Year after year, the local newspapers raise the same questions as this raised by the China Post article published on April 18th, 2005…
According to a recent poll, a vast majority of students feel immense
pressure to learn English.
The survey, organized by the People First Party caucus in the Taipei
City Council, polled 1,180 fifth and sixth graders about their reasons
for learning English. Eighty-eighty percent responded that they felt
intense pressure to learn the language while 84 percent studied
English at cram schools outside of their regular schoolwork.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/i_latestdetail.asp?id=27713
Actually, this plays very nicely, albeit somewhat late!, into the
discussion of students learning of English… and their exam
performance.
Are we placing too much emphasis on ‘traditional’ learning methods, at
the expense of creating a positive environment for children to learn
English?
For more discussion of this, please visit here and here where there’s been quite lively discussion of these issues.
Click this RSS Feed for more! Let me know what you think?
Kenneth
One of my favorite online journals has just released a new edition! So, I’m not going to say much but just let you go over there and read it!
Special Issue on Technology and Learning to Read
We are happy to announce that Volume 11 Number 3 of Language Learning & Technology is now available at http://llt.msu.edu. The contents are listed below.
Please visit the LLT Web site and be sure to enter your free subscription if you have not already done so. Also, we welcome your contributions for future issues. See our guidelines for submission at http://llt.msu.edu/contrib.html.
Sincerely,
Dorothy Chun and Irene Thompson, Editors
Marlise Horst, Special Issue Editor
Language Learning & Technology
—– Feature Articles —–
Computing the Vocabulary Demands of L2 Reading
Tom Cobb
Vocabulary Learning in an Automated Graded Reading Program
Hung-Tzu Huang & Hsien-Chin Liou
Reading Authentic EFL Text Using Visualization and Advance Organizers in a Multimedia Learning Environment
Huifen Lin & Tsuiping Chen
Reading Comprehension Exercises Online: The Effects of Feedback, Proficiency and Interaction
Philip Murphy
A Mobile-Device-Supported Peer-Assisted Learning System for Collaborative Early EFL Reading
Yu-Jun Lan, Yao-Ting Sung, & Kuo-En Chang
Commentary: The Promise of Digital Scholarhip in SLA Research and Language Pedagogy
Sally Sieloff Magnan
—– Columns —–
On the Net
LiTgloss
by Jean LeLoup & Robert Ponterio
Emerging Technologies
E-Texts, Mobile Browsing, and Rich Internet Applications
by Robert Godwin-Jones
—– Reviews —–
Edited by Sigrun Biesenbach-Lucas
eSpindle Vocabulary & Spelling Program Online
eSpindle Learning
Reviewed by Justin Olamson
Le Chandail de Hockey CD-ROM
3D courseware/ Les Editions 3D
Reviewed by Catherine Caws
iPod
When iPod goes collegiate
When Kenneth Rogerson walked into his newspaper journalism class on the first day of the school year, the professor could barely contain his excitement. After a quick introduction he broke the big news: “We got the grant,” he told his class. “You all get iPods.” (more)