TEFL RESEARCH PROJECT

AUTONOMOUS AND MULTIMEDIA LEARNING

HERNAN AUGUSTO TENA CORTES

TRAINER WILINTON GUTIERREZ

IN SOUTH AMERICA, COLOMBIA, RISARALDA, PEREIRA, AT THE CENTRO COLOMBO AMERICANO CARRERA 6 NUMBER 22 -12

Index I. Introduction ........................................................................................... 4

II. Hypothesis ............................................................................................. 6 III. Justification ........................................................................................... 7 IV. Review of the literature ......................................................................... 9 a. How to Learn English through Multimedia ....................................... 9

b. Providing authentic language environment ................................... 10 c. Supporting traditional read-aloud instruction with multimedia .... 11

V. Methodology ........................................................................................ 12 a. First Step .......................................................................................... 12

b. Second Step ..................................................................................... 12 c. Third Step ......................................................................................... 12

d. Fourth Step....................................................................................... 13 e. f. Methods ............................................................................................ 13 An example of a blog ....................................................................... 14

g. Research Interviews ........................................................................ 15 h. Step by Step ..................................................................................... 17 i. Timeline ............................................................................................ 20

VI. Results ................................................................................................. 21 a. Surveys ............................................................................................. 21

b. Interviews ......................................................................................... 24 VII. Conclusions ........................................................................................ 32 a. Blogs as useful tools for writing motivation. ................................. 32

b. Web pages are useful tools for grammar motivation. ................... 32 c. Web pages are useful tools for listening motivation. .................... 33

d. In the future, multimedia learning will probably engage students to practice English on their own. ............................................................... 33 e. A general conclusion for the hypothesis. ...................................... 33

VIII. Bibliography ........................................................................................ 34

I. Introduction

My name is Hernan Tena; I give personalized classes to English students from level one thru sixteen. I spent part of my adolescence in Chicago Illinois. There is where I learned English and now I am willing to be an English teacher. I began this process by doing this course, the next step is to start the Licenciatura en la enseanza de la lengua inglesa at the Universidad Tecnologica de Pereira, this will be by January next year and the third main step is to do the T.K.T (teaching knowledge test) that would probably be by June of 2011. I am motivating English students to learn in a multimedia way by helping them to improve their skills and providing them with tools to get advantage of the autonomous and technological learning. I am also engaging the students to practice English on their own with the tools that I am providing. The project is going to take place in South America - Colombia Risaralda Pereira At the Centro Colombo Americano Carrera 6 number 22 12. It will start in November 10th, 2010 through December 1st, 2010; twice a week during an hour. The project will be done through surveys and research.

The implementation is that the teacher gives a topic and at least one hour before the class ends he takes the students to the computer lab to practice the same topic in a multimedia way such as: scrambled word activities, crossword puzzle activities, games, multiple choice quizzes, hangman activities, puzzle activities, listening activities and others.

II. Hypothesis If English teachers take the students to the internet to practice English by doing activities in pages like http://a4esl.org/ twice a week, during at least one hour, for one month, then the students will improve their English skills.

III. Justification This project is directed to any English student; especially to those who like to interact with the computers although is not a requirement. Promoting students autonomous learning As teachers, we feel sometimes powerless and frustrated when facing students who do not want to learn, it seems that the more we teach in class, the less they are interested in English. Students have no initiative in learning the language. They learn just to pass the exams and get the certificates, so the best way to teach is perhaps to make students responsible for their own learning. Multimedia and technology makes possible for students to learn at their own pace, to organize their group of work, to think independently, to fulfill the assignments and to assess their own performance. They no longer depend on their teacher so they can actually take control of their own learning process while the teacher only undertakes the role of tutor or supervisor. The fact that Colombia is a Spanish speaking country causes a slow learning process. With the surveys that I have done, I found out that students do not put as much interest as they want to the English learning process because they see too much theory in their classes, and the vocabulary that they are receiving is not enough for them to have fluent conversations. They also said that they are falling into monotonous classes and they want their classes to

