Blending Computers and English Using Student PowerPoint Presentations Judy Yoneoka Kumamoto Gakuen University

Overview of contents: Third year elective course, seminar style Second semester, 30 students Pedagogy: Learn English through Computers, not Computers through English Overview of contents: Third year elective course, seminar style Second semester, 30 students Pedagogy: Learn English through Computers, not Computers through English

EDUCATION Stand alone CD-ROM programs Stand alone CD-ROM programs CD-ROM dictionaries CD-ROM dictionaries Authoring programs and tools for creation of materials and tests Authoring programs and tools for creation of materials and tests On line English programs, courses and sites On line English programs, courses and sites On line English resources On line English resources On line English educational software On line English educational software

COMMUNICATION and keypals and keypals Chat and game sites Chat and game sites On-line universities, MOOS On-line universities, MOOS 1 way media access 1 way media access 2 way media access 2 way media access

RESEARCH CD-ROM and On-line research databases CD-ROM and On-line research databases Literature resources Literature resources Linguistics resources Linguistics resources Corpus linguistics Corpus linguistics

TOPIC CHOICES % (5)communication % (3)online education 6.6% (2)educational resources 6.6% (2)educational resources % (5) Internet research 16.6% (5)web resources 16.6% (5)web resources 33.3% (10)corpus research 33.3% (10)corpus research

Examples Links to home pages Links to home pages –How to study TOEIC and TOEFL by How to study TOEIC and TOEFL by How to study TOEIC and TOEFL by Use of Excel charts,etc. Use of Excel charts,etc. –Internet Diffusion Rate in China Internet Diffusion Rate in ChinaInternet Diffusion Rate in China Creativity Creativity –Museums on the Web Museums on the WebMuseums on the Web Creativity? Creativity? –Japanese English Research in corpora Japanese English Research in corporaJapanese English Research in corpora

Corpus Studies Corpus Work with CONC Corpus Work with CONC Corpus Work with CONC Corpus Work with CONC MOVIE DATABASE MOVIE DATABASE –Use of “OK" in Recent Movies Use of “OK" in Recent MoviesUse of “OK" in Recent Movies –Use of "fucking" in Trainspotting Use of "fucking" in TrainspottingUse of "fucking" in Trainspotting –Research for Scottish English with Concordance Research for Scottish English with ConcordanceResearch for Scottish English with Concordance JAPANESE LEARNER DATABASE (Complist) JAPANESE LEARNER DATABASE (Complist) –Use of “A” by Japanese Students Use of “A” by Japanese StudentsUse of “A” by Japanese Students OTHER OTHER –Comparative Study of American, British and Australian English Comparative Study of American, British and Australian EnglishComparative Study of American, British and Australian English

Advantages of PowerPoint As an English language/research tool As an English language/research tool –Spelling check, grammar check –Development of organization skills –Especially for corpus studies, made students interested in research As a presentation tool As a presentation tool –Creativity –Motivation –A natural “prop” –Audience can follow easily, lack of “sleepers”

Disadvantages of PowerPoint As an English tool As an English tool –PLAIGARISM –Need to develop discriminatory skills for websites As a presentation tool As a presentation tool –Tendency to read from the slides –Beauty is only skin-deep?

Conclusions A Good First Attempt, BUT the presentations tended to A Good First Attempt, BUT the presentations tended to –lean more towards researching computers than researching English –lean towards on-line rather than off-line applications –need more effective use of notes

And a final note— –The ubiquity of cell phone net and in Japan today »Availability: M-mail/web 95% vs. 41% »Preference: M-mail 87% vs. 9% »Type: Docomo 50+%, AU 30-%, J-phone 20-% (I-mode) (ez-web) (J-sky) (I-mode) (ez-web) (J-sky) –Should the course be renamed “Computers, Internet and English”?