Monday, October 4, 2010

Didactic resources for teaching English

In the world of teaching English, professors have many options for the students to have a good performance in learning English as a second language. The different tools used in every classroom are essential in terms of motivation for students as well as their behavior through the learning process. Besides, these tools help a lot to the developing of learning process on students in the acquisition of a second language. “Attracting the attention of the students is one of the most important tasks…” (Garcia, 1996) according to this author it is crucial to catch the attention of the class in order to avoid undisciplined students and to avoid a mess in the whole classroom.
In addition, there are a lot of didactic resources for education, some are technological and others are pre technological. The pre technological resources are the ones that can be used in class using the fine motor skill, some devices of this type of resource are scissors, color pencils, glue, markers, eraser, papers, charts, and so on. On the other hand, the technological resources are the ones that need technology as a mandatory aspect. For instance, the ones that computers are needed, like Power Point Presentations, television, movies, and many educational programs that are online such as wikis, Prezis, podcasts, and Web quests.
Following with this further, for students electronic devices are very interesting and motivated since they are in a world that the advances of technology are increasing day by day, so, they need to be updated with this environment. Moreover, it is important for professors to be updated too in order to have a diverse class with many different kinds of materials and tools for them to learn easily a second language. Many mediators opt to teach just with technological resources and they forget about the pre technological tools or the other way around. However, it is essential to use in a classroom both resources because student can get bored with just one type of resource. “Flash cards can be extremely helpful if correctly used; word cards containing one single word can be ordered to build sentences and make transformations from affirmative to negative and interrogative.”(Garcia, 1996) As the author said those types of pre technological resources like flash cards can be very useful in classroom depending on the use that the professor applies to them. For students it can be very meaningful or it can be boring if the mediator just applies one technique.
Concerning about technological resources, those can have many disadvantages depending on the institution. For example, there are many schools or high schools that do not have enough technological devices or tools for teaching English, the reason is because they do not have the necessary money to buy those resources for the institution. In fact, those institutions have at least a blackboard and chalk to teach in each classroom since technological resources are very expensive, that is a limitation for certain schools. For the institutions that can afford those advanced instruments for classrooms, the class gets involve with more entertainment and fascinating  ways of learning English. The reason is that those students are more independent from the teacher since the mediator gets the role of facilitator just to guide them and make sure that they know how to use the tool correctly.
Additionally, it is very indispensable that the mediator knows the students ‘skills, their multiples intelligences, as well as their needs as learners in order to provide them the necessary assistance and resources to fulfill their learning process of a second language. For instance, “songs are one of the most successful resources, but must be selected carefully, according to the pupil´s interest, needing, level of difficulty and motivation.”(Garcia, 1996) In fact, as Garcia says before choosing certain didactic resource, the professor must verify first the students ‘needs talking about their level of knowledge, and depending on the environment and context on which they are placed. Besides, it is relevant that the professor gives instructions to the students before using certain technological resource and make sure the students understand the whole explanation. Indeed, by using technological tools the students can research about certain educational topic on internet, and this tool also enhance the learners to acquire knowledge on other areas that they are interested in but by having the supervision of the teacher.




Bibliography

García, Óscar. (1996). Didactic Resources for Teaching English. Retrieved October 4th, 2010, fromhttp://osqvar.iespana.es/ego/documents/philologie/Didactic.Resources.for.Teaching.English.pdf


3 comments:

  1. It does not matter if professors use technological or pre-technological resources because if teachers use them in correct situations and under the different factors (students' needs, curriculun, availability, and so on) the learning process will be successful. Also, if learners feel motivated, and if there is an interaction and variety in the methodology applied, the results will be positive.

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  2. Indeed, motivation is very important when you really want your student to be focused on your class. As a result, and as Marisol already stated, we as professor have many resources, both pre-technological and technological, from pencils to Power Point Presentations. Consequently, it is an obligation for us as professors to include them all in our classes so the students do not get bored in the classroom. in fact, Marisol mentions some important and certainly useful tools that we could use in the classroom for that matter. For instances, we can always look for flashcards to show the students different subject matters; on the other hand, as I also mentioned in my blog, the use of song can be very appealing and engaging for the students.

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  3. Getting your hands on valuable teaching resources is not nearly as difficult as it can seem at first. The technology has many resources for teachers, most of them free, that can significantly increase the contents of your teaching toolbox. You can also make your own pre-technological materials. Every learning material you develop will be an focused on students´needs and learning styles as you mentioned. An investment of time or money in good teaching materials is an investment in good teaching.

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