Portfolio done by: Katia Éguez Daniela Viñán

1. Pontificia Universidad Católica del
Ecuador
Topics in Linguistics
Final Project: Portfolio
Technology
Daniela Viñán
Katia Égüez

2. 1. Have you ever tried to incorporate a new technology into your classes? What issues did you
face in doing so?
Nowadays, technology plays a leading role in the academic and in the professional field. To use
technology means to improve one’s teaching and give new opportunities to the learners.
Integrating technology effectively may be a challenge but it is not impossible. While
incorporating technology in the classroom, for instance with a prepared activity like teaching
your students a new grammar topic using a Prezi presentation, the Internet connection may
fail or may be too slow and the images or the content won´t be loaded properly. Moreover,
the changes that you made in the presentation were not saved. Having these problems is
probably very common and you always need to have a backup plan not to lose the attention
and the trust that your students have.
2. What are some benefits students can get from collaborative blogging?
Collaborative blogging allows students to practice reading and
writing improving these skills. Also, as blogs tend to be written
in a more informal style they get the chance to practice
expressions used in real life/natural conversations and not just
what the language book teaches them. Through blogs learners
are able to freely express themselves, to learn about other
learners just like them, to share experiences, stories and even
problems to receive and give advice. Learners get all of these
benefits, plus developing and improving their language
production.
3. Which of the aspects of technology above are available to teachers and students in schools
in your country?
In Ecuador the introduction of technology in the classroom was a slow process but it is
happening and hopefully improving in the future. Most of the school s are equipped with
computers (The physical level), but it not common that schools are equipped with other
devices like tablets. However, the computers available are used topics like informatics and
rarely on language teaching. If the language teacher is able to access these computers to
teach his/her lessons. Few machines have specialized software for language learning and
electronic dictionaries or other support tools (Component technology level). On the other
hand, since Internet is full of websites, teachers can plan to use these tools and research to
find online language tutors and dedicated websites for learners (Resource level) to use these
new tools in the classroom.

3. 4. How has the use of technology changed since you started teaching or learning a language?
The development of technology is very important today. Years before, the main focus while
learning a language were the text books that provided the necessary topics and exercises to
cover in order to develop the four skills of language acquisition. However, nowadays while
teaching a language as teachers we need to improve lessons with the use of technology since
there are many advantages for learners and teachers, for
instance the amount of different contents, information and
activities and tests provided on the Internet. It is evident that
the use of technology has changed over the years and will
continue to change to keep on giving new features, software
and opportunities in the academic field.
5. What resources are available in your school? Consider the computers and the software
installed on them, the resources in the computer lab and the materials in the library and on
your network (if you have one) and that you use in your classroom. Would you classify
these as behavioristic, communicative or integrative?
Computers are used in the field of teaching in my country but the main purpose is focusing on
other topics rather than on language learning, so the percentage of software installed in
schools for language learning is not big. However, with the cd´s that come with language
books, it is easier since they contain software and useful activities for language learning and
these can be used in the computers. This would be a classified as a communicative approach
since the computer is used for skill practice with more opportunities for student choice,
control and interaction. Moreover, with the access to Internet it is easier for teachers to find
different resources to work with learners in class. This approach may be classified as
integrative. It focuses on integration of the different language skills in a single program or
website and a stronger focus on the different ways in which learners can work together using
email, chat, blogs and other communication tools that Internet offers.
6. Can you choose three benefits from those listed above that you think offer the strongest
reasons for the use of technology?
I think that these benefits are the stronger reasons to use
technology in language teaching:
 Wider exposure to English
 Increased opportunities for authentic interaction
 Supports different ways of learning
I think technology offers a wide range of possibilities and advantages for learners and teachers.
With the big amount of software and online sources teachers and learners are able to access
more information and activities in the topics they are covering in class. Moreover, as one of

