PROMOTING AUTONOMY UNDER CALL ENVIRONMENT

By Patricia Irma Varela Piñon

Divina Margarita Gómez Alvarenga

Denizia Cecilia Rocha Pinto

INTRODUCTION
Traditional language teaching has faced new challenges in order to develop more flexible learning approaches. At present, the learner-centered approach in English teaching has replaced the traditional teacher-centered one. As a result, the approach of leaner autonomy in learning EFL has gained more attention.
As with the seminal studies on self-access some articles emphasize the importance of the integration of self-study into any language program, while repeating again that it has often been argued that the classroom setting poses various obstacles to the development of learner autonomy and that these obstacles are closely related to the lack of opportunities allowing the learner to make decisions regarding the learning process Levy’s (2000) thorough investigation suggests that CALL (computer-assisted language learning) research has often focused on the effectiveness of technological resources, such as CALL tasks. Levy and Stockwell (2006) include CALL tasks under the umbrella of CALL materials, which they define as “the wide range of CALL artifacts or products that language teachers and designers create using technological resources” (Levy and Stockwell, 2006, p. 3).
Nevertheless, CALL artifacts can focus more on providing an abundance of learning material and technological support for the user rather than on actually providing guidance for learners to manage and direct their learning process so that they might eventually reach a certain or full degree of autonomy.

Learning to learn material
For most individuals certain knowledge about learning strategies would be required in order for them to understand how they can learn a language on their own. Barnett and Jordan (1991: 307) make a distinction between cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies that is quite relevant to our concerns here. The former provide learners with the skills necessary to work with learning material and thus enable learning to take place, and the latter aid learners in planning, monitoring and evaluating their learning process.

Learner autonomy and the Use of Tic´s

Learner Autonomy is a need we want to cover, it is a knowledge we want to achieve, and it is the best way to have success in the learning process. Successful Students get autonomy in a long term by discovering for themselves. The autonomous student learns reading, listening and sharing experiences with other students or professors.

As teachers, we are guides and models in English classroom so we must introduce the idea of autonomy in our classroom in all levels we teach; we can provide students the tools to express themselves in an individual way.  Otherwise, we have to create a learner-centered environment in order to have students responsible in their learning encourage them to have initiative in any task we could give them. Teachers must look for the approach that could have success in learner training.

Teachers can give students on-line resources with the proper feedback and plan for their learning so we are implementing autonomy and to provide them useful tools for facing the language.

According to Marc Prensky, “our students have changed radically. Today´s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach”. So we have to adapt our way of teaching, to their way of learning. But, how can we do that? Taking in consideration several factors, such as:

* the students’ background: Our students today are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet. (Prensky, 2001).
* According to Healey & Johnson (1998), the following aspects:

a) Who are the users you are targeting?
b) What are the goals of the students you are targeting?
c) What setting will the software be used in: independent study lab with no teacher available, lab associated with a class, a teacher-led class with one or a few computers?
d) How much do the teachers/lab assistants who will work with the students know?

e) What do you have now in the way of hardware and technical assistance?

So, having in consideration the aspects mentioned above, some of the tools, that I can suggest, based on my teaching experience at university level, are:

* blogger.com (the use of blogs in education)
* quizstar (to create online exams, free tool)
* animoto
* youtube.com
* google circles
* the use of platforms such as moodle, e-ducativa, blackboard, etc.
* mp3 audios
* different applications in cellular phones, such as dictionaries, etc.
* voki
* twitter, facebook, etc.
* virtual portfolios of evidences
* etc.

Teachers and students roles in developing autonomy in the classroom

When talking about developing autonomy in the classroom we cannot forget to mention the teacher and students roles.

Both the teacher and the students have an important role in teaching and learning process. They have to be aware of their responsibilities in order to raise the motivation for what they are doing in the classroom and to promote best results and be more autonomous.

Additionally, the world is becoming more and more competitive and to follow it’s pace and the development of the new technologies we need to become more autonomous and independent.  The most autonomous and independent we become the better results will get. We need to pay attention in ourselves and try to figure out which is the best way for us to learn, be creative and up to date. In this world where people have a greater access to computers and Internet we need to develop strategies to fulfill our goals.

What role does a teacher play on developing autonomy in the classroom?

-The teachers have to be a guide and a facilitator and encourage the students to take charge of their learning by giving them the opportunity to evaluate the learning process.

Besides that as facilitators, teachers have to work with the students to get to know their preferences and ask them for suggestions, so that they raise the motivation in the classroom. Furthermore the activities made in the classroom have to promote critical thinking and decision making in the students.
What role does a student play on developing autonomy in the classroom?
Having in account the so called “learner centered learning”, the students play a very important role in the classroom. They have a greater responsibility in their learning, especially if the goal is to develop lifelong learning skills.
In this sense, the students have to learn how to learn and together with the teacher find the learning strategy that works best with their learning styles.

There are a lot more that teachers and students can do to develop autonomy in the classroom. For that to happen it’s needed a positive relationship between both teacher and student based on communication, collaboration, confidence and responsibility.

Factors that influence on learners development of autonomous learning abilities trhough CALL activities

1.- Opportunities for the development of metacognition.

