Faculdade de Letras Lisboa, 31Março - 4 Abril 2003 VII Jornadas UNIL Multimédia e Aprendizagem das Línguas

Online communication tools that facilitate interaction in the foreign language classroom Teresa Almeida d'Eça Lisbon, 4 April 2003

Part 1: Synchronous communication tools Part 2: Meet the Webheads in Action

Lisbon, 4 April 2003 "Communication is the key to education, understanding and peace." (James Bryce) "Language is a powerful means to communicate... [that] has proven to be a superior tool toward... help[ing] others reach higher states of knowledge." (Lynne T. Diaz-Rico)

ONLINE COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION (CMC) synchronous two-way communication = CHAT dependent on time management (due to time zones) Yahoo Messenger Tapped In Wimba Voice Direct asynchronous two-way communication = independent of time and place management Lisbon, 4 April 2003

GETTING A YAHOO ID go to click on 'Sign up now' complete the form form submit it have free access to all Yahoo personalized services chat at Yahoo Messenger joining a group starting a new group Lisbon, 4 April 2003

STARTING A NEW GROUP go to click on 'Start a new Group' choose the appropriate categories Schools & Education Distance Learning Place my group in Distance Learning fill in requested fields & submit the form Lisbon, 4 April 2003

JOINING A GROUP go to click on 'Join a Group' choose the appropriate categories Schools & Education Distance Learning View Distance Learning Groups choose a group fill in the form & submit it Lisbon, 4 April 2003

COMMUNICATIONS CENTER Lisbon, 4 April 2003 CHAT (YMessenger)MESSAGES ( ) FilesCalendar Photos MembersLinks Database

YAHOO MESSENGER a text and voice chat environment go to click on 'Get it now' to download software follow step-by-step installation start chatting with friends immediately! Lisbon, 4 April 2003

LOGIN click on the icon in the status bar or desktop window you see during connecting process Lisbon, 4 April 2003

this window opens (first time, without list of friends) you are ready to start chatting with whoever is online Lisbon, 4 April 2003

YAHOO MESSENGER FEATURES send an instant message = start a one-on-one chat call a conference of friends/colleagues = start a group chat let your friends see you: 'Start my webcam' see your friends: 'View my webcam' create a friends' list (individually or in a group) Lisbon, 4 April 2003

YMESSENGER'S TOOLS MENU Lisbon, 4 April 2003

INITIATING TEXT CHAT click on a name click on Message Lisbon, 4 April 2003

this window opens write your message here click on Send wait for an answer Lisbon, 4 April 2003

INITIATING VOICE CHAT click on the Voice button this part is added on to the window you can select 'Hands Free' or click on 'Talk' when you want to speak you need a mic to be heard Lisbon, 4 April 2003

YMESSENGER'S POTENTIAL FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING the '4 in 1 tool': practice the four basic skills through the '3 in 1' mode readingtextwritinglisteningaudiospeaking video to enhance and add excitement to the chat Lisbon, 4 April 2003

TAPPED IN a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) a text-only environment "the online workplace of an international community of education professionals. K-12 teachers and librarians, professional development staff, teacher education faculty and students, and researchers engage in professional development programs and informal collaborative activities with colleagues" you can log in as a guest log in as a member sign up for membership Lisbon, 4 April 2003

TAPPED IN HOMEPAGE Lisbon, 4 April 2003

LOG IN AS GUEST Lisbon, 4 April 2003 teresa

SIGN UP FOR MEMBERSHIP Lisbon, 4 April 2003

LOG IN AS MEMBER Lisbon, 4 April 2003 teresa ****

TAPPED IN RECEPTION Lisbon, 4 April 2003 write text + Enter

TAPPED IN FEATURES have an office in cyberspace (Teresa's Cyberden) Lisbon, 4 April 2003

a monthly Calendar page with a choice of daily events Lisbon, 4 April 2003

the ASO (After School Online), a meeting room for online presentations and discussion of ideas by teachers, librarians, educators and students Lisbon, 4 April 2003 get transcripts of past events directly in your mail box at the click of the mouse

