often valued over others as TEFL teachers (you can interpret that as you wish, as it, again, would depend on the context). |
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dackinator
Joined: 17 Sep 2010 Posts: 105
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 1:35 pm Post subject: |
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I expect more and more aspects of learning English to happen online.
Not just supplementary things like course enrolment or class blogs, but core activities like grammar learning, evaluations & feedback, and even communication practice.
Anyone living in Asia can see this happening already at the big budget schools such as Wall Street English. Students book classes on their smartphones, download vocab practice to complete pre-class, etc.
There's also a lot of potential for schools to develop social networks for students to interact on, building friendships and ultimately increasing the likelyhood they will re-enrol on the next course.
I expect this area to expand greatly in the next few years, at least in high-tech countries. |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 11061 Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 9:12 pm Post subject: |
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I think the opposite.
While the techie stuff is attractive to more shallow learners, and teachers, there is no getting away from the hard reality of slogging through language learning. Whether it is a paper book or app, learners have to make serious mental effort. So, social networks and the like will simply lose their sheen as soon as learners realise they still have to work ... |
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suphanburi
Joined: 20 Mar 2014 Posts: 916
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 2:25 am Post subject: |
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I don't think it is so much about the "sheen" as it is the engagement.
IF students are engaged then they will learn.
The focus is shifted from the "teaching" to the "learning" and more practical components of said learning.
It is easier to "slog" though the process of learning L2 when there is a reason (communication) to use L2. The more it is used the better the skill becomes.
Digital media just becomes one more tool in our toolbox. Whether a teacher chooses to use it effectively is a teacher matter not a tech matter (I know lots of teachers who don't use books very well either).
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 11061 Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 4:47 am Post subject: |
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It is still just bells and whistles though. The tech itself doesn't shift any focus from teaching to learning, nor does it provide any extra reason for learning. And no matter how any of this techie stuff is used, I have yet to see it making much difference to learning. I'd even go so far as to say it can be detrimental to the learning process. Look at the appalling electronic translators out there now. Very often inaccurate, they also have another black mark against them: they have distracted learners from real, paper, dictionaries. For it is by using the latter that learners seemed to remember new vocabulary. With the former, they just remember where to access it online.
Wouldn't be guided by what Wall St or other chains get up to in this regard... |
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MuscatGary
Joined: 03 Jun 2013 Posts: 1364 Location: Flying around the ME...
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 5:09 am Post subject: |
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I find the techie stuff useful in large, mixed ability classes. I often introduce a topic using chalk and talk and then get them to work through some interactive exercises, crosswords, gap-fill, matching, jumbled sentences, multiple choice quizzes on their laptops. The beauty for me is that they can work at their own pace and I can wander round and help the less able. The main issue is that the e-learning has to be relevant and well prepared. |
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fat_chris
Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 5:11 am Post subject: |
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I second Comrade Sasha's words. Bell and whistles. Nice but good, hard slogging it out is the way to get ahead in language teaching and learning. It's nice to have a familiarity with some of the tech and be aware of what's out there, but I still am "old school" (whatever that means) when it comes to language teaching and learning.
With that being said, just yesterday I conducted my first-ever online presentation. I found the whole experience to be a bit surreal. I just yelled into my computer screen and flipped through my PowerPoint presentation while a room full of teachers hundreds of miles away followed along. I have no idea what they look like, I couldn't see 'em. It could have been the Greater Duluth Rotary Club for all I know.
Warm regards,
fat_chris |
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suphanburi
Joined: 20 Mar 2014 Posts: 916
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 5:15 am Post subject: |
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Sashadroogie wrote: |
It is still just bells and whistles though. The tech itself doesn't shift any focus from teaching to learning, nor does it provide any extra reason for learning. And no matter how any of this techie stuff is used, I have yet to see it making much difference to learning. I'd even go so far as to say it can be detrimental to the learning process. Look at the appalling electronic translators out there now. Very often inaccurate, they also have another black mark against them: they have distracted learners from real, paper, dictionaries. For it is by using the latter that learners seemed to remember new vocabulary. With the former, they just remember where to access it online.
Wouldn't be guided by what Wall St or other chains get up to in this regard... |
Is it really just bells and whistles or something different going on?
Back in the late '70s my TRS-80 was a bell 'n whistle.
My mother told me to put my toy away, quite writing software for it and get back to my real homework.
(I spend the 80's and 90's working in IT (doing ERP as an SAP consultant).
Now, you are hard pressed to find a household or business without a computer of some form.
Bell and whistle, solution looking for a place to happen or something transformational in how we do what we do?
I guess it is all just a matter of perspective.
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 11061 Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 6:51 am Post subject: |
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No. Nothing new is going on. Sure, IT is changing many aspects of our lives. What a truism! But the idea that it will somehow unlock the mysteries of language learning, transform the process of learning, turn out millions of fluent students who previously couldn't make any progress - this is going to disappoint many. It won't do any of these things for the simple reason it can't. It would be like thinking Twitter will ensure freedom of speech and democratise the world. Nothing but naivety, and wishful thinking, based on nothing remotely related to reality.
Sorry, can't type too much. Don't have the time. I've just bought a shiny new synthesizer, and want to compose my new symphony. Could never master scales on my outdated piano, but that wasn't my fault. I wasn't engaged. And writing music on paper is so old school these days. There's an app for harmony and counterpoint you know? |
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fat_chris
Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 7:28 am Post subject: |
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suphanburi wrote: |
I don't think it is so much about the "sheen" as it is the engagement. |
Charlie has Sheen! Not sure if he's seeing anybody and when the engagement is though.
Oh wait! STOP THE PRESSES! http://perezhilton.com/2014-05-11-charlie-sheen-porn-star-fiance-changes-name#.U3HKZsaeduY
I think Charlie Sheen stole Sashadroogie's t-shirt--maybe not, on Sasha's t-shirt there is a picture of Karl Marx (and definitely not a photo of Trotsky...hmmpf!).
Warm regards,
fat_chris |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 11061 Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 9:05 am Post subject: |
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The future is Red!! |
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fat_chris
Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 10:41 am Post subject: |
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Sashadroogie wrote: |
The future is Red!! |
I'm seein' Red!
Warm regards,
fat_chris |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 3:31 am Post subject: |
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With TEFL opportunities shrinking for those lacking at least a bachelor's degree, do you see employers (and/or visa regs) getting picky about the degree major for those who do hold a BA? This seems to be a growing, albeit sporadic trend for employers in Saudi Arabia, for example, who, just a year or so ago, accepted unrelated BAs without blinking. However, there have been posts in the Saudi forum about "unqualified" teachers being given the boot because the universities these teachers were assigned to were displeased with their academic credentials. (These teachers had been employed with various contracting companies that provide staffing needs to university EFL programs.)
What does the future hold for those with bachelor's degrees in history, religious studies, computer science, Russian literature, etc., in terms of scoring and keeping an entry-level job in TEFL in your neck of the woods? |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 11061 Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 4:34 am Post subject: |
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Hard to say. In Russia, one can teach on a 'teacher' visa, or on a work visa. The regulations frequently change, but it is usually possible to meet the requirements of one or the other, from one year to the next. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 5:57 am Post subject: |
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Quote: |
With TEFL opportunities shrinking for those lacking at least a bachelor's degree, do you see employers (and/or visa regs) getting picky about the degree major for those who do hold a BA? |
Probably not really a factor in Central/Eastern Europe, mainly because pay is subsistence level for run-of-the-mill TEFL cert + BA teachers. I don't think many employers are going to be able to demand related BAs for jobs that barely pay enough to live frugally. |
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