Live Internet Video for Language Learning

February 24, 2011

Web-based video is a hot topic in 21st century language education. The Internet offers a cornucopia of options for language students to include video and television in their target language in order to help them learn the language. Researcher Elizabeth Mejia points out that “video” can mean a variety of things including popular films, documentaries, television advertisements, materials produced by textbook companies to accompany their books and accompany classroom instruction, educational broadcast and amateur videos made by teachers and students.

Sites such as YouTube and Vimeo offer educational videos, as well as “how to” videos produced by language teachers and students alike. Students can get tips, study strategies and answers to question through such video sites.

In addition, news sites such as CNN, Deutsche Welle and the BBC offer multilingual live, real-time news casts, available both on television and via the Internet. At the time of this writing, for example, Deutche Welle offered current news in 30 langauges. The BBC has an entire section of its website dedicated to language learning that includes courses, testing and activities all centred around real world news.

Web-based, live video has become an valuable augmentation, and may eventually replace, static video that is stored on tapes and DVDs, as a means to offer studetnts exposure to relevant and current information and content in a multilingual context that connects them to real issues of pressing concern around the globe.

Live Internet video provides a means for language learners to make sense of the world around them, while making sense of the language they want to learn.

Reference

Mejia, Elizabeth. Video in Language Education:  Making News Broadcasts Work for You. Retrieved from http://lookingahead.heinle.com/cnn/mejia.htm

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Marketing Language and Literacy Programs: Focus on the benefits

February 21, 2011

Marketing materials are meant to draw in customers. You want to show them how they’re going to benefit from your program. This does not mean making false promises, but it does mean showing them what they will learn, how they will grow and what they will experience. Consider the difference between these two statements:

Option 1: “Our program is 13 weeks long and we offer classes at the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.”

Option 2: “Whether your level is beginner, intermediate or advanced, we have a 13-week comprehensive program to fit your needs.”

The first statement is a description focused on the program. The second is a persuasive statement focused on how the student benefits from having a comprehensive program at the right level for him or her. It also uses the word “you” more.

Too many educational marketing materials focus on describing programs, rather than highlighting the benefits to the students. Sometimes lots of information is given with no indication to the student that he will actually benefit from any of the services provided.

What do your own materials say? Do they highlight the benefits of your program? If not, now is the time to re-work them.

This post is adapted from “Idea # 13: Focus on the benefits ” in 101 Ways to Market Your Language Program

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Strategy for Learning Vocabulary: Building Confidence with Cognates

February 11, 2011

This week in my adult education Spanish class, we delved into vocabulary building, focusing on cognates. The students enjoyed themselves and “got lost in the learning”.

By the end of the class, they had created their own vocabulary lists and were energized to learn more words. Here’s an overview of the activity:

Define the word “cognate”

Cognates are words that look or sound the same in two or more languages and have the same, or a very similar, meaning.

Give examples of common cognates

For English and Spanish, there are loads of cognates. I chose examples in both masculine and feminine, as well as singular and plural:

el chocolate – the chocolate

la música – the music

los elefantes – the elephants

las naciones – the nations

Give them an authentic language example

Especially with adult learners, what they learn needs to be relevant and useful. Sometimes standard textbooks provide vocabulary that will be of little use to them in their everyday lives. (I mean really, do adults need to know how to say how many pieces of chalk there are in a classroom? Especially in today’s world? And yet, the textbooks we use still have vocabulary such as this in the introductory chapters. I think this is mostly because “that’s how it’s always been done”. From my experience, I can see my learners’ eyes glazing over with boredom when we have to learn vocabulary by rote that really has no relevance to them as working and professional adults who want to travel or do business abroad.

I keep to balance what we need to cover in our textbooks with real life examples of words they might encounter during their travels.

For this activity, I have a selection of magazines in a variety of topics including news, business, science, fashion, home and garden and even mechanics. There are enough magazines so that each student can chose one.

Have them seek and identify cognates

The students are challenged to find as many cognates as they can in their magazine in a given time period. I usually give them 5-10 minutes. I challenge them to find at least 10 new words – and hint that they can probably find 30 or 40, maybe more. Giving them a time limit keeps them on task and focussed.

Record the cognates

Students write down the words they can pick out and recognize. I tell them to add el, la, los, or las in front of the word to remind them of its number and gender. This turns the passive activity of identifying the cognates into an active activity of building their own vocabulary list. The act of writing it down engages them more and personalizes the learning as they build their list.

Share their cognates

Since each person has a different magazine, each will have identified and recorded different words. Once the time is up, students then work in pairs or groups of three to share their magazines and vocabulary lists. Each can add to their own list by learning from their peers.

Large group debrief

Once the students have shared in small groups, we debrief the entire activity reflecting on the process itself, as well as the new vocabulary lists they have built in a short period of time. Students inevitably report heightened feelings of confidence and interest as they find they can identify words from authentic materials. They become aware of the process involved in building their own vocabulary, recognizing that writing the words down will help them remember.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Listening Strategies for Beginning Language Students

February 4, 2011

In my adult Spanish first class of the semester, we listened to the recording of an introductory conversation. Students had the script of the conversation in their book. We followed these steps:

  1. Students read the conversation individually first, reading for meaning and context. They used pictures, their knowledge of cognates and the glossary to help them.
  2. We listened to the recorded conversation on the CD.
  3. Students practiced the conversation in pairs.

This is all pretty typical stuff. Then I challenged my students to practice active listening. I told them we were going to listen to the conversation again and their job wasn’t to listen for meaning. They already understood the conversation from the first few activities. This time I challenged them to:

Listen to the pronunciation of particular consonants and vowels. I modeled the consonants I wanted them to identify and listen to.

Pay attention to the native speakers’ intonation of both sentences and questions, as well as the tone they used. Some of them weren’t sure what intonation was, so I modeled it by raising my voice by saying “You like chocolate ice cream” as a sentence and then by turning it into the incredulous question, “You like chocolate ice cream?!” by changing the intonation and emphasizing the word “chocolate”. I pointed out that the words were the same, it was just my voice that was different. I asked them to listen to how the speakers used their voices in the conversation.

Focus on how the native speakers link words together. I pointed out that one thing that makes people sound fluent is the way they link words and phrases. Beginning language students often sound choppy and unsure of themselves. Learning how to link words together early on builds both skill and confidence.

We listened to the recorded conversation again. I asked them if listening actively made any difference. They nodded. We shared observations and then continued with our practice.

Tips for active listening activities

  1. Ensure they already understand the main idea of the material so they won’t focus on the content.
  2. Give specific instructions on what to listen for.
  3. Model the sounds or language yourself to be sure they understand what to listen for.
  4. Give a limited number of things (3 or 4 are enough) so they don’t get overwhelmed.
  5. Have them share their own observations.

We did this in our first class of the semester. My plan is to incorporate active listening into every class to help them build their communicative skills early on.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

How a Video Yearbook Creates Great Memories & Promotes an ESL Program

January 29, 2011

My friend, Felix Wöhler, Director of English Encounters recently shared his school’s 2010 video yearbook with me. It’s an amazing example of:

  • How to capture excellent memories for your students
  • How to promote a language school with the use of video (without any hint of a hard sales approach)
  • How to use digital media to showcase your work.

Check it out. It’s worth watching. English Encounters 2010 Video Yearbook.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

Comments Off on How a Video Yearbook Creates Great Memories & Promotes an ESL Program | language program administration, marketing, second languages, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

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