To Our Inspiring Teacher

Good teaching requires flexibility, compassion, organization, knowledge, energy, and enthusiasm. A good teacher must decide when a student needs to be prodded and when that student needs mercy. Good teaching requires when to listen and reflect and when to advise or correct. It requires a delicate balance at many skills, and often a different mix of approaches for different students and situations. Is this profession demanding? Yes! Boring? Never! Exciting? Absolutely! Now then, have you ever found such a professional teacher like that?
I am a teacher and now also Uhamka student, and I want to be like my lecturer of Academic Speaking at Uhamka, Ms. Itje Chodijah. We adore her and want to please her; we always want to make her content because we know how much Ms. Itje cares about our speaking proficiency. She told us to keep on improving ourselves by conducting our self-learning, and she always reminds us that her class demands much of out time to drill and learn from other student’s experience. She expected us to do the best we can, and we all tried our hardest. I feel much improvement after taking her class, and most of my friends do. It’s because of her that we learn to work hard and to feel proud of what we did. And I want to tell my students that too and to make that kind of difference to them.
Yes, I want to be Ms. Itje for my students. I want to challenge my students to become a good learner for their own sake. Thank you, my teacher!

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Posted immediately after I did my UKM test of Academic Speaking at Uhamka. I wasn’t feeling well this morning, something wrong with my head since yesterday; therefore, my presentation was not very good, but anyway I tried to do my best this morning. I never sorry about my test, since I learned a lot from my friends whose presentations were excellent in my view (Thanks to Stefi, Yuni, and Rosma.). After the test, we shake hands for our farewell to her class, and I can see how much we have missed her class already! I want to have that feeling for my classes, too.

TV: No Way!

By the end of this month, we will celebrate our 3rd anniversary of not having any TV set at home. Yes, I gave up owning TV in 2005, the time when we moved from Balikpapan to Jakarta . I subscribed to cable TV when I was in Balikpapan, and I can tell you that was terrible since my family was addicted to it. In the following paragraph, I will tell you some negative effects of television, especially to our children (it’s a modification of my paragraph-writing assignment).

Bad behavior, poor health, and wasted time are problems that result from children watching too much television. The first problem on behavior is mostly triggered by children’s excessive watching on violent programs on tv. When children quietly and passively watch program such as crime news or killing scenes on tv drama very often, it can desentize them to violence and even instigate them to aggressive behavior. It is quite common now to see outbursts between brothers and sisters, as they frequently see quarrels and fights too on the screen. The second problem on health can be derived from reduced sleep time or constant sitting. Most tv lovers, including children, are absorbed in late television viewing, which only make their brain keep on awake and eventually cause poor concentration and sleepiness the next day. If this happens very often, how many brain cells children have destroyed within a week, a month, or a year? Also, children have no idea that sitting for hours in front of the boob tube, always wanting the next series of Naruto or exploding cars on serials action, is nothing compared to playing football or flying kites with friends, which are much healthier physical activities to do. Indeed, lack of exercising is one of children’s problem; they keep on piling up fat but never do the fat-burning: move, come out, and play. Now the last problem on time management: thousands of children hours are wasted on useless stories of “sinetron” and a few loud explosion. They should have spending this time on school work, studying, or productive play. In other words, children should make up the lost of time by reading, writing, exercising, playing monopoly with sisters and brothers, and other positive activities that can strengthen their brain or the family bond. Time is so precious that wasting it means throwing something very valuable in life. Seeing those negative effects, I think it’s better to cut the cord, throw the set in the street, and let children live without it. My decision to quit TV works well to improve their cognitive, behavior, and physical activities. Dare to try?

