This document summarizes a portfolio submitted by Dayanara Loján and Jéssica Caicedo in 2014 for a linguistics course. It addresses 12 questions about incorporating technology into language teaching and learning. The document discusses using dictionaries, videos, and online materials in class; benefits of collaborative blogging; availability of technology resources in Ecuadorian schools; how technology has changed language learning over time; and potential uses of technology like YouTube, online reading, and computer-mediated communication. It concludes by noting that while Ecuadorian schools have good physical technology resources, training for teachers on educational uses of technology is still lacking.

1. FINAL PROJECT PORTFOLIO
TOPICS IN LINGUISTICS
Dayanara Loján
Jéssica Caicedo
2014-11-14
Questions:
1. Have you ever tried to incorporate a new technology into your classes? What issues did
you face in doing so?
I tried to include the usage of dictionaries and it was quite successful because it was easier to
get information faster when compared to the traditional way on which you have to look for the
information by hand and it could be quite annoonline ying. The students felt it was easier to look
for unknown vocabulary and that it was more user friendly. Also, I tried to give them some extra
material, for example, videos for rehearsing the colors and the parts of the body or music videos
which could give them more vocabulary and some of the students watched them but others felt
it was “not necessary”. They thought it was an option because online material is not “as serious”
as a written paper. Some students ignored it and others felt it was a waste of time.
2. What are some benefits students can get from collaborative blogging?
The students could really face their problems and compare their knowledge with others. When
blogging with some other learners they could really face, practice and show their communicative
skills. When they comment, they show how good or bad they are at writing, giving their opinions.
Furthermore, they are able to see if their abilities and sharings are useful, helpful,
understandable or if they are just fine “for the grade, for the book”.
3. Which of the aspects of technology above are available to teachers and students in
schools in your country?
Here in Ecuador, we have a massive availability on the physical level because it is prestigious
to have technological devices and parents believe that if they provide their daughters and sons
with this things they are making them instantly “more prepared” “smarter”. However, this is the
only available aspect in my country because the learners go as far as having the instrument, the
physical one, but they are unable to use it, to look for other levels. maybe they would achieve,
as a consequence of how lost they are, a component technology level going, for example, to
Google translator, they might feel this could check what they just finished. But it is certainly not
the best way of rehearsing and using technology.
4. How has the use of technology changed since you started teaching or learning a
language?
When I started learning languages, the use of technology was just an strategy for breaking the
routine, for relaxing a little bit, as an award for being kind with the teacher or just a way to keep
us entertained when she needed to do something else. There was not really a connection
between learning and technology, computers were just for playing and books were for learning.

2. Moreover, the world wide web was just a strange concept, something that we really didn't have
in mind.
5. What resources are available in your school? Consider the computers and the software
installed on them, the resources in the computer lab and the materials in the library and
on your network (if you have one) and that you use in your classroom. Would you
classify these as behaviouristic, communicative or integrative?
The resources on my school are quite limited. There are obviously Internet access and
computers for all the students but they do not have any language learning software. Internet is
the “main dish”. It is supposed to integrate all the answers and all the activities. Internet “is the
software”. The library is better as it has many books in English or for English but they don’t have
a CD for the student, they have just a limited number of topics and cover just some basic
interests. They are just behaviouristic as they are only directed to get a good grade, to get a
positive reinforcement. With this I mean that the method expected in my school is: Search for
something on the web, prove that you did it then make it “as the teacher likes it” and get a good
grade. The process for the books from the library is the same, take the book the teacher gave
you, read it prove that you read it not that you can use the language or that your vocabulary is
better. As far as you get a good grade it’s fine.
6. Can you choose three benefits from those listed above that you think offer the strongest
reasons for the use of technology?
The three benefits that make (for me) technology use on learning activities not just good bus
essential are:
Provides a stress-reduced environment
Access to more engaging materials
Supports different skills
7. What do you think are the most difficult challenges teachers face in moving to TLLT?
The most challenging aspects for teachers moving to TLLT is the fact of “losing their class”. If
their students are able to reach further horizons on the language, they would not see the
teacher as such an important figure, they might lose the admiration and respect on what she/ he
says or they could even make her/him questions that he is not prepared “at the moment” to
answer making her/him to feel/ see as if he was not very well prepared or important. Also, a
difficulty for moving to this new method is moving to it. Some teachers that are not particularly
young may feel technology is difficult, mysterious but mainly impossible.
8. Which of the potential benefits for teachers above have you experienced yourself?
I have found that my classes now are more centered on the students and it makes me not only
happier but also a better teacher. They can choose to a certain point how they want to learn
what I want them to learn. If it’s reading, why not reading a newspaper from Australia, or a
british anime magazine that they find fabulous. If they are more comfortable, i’m also more
comfortable. Moreover, they could take the bull by the horns and face their very personal
problems, so they don’t have to practice “reading” when the are lacking some “writing”
rehearsal. Also they could experience “real world” language. English on its environment not only