Students need to analyze the world by the interpretation of the accessed information according to their knowledge. Those CALL activities are useful in the development and improvement of different skills by an increased of the students’ metacognitive awareness such as being more self aware, planning and goal setting, being able to reflect and self-acces.

2.- Opportunities to become self-reliant.

In this sense, the teacher’s role is minimized (Sullivan and Pratt, 1996). The ability of making decisions about learning is promoted.

3.- The learning context is extended.

It incorporates activities that include the outside world into the learning environment.

TABLE 1: Dependent and autonomous learners adapted from Mynard ans Sorflaten (2003)

CONCLUSIONS
There are important factors that promote learner autonomy with the use of CALL. Students are provided with opportunities to develop important abilities focused on taking control of their own learning such decision making planning and self-regulation. With the use and application of CALL activities “individual learners are given the opportunity to move out of their individual comfort zones in order to participate productively and effectively in the learning process” (Hoven, 1999, p.157)

REFERENCES

Barnett, L. and Jordan, G. 1991. “Self-access facilities: what are they for?”.
ELT Journal, 45 (4): 305-12

Healey, D. & Johnson, N. (1998): “A place to start in selecting software”. CAELL Journal, 8/1, Winter.
Levy, M. (2000). Scope, goals and methods in CALL research: questions of coherence and autonomy. ReCALL 12(2), 170-195.
Levy, M., & Stockwell, G. (2006). CALL dimensions: Options and issues in computer assisted language learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Mynaed, J & Sorflaten R. (2003) Learner independence in your classroom. Teachers a, Learners and Curriculum 1(1) 34-38

Prensky, Marc. (2001): “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”. On the Horizon, MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001.

Sullivan, N. & PrattE. (1996) Acomparative study of  two ESL weiting environments: A computer-assisted classroom and a traditional oral classroom. System 29(4) 491-501

BIBLIOGRAFIA

Education and Culture.Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. Official Journal of the European Union on 30 December 2006. from http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/publ/pdf/ll-learning/keycomp_en.pdf

Funiber study material. Autonomy

Montoro, C., & Hampel, R., (2011). Investigating language learning activity using a CALL task in the self-access centre. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 2(3), 119-135. SiSAL Journal. Studies in Self-Access Learning from http://sisaljournal.org/archives/sep11/montoro_hampel/

Tesol Technology. CALL and Autonomy.  from https://sites.google.com/site/technologyintesol/ma-in-tesol-reflections/call-and-autonomy

TTV: a video-training site for teachers by ELTons 2010 awarded writer Russell Stannard.

By Nicolás Dantaz Rico, María Cecilia Bonavetti and Ana María Larramendy

Introduction

The English Teaching profession is one where change and innovation have been present all throughout its history. No wonder why we teachers are always looking for new — and better — ways to help our students learn. In this constant quest, we have an all-present ally: technology.

If there is one thing English and technology have in common is this: they bring together people from around the globe. Both of them are means people have to be in touch, to share, to entertain themselves, to learn.

We should take full advantage of the tools technology is offering us.  And, what is more, we should take advantage of the very useful tips and suggestions that Russell Stannard has put in one place: TTV.

About the author

Russell Stannard is an EFL teacher with more than 20 years of experience in the field. His main area of interest is ICTs. He is a professor at Warwick University in the UK, where he teaches Information Computer Technology at the MA in ELT with emphasis on ICTs and at the general MA in ELT. He is also an IATEFL member and writer for the Voices newsletter, having his own columns to update IATEFL members on new developments. He is also a regular columnist for the English Teaching Professional, the Modern English Teacher journals and the TESOL Spain quarterly.

An overview of the site

Teachertrainingvideos.com is not only aimed at providing teachers with access to the many gateways available online to facilitate the implementation of ICTs in their classrooms, but also to assist them in the understanding of how to use each and every site linked.

Teachertrainingvideos.com is a very user-friendly website with clean layout, little advertising and information suitably classified in categories such as “Videos for learning ICTs”, “Top 20 videos”, “Videos for other languages”, etc. The listing under each category comes along with a brief but illustrative description of the websites and, as you click on the links, you are immediately faced with the tutorial videos especially made by Stannard himself.

The training videos are very detailed. They are divided in sections such as “Introduction” and then the most important aspects of the sites and a conclusion. The videos include both voice and visual explanations. One of the highlights of these clips is that they are made to cater for different learning styles. As the author explains a certain feature of a website, you can see how it works in his own screen.

Fig. 1: a screen capture of TTV

Other sections in the site are “Russell’s podcasts”, where teachers can find varied interviews and recordings of lectures, “My sources”, the author’s blogroll, or “Russell’s Feedback Research”, which provides a selection of journal papers, interviews, articles and even TV appearances about Video Feedback.

Outstanding features

Apart from the characteristics mentioned above, we also like that the author shows teachers how to make their own videos. This is particularly interesting in case they would like to do some distant teaching and to us such type of resource. Another major feature is that  people can be updated on Strannard’s research for free via RSS. Worth mentioning is the section called “Videos to recommend to students”, where useful tools for students’ practice and review are listed.

