Blogging For ELT

Blogging for ELT

This article takes a look at blogging, which is becoming increasingly popular as a language learning tool. It gives an overview of blogging websites, suggests why you might want to use them, and gives some practical advice on setting up blogs for use with your own classes.

What is a blog?

A blog (short for weblog) is a frequently updated website that often resembles an online journal. It's so easy to create and update a blog - it requires only basic access to the Internet, and a minimum of technical know-how. Because of this, it is one of the easiest ways to publish student writing on the WWW. It's almost as easy as sending an email.

Nowadays, blogs can also display photos and some people are using them with audio and even video, but this article will concentrate on the basics, showing how a simple text-based blog can be used to great effect with your English language learners.

Types of blogs used in language teaching

Aaron Campbell (2003) has outlined three types of blogs for use with language classes:

The Tutor Blog is run by the teacher of a class. The content of this type of blog can be limited to syllabus, course information, homework, assignments, etc. Or the teacher may choose to write about his or her life, sharing reflections about the local culture, target culture and language to stimulate online and in-class discussion. In this type of blog, students are normally restricted to being able to write comments to the teacher's posts. A great example of this is Aaron Campbell's own 'The New Tanuki' http://thenewtanuki.blogspot.com/

The Class Blog is a shared space, with teacher and students being able to write to the main area. It is best used as a collaborative discussion space, an extra-curricular extension of the classroom. Students can be encouraged to reflect in more depth, in writing, on themes touched upon in class. Students are given a greater sense of freedom and involvement than with the tutor blog. A very good example of what has been done with this type of blog is Barbara Dieu's 'Bee Online' http://beeonline.blogspot.com/) and 'Bee Online 2' http://beeonline2.blogspot.com/

The Learner Blog is the third type of blog and it requires more time and effort from the teacher to both set up and moderate, but is probably the most rewarding. It involves giving each student an individual blog. The benefit of this is that this becomes the student's own personal online space. Students can be encouraged to write frequently about what interests them, and can post comments on other students' blogs. For examples, see the links to learner blogs from the class blog and tutor blog examples above.

Of course, teachers who decide to use blogs often use a combination of Tutor or Class blog and Learner blogs, with hyperlinks connecting them.

Why blog?

So, why should you blog with your students? There are many reasons why you may choose to use weblogs with students. One of the best reasons is to provide a real audience for student writing. Usually, the teacher is the only person who reads student writing, and the focus of this reading is usually on form, not content. With weblogs, students can find themselves writing for a real audience that, apart from the teacher, may include their peers, students from other classes, or even other countries, their parents, and potentially anyone with access to the Internet.Here are some other reasons for using blogs:

To provide extra reading practice for students.

This reading can be produced by the teacher, other students in the same class, or, in the case of comments posted to a blog, by people from all over the world.
As online student learner journals that can be read by their peers. The value of using learner journals has been well documented. Usually they are private channels between teacher and student. Using a blog as a learner journal can increase the audience.
To guide students to online resources appropriate for their level.The Internet has a bewildering array of resources that are potentially useful for your students. The problem is finding and directing your learners to them. For this reason, you can use your tutor blog as a portal for your learners.

To increase the sense of community in a class.

A class blog can help foster a feeling of community between the members of a class, especially if learners are sharing information about themselves and their interests, and are responding to what other students are writing.

To encourage shy students to participate.

There is evidence to suggest that students who are quiet in class can find their voice when given the opportunity to express themselves in a blog.

To stimulate out-of-class discussion.

A blog can be an ideal space for pre-class or post-class discussion. And what students write about in the blog can also be used to promote discussion in class.

To encourage a process-writing approach.

Because students are writing for publication, they are usually more concerned about getting things right, and usually understand the value of rewriting more than if the only audience for their written work is the teacher.

As an online portfolio of student written work.

There is much to be gained from students keeping a portfolio of their work. One example is the ease at which learners can return to previous written work and evaluate the progress they have made during a course.

To help build a closer relationship between students in large classes.

Sometimes students in large classes can spend all year studying with the same people without getting to know them well. A blog is another tool that can help bring students together.

