When I first created this blog three years ago, it was just one of the tasks/missions required by one of the EVO courses I was following. Only now can I fully realize how useful it has become for me to keep track of all the things I am trying to learn.
I am an avid reader and learner and this could cause insanity if you don't get organized. Even if I try to put all my things in good order, I sometimes forget where I put files or I get distracted by other daily activities. Writing down what I did and going back to past activities and revising is something that has helped me a lot.
This is probably one of the most important things I have learnt in these three years: organizing content on the Net. I am not an expert, of course: I still have to learn a lot but I can improve.
I think organization when working with vocabulary is fundamental; otherwise our students will get confused by the huge amount of words we want them to learn as quickly as possible.
Week 1 Activities
I have...
- joined the Wonderful Words Yahoo Group
- introduced myself to the group
- added my introduction to the Participant's Wiki Page
- completed a survey
- posted my comments in PBWorks to the two discussion questions
- replied to posts from peers
- listened to the recorded session (even if it was problematic - I kept getting error messages...) and had the chance to virtually meet our moderators, Jennie, Brenda and Anne
- answered the Week 1 questions
- read the three research articles on Second Language Vocabulary acquisition and retention
- posted my comments to the three discussion questions
- replied to a post from a participant (interesting point)
- chose to explore further English Attack for Week 3 Review
- chose not to join English Central because it's not free
These are my comments to the readings:
First article: It is interesting to
read that low-level students tend to learn new vocabulary by translating into
their own language because that’s something we have always been told to avoid
as much as possible in order to have them speak and think in English.
Second article: my
students are elementary to pre-intermediate learners and pre-adolescents. Some
of the techniques mentioned cannot therefore be used (note-taking strategies,
dictionary strategies) because they are not motivating for them and we should
concentrate on task-dependent strategies or guessing strategies. I agree with
the author that there are many variables which could alter the learning process
and negatively affect the results of a teacher’s efforts. One of the most
relevant in my case is the context.
“The ear assists the
eye in the long-lasting retention of vocabulary” writes Mr Langhoff. One of the
reasons I like Quizlet is that my students can see the new words written and
spoken, the other is the need they don’t stick forever to a
mispronounced word.