Conclusion

To put it in a nutshell, it is only fair from us to say that Russell Stannard’s website is a must-see for those teachers who wish to bring change and innovation to their practice. Our recommendation is based on a two-fold reason. On the one hand, Teachertrainingvideos.com  fosters professional development for teachers while, on the other hand, it also provides students with the opportunity to work autonomously to grow in their development as language learners due to the careful selection of materials available the author presents.

TECHNOLOGY IN SCHOOLS

Posted by Erika Room and Yovana Lázaro

In recent years, schools have invested heavily in putting technology—especially computers and their associated infrastructure—in the hands of students, teachers, and administrators. Many people involved in education, from legislators to teachers to parents, as well as the general public, want  to know what technology exists in schools and how that technology is being used. These are a few  of the questions that are typically asked:

❚How can technology support the educational vision ?

❚What are our technology needs?

❚Are our technology goals right for our needs?

❚Reasons For Bringing Technology Into Schools

The teachers and administrators at our case study sites expressed different reasons for bringing technology into their schools.

Support Thinking Processes

Many teachers at case study schools cited a belief that computer-based technologies could provide support for thinking processes.

In fact, teachers can undergo different situations in class. In more that one opportunity online dictionaries and encyclopedias have been very useful for me when an unexpected word appeared in texts of different styles and even if the context helped you getting the idea, it was definitely better to know the exact definition of the term.

Stimulate Motivation and Self-Esteem

A second frequently cited rationale for introducing technology was to stimulate motivation and self-esteem. Through either personal experience or a review of the literature, many innovators perceived the dramatic effects that technology can have on students’ interest in class activities and their sense of their own capabilities.

Promote Equity

In the case of ShareNet, the districts recognized the wide disparity in the resources available to them and felt that a unifying network could promote a more equitable use of those resources.

In the case of several schools serving students from low-income homes, technology innovators stressed the importance of giving these students the technology tools that would equip them to compete with children coming from more affluent homes where technology is commonplace.

Prepare Students for the Future

Students in our country don’t have an egalitarian access to education. This means that the same happens when we talk about reaching technology opportunities. Thus, one of our missions is to be well prepared to teach students effectively not only to learn with technology but to use it skillfully .

Support Changes in School Structure

Researchers have argued that technology has the potential to dramatically change the way in which our schools are structured–providing pressure to do away with the division of instructional time into small blocks and discrete disciplines and to rethink the way we use physical classrooms and teaching resources (Collins, 1990; Newman, 1990). A number of our sites reported consciously deciding to use technology in order to support changes in school structure. Several district administrators expected technology to free up teacher time by taking over or supporting administrative and routine teaching tasks. The administrators setting up ShareNet expected it to lower boundaries between schools, districts, and even states.

Explore Technology Capabilities

Finally, in several cases, there were individuals who were simply intrigued by new technologies and wanted to explore what they could do. Not surprisingly, the desire to explore technology capabilities was most likely to be a factor in cases where there was an external partner involved in the design, manufacture, or selling of technology products. Although we felt that technology push was one motivation for some implementations, in no case was it the sole motivation.

We as teachers know that technology has become a powerful and useful tool to facilitate our students’ learning not only that but it also has many advantages as well , that is why we consider very important to be updated and do not stop searching about the new tendencies in technology for schools and make our students aware of the new tools too so that they feel more comfortable and secure.

http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/reasons.html

HARD OR SOFT SKILLS

Posted by Yessica Elizabeth Garcia Sanchez

First up, we will talk about teaching matters and how to teach and how to learn, in our blog we would like to give you some ideas on teaching and reflecting, above all what to do in Summer if you are preparing for the classes again.

This is the season for a nice long break from school or university, and, for some kids, teens, that means too much playing video games, watching TV, spending time on social nets and moaning, “I’m bored”. When they will have to start their duties on school or university soon, they come or seem blind to the school every year. This has been a challenging task for us all.

However, they get excited when they do a good job, they enhance and encourage each other, and, they feel their work is rewarding. We have been talking about skills, but you know what about skills mean. A well-balanced education includes more than just the basic “core” subjects, such as reading, science, computing, foreign languages and math.

It includes social skills – the knowledge and practice of appropriate conduct, manners, and group interaction. In fact, according to several studies by prestigious educational research institutions, up to 85% of a child’s future success depends on these “soft skills.”

Soft skills are people’s abilities to communicate with each other and work well together. Meanwhile, hard skills are people’s skills set and ability to perform a certain type of task or activity. Briefly, soft skills are interpersonal and broadly applicable.

What will ‘soft skill or hard skill’  be more suitable?

Soft skill teacher “To develop needs based on curriculum, it is a new concept for government schools”.

http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/soft-skills

We have lost these skills in the past decades however, they have been recognized as vital in order to become good, productive citizens; and as teachers we need to ensure the future success of the children we are accountable for.

While most educational institutions today are very focused on academic performance, not many are proactively including social skills and character development in their lesson plans.

Schools and government are spending billions of dollars every year trying to deal with the effects and consequences of bullying and harassment, and recent reports indicate that one out of four kids will be a victim of a significant violent incident before they reach high school.

