The Videos & The Lessonsfor participants ofEVO Video 2010My Video Classroom 2.0 : 1 The Videos & The Lessonsfor participants ofEVO Video 2010My Video Classroom 2.0
Real English in My Video Classroom 2.0 General Outline : 2 Real English in My Video Classroom 2.0 General Outline A Combination of Video & Interactive Online Lessons Directly Related to The Clips
Multimedia as a Necessity for Conveying Meaning, Not an Add-on
Course Organization Turned Upside Down
Every Exercise in Every Lesson is Unique. The Pedagogue Adapts to Reality.
Real English® is composed of 2 main parts: : 3 Real English® is composed of 2 main parts: Video: a collection of spontaneous interviews of people we meet in the street. Despite the spontaneity, the final videos are organized primarily by social functions and grammar structures,
A lesson is a collection of exercises which often begin by attempting to make the videos comprehensible. Instead of "testing" students in listening comprehension for example, I attempt to provide meaning thanks to:
1 - the video itself,
2 - the use of additional pictures providing meaning for most all parts of speech, and finally:
3 - audio files help the student compare a word or phrase, repeated by myself and many other EFL teachers in the exercises, with this same phrase spoken more spontaneously, in a social context in the video, by the interviewee.As you will see in the intermediate lesson which we will use as an example, I often "give away" the answers, in various ways, for example by including an audio file containing the correct answer. The student provides input in various ways, including listening, watching, clicking, speaking, comparing their voices to the models, and typing.The record-compare function allows students to compare their pronunciation with both a "teacher voice", along with the spontaneous moments of speech in the original interview.Lets go directly to a typical lessons to make sense of these generalities. : 4 3 - audio files help the student compare a word or phrase, repeated by myself and many other EFL teachers in the exercises, with this same phrase spoken more spontaneously, in a social context in the video, by the interviewee.As you will see in the intermediate lesson which we will use as an example, I often "give away" the answers, in various ways, for example by including an audio file containing the correct answer. The student provides input in various ways, including listening, watching, clicking, speaking, comparing their voices to the models, and typing.The record-compare function allows students to compare their pronunciation with both a "teacher voice", along with the spontaneous moments of speech in the original interview.Lets go directly to a typical lessons to make sense of these generalities.
Example of a Lesson Index Page. Example of a Lesson Index Page. This is step 1 for all lessons: the students watch the whole video without subtitles, without the transcript. We want to provide good listening first habits. Watching, perhaps without understanding very much, is the main function of this page. It also provides links to Exercise 1. : 5 Example of a Lesson Index Page. Example of a Lesson Index Page. This is step 1 for all lessons: the students watch the whole video without subtitles, without the transcript. We want to provide good listening first habits. Watching, perhaps without understanding very much, is the main function of this page. It also provides links to Exercise 1.
Exercise 1 (part 1) Lesson 29, Exercise 1 – In the first version of the video (Exercise 1), we listen to Joe’s entire interview (32 seconds). I will give you access to the site now so that you can watch the video. : 6 Exercise 1 (part 1) Lesson 29, Exercise 1 – In the first version of the video (Exercise 1), we listen to Joe’s entire interview (32 seconds). I will give you access to the site now so that you can watch the video.
Exercise 1 (part 2) : Joe answers the question "What do you like to do for fun?" :< http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-1.htm: : 7 Exercise 1 (part 2) : Joe answers the question "What do you like to do for fun?" :< http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-1.htm: After listening to Joe, you note that he speaks normally. Perhaps you noted that he’s a conversationalist, providing us with lots of information. He’s relatively hard to understand. Every exercise is different. In a situation like this one, we want to facilitate oral comprehension. We certainly don’t want to test students at this point. Therefore, under the video, there is an additional audio file, which is a summary of what Joe says, i.e., Joe’s first and simplified reply to What do you like to do for fun?
Exercise 1 (part 3): What do you like to do for fun? (like to do/like doing): http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-1.htm - Lesson 29, Exercise 1 : 8 Exercise 1 (part 3): What do you like to do for fun? (like to do/like doing): http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-1.htm - Lesson 29, Exercise 1 This audio file, a summary of the essential part of Joe’s reply, points out that Joe’s favorite activity is socializing. But Joe doesn’t use the verb "socialize“. Joe’s last words are "[I like] sitting around with folks, talking..."
“Sitting around with folks, talking" is not included in the exercise as a correct answer in a literal sense. Instead, the student can choose the answer including socializing, which of course is a synonym. He might begin to learn new vocabulary by a process of elimination in this MC exercise. If not, he will learn socialize in exercise 5.