Where to start

There are lots of sites where you can set up a blog for free, but perhaps the best known and one of the most reliable and simple blogging tools to use with students is Blogger (http://blogger.com/). It takes only fifteen minutes from setting up an account to publishing the first post using this valuable tool.
The teacher sets up the tutor blog or a class blog. With a Class blog, students will need to be invited to participate by e-mail. Learner blog accounts can either be set up beforehand by the teacher, or done at the same time with a whole class in a computer room. The former gives the teacher more control of student accounts, but some advantages of the latter is that learners are given more choice (of username, design of the blog, etc) and a greater sense of 'ownership' of their new virtual writing space.

Tips for managing learner blog settings

Use the 'Settings' in Blogger to add yourself (under Members) as Administrator of the learner blog. This is invaluable if students later forget usernames or passwords, and can also help if inappropriate posts are published

Make sure you change the setting and turn the 'Comments' feature on. This will allow the others to respond to things the students write on their learner blogs.

Also in 'Settings', you will find an option to receive an email whenever a student publishes their blog. This will save you time regularly checking learner blogs to see if any of your students have posted. Another way of being informed of this is to use the 'Site Feed' function (discussed further below).

Keeping students interested

Many teachers who start to use blogs find the novelty factor is enough to create student interest in starting to use them. However, blogs work best when learners get into the habit of using them. If learners are not encouraged to post to their blogs frequently, then they can quickly be abandoned. A failed experiment. Here, the teacher in the role of facilitator is vital for maintaining student interest. Here are some ideas to how this can be done:
Respond to student posts quickly, writing a short comment related to the content. Ask questions about what the learner writes to create stimulus for writing.

Students should be actively encouraged to read and respond (through the commenting feature of the blog) to their classmates.

Writing to the blog could be required, and it may form part of the class assessment. Students should be encouraged to post their writing homework on the blog instead of only giving it to the teacher.

Some ideas for activities

Mystery guest. Invite another teacher or someone from another school or country as a mystery guest to your blog. Ask the students to engage him or her in dialogue and guess their identity.
Project work. A blog is an ideal space for developing a project, especially if the project is a shared one between several classes or even classes in different countries.

International link-ups.

Contact another educational establishment to see if they are interested in a joint blogging project. Students can write about their lives, culture, interests, etc, and be encouraged to read about the other class and respond by writing comments.

Photoblog.

If you plan on using photographs in your blog, there are lots of tools available to help you. Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/) makes publishing photographs to blogs easy. If you want to make photographs central to the blog, however, it is better to use a blogging tool such as Buzznet (http://www.buzznet.com/), which is a photo publishing tool and blog rolled into one.

Pitfalls to watch out for

Unwanted comments. To avoid unwanted comments, you can always restrict comments to people in the class or to registered bloggers.

Correction. It is difficult to use a blog for correcting students. Student written work can always be corrected before posting to the blog, or you can do class correction sessions using work published in the blogs.
Privacy. By their very nature, most blogs are public. Anyone with access to the Web can find and read a blog, and write comments (if this feature has been turned on). If privacy is an issue, then you will be better off using a blogging tool that allows different levels of access rights. Live Journal http://www.livejournal.com/ is a good choice, and is particularly popular with teenagers . Live Journal allows the setting up of a closed community, which could be restricted to the members of a class or to a wider circle including other classes, parents, etc.
Advanced feature
The easiest way to keep track of a lot of learner blogs is to use the 'Site Feed' feature. You will need to use another piece of software called a newsreader or aggregator to read site feeds. Using a newsreader means your e-mail in-box won't become cluttered with posted messages from students publishing their weblogs. One of the most popular, free web-based newsreaders is Bloglines http://www.bloglines.com/.
The BBC and British Council are not responsible for the content of external web sites.Further reading
Blog-efl. My own blog with information and comments for teachers of EFL/ESL interested in using blogs http://blog-efl.blogspot.com/'Weblogs for use with ESL classes' Campbell AP (2003) http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Campbell-Weblogs.html

Metode Kualitatif

Metode kualitatif juga sering dipadakan dengan :
1. Metode penelitian naturalistik, karena dilakukan pada kondisi yang alamiah
2. Metode Etnography, karena pada awalnya penelitian dipakai pada bidang antropologi budaya.

