Learn English by Singing!

Overview

This week's blog post is again about another tool for autonomous language learning, for I am continuously receiving questions from friends and students about how they can improve their language on their own without having to go to language classes. They always expect me to recommend websites and applications which teach them the language through explicit instruction, yet my answer is always that they need to find ways to use the language to accomplish tasks that they enjoy doing without receiving explicit instruction of language structures. In this post, I will be exploring how one's second/foreign language can be enhanced by using an application for karaoke singing. 

Personally, I do enjoy singing despite not having the "talent" which will enable me to sing in concerts or participate in singing competitions; therefore, the best place for me to sing is karaoke parties. I also use a mobile application called Sing Karaoke by Smule to sing and to share my songs online with a community of karaoke singers. However, this particular mobile application can also be used for developing second/foreign language on various levels.

How can Sing Karaoke by Smule develop autonomous language learning?

First of all, language learning is best achieved when learners use the language in activities they enjoy doing. Learners can opt for singing their favourite artists' songs, and the lyrics will be displayed on the screen as the song goes on. In this way, the students encounter many familiar words in new contexts and get introduced to several new words that they can either guess from the context or will need to check in a dictionary. Therefore, the songs function as excellent contexts for introducing the students to new vocabulary and learning the spelling, pronunciation and usage of the vocabulary in context. Learners also get the chance to speak language at natural speed since the music is what controls when and how the words are said.

In addition, this application enhances learners' motivation through making singing a form of social interaction. Users of the application have the option of joining someone for a duet, and each participant can sing part of the song. In this way, the learners will be motivated to sing the song with the partner as well as to listen to it afterwards to evaluate their performance and that of the other participant. Moreover, some famous singers have accounts on this application, and they invite users to sing their songs along with them. For instance, here is an example of a duet that can be done for free with Ed Sheeran: (What can be more motivating than learning the language to sing a duet with Ed Sheeran!! 😜)

Users of this application can also be involved in real authentic communicative interactions where they are able to share comments and to read other people's comments on the songs that are shared with other users. In this way, users get involved in authentic language use where language production is the means of communication rather than the purpose of the interaction.

As a language teacher, I can encourage the students to practice their language through using this application by choosing to teach a particular song and then inviting them to sing it with me on an individual basis. In this way, the students' level of anxiety will not be high because they are unlikely to feel embarrassed to share their songs when the teacher is doing the activity with them. The students' understanding of the songs and the words in it will be maximised because their songs will be used for teaching in the classroom as well.

Any concerns?

despite the great advantages of learning language from songs, one might also argue that the language that is used in real-life communication is not always similar to the language of songs for two reasons. Firstly, some words might be pronounced differently in songs in order to suit the rhyme and the rhythm of the song. Secondly, some songs include poetic language that is full of similes, metaphors, personifications, etc., and this is not how daily language exactly sounds like.
In addition, Sing Karaoke by Smule does not offer all of its features for free. Users are allowed to sing an unlimited number of duets with other users, yet if they want to share a song to invite people to sing with them, they will need a premium account. Therefore, when I decide to invite the students to sing a song with me, only I will need to have a subscription while they can join me for free. However, the features which help the students to develop their language, i.e. learning vocabulary, speaking, listening and interactive skills, are offered for free.

All in all, in addition to being a very popular fun activity, singing karaoke songs on Sing Karaoke by Smule can develop the students' language through introducing them to new vocabulary, teaching them pronunciation and allowing them to interact with other users through singing and posting comments and feedback.

KNOW IT ALL with WORDSIFT!!

What is Wordsift?

Wordsift is a tool for creating word clouds demonstrating the commonness of words in a text of your choice. The most common words come in larger font while the less common ones appear smaller as can be seen in the attached word cloud. All you need to do is to find a text on a specific topic, copy it, and paste it on Wordsift, and it will do the rest for you. I personally prefer Wikipedia texts, for they are generally objective, long and detailed, which more authentically demonstrates the frequency of words in a text. Look at the word cloud above which I have created using a Wikipedia article on Linguistics. By looking at the word cloud, it becomes clear that in the field of linguistics, potential common words could be: language, linguistic, study, grammar, and theory, while words such as discipline, documentation, writing, and speaker, though absolutely relevant to the field of linguistics, may be less common when talking about linguistics in general.   

How Relevant is Wordsift for Language Teachers and Learners?