It is important to recognize that the lack of civility in the classroom (and beyond) is a systemic problem, so we to addresses this problem from all angles: in the classroom, with peers, in the home, and through the community. There is a need to support educators and parents in their efforts to develop socially adept and considerate children.

Why teach them?

Soft skills include concepts such as problem solving, team work and adaptability to change and they are simple to include in many lessons. These skills are not necessarily graded in a traditional sense but might be assessed with analytical rubrics. These skills may already be present in lessons and may only need to have a slight emphasis added so students see the skills’ importance.

Problem solving

Problem solving goes beyond math skills. It is the higher order thinking necessary to find an answer. This can take the form of questions such as, “draw what you will look like when you are an adult” to “write a new ending to the given story.” In both cases students need to think critically about what they already know and then draw a conclusion before producing the requested result.

Team work

Team work is the ability to effectively solve a problem or work within a diverse group. It requires good communication skills and the ability to both support and compromise with others. This requires students to learn to work with different people of differing skill sets while trying to successfully solve a problem.

Adaptability

Being able to adapt to changes in technology and the workplace itself is critical in today’s businesses. Ways to include adaptability in the classroom are diverse, flexibility to accept new ideas and the ability to simultaneously work on multiple projects.

http://schoolofeducators.com/2009/02/importance-of-soft-skills-development-in-education/

MAKING OUR STUDENTS BECOME CRITICAL THINKERS IN EFL CLASSES

Are your students still passive learners? Do you want to develop their critical thinking during the English class? Are your students able to assess their own learning?

A well-known fact is that students during their school years do not achieve sufficient language skills to understand lectures, comprehend texts books, participate in class discussions or generate an accurate written work. The development of metacognitive strategies can help them organize, plan and make decisions about their own learning. This development is, of course, teachers´ responsibility to get acquired by the use of new strategies, so students will be expected to think, to communicate and to continue their learning by themselves in and outside the classroom.

Who are critical thinkers?

They are learners who develop a mental and communicative process about grammar, discourse, strategic (negotiation of meaning), and social-cultural competence in order to reach the target language.

Numan (1984, p 45) states critical thinkers interact to use the language target progress more rapidly through habitual practices and oral interaction as much as possible.

What is Critical Thinking?

“Critical thinking is the identification and evaluation of evidence to guide decision making. A critical thinker uses broad in-depth analysis of evidence to make decisions and communicate his/her beliefs clearly and accurately.”

According to Edward Glaser (1941) “the ability to think critically involves: a) an attitude of being disposed to consider in a thoughtful way the problems and subjects that come within the range of one´s experiences; b) the knowledge of the methods of logical inquiry and reasoning; c) some skill in applying those methods.

Which skills are developed through critical thinking?
Among the skills of critical thinking we can mention:

-Analyzing

-Reasoning

-Evaluating

-Problem solving

-Decision Making

Through the use of critical activities students can also learn how to reach to conclusions, and self- assess their performance in class.

Interactive classes could be the major factor for the development of critical thinking. Based on Bruffee (1984) ideas, people who think well must first have the ability to communicate well and reason within a learning community. Therefore, group work, pair work and project work are the processes that enable our students becoming critical thinkers. As well they also develop collaborative strategies that give them the opportunity to participate effectively and listen or accept others´ ideas.

Which are critical thinkers competences?

Critical thinking calls for the ability to:
•Recognize problems, to find means for meeting those problems.

•Understand the importance of prioritization in problem solving.

•Gather pertinent and relevant information.

•Recognize unstated assumptions and values.

•Comprehend and use language with accuracy, clarity, and discernment.

•Interpret data and evaluate arguments.

•Recognize the existence of logical relationships between propositions.

•Draw conclusions and generalizations.

•Put to test the conclusions and generalizations at which one arrives

•Reconstruct one’s patterns of beliefs on the basis of wider experience

•Render accurate judgments about specific things and qualities in everyday life.

Strategies for integrating the four skills in the development of critical thinkers.

Critical thinkers focus on developing integrated skills engage to use the language to communicate in order to achieve at outcome other than that of learning a specified feature of the L2. Their skills are wider because students have the opportunities to express their ideas and solving problems in writing and spoken activities. Besides, these activities/tasks are judged by themselves in the real life because they can negotiate meaning, solve a particular problem or maintain social relationship and friendship.

The main point to be established is the need of integrating all the skills in every class/hour. They should not be practiced separately if teachers want to teach and develop authentic communication. To fulfill with the integration of the four skills teachers need to re-design their programs and adapt real life problems to the environment of the class to be solved through the use of the language.

Secondly, a feedback system could be established for all the skills; this feedback emphasizes what students did well and what they need to improve, of course this should be determined individually in an oral way, so in this way students will realize about the amount of responsibility they have in their own learning and how they can help themselves. They can also have a real communicative practice with the teacher.

Working with journals encourages students to use meta-cognitive learning strategies; they will feel motivated to make positive changes in their behavior as well as in their learning process. Furthermore, they identify their own problem and find out possible solutions to it. The process may have statements as:

- I have learned:

- I didn´t understand:

- I like knowing about:

- I don´t care about:

- My strengthens in this topic are:

- My difficulties are:

- I need help in:

Finally, a peer review activity enables students help to each other, discuss their difficulties and achievements, know how to receive positive critiques and reach the goal of becoming independent learners.