Sejarah penelitian ini dipengaruhi oleh filsafat post-positivisme yang juga sering disebut sebagai paradigma interpretif dan konstruktif, yang memandang realitas sosial sebagai sesuatu yang holistik/utuh, kompleks, dinamis dan penuh makna, dan hubungan gejala bersifat interaktif.Penelitian dilakukan pada obyek yang alamiah, yaitu obyek yang berkembang apa adanya , tidak dimanipulasi oleh peneliti dan kehadirannya tidak mempengaruhi dinamika pada obyek tersebut. Dalam penelitian ini orang akan berfungsi sebagai instrumenya atau human instrument, yaitu si peneliti itu sendiri. Sehingga untuk menjadi instrumen seorang peniliti harus dibekali teori dan wawasan luas dalam bertanya,menganalisa, memotret dan akhirnya mengkonstruksikan situasi sosial yang diteliti menjadi lebih bermakna.

Penelitian Kuantitatif

Metode Kuantitatif kadang juga disebut sebagai :

1. Metode tradisional, karena sudah lama dipakai dalam dunia penelitian dan sudah mentradisi.

2. Metode positivistik, karena dilandasi oleh filsafat positivisme.

3. Metode ilmiah/scientific, karena memenuhi kaidah-kaidah ilmiah yaitu konkrit/empiris, obyektif, terukur, rasional dan sistematis.

4. Metode discovery, karena metode ini dapat mengembangkan berbagai iptek baru.

5. Metode kuantitatif, karena data penelitian berupa angka-angka dan anilisisnya memakai statistik.

Maka metode kuantitatif dapat diartikan sebagai metode penelitian yang berlandaskan pada filsafat positivisme, digunakan untuk meneliti pada populasi atau sampel tertentu, teknik pengambilan sampel pada umumnya dilakukan secara random, pengumpulan datanya menggunakan instrumen penelitian, analisis data bersifat kuantitatif/statistik dengan tujuan untuk menguji hipotesis yang telah ditetapkan.

Language is different from speech.

What Is Language? What Is Speech?

Kelly's 4-year-old son, Tommy, has speech and language problems. Friends and family have a hard time understanding what he is saying. He speaks softly, and his sounds are not clear.
Jane had a stroke. She can only speak in one- to two-word sentences and cannot explain what she needs and wants. She also has trouble following simple directions.

Language is different from speech.

Language is made up of socially shared rules that include the following:

• What words mean (e.g., "star" can refer to a bright object in the night sky or a celebrity)
• How to make new words (e.g., friend, friendly, unfriendly)
• How to put words together (e.g., "Peg walked to the new store" rather than "Peg walk store new")
• What word combinations are best in what situations ("Would you mind moving your foot?" could quickly change to "Get off my foot, please!" if the first request did not produce results)

Speech is the verbal means of communicating. Speech consists of the following:

• Articulation: How speech sounds are made (e.g., children must learn how to produce the "r" sound in order to say "rabbit" instead of "wabbit").
• Voice: Use of the vocal folds and breathing to produce sound (e.g., the voice can be abused from overuse or misuse and can lead to hoarseness or loss of voice).
• Fluency: The rhythm of speech (e.g., hesitations or stuttering can affect fluency).

When a person has trouble understanding others (receptive language), or sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings completely (expressive language), then he or she has a language disorder.

When a person is unable to produce speech sounds correctly or fluently, or has problems with his or her voice, then he or she has a speech disorder.

In our example, Tommy has a speech disorder that makes him hard to understand. If his lips, tongue, and mouth are not moved at the right time, then what he says will not sound right. Children who stutter, and people whose voices sound hoarse or nasal have speech problems as well.

Jane has a receptive and expressive language disorder. She does not have a good understanding of the meaning of words and how and when to use them. Because of this, she has trouble following directions and speaking in long sentences. Many others, including adults with aphasia and children with learning disabilities, have language problems.

