The English vowel system

Summary of the most important methods studied in class

MOST IMPORTANT METHODS STUDIED IN CLASS

As teachers, we have to know different methods and choose those that are the best for our students. I mean, methods that respond to the needs of our students. Because our aim is to obtain a success in the process of teaching-learning but we don’t have to forget that our students must feel motivated in this process.

Not all the methods are bad and not all of them are so good, so we have to do a mix of all methods, choosing those, which are more suitable in our class.

GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD

Long lists of vocabulary items present this method where students can find vocabulary-translation, and phonetics. Lists that students have to memorize. Besides, the explanation of the grammatical rules is in Spanish.

With this method textbooks are fundamental and there is no use of the second language in class except for translation. Moreover, reading and writing is the center of the class no place for listening and speaking

DIRECT METHOD

In this method, wall charts, posters, and visual aids are used in the classroom. The interaction of the classroom was conducted exclusively in the target language. Students listen to songs and play games.  

With this method, only everyday vocabulary and sentences were taught through demonstration, objects and pictures. Teacher emphasize correct pronunciation and grammar, this last one was taught inductively.

Furthermore, there was no translation. Nevertheless, this method could be a little tiring for the teacher because this method implies talking in English and being imaginative all the time during five hours a day, helping your students and checking their mistakes. On the other hand, the Direct method could be a problem for shy students.

AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD

This method is used since the 40’s. Students have to listen and read after the teacher, who is the center of the process teaching-learning. It is important to prevent errors as they can be remembered

One way of practicing this method is making group of students (group, pairs, etc.) doing mechanical oral exercises

COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING

It was created especially for Adult Learners who might fear to appear foolish. The Teacher becomes a language counselor who coordinates, guides, and helps his/her students who work in small groups. In this way, students feel confident.

SUGGESTOPEDIA

The only major linguistic problems in the language classroom are memorization and integration.

The result of the appropriate use of suggestion is an enormous increase in the individual´s ability to learn (Lozanov)

THE SILENT WAY

Teaching should be subordinated to learning and students should be able to use the language for self-expression.

Students become independent by relying on themselves and only the learner can do learning

TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE TPR (LISTEN-WATCH-IMITATE)

Also named Comprehension Approach. The TPR makes use of commands to direct behavior so as to get students to perform an action. The action makes the meaning of the command clear. As we can see with the TPR listening comprehension comes first.

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Summary of the English vowel system

Summary of the English vowel system from Mariam Aaiad

This is the link of the last slide of this presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKzf1GMLUkU

Two easy ways to learn a language

How to learn a foreign language from Mariam Aaiad

In this presentation I show you two easy ways to learn a language. I hope you like it! In the last slide there is a video you can't see, so this is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLSoxZyhau8

Summary of the most important aspects related to the CEFR

Summary of the most important aspects related to the CEFR

The CEFR is a document that provides a common basis with description of objectives, contents and methods, for the elaboration of language syllabuses across Europe.

This document describes what language learners have to learn and what knowledge and skills they have to develop. Besides, the Framework also defines levels of proficiency that allow learners’ progress to be measured.

In the same way, Council of Europe language policy has many aims and objectives. They wanted to achieve greater unity among its members by the adoption of common action in the cultural field. They wanted to convert the diversity from a barrier to communication into a source of mutual enrichment, protecting the languages and cultures in Europe, and promoting European mobility. Indeed, different ways to overcome prejudice and discrimination.

Moreover, this document has general measures. They wanted to ensure that all sections of populations have access to knowledge of the languages of other member states. On the other hand, they wanted to promote and encourage the efforts of teachers and learners at all levels. The CEFR says that it is important to base language teaching and learning on needs, motivations and characteristics of learners, using the appropriate methods and materials, and developing suitable forms and instruments for the evaluating.

In a nutshell, the CEFR has as main objective the European stability and the healthy functioning of democracy.

A teacher of the XXI century in a 2.0 classroom

Nowadays, with the development of the new technologies, we have the weapon to change the education system.

A 2.0 classroom is full of resources which make the process of learning easier. However, it can be a failure if the teacher is not competent, so, how should be the teacher of the XXI century in a 2.0 classroom?

The teacher has to be a competent person, and with the word competent I mean a person who has studied how to work with a 2.0 classroom, making it a success. A person who knows all the resources that internet and other techniques offer him. A person who knowing all the resources, knows which of them are better for his/her students. Because you can have an amazing 2.0 classroom, but if you don’t take into account the needs of your students, your 2.0 classroom will fail.

Teachers can build a good 2.0 classroom with many resources we have learned in class. From my point of view, the basic resource is a blog, it is a way of interpersonal communication, so we can use it to share information with our students, with the parents of our students or even with other teachers and schools. We can include in a blog the contents of our class, activities we do, and the teacher can also give his/her personal opinions, he/she can provide interesting links for his/her students. Anyway, blogs are a good tool in the process of teaching-learning in our education system. 

In the blogs, the teacher can make use of photographs, but as you know, there are pictures with copyright, nevertheless we have the resources to share pictures free of copyright, i.e. flickr cc, www.foto-gratis.es, google advanced image search, among others. In addition, if the teacher want to include some sounds in the blog or in an activity in the class, he/she can make use of www.freesound.org a web page with a wide variety of sounds. 

Another resource the teacher can make use is ‘Hotpotatoes’, which is a set of programs that allows the production of interactive web-based teaching exercises which can be delivered to any computer. The suite consists on six individual programs. It is useful for the teacher because he/she is creating a web page. It can be used by other teachers, other pupils, other schools from different parts of the world. Besides, it can be used everywhere even at students home. 

