Web resources for

Language

Teachers

1st Edition

Fernando Mesquita

January 2012

“This is a time of challenge and a time for experiment. It is a time to put existing

pedagogies, practices, and educational philosophies in question and to construct

new ones. It is a time for new pedagogical experiments to see what works and what

doesn’t work. It is a time to reflect on our goals and to discern what we want to

achieve with education and how to achieve it.”

(Kellner, D.M., ‘Technological Revolution, Multiple Literacies, and the Restructuring of Education’, in I. Snyder (ed.), Silicon Literacies: communication, innovation

and education in the electronic age, London, 2002, p.166)

Google Images

How would you teach the meaning of the word skyscraper/Gratte ciel?

http://www.google.com/imghp

How about the word selfish/égoïste?

http://www.google.com/imghp

Google images is a great way to illustrate concrete vocabulary words and to give more

power to your definitions of abstract words. The principle behind it is that associating

meaning to an image is more memorable than just hearing a definition or example. Having

the visual and the audio input will certainly enhance your students` comprehension.

Wordle

Click here to use Wordle

Wordle is a website that creates word clouds. In order to use it, you need to install the

software QuickTime on your computer. Using it is simple. Just paste the words you want in

your word cloud into the text box and the website will prepare it for you. There are several

options to make your word clouds more visually attractive.

Wordle in LANGUAGE TEACHING

Taken from Alter Ego 2

In the language classroom, wordle can be used to activate students` schemata, that is,

students` prior knowledge of a specific topic. It is an ideal warm-up before reading or

listening comprehension activities. In the example below you will see how wordle can be used

to introduce a reading comprehension passage.

1. Before showing your students the text above, ask them to look at the word cloud on the

previous page and guess the topic of the text they are about to read.

2. Have them discuss the vocabulary in pairs and then guess the main topic of the text

3. Ask your students to add other words to the word cloud.

4. Show them the title of the reading passage above and ask them which words in the

word cloud they think will be associated with Men and which words will be associated

with Women.

5. Ask them to read the passage in order to confirm their prediction.

Delicious

Delicious in LANGUAGE TEACHING

Click here to use Delicious

What

Delicious is an online bookmarking tool that creates lists of specific

links and gives you the option to share them with your students

and colleagues.

When

Use it to save your favorite links and websites.

Why

It is an effective organization tool that gives you quick access to

your important links in one single address

Glogster

Glogster in LANGUAGE TEACHING

Glogster

What

Glogster can be used in several language projects. It is a platform that enables students to

make electronic posters that can contain text, pictures, videos or audio. The posters can be

shared on social networking websites such as Facebook.

When

For homework, class presentations, when discussing home countries, likes and dislikes,

friends, travelling, cultural habits…

Why

Student-centered activity that caters to students with diverse learning styles.

Bubbl.us

Bubbl.us is a tool that enables students to take part in online brainstorming and mind-mapping activities.

It not only helps students get more organized but it enables groups to share and save one another`s

brainstorming results and mind-maps without using paper!

Bubbl.us in LANGUAGE TEACHING

On American Headway 4 p. 7 the students are supposed to work in groups and make a list of

advantages/disadvantages of living abroad. Bubbl.us will help the groups share their ideas with the whole class.

Click here to try Bubbl.us

Real Player

One click is all you need to download videos from any website. With Real player you can convert different types of

video into almost any format you need. Real Player - Click here to try Real Player

Downloading videos with real player is useful in the following

situations:

Your internet connection is not reliable.

Your activity or project is very important and will be

used many times in the future.

You received a video file by e-mail and can’t open it.

You want to convert a video file to attach it to a

PowerPoint presentation.

Shutterfly

Click here to try shutterfly

Advantages of having your own

website/blog

Store lesson plans, images, YouTube

videos, links, tests, worksheets, students`

assignments, answer keys…

Organize and manage your courses and

store your resources for future use.

PBworks

Click here to try PBworks

PB works is a website that can be used to

promote collaboration in distance learning or

hybrid courses. Students can download your

course syllabus, worksheets, videos, images,

lists of links and etc.

Share documents, calendars, promote

interaction with the use of student-generated

videos or through writing, correct homework

and give feedback on assignments.

Check how one of our teachers uses PBworks in his classes

Penzu

Click here to try Penzu

Use Penzu for journal writing

Journal writing allows students to take risks and experiment with language

The goal is to write for meaning, not for form.

The teacher is a participant in a written conversation with the

students.(short comments/questions are ideal to motivate the students to

write more)

Grammar errors are not corrected.

It is a great tool to assess learners` needs and progress

It is consistent with learner-centered instruction

Give clear guidelines and prompts!

“Describe a perfect vacation”

“The qualities that make a best friend are…”

Eyewitness

Click here to try Eyewitness

Why not start your lessons with amazing pictures

taken by photo journalists?

It is a great way to inform your students of what is

happening in the world.

You can get your students to describe the pictures,

guess where and why they were taken, and write a

news story.

Show them the piece of news that accompanies the

pictures and discuss it in class.

Pixton

Click here to try Pixton

Making comics is an effective way to check whether your

students are able to use a language structure in writing.

Ask them to create comics to show that they can use verb

tenses, phrasal verbs, idioms…

“Teaching languages effectively means facilitating learning, not transferring knowledge.”

Fernando Mesquita