4. Internet´s main purpose is communication, there are more opportunities to interact with
native speakers and have natural conversations and not just forced and rehearsed dialogs in
the classroom. Finally, it allows learners with different types of intelligences find suitable
activities for them like exercises that focus on visual material.
7.What do you think are the most difficult challenges teachers face in moving to TLLT?
Not every teacher knows how to use these
technological tools or how to take advantage from
them; they usually stick to the traditional printed
books and tests instead of online material that
allows more interactivity not only for students but
also for teachers themselves. We believe that the
most difficult issue with technology is for teachers
to get use to this new way of working, especially for
people that have worked for a long time using the traditional methods. Of course the use of
technology represents a risk itself for every type of user, not only teachers. Technology might
not work as expected because of the internet connection, the computer, the programs, etc.
8. Which of the potential benefits for teachers above have you experienced
yourself?
● Enriches the curriculum: technology would help a lot because it opens the possibility to plan
the lessons with a huge variety of activities ending up with different contents and a complete
curriculum. Applying technology makes it easier for the teacher to choose from different and
more creative exercises.
● Creates a better learning environment: it would
facilitate the learning process as well as creating a
better environment which would include different
types of interaction not only between each other but
also with students abroad.
● Provides practical support: through the use of
different online platforms, it would be easier to manage homework and tasks, just like it
would facilitate the grading process and it would provide a way of communication with the
student.
9. How do you think computer-mediated communication can lead to ‘increased
participation’?
Working with dialogs in a classroom is not an environment where natural communication can
occur, nonetheless communication online is the perfect setting for students to participate
naturally. Since it involves real social interaction, it is more likely that students are more
willing to communicate with others and participate; additionally, online interaction opens up

5. more possibilities for the students to choose the
people and the topics they want to discuss and deal
with.
10. Have you observed differences in your students’ communicative behavior during
traditional classroom speaking practice and online communication?
Some of the differences that could appear when applying these methods are the confidence
students experience, and their attitude towards the activity itself. When interacting in classes,
students might get nervous or frustrated if they are not
able to use language as desired, on the contrary,
communication online gives the opportunity to the student
to take the time to think before typing and correcting
mistakes if needed; thus making the student feel more
confident and also more willing to keep using online
communication, having a positive attitude towards it.
11. In what ways does reading a text in a book differ from reading a text online?
Having a book represents something more personal than reading online, having the book
physically, sometimes implies having some type of connection with the text itself making it a
more pleasurable activity to perform. You can also attribute more sentimental value to a
book than to a text online since it is an item that could easily be a gift, a treasured object or
even a memory. Concerning online texts, it is of course easier and faster to transmit from one
person to another, it implies no use of paper at all but it could become tiring for the eyes and
it might involve having some pauses when reading on a screen. Reading a book avoids all the
problems that technology might represent such as running out of batteries, having issues with
the device itself or having a bad internet connection.
12. Which of the above have you tried yourself? Can you think of additional purposes for each
of these uses of technology?
Using a video platform such as YouTube is a very useful way of learning because it facilitates the
learning process; it makes the lesson more fun and appealing for students. Learning with
music is also an entertaining activity and it not only improves listening but also reading and
even grammar. When watching a music video,
you are able to watch the lyrics on the screen or
just hear them to train the students’ abilities
depending on the competence you want to
develop, especially on basic levels. Allowing
them to use electronic devices in class is also an
option to make the lesson even more creative,
involving games or interaction with native speakers of the language being taught. There are
programs that benefit the teacher as well not only the student, for instance it would be better

6. for the teacher to use an application or platform that makes the grading process and the
homework management task easier.
Discussion questions
1. How much training and support is available for teachers in your school, in the use of
technology? Draw up a plan for the kind of training program that you think would be useful,
particularly for new teachers.
Concerning our university, there is a website available to every kind of user providing
information and other services such as online libraries. Depending on which type of
information you want to access you will need a username and a password provided by the
university. There are platforms that serve to the student and others that serve to the teacher
only. There is a platform where the teacher can upload files, books, tasks for the student to
work on, teachers are also able to manage the students’ absents and grades online that can
be seen only by the person that owns the password. Not every teacher uses the Moodle
platform but it is a very useful tool for students as well; the use that each teacher gives to
technology depends on their selves because the materials and resources are always available.
Plan:
1. Depending on your level of expertise with computers, choose among books for beginners,
intermediate or advanced users.
2. You can also take a course for teachers that require training to apply your knowledge directly
on computers.
3. Ask someone or find information about the online platforms and services that your college or
school offers.
4. Practice what you have learned and talk to your colleagues and students so you can help each
other to work better online.
2. Talk to teachers in your school (or go online) and find out what kind of current websites your
colleagues recommend for both teachers and learners, and why.
Teachers Network is a recommended website because it provides
lesson plans, classroom specials, teacher designed activities for
different subjects and many other resources.
Thinkfinity is a free online professional learning community that provides access to over 50.000
educators and experts in curriculum enhancement, along with thousands of award-winning
digital resources for k-12.