Activities in Teaching Speaking

Speaking is an important part of the learning and teaching process of English as a second language . Despite its importance, for many years, teaching speaking has been undervalued because English teachers continually teach speaking just as a repetition of drills or memorization of dialogues. Nowadays, however, the goal of teaching is shifted to improve students’ communication skills, because, only in that way, students can express themselves and learn how to follow the social and cultural rules appropriate in certain circumstances. There are several activities to teach second language learners how to speak communicatively.
The first activity is discussion, which aims at drawing a conclusion, sharing ideas about something, or finding solution on a problem. In this activity, a teacher must set the purpose of discussion in the beginning, so that students will discuss relevant points according to the purpose. In addition, they will not spend their time chatting with each other about irrelevant and unnecessary things.
The second way of setting students to speak is role play and simulation. In role play activities, students pretend they are in various contexts and have a variety of social roles. The teacher then gives information to the learners such as who they are and what they think or feel. For example, the teacher can tell the student, “Andy, you go to an accountant and tell him what happened to your business last month.” Simulations, on the other hand, are more elaborations of role play, because students can bring items to class to create a realistic environment. For instance, if a student acting as a doctor, he brings a stethoscope to examine his patients, and so on. Role play and simulation have advantages. For one, it is entertaining as well as motivating students. The second advantage is increasing the self-confidence of hesitant students, because they have a different role and do not have to speak for themselves, which means they do not need to feel ashamed of making mistakes.
The third activity is brainstorming, which necessitates students to produce ideas on a given topic in a limited time. Brainstorming is very effective to encourage students to speak up their thoughts and feelings quickly and freely. The good characteristic of this activity is that students are not criticized for their ideas, so students will be open to share new things collaboratively.
The fourth and the most favorite, in my opinion, is storytelling. Students can briefly summarize a tale or story heard from somebody beforehand, or they may create their own stories to tell to their classmates. This activity encourages students to have creative thinking, because they must organize the story in the format of beginning, development, and ending. In addition, students must be able to describe characters and the setting of the story very clearly. By this activity, the teacher can both explore students’ speaking and entertain the class.
The last activity is reporting, which integrates students reading or listening skill with speaking ability. Before coming to class, students are asked to read newspaper or magazines, or to listen to news on radio or television. Later in class, they report to their friends what they find as the most interesting news. Students can also express their opinion about the news, or tell whether they have experienced anything related to the news worth telling to class. This activity fosters the creativity of the learners as well as their public speaking skills.
In summary, teaching speaking can use a variety of communicative activities, ranging from discussion, role play and simulation, brainstorming, storytelling, and reporting. By using those communicative methods, students will have more opportunity to communicate with each other based on real-life situations, or to engage in active tasks to promote their confidence, creativity, and speaking ability in the ways that are meaningful and fun for them.

Reference:
Kahyi, Hayriye

Advantages and Disadvantages of CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning)

Mid-Semester Assignment

Efi Dyah Indrawati

Universitas Muhammadiyah Prof. Dr. Hamka

Jakarta – Indonesia

Introduction

Communication and technology have been part of our live, especially in the area of education. In all educational system, the use communication and technology has certain place; therefore, computers play significant role in the learning process. Teaching English for a second-language learner can take benefit from using a computer. Indeed, a computer is a tool and medium that facilitates people in learning a language, although the effectiveness of learning depends totally on the users (Hartoyo 2006, 11).

Recently, the numbers of English teachers using CALL has increased markedly. In addition, many articles have been written about the role of it in English learning. Although the potential of the Internet for educational use has not been fully explored yet and the average school still makes limited use of computers for some reasons , it is obvious that we have entered a new information age in which the links between ICT and EFL have already been established. This paper is aimed at discussing what CALL is and what advantages and disadvantages CALL offers so as we know its strength and weaknesses in in their usage for teaching English for ESL students.

What is CALL?

CALL is a program derived from CAL (Computer-Assisted Learning) which is implemented to language, but the use of computer here is mainly aimed at providing a language learning tutorial program (Hartoyo 2006, 21). In addition, Egbert (2005, 4) says that CALL means students learn language in any context with, through, and around computer technologies. From both definitions, the main focus of CALL is on the application of computers in language learning.

Advantages of CALL

Many educators (Jonassen 1996, Salaberry 1999, Rost 2002 in Lai 2006) indicate that the current computer technology has many advantages for second language learning. The following are the advantages as stated by many experts:

1. Interest and motivation

Classical language teaching in classroom can be monotonous, boring, and even frustrating, and students can loose interest and motivation in learning. CALL programmers can provide student ways to learn English through computer games, animated graphics, and problem-solving techniques which can make drills more interesting (Ravichandran 2000).

2. Individualization

CALL allows learners to have non-sequential learning habit; they can decide on their own which skills to develop and which course to use, as well as the speed and level by their own needs.

3. A compatible learning style

Students have different style of learning, and an incompatible style for students will cause serious conflicts to them. Computer can provide an exciting “fast” drill for one student and “slow” for another.

4. Optimal use of learning time

The time flexibility of using computer enables students to choose appropriate timing for learning. Winter (1997) in Kiliçkaya (2007) stressed the importance of flexible learning, learning anywhere, anytime, anyhow, and anything you want, which is very true for the web-based instruction and CALL. Learners are given a chance to study and review the materials as many times they want without limited time.

5. Immediate feedback

Students receive maximum benefit from feedback only if it is given immediately. A delayed positive feedback will reduce the encouragement and reinforcement, and a delayed negative feedback affect the crucial knowledge a student must master. Computer can give instant feedback and help the students ward off his misconception at the very first stage. Brown (1997) in Kiliçkaya (2007) listed the advantages of CALL as giving immediate feedback, allowing students at their own pace, and causing less frustration among students.

