Last Updated on 2020-04-10 No one can deny that technology plays an important part in our teaching practices these days. The new generation of students, the so-called “digital natives”, usually welcome state-of-the-art lessons that integrate technology with great enthusiasm, as it is a great motivation booster. Yet, when we come to think about what makes[…]
Last Updated on 2020-02-25The importance of teaching learners about nuclear stress. Traditionally, pronunciation practice has been centered on what some would typify as “articulatory gymnastics”, i.e. a drill-based approach for teaching selected L2 sounds (or segments). The use of these drill-like activities has been criticized overtly and regarded as “techniques of the past which have[…]
Last Updated on 2020-02-18 Nowadays technological developments have affected our lives, how we communicate, how we learn and, of course, our way of teaching. Indeed, it is almost impossible to find a language class that does not use some technological support. Computer assisted language learning has changed the practice of teaching (Chapelle & Voss, 2016).[…]
Here is a quick, low-prep activity for the world language classroom. It allows for reading and writing practice for most levels–I would say 4th grade and up. STEP 1: IT’S ALL YOU! First, you need to create a paragraph that targets what you want the students to practice. It could be a simple paragraph that[…]
Last Updated on 2019-12-05Recently, two of Extempore’s co-founders sat down to discuss how technology, pedagogy, and linguistics can be brought together. If you haven’t yet listened to TEFLology, it’s an excellent podcast “all about teaching English as a foreign language, and related matters.” The podcast was started in 2014 by three EFL teachers working Japan (Matthew Schaefer, Matthew[…]
Last Updated on 2020-04-21 Here is a great activity for reading comprehension, listening and speaking. It can be for any level of instruction and for almost any topic… and it allows for some artistic creativity in the classroom as well. Ok, so there is a little prep… make sure you have blank pieces of paper,[…]
Last Updated on 2019-11-11The results are staggering. According to ACT, Inc. (2006), only 51% of high school graduates read well enough to succeed in college. Fifty-one percent. As a nation, we are failing at preparing half of our students to be college and career ready. What’s even more frightening is the amount of work policy[…]
Last Updated on 2019-10-11 Blended and online language courses are an increasingly common occurrence in colleges and high schools across the country. They allow students who, for many different reasons, cannot physically come to class three times a week to either start or continue learning a language; at the program level, pooling together students from[…]
As we do every year, we use the summer break to push updates to the platform. Some of these updates are major new features; but many others are small tweaks, performance and usability improvements that are reported to us during the year. That being said, we’re excited to announce the first one of the summer![...]
Posted on 2020-06-26 by Thomas Murr
Guest Post by Susana Perez-Castillejo, PhD, Assistant Professor of Spanish, University of St. Thomas. Beyond the Zoom breakout rooms for speaking activities and shared Google docs for collaborative writing practice, there are other tools we can leverage to make our synchronous class meetings a bit more interactive. These are ideas I have been learning these past few[...]
Posted on 2020-04-16 by Thomas Murr
Nowadays technological developments have affected our lives, how we communicate, how we learn and, of course, our way of teaching. Indeed, it is almost impossible to find a language class that does not use some technological support. Computer assisted language learning has changed the practice of teaching (Chapelle & Voss, 2016). Technology in Language[...]
Posted on 2020-02-10 by Thomas Murr