As can be seen from the example I have just given, Wordsift demonstrates the common words in a specific field, i.e., the jargon of the field. Therefore, teachers as well as students can test their knowledge of a specific field by creating word clouds with Wordsift, checking how many words they are familiar with and learning about the ones that they have not encountered before.

Due to my knowledge of their courses, I recommend students of English at An-Najah National University to create word clouds at the beginning of a certain module, like Drama, Shakespeare, Phonology, Syntax, etc., to keep the word cloud, and to highlight the new terms they encounter throughout the semester. In this way, the students get the chance to track their development of a specific field. In fact, it might be overwhelming at the beginning when the students encounter several technical terms that they are unfamiliar with; however, when they start to track their development gradually, they will definitely start feeling more secure and knowledgeable.

Moreover, Wordsift encourages learning vocabulary in context and through visualisation; therefore, it can function as a reliable tool for learning new vocabulary in context without having to translate the words into their first language. Here are some features of Wordsift which demonstrate how vocabulary learning becomes more visual and context-oriented through Wordsift:

First, after creating the word cloud, you will have the option of selecting any word which you want to learn more about, and Wordsift will create a simple map which illustrates the different contexts where the word is used and will organise related words in categories. In this way, your learning of vocabulary becomes wider, deeper and more systematic, for you will begin to learn vocabulary along with morphologically, syntactically and semantically related structures.

Second, Wordsift gives you the chance to select any of the words and to see the exact context where it occurred in your text. Therefore, learning vocabulary becomes more contextualised, for it is believed that knowledge of context makes it easier to remember the word and to use it more accurately in language production.

In addition, Wordsift has an image and video search options that are powered by Google. When selecting any word, you will be able to do a google image/video search on the same page, which also makes learning vocabulary more visual and interactive.

The last point I would like to talk about in Wordsift is that you can highlight words which belong to a certain genre like academic or scientific words, which also enhances vocabulary learning through grouping the words which fit together into categories.

Any concerns?

All the features mentioned above show that Wordsift is a very efficient method of learning vocabulary through contextualisation and visualisation. Nevertheless, you need to keep in mind that it is a computer programme that does all these tasks, and therefore the results might involve some inaccuracies on some occasions due to having words with multiple meanings. For instance, a google image search of the word discipline. which is synonymous with field in the context of linguistics, gave me results related to its meaning as will and self-control, which might leave students confused. Therefore, it is necessary when using Wordsift to have a look at the context in addition to the other features, for it demonstrates the word in the specific context that you have chosen.

YouTube as a Virtual Classroom: a Look at English with Lucy!

I would like to start this week's post with an anecdote. One of my students has once sent me a message (anonymously screenshotted here). I know you might not understand Arabic, so I'll tell you what her question was about. Basically, she was telling me that she was no longer interested in going to specialised institutions to learn English because she was not getting the education that she was expecting. Therefore, she has decided to start working on developing her own skills independently using different tools on the internet, especially YouTube. What she wanted from me was some recommendations for specific websites and YouTube channels which could help her learn autonomously. Thus, I recommended to her a few YouTube channels, most prominently English with Lucy.

What is English with Lucy about?

English with Lucy is an amazing YouTube channel which offers to students free English lessons. Through her tutorial videos, Lucy not only explains language lessons about various topics but also helps students develop different strategies for learning the language independently. See the video below, for example, through which she recommends some tricks and strategies to make English (or any second language you are interested in learning) part of your everyday life:

Who can benefit from this channel?

Well, everybody can follow English with Lucy and benefit from her lessons. However, from my experience with Palestinian students majoring in English, I have found that they have always complained that the course plan does not offer enough modules which would "teach" them aural/oral skills or all grammatical structures they want to learn since a great deal of the modules largely focuses on topics such as literature, drama, TEFL, etc. My answer to this issue has always been that students could work on developing their speaking and listening skills (or any skill, of course) because the major aim of the undergraduate programme is to focus on developing the students' knowledge and competence of their specialisation, yet it definitely is not able to cover EVERYTHING!

Why this Channel in particular?

What I love about English with Lucy is that the videos uploaded on it are filmed with high quality. Learners will usually be highly engaged with the material and the explanation that she presents without getting distracted in any way. Moreover, having a teacher with a great smile and sense of humour is absolutely necessary for keeping learners motivated. In Lucy's videos, she brilliantly maintains a very engaging sense of humour. As a result, students get eager to watch more videos because they enjoy the funny way through which she addresses her topics. 