3. in the classroom because on Youtube or lyrics training they won’t get a zero but a more
complex and complete idea of “real world things” for example, they would know what “twerking”
means by getting into the real world. Also, as a teacher it is easier to reach more content
resources just with a click that with all the research effort of going to the library and making
some copies and sharing and comparing which is not bad but it could make my work as a
teacher also less stressing.
9. How do you think computer-mediated communication can lead to ‘increased
participation’?
They could lead into this through chats, forums and discussion boards about things they are
comfortable with. For instance, if I try to use their discussion abilities in English I can open a
forum on a controversial topic and make them participate. Computer mediated communication
increases participation because it can really give the student an opportunity to say what he
wants, of course he is expected to learn, for example, simple past, but not in a military way or in
a unidirectional method. She or he is also a thinking creature and needs to be motivated and to
react to and in the learning process.
10. Have you observed differences in your students’ communicative behaviour during
traditional classroom speaking practice and online communication?
They are far more concentrated on online chat rooms and also they are more aware of how they
present themselves through language. When they rehearse speaking on the traditional way,
they think that making the same mistakes over and over again is just “ok”. In fact, they think
“making errors with boys and girls that are on my same level and that can make the same or
more mistakes is just fine”. When they are on a chatroom with a native speaker, they are far
more conscious. They want to produce English in the best way the are able to. They use all their
knowledge, they try even to produce different registers and styles, rhythms and suprasegmental
patterns. They learn it also and try to imitate it. They are far more enthusiastic even if they are
quite shy they want to make it “good” so they face their problems and do it.
11. In what ways does reading a text in a book differ from reading a text online?
It presents a wider variety of exercises and it is also less boring. It’s not just reading but it
includes listening and getting into the text. Normally reading has a relation with summaries and
internalization while reading online could lead to the practice of other skills and other
entertaining activities. The reading parts on traditional exercises are usually the most
predictable while on online reading they are quite innovative and non predictable and I strongly
believe that if it’s not predictable the student has less chance of getting bored.
12. Which of the above have you tried yourself? Can you think of additional purposes for
each of these uses of technology?
From the activities mentioned above I have also used youtube for showing language in context
and for promoting an input in lexicon. I use modern songs and also very “level-appropriate”
songs in order to face the students with the language, to prove the relevance of learning it (on
context) but not to make them aware that they lack too much of vocabulary or syntactic
structures.

5. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How much training and support is available for teachers in your school, in the use of
technology? Draw up a plan for the kind of training programme that you think would be
useful, particularly for new teacher
In my school, the word training is just taken as the formal seminarium or convention where a lot
teachers assist to get more knowledge, to update on publications and some books, maybe a
different approach to their subject. Computers and technology are far way from that process. In
fact, the only one that receives technology training is the “computer class” teacher. He is the
only one that goes to these kind of activities because he plays the role not of the technological
trainer but the one who does all the technological things for everyone. When a teacher has
doubts, he is the one that supports him and gives him some advice but this advice is on the
majority of the cases extremely basic: how to run a CD, how to download a program, (even!)
how to insert a flash memory in the computer or record on a CD.
I think that a plan for old and new teachers should be divided into modules that should be taken
one after the other, immediately, if possible and that should not repeat for all or be the same for
everyone, i.e., a mathematics teacher should not take the same course an English langauge
teacher has.
Second Basic Basic module
module
Third Module:
ET (the basics)
Fourth Module:
A rehearsal
Fifth module:
Specializing
Assist: Assist: ALL Assist: ALL Assist: ALL Assist: ALL
In groups,
divided
All the possible
issues and
questions on the
most basic
information, e.g.,
recording a CD.
Creating some
projects (basic
ones with the
knowledge from
the first part)
The teachers get
at least a broad
idea of what ET
means, is and
how it has been
helpful.
The teachers
rehearse all the
previous
knowledge.
The teachers
form groups
based on their
fields and
research
together
technological
aids
2. Talk to teachers in your school (or go online) and find out what kind of current websites
your colleagues recommend for both teachers and learners, and why.
They recommend websites as teachersnetworks.org, canvas.instructure.com, edhelper.com
because they find them to be quite helpful for making lesson planning more simple, they keep
their students more “into” the class and could give some fun to the students as well to the
teacher. For instance, pages as discoveryeducation.com/teachers/ offers a great list of
resources to practice outside the class. Not only for students but also for teachers . Even on
some as http://42explore.com/index.htm teachers are able to learn and update. for