Diagram of a Model of critical thinking:

Critical thinking in learning:
To become a skilled learner is to become a self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinker, who has given assent to rigorous standards of thought and mindful command of their use. Skilled learning of a discipline requires that one respect the power of it, as well as its, and one’s own, historical and human limitations.

Critical Thinking Classroom Exercises

Text analysis:
During this activity students need to organize pieces from a story in the correct order; they will make up a title for it as well as write a new ending. This exercise provides students the opportunity to think logically, to solve problems and relate the events to their own previous experiences.

Socratic thinking:
It is a process of questioning hypothetical problems so thinking would be triggered, the idea is to challenge students to answer questions analysis between facts and assumptions and get to the best possible solution according to the situation.

Think Out-of–the-box:Make students draw a specified number of dots and then tell them to join the dots making creative figures with a determined number of lines.

What if you were:
Make students imagine and characterize a person, who could be a famous are popular one. Give a student a hypothetical event and ask them to react as if they were that know person. These kind of activities will help students understand others reactions and think in different ways.

Conclusion
Students who develop awareness in their learning process and keep great expectations in their improvement of communicative skills are those who have developed a critical thinking; because of this they will feel confident during the acquiring of knowledge, be enthusiastic learners and achieve success in their studies.

Bibliography
* Oak M. ,”Developing Critical Thinking Skills”, Wikipedia, http://www.buzzle.com/articles/developing-critical-thinking-skills.htm

(read January 21st, 2012)

* Shaila M. and Trudell B., “From Passive Learners to Critical Thinkers: Preparing EFL Students for University Success”; English Teaching Forum #3, 2010.

* The Critical Thinking Community, “Defining Critical Thinking”,

http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766, (read

January 21st,2012)

* http://www.criticalthinking.com/company/articles/critical-thinking-definition.jsp

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking

* http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/how-to-study-and-learn-part-one/513

* David, N(1999) Second Language Teaching & Learning, Boston, Massachusetts.

Extra Task CALL

Group 2

- Elba Margarita Mosquera.

- Lucía del Carmen Troya.

- María José Troya.

Practica conversacional en el salón de clases: Un acercamiento comunicativo a cuatro textos de estudio.

Tesis: Practica conversacional en el salón de clases: Un acercamiento comunicativo a cuatro textos de estudio.

Autor: María José Sola Ortega

Programa: Máster en lingüística aplicada a la enseñanza del Español como Lengua Extranjera.

María José Sola, de nacionalidad española, recibió el grado de Máster en Lingüística Aplicada a la Enseñanza del Español como Lengua Extranjera.

Bajo el título Práctica conversacional en el salón de clases: Un acercamiento comunicativo a cuatro textos de estudio, María José   pretende en su objetivo principal demostrar  a partir de una revisión de cuatro populares textos  de enseñanza de lenguas, que los contenidos de los libros  actuales no brindan  actividades de práctica conversacional que contextualicen a los estudiantes en situaciones reales de uso de la lengua.

Teniendo en cuenta las habilidades  que desarrollan los estudiantes  en el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras,  la práctica conversacional es considerada de gran relevancia ya que plantea  mayores problemas  para su aplicación fuera del  aula de clases, es decir en situaciones cotidianas que demandan un uso fluido de la lengua. Dada esta limitante y  enmarcada en un enfoque comunicativo  de la enseñanza de la lengua, donde  el intercambio de información y la interacción son elementos  fundamentales, María  asevera que en la mayoría de textos  utilizados  actualmente, el contenido de los mismos no  presta la importancia  que merece a actividades de practica conversacional que se adopten a los intereses y necesidades de los estudiantes. Por esta razón es que maestros de lenguas se han visto obligados a complementar o mejorar  los contenidos de los libros con actividades que se caractericen por  su autenticidad y actualidad, así como  por su carácter motivador y comprometedor y otro grupo de criterios  que sigan las directrices  establecidas por el  Marco Común  Europeo de Referencia para las Lenguas.
Continuar leyendo

NOVEDADES EN ELE

NOVEDADES BIBLIOGRÁFICAS SOBRE LA ENSEÑANZA/APRENDIZAJE DE ELE

Según Marc Prensk (2001), los estudiantes actuales han experimentado un cambio radical en su percepción del mundo y en su manera de estar en él. Ésta transformación se debe al desarrollo de la informática en las últimas décadas del siglo XX, y lo que va del XXI, podríamos agregar. La interactividad de los estudiantes con la tecnología, que se ha venido realizando desde los primeros días de su existencia hasta la edad adulta, forma un nuevo tipo de personas que el autor denomina Nativos Digitales. Desde esta perspectiva, aquellos profesores que se formaron antes de la época mencionada, los considera Inmigrantes Digitales al momento de interactuar con los alumnos en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje. Y -analogicamente- como todo inmigrante, el profesor de ELE, debe mejorar su “acento digital” para comunicarse con sus alumnos. En otras palabras, se debe actualizar en el dominio y uso de los recursos digitales disponibles en el mercado cibernético para ejercer su papel de una forma efectiva, adecuada y coherente con el nuevo tipo de alumnos.

