Summary of Research Studies about Speaking and Listening Online: A Source of Internet Resources

Author: Renzo Zambrano
Conversational Strategies
Section: 851
Prof: Luisa Cristina Álvarez


The Research Studies that are going to be discussed now were studied by George M. Chinnery, who is teaching Adult ESL at the Carlos Rosario International Career Center and Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. Chinnery is now pursuing a M.A. in TESOL at he University of Maryland in Baltimore, U.S.A. As part of his studies, Chinnery came up with a great research study called “Speaking and Listening Online: A Survey of Internet Resources” This Research Study is about all the technological advantages that Internet has as a resource for Foreign Language Learners and Teachers to be used in class as part of their learning process of the new language. Chinnery explains that Internet offers many ways of communicative activities, exciting technological advances which can be included as part of the learning process, making it more fun and easier for the students as for the teachers. There is a variety of programs which offer many possibilities for students and teachers of watching and listening videos, holding conversations in real time with people from all around the world and even programs who can help developing the reading and writing skills of students. Chinnery comments that teachers can have students accessing to websites that include prepared exercises, stored audio or video files for developing listening skills. Other possibility that Internet offers for students to use is Live Chat. Using this Internet tool, students would have the chance to chat in real time with people from other countries where the language is spoken; this communication can take place via text, where students type their messages onto the screen or by voice, where users wear headsets with earphones and microphones. Chinnery is applying all this technological resources in their students from the University of Maryland in Baltimore and he has discovered that the Process of Learning a Second has been more efficient and that students feel motivated using all this technology in their learning process.

Paragraph about Professor Sarah Walsh`s visit to my class
Renzo Zambrano
Conversational Strategies
Section 851

I was pretty excited when Professor Luisa Cristina told to us that we were going to have a guest speaker in our class and I got even more excited when I found out that it was the new Professor Sarah Walsh, who is native, originally from the Unites States of America. I like when this kinda of strategies happen because it is good for an English student to listen to any professor talking about the Process of Teaching and Learning a Second Language and it is also good to get to listen the accent of any native speaker who is invited to our classes. When the day of the Professor Sarah came, I was pretty excited because I love sharing with foreign people and besides I was going to learn certain tips about the Process of Teaching and Learning a Second Language. When Professor Sarah started to talk, I could understand every word she said perfectly and what she said about the language was amazing. One thing that she said was that we english students who are i the process of learning a new language, we shouldn`t worried about our latin accent because it is something that is going to recognize us and that we should be proud of it. Also she said that we should try the best and take advantage of any strategy to learn English such as reading books, speaking with a native speaker, listening to music in English. She also said something that I could study before in one of my essays that it is published on my blog, which is the opportunity that people who are in the process in learning a new language is going to the country where that particular langauage is spoken, so, the process will be easier and faster, but you have to adapt to the culture of that country. Professor Sarah invited us to continue giving our best and never give up, she said that it is a long process but it is very successful at the end. I want to congratulate both Professor, Luisa Cristina Alavarez and Sarah Walsh. Professor Luisa Cristina, Thank you so much for having such a good idea of inviting a native speaker to the class and I hope that it is not the last time we are having a native speaker in class. Professor Sarah Walsh, Thanks a lot for being so nice and your cooperation with us and giving great tips to each one of us, I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart!!. Thanks!!

Renzo Zambrano
Conversational Strategies
Section 852
Reading Number 3: Speaking

When I got the copies for the reading Number 3 I was really confused once I started reading this material because I couldn´t understand most of it, so I was really concerned about what I was going to say about it in class, but one we started to discuss it in class, all my doubts were starting to clear.

Talking about Communicative Competence, it is an important topic that any English Teacher should know because it includes series of technniques that can help english student to improve their language and make the learning process more helpful and fun for their students. The concept that I could get for the discussion that we had in class is that Communicative Competence implies all that has to do with Language, for example: Grammar, Knowledge of the language, topics, vocabulary, etc. It is important to know about all these topics that were mentioned before because we, as english students, different situations can present to us and we have to deal with them, so that it is moment that we demostrate what we really now about the language that we are studying.