become more dynamic. Therefore, I would like to do this project because is a very good tool to increase not only the time that students are exposed to the language, but also to create more interest and motivation, they will be learning in different ways and they will have an interaction with the computer, perhaps they will not feel nervous and they will feel more autonomous to learn. Some tools must be implemented in order to get students engaged with autonomous and technological learning, here is when the teacher

participates by giving the class normally and one hour before the class ends he takes the students to the computer lab with the purpose of practicing the topic in mention, then, before the class ends, he gives out some homework to be done in the same way that it was done in the computer lab, and I expect that with this, students will not only improve their skills, but also they will get more engaged with the English learning process. I hope that this project benefits many students and teachers, this way the educator will find his apprentice more interested on learning and the apprentice will find his classes more enjoyable.

IV. Review of the literature

a. How to Learn English through Multimedia

(By: Maggie McCormic, 2008)

A multimedia approach to learn English is perhaps the best technique for gaining fluency. Learning a new language is a complex process--you have to focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening. When you learn English through multimedia, you are able to choose media that allows you to focus on the different aspects of language. The best part is that you can use these methods in a classroom setting or at home by yourself. You can truly design a multimedia English learning program that fits your needs.

This article is very important for my project because it has a brief description of how the multimedia learning works. I think that the best part of multimedia learning is that the learner can truly design a program that fits on his needs been that not all the learners have the same needs. In addition the learner is able to choose media focusing on different aspects of learning and he is also able to manage his own time. It is not a secret for us that Colombia is a Spanish speaking country and therefore students do not really practice English as a second language unless they are in class; so this new methodology of learning is perhaps a good idea to

engage students to practice at home and therefore have a better performance.

b. Providing authentic language environment

(By: Zhang Fhang, 2006)

Through multimedia and network technology we can offer students not only rich sources of authentic learning materials but also an attractive and a friendly interface vivid pictures and pleasant sounds which to a large extent overcomes the lack of authentic language environment and arouses students interest in learning EnglishProvided with authentic language environment students no longer find English less boring and become more enthusiastic about learning English I consider this part important because it is reliable for the students if we as teachers provide all the tools needed for the student to learn and feel free to have a fluent conversation. We also have to keep in mind that in order for us to have success on teaching English in a multimedia way we better trust our students because online it is easier for them to cheat and save work by using translators, copying and pasting, and some other things, so

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we should always assess our student in order to prove their knowledge and their honesty. c. Supporting traditional read-aloud instruction with multimedia
(By: Rebecca Silverman and Sara Hines, 2009)

Incorporating vocabulary instruction into storybook read-aloud is a popular and effective way to improve the word knowledge of young children. However, because English language learners may not understand the meaning of many basic vocabulary words, they may need additional or different instructional support than non-English language learners during storybook centered vocabulary instruction. Using multimedia video in conjunction with traditional read aloud methods may improve the vocabulary growth of English language learners. Based upon research that suggests students benefit from information presented both verbally and nonverbally, representing words in more than one way may clarify instruction and provide the additional information needed to make sense of the words they are learning.

What this paragraph is trying to tell us is that we as teachers should combine the verbal with the nonverbal, in other words we should give visual stimulation especially in reading aloud cases; this in order for the

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students to understand easier and expand their vocabulary. Perhaps multimedia stimulation might engage students into the topic.

V. Methodology

a. First Step A survey was given to English students to find out if they like multimedia and internet strategies to learn English and find the classes more interesting. The Survey is in L1 (Spanish) because is directed to general English students no matter if they are in a beginner or advanced level. (See the survey below) b. Second Step A blog was created for each student at the Centro Colombo Americano Pereira. That blog has the purpose of sharing opinions, daily experiences, feedback, and others. It is also with the idea of engaging students to practice English while they are at home. c. Third Step To evaluate the students before and after the activities and find out if their English improves with the multimedia learning.

