Materials and equipment: Whiteboard, markers, TV monitor, Ss’ smartphones, HDMI adapter
Goal:
The students will be able to introduce Monterey’s tourist destinations to their Korean friends
Objectives:
The students will be able to:
- List at least 10 adjectives that describe places
- Create sentences using the structure “Have to/Should (_(어/아)야 해요.)”
- Support their ideas with reasons, using “because (왜냐하면)”
- Compare places in Monterey using the structure “[N] is more [Adj./V] than [N2] ( _이/가 _ 보다 더 _)”
- Give an oral presentation about their recommendations of places for Korean people to visit in Monterey
Setting:
- Place: Monterey Institute of International Studies
- Type of class: BUILD Korean 1.5 with (usually) 6-8 students.
- Level of learners: Mid- to high-beginner
- Length of the lesson: 50 min.
- What happened in the last class: Ss learned to describe food, using relevant adjectives. They were also introduced to the structure “[N] is more [Adj./V] than [N2] ( _이/가 _ 보다 더 _)” to compare different food options/dishes.
Previous lesson’s HW: The Ss were asked to look up Korean adjectives and bring them to class (in addition to the ones introduced in the last class). They were also asked to download “RoadMovies” on their smart phone and create a video with scenes of places in Monterey that they would recommend to their Korean friends.
Apps Used: RoadMovies, PollEverywhere, Quizlet
Development of the lesson:
| Time | Stage | Procedures/Teacher Actions |
| 3 min. | Introduction/ Review | Materials: Whiteboard, markers
|
| 7 min. | Vocabulary/
Practice |
Materials: Whiteboard, markers, TV monitor
|
| 7 min. | Grammar/
Practice |
Materials: Whiteboard, markers
|
| 8 min. | Grammar/
Practice |
Materials: Whiteboard, Markers
Ask them if they remember the grammar structure to compare two things in one sentence (the structure they learned in the last class) “_이/가 _ 보다 더 _ ([N] is more [Adj./V] than [N2]).” Remind them they can use this structure to give a reason with a comparison. Provide an example. (i.e. 경복궁에 가야해요. 왜냐하면 경복궁이 덕수궁보다 더 예뻐요. (People should go to GyeongBok Palace, because it’s more beautiful than DeokSu Palace.)) Have the Ss work with their partner (for the RoadMovies video), and talk about their choice of places in Monterey and supporting reasons to choose them. Walk around and help them with questions and mistakes from the Ss. |
| 20 min. | Presentation | Materials: Whiteboard, markers, TV monitor
Have the pairs present their RoadMovies video. Have them show the video once without pause (24 sec. per video), and show it again with pause and explanations for why they chose the places, and why they are better than other places to visit. Each pair will have 3-4 minutes to present, depending on the number of Ss in class today. |
| 5 min. | Review/
Closing/ Homework |
Materials: N/A
|
Lesson Plan Rationale for MALL
The lesson plan I created with MALL (mobile-assisted language learning) is for my Korean B.U.I.L.D. course at MIIS. In this lesson plan, I adapted three different mobile applications to implement the lesson: PollEverywhere, RoadMovies, and Quizlet. I wanted to use at least one language app and one non-language app to see how they work in my classroom. The B.U.I.L.D. Korean 2 course is highly language-centered, as the students requested it to be; however, I still wanted to have the content as authentic as possible while focusing on their language development.
I had already been using Quizlet for my students’ vocabulary practice. According to Stockwell and Hubbard (2014), “mobile activities, tasks, and apps should distinguish both 1) the affordances and limitations of the mobile device and 2) the affordances and limitations of the environment” (p. 8). Quizlet works with mobile phones, tablets, and computers (desktops, lap-tops, etc.), and once the vocabulary sets are uploaded to an individual’s account, the sets can be reviewed or studied anytime without active Internet access. Another benefit of Quizlet is that it provides easy “guidance and training to effectively use mobile devices for language learning” (p. 9). For the different learning styles and preferences of the students, I also provide PDF files with the vocabulary practice each week. However, so far most of the students seem to enjoy, and make frequent use of, Quizlet for their vocabulary practice.
I chose RoadMovies for the main activity of the lesson. As I mentioned above, I try to avoid exclusively using language apps in the classroom. Language apps are designed so that learners can study the target language on their own, and they can be great study guides; however, because they are created specifically for language learning, the learning environment they create is controlled, highly language-centered, and often lacking without authentic content. Ozkan (2011) defined authentic materials as “all real language created with not a purpose of language teaching in mind” (p. 149). Even though my lessons for the B.U.I.L.D. course are designed to be language (especially grammar) centered, authentic content is needed for effective language teaching and learning. As traveling is one of the main topics that my students wanted to talk about in class (according to the needs assessment survey I conducted), I decided that RoadMovies would be an effective tool to engage the students with the lesson, as it provides a creative, learner-centered way to produce language materials highly relevant to the topic.
PollEverywhere is a powerful tool for interactive language teaching. Cardoso (2011) points out that learner response systems (LRSs) can be a great tool to promote learning in the classroom, and gives several reasons. First, they increase “students’ (and even teachers’) motivation and the general interest in class;” second, they increase “participation inside and outside the classroom;” third, they allow learners to self-assess;” fourth, learners are allowed to “compare their performance in relation to that of their peers in the same class;” and finally, “they foster interactions” (p. 397). PollEverywhere has all these benefits of an LRS. A poll is usually one-way communication, but the instant feedback (word cloud, etc.) in PollEverywhere makes the activity an interactive experience between the learners. This instant feedback bolsters the learners’ interest in participating, and allows them easily self-assess their responses. Also, if a learner does not have an Internet-enabled device, s/he can participate by texting from a cell-phone, which reduces the emerging concern about MALL usage – “app gap” (Prensky, 2012).
Since this lesson requires the learners’ cooperation inside and outside the classroom, it might end unsuccessfully if they do not complete their homework and participate in class voluntarily. B.U.I.L.D. courses are student-governed, and work on a voluntary basis for both the teachers and the students. This presents a potential problem, the solution for which relies heavily on how well the teacher knows the students. I (the teacher) will have to check with the students about their schedule (if they have extra time to go out and do the homework during the week), how comfortable they feel presenting in front of the class (in this case, all of my students answered that they do not mind presenting in front of their classmates, according to the NA survey), etc.
Until I began to take this course about MALL, I was skeptical about using mobile technology in my teaching. This may be because I am from a culture where people see mobile-phone use in the classroom as unacceptable. I still do not agree with “active” phone- usage in the classroom, since it can distract learners; however, when it is done well, and planned appropriately, MALL seems to be a great way to incorporate technology into language teaching and learning.
References
- Cardoso, W. (2011). Laerning a foreign language with a learner response system: the students’ perspective. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 24:5, 393-417.
- Ozkan, Y. (2011). Assessment of grammatical competence based on authentic tests. International Journal of English Linguistics, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Sept., 2011), 148-154.
- Stockwell, G., & Hubbard, P. (2014). Some emerging principles for mobile-assisted language learning. The International Research Foundation for English Language Education.
- Prensky, M. (2012). Eliminating the “app gap.” Educational Technology.
