Learn English With Mobiles (Part 1)
Atul Chatterjee
August 31, 2010
One problem in teaching spoken English in India has been to provide good aural inputs. At present Indians speak with different voices, accents and intonations. Not that people of other countries don´t, but there is no normalized spoken Indian English in those terms.
I tried a mobile phone to impart a reading lesson. The outline of what I did is simple.
I asked everyone to download the story ´The Gift Of The Magi´ by O´Henry as an MP3 file on to their mobiles (I think from libros.com). Most did so via computers. I also asked them to download a text file of the same.
Instruction 1. Read the text twice without mouthing words till they were familiar with it, don´t worry about pronouncing words. I keep scotch tape ready and placed it on a few students´ mouths as they found it hard to read without enunciating words.
Instruction 2. Listen to the MP3 file while reading the printout, do so softly mouthing each word.
Instruction 3. Read aloud while listening to the audio file. At this stage if you have a partner who has heard and read it you can be corrected. Remember it is hard to hear our own mistakes. This reduces teacher burden.
Instruction 4 Ask students to read a select the same portion of the story and submit it as an MP3 file. This can be judged by the teacher or a remote evaluator.
Instruction 5 Students have read the text thrice which is the limit for normal benefits. Ask them to read it through twice after a gap of a day. Very soon after that test them (written) with fill in the blanks removing words from sentences. It is obvious that fill in the blanks can have multiple solutions but what I ask for is exactly what is in the text. This makes them read with great attention. Also this helps in firming up structures which you otherwise have to explain.
Instruction 6
Lets discuss the story, this is a free format section in which I let errors be. In any case students pounce on one another for glaring mistakes. I also have a section of read with intonation here, and make them change intonation for the same text portion. It is important to ´break´ their voice and strong mother tongue influences. Here we discuss higher feelings to enable students connect emotionally with the story.
For fresh teachers: Don´t worry too much about pronunciation at first, correct voice. If you think pronunciation is everything just go to Scotland and you will correct everyone living there including probably Rowlings. And if you meet a Cockney, wow, you'll be collecting straws from a haystack. In the case of Indians volume control is vital, many do not her their own or others voice properly because of a high level of noise.
If you are a loner you can create a program for yourself. Use MP3 files to transmit them to someone who can read them. Even two learners without a teacher can do a lot with this this basic sequence.
For students at the base of the pyramid provide them with audio files using the same voice so that they can listen confidently. This would mean using a text to speech synthesizer and not voice overs. These speaking programs have been getting better over the years. For those who have clambered up the pyramid provide them with a variety of voices to simulate real life. Listen to your files at a louder volume on a computer, other faults are thrown up, on a mobile the volume may be too low and faults are glossed over.
End
I tried a mobile phone to impart a reading lesson. The outline of what I did is simple.
I asked everyone to download the story ´The Gift Of The Magi´ by O´Henry as an MP3 file on to their mobiles (I think from libros.com). Most did so via computers. I also asked them to download a text file of the same.
Instruction 1. Read the text twice without mouthing words till they were familiar with it, don´t worry about pronouncing words. I keep scotch tape ready and placed it on a few students´ mouths as they found it hard to read without enunciating words.
Instruction 2. Listen to the MP3 file while reading the printout, do so softly mouthing each word.
Instruction 3. Read aloud while listening to the audio file. At this stage if you have a partner who has heard and read it you can be corrected. Remember it is hard to hear our own mistakes. This reduces teacher burden.
Instruction 4 Ask students to read a select the same portion of the story and submit it as an MP3 file. This can be judged by the teacher or a remote evaluator.
Instruction 5 Students have read the text thrice which is the limit for normal benefits. Ask them to read it through twice after a gap of a day. Very soon after that test them (written) with fill in the blanks removing words from sentences. It is obvious that fill in the blanks can have multiple solutions but what I ask for is exactly what is in the text. This makes them read with great attention. Also this helps in firming up structures which you otherwise have to explain.
Instruction 6
Lets discuss the story, this is a free format section in which I let errors be. In any case students pounce on one another for glaring mistakes. I also have a section of read with intonation here, and make them change intonation for the same text portion. It is important to ´break´ their voice and strong mother tongue influences. Here we discuss higher feelings to enable students connect emotionally with the story.
For fresh teachers: Don´t worry too much about pronunciation at first, correct voice. If you think pronunciation is everything just go to Scotland and you will correct everyone living there including probably Rowlings. And if you meet a Cockney, wow, you'll be collecting straws from a haystack. In the case of Indians volume control is vital, many do not her their own or others voice properly because of a high level of noise.
If you are a loner you can create a program for yourself. Use MP3 files to transmit them to someone who can read them. Even two learners without a teacher can do a lot with this this basic sequence.
For students at the base of the pyramid provide them with audio files using the same voice so that they can listen confidently. This would mean using a text to speech synthesizer and not voice overs. These speaking programs have been getting better over the years. For those who have clambered up the pyramid provide them with a variety of voices to simulate real life. Listen to your files at a louder volume on a computer, other faults are thrown up, on a mobile the volume may be too low and faults are glossed over.
End
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