Todaysmeet

Using Todaysmeet to brainstorm
 (http://todaysmeet.com/)

What is this? How does it work? (webpage)


Todaysmeet is an easy-to-use, live chat web-platform upon which teachers could use to open a brainstorm session or collect student's live feedbacks during the class.

Some ideas of how we can use this tool. 

• open a brainstorm session in class to collect learners' ideas. (e.g. their view about grammar, their learning habits)
• First assign some difficult homework for students to do.
• Then make an appointment with the students, asking them discuss about their difficulties online collaboratively on a specific time for half an hour by using this web-tool.
• Following that, the teacher collect the unresolved problems and provide help on the website.
• In order to properly supervise students' work, the teacher could ask students to hand in their homework by email immediately after the on-line session. 

Why is this tool good of English Language teaching/learning?

It is believed that language learning is a socially mediated process, and it is only through better teacher-student interactions & student-student interactions and also through receiving timely feedbacks from the teacher can students become maximally motivated to learn the L2 Language. This web-tool provide us with  new approach to facilitate this process in order to promote motivation and learning autonomy.

Limitations and points to improve

• It requires the access to computer and internet for every students in the class.
• The students might use this tool to copy other's  homework.
• The virtual chat room could be sabotaged by naughty students if the classroom is not properly managed. 

Using Lyrics Training

Using Lyrics Training to learn vocabulary

(http://www.lyricstraining.com/)

What is this?  

LyricsTraining is an easy and fun English learning website on which students could learn and improve their  foreign language by learning the lyrics of their favorite songs. 

Some ideas of how we can use this website.

• Select some new vocabulary from a popular song to teach and ask students to learn that song as homework by using the web.

• Ask all students to submit their own version of singing to the teacher. Start a vote for the best singing award.

• After learning the song, students could be asked to try to improve the lyrics of the song: they will be advised to replace some words in the lyrics with better expressions according to their opinions and share the new lyrics with their classmates

• Ask students to sing in chorus in the following class and invite some volunteers to perform individually.

Why is the content good for language learning?

• By linking language learning and students' personal interests in music together, language learners will be easily attracted to learn the language autonomously.

• The gap filling activity on the web is cleverly designed to help learners memorize the lyrics of their favorite songs: it breaks the lyric into sentences and require learners to listen to the songs and fill in the gaps. Only when the gaps in the first line is filled, can a learner proceed to hear the following line of the song.

• By using this tool to learn a foreign language, students' multiple skills could be developed :listening, vocabulary and even pronunciation.

• There are various choices of songs on this webpage and new songs are  updated and uploaded regularly. 

• The gap filling activity can be approached in three different levels in which different amount of blanks are required to be filled: beginner level (10%), intermediate level (25%) and expert level (100%).

• Learners can also sign up and create their own account on the website so that they could keep a record of how many lyrics and vocabulary they have learned. In turn, this record could promote learners' awareness of their own language development and cultivate their habit of learning autonomy.

• Students will feel much relaxed to practice their pronunciation and oral English by learning a song.

Limitations and points to improve

• Not all students are that into music, especially the young kids.

• Some of the vocabularies in the lyrics are informal, ungrammatical or even violent or obscene, the teachers must be aware of and be prepared for it.

• It is difficult  to make sure that students will learn the lyrics autonomously as their homework, it might require the cooperation from students' parents.

• Students and their parents might regard this activity as an entertainment which is irrelevant to language learning.

•  There is no explanation and definition of the the lyrics on the web.