Possible use of email and chat for language learning and teaching

1. Email & Chat
Neny Isharyanti

2. Email

3. Benefits
• Simple and familiar
 Teachers -- Mailing lists, discussion groups
 Students – exposure to target language in
real situation

4. Basic Email Skills
• Communication skills
 Discourse
 Netiquette
 Writing review

5. Basic Email Skills (con’t)
• Technical skills
 Email account management
 Privacy and protection
 Inquire their technical skill level first!

6. Some Ideas for Learning Activities
• Course management
 Communication and discussion
 Course mailing list
 Assignment submission
• Collaborative writing tool
• Data collection projects
• Keypal projects

7. Let’s try!
• Data Collection Project: Endangered Animals
• Theme: endangered species, ecology
• Aim: to find out about endangered species
• Learners: junior high school, adult,
intermediate or high level
• Time frame: 2-3 lessons @ 60-90 minutes

8. • Procedure:
 Lesson 1
o Teacher (T) provides the pair with one website about endangered
animals
o The pair visits the website, read the information, find a contact
email of the website, and write a series of questions to email
o The pair writes an email containing the questions,
o The email draft can be checked by another pair or the teacher
before being sent
o The pair send the email to the organization in the website

9.  Lesson 2
o After receiving a reply email from the
organization, the pair prepare a written or
oral presentation to share what they have
found about the endangered animals
o The pair present their findings

10.  Lesson 3
o Follow up activities such as publishing the
findings for the public through blog, wiki, or
podcast or through posters

11. Chat

12. Types of Chat -- platforms
• Text chat
• Audio or voice chat
• Public chat
• Private chat

13. Types of Chat – educational based
• Free topic chats
• Collaborative, task-oriented chats
• Informative or academic chats
• Practice chats

14. Why using chat in language learning?
• Some questions to ponder before deciding to use chat in language
learning:
 Does using text or voice chat with learners improve their
English?
 What kind of English should learners use in chat?
 What technical skills do teachers and learners need to be able
to use chat?
 What benefits does the use of chat bring to the classroom?
 Is it better to use text or voice chat with learners?

15. Does using text or voice chat with learners
improve their English?
 Opportunities for negotiating meaning
 Discourse familiarization
 Improving fluency

16. What kind of English should learners use in
chat?
• Standard written English conventions, please
• But, worth teaching:
 Common abbreviations are OK
 Netiquettes
 Turn-taking conventions

17. What technical skills do teachers and
learners need to be able to use chat?
• Installation of chat platforms and usage
• Typing skills
• Connection?

18. What benefits does the use of chat bring to
the classroom?
• Novelty factor
• Connecting learners and teachers

19. Is it better to use text or voice chat with
learners? -- Advantages
Text
• Familiarity
• Novelty
• Collaborative learning
• Non-threatening & easy
to use
• Chat transcripts can be
used later for language
analysis
Voice
• Familiarity
• Novelty
• Collaborative learning
• real oral practice of
language
• Internet connection is
getting faster, making it
easier to do voice chat

20. Is it better to use text or voice chat with
learners? – Disadvantages
Text
• Chaotic (overlapping turns,
disjointed topic delay)
• Unclear improvements
• Need for teaching ‘chat
speak’?
• Difficult to identify errors vs.
typos vs. non-standard chat
speak
• Weak typists
Voice
• Suitable for very small
groups only
• Need reliable internet
connection
• Recording chat may be
difficult and need other
software

21. How to Structure a Text or Voice Chat
Lesson
• Objective(s)
 Contact with other learners/cultures, and the
motivation that this brings
 ‘real’ communication with a real purpose
 Use of a new medium in the classroom
 A chance to practice written and/or spoken
English

22. How to Structure a Text or Voice Chat
Lesson (con’t)
• Groupings the class
 Individual computers – pair work
 Some computers – group work
 One computer – entire class turn taking

23. How to Structure a Text or Voice Chat
Lesson (con’t)
• Stages
 An introductory/warmer phase
o Personal details
o Skill check
o Netiquette
o Other introduction
 The main content of the chat
o The task(s) – worksheet to complete
 A closing stage
o Summary
o Lesson learnt

24. Caveats for Chat
• Try the software out
• Two classes? Initial contact via email or blog
• Set a clear task
• Set a clear purpose/objective and tell the learners
• Only for small groups!
• Record the chat
• Prepare a contingency plan

25. Let’s try!
• Objectives: to ask about personal details
• Level: beginner to intermediate
• Time: 1 meeting @ 90 minutes

26. • Procedures
 Introduction/Warmer
o Ask students how they greet and introduce
themselves in real life
o Inform students the structure of an introduction
o Elicit from students some questions and answers
to greet and introduce themselves to others
o Establish netiquettes with the students

27.  Task 1
o Ask students to create questions for personal
details and what is the unusual habit that a
person has
o Ask students to make a pair
o Ask them to open facebook chat
o Students chat with their partner enacting the
greeting and introduction

28.  Task 2
o Ask students to make a group of 4
o Ask them to open facebook chat and create a
chat room for the group members
o Students chat with their group mates
enacting the greeting and introduction

29. • Closing
 Ask the students to present their findings
about their pair/mates
 Discuss the difficulties they encounter
during the chat