Language and speech disorders can exist together or by themselves. The problem can be mild or severe. In any case, a comprehensive evaluation by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the first step to improving language and speech problems.

Ramadhan and Lebaran in Indonesia

Ramadhan and Lebaran In Indonesia

Idul Fitri, more commonly referred to in Indonesia as Lebaran, is the celebration that comes at the end of the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadhan. The Arabic meaning of Idul Fitri is “becoming holy again”.
The dates of the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, Ramadan, vary from year to year, as the Muslim calendar (Hijrah) is based on a lunar cycle of 29 or 30 days. The exact date is determined by the sighting of the new moon. These lunar calculations lead to an official announcement by the government on the eve of Ramadan and Idul Fitri so that the faithful know when to begin and end the fasting month. In 2009, Lebaran will fall on 21-22 September, with "collective leave" on September 18 & 23, 2009

Ramadhan

To understand the significance of Lebaran, an understanding about the fasting month of Ramadhan is important. During the month of Ramadhan, Muslims must refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, marital relations or getting angry during the daylight hours. In addition, those fasting are supposed to refrain from bad habits - lying, getting angry, using bad language as well as to be more diligent in prayer and give to charities. It is believe that fasting heightens spirituality and develops self-control.

The fast begins in the morning just before sunrise, at Imsak, and is broken at maghrib which falls at sunset. Fasting during the month of Ramadhan is one of the five pillars of Islam and an obligation for devout Muslims.

Those who are expected to fast include: adults (defined as those who have reached the age of puberty) and those who are sane. Those who are not expected to fast include: children, women having their period, travelers, the sick, those with long-term illnesses, pregnant or breastfeeding women and the mentally ill.

The faithful who fast awaken early in the morning to have a meal before subuh. In order to awaken the faithful, the call to prayer is sounded from neighborhood mosques. In addition, groups of young boys walk around neighborhoods beating on drums and other noise makers to awaken the faithful.

The breaking of the fast at sunset is a very social occasion for which special foods are prepared for gatherings with family or friends. Upon hearing the sound of the bedug drum on the television or the call to prayer from the neighborhood mosque at sunset, the faithful know it's time to break their fast, or buka puasa. This is usually done with a very sweet drink and sweet snacks. Maghrib prayers are made before a full meal is served. Taraweh prayers are held in neighborhood mosques and at gatherings every evening at about 7:30 p.m. These prayers are not compulsory, but they are enjoyed by many.

The schedule for Imsak and Maghrib is posted in major newspapers and on the television throughout Indonesia, as well as published in handouts by major religious organizations.
While it is expected that people will keep to their normal activities during the fast, needless to say the lack of liquid and food during the day and the unusual sleep and meal schedule soon take their toll. After the first week you may see that sleep and food deprivation cause those fasting to have reduced energy levels as well as finding it more difficult to concentrate on tasks.

Why does Islam oblige its followers to fast during Ramadhan each year?

• 
  
  To develop compassion for the poor and needy who feel hungry every day.


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  As a spiritually and physically cleansing experience. Just as in other world religions, fasting is seen as an opportunity to separate yourself from the things of this world and to concentrate on your relationship with God.


• 
  
  To become closer to God by contemplating his will in your life.


• 
  
  To build self-discipline and to become a better person.

Lebaran

At the end of the month of Ramadhan and its special religious observance is the Eid holiday, called Idul Fitri or Lebaran in Indonesia. In Indonesia, this is the time when Muslims visit their family and friends to ask for forgiveness for any wrongs they have committed in the previous year. They express this wish in the phrase “Mohon Maaf Lahir Batin” which means "forgive me from the bottom of my heart/soul for my wrongdoings in the past year". A traditional Arabic (Muslim) greeting for the Eid celebrations is also commonly used in Indonesia "Minal Aidin Wal Fa Idzin", which is expressed upon meeting friends and family during the festive days.

Traditional foods are consumed, family and friends gather to ask forgiveness and exchange greetings, new clothing is worn, children receive gifts of money and visits are made to recreational parks -- all to celebrate the successful completion of the fasting month. On Java, prior to the start of the fasting month (but not during it), visits are made to the graves of family ancestors (nyekar) to pay respects, clean the grave and leave flowers, causing major traffic jams near all major cemeteries.

