PODCASTS

Continuing the topic of my previous two posts, I would like to mention the integration of podcasts in the teaching-learning process.  There are some recent studies discussing the benefits of using podcasts in EFL classrooms. For instance, some writers suggest using podcasts for improving students’ pronunciation   (Ducate and Lomicka, 2009) or using podcasting as an effective tool for exchanging  information and creating content (Mehring). According to the article written by John Mehring, podcasting is very helpful in motivating the students and engaging them in meaningful activities such as exchanging recopies. I, personally have never used podcasting in my English classes, however, reading those positive comments about the effectiveness of this tool , I would love to integrate this technology in my further teaching process.

First of all, podcasts give learners the chance of listening to authentic material which in itself helps them to develop their speaking and listening skills. There is a huge resource of content which the learners can make use of.  Besides, the learners can choose the topic of their interest such as business, technology, medicine, education.  Personally, I prefer podcasts on Psychology, Art and human brain apart from education.Thus, I think when using podcasts in teaching, it would be a good idea for teachers not to restrict their students choice. The students learn better when they are really motivated and interested in the content.

Besides listening to podcasts, students can be engaged in podcasting. They can create their own podcasts and share with their peers. This can help the learners use the target language as a tool to create new content and exchange information. This will certainly develop not only their language skills, but also creative thinking.

Introducing Blogging in EFL Classrooms

In my previous post I discussed the phenomenon of making the world “flatter” by using the Internet.  In my view, blogging can be considered to be a great “flattener”  as it helps people  not only to reflect on various topics but also to connect with other people and share ideas. Some of the educators all over the world have already started using blogging  in their classrooms and have had quite successful results in terms of raising their learners’ motivation and involvement. I think, I would like to use this educational tool in my future teaching practice as it certainly has lots of positive features.

According to the video with Will Richardson, a famous blogger, blogging is a specific writing genre that helps to develop learners’ creative, critical and metacognitive thinking. There is a siginoficant difference between writing on paper and blogging; unlike writing on paper, blogging helps you to connect to other people having the same interests. Also, it is a rich source of new ideas and resources. Besides, you can learn a lot from the comments made by the readers of your blogs.  For instance, there are a lot of hot discussions going on about specific areas of interest.  Educators, as well as learners all over the world can share their experience and suggest new ideas for various things. Thus, blogging can develop not only the learners writing skills but also reading skills and critical thinking .

According to Will Richardson, blogging really helps your learners to get involved in the learning process. Here people have the chance of creating content for real audience and the fact makes a big difference for them. They become more motivated and interested in learning as a result.

`In conclusion, I think I would really love to use the tool of blogging in my classes. One of the possible challenges that I might face is that the Armenian learners are more used to the traditional way of leaning. So I will have to indroduce the idea of using English outside the classroom. They should realize all the potential this tool can offer them and make the best use of it.

The World is Flat

While watching the videos called "Digital Youth",  I was surprised how easily and quickly the children of the 21^st century have adapted to the world of technology. They can use technology  “naturally” and the most striking thing about those “digital” children is that no one have really taught them how to use those complicated tools in detail, how to get information or how to create something using computers . They were simply introduced those tools and learned all by themselves. For example, in one of the vidioes  Cameron (grade 6) have started  using computer since the age of 4. The surprising thing is that no one told him how to create something on a computer. He has built problem solving skills all by himself and now he can easily create movies on a computer.

Another similar example is Dylan (grade 8) who works on a website and helps children from all over the world to connect to each other virtually and share information. It is amazing how those children collaborate with each other and try to raise other children’s awareness of important global issues such as animal cruelty, for instance. In fact, those children have contributed in the process of making this world “flatter”, a term that I have heard in the video called “The World is Flat” on YouTube.

I think, the above mentioned examples illustrate how important technologies can be for children to pursue their goals and interests. The time has come to realize that various technologies are essential educational tools nowadays and teachers should realize their importance. It is obvious that the younger generation is far better at computers and cell phones than the older ones. However, I think, Armenian teachers should not be afraid of these “new things” that they are not so good at.  They should simply introduce those tools to their pupils and let them learn by themselves. Teachers should realize that when  children are interested in something and is actively involved in the process of getting information or creating something  they will do all these by themselves. They just need some guiding on part of the teacher.

The representatives of the new generation are “digital natives” and they are directly involved in the process of making this world flatter. According to Thomas Friedman, the author of the book called “ The World is Flat”, we have already entered the stage of making this world “tiny” . This means a person can easily communicate, share information, collaborate and get an access to the information he needs with the help of the new technologies. He mentions 10 flatteners, the first of which is the fall of the Berlin Wall, when the term globalization was first introduced. Then the Netscape company went public in 1995 and gave us the internet browser. Another important flattener is the introduction of the fiber optic cable, which brought down the cost of communication and more people could connect with each other cheaply.

It is really amazing how fast the Internet has integrated into our lives. People can simply sit at home and make important business deals, make hotel reservations or book tickets, participate in conferences or learn something.  In my view, people should really work hard to keep up with this crazy pace so as not to lag behind.

Organ Donation

Recently I have heard an interesting podcast about organ donation. In 1954 the first successful living human to human organ transplantation took place. One of the twin brothers was dying and the other one donated him one of his kidneys. According to statistics, about half a million transplantations have been done so far.