6. students, there are also a lot of suggested websites and resources as busuu.com/es/ as
the students are able to get more vocabulary and listen to some dialogues and are even
able to produce some dialogues thanks to the learning community that this and other
resources have. Of course, teachers and students may have a lot of times to adapt to
the limitations that the non paid versions of these tools have.
3. In section 19.2 , Levy lists five levels at which TLLT fits with current thinking in
second language acquisition and can support language teaching. Can you think
of an example of how technology could help with each of these?
On the physical level, tablets and laptops can be really helpful for language teaching as
they make so much easier to reach more reading materials as well as listening
materials as podcasts, or read books like the ones on pages like
http://www.leerescuchando.net/ where they could reach those sources with so much
ease. The students could improve faster their abilities as they have the resources near
to them.
On the management level, pages like Log In to Canvas are quite helpful for managing
the formal aspects of a class with some less bureaucracy.
On the applications level, blogs and wikis could be really helpful for teaching (and
grading) a more complex and complete writing ability as well as getting to know better
how near or far of the mastery their students are, for example, if they upload a
recording of them giving an opinion. Then the teacher could catch some
suprasegmental aspects that otherwise could be unsuccessful.
On the resource level, teachers have their best allies to get their students into the
language (in use) especially if they teach a language that is not produced in the normal
environment. They could, then, give their students the opportunity to “perceive” the
language in its real context, in use, for example, the teacher could present the National
Geographic magazine to their students if she/ he feels that her/his students have
enough language ability to do it or if they are going through a related topic. This level
could be quite motivating for students of any level.
On the component technology level, grammar checkers and online dictionaries could
have a great impact on the acquisition of the language as they could act as a constant
solution givers for students especially when they have written assignments and oral
presentations on which they must prove their mastery of syntactic, orthographical and
vocabulary richness.

7. 4. Review the three phases of CALL, identified by Warschauer, and some defining
characteristics of each phase. How would you situate popular programs like
Rosetta Stone in terms of these three phases?
Warschauer talks about three phases of CALL. The first is the behaviouristic, on this,
the approach to technology is mainly based on giving tasks to students as if it was an
“electronic” tutor. It included drills and lists and the focus was grammatical aspects of
the language. The second phase is the communicative one, which was quite similar to
the behaviorist phase but had more options for the students. They could choose
different activities. Some of them were even interactive and presented the opportunity to
practice other skills. On the third skill which is called the integrative phase, the same
task, the student was also able to use more of her/his abilities.
Rosetta Stone is a program for learning languages that includes all the linguistic abilities
divided into levels. It is behaviouristic because it gives the student tasks that go along
with her abilities, as far as she goes, there goes the exercise.It is quite response-oriented
more than a communicative. However, it presents also a communicative side
as it may give the opportunity to chose the areas she wants to practice as far as the
ability of the student reaches. However, I wouldn’t say it has a 100% integrative aspect
even though it’s so modern. Rosetta stone has a behaviouristic approach because it
has a system that is definitely oriented to the answers and from there constructs.
5. What new skills might learners and teachers need to acquire to use TLLT
effectively?
They need first to change is their minds about computers and education. They should
both be aware of a simple but important concept: they are not contradictory terms.
Computers are not just for “spending some time”, they aren't just “facebook”and books
are not the only way to learn a language. Also, they should be aware that computers
and TLLT benefits come to the people that are patient enough to master it. They should
get at least a basic knowledge on technological matters. This is easier for students that
already master Twitter, Instagram..etc., but for teachers it might be quite challenging.
On the other hand, for students, the idea of taking Computers as something serious
might be also challenging. But patience and practice makes perfect.

8. 6. This chapter listed many ways that technology can support the teaching of the
four skills, as well as vocabulary, grammar and intercultural awareness. Choose
one of these areas and develop a lesson plan where technology is fully
integrated.
STUDENT STEP
ACTIVITY
TEACHER
ACTIVITY
HOW TO HELP SKILL/S
THE WEAK
WARM- UP &
REVISION
The student
has to watch a
video that has
to do with the
topic s/he
learnt the class
before--> The
Present
Progressive and
also, s/he has
to repeat what
it is said on the
video.
The teacher has
to present the
video to the
students and
s/he has to
stop it in order
to say what is
write on the
screen and for
make his/her
student to
repeat it.
*Listening
because they
listen to the
teacher
pronouncing the
words that are
on the screen.
*Speaking
because they
have to repeat
what the
teacher said.
*Reading
because they
also have to
read what it is
on the screen.
The teacher can
make the
students repeat
the same
phrase a couple
of times and if
there is a
student that
doesn’t get it
yet, the teacher
can go
backwards and
make him/her
repeat it three
more times.
The student INTRODUCTION
has to listen to
a song that has
to do with the
new topic they
are going to
learn in this
lesson.
The student
also has to
complete a
sheet with the
lyrics of the
song s/he is
listening to.
The teacher has
to look for an
appropriate
video and
present it to the
students. The
teacher is going
to delete all the
verbs in
present perfect
presented in
the printed
sheet with the
lyrics of the
song.
*Listening
because the
students have to
listen to the
song presented
by the teacher.
*writing
because they
have to fill in
the blanks with
the correct verb
conjugated in
present perfect.
The teacher can
make a group-work
in order to
check the
activity among
the people in
the group.
So, the students
can make a
collaborative
activity.
PRACTICE
The student
has to read
The teacher has
to be very
*Reading
because the
The teacher can
assess