Afortunadamente, los recursos para que el profesor de ELE logre su adaptación al mundo del aula virtual son múltiples y variados. A continuación, ofrecemos el siguiente enlace que ofrece una variedad bibliográfica: http://aprendoele.blogia.com/ Esta página es una guía completa sobre el uso de los recursos en la web, tanto para profesores como para estudiantes. Ofrece un amplio catálogo sobre publicaciones, temas y casas editoriales que elaboran productos dígitales. También aparece una guía sobre asociaciones de profesores de español, de revistas digitales y trabajos investigativos.

MATERIAL DÍDÁCTICO VIRTUAL: UNA MARVILLOSA FORMA DE DE UTILIZAR EL TIEMPO Y EL ESPACIO EN LA ENSEÑANZA DE ELE

“Giroux reclama del maestro que como profesional con conciencia social debería convertirse a sí mismo en un intelectual transformativo, en un agitador social con una concepción del mundo transformadora y con un conocimiento de toda la ciencia, cultura y tecnología moderna en beneficio de la transformación de las sociedades en función a una mejora con un rumbo consciente y planificado.” http://blog.pucp.edu.pe/item/32480/giroux-y-la-teoria-de-la-resistencia

Con la aparición de nuevas teorías sobre ASL y las nuevas Tecnologías de las Información y las Comunicaciones -TICs- tambien se presenta el fenomeno social de “Resistencia al Cambio”, entre algunos profesores de lenguas de la “vieja guardia” por temores infundados y otras razones que conllevan los cambios. Pero, a pesar de todo, el cambio se está dando. Según los autores Mª Encarna Morcillo Herrera, Emilio Ivars Ferrer y José Blas García Pérez, a pesar de que en algún momento se pensó que la tecnología desplazaría a los profesores y asumiría por completo el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje de lenguas, hoy en día se identifica más como un instrumento para facilitar la labor del profesor y el ejercicio de los estudiantes en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje de L2. Y, poco a poco, aquellos que, inicialmente se resistían al uso de las TICs, de acuerdo con nuestra experiencia personal, se han ido integrando a la que podríamos bautizar -parodiando a Alvin Toffler- “La Nueva Hola en la Enseñanza/Aprendizaje de Segundas Lenguas”.
Ahora la resistencia no as al cambio, es la resistencia al rezago. Ahora hay un deseo de aprovechar las TICs incentivados por la didáctica que éstas usan. Porque nadie puede negar que, lo que denominamos aula virtual, es una maravillosa forma de aprovechamiento del tiempo y del espacio para la enseñanza/aprendizaje de cualquier rama del saber.
Por considerar de alto valor motivador y formativo para los profesores y demás personas que aspiran a la maestría en ELE, sugerimos la lectura del trabajo de José Ignacio Gallardo Ballesteros (2011), titulado: EL USO DE LOS WIKIS PARA LA ENSEÑANZA DEL ESPAÑOL COMO SEGUNDA LENGUA A EMIGRANTES EN CONTEXTOS ESCOLARES, al que puden acceder en el siguiguiente enlace.
http://www.segundaslenguaseinmigracion.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=115&Itemid=21
Un ejmplo de todo lo descrito y ampliado por Ballestero(2011a), lo podemos observar siguiendo el enlace http://www.uni.edu/becker/Spanish3.html

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Didáctica ELE:

DEBATE: se debate si las nuevas tecnologías de la información acaban con el buen uso del español:
Sugerencia:
-Podemos ver el debate que muestra la rtve y tomar partido dando nuestras opiniones. También dar nuestras conclusiones acerca de las nuevas tecnologías y su relación con el uso y aprendizaje del español.

Podemos generar algunas preguntas adicionales:

• ¿Realmente las personas que usan las nuevas tecnologías de información cuentan con los criterios adecuados para evaluar la calidad de la información que allí reciben?
• ¿Cómo pueden discernir las personas que empiezan a aprender un idioma el buen o mal uso del lenguaje que les proporciona las nuevas tecnologías de la información?
• ¿Se estará ganando en cuanto a velocidad de la recepción de la información y perdiendo con relación a la calidad de los mensajes?
• ¿Las nuevas tecnologías de información dan vida y transforman al lenguaje?

http://www.rtve.es/television/20110606/debate-futuro-del-espanol-afectan-las-nuevas-tecnologias-salud-nuestro-idioma/437516.shtml

-Se cuestionan las consecuencias del uso desmedido de las TIC: http://www.eltiempo.com/vida-de-hoy/educacion/camilo-jimenez-renuncia-a-catedra-de-comunicacion-socia

-Cursos de español:
http://www.holaquetal.com/http://www.catedu.es/crear_wq/wq/home/3137/index.html

-Articulos sobre el idioma:
http://www.semana.com/wf_Buscador.aspx?Buscar=sobre%20el%20idioma%20espanol http://mundoviajero.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/%C2%BFse-habla-el-mejor-espanol-en-colombia/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2011/12/111206_espanol_ventajas_economicas_jr.shtml http://miblogdetraduccion.wordpress.com/tag/espanol-de-colombia/