General note concerning exercises : 9 General note concerning exercises Joe’s interview, the first one in lesson 29, is 32 seconds long. However, a total of 6 exercise pages (including 19 "questions") are necessary to cover the essential "new vocabulary" and grammar he uses during those 32 seconds. I could have easily extended this to 12 exercise pages for Joe alone, providing even more pictures and audio files to ensure understanding. It’s hard to decide how deep to go. The 6 exercises are probably more than enough for a true Intermediate student, but not nearly enough for a pre-intermediate student.
In the next few pages of this presentation, we will look only at the exercises necessary for understanding Joe’s 32 seconds. The entire video is over 6 minutes long, but of course we are not going to cover the entire lesson during this presentation.
Exercise 2 (part 1): What do you like to do / like doing for fun? Link to Exercise 2 - http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-2.htm : 10 Exercise 2 (part 1): What do you like to do / like doing for fun? Link to Exercise 2 - http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-2.htm We want to be sure the student understands the more difficult, natural language that Joe uses during his interview, in addition to the lesson’s key structure like to do/like doing.He begins with this reply: That’s a great question. I was just asking myself that the other day.
Since this is the first time we hear a reflexive pronoun in Real English, we attempt to include a “relexive picture” of Joe asking himself a question. Also, in difficult cases like this one, I attempt to “give away” the answer, to provide more information, not to test.
Exercise 2 (part 2) : What do you like to do / like doing for fun? Link to Exercise 2 - http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-2.htm : 11 Exercise 2 (part 2) : What do you like to do / like doing for fun? Link to Exercise 2 - http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-2.htm Another interesting point about Exercise 2 concerns the possibilities offered by Hot Potatoes.This particular HP exercise is called a Hybrid JQuiz. If the student is wrong typing X number of times, then the exercise transforms itself into a Multiple Choice exo. The student is never lost if he tries to answer.Also, there are multiple correct answers when the answer is typed. In this particular case, there are 6 correct answers, such as "What do you like to do for fun?" or "Joe, what do you like doing for fun?". I think motivation increases when the student has to carry out the more difficult job of typing. For some exercises, there are as many as 100 possible typed, correct answers.
Exercise 2b (part 1) - http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-2b.htm : 12 Exercise 2b (part 1) - http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-2b.htm Since this is the first time we hear a reflexive pronoun in Real English, we include a relevant “grammar” page.
“Grammar” is in quotes as it means different things to different teachers. For me, whether it is here online, or in my classroom, it’s a simple question of illustrating another way that the English language seems to be organized.
This is a complex question and I’m certainly not qualified to attempt an academic analysis of the question. Suffice it to say that after intensive listening and practice, the student should be made aware that he is dealing not only with meaningful vocabulary, but also with the apparent structure of the language.
Exercise 2b (part 2) - I know some Web 2.0 teachers who no longer teach “grammar”, but I think “grammar” should always be included when relevant, after a listening phase, just like the students should see the written word only after intensive listening. http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-2b.htm : 13 Exercise 2b (part 2) - I know some Web 2.0 teachers who no longer teach “grammar”, but I think “grammar” should always be included when relevant, after a listening phase, just like the students should see the written word only after intensive listening. http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-2b.htm
: 14 Joe begins his reply:
"I was just asking myself that the other day." Exercise 2b – previous page (grammar) the grammar page - http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-2b.htm concerning reflexive pronouns:
The grammar page in the previous slide exists only because of the way Joe answers the question. Course organization is turned upside down to a certain extent. Spontaneous speech often determines what is covered in the exercises, not the "author". My control over content is relinquishedas soon as I finish the video edit. Sometimes I eliminate difficult speech, "unwanted structures", and mumbling, during an edit, but the video must remain natural.At the same time, since I'm an EFL teacher, I attempt to grade and correlate these results of spontaneous speech with EFL methods from the Big Publishers so that Real English can always be used by a teacher as a complement to his "main method", or as a complement to the teacher's curriculum.
Exercise 3 (part 1): What do you like to do/like doing for fun?Link to Exercise 3: http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-3.htm : 15 Exercise 3 (part 1): What do you like to do/like doing for fun?Link to Exercise 3: http://www.real-english.com/reo/29/29-3.htm In the third part of his interview, Joe introduces us to a lot of new vocabulary. What’s the best way to teach vocabulary online or in other learning situations?
I prefer to combine a traditional, but simplified dictionary type of definition, along with pictures and audio, as we see in this exercise illustrating 6 of Joe’s vocabulary items. Notice that one of the pictures in Exercise 3 shows Joe doing what he says he likes doing. This technique of cutting out interviewee’s heads, and putting them in relevant situations, is used wherever useful to help convey meaning throughout all the lessons. (We met Joe on 57th St. in New York City, not while hiking in the woods).