Idul Fitri begins with mass prayer gatherings early in the morning at mosques, open fields, parks and on major streets. It is an amazing sight to see rows of hundreds of Muslim women all dressed in their mukena (white, head-to-toe prayer gowns) performing the synchronized prayer ritual. Muslim men tend to wear sarong, traditional shirts and peci hats to Idul Fitri morning prayers. On the walk home from the mass prayers, quick visits are made to friends in the neighborhood to ask for forgiveness.
Following the morning prayers and neighborhood visits, visits are made to close family members around town. Family members go to their parents first and then to the most senior relative's house (oldest person in the family) to “Mohon Maaf ...” with family members. Then depending on your age/status in the family, you visit aunts and uncles homes to do the same. At each house drinks and cookies or snacks are served, and since it is very impolite to refuse the food, by the end of the day you are so full you can hardly move. These customs may entail several days of visiting relatives and often there will be a gathering of family members at the senior-most relative's house.

Employees may also visit the homes of their senior bosses in the company or critical business colleagues and government officials to "Mohon Maaf ... " after their family visits are completed. In Jakarta, these customs entail days and days of visiting relatives and colleagues resulting in a great time of family reunions and upset to normal working/living schedules. Many people also take the opportunity of the Lebaran holiday to visit recreational parks.
While gathering with family, it is customary for the adults to give the young children some money ... they may meet you at the door shaking their wallets! It is also customary to distribute money to children in the poor neighborhoods around your home, Rp 500 or 1,000 per child will bring huge smiles to their faces!

In Jakarta neighborhoods there may also be organized fun and games sponsored by local businesses ... including climbing a greased pole to try to get to the prizes on the top called panjat pinang. A fun site to see!

Strongly held traditions to visit family at this time necessitate the exodus of 3 1/2 million (yes million!) people from Jakarta alone, as well as additional millions from other urban centers, to rural villages and hometowns for the Lebaran holiday. The logistics of this exodus cause headaches for the government each year. During this period the streets in Jakarta are nearly empty as the population decreases by nearly one third. The hardships and inconveniences endured by the travelers in overcrowded buses, trains and cars is unbelievable, yet they feel that this is a small price to pay to spend the holidays with their family and friends. Traditionally these urban dwellers come bearing gifts or money earned during the previous year for their family.

They often return from the exodus accompanied by relatives and friends looking for work in the cities, furthering the pressures of urbanization. The government attempts to prevent the “socially undesirable” such as beggars, vagrants and others from migrating to the cites, but the task is overwhelming.

During the weeks after Lebaran many groups hold halal bilhalal gatherings where employees from a company, friends, colleagues or members of an organization gather to share a meal and ask each other's forgiveness. Non-Muslims are often invited to participate in these festive gatherings also.

Various Traditions Associated with Ramadhan and Lebaran
Bazaar/Pasar Amal Organized by various civic, charitable and neighborhood organizations, goods are sold at discounted prices to help the poor celebrate the holidays with new clothing and special foods.

Bedug Lebaran The traditional bedug drums are beat at maghrib to notify the faithful that it is time to break the fast. Starting on the evening of the last day of Ramadhan and continuing throughout the night and into the following day, the bedug are also beaten in the takbiran celebrations either in stationary locations, or in parades through the streets. Takbiran is the prayer and celebration heralding the Idul Fitri holiday. Loud and boisterous parades and celebrations are held throughout the entire nation, which includes drum beating accompanied by amplified prayer and lively Islamic music.

Bingkisan Lebaran Elaborately wrapped parcels are given by business colleagues or associates to Muslims in the week prior to Lebaran. They are usually arranged in a rattan or wood basket and contain food, small household appliances or dishes.

Buka Puasa Breaking the fast, the meal at sunset.

Busana Muslim Fashionable Muslim apparel worn for festive occasions such as Lebaran.