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1. Estado del arte de ELE en Colombia, una mirada holística: metodologías y enfoques, material didáctico, variedades lingüísticas y dificultades en el área
http://marcoele.com/ele-en-colombia/

Este artículo es el resultado de un ejercicio de indagación desarrollado en universidades e institutos de enseñanza de español como lengua extranjera en Colombia. Se caracteriza el estado de arte en cuatro áreas fundamentales: las metodologías y enfoques de enseñanza usados, los materiales didácticos utilizados, las variedades dialectales más recurrentes en el aula y las dificultades que tienen las instituciones colombianas frente a la enseñanza del español. Para desarrollar dicha indagación, se analizaron los diferentes informes sobre el estado del arte de las regiones colombianas y se llevaron a cabo encuestas en las instituciones del país. Se espera que este artículo permita entender holísticamente el fenómeno de ELE en Colombia y suscite mayores investigaciones.

2. CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ELE
Del 9 al 11 de mayo de 2012 se celebrará en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el Congreso Internacional Investigación e Innovación en ELE: construyendo el SICELE, auspiciado por el Sistema Internacional de Certificación del Español como Lengua Extranjera. Los organizadores del mismo son la Universidad de Puerto Rico,Recinto de Río Piedras, la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico y la Universidad del Sagrado Corazón.El congreso lleva como tema la Investigación e innovación en la evaluación y divulgación del español como lengua extranjera en el siglo XXI. Pretende propiciar la investigación, el intercambio de ideas y de estrategias de certificación y enseñanza de ELE entre los especialistas y profesionales interesados en la disciplina, así como proveer un foro para la difusión de la lengua española y el tratamiento de variedades lingüísticas en las actividades de enseñanza y evaluación del español.
El programa académico se organizará en diez áreas temáticas en torno a las cuales girarán sesiones simultáneas de comunicaciones y tendremos cinco conferencias plenarias a cargo de prestigiosos académicos especialistas en la evaluación, aprendizaje y enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera.
http://www.cisicelepr2012.org/

3. Carmen Caffarel destaca en la sede de la ONU en Ginebra la importancia de la lengua española
La directora del Instituto Cervantes ofreció una conferencia en el Día del Idioma Español en las Naciones Unidas.
http://www.cervantes.es/sobre_instituto_cervantes/prensa/2011/noticias/nota_ginebra_caffarel.htm

4. El Cervantes organiza COMPROFES, el Primer Congreso Virtual Mundial de Profesores de Español
Carmen Caffarel participa junto a Manuel Alvar Ezquerra en el acto de inauguración en Madrid
Casi 2.500 congresistas de los cinco continentes y de 90 países participan a través de Internet

http://www.cervantes.es/sobre_instituto_cervantes/prensa/2011/noticias/nota_congreso_virtual_comprofes.htm

5. Ser bilingüe inglés-español, en Estados Unidos, representa una ventaja en estos tiempos de crisis

Ser bilingüe inglés-español, en Estados Unidos, representa una ventaja, en estos tiempos de crisis, según los expertos que han participado en un seminario internacional organizado por el Instituto Cervantes de Chicago.
http://www.diariodeavisos.com/2011/12/10/actualidad/ser-bilingue-ingles-espanol-en-estados-unidos-representa-una-ventaja-en-estos-tiempos-de-crisis/

6. The Emerging Economic Value of Spanish in the U.S. – Chicago

http://chicago.cervantes.es/en/culture_spanish/economic_value_spanish/economic_value_spanish.htm

7. El español genera el 16% de valor económico del PIB, según un nuevo estudio

El español genera en la actualidad el 16% del valor económico del Producto Interior Bruto (PIB) y el “factor ñ” de los contenidos en ese idioma provenientes de las industrias culturales aporta el 3% del PIB en España, según un nuevo estudio de la Fundación Telefónica presentado hoy en Nueva York.
http://www.abc.es/20111206/economia/abci-espanol-produccion-201112060303.html

8. Investigadores de la Universidad de Alicante trabajan con el humor y la ironía
06/12/2011
Expresiones irónicas como “mosquita muerta” funcionan como un patrón recurrente en los hablantes. Esto ha llevado a los expertos que integran el Grupo de Investigación para la Ironía y el Humor en Español de la Universidad de Alicante (GRIALE) a comprobar que, en determinadas situaciones, sí se puede generalizar el uso de la ironía porque, en esas circunstancias concretas, hay indicadores y marcas.
Humor e ironía son los dos pilares sobre los que se basa el Simposio Internacional sobre la Ironía y el Humor, que va a agrupar en el Aula Magna de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Alicante los días 15 y 16 de diciembre de 2011 a expertos mundiales en el tema y que supone el cierre del proyecto de investigación liderado por GRIALE
http://noticias.universia.es/en-portada/noticia/2011/12/06/894903/investigadores-universidad-alicante-trabajan-humor-ironia.html

Grupo 4 TEA
Wilfredo Fernández Vidal: COFPMLAEELE 175454
Olga Lucía Máquez: COFPMLAEELE 912384
Ismael Corredor: COFPMLAEELE 636224

Arte e Historia en el aula de ELE

Una manera interesante de traer contenidos auténticos al aula de ELE y al mismo tiempo enseñar la cultura e historia española, es a través de los audios disponibles en páginas web como www.audioviator.com. En el siguiente link podéis escuchar y utilizar la descripción del Guernica.

https://docs.google.com/a/funiber.org/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B-O6etoB_D14M2EzNmVlNWItM2E1ZS00YTU3LWE3OTktOTk5NzhkMzM4NzA0&hl=en_US

A continuación, proporcionamos la transcripción de los audios para utilizar en la clase. Este texto se puede explotar para hacer actividades en clase para trabajar, por ejemplo, en gramática, los pasados; vocabulario, la comprensión auditiva y lectora, así como la expresión escrita. Seguidamente, damos unas ideas de actividades.

