English Language Teaching Department L2 Learners’ stories: Evidence from language exchange communities as an autonomous learning tool Cem BALÇIKANLI Gazi University English Language Teaching Department E-mail: balcikanli@gazi.edu.tr The School of Foreign Languages, Gazi University 22.03.2013

Outline 1* Web technologies in language learning 2* Language exchange communities- how they work? 3* The Study 4* Q & A Session

Exclusive Web designer Static In the hands of few One way Static In the hands of few

Collaboration Co-creation Social networks Shared control My Web

Today’s students are Digital Natives (Marc Prensky, 2001) Visual learners Multi-taskers Short attention spans Use technology to express themselves Information analysts Content producers Real-time learners - instant messages. Students today are fundamentally different. Due to the kinds of experiences they have had with interactive technologies their entire lives, they have developed preferences that are different than most of ours. Marc Prensky has given them the title of “Digital Natives.” They are visual learners, multi-taskers, with short attention spans, who use technology to express themselves. They are information analysts, content producers, and real-time learners who prefer instant and text messages. Technology is very important in their lives. They have to turn off their cell phones and put away their iPods. Click on underlined text to watch videos.

Examples of Web 2.0 Technologies

New technologies (self-access multimedia facilities, for instance) provide the practical means whereby learners can take a more active part in decisions involved in learning. The application of new technologies to education, in this context, language education, is altering, obviously, the way we live, we think, we learn and we teach. Raya, M. K. & Fernandez, J. M. P. (2002). Learner Autonomy and New Technologies. Educational Media International.39 (1) 61-68

language exchange communities

Mixxer,

LiveMocha

Worldia

Worldia

The study ELT Department, Gazi University 16 freshmen (Oral Communication Skills) Xlingo, six hours a week ( a semester) Interview

Interview Questions Is it easy to use? Is it interesting?  Why?  Is it good for English practice?  How? How does it contribute to your independent skills? What other special features does it have?

A great contribution to language development I can learn daily expressions through this website (Learner C). Expressions that I see in How I met your mother, Chuck, Two and a half men, and similar shows on CNBC-E, I hear people use them a lot (Student F) Whenever I had some doubts about the use of a particular expression or idiom, I found answers for them at once. For example, once I was trying to come up with an idiomatic expression like “Not even flies come by!” (sinek avlıyoruz). Michael, a friend of mine on xLingo helped me with that (Student B).

A great tool to exercise learner autonomy You can only learn some in class, so tools outside the classroom are important. Xingo helps me learn more English outside the class. More importantly, I do know that I am not as good at pronunciation as I should. To overcome this, I used online dictionaries and other resources that help develop my listening skills as well (Student C) Thanks to this, I feel I have developed more awareness for my learning.

A forum for cultural exchange It was quite interesting to see that we are very similar to each other even though we live far away. I did not know there is an idiomatic expression in English like “he spends money like water (Su gibi para harcıyor). Or, thanksgiving and our bayrams are much too alike (Student G)

A less-threatened environment for language learning Whenever I wanted to speak with a native speaker, something was inhibiting me from doing so. I was looking at them with a blank face, with nothing to say. However, xLingo helped me in a way that reduced my anxiety. It was perhaps because I did not see them. I used to feel relaxed enough to speak (Student I).

Language awareness Authentic Language Exposure Less threatened atmosphere Learner independence Learner interaction

Suggestions Language teachers be introduced to the concept of language exchange communities along with practical applications These communities be integrated into language testing system.

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