Week 4

With the growing use of English in the world community, English is no longer the language of English people. It has gained the status of an international language not only because it is used as a lingua franca but because people in different parts of the world use as their ‘other tongue’.

Here, I remember a joke:

A mouse, hiding in a hole in the wall, was scared of venturing out where a huge tomcat was poison to catch it.

After an hour, the pouring sounds stopped, and the mouse could only hear the sound of a rooster crowing. I can go out now, the mouse thought. The danger is gone.

Unfortunately, the cat was still patiently waiting for its prey. He pounced on the mouse, gobbled it up and turned to a kitten, saying, “You see, being a bilingual has its advantage.”

This week, we practiced Reading and Writing skills. Reading obviously is a receptive skill because we receive message by reading something. Reading without understanding is just barking at prints and therefore reading involves understanding and comprehension. Similarly, writing is the act of putting down something, which has been spoken, in conventional graphic form.

“ It is only by listening English that you learn to listen English; it is only by speaking English that you learn to speak English; it is only by reading English that you learn to read English;  and it is only by writing English that you learn to write English.”

Next, I made a lesson plan, I can say an electronic lesson plan. It was a new experience for me. I did this task at last because it at first confused me. I did not know what to do. I waited for my friends to post at first. I read them then only could to any thing. I read  many reports and liked the report of Jarek Krajka jkrajka [at] batory.plo.lublin.pl Stefan Batory Pallottine Secondary School (Lublin, Poland) Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznan, Poland). The report was about Using the internet in ESL Writing Instruction.

The last task was of the third step of our project work. This week we had to find out problems. I analyzed my students and could say that my students are very poor at speaking of the second language. They are not confident while speaking and always tried to escape.

“Knowledge should be based on observation and only then the world can restore a truer relationship between observing mind and the observed nature and scientific progress becomes possible. Knowledge should be for the benefit and application to man. The sequence of knowledge should be from observation to understanding the practical application of it.”  -Francis Bacon

As a whole the week was fantastic… I enjoyed a lot and learned a lot….

Aparna

  

Week 3

Every normal human being learns his first language in the few years of his life. He is competent enough to communicate in his language before he goes to school. Some people also learn two or even three languages simultaneously in their childhood. This happens particularly if the community where the child is born and bought up is bilingual or multilingual.  We call first language acquisition and second language learning. First language is acquired unconsciously,  in a normal and the natural way while second language is learned in an artificial situation. The purpose of learning language is to enable the students to communicate in that language. It is essential, therefore, that every second of every language class is directed to equip students with the language skills they really need. According to Haycraft,1978:

"To be able to use the language, to convey thoughts, intentions, wishes, information  etc, a person needs a various elements."

A Picture taken during NELTA international conference

This week we learned about Listening skills. I got to know that only CD ROM is not enough for practicing listening skills. There are a huge number of web sites available from which we can take out task for effective teaching/ learning activity. This time I did so and I took my class to computer lab and we did activities online. Students enjoyed and I found them more curious and creative. As a whole they showed active interest in the role of listening comprehension.

This week I learned many new things which were dream land for me. I only heard about using book marking, never used. I got to know about Delicious.com. And I was proud to bookmark my own site www.aparna.com.np on delicious.com and share the link. This the first time I am using Delicious.com and proudly say that you can find me here https://delicious.com/appudada_aparna

This week I read many reports of my previous students of the course Building Teaching Skills Through the Interactive Web, University of Oregon. I found report of Tendouinde Bruno Nikiema, American Language Center, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and was curious to do some project work as her. Her situation of the class and mine is same. As her class, we are also in the lack of technology in our class room and we have to find out everything by ourselves. We have to take the student to the computer lab to practice language and that is also only when it is our turn.  Many students neither know about  internet nor how to use computers. They are depended on the school for everything. The students are from low class and they can not afford computers at home. I found her very hard working. She first of all made her students able to use computers then use internet then only she started the lesson. Hats off  for her....

Aparna..  
www.aparna.com.np

  

Week 2

The Pulitzer Prize winning writer John Tracy Kidder has stated that "Most teachers have little control over school policy or curriculum or choice of texts or special placement of students, but most have a great deal of autonomy inside the classroom. To a degree shared by only a few other occupations, such as police work, public education rests precariously on the skill and virtue of the people at the bottom of the institutional pyramid"

Week 1

Nepal is a bit behind in using the modern technology. People of rural areas do not access to the computers and they know very less about them, while the people of urban areas who have access seem busy in chatting with the opposite sex rather than using computers for earning knowledge. It is said that educators do not use computers because they may be unfamiliar with the technology and those who are familiar with them have fear that they may not control them properly. Still many are depended on paper and pen for every simple to complex deeds.

It is no doubt that computers may bring varieties in the language classroom if it is used properly. Learners can learn language with fun. They can have rigorous practice as they do not have to be worried about making mistakes, as fear of making mistakes is the main cause that they hesitate to practice the target language in real situation. Students can practice their work in their free times. In the similar way they can test their answers themselves immediately. It encourages the learners to be the active learner and risk taker. In short, students are able to learn many things better and more quickly than in a traditional classroom setting.

Computers are not only helping students, they can also be helpful tool for the language teachers, which can save time, effort, and search reference materials. In searching of reference materials, teaching language websites and blogs have an important role. We can find anything we want in google and other search engines. For me too, creating a blog and being a part of google search is a matter of proud. In the beginning, I used to write on face book and now I am writing on my own blog is something that I had never expected. The all credit goes to the UO AEI, Winter 2013: Webskills. I am proud to post my first blog.....

Aparna
www.aparna.com.np

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