Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ddeubel]

I like to keep abreast and promote multi media and especially cutting edge technological enhancements which help language acquisition.

check this one out . I'd appreciate to know what others think.

http://tvesl.com/

Use the demos yabla offers. Very interactive features, user friendly. I'm awaiting their teacher package which I bought and I'll see how friendly it is, regarding scoring / organizing class use.

I believe that this is the future of language learning, especially this multi sensory, multi modal language immersion. Students must be given opportunities to become self-learners and technology offers them this chance.

DD

[tob55]

I visited the website and it appears to be similar to much of what can be found many places on the Internet. In the instructional industry it would considered the "talking head", i.e. video clips. Yes there are some good clips, but the question is how much it actually instructs. Language should be interactive, not one sided. (Simply giving you the learner or teacher the option to click several icons does not equate to interactivity) NOW, if the company can come up with a way to do that then they have a gold mine in their possession...Just my humble opinion...

[VanIslander]

Technological developments could largely help:

(a) individuals genuinely keen, motivated and disciplined to self-learn
(b) large classes in need of more interest, practice and interactivity, active involvement

but I doubt if it'll do much for

(c) classes of 4-12 students characterized by immediate two-way dynamic communication between teacher and students and students.

The hagwon industry in Korea, and small-class language Institutes worldwide, won't benefit much from technology I bet. I worked at a Jungchul institute where computers, videos and CDs are used, which seemed completely absurd to me, at least for a native English speaking teacher, as a class of 4 to 12 students doesn't need to be mediated by a third party (technology) between the teacher and student, quite the opposite! Direct, frequent, challenging contact is much more necessary, rewarding.

I could out-teach any technological method in a hagwon. But in class sizes of 20 or 40 or more I'd lose out.

[kimchi_pizza]

Well, I just took a look and I think it's pretty good. First thing I look for is, "Is it intersting?". The video clips are interesting. I like how it provides the English and Korean texts and they can be hidden so the focus is solely on listening comprehension. It also does expose learners to authentic, "real" or colloquial English.

I don't think I would use this during actual class instruction, but rather as homework. Students can look up certain terms, but by the time they do so, they would've missed a good segment of the video. So, they will probably have to watch it several times and rewind when they want. I would assign one particular video, have students write down any new/interesting vocabularies and maybe write a short paragraph about the topic. All to be shared during class time.

Drawbacks? It's obviously an Australian site as the slang definitions given are "Australian slang" which isn't really a big deal.

I asked my Korean gf to play with the site just now and she really liked it. She's adult, intermediate level. Her only complaint is that it is an interview so you only have one person talking, not an actual coversation between two parties.

I like it and may use it myself, but only for intermidiate level high school - adult students. I think it'll frustrate and intimidate beginning students...

Ah, btw, this may be the future of ESL instruction but I would never use this or anything similar to this during my classes. English is based on human interaction. They have computers as home or a PC bang. My class time is the only time they can interact with a native English speaker and classmates in an English only environment. I won't allow an electronic device to replace me or my responsibilities as a teacher/instructor.

Still, thanks for the link!

[bosintang]

Interesting link.

I don't think it's interactive enough to be any more meaningful than listening to a bunch of pop songs or watching videos with subtitles; however, I agree that this is the start of the future of EFL. With everyone in Asia trying to learn English, especially China, the native-speaker model is going to be unsustainable and alternatives like this will probably become more popular.

[kimchi story]

That's pretty cool. I checked out the demo and hit Korean as my native language. The dictionary didn't work for me. The 'slow' feature is pretty brilliant. With the dictionary working, this program would be as useful for English speakers studying Korean as for Korean speakers studying English. Thanks for that - I'll keep playing around.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I did the same thing as Kimchi Story and the Hangeul dictionary didn't work for me, either. Basically it looks about on par with dailyenglish.com except most of it isn't for free. Put on a DVD and meant to work with a textbook like Cambridge's interchange series it might provide a very good suppliment, however.

Generally, though, self-learning is a lot like self-training. You can buy all the fancy home gym equipment you want, but if you hardly ever use it you won't be in nearly the shape as someone who has a bench, bar, and dumbbell set and uses them an hour a day.

[insam]

Great gadget for someone learning English in a jungle in Suriname with an internet connection.

[sojourner1]

Classroom multimedia systems are an incredibly powerful teaching/learning tool through bringing information instaneously on screen such as lesson material, videos, and photographs of what your teaching. Classroom multimedia could instaneously increase vocabulary and keep thier attention more effectively through showing what it is your talking about such as with science material.

I do not believe you would ever see technology in a hogwan classroom as ours only has old scratched up white boards and markers while it's one of the most expensive hogwans in my local area. Where I attended college, each classroom had a video projector connected to a computer, DVD player, and VCR for teaching and giving presentations. I was hoping to see at least a few classrooms equipped.

Anyone teaching in hagwon or public school have multimedia equipment in your classrooms? If so, how does it improve your teaching and students learning?

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[ddeubel]

I really appreciate all the forthright views on this teaching tool and the topic in general. Really valuable and heartening to see so many teachers really engaged in the "how" of teaching. Whatever the perspective.

Lots I'd like to comment on but unfortunately, soooo busy professionally. Lots of changes I'm involved in , regarding teacher training in Korea and just exhausted but i'd like to mention two things.

bosintang wrote,

[dogshed]

[chronicpride]

The flaw with that site and others like it, is that its only tailored for the skillsets of listening and comprehension. No speaking, phonetics, reading, etc...Listening, reading, and comprehension are the most readily acquired skills for L2 students, as the online, materials and books market are completely saturated towards it. And those skills are also the easiest for non-native english teachers to teach to students.

Stuff like that is supplementary to a real 4 skills learning environment, but will never embody the future of learning. People once said the same things about prospects of phone teaching, which at least offers speaking opportunities.

[oldfatfarang]

I've got a space-ship English zone. It's a great set up. Six students - at six tables. Every table has a computer/keyboard. There's a large front of class screen - projectors, videos - and a less than perfect sound system (the kids broke their individual headsets in the first 2 days of use).

I use this space-ship for teaching English songs and for watching movies. But for general student-centred communicate teaching - it just isn't as effective as a 'live' teacher using a large whiteboard and a lot of photocopied visuals. Teaching from the screen is slow - places an electronic block between student-teacher interaction - and just teaches the kids to interact with a screen.

Korean teenagers, have already acquired screen and read-and-speak
skills by playing ad nauseum on their cellphones/computers etc. However, their social and communicative skills (in L2) definately need polishing. Most of them can read-and speak from/with a screen - but they simply can't get out of their seats - cross a room - and communicate with another classmate (in L1 or L2).

While teaching from the screen holds the kids' attention - (it's modern/lots of colors etc) it doesn't help them communicate with another human. So on that score - I'd say that multi-media fails. But given the cost saving implications for teaching read-and-speak to extremely large classes, or learners in multiple locations, multi-media probably has a future.

[bosintang]