"Gina's social and psychological distance to Spanish language, culture and speakers"

Social Distance

1. Social Dominance. Whose social group is more dominant?
The dominant group is native English speakers, Gina's first language is English and we are going to teach Spanish her but in her country.

2. Integration Pattern. How much do learners integrate, or do they do most things apart from the mainstream?

3. Enclosure. To what extent does learner's group have their own resources for interaction, such as church, publications, clubs?
Gina can interact with Sapanish speakers in classes and also in some places of the university she can find some other Spanish speakers that are from Mexico.

4. Size. How large is the group?

5. Cohesiveness. How much does the group "stick together"?

6. Cultural Congruence. How are the cultural patterns and customs of the home culture and the target culture alike or different?
The home culture and the target culture are very similar in some aspects, have similar customs, some of they are different, maybe if we talk about food and ways of living, but there are more simililarities that diffrences.

7. Attitude. What attitudes do the home and target cultural groups have toward one another?
The group where Gina is has very good and positive attitudes about the culture of the target language. There is no problem with this issue

8. Intended lenght of residence. How long does the learner intend to stay in the new country?


Psychological Distance

1. Motivation. Does the learner want to learn the new language?
Gina is too motivated, since she did classes to the Spanish speakers she wants to learn Spanish.

2. Attitude. How does the learner feel toward the target-culture group?
She feels very good in the group.

3. Culture Shock. Is the learner suffering culture shock?

Gina in spite of the fact that is not living in a country where the language is Spanish she can learn it because of her high motivation to do it. And I'm sure that she has the best teachers from Chile!

Visit to Bridgeport and Brewster

On Tuesday we went to two different places, Bridgeport and Brewster in these places we visited two schools, and we could know the reality of mexican people who come to US to improve their lifes, for that reason, in the schools there were 81% of children who talk in spanish. The first school, Bridgeport has a good level of education, one important thing is that in each class there are few students, so classes can be personalized, teachers can be closer than in Chile, they can take care of them, in Chile the reality of public schools is very different because in each class there are 45 students and is very difficult give classes to this amount of children. Another important thing is that classrooms are for each subject, so the teachers can put on it things related to the subjects, like posters, messages, etc. In the second school I would like to point out something that is really important for me, that is the work with the family, they are interesting in what is happening in the children's homes, and they also give classes to the parents, this is a big issue because is in the home where the children develop their personalities, and if the parents know how to teach them and know what their children are doing they can help them and create a good envirinment in their homes in order children can learn better. I think the work that both schools are doing is excelent, teachers I think that are very close to the children and children feel comfortable, definitely this is one of the most important thing.

. . . Seattle! . . .

I really wanted to visit Seattle, not because a personal interest but because one of my cousin's dream is to go to Seattle and we are near to this city and of course I wanted to buy something special for her and I did it!.

The first impression was that this is a big and beautiful city and then, when we went near to the sea I was so excited because I really love the sea, I was born in a port so that I was missing it. The port in Seattle is similar to Valparaiso's port and I really loved it, it was like staying at home.

This city has so many places to visit, one of the most beautiful for me was the Aquarium, I've always enjoyed documentaries about marine's life and there I could see the animals very close.

Another place that I really liked was China Town, there the food is delicious!

Unfortunatelly, the trip was too short, I think that I need more time to visit the rest of the places that couldn't see.

The technological resource that I'm going to use to do a class is Webquest in 8th grade. Students have to investigate about a musical group and show the things that they discover and also look for a karaoke on the web to sing a song in front of the classroom.

The teacher that I contacted is called Marta, and she answered the following

1.Technology, in our country, should be more important, because it can motivate the learner; they are born in a technologized world, and schools or teachers aren't prepared to supply this knowledge in the students.

2. The learner should have an active role, they should be conscious about the importance of their learnings, and the family support their learnings.

3. The teacher should be a facilitator, we have to give the tools so that they can follow the rules in an easy way.

4. I don't understand this question, may be because good teaching is related to good learning, and it is related to good students, and as you know I don't have good students, my school is not private, and they are here because they need to lunch, or a place where stay, so that they don't create problems to the state or to the society.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

Language in Action: From Webquests to Virtual Realities

Robert Godwin-Jones

Virginia Comonwealth University

This text is about how to use technology in a good way to explote efficiently the resources of internet in language learning. The technologies that are used are webquest, MOOs, chatterbots snd mobile technology.