In addition, some students may be in great need for English classes, but they might not be able to financially afford to get enrolled in ones. The great thing about YouTube, in general, and English with Lucy, in particular, is that students can enjoy the videos without having to pay a single penny. Moreover, students can kill two birds with one stone when watching videos presented by teachers whose first language is English. In addition to focusing on the content of the video and developing students' knowledge, Lucy offers an authentic context for learners which is very similar to the context of attending a lecture in an English-speaking country.

Besides the unique content briefly foreshadowed above, Lucy offers very helpful pronunciation tips which students, especially those majoring in English, can understand and practice quite easily, for they usually study pronunciation theoretically without getting the chance to apply the knowledge and master the skill. For instance, here is a video about the pronunciation of the -ed morpheme which is added to regular verbs to form the past tense:

Any Challenges?

However, the fact that Lucy is a native speaker and speaks with natural fluent English might be overwhelming for many students, especially for learners who have not got much exposure to natural spoken English. Nevertheless, I promise; just give yourself some time and you will discover that listening skills easily and quickly develop. From my experience with my students, this process happened much faster than they expected.

Moreover, Students need to be aware that Lucy is not the only teacher they can access online. She is absolutely competent, and watching her videos is both fun and rewarding, but they should always check other YouTube channels that are equally helpful. I suggest EngVid and Learn English with Papa Teach me.

WebQuest: The Way to Communicative Classroom

I have spent the past few days exploring the website Quest Garden in order to examine WebQuests and explore the educational value that they add to the language classroom. I have found many advantages for using WebQuests in language classes that I believe teachers of English, especially in the Palestinian context, need to be aware of in order to enhance their teaching skills through incorporating technology in their classes. I am saying that because I have been constantly contacting Palestinian teachers of English, like Mr. Tawfiq Khwaireh, who have informed me that the Ministry of Education has been supporting the use of technology in Palestinian schools, especially in governmental ones, through establishing new computer labs and making the internet accessible to teachers and students all over the school.

What are WebQuests?

The name "WebQuest" can be quite misleading. Web generally refers to the internet, and quest, as defined by Merriam Webster Online Dictionary, is "an act or instance of seeking". However, WebQuests do not involve looking new information up using Google or other search engines. In fact, they provide students with the necessary knowledge that they need to discover, and the students' job is to learn the new knowledge through using it to accomplish a task.

In an interview with Dr. Bernie Dodge, the creator of WebQuests, he explains that WebQuests have a standard format: introduction, description of the task, structured process, and evaluation.

In each of these parts, the students are provided with detailed explanations of what they are expected to accomplish.

Here is an example of a WebQuest that is particularly helpful for English teachers because it takes them directly to the context of using WebQuests in their teaching. This WebQuest was designed by Dr. Tilly Harrison. She used this WebQuest to teach the ICT in ELT students at the University of Warwick about WebQuests.

Moreover, Here is another example of a ready-made WebQuest that you can try. It encourages young learners to read for fun and be involved in discussions about the reading they do. There is a huge number of WebQuest tasks on various topics available at websites such as WebQuest.org and QuestGarden for free.

Why use WebQuest in Palestinian Schools? 

As mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Education in Palestine is putting a lot of efforts and resources to enhance the curriculum, especially that of the English language, through providing schools with technological tools and services. In addition, teachers are being given many training programmes in order to improve the quality of English classes through adopting more communicative approaches to language learning and teaching.

Through WebQuests, teachers will be able to achieve the two goals of using technology and of creating a communicative environment in the classroom. Dr. Bernie argues in the interview that WebQuest is based on the assumption that learning is a social activity where knowledge is primarily collected through interacting with other learners. This practice in itself promotes the communicative atmosphere in the classroom, for students will interact with each other and with the topic being discussed in a more authentic way. In addition, students are encouraged to perform higher-order thinking skills. In order to facilitate practicing the skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, WebQuests help learners to practice them in a structured way, which makes them achieve tasks which are significantly more advanced than the ones they would achieve following other traditional methods.

Moreover, it is necessary to acknowledge the role of the teacher in scaffolding the students to overcome the challenges and to achieve the desired learning outcomes. Students constantly receive feedback and assistance from the teachers while working with WebQuests in order to be able to overcome the obstacles and to remain engaged in the task.

Any Challenges?

