My First Poem ; "Seeing dog, I remember my grandma" : Sorybird

Assignment IV: Creating animation dialogue by using Go animate : Revenge

Revenge by Nairobii on GoAnimate

Tasks in Class : Look at this "Baby Mail"

http://www.etradebabymail.com/?mId=61253577.3

Tasks in Class : I made my Blabberize

CALL Review II : Voki

 
 This is my second CALL review, and in this time, I will introduce www.voki.com.
With this tool, learners can create their own character and make it speak typed texts or play recorded voice.

The picture is the first page of the website, and click "create. Then you will see this page.

 

 In this page you can create your own unique character. You can choose its face shape, eyes, hair color, skin color, accessories, and other things. If your character are completed, click "DONE". Then you will see the next page.

 This is the most important stage. Here are two different way to give sound file to the character as I mentioned. The first method is typing a text. In this case you can slect favorite voice of character among those voices.

 
 The second way is recording your own voice. For this just click microphone icon and record what you want to say freely. If the sound file is completed, clike "X" button, and then click "Publish". Then you may see this page.

 
 You can share your work through SNS or your blog posting and can send it via e-mail to your friends like a voice letter.

This is sample character. Play it!

 Now, I will tell you how it can be used in the classroom. Kids really like to create there own characters, so they will think this this is very interesting activity. They will hardly realize that they are doing something related to English learning, because this is more like a character making game.

 Another point is that student's won't feel any shyness or fear of speaking, because it's not face-to-face talk. They just record or type what they want to say. In classrooms, many students withhold to speak out because of those affective obstacles. This tool provides great solution for that problem.

 Teachers can make students create a voki before a English class as an home assignment. The studnt's message can be a voice letter to their friends or introducing myself or family. When showing students' vokis, the teacher don't have to reveal who the creator is. This will make student's express what they want to say more openly and freely.

Tasks in Class : My 6th Discussion Forum

1. What aspects of language does "speaking" include? In another word, what do you have to teach in order to successfully develop an English speaking ability?
 
 First of all, speaking is in production part of language. It means speaking starts with coming up with something to speak. Then, we need to know how we can make that thinking into form of oral sound which is used to convey what we want to speak out. For this process, we need to acquire ability or knowledge of articulation, pronunciation, grammar rules, and sociolinguistic strategies.
 
 We need to teach speaking through many listening materials to teach knowledge of pronunciation or verbal expression. We already know that speaking starts from listening. For students in advanced level, teacher have to help them to talk with other students. Many students speaking doesn’t develop properly because of their feeling of fear or anxiety about making error. We must lower those negative feelings for student’s successful development in speaking.

 

2. Discuss speaking approaches that you have read. What are familiar or unfamiliar to you? What activities have you experienced for your school years?

 

 I am really familiar with role-play. Most textbooks had that kind of activities. Normally, there were two roles in each activity, and two students in pair took one and one respectively. I remember that it felt so boring, because it felt so contrived situations. By the way, I haven’t experienced or heard about “Playing Cards”. I read about it in very positive attitude because of its creativeness. Students will feel it is interesting, and participate in the game actively. I want to seek for more speaking games for demotivated students.

 

3. What is CMC? Discuss the characteristics of CMC from L2 pedagogic perspective.

 

 CMC is the acronym of Computer Mediated Communication. Its definition is variable. It can be simply defined as any form of organized computer-supported interaction between people. It also can be applied to language education. We can find one example of CMC easily. It is SNS. People communicate in SNS, so it can be included in CMC.

 

 Firstly, CMC removes the constraints of time and space in communication. That means we are liberated from temporal and spatial constraints. It gives us infinite possibilities of communication with various participants.

 

 The second feature is its impersonality. Communication in CMC is totally different from face-to-face conversation. We don’t have to know who the listener is or how old the listener is. This feature generates misunderstanding caused by lack of non-verbal communication like gesture, facial expressions, body language, and others.

 

4. How does CMC help foreign language learning?

 

 In Korea, students have little opportunities to speak English in real-world contexts. The lack of chance make students to feel fear when they try to speak out something in English. And normally, talking with native speaker is expensive thing in Korea. Then how we can find the opportunity? Maybe, CMC can be the solution. CMC can complement those lack of chance in public education. We can talk directly with native-speaker through Skype, or make Facebook friends and send message to them. This is really good chance for students to use English beyond the classroom.

Skill practice assignment: Halloween

Lstening Task I : Fill in the Blank Exercise

Tasks in Class : My 5th Discussion Forum

1. Discuss the following terms. ; RSS, SNS (microblogging), podcatcher (iTunes)

 RSS is the acronym of “Really Simple Syndication”. You can subscribe podcastings through RSS. And if you once click to subscribe certain news or podcastings, it will automatically show you newly updated episodes. So you don’t have to check whether the new episode is uploaded or not.

 SNS is the acronym of “Social Network Service”. There are really various SNS like “Facebook”, “Twitter”. Its major feature is that it is optimized to enable us to interact with other people through online world. You can grasp this nature through its commenting system. And, every user can be a broadcaster and a subscriber at the same time. It is also kind of a microblogging. People mainly upload their own picture with short text.

 Podcatcher is a kind of softwares or a webpage used to check newly updated episode, and to download it to your computer. iTunes was the first podcatcher for users of Apple devices. And now there are really many smartphone applications used to download podcastings, they are also the podcatchers.

2. In what aspects podcasting is different from other audio-visual materials? Why are these differences/unique characteristics meaningful for L2 learning and instruction?
 
 I found out two distinctive feature of podcasting. First, podcasting can provide up to date materials. Some podcastings issues new episode day by day. It is different from normal audio-visual materials which made in some months or some years ago. Students are very sensitive to latest trend. They really want to study with materials which tell or show them what is happening now. So, in L2 classroom, using podcasting would be very effective way to satisfy their such demand for interesting L2 materials.

 Second, L2 learning podcasting requires learners to have ability to determine what podcasting would be helpful or not for their learning. Podcastings are innumerable and podcatchers don’t tell what podcasting fits well with their L2 level. Therefore, they have to try to scrutinize their own L2 level to find out proper podcasting. This will give them the good chance to see themselves seriously checking their L2 level. This process can give them big intrinsic motivation, because they want to study with other podcastings which could be used by more advanced learner.

3. Podcastinig doesn't seem as popular in Korea as in other countries such as U.S. China, and other western countries. Why do you think so?
 
 It is related to iPod. At the first time, podcasting system emerged by Apple. As you know, podcasting is the compound word of iPod and broadcasting. So, the system became bigger and bigger through iPod users. Then, why it was less popular in Korea than other countries? It was because other mp3 players were popular in Korea. “Iriver” and “Samsung Yepp” were very popular in Korea. But, iPod wasn’t. Many Koreans felt it like a stranger from foreign country. Few user couldn’t make podcasting popular in Korea.

Daily Life : Seoul firework festival

It was fantastic!!

There were innumerable people, so I couldn't move until the festival finished.

Anyway, I will never forget the fantastic scene!!

CNN Posting : Protesters block Hong Kong government offices

The whole world is watching Hong Kong.
Their protest started for obtaining their right to choose their own minister.
But, the government of China doesn't seem to allow those protesters' demand.
Hong Kong is technically part of China.
But, actually they are independent of China economically, curturally, and historically.
I think they have right to choose their leader by themselves.
But the government of China want to control Hong Kong, so it will mustly suppress this protest.

Tasks in Class : Using Voki : Part of Jackie Chan's Biography

Tasks in Class : Using Voki : My Message to the visitors