Webquests is defined as an inquiry oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet, optionally supplemented with videoconferencing. Usually Webquests are group activities with an end goal of creating a document that collects, summarizes, and synthesizes the information gathered. They are dedicated to students, so that they can work in groups.

MOOs are chat rooms in which students can interact with other people in real time, users can talk about different topics and also use some avatars to make coneversations entertaining, also the use of chatterbots is a good tool to make that shy students can interact and talk the L2.

Mobile Technology now can conect people around the world, nowadays is easy to obtain some of this product, and schools are incentivated students to use them in school activities and they also provider their students with this technology to obtain good results in language learning.

Nowadays technology is facilitating our lives and teachers are using it in a good way, the technology that is decribed in the article is very useful, first of all, webquests allow to do classes interesting for students, classes are students center and they can also play with it, to make competition with the rest of the class.

MOOs I think are very useful, students love chatting on internet, making new friends and creating avatars, I also love this way of teaching, I believe that it is a perfect way to motivate students and to do something different for them, Chatterbots also can help, but sometimes this programs talk non-senses, so I prefer chatting with real people.

The last one is Mobile Technology, the use of mobile phones, laptops, cameras, with these devices you can make that your students create videos, get in contact with their partners and to make activities like the one that is described in the article, give some instructions to the students and they have to look for a specific site if they are on a trip, and of course they have to share this information with the group that is in the classroom.

Defitnitely, classes are changing and is our responsability to use the technology in a good way to improve our classes and to make it entertaining for children.

Podcasts

For me
On this page you can find 624 podcasts about many different topics, some of them includes a video.

For students
You can use this page with your students, this one have stories and the transcripts of everyone.


For Gina

This page contains a list of podcasts in Spanish where you can choose the topic that is interesting for you

The one that I would like to recommend you is this link that is a radio programs that talks about topics related to internet.



My idea

An idea that I would like to develop with my students in the future is that they can create some podcasts with some questions so that the other students can answer. The podcasts have to include not only voice but also a video, because for children and teenagers is more easy to understand by watching images.

CALL, CMC, Drill and Practice

Examples

CALL

Computer-assisted language learning is a form of computer-based learning which carries two important features: bidirectional learning and individualized learning. It is not a method. CALL materials are tools for learning. The focus of CALL is learning, and not teaching. CALL materials are used in teaching to facilitate the language learning process. It is a student-centered learning material, which promotes self-paced learning.

This page provides you so many exercises, but you have to create an account to access to all of this.
http://www.edufind.com/


CMC

Computer-Mediated Communication is defined broadly as any form of human interaction across two or more networked computers. While the term has traditionally referred to those communications that occur via computer-mediated formats.

forums are a good to practice and to obtain feedback
http://www.wordreference.com

It is a dictionary, but also there is a forum where you can ask to other people about your doubts, is useful because you obtain feedback.

Also you can use messenger and add people from other countries to learn the L2, the answers are inmediately and negotiation of meaning is provide.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

Messaging, Gaming, Peer-to-peer Sharing:
Language Learning Strategies & Tools for the Millennial Generation
Robert Godwin-Jones
Virginia Comonwealth University

The text is about different entertaining ways of teaching a new language. Students really like using internet to chat with other people and to play online, for that reason these kinds of resources have been using by teacher to motivate students. Others technologies that are also used, are ipod, mp3, mobile phones and iphones, to share messages, to upload posts to blogs. One of the most interesting activity is to create some games on internet that can make classes interesting for children, they want to have classes different, they need to learn through things that they really want to do, because is easy for them to learn. For teaching another language there are so many strategies that we can use, also messenger is one of the most useful tool to make student's classes interesting.

This is an interesting text that define many technologies that we can use as a teachers to make classes entairtaining for our students, the technologies that are exposed are the most common for children and teenegers, like messenger, mobile phone, mp3, games, etc. For that reason I think that this is one of the best way to teach children, because they are inserted in this new world and they know how to use this technologies sometimes better than us.