Exercise 3 (part 2), What do you like to do for fun? Link Exercise 3 : 16 Exercise 3 (part 2), What do you like to do for fun? Link Exercise 3 Words used by Joe expressing what he likes doing:
1 – In the video, our source material, we have inserted pictures,
2 – The pictures you see here are below the video, including:
“Dictionary type definitions”, e.g., enjoy (verb): like,
the related pictures whenever possible,
the related audio file.
Note # 5: there are limits to what pictures can do. Some pictures merely suggest definitions without making the meaning as clear as we would like. Perhaps a tree hugger is better than nothing for “getting in touch with nature”. Some cultures will find it helpful, others perhaps not.
Exercise 4 : What do you like to do for fun? Link to Exercise 4 : 17 Exercise 4 : What do you like to do for fun? Link to Exercise 4 Finally, in this particular case of conveying meaning, the picture in the video simply helps define movies.
I also added an audio file to exercise 4, so that the student can hear the love doing sentence without Joe’s false start where he says I do, uh... I love…
These common hesitations are always included in the Real English texts, but can nevertheless be confusing. In this way, the student hears my reply to Joe, a clear I love going to the movies, too, without the “I do, uh... ”
Exercise 5: What do you like to do/like doing for fun? Link to Exercise 5 : 18 Exercise 5: What do you like to do/like doing for fun? Link to Exercise 5 In Joe’s final exercise, we define Joe’s favorite activity i.e., "sittin’ around with folks talking" with pictures in both the video and in the exercise page. If the student did not understand the verb “socialize” in exercise 1, it will hopefully become clear now. This Hot Potatoes exercise is also hybrid as we saw in Exercise 2. There are 36 correct answers for what the student can type, including socializing and sitting around talking, etc.
Conclusions 1/2 : 19 Conclusions 1/2 Spontaneous street speech defines the course content and organization of Real English to a large extent.
Elements which help make the (apparently difficult) videos accessible and useful include the addition of explanatory pictures and additional audio files. Multimedia is a necessity, not an add-on.
The record/compare applet helps enable students to practise their pronunciation. We thereby try to cover all 4 skills in our lessons: speaking, reading, writing (taking notes), keyboarding, and of course, listening, hopefully lots of listening before all else.
Conclusions 2/2 : 20 Conclusions 2/2 The exercise content of the Lessons are all ongoing experiments. I can never be sure an exercise will work until I see some students working on the exercises on a computer.
Strange as it seems, the "beginner" videos are often as difficult as the "upper intermediate" videos due to the nature of real English. Example: my so-called "advanced students" often have problems with lesson 3 (spelling, which follows the introduction to the alphabet), simply because they have not spent enough time in English-speaking countries, i.e., for lack of extended listening practice, and often despite good results in international exams.
End – Appendices below.
AppendicesExamples of Other Types of Exercises / Lessons 1/2 (in case we have more presentation time) : 21 AppendicesExamples of Other Types of Exercises / Lessons 1/2 (in case we have more presentation time) One of many examples contrasting American and British usages:
http://www.real-english.com/reo/38/38-7.htm
Multiple videos on 1 page:
http://www.real-english.com/reo/38/38-11.htm
and small videos for Drag & Drop:http://www.real-english.com/reo/23/23-12.htm
The "old approach“ of all vocabulary first as prep for video: http://www.real-english.com/reo/7/7-1.htm
Grammar Practice before watching video:http://www.real-english.com/reo/19/19-1.htm
Example of an advanced lesson:http://www.real-english.com/reo/55/unit55.html
Examples of Other Types of Exercises / Lessons 2/2 : 22 Examples of Other Types of Exercises / Lessons 2/2 An example of unusable speech, nevertheless used as an illustration!
