Telling
True Stories: Blending Multimedia in a Task-based Activity
Aiden Yeh
Introduction
According to Stone,
the role of task-based activities is to provide learners
to use the target language contextually through situational
activities. In this project, the students are asked
to perform various tasks that require the use of all
four-language skills: listening, reading, writing and
speaking with emphasis on performing communicative activities.
This activity requires the use of a computer laboratory
with Internet access that will accommodate 25 students
(see notes 1), an LCD projector that will project images
as they appear on the computer monitor, and the installation
of Yahoo Messenger , a free software program that is
available on the Internet. The incorporation of multimedia
and the Internet makes this a blended learning activity,
which adds versatility and creates a different route
to learning and teaching EFL.
The
Activity
The lesson plan
is heavily influenced by a lesson that was selected
from the archive available at esl.about.com (see Notes
2), and was used as a platform for this class activity,
which was divided into three phases, 1) pre-online chat,
2) during chat, and 3) post-online chat activity.
The Lesson
Plan
Telling true stories
is a basic English usage task that is used on a daily
basis. Unfortunately, students struggle with their grammar
usage while speaking the English language that they
wind up being less understandable. A typical story telling
structure outline consists of introduction, beginning,
the story, the end and the moral lesson of the story.
Aims of the
Lesson
1. To learn the basic structure
and expressions used when telling true stories.
2. To engage in a chat activity
with a native speaker of English, that will require
the use of all four language skills.
3. To enhance the students' oral
communications by giving them plenty of opportunities
to use the English language in an authentic manner.
Implementing the Activity
Step 1: Pre-Online Chat
Time: 10-15 minutes
1. A short lecture and discussion
about telling true stories
2. Gather student's opinions and
experiences about the topic
Step 2: Voice Conference with
Students
Time: 1 hour
1. Choose 5-10 volunteers.
Ask the volunteers to log on to Yahoo Messenger and
open Yahoo Messenger's chat conference capable of broadcasting
voice. Invite all participants by clicking the 'Invite
to conference'. Once all the participants have entered
the chat conference, you may proceed with the chat activity.
2. The students
who are offline can still participate by watching the
big screen where images from the chat conference are
projected via an LCD projector. The offline Ss could
see, read and understand what's going on in the voice/text
conference.
3. Ask the guest
speaker (a native speaker) to begin sharing her/his
story to the class by either typing on the keyboard
or using Yahoo's voice feature (see Notes 3).
4. After the guest
speaker has shared her/his story, the students take
turns in asking questions or posting their comments/opinions.
5. The interaction
between the students and the native speaker should be
spontaneous and natural as much as possible.
6. After the chat,
save the chat log before closing the voice conference
interface. The log can be used for assessment purposes
and a material for peer feedback.
Step 3: Offline
Post-chat Activity
Time allocation:
1 hour
1. Follow up your
guest speaker's story with some basic comprehension
questions to check whether the whole class understands
her/his story (see Notes 4).
2. Ask the students
to reflect and think of a situation that they have experienced
(see Notes 5). The nature of the story could be one
or combination of the following: happy, sad, scary,
inspirational, suspense, etc.
3. Ask the students
to plan and write a true story of about 100 words.
4. The written work
can be printed out or uploaded in the class's Yahoo
groups' Files area.
Step 4: Students
Telling Their Own True Stories
Time allocation:
1 hour
1. After composing
their stories, students take turns in sharing their
stories to the whole class.
2. Students may
be allowed to look at their notes but try to encourage
spontaneous delivery.
Conclusion
The tasks given
serve as means to achieve the aims of the lesson. And
by combining a blended approach to learning EFL, offers
not only the crossing of boundaries and cultural dimensions
but it also creates a different milieu that cannot be
recreated in a regular classroom.
Notes:
1. If you have
more than 25 students in class, then you may divide
them into groups and create a second online session.
2. About ESL.com
(http://esl.about.com/library/lessons/nbltellingstories.htm),
a website for ESL (English as a Second Language)/EFL
(English as a Foreign Language) learners and teachers.
3. Yahoo tends to
be unstable when there are more that 12 online participants.
The connection speed will depend on the computer's bandwidth
and Internet access. If you lose voice or any of your
Ss are unable to hear any sound, then I suggest that
you settle for a text-based chat. Instead of clicking
or pressing the 'Talk' icon on Yahoo's voice conference
interface, ask the participants to simply type on the
keyboard.
4. You may touch
on the moral lesson of the story by invoking questions
such as, 'What did you learn from it?' or "If you
were him/her, would you have done the same thing?"
5. The time in which
the event/s occurred is not important, as long as it
happened in the past.
