EnglishOutsideChris

[|Brainstorming]:Practice outside the classroom | Activities | Movies | Chat rooms | Conversation clubs | Technology | Computers | Internet | Cell phones | Laptops | Native speakers | Non native speakers | Post-activity handouts | Task-Based approach

[|Sentence outline]:
[|Thesis statement]: Because many students find themselves in a country in which English is not spoken natively, authentic use outside the classroom should be generated by the teacher, promoting autonomous learning in their students through the implementation of movie assignments, the creation of English speaking chat room sessions, and the use of mobile devices to expand their vocabulary.

I. Introduction

II. Movies motivate students and promotes improvement in the language a. Vocabulary b. Idioms c. Pronunciation

III. English speaking chat rooms promotes authentic use of English a. Practice English b. Improve fluency c. improve Listening comprehension

IV. Mobile devices help improve the language a. Vocabulary b. Grammar c. Sentence structures

V. Conclusion

Essay:

 * Authentic Use of English Inside and Outside the Classroom** by Cristian Omar Torres Ramírez

According to the British Council, a staggering 750 million people speak English as a foreign language, and 375 million people speak it as a second language. These impressive numbers show that there are well over a million people who learned the language, or are learning it, from an English teacher. One of the greatest obstacles faced by teachers however, is insufficient practice. This lack of practice is often attributed to the shortage of time available in class. School curriculums often follow a time table that works in theory, yet it brings about unsatisfactory results for both teachers and students. Because many students find themselves in a country in which English is not spoken natively, authentic use outside the classroom should be generated by the teacher, promoting autonomous learning in their students through the implementation of movie assignments, the creation of English speaking chat room sessions, and the use of mobile devices to expand their vocabulary.

Watching movies can be an exciting tool for students to learn English, as well as for teachers to motivate them and to promote improvement in the language at the same time. Research done by Milne and Eames (2011) on five year old children showed performance enhancing results after observing authentic real-world tasks. Planning of frameworks related to activities carried on outside of a classroom, which will then be involved in other activities inside the classroom, is a good way of checking students’ development as well as the their performance. Participants involved in activities outside of the classroom, who subsequently took part in post-experience activities, were found to have applied aspects of any knowledge gained towards their own practice. Such procedure can be transferred to language teaching by using movies as a motivational activity outside the constraints of school walls; by having students immerse themselves in the language in any off-campus situation, teachers provide the students with opportunities to gain vocabulary and idiomatic expressions, as well as to improve their pronunciation. All these aspects raise students’ confidence, as well as their self-conviction, allowing them to be more fluent during speech.

Using English speaking chat rooms promotes authentic use of English in and out of the classroom. Morgan and Beaumont (2003) found that as a result of using chat rooms to develop adolescent students’ argumentative skills, not only was their writing improved to a degree, but their oral argumentation was greatly enhanced. Taking into consideration that a portion of the participants in this project spoke English only as a second language, the possibilities to expand, transfer, or modify the procedure to cater to the necessities of English Language Learners (ELL) could tailor in encouraging results towards the development of their fluency. The interaction among students when speaking through a chat room allows them to use the language authentically in real world situations involving a varied array of topics within a conversation. Therefore, by giving them enough confidence to speak which is a main problem for those who lack the motivation, the desire, the need, or the assertion of engaging in a conversation with another English speaker, ELLs improve their listening comprehension and their overall fluency as they practice and use English. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), however, are being used in a wide variety of ways. Many ICTs enrich the process emphatically, and the fast growing technological world is constantly producing newer advancements available for teachers to use to their advantage, such as the use of mobile devices.

Mobile devices certainly helps to expand vocabulary, as well as to correct and improve grammar structures in language. Basoglu and Akdemir (2010), for instance, mention the importance of vocabulary as a fundamental step in learning a foreign language. They indicate that the use of mobile devices as a learning tool is more effective than other traditional tools. It is no wonder then, that mobile phones are becoming essential and common towards the development of English. The International Telecommunication Union (2011) estimates that a surprisingly large number of around 5,981 million mobile phone subscriptions exist around the world, which is roughly 5 times more than fixed telephone lines subscriptions (landlines). This advantage helps teachers by giving them opportunities to provide their students with an English context outside the classroom walls. Mobile devices offer a vast range of personalization for expanding the user’s vocabulary according to their needs, such as for tourism, business, or simply for commonplace communication. Since applications dedicated to vocabulary often include examples in use, ELLs improve grammar and sentence structure as well by placing vocabulary into contex. The use of technology undoubtedly provides a platform for students to become autonomous, to develop their comprehension of the English language, and to improve their communicative skills at the same time.

English is constantly being learned around the world, which means that it is being taught in countries where it is not native, and it is a teacher's job to create contexts in which students use the language in an authentic way. The ever growing globalization influences the way in which English is taught, and when the boundaries in time set upon by syllabi and school curriculum limit practice time, ELLs rely on their autonomy to look for windows that allow them to practice it outside of the classroom. The use of media, technology, and common tools is key to provide ELLs with the necessary instruments to achieve success in developing their English skills. While there is no easy or fast way to learn English, the journey to succeed can be an enjoyable one. It is the teacher's responsibility to establish a setting, an environment, or a situation, that takes advantage of the circumstances involved in promoting authentic use of the language. For ELLs to be autonomous and capable of using English for their individual purposes not only makes a world of difference for their education, their profession, or simply for their personal lives, but it also opens a world of information which will ultimately help their self-development away from a classroom and on their own.

**References**
Basoglu, E. B., Akdemir, O. (2010). A comparison of undergraduate students’ English vocabulary learning: Using mobile phones and flash cards. //The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology// //9//(3), pp. 1-7.

International Telecommunication Union. (2011). //The world in 2011: ICT facts and figures// [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/facts/2011/material/ICTFactsFigures2011.pdf

Milne, L., Eames, C. (2011). Teacher responses to a planning framework for junior technology classes learning outside the classroom. //Design and Technology Education: An International Journal// //16//(2), pp. 33-44.

Morgan, W., Beaumont, G. (2003). A dialogic approach to argumentation: Using a chat room to develop early adolescent students’ argumentative writing. //International Reading Association: Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy// //47//(2), pp. 146-157.

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