Sessions /
Activating Speaking Skills in Online and Asynchronous Environments #1142

Sun, Feb 28, 15:15-16:00 JST | KOTESOL Room | Open Session
Open session: please log in Technology / CALL / MALL Synchronous-Zoom 101 Workshop (40 mins)

Over the past year, many educators have seen classes move online due to health concerns. Educators and institutions alike have responded to this in a variety of ways, from embracing and encouraging the changes to resistance and insisting that language skills could never be taught online. However, this move to distance learning is neither new nor revolutionary. Distance education has been used for decades and is an increasingly popular alternative for learners who are unable to attend traditional institutes for a variety of reasons. In fact, having increased control over a speaking task's pace, environment, time, topic, direction and amount of preparation allows many students to excel when they would have otherwise floundered.

This presentation will discuss how various class systems and digital tools can be used to encourage active learning and focus on different speaking-associated challenges. In this context, active learning is defined as students who are engaged with the materials via both their knowledge of the language and through social connections. The ability to speak in another language is affected by several elements such as pronunciation, timed output, content and clarity, receiving and responding, and performance anxiety, all of which can hinder students' active learning. In traditional classrooms, students who struggled with one or more of these elements may have found they were unable to complete speaking tasks to the best of their ability or participate at all. Using a wide variety of tools and approaches, teachers are able to individually target these elements of speaking and encourage student self-evaluation, accountability, and independence.

Instead of fearing that increased distance learning will result in the devaluation of English teachers, we should instead use our skills and knowledge to improve the quality of teaching and keep moving forward with the times. Creating spaces and materials for active learning allows students to define their needs and challenges and allows for students with a wider range of skills to succeed in speaking tasks.

This presentation is brought to you by the MCALL Special Interest Group

Isobel Hook

Isobel Hook

Isobel Hook began teaching in English camps and kindergartens in South Korea, then international students in Australia and has since moved to technical colleges and universities in Japan, where she currently lives. She has taught students from 2 to 85 years old, from beginners to near-native in both public and private sectors. She pulls from her wide range of experience to engage students, and focuses on meeting their individual needs. She has a M.Ed. in TESOL from the University of Wollongong in Australia but finds her CELTA more valuable when in the classroom.