Nonetheless, since WebQuests require students to perform higher-order thinking skills, teachers need to be careful when using this tool, for students may easily get overwhelmed. If the students are asked to perform tasks which involve the skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation without receiving the appropriate scaffolding from their teachers, they will most likely feel that they are incompetent and will, therefore, get disappointed. As a result, the teacher needs to be aware of the fact that he/she will need to assist the students all through the task and to take into consideration the different cognitive abilities of the students. working with WebQuests demands from the students not only being good at the language but also having developed thinking abilities, which not necessarily all students possess equally. Therefore, the level of scaffolding that the teacher offers to students might vary, yet the teacher needs to be very conscious that he/she should not make the students feel that he/she is offering more help to ones more than the others, for this issue is quite of a sensitive nature.

All in all, WebQuests are great tools for language classes, for they involve developing students' language as well as cognitive skills. However, the fact that students work more independently and interdependently demands special attention from the teacher, for he/she should make the right decisions at the right time for the right student.

Padlet as a Brainstorming Tool in the Language Classroom

What is Padlet?

Padlet is an online board where participants can share texts, pictures and videos about a certain topic under discussion. Therefore, it can be used for various topics which require brainstorming or sharing ideas. However, since my purpose in this blog is to explore how different online platforms can contribute to improving language classes, I will be discussing how language teachers can effectively use Padlet in their classes.

To start with, you can watch the following video which broadly illustrates Padlets and offers some general ways to use it:

Padlet and Writing classes

In modern writing classes, especially those which follow the process approach, the teacher plays a paramount role in supporting the students and scaffolding them throughout the writing process. Unlike traditional methods which focus on the product only without giving any attention to the various steps that students have to follow in order to produce a good piece of writing, the teacher in the process approach guides and scaffolds the students throughout the process. One essential stage of the writing process is brainstorming where students, usually scaffolded by the teacher, share ideas which may function as the skeleton for their paragraphs and essays.

Using Padlet for brainstorming ideas in a pre-writing activity has many advantages. Firstly, all the students will have an equal opportunity for sharing their ideas. When brainstorming is done traditionally with the teacher receiving ideas from the students and writing them on the board, some introvert and less confident students may feel embarrassed to share their ideas to the entire class, while when done anonymously, all the students get an equal opportunity to have their voice heard. Secondly, Padlet offers students the chance to comment on each other's ideas in a visually clear manner. As a result, students will have the chance to be cognitively engaged in evaluating each other's ideas and supporting or refuting each other's arguments. Finally, discussions which take place at Padlet remain saved at the class' account, which helps the students to review the lesson, do the writing as homework and even use the online discussion later when preparing for the exam.

Consequently, Padlet can contribute to enhancing learners' collaboration and creativity. Students' dependence on the teacher automatically and gradually decreases, for they no longer entirely need his/her assistance in planning for their writing. Alternatively, students' interdependence (students depending on each other) will increase since they will help each other in generating ideas, which gradually results in the students being independently able to generate ideas for their writing.

An example which demonstrates how a topic can be addressed on

Padlet and how other users can comment on someone's contribution

Suitability for the Palestinian Context

I have been informed by Mr. Tawfiq Khwaireh, a friend of mine who works as an English teacher at Kufur Qallil Primary school, that both governmental and private schools in Palestine have at least one computer lab that English teachers can arrange to use whenever they need to. As a result, using a tool such as Padlet is not going to be a challenge for Palestinian teachers or students, for the teacher can arrange to book the lab for their classes and use the computers to enjoy the activities that Padlet offers.

Any drawbacks? 

Nevertheless, the fact that the discussions are saved and remain accessible for students can be a double-edged sword. This is not a real drawback of Padlet, but this means that the teacher will have the responsibility of checking the information that the students share to make sure it is accurate and can be used as a resource in the future. Moreover, Padlet might not be really handy in large classes, for if all the students are expected to share one idea at least, having more than 40 answers for one question can be quite confusing, and more outstanding ideas might not be observed. Therefore, teachers can overcome this problem through randomly selecting the desired number of students to participate in the task while the rest of the class can discuss the question in groups without having to share their ideas with students outside the group.

In short, Padlet is a great tool through which teachers give their students the opportunity to work on their planning more independently. However, it is necessary that teachers make the right decisions concerning the points highlighted above in order to maximise learning in the language classroom.

Go Creative and Interactive with TRIPTICO!

It is believed that a modern classroom is one where technological tools such as computers, projectors and mobile phones are used. However, many teachers blindly use these tools because they are available, and perhaps some teachers want to show off their exclusive talents as good users of technology in the 21st century. 