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d. Fourth Step To interview the students and find some details and results about the project. (See interview below)

e. Methods Surveys: A survey was given to students in the beginning of the process. Handouts: Handouts were given to students to solve during class with the help of multimedia. Tests: Tests were given to students before and after the activities in order to measure their development. Blogs A blog was created for each student in order to keep in touch out of the Colombo. These were the methods used to have the project done.

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f. An example of a blog

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g. Research Interviews 1. How often did you participate in the Blog? A. Once a Week D. Once in a while B. Twice a week C. Never

2. How was your experience with the blog? A. Boring. C. Frustrating. B. Funny. D. Awesome

3. What is your opinion about the multimedia learning? A. It is more boring than having a normal class. B. It is funnier than having a normal class. C. I rather to learn English in the multimedia way than the normal way. D. None of the above. 4. Would you like to continue your learning process in the multimedia way? A. Yes B. No

Why: _________________________________________________________ 5. Does the multimedia learning motivate you to practice English at home? A. Yes B. No

Why: _________________________________________________________

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6. Would you continue using your blog from now on? A. Yes B. No

Why: _________________________________________________________ 7. Do you consider that your English skills had improved during this month that we practiced the multimedia learning? A. Yes B. No

Why: _________________________________________________________ 8. What skills do you think you improved the most? A. Reading B. Listening. B. Writing. D. Speaking

9. What suggestions do you have in order to improve this new way of learning English?

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ _________________ Students Signature __________________ Teachers Signature

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h. Step by Step November 10th: The class was given in South America, Colombia, Pereira Risaralda in the Centro Colombo Americano Carrera 6 Number 22 12 in the multimedia room. It was given To Tathiana Gonzalez class to about 13 students from 12 through 16 years old. The aim of the class was to review the previous knowledge of If clauses for the final test of Unit 8. We had an online activity and a crossword puzzle. We also had a warm up and a previous presentation of the teacher. The class lasted one hour from 4:30 pm through 5:30 pm. November 17th: The class was given in South America, Colombia, Pereira Risaralda in the Centro Colombo Americano Carrera 6 Number 22 12 in the multimedia room. It was given To Tathiana Gonzalez class to about 13 students from 12 through 16 years old. The aim of the class was to have each student create a blog to take it as a journal and complete the surveys for the teachers project. They also had to follow every bodys blog in order to comment between themselves. At the end of the class they had to write on the blog their thoughts or feelings about the class. The class lasted 2 hours from 4:30 pm through 6:30 pm.

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November 22nd: The class was given in South America, Colombia, Pereira Risaralda in the Centro Colombo Americano Carrera 6 Number 22 12 in the multimedia room. It was given To Tathiana Gonzalez class to about 13 students from 12 through 16 years old. The aim of the class was to have each student participate on the blog by writing an autobiography and what they did on the weekend; they also have to comment on their classmates biographies. The class lasted 2 hours from 4:30 pm through 6:30 pm. November 24th The class was given in South America, Colombia, Pereira Risaralda in the Centro Colombo Americano Carrera 6 Number 22 12 in the multimedia room. It was given To Tathiana Gonzalez class to about 13 students from 12 through 16 years old. The aim of the class was to have each student watch a voiceless video and write a story out of it, they also had to do a verbs review. In order to achieve the aim they played games, did activities on a web page and everything about the video was written in the blog. The class lasted 2 hours from 4:30 pm through 6:30 pm.

