Presentation at the EV Classics Fair
2008 CALL Interest Section Special Events
The 42nd Annual Convention TESOL 2008
April 2- 5, 2008
New York, NY
Technology for ESL Speaking
and Culture Studies Activities
and Projects
Presenter: Professor Lyra Riabov
Southern New Hampshire University
E-mail: l.riabov@snhu.edu; Web: http://acadweb.snhu.edu/riabov_lyra/ESL.htm
Presentation Discussion
 What technology makes student learning more effective in ESL
(Advanced) Oral Communication and Comparative Culture Study
classes?
 What features of the Blackboard™ do I use in these classes and
why?
 How much the Internet, instructor’s website, and MS PowerPoint
enhance speaking and culture studies classes?
 The role of CDs and DVDs.
 Review selected assignments and activities
 What are the gains for students and the instructor?
 Recommendations
What is Web-based Blackboard™ ?
 SNHU Blackboard
 Education Environment
 Online course delivery system
 Educate
 Innovate
 Everywhere
What features of the Blackboard™
do I use in my ESL classes and why?

Announcements: Instructor posts daily
or weekly announcements here.

Assignments: Day by day homework and
class assignments

Faculty: Information about the instructor


Syllabus: Outline of the course: Syllabus
and Weekly Assignments

Discussion Board: It consists of Topic
Discussion Forums for students,
reflections, reactions and comments to
the reading material, peers’ comments
and instructor’s suggestions. Students
can use a limited Text Box or attach any
file in MS Word, PowerPoint, and
pictures to support their arguments.
Communication: Additional way to check
out Announcements, get to the Discussion
Board, Roster of the class and Send E-mail
section. The last section is very important as
this is the students’ way to ask questions and
express concerns, request help with the
course content or sent an e-mail to their
classmates when they are outside the class.

Tools: Students’ Digital Drop Box is a
convenient way for confidential
communication with the instructor or
classmates. This is the place to submit
papers or presentations for grading and the
instructor’s comments.

SNHU Library: Access to the SNHU Library
online

External Links: Connection to the
instructor’s web site and other Internet
resources

Course Documents is a place to post
course materials for students
Assignments and Activities
 Syllabus
 Homework
 Connection to the Internet and
Library resources
 Discussion Forums
 Written and oral discussions
 Drafts and peer comments
 Grading and MS Word
comments feature
What do students gain?
 Motivation and fun
 Constant peer communication
 Competition and motivation to
do better the assignments
 Exchange of arguments
 Learn to discuss
 More time to review their
written input
 Visualize their writing problems
and better address them
 Peer Evaluation
 Motivation for rewriting drafts





Easy access from everywhere
Fast e-feedback
Paperless class
No printing
Online dictionary and
resources are at your finger tip
 Constant communication with
the instructor
 Convenient e-folders of the
drafts and discussion postings
 Preparation for the college
technology supported learning
Participation in the Discussion Forums
Q1: increased the volume of my writing;
Q2: helped me to learn how to express my point of view and support it with examples;
Q3..participation in the Discussion Forums helped me to learn academic writing;
Q4: helped me to learn to edit my writing.
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
%% Strongly-Agree
%%Agree
%%Disagree
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Q1
Q2
Q3
Que s tions
Q4
Communication Advantages
Q5: I learned from my classmates writing;
Q6: Using BB and E-mail Improved communication between the peers and the instructor;
Q9: I liked to read my classmates postings and compete with them for higher quality of my postings;
Q13: Instructor’s e-comments helped me to edit my drafts and postings
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
%% Strongly-Agree
%%Agree
%%Disagree
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Q5
Q6
Q9
Questions
Q13
Assignments and Grading
Q7: Assignments section was very useful;
Q8: Using BB I was motivated to do assignments on time;
Q11: It was convenient not to print papers;
Q12: Grading was confidential and easy to access to.
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
%% Strongly-Agree
%%Agree
%%Disagree
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Q7
Q8
Q11
Questions
Q12
Blackboard Usage Advantages
Q10: Blackboard provided me with an easy access to my files, e-mail, class materials and
external links from everywhere on campus and at home;
Q14: It was not difficult to use the Blackboard;
Q15: Learning and using the Blackboard prepared me well for my future studies in college.
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
%% Strongly-Agree
30.0%
%%Agree
%%Disagree
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Q10
Q14
Questions
Q15
Role of the Internet, instructor’s website,
MS PowerPoint, CDs and DVDs for
speaking and culture studies classes
 MS Power Point helped students to organize their
materials and ideas and deliver effective presentations of
their projects
 Teacher- created class website served as a research
resource for the student projects
 CDs & DVDs helped to introduce audio - visual materials
accompanying text book text and exercise. They also
triggered discussion and served as resources for the
projects.
What do instructors gain?
 Increased volume of students’
writing and speaking
 Focus on academic language
 Active student participation
regardless of the student
learning styles
 Motivation and
competitiveness
 Peers’ active involvement in
the learning process
 Everybody participate in the
discussions
 Increased sense of the
students’ responsibility for
the completion of the
assignments on time
 Fast and easy feedback
 Convenient organization of
assignments, grades and
materials
 Availability of the instructor
outside the classroom
Recommendations
 In a traditional ESL class use only selected
features of the Blackboard
 Don’t overuse it
 Make Blackboard features user friendly: simple
and clear
 Discussion Forums create a safe environment
for the shy students to express their ideas
 Discussion Forums help students better
exchange ideas and learn from each other
 Instructor’s website helps to control the time and
content of research
 The variety of technology use depends on the
interest of the students and availability of
technological resources
 Be prepared to spend more time working on
assignments, e-feedback and communication
with your students