Furthermore, there are more resources, for example the social networks, they are Web-based services which allow the creation of profiles (public or semipublic) in a service or system. The user decides what he she wants to share and with whom to share and the teacher and his/her students can also make comments, include graphics, photos, videos, links, … So it is a way of interacting and sharing.

Moreover, there are many tools the teacher can use to share and save files, such as P2P file sharing which allows users to access media files such as books music movies and games using a P2P software program that searcher for other connected computers on a P2P networks and locates the desired content.

In the same way, there are resources for the teacher to improve his/her pronunciation, for example if he/she has any doubt with a specific word he/she has just to visit a web page: www.howjsay.com which gives you the real pronunciation of a word pronounced by a native person, not a machine. Talking about the dictionaries, the best one is cambridge on line, it is very complete, it gives you the meaning and also the transcription in two varieties: American English and British English.

These are some resources I wanted to share with you, but obviously there are more of them. It is up to you to keep investigating about your learning.

Analysis of the LOE and LOMCE in relation to TIC

Analysis of the LOE and LOMCE in relation to ICT

I have read both documents and now I have clear some ideas. There are differences but these differences are not so big in relation to the ICT. However the LOMCE gives more emphasis in the use of new technologies.

I haven´t like the Organisation of the LOMCE, because it involves all the areas, since the primary level to ‘bachillerato’ in just a document. And I didn’t like it, I hope they change it because it is just a draft.

The first difference I notice is that in the LOE, there is a general introduction where the document talks about the different competences that there are in some areas, one of them is the ICT competence. This doesn’t happen with the LOMCE, may be because it is a draft. In the LOMCE, the document talks about the ICT competence in each area without a general introduction.

Now, let’s begin with the analysis of both documents, subject by subject:

Environmental sciences

Social and History science

LOE:  In this document, there is just one subject which involves these three sciences.

In relation to the ICT this subject implies:

Handling with word processor

Basic use of the PC

Guiding search in the internet
For example: in history there are activities which imply search for information in the internet, select and organize this information

The LOMCE differs from the LOE in this subject, now we will have two subjects in stead of one: we will have social sciences and environmental sciences.
The LOMCE requires from our pupils different activities:
-Realization of projects
-Presentations of these projects using images and texts
-Search for information in the internet
-Select and organize information

Artistic Education

This subject involves art education and musical education.
In the LOE they talk about technology as a tool in music and art to get our students close to the creation of artistic productions and analysis of the images.
In relation to the ICT, the students have to search for information and select, for example differences between music in England and music in Spain.
On the other hand, students have to do elaborations of images using different techniques and resources

As we know, in the LOMCE, this art education has become an optional subject. Parents will choose whether they want musical education, art education, among others.
In the LOMCE, they emphasize that our students can’t be unaware of the new technologies. We have to use them as a tool of the development of the artistic capacities of the students.
In art education, students have to study the image, take photographs, design posters, etc. Everything related to the handling of improving an image.
In music education for example, students have to search for information about composers.

Physical Education

In the LOE, something which is related to the ICT in this subject, is to teach our students to make a critical valuation of the messages and stereotypes referred to the body coming from the media.

In the LOMCE, they talk about doing a research, elaborating information about an interesting topic, for example, searching information about The Olympic Games.

Education for the citizens (LOE)

Civic Values (LOMCE)

Actually, in this document they don’t name ICT, so they don’t relate ICT with this subject. However, there is a content which is: ‘The knowledge of the rights of the Universal Declaration’. So here, I think the teacher can use the Internet to show the students the most important rights.

In the LOMCE, this subject is optional, and they emphasize the use of the new technologies, for example they ask the students to analyze critically the influence of the advertising about the consumption.

Language

LOE: Use of the ICT so as to search for information and select the most important one. Not only search but also comprehension in order to be used by the students for their oral and written communication.
Students have to make use of the electronic support so as to compose texts.
We also have to take into account that student make use of the internet in their lives, using networks which imply written communication


With the LOMCE our students live in a digital class, this situation gives advantage to the learning of strategies. Thus, they learn to make oral expositions, debates, kind of activities that have to become ordinary activities in our class with the LOMCE.
The curriculum requires from the students:
Write in different supports, for example write an e-mail using PC, or write a letter in a notebook.
Students also have to make use of CDs, internets, camera, etc. in projects.

Foreign language

LOE: From my point of view, I think that the foreign language is the subject where the ICT is more used.
Teachers usually make use of ICT to do activities of dancing, listening to a song. There are also activities of comprehension, for example, there is an audio and students have to listen to the messages.
Materials used: CD’s, DVD’s, Internets, HI-FI, among others.

In the LOMCE we have, the first foreign language which is compulsory, and the second foreign language which is optional.
The use of ICT in both languages is the same.
The English language has to be the vehicle language in class. Where the digital competence is a substantial part in the communicative languages.
Students have to produce simple texts orally and written using different supports.

Mathematics

In the LOE, ICT is in every block of contents. For example, students have to compare numbers, do approximations.  They also have to analyze graphics. Make use of many materials such as ruler, calculator, compass, etc.


In the LOMCE, one of the aspects of this subject is the use of technology tools.
The digital competence is presented in the resolution of a problem, firstly in the processing of information, secondly it is a support for the resolution of the problem and thirdly check the solution.
The LOMCE emphasize the use of ICT, they say it is very important. The handling of materials generate a cerebral activity which make easier the comprehension.
In Maths students make also use of ICT to search information on the internet.


As you can observe the most common activity dealing with the ICT is ‘searching information on the internet’. We are continuously searching for information. This fact makes our learning more active and also interactive.

On the other hand, you can see that in the LOMCE there is more emphasis in the use of ICT. As far as I’m concerned I can’t say that LOMCE is bad in this aspect, completely the opposite, it promotes the use of ICT.¡