THE POTENTIAL OF DIGITAL MEDIA IN BUILDING LANGUAGE

     
                                                   

                                                          
                                                        

 I am prompted to dig deep into a few social networking sites. I will   describe and evaluate them for their potential in promoting reading and writing skills.

Today, learning English involves much more than studying a textbook, doing tests, and putting dictums into practice. With the advent of the Internet and its attendant technology, hosts of options exist for the improvement of English skills. These options involve interacting with others online via social networks - communicating in order to learn about other cultures, having fun, and above all, in order to learn English.

Social sites provide the immediacy and convenience of engaging in discourse any time, any place, anywhere. Do these sites improve the users’ English?

Twitter

Twitter is a social networking site that demands precision of expression - each post or "Tweet” is limited to 140 characters, encouraging conciseness in messaging. Words need to be chosen carefully in order to convey the message clearly with conciseness,

Twitter encourages the sending of short trite Tweets to Friends or Followers. It also encourages following and reading   other people’s Tweets - improving English reading skills. By reading a variety of short messages on a myriad of subjects, new words, turns of phrase, and jargon, are learnt building the user’s English vocabulary.

Face book

 Face book is a web portal for keeping in touch with others. The user chooses whom to allow access their Face book pages. The user  can post text, pictures, images, video, and music on their Face book page or  use a "Wall", which other members can use in order to text each other messages. Messages can also contain photos, videos, music and links to other websites.

Face book builds the users’ English skills by providing them with the experience of   composing and elaborating various messages. The site builds the users’ reading skills by enabling them to read an assortment of messages from those allowed into the pages. This diversity of messages means that the users can learn new words from people all over the world, depending on their list of friends.

The elaborately written messages give the user the opportunity to study other people’s way with words, as well as their word choice. Face book exposes the user to a significant selection of writing (text) in which to build their English skills.

Skype

Skype is a computer software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. Skype improves the use’s speaking and listening skills. Through speaking the user builds up their vocabulary. Listening   enables learning   new   words and phrases from others.

LinkedIn

 LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals. The user can build their business English skills through writing their profiles, and keeping them updated. Business   English skills are further developed   through sending messages to others, reading their responses, and replying in kind.

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website where users upload, share and view videos. Learning English via YouTube involves listening to the language via the videos viewed. Users learn through reading the comments posted in English, situated below each video or through text presentations in a slide show provided.

Can a teacher use social media in the classroom?

I will give an example of my favourite platform- the blog and Face book :

 Blogs create great opportunities   for students to write and display their writing on a larger scale. Students reflect on lessons, document research for a larger project; or review movies, books, or audio recordings and illustrate their thoughts with photos or videos.

By   students reading each other’s blog posts, they   create a stronger community with one another, discovering shared experiences and reactions. Because their work becomes part of the greater World Wide Web, students have increased motivation to carefully consider their language, spelling, and grammar usage as well as how they draw in outside information. In this vein, blogging can provide  an excellent segues into a discussion on plagiarism, voice, and writing style.

And …Face book:

A Face book group creates a space for students to ask and answer questions. While working on their homework, students   can post a question to the group’s wall that either the teacher or a classmate can answer. Since students often learn from others, having students share their questions, insights, or experiences with a topic can expand learning for other students. In short, it extends the classroom discussion beyond the classroom.

Creating a Comic Strip

The comic strip:  John Martin and I had never tried to create a comic strip. It was an interesting challenge. We put the limitation that the comic strip should have no more than four panes, which quickly become a guiding issue - how  would  we   tell an effective story in only four scenes?  

We were challenged by the need to distill an idea down to a few frames while retaining some sort of storyline or interesting point. However, the process was relatively easy and they generally enjoyed working with the program itself. There was a great deal of sharing of ideas and techniques   between John and I promoting a sense of camaraderie. I will certainly teach my little girl this simple interesting and engaging task!

Comics in the classroom?

Andrew Smith (2006): states that: “Visual communication is rich, evocative, and immediate, and transcends barriers that language sometimes raises. When pictures and words are used together to communicate, the result can be much greater than either alone could produce.” Comics is one of the  prominent mediums  which combine static images – whether they are sectioned into panels  or free of restriction  – and a story, which is often, though not always, conveyed through text.

With the combination of text and illustration, comics are powerful aids for students who excel at visual learning or who have short attention spans.

Comics prompt the development of powerful imaginations - providing an excellent practical scaffolding resource at many levels. The text, which is often the heart of the story, is reinforced through the illustrations, allowing students to visualize the story and the characters.

Finally,Comics are a powerful work of literature. They raise and shed light on important issues of life, prompting critical thought and reflection.

I have curated a few sites which I will use to help develop my interest in creating comics from now on:

 www.scottmccloud.com

http://comicsintheclassroom.net/

http://www.teachingcomics.org/

And now: the story in pictures