Email & Chat

Neny Isharyanti

Email

Benefits

• Simple and familiar

Teachers -- Mailing lists, discussion groups

Students – exposure to target language in real situation

Basic Email Skills

• Communication skills

Discourse

Netiquette

Writing review

Basic Email Skills (con’t)

• Technical skills

Email account management

Privacy and protection

Inquire their technical skill level first!

Some Ideas for Learning Activities

• Course management Communication and discussion Course mailing list Assignment submission

• Collaborative writing tool• Data collection projects• Keypal projects

Let’s try!

• Data Collection Project: Endangered Animals

• Theme: endangered species, ecology

• Aim: to find out about endangered species

• Learners: junior high school, adult, intermediate or high level

• Time frame: 2-3 lessons @ 60-90 minutes

• Procedure: Lesson 1

o Teacher (T) provides the pair with one website about endangered animals

o The pair visits the website, read the information, find a contact email of the website, and write a series of questions to email

o The pair writes an email containing the questions,o The email draft can be checked by another pair or the teacher

before being sento The pair send the email to the organization in the website

Lesson 2

o After receiving a reply email from the organization, the pair prepare a written or oral presentation to share what they have found about the endangered animals

o The pair present their findings

Lesson 3

o Follow up activities such as publishing the findings for the public through blog, wiki, or podcast or through posters

Chat

Types of Chat -- platforms

• Text chat

• Audio or voice chat

• Public chat

• Private chat

Types of Chat – educational based

• Free topic chats

• Collaborative, task-oriented chats

• Informative or academic chats

• Practice chats

Why using chat in language learning?

• Some questions to ponder before deciding to use chat in language learning: Does using text or voice chat with learners improve their

English? What kind of English should learners use in chat? What technical skills do teachers and learners need to be able

to use chat? What benefits does the use of chat bring to the classroom? Is it better to use text or voice chat with learners?

Does using text or voice chat with learners improve their English?

Opportunities for negotiating meaning

Discourse familiarization

Improving fluency

What kind of English should learners use in chat?

• Standard written English conventions, please

• But, worth teaching:

Common abbreviations are OK

Netiquettes

Turn-taking conventions

What technical skills do teachers and learners need to be able to use chat?

• Installation of chat platforms and usage

• Typing skills

• Connection?

What benefits does the use of chat bring to the classroom?

• Novelty factor

• Connecting learners and teachers

Is it better to use text or voice chat with learners? -- Advantages

Text• Familiarity• Novelty• Collaborative learning• Non-threatening & easy

to use• Chat transcripts can be

used later for language analysis

Voice• Familiarity• Novelty• Collaborative learning• real oral practice of

language• Internet connection is

getting faster, making it easier to do voice chat

Is it better to use text or voice chat with learners? – Disadvantages

Text• Chaotic (overlapping turns,

disjointed topic delay)• Unclear improvements• Need for teaching ‘chat

speak’?• Difficult to identify errors vs.

typos vs. non-standard chat speak

• Weak typists

Voice

• Suitable for very small groups only

• Need reliable internet connection

• Recording chat may be difficult and need other software

How to Structure a Text or Voice Chat Lesson

• Objective(s)

Contact with other learners/cultures, and the motivation that this brings

‘real’ communication with a real purpose

Use of a new medium in the classroom

A chance to practice written and/or spoken English

How to Structure a Text or Voice Chat Lesson (con’t)

• Groupings the class

Individual computers – pair work

Some computers – group work

One computer – entire class turn taking

How to Structure a Text or Voice Chat Lesson (con’t)

• Stages An introductory/warmer phase

o Personal detailso Skill checko Netiquetteo Other introduction

The main content of the chato The task(s) – worksheet to complete

A closing stageo Summaryo Lesson learnt

Caveats for Chat

• Try the software out• Two classes? Initial contact via email or blog• Set a clear task• Set a clear purpose/objective and tell the learners• Only for small groups!• Record the chat• Prepare a contingency plan

Let’s try!

• Objectives: to ask about personal details

• Level: beginner to intermediate

• Time: 1 meeting @ 90 minutes

• Procedures Introduction/Warmer

o Ask students how they greet and introduce themselves in real life

o Inform students the structure of an introductiono Elicit from students some questions and answers

to greet and introduce themselves to otherso Establish netiquettes with the students

Task 1o Ask students to create questions for personal

details and what is the unusual habit that a person has

o Ask students to make a pair

o Ask them to open facebook chat

o Students chat with their partner enacting the greeting and introduction

Task 2

o Ask students to make a group of 4

o Ask them to open facebook chat and create a chat room for the group members

o Students chat with their group mates enacting the greeting and introduction

• Closing

Ask the students to present their findings about their pair/mates

Discuss the difficulties they encounter during the chat