A few weeks ago the project group visited the Framingham ESOL school sites where we will be implementing our work.
When we arrived, it was noted that each teacher’s personality really shines through in their classroom and has a huge impact with how things were run. After seeing all the classes I can say this was definitely true. The first class was run by a man who was a big proponent of using technology in the classroom. This was a Level 5 class (7 being the highest) and conversation came relatively easily to most of the students. We had the opportunity to mingle and chat with the students while they worked on a casual conversation exercise which involved listing things they don’t and do like to do.
Our next stop was a Level 3+ class, it seemed like the students benefited more from a more formal style of insruction. The students were enjoying offering sample sentences and introducing themselves around the room one by one. Watching the class unfold it became clear how many skills it takes to effectively learn a new language. Not only are there grammar, syntax and vocabulary to learn, but also more subtle things like phonics and intonation as well. It’s definitely a very tall order.
As we progressed down through the levels from 5 and eventually landed at 1 (beginners English), I was struck by how determined many of the adult students seemed. Though many of them were struggling to string these concepts together, everyone was fully engaged in the process. This wellspring of determination will be a big asset for our project as we workshop ways to use mobile technology to help them learn more.
This project has already been developed to some degree by students before us who have developed sets of vocabulary cards. One of the questions the group will be addressing is how we should proceed with using mobile devices to teach other concepts too. Should we try to use them to help them with grammar? More vocabulary? Or phonics? And which level should we target? It seemed like each class had such distinct and different needs.
Personally, I’m excited by the possibilities for assisting language learning outside of class. And many students are familiar with using technology for this purpose. We got a chance to test some of the software students were using to test their phonics. The games got me thinking about tricky sound pairings, words like ‘bus’ and ‘bush’ or ‘suit’ and ‘sweet’ that might be interesting to practice back to back for non-native speakers.
All in all, the site visit was an excellent chance to get to know the students a bit and to see the classroom in action. I think I speak for everyone when I say we can’t wait to continue working on this project this semester!
ESLmobile Blog 