Abstract
I have designed a speaking and listening task for beginning level adult ESL students using the online tool, Voicethread. In the task, students will create a visual, interactive class directory. They will introduce themselves using language acquired during a lesson unit on Introductions and Personal Information. The purpose of this paper is to describe the task in detail and to defend its usefulness in languge learning. CALL tools such as Voicethread can be used to expose students to authentic input and to create authentic output; develop an ability to self-monitor and self-evaluate language production; and to create and motivate independent language learners. The paper will argue the effectiveness of CALL tools in the ESL classroom to promote speaking and listening skills specifically.
References
Bush, L. (2009). Viva VoiceThread: Integrating a Web 2.0 Tool in the Additional Language Classroom. In I. Gibson et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2009 (pp. 3247-3250). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/31146.
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Weir, L. (2008, April 16). Voicethread extends the classroom with interactive multimedia albums. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/voicethread-interactive-multimedia-albums