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November 29th The class was given in South America, Colombia, Pereira Risaralda in the Centro Colombo Americano Carrera 6 Number 22 12 in the multimedia room. It was given To Tathiana Gonzalez class to about 13 students from 12 through 16 years old. The aim of the class was to have each student do a listening review. In order to achieve the aim an activity and a dictation were done for the students. The class lasted 2 hours from 4:30 pm through 6:30 pm. December 1st The class was given in South America, Colombia, Pereira Risaralda in the Centro Colombo Americano Carrera 6 Number 22 12 in the multimedia room. It was given To Tathiana Gonzalez class to about 13 students from 12 through 16 years old. The aim of the class was to interview each student in order to find some details and results of the project. Since that was the last day of the project a picture was taken to keep it as a reminder and as evidence. The class lasted 2 hours from 4:30 pm through 6:30 pm.

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i. Timeline

November 10th - 2010

If clauses review for the final test of unit 8. A crossword puzzle was given to the students in order to practice the vocabulary of unit, There was also a listening activity on youtube.com with a worksheet and they had some activities to do online about if clauses.

November 17th - 2010

They are going to create a blog for each one, they will have to follow every bodys blog and participate on it.

November 22nd - 2010

They will have to participate on the blog by writing a short autobiography and what they did on the weekend.

November 24th - 2010

They are going to do some activities and games in order to review verbs, and then they will have to watch a voiceless video and make a short story out of it.

November 29th - 2010

They are having a listening review in order to improve their skills.

December 01st - 2010

They are having a survey in order to get some details and results of the project.

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VI. Results a. Surveys The surveys were given to 16 different students and the following was the result: 1. De uno a 10 califique su inters hacia el aprendizaje de ingles como segunda lengua, siendo 1 de menos y 10 de ms.

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2. Marque con una X las posibles opciones que lo desmotivan a usted a la hora de aprender ingles.

3. De 1 a 5 siendo uno de menos y 5 de mas seleccione cada materia en el orden de su preferencia.

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4. Escriba algunas dificultades que se le presentan al aprender ingles.

5. Escriba algunas mejoras, sugerencias o cambios que se deben hacer en su clase de ingles.

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b. Interviews With the surveys I found students weaknesses so I worked on them and at the end of the project I did an interview to each student in order to measure if the had improvement or not. The interviews were done to 10 students and the following was the result. 1. How often did you participate in the blog? a. Once a Week c. Once in a while b. Twice a week d. Never

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2. How was your experience with the blog a. Boring c. Frustrating b. Funny d. Awesome

3. What is your opinion about multimedia learning? a. It is more boring than having a normal class b. It is funnier than having a normal class. c. I rather to learn English in the multimedia way than the normal way. d. None of the above

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4. Would you like to continue your learning process in the multimedia way? Why? a. Yes b. No

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Some students reasons: Because it is easier and funnier. Because it is different and I like to have variation of activities. Because the time goes faster. Because I can do different things at the same time. Because it is more interesting Because I like the interaction with the computer. 5. Does the multimedia learning motivate to practice English at home? Why? a. Yes b. No

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Some students reasons Because I do not study at my house. Because I liked it a lot and the best part is that I can practice from anywhere. Because it cheers me up. 6. Would you continue using your blog from now on? Why? a. Yes b. No

Some students reasons Because it isnt boring. Because it is a cool way to practice and share my experiences.

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 Because it is interesting. Because it is a good way to communicate. 7. Do you consider that your English had improved during this month that we practiced the multimedia learning? Why? a. Yes b. No

Some students reasons Because the variation of activities motivated me and therefore I learned more. Because now I understand better.

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 Yes, because I learned new vocabulary. Because we practiced all the skills at the same time. Because now I can write more than before. 8. What skill do you thing you improved the most. a. Reading c. Listening b. Writing. d. Speaking

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9. What suggestions do you have in order to improve to improve this new way of learning?

With the interviews I found that they did improve, but I have to keep on working on the house part in order to engage the and make them work at home.

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VII.

