Influence of Listening for The Language Learner

                Back to toddler age, when the baby get many input from the environment to produce sound. Listening has big role for improving new vocabularies and new information. In learning there are some stage for gaining knowledge, listening and reading then writing and speaking. For deriving the meaningful learning, teacher should aware of comprehension approach. Comprehension approach settles:

·         Process of producing language during learning

·         Speaking ability comes after understanding. So, the teacher should build or create the activity for the learner to know more about English rather than empasize on speaking skill in the beginning of study.

·         Listening is required to get any information or knowledge for intergating in the other skill. For example, teacher might ask students to listening the conversation in the hotel, then teacher asks student to practice what they just heard in front of class.

·         Teaching should minimize the stress during learning process.

·         Teaching should emphasize meaning rather than form. In speaking ability, there are two rules. They are understandable & acceptable output and grammatical rule output. In understandable output is emphasized on speaking comprehension to encourage student producing language rather than focus on grammar.

 Krashen’s theory supported the comprehension approach. The theory consists of five hyphotesis. They are Acquisition-learning hypothesis, monitor hypothesis, natural order hypothesis, input hypothesis adn affective filter.

There are two approach to teach listening skill. They are the natural approach and total physical response (TPR). In natural approach, teacher should focus on comprehensible input or input that is matched with student’s ability and knowledge. Also, teacher should focus on the optimum affective filter of the learner when the learner feel confident to study without anxiety. While TPR is technique to teach second language with psychomotoric associations and lowering of the affective filter.

These are the website for listening based on natural approach:

·                     Interactive Audio-Picture English Lesson

·                     Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab

These are the website for listening based on TPR:

·                     TPR Games (program description from TPR World Website)

·                     Live Action English Interactive (program description and demo)

                There are a lot of variety of web 2.0 such as WordPress, Wiki, Wix, Weebly, Blogspot, Tumblr and etc. The advance of web 2.0 is provide two-way communication between writer and reader. The readers are not able to read the article only but able to leave comments. By recognizing this feature, some institutions use web 2.0 as online learning for individual or group. For individual learning, the teacher or friends can give feedback or asking question as peer interaction.   

                I learn about Wix, the advances and the weaknesses. The advance of Wix is the flash templates can be suited with the specific purpose such as photographer, art, music, business and etc. The next advance is the easy navigation which can be managed through drag and drop, then it is free to create account. It’s also easy to show the flash animation and it’s unnecessary to embed the code for templates and install the flash widget or plug in. The last strength point of Wix is updated easily to make it premium. The weaknesses of Wix are slow progressing because the animation, the URL for free account of Wix is quite long and the editing for free accounts takes long time.

                Next, the Blogspot strengths are:

·         The template can be selected as designer want it to be

·         The header can be changed

·         The setting of HTML and CSS are able to change as the designer want

·         The designer can set the sidebar with text, link, follower, slideshow, video and etc.

·         The font and color of font can be changed

The using of Weebly is quite simillar with Blogspot, the differences are rely on the navigation of Weebly is easier rather than Blogspot and Weebly provide more templates rather than Blogspot. There are some limitation of each kind of blog and the advance of it. However, any instrument that will be used will be maximum if the designer has any experience or knowledge to control it.  

Design Programs CALL

            There is a question about teacher role when the technology comes, whether the teacher is necessary or not. Teacher’s role can not be replaced with technology because teacher have a pedagogy to teach while technology is an instrument to support learning. When designing CALL ( Computer-Assisted Language Learning ) the thing that should be in control is pedagogy rather than technology. However, it will be great if we can combine both of pedagogy and technology. We also have to aware about the target of learning, learners’ language level, purpose of learning, appropriate use of technology such as visualization and the pedagogy approach.

            Considering technology is use for presenting materials but it cannot give feedback. Also, technology is design by designer who should consider the content for learner. During learning language with the technology, the interaction occurs between human to machine and human to human while Sutton’s review on the interaction (based on pedagogy interactivity) should occurs: the content & learner’s and knowledge,   learner & instructor for giving feedback, learner & learner, learner & interface ( learner may interact with content, instructor or other learner).

            For designing CALL programs, there are four major fields to be considered. They are content design, visual design, navigation design and multimedia design. In content design is about how to present the material appropriately by set the font, giving valid information for the language learner, providing comprehensible input match the level language learner and designed well-structured.  Then, the visual design is about the preference of layout, illegible font, alignment and the contrast of the color. After that, navigation design is how the navigation is easy to be use. And the last is multimedia design which emphasize on the media file size should not too large and the quality of the file should be good.