Conversational Strategies
Renzo Zambrano
Section 851
Reading Number 2: Speaking


I really liked this guide like the previous one because it is really helpful for developing strategies for speaking skills. It shows also a reality of what is happening with English student when they need to speak to proove that they are actually learning a language. In this really nice guide I could find certain problems that happened to me when I was starting to speak English, I used to think that native speakers wouldn´t understand what I was trying to say, so it was really fustrating for me because I had the great opportunity to speak with natives who were a group of northamerican guys who lived near my house and I used to go out when them a lot, so I take advantage of these great moments to practice my speaking. One thing that I wanted to do also was that I wanted to have the same accent as a native, but as we discussed this in classes, a person can´t lose their accent from the country of origin, but I am trying my best to speak like a northamerican person. It bothers me the idea that I keep making the same mistakes over and over again, This has happened to me a lot in the past when I was presenting a test, so when I noticed that I was making the same mistake, I got fustrated. I agree with the fact that teachers shouldn´t correct their students while they are speaking because they can forget what they are trying to say making them feel embarrased in front of the class. They should have individual conversations whith them and let them know what mistakes they did.

Conversational Strategies
Renzo Zambrano
Section 851
Reading Nº 1: Why don´t our students speak English?

I really liked this reading a lot because it shows a reality that is happening in highschools at the moment. Nowdays, English learners have been suffering a serie of consequences that are affecting their learning process. English students express that they don´t feel motivated by their teachers and all the technniques they are using in order to teach are not the appropiate ones. They comment that English Teachers keep using the old fashioned methods when it comes to teaching this language, they don´t let students speak in class and they are the ones who speak all the time, making the class boring for the student and this causes that students don´t learn anything at the end.


1).- Why students feel frustrated when they speak English in class?

2).- Is it good for students to speak English inside and outside of class?

3).- Do teacher motivate their students to speak English?

4).- How did you learn to speak English fluently? listening to music? watching tv?

5).- Are you able to practice English with friends, neighbors or any foreing person?

6) Which methods would you like to use to improve your English Language?

7).- Would you be comfortable if your teacher lets you to speak more in class?

8).- Would you feel embarrased if your teacher corrects you in class?

9).- Do you agree if one of your classmates corrects you?

PEOPLE SHOULD EXPERIENCE LIVING IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY
(ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY)
(FINAL VERSION)



Many people who have had the opportunity of visiting a foreign country have wondered how living abroad would be like, but not only the people who have traveled abroad have asked this question to themselves, those who have not got yet the chance are wondering and dreaming about this chance of living abroad too. People should experience living in a foreign country because it can be interesting and unforgettable.

This desire of living away have increased in people’s minds lately mainly because they want to make a chance in their life’s style due to the economic situation that the country is facing, but this is not the only cause that exists. There are some people who just want to experience the feeling of living abroad because they want to take that risk, leaving everything they had before where they belonged and even their own families. This fact does not mean that the ones who decide to live in this way are unhappy but other’s think that this situation makes foreigners being aware of their own, that they cannot accept the fact of being apart of their families because they start missing them. The good argument about this is when this situation happens make foreigners began to realize how valuable family is.

There are other people who do not think that living in a foreign country can be an interesting and unforgettable experience. From their point of view, people who lived in another country are attend to suffer a lot of issues like learning to accept another type of society and culture. They say that is that this can be really frustrating for those who start living abroad because they might be rejected for the society. They defend this fact because there have been cases of discrimination in some countries, which is something that is happening nowadays. Even though this is true, there are a group of people who are against of this discrimination and are supporting those foreigners whose rights have been violated.

Another aspect to mention is that foreigners have to deal with the issue of looking for a well paid job. For a foreign person, the perfect job would be the one which is well paid in order to satisfy his or her needs, with a boss who understands the economic situation that this foreign person may have. This would be the perfect job for any foreigner, but they clarify that the reality is totally the opposite. Foreign people began working in jobs which are commonly stressful and they do not get the money enough to satisfy their basic needs, like working as waiter or waitress at restaurants, street cleaners, pizza distributors, etc. Even though this has happened, we can find foreigners who have had great opportunities in their lives when they start living abroad; this is because they have knowledge and they have developed skills in working areas that can be demanding in the new country that they are living in and this has made them found what every foreigner have dreamt about, a well paid job, which solves their economy situation, making life out of the country of origin a lot easier.

People who decide to live abroad are able to live many aspects that are going to change their life’s style in a hundred percent. They start living a new culture which involves the kind of clothing, dances, food, etc. They also are able to learn the language which is spoken in that particular country in a faster and easier way than normal with a perfect accent because they are always in contact with the language and this makes the process of learning a lot easier and faster. They also can make new friends, learning other point of views, accepting different opinions and values and seizing every opportunity to go to new places.

