Does the presentation with Powerpoint help language learning

[yanggr]

hi, everyone,
i have been teaching adult English for almost one year in China. Because many other english language teachers in the university where i worked used Powerpoint to teach vocalbulary, so i followed this way. But i come upon some difficulties:1) it's time-consuming both for me and my students. on the one hand i need much time to prepare the slides which i can otherwise spend on other more beneficial work; on the other hand, it takes students much time to write down the important phrases or sentences i present on the slides. 2) the interactiveness between i and students reduces in this way. Students are busy taking notes so that they do not listen to what i say.
Now i wonder whether the presentation with powerpoint help the language learner much. If the answer is positive, then there must be some way to improve it. Any ideas or suggestions are welcomed, thanks,
yours,
guangrong yang

[emile]

Powerpoint helps if you play to its strengths. For example, if you are teaching vocabulary, Powerpoint allows you to project images onto the board and this enables visual learning. (Most textbooks would love to be full of glossy pictures, but there are space and copyright constraints.)

The other thing is that once you have collected your materials on Powerpoint, it is easily reusable.

If you have an internet connection in the classroom, that's even better, as you can project "google battles" and so on.






my site: www.roadtogrammar.com

[mesmark]

I have seen some Power Point English lessons and while they were impressive, I know it must have taken the teacher a long time to prepare and the net effect on learning was the same.

Just like 'smart toys' the dazzling effects wear off rather quickly and your left with a system with limited function.

Smart toys are those that light up, beep, talk, etc. They seem like great toys in the store but children tire of them much quicker because they have limited defined function. Whereas blocks and regualr dolls are only limited by the child's imagination and have much longer lasting appeal. In my experience the same holds true for children and adults learning English. You can make it as flashy as you want but in the end they still need to sit down and study.

A power point lesson is very rigid and doesn't allow for flexibility. However, showing pictures and writing on the board offers much greater flexibilty for the teacher.

I'm not against it. I think it's a great way to catch students attention and break away from the norm, but if used regularly I think you'll see decrease effectiveness and limit yourself as a teacher.

Every style suits each teacher differently. I'm sure that some teachers can pull off an all power point course if it suits them. If it suits you well and is effective, I would do it, but if not, I don't think you need to force it into your rutine.

I hope that helps.

- Mark
www.mes-english.com

[moonchild7903]

Multimedia and technology certainly have a place in language learning and teaching provided that they are used correctly. Some studies show, however, that too much multimedia make for a shorter attention span. While teaching university students, I found that a whiteboard and marker or chalk and chalkboard are more effective for lectures and I can more easily sustain my students' attention because they are required to follow me and my writing.

On occasions that I need the powerpoint, especially for sample paragraphs (I teach a writing class) and other concepts, I make sure to cover the projector whenever I have something to say and show them the slide only when I want their attention on the slide. Also, I never put too much information on the slide because it distracts the learners

[Superhal]

Currently, there is no research that says using CALL is better than not using it. In almost every case, the students react positively in the beginning because of "the novelty effect" but their acquisition is usually equal to or lower than control groups.

[Zailawati Abdul Wahab]

Hi there,

Most of my lecturers in my university used powerpoint in their lecture. Some of them have succesfully manipulated the powerpoint as one of their teaching tools while the others fully dependent on the powerpoint presentation. In my opinion it is up to the teacher's creativity to use the powerpoint in their teaching. In teaching vocabulary I think it is very usefull to use powerpoint as we can import attractive pictures and use the animation effect in the powerpoint. As for the time that we spend to prepare the slide, it is worth it as we can use them again in the future. But don't put too much information in the powerpoint because your students will not give their attention to what you are going to say.

[mesmark]

Another good arguement for "What you use is not as important as how and why you use them."

[cnu_chw]

I do think that PowerPoint can help a lot in language teaching and learning as long as the teacher use it proparly. Powerpoint presentation can make the class teaching interesting. It can help catch the students' attention with the help of some vivid and propar pictures or sounds. Thus students may be more impressed and remember the vocabulary or sentence patterns easily and can keep the memory longer. It can also help developing the overall ability of the language the students are studying. The teacher can create some activities for students by use of Powerpoint so that they can not only practise listening, but also speaking and writing in class. Powerpoints can be used not only for whole class presentations but also for reviews. I think reviewing by using of Powerpoint can be very effective. Good presentations may take time to produce or adapt, but they can be shared and used year after year. Powerpoints are easy to preserve and modify. So in a long run, it is not consuming of time but saving time. I think that using powerpoint is a good way of teaching. But there may be some dangers in using it, teachers should be very careful when making a powerpoint.