6.  Error analysis

Computer database can be used by teacher to classify and differentiate the type of general error and error on account of the influence of the first language. A computer can analyze the specific mistakes that students made and can react in different way from the usual teacher, which make students able to make self-correction and understand the principle behind the correct solution. (Ravichandran, 2007)

7. Guided and repetitive practice

Students have freedom of expression within certain bounds that programmers create, such as grammar, vocabulary, etc. They can repeat the course they want to master as many as they wish. According to Ikeda (1999) in Kiliçkaya (2007), drill-type CALL materials are suitable for repetitive practice, which enable students to learn concepts and key elements in a subject area.

8. Pre-determined to process syllabus

Computer enhances the learning process from a pre-determined syllabus to an emerging or process syllabus. For example, a monotonous paper exercise of ‘fill-in-the-blanks’ type can be made more exciting on the screen in the self-access mode, and students can select their own material. Therefore, CALL facilitates the synthesis of the pre-planned syllabus and learner syllabuses “through a decision-making process undertaken by teacher and learners together” (Breen 1986 in Ravichandran 2000).

Disadvantages of CALL

Although there are many advantages of computer, the application of current computer technology still has its limitations and disadvantages. Some disadvantages of CALL are as follows:

<!–[if !supportLists]–>1. <!–[endif]–>Less-handy equipment.

According to Ansel et al (1992) in Hartoyo (2006, 31), the CAL program is different from traditional books that can be carried around and studied wherever and whenever they wish: on a train, at home, in the middle of the night, and so on. School computers or language laboratory can only be accessed in restricted hours, so CALL program only benefits people who have computers at home or personal notebook.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>2. <!–[endif]–>Increased educational costs. Gips, DiMattia, and Gips (2004) in Lai (2006) indicated that CALL will increase educational cost, since computers become a basic requirement for students to purchase, and low-budget school and low income students cannot afford a computer

1. Lack of trained teachers

It is necessary for teachers and students to have basic technology knowledge before applying computer technology in second language teaching and learning. Therefore, computers will only benefit those who are familiar with computer technology (Roblyer 2003 in Lai 2006).

2. Imperfect current CALL programs

At present, the software of CALL mainly deals with reading, listening, and writing skills. There are some speaking programs have been developed recently, but their functions are still limited. Warschauer (2004) in Lai (2006) stated that a program should ideally be able to understand a user’s spoken input and evaluate it not just for correctness but also for ‘appropriatness’. Speaking program should be able to diagnose a learner’s problem with pronunciation, syntax, or usage and then intelligently decide among a range of options.

3. Inability to handle unexpected situations

The learning situation that a second-language learner faces are various and ever changing. Computers merely have artificial intelligence, and it cannot deal with learner’s unexpected learning problem or response to learner’s questions immediately as teachers do. Blin (1994) in Lai (2006) stated that computer technology with that degree do not exist, and are not expected to exist quite a long time. In other words, today’s computer technology and its language learning programs are not yet intelligent enough to be truly interactive.

Conclusion

In summary, the advantages of CALL can be outlined as providing motivation and autonomy for learner, compatible and time flexible learning, immediate and detailed feedback, error analysis, and a process syllabus. Some considerations must be given to the disadvantages of CALL, such as less handy equipment, high cost of education, lack of trained teachers and of CALL programs of perfect quality, and limited capacity of computers to handle unexpected situations.

To conclude, CALL has certain advantages and disadvantages and  teachers should know the strengths and weaknesses in applying CALL in ESL classrooms. It is agreeable that technological advancement and development has enabled the application of CALL programs in language learning and instruction, and it has become a new trend recently. Even so, computer technology still has its limitation and weaknesses. Therefore, we must first realize the advantages and disadvantages of current CALL programs before applying them to improve our teaching or to help student learning. In the end, we can avoid the mistake in employing CALL program and get the maximum benefit for our ESL teaching and learning.

Bibliographical References

Hartoyo, Ma, Ph.D. 2006. Individual Differences in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). Semarang: Universitas Negeri Semarang Press.

Kiliçkaya, Ferit. 2007. The Effect of Computer Assisted Language Learning on Turkisk Learners’ Achievement on The TOEFL Exam. htpp://www.iatefl.org.pl/call/j_soft27.htm accessed July 22, 2008/ 17:10:00.

Ravichandran, T., M.A., M. Phil., P.G.C.T.E., (Ph.D.) 2000. Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in the Perspective of Interactive Approach: Advantages and Apprehensions. Htpp://members.rediff.com/eximsankar/call.htm accessed July 22, 2008 / 17:06:00.