[ Home | Contents | Search | Post | Reply | Next | Previous | Up ]
Oleo de José Tola
From: Donna S.
Date: 5/4/99
Time: 6:09:05 AM
Remote Name: 207.172.202.58
I tend to agree with Ken in a lot of the things that he said. I, too, would have preferred an overview at the start and I also think that going oer each article in more detail would have been more helpful. Very often, when a theory was mentioned, I had to flip back through my notes in order to understand where the discussion was going. Yet, very often, by the time I would "get it," I missed much of the discussion. I also have to say that as wonderful a tool that the power point is, I don't particularly care for it. Well, that's not true. It just took me a while to figure out how to utilize it in learning. I often would spend my time writing the words from the presentation, not really concentrating on the explanations. I think that had I been a student exposed to power point earlier on, I might have been more prepared to listen to the explanation and take notes on the explanation, then get the "print outs" of the presentation at a later time. Unfortunately, I learned that quite late in the semester. Like Ken, I am not a theorist, and I find it amusing when he said that input has to be comprehensive. Very often, I found the articles difficult to understand. I would "get" the main points, but had trouble understanding the details. I have to say, though, that I am glad to have been exposed to them. I find that I can apply them to my own teaching, now. Also, I have to say that I get annoyed hearing language teachers talk about certain methodologies when they contradict much of the evidence presented in the research. I feel like all SL teachers should have to take this course. I've found it to be helpful. Oh, would you believe that in my school, as an emergency certification, they would rather place an English teacher in an ESL role other than a foreign language teacher? I don't know, it just sounds strange to me. Don't English teachers study literature and a little bit of grammar? Anyway, that was just thrown in there. And, like everyone, I enjoyed the class. As a whole, we are a very intelligent and well-educated group with different experiences and different backgrounds. I've found the input from everyone to be not only fascinating but also extremely helpful. I didn't have the opportunity to work with anyone, but I do sometimes enjoy collaboration on projects. I find that with different people, you get different ideas, more research, and someone to help when you're confused. Yet, on another note, due to time constraints, it's very difficult to find the time to talk and share ideas. This is why I prefer to work on my own. We all have such busy lives and it's difficult to schedule appointments. Anyway, I think I've said it all. See ya later. And for those of you in Sociolinguistics next semester, collaboration might be helpful. "We're in it together." Donna S