7. The Stacks is a website recommended for students, they can post book reviews, get reading
recommendations, play games based on the latest series, watch "Meet the Author" videos,
and more; it's safe for school too.
PBS Teachers is a great website that can help teachers grow
professionally. It offers free teaching resources relevant to
different grade category.
3. In section 19.2, Levy lists five levels at which TLLT fits with current thinking in second
language acquisition and can support language teaching. Can you think of an example of
how technology could help with each of these?
1 The physical level: almost every electronic device nowadays has the option to connect with
online services, moreover usually one device itself already posses the services of multiple
devices.
2 The management level: there are multiple platforms found online or others provided by the
own school or college which allow the teacher to manage the students’ development, grades,
files and tasks.
3 The applications level: depending on what the teacher prefers, he / she might chose to
communicate with the students through social networks, emails, chats, blogs or create an
online community for the class.
4 The resource level: almost every institution has access to internet, so it mostly depends on the
teacher’s creativity to make the students use online material such as newspapers, magazines,
videos, etc.
5 The component technology level: every kind of service can be found on the internet and in
certain contexts it is better for the teacher to allow the class to use tools such as online
dictionaries or platforms that allow them to check if their spelling or grammar is correct.
4. Review the three phases of CALL, identified by Warschauer, and some defining
characteristics of each phase. How would you situate popular programs like Rosetta Stone
in terms of these three phases?
Behaviouristic CALL (late 1980s): the computer served mainly as a tutor or as a delivery
mechanism for learning materials. Programs were based on behaviouristic principles, such as
grammar drills and pronunciation-practice software.
Communicative phase (early 1990s): the computer was still used for skill practice, but in a non-drill
format and with more opportunities for student choice, control and interaction. Other
language skills, such as reading, writing and discussion skills were included more commonly.
Computers were also increasingly used as tools for learning, for example, through the use of
word processors or concordances.

8. Integrative phase (late 1990s) multimedia and the use of the internet became widespread.
During this phase, we began to see more integration of the different language skills in a single
program or website and a stronger focus on the different ways in which learners can work
together using email, chat, blogs and other communication tools. More recently, the number
of ways for learners to communicate has increased, through the use of social-networking
tools and the increasingly widespread use of mobile technologies.
For years there have been multiple ways of teaching and the methods developed according to
the learning theories of the time. Nowadays, it is possible to have access to any type of
method in the web and the user is free to use the one that suits him/her better. There are
even apps available to download on any device such as “Duolingo” that would be classified in
the integrative phase. Regarding the Rosetta Stone program and since it is described to use
repetition, it might fall on the category of the behaviouristic phase. Nonetheless, this
software also uses an approach that they named their selves as “dynamic immersion”,
indicating that it could also belong to the other two phases.
5. What new skills might learners and teachers need to acquire to use TLLT effectively?
Both students and teachers should be able to know how to work, first of all, with computers,
since is the most basic tool and the one that will allow the user to have access to everything
else. There is no need to master computer
abilities, nonetheless if the user does not have
the basic knowledge it will be difficult for
him/her to keep developing these skills. After
having this knowledge, the user will be capable
of also using other technological devices as
tablets, smart phones, etc. This will only make it easier for the teacher or student to keep
using websites, applications or programs that will help him/her to develop his/her learning or
teaching abilities.
6. This chapter listed many ways that technology can support the teaching of the four skills, as
well as vocabulary, grammar and intercultural awareness. Choose one of these areas and
develop a lesson plan where technology is fully integrated.
Technology can support teaching and as the text states, it gives
teachers a variety of different strategies to use while teaching the four
skills. This means that technology-supported learning gives limitless
opportunities and allows learning on multiple modalities.
Grammar:
Grammar may not always be the strongest area/skill among learners,
so making them use technology in order to acquire grammar could be
better than just teaching with a book full of rules. On-line sources
provide hundreds of exercises that are useful for the learners.
Lesson plan:

9. 1. Plan beforehand having computers available during the lesson for all the students.
2. Introduce the grammar topic the teacher wants to cover during the lesson, for example
present tense.
3. Give a quick and interactive explanation about the
topic.
4. Make the learners access the webpage
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-games/
verb-machine British Council – Verb Machine
5. While they play the game they would practice what
you just have explained, internalizing the concept.
7. A teacher who gives out homework for students to complete online after school is making a
number of assumptions about his or her learners, their (preferred ways of) learning and
their home situations. What are some of these assumptions, and are there any pitfalls to be
avoided?
A teacher who gives out online homework may assume that all the students have access to
online services, which may not be always the case for everyone. Moreover, the teacher may
assume that he/she would be able to provide immediate feedback, but in some cases
students that for any reason don’t have access to Internet won’t be able to notice their
mistakes and have an appropriate feedback. Teachers should be aware of some problems like
the ones I mentioned before to prevent difficulties in the development of knowledge through
homework. A way to solve this is doing online activities in class if it is possible or asking your
students if they think online homework is an appropriate way of assigning and grading
homework in their class. It is necessary to avoid putting the students in a difficult situation
when they can´t always access Internet.
8. Teachers often do not allow students to use mobile phones in class. What are some ways in
which mobile phones CAN be used effectively as learning tools?
Technology as we know includes hardware like phones or laptops and software like Internet.
Nowadays, a term that many learners around the
world need to be familiarized with is blended
learning which means mixing face to face contact
with on-line teaching. In blended learning many
devices may be used to facilitate this process like
laptops, phones or tablets. In a not blended course,
however, teachers tend to not allow learners to use
these devices especially mobile phones since they
may think it is a distractor. Nevertheless, teachers can let their students use mobile phones if
it is a way to learn something. A way phones may be used effectively as learning tools is using

10. online dictionaries. In this way learners are using technology and while searching they learn,
they avoid asking every word they don´t know to the teacher and they won´t be bored
because they are finding information and answering questions by their own. Moreover, these
dictionaries are very free, complete and multilingual.
9. Do your students have access to Skype? Develop an activity that could be used with Skype.
With the evolution of technology teachers have to be updated to provide the students different
material to reach the expected knowledge. The
teacher is expected to be creative and use the
different resources that technology gives us.
One semester ago in the class of contrastive
phonology and phonetics between English and
Spanish the teacher Milica Dragosavljevich used
Skype with our class. Nobody needed and
account since the university provided computers and an account for each one. The skype
interaction was between PUCE and Xavier University in the United States. Those students
were learning Spanish, so they were able to interact in a normal situation with native
speakers. Moreover, we got the chance to contrast the different phonemes applying our
knowledge. It was fun, we learned, share, and it had academic purposes.
10. How can the internet be used to develop intercultural awareness? Design an activity that
has this as a focus.
As it is mentioned in the text, intercultural
awareness is necessary in language learning and
since it includes the willingness to share and
experience other people’s cultures and to
communicate with them, it is an important skill
that needs to be developed and would be useful
to communicate with native speakers. With the
new technologies it is possible to develop this skill in an easier way. For example, with the use
of tools mentioned before. Internet plays a leading role in the field of information and
communication. With free software like Skype, people around the world are able to
communicate; finding the chance to make students interact with native experience is an
important factor since they are not just learning speaking skills but sharing cultural
information. Moreover, e-mails are another option when time zone difference prevents
students to talk with other ones in a different country. Trough e-mails you can share and
learn from the experiences of the others, learning how the culture works, like important
holidays or the code of politeness.

11. Bibliography:
 Chapter 19:
file:///C:/Users/Daniela%20Vi%C3%B1an/Downloads/Technology%20Chapter%2019.pdf
(21/11/2014)
 Retrieved from: http://iteslj.org/Articles/Ho-Email.html (21/11/2014)
 Retrieved from: http://www.teachingdegree.org/2009/06/30/50-awesome-ways-to use-skype-
in-the-classroom/ (21/11/2014)
 Retrieved from: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-games/verb-machine
(21/11/2014)
 Retrieved from: http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/08/great-teacher-websites.
html (30/11/2014)
 Retrieved from: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/25-best-websites-teachers
(30/11/2014)
 Retrieved from: http://anniemurphypaul.com/2013/05/the-difference-between-reading-on-
paper-and-reading-on-a-screen/# (30/11/2014)