Forum LAMS Lounge Forum: Re: ESL or Languages

By: Robyn Philip

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Hi Donna and others,

I've used LAMS in the ESL/EFL context. I recently did some workshops in Wuhan China with LAMS. It worked very well because the workshops were conducted in English but my students' first language was Chinese. The class was a mix of students (PhD and Masters) and teachers.

One activity that worked really well was:

1. I introduced a case study written in English via the Share Resources tool in LAMS (online).

2. Participants in the workshop read the case study individually. (offline)

3. In pairs, participants discussed the case study - (face to face) - in Chinese if they wanted. (offline)

4. Students contributed a shared response to the forum and Q & A in English (paired activity, online).

5. We then had a further debrieging discussion of this (offline) - face to face - in English.

I thought this was a successful way of combining English with first language interactions. It took the pressure off students having to use English all the time, but still gave us a record of the discussion for later reference if we wanted it. It also combined individual and collaborative activities.

And it was more fun doing it this way than on your own. If you work with a partner too, your ideas can be challenged - first one-to-one, and then by the wider group.

I should add the sequence to the repository!

I recommend this as a strategy.

Robyn

Posted by Robyn Philip