It is crucially important for teachers to know the rationale behind each activity used in the classroom and its educational value. In this post, I will shed the light on Triptico, more specifically the Find Ten activity, and I will explore the educational value that it adds to the language lesson.

Why use Find Ten in a language lesson?

Find Ten is a simple game where students are asked to find ten answers to a question related to the topic of the lesson. For instance, in a vocabulary lesson, this game can be used as a final activity which reminds the students of the vocabulary items which they have learned. Learners can be asked to find ten vocabulary items related to the class topic being studied such as body organs, weather vocabulary, furniture vocabulary, etc. What is particularly beneficial about the game is that the teacher can add a picture and/or a text which elaborates the answer and visualises language learning (look at the example above taken from one of the designed activities).

I have created a game called "Ten words which can replace "and"" (Click here to view the activity). This activity is designed for a lesson where students learn about connectors which can replace "and" in order to develop their writing skills. This kind of activity can be used at the end of a writing lesson to review the lesson and to remind the students of the new vocabulary they have learned. On top of that, It can be used at the beginning of another lesson to activate students' knowledge and to establish context for the new topic of the writing class. 

In addition to its effectiveness in reviewing a lesson and establishing context, Find Ten promotes interaction between students, for it uses visual effects as well as sound effects which exclusively attract the learners' attention and increase their involvement with the lesson. Moreover, when students are asked to accomplish a task, the whole class (or group if divided into groups) work together to select the correct answer, and during this process many discussions and negotiations eventually take place in the target language to allow learners to transmit knowledge to one another.

Suitability for the Palestinian Context

Most schools in Palestine these days are equipped with the necessary ICT tools and services such as internet connection, computers, and projectors. Hence, teachers of different subjects enjoy the chance of using these tools in their classrooms. Most games on Triptico, especially Find Ten, do not demand pricy and highly developed technological tools; the basic tools can be sufficient. Therefore, I believe that Triptico activities go well with the current technological levels in Palestinian schools.

Any points to consider?

Nevertheless, teachers need to be careful when using games which involve the entire class, for all the students are likely to shout out the answer at the same time, which means that the teacher might not be able to hear a student who may disagree with the majority of the students. Therefore, a teacher should make sure that the whole class agrees on one answer in the first place, and if more than one answer is given, it will be a great opportunity to negotiate the meaning and to hear more than one opinion before revealing the answer and justifying it.

All in all, the use of technological tools in language classrooms can facilitate language learning when used appropriately due to the high degree of engagement they offer. However, teachers need to have clear goals which they aim to achieve through the activity. 

An English Teacher? Harry up and Read Scott Thornbury's Blog (An A-Z in ELT)!!

In Scott Thornbury's blog, A-Z is not used figuratively as you have probably thought; it is literally an A-Z ELT blog. Unlike most blogs which display more recent articles first and older ones come after that, this blog deliberately lists the articles alphabetically, and each letter stands for an issue in ELT and language acquisition which is discussed through an article. For instance, the discussion about the issue of Age comes first, then it might be followed by an article about "bad" language learner, etc.

You're worried because you think each letter stands for one topic only and you won't be able to read an article about Dictionary and another about Drills? 😒

I agree. This would be awful and uncreative 😫IF it were like that! 😂

Each letter stands for various entries, which means different topics which begin with the same letter ARE actually written about in the blog!

You are wondering how the topics are addressed in this blog! 🙇

Take it easy. I'll tell you 😉In many instances in this blog, Scott Thornbury tries to show us the other side of the story: A side we are not likely to have thought about.

How?

Examples speak louder than fire alarms. It is believed, and much research has proved, that fluency of language is harder to acquire than accuracy. However, in his article entitled "A is for Accuracy", Scott Thornbury argues that Accuracy can entail accurate use of language at all linguistic levels (which sounds intimidating). Moreover, he argues that the word "accurate" is relative, for what you believe is accurate in your dialect might be completely wrong in another dialect. 

In addition, in his "A is for Accent", Scott Thornbury discusses the idea that learners usually try to get rid of their accents and try to sound more like a native speaker, while in fact to think about language learning as to unlearn something and to master something else is a misunderstanding of SLA. Thornbury argues that language learning is about addition rather than subtraction; learners learn new things and develop their interlanguage (they add to it rather than remove from it).

In short, Scott Thornbury's blog is an excellent one that insightfully critiques different issues in ELT and SLA and in many instances shows us the other side of the story.