Conclusions

a. Blogs as useful tools for writing motivation. Now that this project had passed, I found that blogs are useful tools if we are motivating students to produce writing because of their performance. It happened to me once that I asked students to write on a paper everything they did on a weekend and they all refused to do it. The only things they wrote is that they were all grounded or that they slept the whole weekend and stuff like that. But when we went to the multimedia room I asked them to do the same thing but in their blog and they all wrote at least 5 lines so as a conclusion I found that blogs are a good stimulant for students to produce writing. I also think that my project worked on writing motivation because as the classes passed by I saw improvement on students interest for the blogs.

b. Web pages are useful tools for grammar motivation.

Every time we went online to do grammar activities in web pages I saw a big interest and emotion on the students. They took it as a challenge to become better than their peers. I also think that this kind of activities engaged them because they were all into them and they were not nervous. But when it comes to do activities in a classroom they act all nervous about it and they do not produce as well as they want to. 32

c. Web pages are useful tools for listening motivation. Every time we went online on video pages to practice listening the students seemed to be engaged because they had two opportunities to understand the exercise, it was either the visual or the listening part. So this multimedia advantage made the exercise funnier for the students and it also helped them to have a better performance. d. In the future, multimedia learning will probably engage students to practice English on their own. Now that my project had passed, I found that the engagement of students to practice English on their own it is a hard challenge even though it is not impossible. I found that two of my thirteen students practiced English from their house twice during the whole project, so I think that it is not impossible for us to have them practice English on their own, it is just a challenge. e. A general conclusion for the hypothesis. A general conclusion for the hypothesis would be that it is true for the conditions of this project, because it was observed that students improved their skills very fast and in an easier way.

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VIII.

Bibliography

a4esl. (1995). Retrieved November 2010, from Activities for esl students: http://a4esl.org/ Arteaga, Y. a. (2010, November). My parkour. Retrieved December 1st, 2010, from http://yostinandparkour.blogspot.com/ cormic, M. M. (2008). eHow. Retrieved December 1st, 2010, from How to learn English through multimedia: http://www.ehow.com/how_5565985_learnenglish-through-multimedia.html Fhang, Z. (2006, June). CELEA. Retrieved December 1st, 2010, from Providing authentic language environment:

http://www.celea.org.cn/teic/67/67-111.pdf Forero, J. D. (November de 2010). Nacional unico enquipo en colombia. Retireved December 9th, 2010, from

http://nacionalunicoequipoencolombia.blogspot.com/ Gomez, M. P. (2010, November). Maria Paulina. Retrieved December 9th, 2010, from http://mariapaulinaaa.blogspot.com/ Hines, R. S. (2009). Readingrockets. Retrieved December 1st, 2010, from Supporting traditional read-aloud instructions with multimedia:

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/30096

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Lascano, C. (2007). vimeo. Retrieved November 2010, from A short love story on stop motion: http://vimeo.com/877053?pg=embed&sec=877053 Madrid, J. A. (2010, November). The soccer and nacional. Retrieved December 1st, 2010, from http://miciudadpereiraesdelverde.blogspot.com/ Manythings. (1997). Retrieved November 2010, from Interesting things for esl students: http://www.manythings.org/ Mena, E. J. (2010, November). Erika Jhoana Mena. Retrieved December 1st, 2010, from http://erikajhoanamena.blogspot.com/ Metalicaaa. (2007, march 27). Youtube. Retrieved November 2010, from If I had a million dollars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHacDYj8KZM Orrego, A. S. (2010, November). Ana Samay orrego. Retrieved December 9th, 2010, from http://anasamayorrego.blogspot.com/ Ramirez, S. M. (2010, November). What important to you. Retrieved December 9th, 2010, from http://sebastianmartinezr.blogspot.com/ Rincon, M. Q. (2010, November). Manuela. Retrieved December 09, 2010, from http://manuelaquientero.blogspot.com/ tobon, D. Q. (2010, November). Daniel Traceur. Retrieved December 9th, 2010, from http://danieltraceur.blogspot.com/

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Zapata, M. A. (November de 2010). I dont not. Retrieved December 1st, 2010, from http://idontnot-manuel.blogspot.com/

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