Is It Enough?

As I know, there are a lot of technologies and website which can increase our writing, speaking and listening skill, but how about speaking skill? Is there any technology or website which can increase it?

Talking about technology for increasing speaking skill, I thought about ability in assessing pronunciation, communicative approach, comprehensible input & output, providing online interaction, and also I was confused how this technology makes error correction in speaking for foreign language learners. There were so many thought, weren’t there?

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In fact, there are many sites in internet which provide not only listening but also speaking, interacting and pronouncing exercises. Mr. Teguh shared many sites which can help internet users to increase their speaking skill. Actually I have not been really familiar with all over these sites. So, I have not known how to use them effectively even for myself and apply it in learning and teaching process. I think these kinds of site supposed to be like familiar sites for English teachers, especially English as foreign language teachers and non-native teachers.

I have read briefly a research in Hong Kong about native and non-native English teachers. The result explained that native teachers tended to emphasize fluency besides that non-native tended to emphasize accuracy. So you see that these sites can be considered as input from native speaker to improve students’ fluency in speaking. So the input may be balance.

Thus, I am still doubt whether giving input from native speaker can be effective or not to increase their pronunciation. The guest lecturer in my class said that babies above 12 months old tend to have low sensitivity in distinguishing phonics / phonemes. It is because they begin to focus on meaning. So, can foreign language learners really care about the pronunciation while they have to focus on meaning? In the other hand, how effective these sites which some of them provide interaction with native speaker increase foreign language learners’ pronunciation?

Some of you perhaps may answer, “It depends on the teacher, learning and teaching process, and the students itself”. I do not know…

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MALL and Language Learning

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Have you ever been raided by your teacher because you brought hand phone, mp3, or PDA? If your answer is yes, how did you feel? Have you ever been confused why those technologies are not permitted to be brought to school? Have you ever thought that every technology including your hand phone can be good teaching aids?

Before I got some interesting material in TLL course about CALL (Computer Assist Language Learning) and MALL (Mobile Assist Language Learning), I thought some technologies especially hand phone can interfere the learning and teaching process. So that is why I agreed the rule in school which is mention about technology prohibition during teaching and learning process in class. Thus, after I followed TLL class 6 times, my mind was changed. Like in my previous TLL posting that teacher nowadays should not isolate digital native students from technology.

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In this class we discussed about how to use hand phone, mp3, iPod, and PDA (the MALL features) in language learning. Who was know? All friends of mine were really creative. Yeah, of course I and my friend in this campus should be creative, because we are the next generation of teacher. Because we are language teacher candidate, so at that time we shared our opinion in utilizing those technologies to increase students English skill completely like reading, writing, listening and speaking.

I hope all educational universities in Indonesia have the same idea with us about using technology in teaching and learning activity, or have higher ideas from us perhaps. I mean if the Indonesian teachers have a better quality in the future I think Indonesian school will be better also.

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The Main Point In Learning

At september 29^th 2011, my TLL lecture asked us to do debate. First group, which is my group acted as school boards who want to build a language lab in school. Besides that, the other group which is my opposite acted as a language teachers who assumed that school doesn’t need a language lab. They propose to install internet access. Debate went on attractive enough for me. Actually during the debate I was still confused what is the superiority of language lab which doesn’t exist in Internet. That’s because I never had language lab in school.

Yes, both of language lab or internet access can make language learning be more meaningful and comprehensible, but still depend on the teacher. Let’s look at the real example :

I wanna add Chomsky’s thought on 1986. He said that learning language is not about constructing a habit formation of language. Thus, based on TLL handbook, language learning more underscore in constructing innate cognitive knowledge which is gotten from comprehensible and meaningful interaction. I really-really agree with Chomsky’s thought, but first I felt upset while reading that thought. Chomsky’s perspective has been existed from 1986 but why nowadays learning language in Indonesia still underscore on habit formation. If I reflect to my friends’ school and my school, I conclude that some/many schools in Indonesia still use grammar translation method or audiolingual method. As we know, both of two method are about habit formation. Whereas, there have been created many technologies (like many programs in internet) to help teacher make comprehensible and meaningful interaction. Yeah, I think that’s because of many Indonesian teachers don’t know or can’t use those kind of technologies.

We have to remember that teacher is the main point in learning, not the technology. Then, because nowadays we are in digital era and will teach digital native students in the future, so ICT skill is important to be had by every teacher. If the teacher can teach well and also can operate the technology appropriately with learning, that can make learning and teaching process better.So, that’s why as a language teacher candidate I learn about language itself, language learning methods, and technology in language learning. All of them is integrated to create me become the next generation of teacher.

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The Inseparable Part of Our Life

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On September 22th-23th 2011 I got the introduction of technology and language learning (TLL) course. Everyone knows technology is very important in our life, including in teaching and learning. As we know, now we have entered to digital era where technology is a big inseparable part of our life, I think. Can you imagine what we will be now if there is no technology around us for a long time?

On another time and another course, I have discussed with class that children nowadays have been “in contact” with technology even when they have not being able to speak the language. Amazingly, they can learn and operate some kinds of technology by themselves rapidly. I think they are really great autodidactic learners.

Based on that discussion I conclude that technology has become an important part in their daily life. That conclusion agrees with what my TLL lecturer—Pak Teguh said. He reminded us that as a teacher we should not omit or keep the technology away from the students while learning and teaching process. What the teacher should do is utilizing the technology even it is their hand phone as the learning and teaching aid. If the teacher optimizes his/her creativity to use technology in learning and teaching activities, I think learning process will be more meaningful, enjoyable, efficient and effective.

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Actually, I haven’t used technology in learning process in classroom while I am a senior high student. I don’t know why my school did not permit the students to bring any kind of technology. The teachers also never use technology in teaching and learning process. That is very conventional, I think. That condition makes me and my friends missed a lot of capabilities in using technology that commonly has been had by our other peers at that time. Fortunately, I have gone out from that dark past. J

Of course when I have been a teacher I’ll never let my students experience the same condition with my past. That’s why I have to prepare myself to face future era of technology. It is like what my lecturers are doing nowadays, they lead me and my friends as the teacher candidates to have capabilities in using technology. We also are expected to be able to follow and adapt the technology development in the world. I’m still in progress to be the teacher who has those capabilities. The progress is never end, because even I have been that kind of teacher I still have to learn more, right? J

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