Kartu Lebaran Many people send greeting cards to their Muslim friends (whether they themselves are Muslim or not). For sale in shops throughout the city, Lebaran card designs should not depict people or animals. Geometric designs, mosques, traditional textiles or ketupat are common. Most cards have the date of 1 Syawal 141_ H written on the card. You need to fill in the appropriate year in the space. In 2009, the Hijrah year is 1430, in 2010 will be 1431, etc.

Calligraphy artists design specialized cards for customers on sidewalks near post offices and major market areas.

Ketupat Traditionally eaten at Lebaran, the rhomboid-shaped ketupat casing is made of young coconut frond leaves that are still light green in color. Intricately woven by nimble fingered experts who can complete the weaving in 10 seconds, they are sold to the public at pasar (traditional markets) in bunches. The ketupat are filled with uncooked rice then steamed and left to cool before serving. The coconut leaf casing gives a unique flavor to the rice, one always associated with Lebaran. The ketupat is cut open, removed from the casing and cut into small chunks, then served with various accompanying vegetable and meat dishes (opor and sambal goreng), often cooked in spicy coconut milk.

Korma Dates from Iraq, Tunisia, the US and Saudi Arabia make their annual appearance in markets and supermarkets for the breaking of the fast.

Mudik The term for the exodus of millions of people from the urban centers to the villages in order to celebrate the Idul Fitri holiday with family and friends in the village. In 2009 government estimates the movement of people around the archipelago at 16,3 million people! This is a strongly held tradition and travelers happily endure a lot of hardships and inconveniences in overcrowded cars, buses and trains with seasonally inflated prices.

Puasa Fasting

Sungkem The Javanese custom of asking for forgiveness at Idul Fitri which demonstrates the respect given by young people to the family elders. The young person kneels and bows their head to the elders' knees and asks for forgiveness.

Santunan Ramadhan Donations to a charitable organization for distribution to the poor and needy at Lebaran.

Sembayang or shalat Ritual prayers that must be made five times each day by Muslims.
Takbiran The prayer celebration on the evening of the last day of Ramadhan, to herald in the

Idul Fitri holiday. Chants are praised to Allah, drums are beat endlessly, dances, songs, religious prayers and sermons are given in public displays of excitement and praise.

Zakat The obligatory poor tax that is paid by Muslims during the Lebaran period. Zakat should total 2.5% of one's income, depending on the nature of the gift. Zakat is paid to charitable organizations, neighborhood groups or through direct distribution to the poor and needy in the neighborhood. Zakat tax is deductible in Indonesia; the funds can be deducted from your gross income before figuring taxes.

Language Acquisition vs Language Learning

Language acquisition vs. language learning

There is an important distinction made by linguists between language acquisition and language learning. Children acquire language through a subconscious process during which they are unaware of grammatical rules. This is similar to the way they acquire their first language. They get a feel for what is and what isn’t correct. In order to acquire language, the learner needs a source of natural communication. The emphasis is on the text of the communication and not on the form. Young students who are in the process of acquiring English get plenty of “on the job” practice. They readily acquire the language to communicate with classmates.

Language learning, on the other hand, is not communicative. It is the result of direct instruction in the rules of language. And it certainly is not an age-appropriate activity for your young learners. In language learning, students have conscious knowledge of the new language and can talk about that knowledge. They can fill in the blanks on a grammar page. Research has shown, however, that knowing grammar rules does not necessarily result in good speaking or writing.r A student who has memorized the rules of the language may be able to succeed on a standardized test of English language but may not be able to speak or write correctly.

Learning English in Campus is not Enough, You Know

Hi guys, learning English is not just in campus, but you should try to expose your language anywhere. Meaning that the classroom of your campus is not the only a place for you all to develop your third language (L3), English.Indeed, talking about a campus is like discussing something academically but remember how often you have to meet with your lectures in a week, do you think that is enough time to get english progress.Or perhpas, you meet with your friends there and using english for telling something or talking ant topics ? I don't think so. You still need much time to utter anything in english. So ? what should we do? well keep on your good activities, but let you increase the duration to speak in English. For example , you chat with your friend on the way to campus then consult with your lecturers in the language as well.And just see what will be happened latter ? Of course without realizing you are going to be an English master.Wanna try ? Just do it. (SIS)