RD: ESL 509 Blog

  Using games to help second language acquisition is an idea that can show significant improvement in many L2 learners. Implementing digital games in the target language can continue to expose students to the new language. Pairing fun, animated, and brightly colored games can motivate students to learn, improve English skill development, and teach more usable language to students (Ohashi, 2023). I found this game https://www.eslgamesplus.com/action-verbs-present-progressive-grammar-game-rally-game/ that is fun and uses pictures to have students match the picture to the correct word or phrase. The words or phrases are action verbs with present progressive tenses.  This is a fun way for intermediate ELs to connect a picture to the English name. Students must look at the picture and read the statement to choose the correct answer. The more correct answers they get, the closer they are to winning the race.  However, there are so many other digital games teachers can choose fr...

Social media can be a blessing and a curse to educators. It can benefit student engagement, practicality, resource sharing, and a feeling of community. So many people are on social media, and the information flows nonstop. Teachers must find ways to help students navigate social media by combining traditional learning and social media (Raut & Patil, 2016).      10 Ways to use social media as a teaching tool in the Classroom, details different ways educators can implement social media flocabulary that can be applied to any social media app in their lessons. Social media can be used to broaden students' knowledge of different places and how content can show up in the real world through videos and apps. Also, social media can be a tool to show students how to detect misinformation with media literacy skills, how essential students' digital footprint is, and how to navigate social media communication properly. Overall, teachers can use social media in many ways to enhance...

              Screencasting has many uses, such as teachers walking through assignments, giving individualized instruction, revisiting lessons, attending parent-teacher conferences, providing feedback, and many more (Crook,2021). Screencast can help all students feel supported, heard, and assisted in completing their work. According to Ali (2016), students who received screencasting feedback showed significant improvements in their overall writing skills over those who did not receive it. This information helps solidify that using screencasts to give feedback can help students figure out their mistakes, give examples of the corrections, and add resource links to give students places to further their understanding of that skill.             The benefits of screencasts that stick out to me are that teachers can more easily differentiate instruction to students, give direct ...

  Digital storytelling has many benefits to EL's English language acquisition. Some notable benefits are that students would be exposed to English vocabulary, practice communicating their thoughts, write through research, and create a script. Using digital stories for students to view allows them to practice their listening skills. ELs can hear new terms used and have visuals to build a connection to each new idea. Then, when students create digital stories of their own to present, that forces them to research information, write a script with their research, create the storyboard, find digital media to illustrate their points, record their audio, put together all parts of the story and share (Rance-Roney, 2016). Through this extensive process, the students are constantly revising their thoughts in written and verbal form. While recording, they have to listen to themselves and approve of it, and those students will want a near-perfect recording, so they continue to revise their spee...