TAPPED IN 2 HOMEPAGE (new version of TI) Lisbon, 4 April 2003

MY OFFICE AT TAPPED IN 2 (Teresa's Cyberden) Lisbon, 4 April 2003

TAPPED IN 2 NOVELTIES create (and manage) a group: Webheads in Action CoP Lisbon, 4 April 2003

belong to different groups (choose from a long list) Lisbon, 4 April 2003

WIMBA VOICE DIRECT a voice and text chat environment Lisbon, 4 April 2003 mic: when someone is speaking click here when you have finished speaking click to ask for your turn

WIMBA VOICE DIRECT Lisbon, 4 April 2003 hand: await turn to speak

CHAT AND THE EFL (ESL) CLASSROOM: ADVANTAGES added motivation and excitement to learning learning by interacting with real people collaborative and cooperative learning interactions at 4 different levels: s-s / t-s / e-s / s-m Lisbon, 4 April 2003

MORE ADVANTAGES practice communicative skills carrying on a conversation, interviewing, negotiating meaning practice social skills greeting, introducing yourself, leave taking, turn taking gain transferable skills relevant to the world of work group work, (inter)personal skills, organizational skills gain technological competencies = computer literacy diversified and comprehensive learning Lisbon, 4 April 2003

CHAT AND THE EFL (ESL) CLASSROOM: DISADVANTAGES oversimplified language ur - l8r - cuz - jk - oic - brb - csl need for time management (time zones) limit to number of participants technical problems connection speeds conflict between operating systems audio and video together can crash Lisbon, 4 April 2003

INSTANT MESSAGING LANGUAGE "My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we usd 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :-o kds FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc." (composition handed in by a 13-year-old Scottish school girl) Correio da Educação. 10 Mar Lisbon, 4 April 2003

DECODED TEXT (!) "My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York, it's a great place." Lisbon, 4 April 2003

WHY USE CHAT IN THE EFL (ESL) CLASSROOM? innovative and exciting setting: cyberspace! strong emphasis on 'communication' and authentic language exchanges about the 'real' world, with 'real' people, in 'real' time intensive practice in 2 or 4 basic skills Lisbon, 4 April 2003

PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR USING CHAT IN CLASS take care in choice of platform start small set a task for each session monitor student work both on and off line (logs) Lisbon, 4 April 2003

CONCLUSION chat = synchronous, live, real-time communication adds fascination, excitement and enrichment to L2 learning allows intense and real(-time) practice of language has tremendous potential for professional development contributes to online community building generates fun, healthy socializing, mutual support, strong bonds and true friendship diversifies and broadens scope of learning Lisbon, 4 April 2003

PRESENTING WEBHEADS IN ACTION a community of EFL/ESL teachers worldwide: map map online training for 8 weeks (Jan-Mar02) create a solid online community: who we are who we arewho we are learn to work with (a)synchronous communication tools and see their role in language learning intense weekly program: syllabus syllabus communications center: our Yahoo Group our Yahoo Groupour Yahoo Group chat platforms we use: Tapped In (text) + Yahoo Messenger (text, voice and video) + Wimba Voice Direct (text and voice) Lisbon, 4 April 2003

prolonged our activity to this day! relevant factors dynamic coordinator motivating syllabus permanent interaction collaborative learning constant mutual help generatedtrust strong bonds WiA Index PageWiA Index Page - what we have done WiA Index Page Lisbon, 4 April 2003

CHATTING WITH WEBHEADS IN ACTION let's see if we are lucky and can meet a few Webheads online at: Tapped In Tapped InTapped InTapped In Tapped In 2 Tapped In 2Tapped In 2Tapped In 2 Yahoo Messenger Yahoo MessengerYahoo MessengerYahoo Messenger Wimba Voice Direct - our most recent 'toy'! Wimba Voice Direct - our most recent 'toy'!Wimba Voice DirectWimba Voice Direct let's login! Lisbon, 4 April 2003

VISIT MY WEB PAGE! SEND ME YOUR COMMENTS! THIS PRESENTATION IS AT Lisbon, 4 April 2003