Organs are a system of cells and tissues performing certain functions in a body. With age most organs tend to deteriorate. That is why during such operations young organs are preferred. I was very surprised to learn that doctors can transplant almost any organ: a kidney, a heart, a leaver, bones, blood. For example, in 2003 they transplanted a tongue, or in 2005 a woman had a face transplant (she got it from a suicide victim). I was surprised to learn that the leaver is the only organ which can regenerate itself. For example if it is split in halves, and one halve is transplanted, both halves will soon get the former size.

Some organs, such as the kidney, are relatively easy to get, but some others, such as the heart, are very hard to find. If a patient needs a heart transplant, he/she has to wait for about 6-7 years to get it.

Further, in the podcast I heard that there are special organizations, such as OPO (Organ procurement organization) which are responsible for organ recruitment and evaluation. There are also responsible for talking to the family members of the dead person whose organs are going to be transplanted, and get their agreement on paper. Some peoples, such as gypsies treat organ donation negatively. They think that a person’s body will be considered impure if it has an organ missing. In Japan, organ donation rate is very law, too.

Regional Variation

According to David Crystal's "Encyclopedia of the English Language", geographical origin is one of the most important factors that causes variety in  language use. In one of my previous podcast I have mentioned other factors affecting language use, such as social status and gender distinctions. 

When we talk to a person,often by his/her accent or the dialect he speaks, it is easy to say from which part of the country or which country he comes from. Different dialects and accents are usually formed when people are separated geographically or socially. It is important to note that accents and dialects refer to different aspects; by accent we usually mean pronunciation features. For example, in some regions people might drop the initial h in the word hold. 

A dialect refers to grammar and vocabulary features. For example, in some regions people say "They really good" instead of saying "They are really good", or " Is it ready you are?" instead of " Are you ready?".

people usually have different opinions and attitudes toward various accents and dialects.Some people speaking with a particular accent are treated negatively or are often mocked at by those who speak other dialects. However, I do not support this attitude, as each dialect has the right to be respected as they have their own grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation peculiarities.

There is also an interesting phenomenon called regional accommodation. When people from different regions communicate with each other their speech patterns tend to become alike.This mainly refers to accents. When you talk to a person speaking with a different accent you may pick it up.

Thus, it does not matter which part of the country a person comes from, as all the accents and dialects should be respected equally.

KARMA

According to the podcast about karma, in the eastern philosophy it is a religious concept of action or deed, which affects the entire life cycle of cause and effect.

 I used to think that karma is similar to fate. However, further in the podcast I learned that these are two different concepts. Karma is not fate, for humans act with free will, creating their own destiny. In eastern philosophy, they say, ''If one sows goodness, he will reap goodness; if one sows evil, he will reap evil''. I think, this can be interpreted in the following way; if a person does good things his karma will be positive. They say, '' Karma is going to bite you some day'', which means that sooner or later a person will have to pay for the evil actions in his past life.

In Hinduism, karma is usually considered to be a negative thing. However, one can get a positive karma. This is possible, if the person performs all the duties of his social status (cast). If he does this, in the next life he will get a higher social status. In Hinduaism, karma clings to the soul and undergoes transmutations. Your soul goes from body to body until it reaches its ultimate salvation. Karma is a universal law, independent of God or gods. No god can master one's karma. And an interesting thing I'd like to mention here is that even Gods are subjected to Karma.

In hinduism there are three types of karma: Prorabda, which are the experiences during a person's life, Sensida, which is a store of karma, which will come in future life, and Agmen, your actions which are going to be added to your store.

China's One-Child Policy

According to the podcast I have listened to, China’s one-child policy limits couples to one child. This policy was established by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979 with the aim of limiting China’s population growth. Although initially it was designed as a temporary measure, it continues up to now. The policy has prevented 400 million births since then.

I have learned that there are more restrictions in urban areas than in rural ones. If you live in a rural area and your first child is a boy, you can apply for a permission to have the second child. And if you are an ethnic minority, you can get a permission to have 3 children. In order to prevent second pregnancy, there are fines and even pressures by the Chinese government to abort a pregnancy. In 2007, there were reports that in the south-western Guangxi Autonomous Region of China, officials were forcing pregnant women without permission to give birth to have abortions and levying steep fines on families violating the law. As a result, riots broke out and some may have been killed, including population control officials.

Now that millions of sibling-less people in China are now young adults in or nearing their child-bearing years, a special provision allows millions of couples to have two children legally. If a couple is composed of two people without siblings, then they may have two children of their own, thus preventing too dramatic of a population decrease.

As a result of this one child policy, the Chinese culture has been accused of preferring boys over girls and encouraging abortion. One of the reasons of preferring boys might be that in China there is a Patriarchal society. Besides, boys can earn more than girls. And of we take into account the fact that 70 % of the Chinese population does not have a pension, families neeed a boy to take care of them as they grew old. At present male-to-female sex ratios are high both in rural and urbun areas. This can lead to serious social problems, in future it will be very hard for a man to find a woman and make a family.

I think that this policy violates human rights, and couples are the only ones to decide on how many children they are going to have.The government is not supposed to prevent it.