http://www.real-english.com/reo/38/38-15.htm
Grammar in context, example:http://www.real-english.com/reo/37/37-1.htm
Example of a contribution from an exercise maker:http://www.real-english.com/reo/32/unit32.html (Birgit Ferran)
Combo: my exercises with contributor exercise (Glenys Hanson)http://www.real-english.com/reo/53/unit53.html
Reminder concerning Week 2 Assignments:Assignment 1: Do two lessons, as if you were a student. The 2 lessons are to be chosen from the list below. Please choose one lesson between 1 and 20 and another from 24 to 80, or simply choose lessons at a level corresponding to your students' levels.lessons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d, 8e (at least 3 parts of lesson 8), 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 16, 16b, 17 18, 19, 24, 29, 30, 31, 32, 37, 38, 40, 43, 46, 55, 80, and the very recent Walk Score Videos-Lessons Walk Score Lessons. For those of you who want to experience very well-designed Dictation Exercises by our colleague Glenys Hanson, which include some of my own favorite videos, you can include one lesson from this list: Lessons 9, 12, 19, 34, 40, 48, 52 and 53.Begin here: http://tinyurl.com/63ow59 Choose a lesson, watch the video without subtitles and then click on Exercise 1. : 23 Reminder concerning Week 2 Assignments:Assignment 1: Do two lessons, as if you were a student. The 2 lessons are to be chosen from the list below. Please choose one lesson between 1 and 20 and another from 24 to 80, or simply choose lessons at a level corresponding to your students' levels.lessons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d, 8e (at least 3 parts of lesson 8), 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 16, 16b, 17 18, 19, 24, 29, 30, 31, 32, 37, 38, 40, 43, 46, 55, 80, and the very recent Walk Score Videos-Lessons Walk Score Lessons. For those of you who want to experience very well-designed Dictation Exercises by our colleague Glenys Hanson, which include some of my own favorite videos, you can include one lesson from this list: Lessons 9, 12, 19, 34, 40, 48, 52 and 53.Begin here: http://tinyurl.com/63ow59 Choose a lesson, watch the video without subtitles and then click on Exercise 1.
Assignment 2: After having gone through 2 lessons or more, write a short essay explaining how you would you use a Real English video and lesson with your students. Evaluate the lessons in relation to your own needs. What works for you in your classroom?Also write about practical concerns, for example, - Do you have a classroom projector hooked up to your computer? This would allow you go through the lesson with your students in class and perhaps assign the unfinished exercises as homework, assuming your students have internet access at home.- If you do not project to a classroom screen, can you share your own online computer with student(s), for very small groups or one-on-one courses?- Would you make up your own exercises for the videos? If Yes: In all cases, or only if you had the time? : 24 Assignment 2: After having gone through 2 lessons or more, write a short essay explaining how you would you use a Real English video and lesson with your students. Evaluate the lessons in relation to your own needs. What works for you in your classroom?Also write about practical concerns, for example, - Do you have a classroom projector hooked up to your computer? This would allow you go through the lesson with your students in class and perhaps assign the unfinished exercises as homework, assuming your students have internet access at home.- If you do not project to a classroom screen, can you share your own online computer with student(s), for very small groups or one-on-one courses? - Would you make up your own exercises for the videos? If Yes: In all cases, or only if you had the time?
An Optional Third Assignment, for Teachers Who Discover Hot Potatoes for the First Time via the Real English ExercisesIn the Abstract to this workshop, we begin"Are you looking for resources that will save your prep time …?"If this is your primary concern, I suggest you ignore Hot Potatoes and use an even easier online exercise maker such as Ryan's www.eslvideo.com www.eslvideo.com which you will discover next week, or the exercise maker implemented on ESL Café which Jennifer will speak about in Week 5.However, it is interesting to note that compared to other Exercise Making software, Hot Potatoes allows you to create any sort of interactive exercise which you can imagine. You are not limited to multiple choice. It includes many varieties of Matching exercises, Rearranging words in several different ways to make a question or a sentence for example, several types of typing exercises, Fill in the missing word(s) quizzes, crossword puzzles, MC, all with the feedback you supply for the different answers, and finally hybrid exercises combining aspects of 2 different exercises enumerated above.Hot Potatoes is intuitive. It only takes 10 minutes to start making your first interactive exercise. However, you will need several days to discover its potential.If any member of this workshop is interested, I will also include Hot Potatoes learning tools and will show you how I use it to make Real English exercises. : 25 An Optional Third Assignment, for Teachers Who Discover Hot Potatoes for the First Time via the Real English ExercisesIn the Abstract to this workshop, we begin"Are you looking for resources that will save your prep time …?"If this is your primary concern, I suggest you ignore Hot Potatoes and use an even easier online exercise maker such as Ryan's www.eslvideo.com www.eslvideo.com which you will discover next week, or the exercise maker implemented on ESL Café which Jennifer will speak about in Week 5.However, it is interesting to note that compared to other Exercise Making software, Hot Potatoes allows you to create any sort of interactive exercise which you can imagine. You are not limited to multiple choice. It includes many varieties of Matching exercises, Rearranging words in several different ways to make a question or a sentence for example, several types of typing exercises, Fill in the missing word(s) quizzes, crossword puzzles, MC, all with the feedback you supply for the different answers, and finally hybrid exercises combining aspects of 2 different exercises enumerated above.Hot Potatoes is intuitive. It only takes 10 minutes to start making your first interactive exercise. However, you will need several days to discover its potential.If any member of this workshop is interested, I will also include Hot Potatoes learning tools and will show you how I use it to make Real English exercises.