El Guernica

Es uno de los cuadros más famosos de Pablo Picasso. Es una de las obras más importantes del siglo veinte. Se enmarca dentro de la pintura cubista. Es un símbolo sobre el sufrimiento de las personas en las guerras. Fue un encargo del gobierno de la república española. Tenía que ser expuesto en el pabellón español durante la exposición internacional de 1937 en ParÍs. El objetivo era llamar la atención del público hacia la causa republicana en plena guerra civil española. En la década de 1940 en España ya se había instaurado el régimen dictatorial del general Franco, por ello, Picasso optó por dejar que el cuadro fuese custodiado por el museo de arte moderno de Nueva York, su voluntad era que fuera devuelto a España cuando volviese al país la democracia. En 1981 la obra llegó a España y fue expuesta en el Casón del Buen Retiro y luego desde 1992 en el museo Reina Sofía de Madrid. Junto a este cuadro se exponen los bocetos que dibujó el autor para realizar esta pintura. El Guernica es un óleo sobre lienzo de grandes dimensiones, tiene tres metros y medio de ancho por casi ocho metros de largo, a pesar del título y de las circunstancias en el que fue realizado no hay en el cuadro referencia concreta al bombardeo de Guernica ni a la guerra civil española.

Está pintado en colores blanco, negro y una gama de grises. El cuadro está organizado en tres zonas diferentes. La parte central sería la marcada por el caballo y guerrero muerto, la zona derecha es la casa en llamas con las tres mujeres, en la zona izquierda aparecen el toro y la mujer con el niño muerto. Además, las figuras están organizadas en triángulos, el más importante es el del centro que tiene como base el cuerpo del guerrero muerto y como vértice la lámpara.

Aparecen representados seis seres humanos y tres animales; un toro una paloma y un caballo. La explicación de cada elemento de la pintura es discutible, pero lo que sí está claro es el tono general de la destrucción caos y guerra.

COMPRENSIÓN

Contesta a las siguientes preguntas:
a.¿Cuál es el estilo de la pintura?

b.¿Cuál fue el objetivo de pintar esta pintura?

c.¿Dónde estuvo el cuadro hasta el año 1981?

FUNCION COMUNICATIVA:

Escribe un título para el texto que te resulte más apropiado que el que tiene.

EXPRESIÓN ESCRITA:

Escribe brevemente, en unas diez líneas, tu opinión sobre el cuadro El Guernica.
Autores:
Maria Fernández Méndez
Ingrid Morales
Julia Francés Reig

El Español Suma

El español es el idioma que le permite al extranjero recorrer varios países con el mismo diccionario. My language-Español / Español-My language

Un chico canadiense llega a la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México y allí comienza la aventura hacia el sur. Todo en español.

Entonces: SUMEMOS NUESTRAS VARIEDADES. Enriquezcámonos con nuestra hermosa lengua que hace hablar a un porcentaje importante de la población del mundo.

Para aquellos aprendices más avanzados que quieren navegar y sumergirse en las sutilezas

del idioma, tenemos diccionarios más específicos como el nuevo “Diccionario del español del Uruguay” de la Academia Nacional de las Letras que se acaba de editar en octubre de 2011 y que concentra esas palabras que diferencian a unos hablantes de otros, pero que enriquecen al extranjero que sabe disfrutar de esas diferencias de la misma forma como disfruta de un pisco (Chile), un tequila (México), un tannat (Uruguay) o un mojito (Cuba).

Todos quienes estamos en esta nave de la enseñanza de ELE apreciamos, no solo las publicaciones que nos permiten abarcar las variantes del idioma, sino también todas las iniciativas de gobiernos y escuelas para fortalecer la enseñanza de ELE; un ejemplo de estas iniciativas es el II Congreso Internacional de Turismo Idiomático que intentó  dar un toque de excelencia a la enseñanza del ELE en los países que reciben a varios alumnos interesados en aprender el español con la ayuda de un contexto real/cotidiano para la práctica de la lengua.

En algunos países como Uruguay, la promoción del Turismo Idiomático se va convirtiendo en una de las nuevas prioridades del Ministerio de Educación y Cultura. Esperamos que este entusiasmo sea contagioso, en el mejor sentido de la palabra, para que otros gobiernos también promuevan ideas parecidas para el fortalecimiento de esta nueva forma de hacer Turismo.

Grupo 2 TEA

Cristina Ramos

Gloribel Ortiz

Jorge Daniel Marchant

LAS REDES SOCIALES Y LA EDUCACIÓN