Living away from the country of origin helps people to develop an independent behavior from their families because it gives a lot of experience toward organizing their lives, this aspect also make people be self sufficient of their own things and creates duties or responsibilities that they have to take care of, for example, a foreigners have to clean their own house, so if they did not know how to do it before, they have to do it because of their needs to have it cleaned, the same happens with washing their clothes, organizing expenses and many other tasks they need to do at home. This situation happens for the reason that many foreigners do not have the enough money to pay for a maid who can do all these duties for them mentioned above, so they have to do it by themselves. This situation makes people to have a strong meaning in responsibility. Being independent and responsible will help to get through life every goal that any foreign want to achieve.

To sum up, living abroad, even for a short period of time, can be a really interesting and unforgettable experience that can make changes in someone’s life because it brings so many aspect that should be consider for those who really want to live this exciting experience. It can be really hard at the beginning, but, we have to remember that all changes are difficult, that what it makes it more interesting and attractive for those who dare to living in another country. These changes are necessary to go through them to build character. Most important of all, it helps us appreciate everything we have. Not realizing how lucky we are can be a really bad mistake because things do not last forever and we have to make the best out of them.

PEOPLE SHOULD EXPERIENCE LIVING IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY
(ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY)


Many people who have had the chance of visiting a foreign country in their lives have asked how the experience of living away from their country of origin would be like, Not only the people who have traveled abroad have asked this question to themselves, those who haven’t got yet the chance are wondering and dreaming about this opportunity of living abroad too.

This desire of living away have increased in people’s minds lately mainly because they want to make a chance in their life’s style, due to the economic situation that the country is facing of, but this is not the only cause. There are a group of people who just want to experience the feeling of living abroad because they want to take that risk, leaving everything they had before and even their families. This fact doesn’t mean that the ones who decide to live in this way are unhappy but other’s think that this situation makes foreigners being aware of their own, that they can’t accept the fact of being apart of their families because they start missing them, the good point about this is that they began to realize how valuable family is.

There are people who not think that living in a foreign country can be an interesting and unforgettable experience. From their point of view, people who lived in another country are attend to suffer a lot of issues like learning to accept another type of society and culture. They say that this can be really frustrating for those who start living abroad because they might be rejected for the society. They defend this fact because of the Latin’s discrimination in the USA, which is something that is happening nowadays. Even though this is true, there are a group of North American citizens who are against of this discrimination and are supporting those foreigners whose rights have been violated.

Another aspect to mention is that foreigners have to deal with the issue of looking for a well paid job. For a foreign person, the perfect job would be the one which is well paid in order to satisfy his or her needs, with the perfect boss who understands the economic situation this foreign person can have. This would be the perfect job for any foreign person, but they clarify that the reality is totally the opposite. Foreign people began working in jobs which are commonly stressful and they do not get the money enough to satisfy their basic needs.

The main reason why people should experience living in a foreign country is that this can be unforgettable and interesting. People who decide to do this are able to live many aspects that are going to change their life’s style in a hundred percent. They start living a new culture which involves the kind of clothing, dances, food, etc. They also are able to learn the language which is spoken in that particular country in a faster and easier way than normal with a perfect accent. They also can make new friends, learning other point of views, accepting different opinions and values and seizing every opportunity to go to new places.

Living away from the country of origin helps people to develop an independent behavior from their families because it gives a lot of experience toward organizing their lives, for example: cleaning the room, washing clothes, organizing expenses. This situation makes people to have a strong meaning in responsibility. Being independent and responsible will help to get through life every goal that any foreign want to achieve.

To sum up, people should experience living in a foreign country if they really want to know how the feeling of being away is, it can be really hard at the beginning. Changes are difficult to everyone but they are necessary to make a better person spiritually, physically and emotionally.

My Beautiful and Lovely Wife!!!

Argumentative Statement: People should experience living in a foreign country
(FINAL VERSION)


For:
1).- Living in a foreign country is a really interesting and unforgettable experience.
2).- Living in a foreign country allows people to learn the official language of the country that they want to live in a faster and easier way than normal.
3).- The experience of living in a foreign country helps people to develop an independent behavior.
4).- Living in your own gives a lot of experience toward organizing your life.
People who want to live in a foreign country are looking for a better life’s style.

Against:

1).- People who live in a foreign country start missing everything they had where they belong.
2).- Foreigners are aware of being on their own.
3).- People who start living in a foreign country have to learn how to accept another type of society and culture.
4).- For foreigners, it is hard to get a well paid job.