9. his/her peer’s
work.
attentive in
order to
prevent his/her
students start
talking in
Spanish.
students have to
read their peers
work.
personally the
student that
does not
understand yet.
CHECKING &
REVIEWING
The students
have to sing
aloud the song
they were
listening to
before.
The teacher is
going to sing
with them.
*Listening &
Speaking
Because the
students have to
listen to the
song and repeat
it.
*Reading
because they
have to read the
work they’ve
already done
and checked.
The teacher can
provide some
homework in
order to
reinforce what
the students
need to
practice.
1. Warm- up : the teacher can use this video to teach her/his students the Present
Progressive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTeGorY3rg4
The teacher has to read every single action Mr. Bean is doing and s/he has to
make the students repeat it. Then, the teacher is going to ask one student to read
what is on the screen and after that, the whole class is going to repeat it.

10. 2. For the introduction to the new topic, the teacher can use this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghRK6cu8e8U
7. A teacher who gives out homework for students to complete online after school is
making a number of assumptions about his or her learners, their (preferred ways
of) learning and their home situations. What are some of these assumptions, and
are there any pitfalls to be avoided?
The teacher is assuming that all the students have the financial possibilities to
have a computer at home and also, the teacher is assuming that all the students
have access to internet (at home), this is to say, the teacher is not thinking that it
could be a student that does not have that possibilities and that s/he has to pass
for too many things in order to accomplish him/her homework. What the teacher
could do is making him/her students work in the school lab in order to avoid these
pitfalls.
8. Teachers often do not allow students to use mobile phones in class. What are
some ways in which mobile phones CAN be used effectively as learning tools?
Mobile phones, if used well, can be a powerful tool for learning a new language,
since nowadays, mobile phones can have access to internet, and so, students
can have some applications on their phones for checking vocabulary. They, also,
can do some class activities that can be fun and useful for their learning process.
For example, the teacher can assign an activity in which students have to record
themselves saying a specific phrase, this phrase is going to be part of a dialogue,
at the middle of the class, the teacher is going to collect all the records and s/he
will have to have all that records in his or her laptop and the students will have to
listen to each of that parts and to put all the parts together in order to have a
coherent dialogue, all in a collaborative work. At the end of the class, they are
going to listen to the records that are already ordered and they will be able to
understand the complete dialogue. This is great because they can feel like they

11. were talking among them in English as natives and this could motivate them to
continue practicing.
9. Do your students have access to Skype? Develop an activity that could be used
with Skype.
Nowadays, almost everyone has access to skype because of the facilities it gives
at the time of helping people to communicate. I, as a teacher, would assign them
a work in which they have to use skype for communicating with “native” speakers
of the language they’re trying to learn. For example, I would prepare a meeting by
skype with people in USA that are learning Spanish for talking to my students in
English for 15 min. and then, they have to talk in Spanish with them 15 min too,
and so on. In this way, all of them learn, the learners of English and the learners
of Spanish.
10. How can the internet be used to develop intercultural awareness? Design an
activity that has this as a focus.
The teacher can use internet for making the students work with people of other
cultures. As I said in the question before, students can use skype for knowing
people of other countries, depending on the language they are learning and they
can share whatever they want to share. The teacher, obviously, has to be aware
in order to avoid students talking in Spanish or talking about inappropriate topics.
The students can also participate in a speech about the cultural aspects of the
language they are learning. They can search on the internet for this kind of
cultural aspects of that specific cultures and they can make a presentation about
it, at the end, it could be a forum for asking questions and for discussing about
the topic.

12. Sources:
 The Present Progressive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTeGorY3rg4.
Retrieved on 26/11/2014
 Education world. Connecting educators to what works.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_news/skype-becomes-regular-tool-classrooms-educators-
say-1628934814. Retrieved on 26/11/2014.
 Foreign Language Annals. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1944-
9720.2002.tb03151.x/abstract. Retrieved on 28/11/2014