[Sonia]

Hello:

I am currently teaching at a private university and undergoing my MA. I was interested in presenting a thesis in the area of CALL. Somehow, I was interested in how computers (mostly the use of power point could assist in TEFL. I became demotivated because I found that in my workplace EVERYONE uses powerpoint presentations! I decided I would not present anything new. After reading these discussions I have decided to retake this topic considering I can research the pros and the cons of power point presentations in the language class. This may be new for everyone in my workplace! I hope you would somehow cooperate with my work. I would as well aid you in investigating this interest area you are asking for assistance in. I have to present my thesis in 2 more years so this gives me plenty research time.

[eslweb]

At an elementary level I found PowerPoint very useful, because I had private tuition and I used my laptop to show pictures of vocabulary.

She was able to see the picture, then I could tell her the word and she was able to get the meaning and the pronunciation before I showed the spelling.

I found these lessons very quick to prepare, because I used Google images before the lessons and just copied and pasted them in. There's a sample on my Webpage: http://www.jamesabela.co.uk/beginner/
(I couldn't include the rest, because some of the images were copyright)

I could then go back through the lesson again and she was quite happy to use them as flash cards and I am sure her retention was much better because of it.

James

P.S. In Business English, I think that PowerPoint is expected, particularly for high-profile clients...

[!!SexyBaby]

excellent!!

[Palmira Pereira]

We belive powerpoints are useful and motivating for both students and teachers. They are also time-consuming for the latter. but once created, they can be reused later on. or easily recycled. It seems to us they can also be highly profitable when used in more advanced levels as their preparation may not be so rigid or restrictive. Yet, like in everything else, too much is too much!!

Palmira Pereira
Elisabete Gomes

[kisi]

Hi there,
In China where I teach, you have to deal with large classes of about 40-80 students. Luckily most of these classrooms are well-equipped with overhead projectors and computers. It is funny that teachers seldom use them. Then I started developing PowerPoint assisted lessons which soon became popular among other teachers and greatly eased teaching.
I went an extra mile to develop PowerPoint videos for students to study by themselves and for my one-to-one private teaching. Check them out on my site at www.englishmedialab.com. Great homework companions too for your students .
Technology is a great friend in modern teaching and I use it often. Think about your student who comes to class with some modern gadget like gameboys and distracts himself with while you teach. These are some pointers to the fact that teachers must put technology to use in the classroom to keep their students keen. Too much of anything can be a disease, so don't rely too much on one brilliant thing. Or if you have no choice but to rely on it, be more creative such that every time it looks new.
See how I use computer interactive quizzes, PowerPoint, ppt videos wherever I teach, Check out- www.englishmedialab.com and www.esl-galaxy.com/ Also I understand that they can be time consuming to make. But on these two sites I think I have done much of the work for you. I also have resources on my laptop which I can share if you ask nicely ha!
However I must warn that as brilliant as modern technology can turn out to be, it only works if creatively used and can also be disappointing when hardware fails. So you must have back up.
I adapt popular games and do them with students in class. Need help with these things check out my two sites or contact me.
Cheers!!
Kisi
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[alanfoo]

Hello:

I am currently teaching at a private university and undergoing my MA. I was interested in presenting a thesis in the area of CALL. Somehow, I was interested in how computers (mostly the use of power point could assist in TEFL. I became demotivated because I found that in my workplace EVERYONE uses powerpoint presentations! I decided I would not present anything new. After reading these discussions I have decided to retake this topic considering I can research the pros and the cons of power point presentations in the language class. This may be new for everyone in my workplace! I hope you would somehow cooperate with my work. I would as well aid you in investigating this interest area you are asking for assistance in. I have to present my thesis in 2 more years so this gives me plenty research time.

We have just introduced a new platform that allows teachers to easily create digital interactive homework/tutorial and copy them in DISKETTES and take home to do their homework!

That is ideal follow up after the powerpoint presentations in class.

Check it out ...at www.paperlesshomework.com

It good for your research.

Few have this kind of solution - yet to find one anyway.

IT overcomes the three main platforms 1.paper - non interactive
2. online - must have Internet
3. CD ROMs...too localized and expensive to distribute like your powerpoints

AGE is interactive, online and offline, globalised and dirt cheap to produce and maintain.

Cheers.

Regards
Alan

[cloudcafe928]

I suggest you give students handouts which contain important words or phrases when you use PowerPoint in your presentation. Since you teach in China, I guess that you may have to teach 40 to 50 students in a class. If your goal is to enhance students' vocabulary ability, handouts will be very useful for students to review (or momorize) the content in class. Then, you may be able to encourage students to pay more attention to your teaching in class.