conf91101

Alternative Approaches to Language Learning and Teaching

Þetta var hin merkilegasta ráðstefna, vel skipulögð og fyrirlesarar vel undirbúnir.
Allir gengu þeir út frá hugmyndafræði um "barnið í brennidepli" og fer það heim og
saman við hugmyndafræðilegan bakgrunn nýrrar Aðalnámskrár. (Þessi hugmyndafræði
virðist þó oft gleymast í námskrá einstakra fagsviða.)
Það vakti athygli að meirihluti þátttakenda var konur og einnig voru flestir fyrirlesarar konur.
Aðeins tveir karlar af sex fyrirlesurum.
Hér á eftir ætla ég að greina frá aðalatriðum fyrirlestranna í stuttu máli og setja síðan krækjur í glærur
eða "handouts" og heimasíður fyrirlesara. Fyrirlestrarnir voru allir á ensku og glósaði ég því á ensku.
Á ráðstefnunni hitti ég meðal annarra Hrafnhildi, sem kenndi frönsku við FAS á undan Dögg og Sibbu
eða Sigurbjörgu Gylfadóttur, sem kenndi frönsku við ME á undan Þórunni. Þær báðu báðar fyrir
kærar kveðjur hingað austur.

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir opened the conference and reminded us of the need to put ourselves in the
place of the pupils and the core of our work was the pupil and his achievement. She said we had constantly to
be rethinking our methods. The culture and the technology were constantly changing and so was life. We,
the language teachers would have to go along with these changes.

Birna Arinbjörnsdóttir: "What is Language Proficiency?"

She discussed at some length how problematic the definition of the native speaker was. There were various
dialects to concider, national and international, socio and cultural variations, professional jargons and so on.
People have different competences in various domains of the language and native speaker's mastering of their
own language is higly different. Her conclusion was, that our goul could not be, that the learner speaks lika
a native or has native like command of L2. She argued that for the 2nd language user, fluency was more important
than corectness. When people gain more experience in living in a multicultural or intercultural society they
grow more tolerant of speakers who do not have natie like command of the language.

Bernd Rüschoff: Learner Centered Approaches: "Construction of Knowledge and Template-Based Learning in the Foreign Language Classroom:

Þetta var einn allra besti fyrirlesturinn. Rüschoff þessi var með áhugaverðar hugmyndir um notkun veraldarvefsins og tölvuverkefna til þess að virkja nemendur. Hann aðhyllist stefnu sem nefnist "constructivism" og felst í því að "knowledge is not passively received but actively built up". Það þýðir sem sagt lítið fyrir kennarann að ætla að "kenna" nemendum eitthvað með því að standa fyrir framan þá og tala, nemendur verða að fá verkefni til að glíma við sjálfir. Kennarinn getur aðeins skipulagt kringumstæður þannig, að lærdómur eigi sér stað. "You can not teach the pupil anything, you can only faciliate learning".

	Glærur frá fyrirlestrinum		Theoretical Principles / a paper
	Computerunterstützte Lehr- und Lernmaterialien		Perspektiven technologiebereicherter Lernwelten für das Sprachenlernen - Vortrag
	Data Driven Learning		Council of European Project / Info and Samples
	Billy Joel		Das WWW im Englischunterricht
	"MfG" und die Fantastischen 4 im Deutschunterricht.		Die Fantastischen 4
	EUROCALL

Hafdís Ingvarsdóttir: "Learning how to Learn. Enhancing Learner Strategies in the Language Classroom."

Hafdís hélt mjög áhugaverðan fyrirlestur um það, hve mikilvægt það er að fá nemendur til að hugsa og ræða saman um námstækni. Þegar ég kom heim af ráðstefnunni, byrjaði ég þa því í næsta tíma, það var þýs-303 að biðja nemendur að ræða við sessunautinn í 2 mínútur um það, hvaða aðferðir þeir beittu við að læra sterku sagnirnar í þýsku. Síðan ræddum við málið í hópnum og kom þá í ljós, að alltof margir notuðu alveg fáránlegar aðferðir. Þetta voru yfirleitt nemendur sem hefur ekki gengið mjög vel og styður það kenningar Hafdísar um mikilvægi réttrar námstækni. Umræða er til alls fyrst og vonandi hafa þessir nemendur komist að raun um að til eru aðrar og betri aðferðir við að læra sterku sagnirnar.

Hér koma nokkrir punktar úr fyrirlestgri Hafdísar.

A checklilst for teachers	The cycle of strategy instruction:
Do you train your pupils in learner strategies? Do you do it systematically? Do you do it in all four skills? Do you know if your pupils are using strategies to improve their language skills? Do you know if your pupils have acquired moore strategies within the last couple of months?	Awareness raising Modelling Practice Evaluation Acton plan
Implementation of strategies	Indications from research
Strategy training has to be fully integrated into the everyday curriculum - it is not a one of. It is important to focus on one skill area at a time. Start with the easiest ones like memorisation. Always start by discussing with learner how they learn (awareness raising). Provide plenty of practice. Provide oppurtunities for learners to practice their favourite strategies. Discuss with the learners whether the new strategies have helped. Try to provide them with improved test results whrer appropriate.	One of the characteristics of low-achievers is that they use few strategies and do not use them systematically. It seems that learners make quicker progress if they are made aware of and trained in the use of a veriety of strategies. To make learners aware of their own strategies ist transferable ot learning other subjects. - Reading strategies can be transferred to reading in their L1. We know that learners have different learning styles. Strategy training is onw way to accommodate different learning styles among indivudual learners.

Emma Arthur: "Using Computers to Support Children with Learning Difficulties who are Learning English as a Foreign or Second Language"

This presentation illustrates how two computer programs can be used to support children who have difficulties in reading and writing English as a foreign or second language. The software is easy to use and is very flexible. Teachers can quickly design activities to support topics in any textbook.
Emma Arthur is a Lecturer at Stavanger University College and a trainer /mentor with SEMERC Special Needs Learning Network, UK. In addition, she works part time in primary schools teaching English as a foreign language. Her main interests are the creative use of technology in the primary classroom and the use of computers to support children with learning difficulties. She is a co-author of, 'Supportive Writing Technology' published by the CALL Centre, University of Edinburgh (1999).

Hér koma upplýsingar um forritin, sem Emma fjallaði um. SEMERC sérhæfir sig í aðstoð við nemendur með námsörðugleika.

	Clicker 4		Penfriends for ELT
	Storybook Waever		Dyslexia Software
	SEMERC - Special needs

Philippa Wright: "Information and resources on the Internet – What’s out there for teachers and learners?"

This presentation will take you on a lightening tour of the different sorts of materials and support for language teaching and learning which can be found (for free!) on the Internet. We will take a brief look at examples of:
· teaching and learning materials;
· authentic materials;
· research;
· reference resources;
· conferences and opportunities for on-line interaction;
· organisations and service providers
for different languages and sectors of education, and consider how they can be exploited by you and your students.

Virtual language resource centre project /