The second ‘gy’ -

The second ‘gy’ - :

The second ‘ gy ’ - TECHNOLOGY

TECHNOLOGY :

TECHNOLOGY a tool to enhance speaking skills!

‘Digital Immigrants’ vs ‘Digital Natives’:

‘Digital Immigrants’ vs ‘Digital Natives’

Today’s learners?:

Today’s learners? ‘Digital Natives’

Slide 5:

Learners prefer to work with technology and are more proficient in it!

Stone (1991) stated that task-based speaking activities could be used effectively with interactive audio programs. :

Stone (1991) stated that task-based speaking activities could be used effectively with interactive audio programs. With technology well advanced and easily accessible, integrating speaking activities with technology becomes simpler and more interesting.

A few tools and activities that will help with enhancing the speaking skill…:

A few tools and activities that will help with enhancing the speaking skill… 1 . Microphone - Students speak into the mics and record their talk. Listening to them later helps them identify their mistakes.

Slide 8:

2. “Text to speech software” - To further help with the correction, the learner can write the text he spoke and use the software to understand how the text could sound for real. http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Search/text_to_speech.html http://www.caltroxsoft.com/products/a1-speechtron.htm http://www.oddcast.com/home/demos/tts/tts_example.php

Slide 9:

3. Videos - recording oneself while speaking and later viewing the same can help the learner understand his body language and confidence. As it was always told in the past, look at yourself in the mirror and practice for an elocution or presentation!

Slide 10:

4. Mac features - Photo booth, Garage Band and the text to speech software are various applications that one could use. Any page on the web can be read aloud to the reader by this software.

A Methodology that worked well…:

A Methodology that worked well…

Slide 12:

- Learners were paired up - Provided with the complete test - One student was the interviewer and the other the interviewee - The whole process was recorded and the time kept with an online stop watch. - The audio or video file was saved with the student name - Learners were provided with another set of questions - The same process repeated with roles reversed - The file was saved and the learners reviewed each other’s activity - They commented on each others mistakes and corrected by using different text to speech software.

Slide 13:

Speaking Tests http://www.online-stopwatch.com /

Advantages:

Advantages Independent learning Use of target language at all times which needs to be monitored by teacher Intonation and pronunciation corrected to a large extent Scott Thornbury’s “notice the gap activity” - the learners in making comparisons between what they can achieve and a skilled-speaker can do.

Disadvantages::

Disadvantages: Correction of sentence structures not possible The sound of some of the ‘text to speech’ software is ‘robotic’

WEBSITES TO HELP WITH SPEAKING:   :

WEBSITES TO HELP WITH SPEAKING: http://www.splendid-speaking.com/exams/ielts_speaking_topic.html http://englishconversations.org/ http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/phrases.html http://www.esl-galaxy.com/pronunciation.html http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset.html

References:

References Nation Paul; Improving Speaking Fluency, 1990 Pergemon Press. Richards C. Jack; Developing Classroom Speaking Activities: From Theory to practice. 24/ 04/2008; Eric: How to teach Speaking. Richards C. Jack; Communicative Language teaching Today. http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/speaking/goalsspeak.htm http://www.fltrp.com/DOWNLOAD/0804010001.pdf http://www.cal.org/resources/archive/digest/1992techL2.html Review of Scott Thornbury , How to Teach Speaking, 2005 by Christian Jones http://www.icpna.edu.pe/documentos/HOW%20TO%20TEACH%20SPEAKING%20IN%20AN%20EFL%20CLASS%20II%20-%20Carolina%20Terry.pdf

Questions?:

Questions?

THANK YOU!:

THANK YOU! JAYASRI PISHARODY – jayasri.pisharody@gmail.com SUNITA LAMA – sunita_tamang@hotmail.com