tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post8537144143307891618..comments2024-03-08T13:06:37.359-08:00Comments on The Joy of ESL Blog: Those Blasted Gadgets!Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182881635816655061noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-82162672431146508502017-04-23T16:35:37.207-07:002017-04-23T16:35:37.207-07:00Thank you for chiming in, Claudie! I LOVE getting ...Thank you for chiming in, Claudie! I LOVE getting all these different perspectives!Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08182881635816655061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-36936034806181510992017-04-23T16:27:47.016-07:002017-04-23T16:27:47.016-07:00I tyrannically ban them (cell phones, PEDs). Perso...I tyrannically ban them (cell phones, PEDs). Personal Electronic Dictionaries. The cell phones? Common courtesy (AND not everyone has data so not planning to use them as "edtech) SScan't even use them in class at breaks (I hold myself to that rule too). Many articles regarding vocabulary retention. Apparently less retention using PEDs than print. But those that used PEDs for translation learned more vocabulary. So yes, I tell them use them at home if you are reading something interesting and if not understanding a word holds you up.Not surprisingly the articles also talk <br />about how students become more reliant on "looking up" and less on using context and guessing ( article about IELTS preparation).<br />I have a box of the clunky dictionaries - the students have no problem going over to them to get one to something up. They are getting fast (not that this is necessarily a usable skill in 21st Century but it gives them pravtice in alphabetical order (interesting how many level 6/7 cannot recite alphabet.)<br />Caveat: If I were offered a set of electronic dictionaries (or tablets with data) for my class - I'd accept in a New York minute - vocab retention research be damned! Benefits of learning to use tech far outweigh other considerations. claudiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00203496693621797550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-74312100690725492902017-04-21T14:41:48.492-07:002017-04-21T14:41:48.492-07:00Anonymous,
What a great addition to this conversat...Anonymous,<br />What a great addition to this conversation! I can absolutely imagine classes in which this would work and would be a valuable addition to the toolbox instead of the barrier to communication that it is proving to be for my little class of seniors and their counterparts at a nearby school.<br />I also have studied multiple languages over the decades and remember the old days when I had to bring that little Spanish-English/English-Spanish PAPERBACK dictionary with me on my dates with my Cuban boyfriend. Lol. Although I think I got so good at it, I could probably win a speed lookup contest against someone using an electronic one today. ;)<br /><br />I do absolutely think these machines have their place and should be used. The frustration my colleague at the other school and I are having is that students look up every content word EVERY TIME, even the ones they already know (or so we assumed).<br /><br />In your comment, the key words that jumped out at me were, 'if I can look up the others in a few seconds, why not do so?' I agree.<br /><br />Unfortunately, our Chinese seniors are not figuring out some words through context and then looking up a few more quickly. They are silently glued to their gadgets and pencils during conversation time that THEY have requested, defeating the purpose of that activity.<br /><br />I also have a problem with them copying or photographing EVERY. SINGLE. THING. ON. THE. BOARD. During one coffee break, I caught a student taking a picture of my time sheet--briefly displayed while I sent it to the copy machine for my boss. Other times I've been writing a confidential email before school started, only to have a student snap a photo. They honestly have been conditioned, over decades, to copy every word put in front of them.<br /><br />In any case, it's very interesting to me to hear from instructors of various types of classes on this. You have helped me take a step back and start to rethink my rigid opposition. Perhaps we will try to incorporate some language such as, "Do you mind if I take a second to look up that word?"<br />;) KKellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08182881635816655061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-31066976898271162792017-04-21T12:18:16.200-07:002017-04-21T12:18:16.200-07:00I'd like to offer another perspective on this ...I'd like to offer another perspective on this issue. I have no problem with my students' use of dictionaries. I've studied six languages over the last few decades, always using bilingual dictionaries, and I've been very successful. Instead of using awkward circumlocutions in my other languages, I use appropriate words. On encountering unfamiliar words, of course I use context to figure out what they mean, but if I can look up the others in a few seconds, why not do so? Then I bookmark them in my dictionary app (or Google Translate) and learn them later. <br /><br />In the horrible old days of gigantic paper dictionaries, things were very different, but now I have the equivalent digital versions on my phone and I'm glad to use them, and I encourage my students do the same. Unfortunately, their phones also contain the time-wasting social media apps that are the bane of our age, and that complicates the situation. Should I ban phones and prevent the students from using an incredibly useful tool for language learning, or allow them to use their phones and have to vie for their attention? I don't know the answer, and that for me is a more important issue. If my students had electronic dictionaries like the one in the picture above, it would be great, but those have never been popular outside East Asia, and today they're being replaced by smartphones even there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com