It is known that English Language Learners (ELLs) often have an affective filter that hinders their language acquisition because they are self-conscious about their language development (Krashen, 1985). This affective filter has the potential to completely halt progress if students don’t gain enough confidence to practice the skills being taught through reading, writing, listening and speaking. English language learners often have difficulty letting down their affective filter in front of their peers due to a low communicative competence, therefore they are not able to grow (Krashen, 1985). There are many ways to create a safe and comfortable environment for ELLs to learn, including welcoming their cultures and sharing yours, as well as being very patient with their progress (Wu, 2010).
Another key way to increase motivation as well as success is to incorporate technology into the learning process (Zha, 2006). There are many ways to use everyday technology to boost student successes in reading, writing, fluency and 21st century skills, such as the incorporation of iPods (Patten, 2007), podcasts (Smythe, 2010), discussion boards (Zha, 2006 and fan communities (Black, 2009). These skills are especially important for ELLs, as the technology allows for repetition and independent review at their own speed, repeating at necessary (Smythe, 2010).
Section 2
writing process
- discussion boards
- fan communities
- podcasts
Section 3 -
Podcasts for fluency
vocabulary knowledge (ipods)
synchronous audio
Closing
Though ELLs have many obstacles to overcome, providing them with technology as tool to develop their communicative competence is crucial for success in today’s world. Though finances are often an issue, there are many technologies available to increase a student’s communicative competence that only require free software, like podcasts and discussion boards. Not only will students need language skills to survive in America, but we are also responsible for giving them a 21st century edge in today’s global economy.
The outline looks great! I love how you dedicated your first paragraph to the discussion of why ELLs struggle with SLA. I'm also writing about technology and the ESL classroom, but a little more specifically about differeniation. I like how you organized your paper though, and may do something similar for mine (i.e. touch on the specific technologies and describe how they foster differentiation). Your closing paragraph also reminds me of the harsh reality for many schools- writing this paper has informed me of so many new ways to differentiate instruction using technology, however, it is only beneficial if schools have funding to support it.
ReplyDeleteIn one of my observations, I noticed a student from Greece who would laugh constantly while they were trying to teach her English. I think she did this because she did not really understand what was going on. This was here way of taking the focus off of the learning. Everyday was a new day and she did not really remember the material from the previous day. I also noticed that she would not really socialize with her classmates. Maybe if there was a comfrotable learning environment she would feel more comfortable expressing herself. I think it would be interesting to see if using technology would help her learn English and express herself to her peers.
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