WhatsApp is a great tool to use....especially for homework. You can post URL texts, voice to text, YouTube videos, songs with lyrics and also your own audios.
I have a very good advanced WhatsApp group of students from Latin America, the US, Egypt, India and Indonesia. It's fascinating and very enjoyable.
Lately they have been asking some great questions. Phrasal verbs and idioms have been popular this week and ....they are starting to drive me crazy!
Another favorite is pronunciation. Every now and then someone asks me about the different English accents. So I am compelled to record my interpretation of British, Irish, Scottish, Australian etc. accents.
Anyway, in my opinion the use of WhatsApp re-defines Distance Learning and can play a big part in revolutionizing how we teach ESFL.
Paul Rogers
WhatsApp: 805-258-3310
Comments
Hi Paul, Thanks for this post. Many teachers have found WhatsApp to be a valuable tool. You are using it in a variety of ways to benefit the learners you are teaching. It would be great to hear more about ways to use WhatsApp from you and from other members of our community.
Cheers, Susan Finn Miller
Moderator, English Language Acquisition CoP
Susan and group: In reply to your suggestion, and in brief, I would just say that using WhatsApp can increase students' interest in English. Using WhatsApp or any lesson online via the telephone can definitely help people learn faster. And, of course, it can greatly enhance a Distance Learning class.
Perhaps teachers in this group are already using it or an equivalent.
I know that many students independently go online to find free materials to study English. One of my students in India likes to watch videos from England about "cookery" - a cooking show. Another student told me he read Tom Sawyer online! And everybody likes songs with lyrics.
Anyway, I could go on and on! But - What do other people think? Do you use WhatsApp too?
Hi Paul and all, I know there are many teachers using WhatsApp. Here's a link to a previous discussion in which Nan Frydland and several other members shared the ways they started using WhatsApp during the pandemic. WhatsApp is a wonderfully versatile tool, which often requires little or no training, since a large number of learners already use it to communicate with friends and family -- including those back home.
It would be great to hear more about ways to use WhatsApp for teaching English!
Cheers, Susan
Susan and group: I always teach pronunciation and the first lesson for my WhatsApp students includes learning how to pronounce the alphabet and the numbers up to one million (sort of). Even "advanced" students can use some improvement in pronunciation.
So, at the beginning, I post pronunciation exercises that are part of Pumarosa and a few of my short bilingual videos. And I ask everybody to practice the exercises out the loud at home, and, when they are ready, to send me a personal audio of their recitation of the alphabet. Most are too shy at first, but a few will volunteer.
At the same time I send an article I wrote in Spanish of how I learned how to roll my RRs......emphasizing how difficult it was and how embarrassed I used to get. The point I make is that learning a foreign language always includes struggling with strange sounds.
Once a student from Egypt asked to join the advanced group. She was teaching English to third grade kids. She could write well, but when she sent me an audio, her accent was very thick and I could not understand her. So I made a special audio of pronunciation on WhatsApp and sent it to her for practice. Then....I did not hear from her for about three months. I thought she did not like my exercises!
Well, one day out of the blue she sent me an audio and her pronunciation was very good! I told her she spoke very well and she replied that she had been doing my exercises but was too busy to participate in the WhatsApp group. She was still self-conscious about her accent so I reassured her that accents made English more interesting.
In any case, sooner or later most people overcome their shyness and begin to send me audios, and if they have difficulty with pronouncing something, I just do a review of the exercises or tongue twisters.
Often someone will post a pronunciation question on the WhatsApp group, usually of one word in particular.
I could go on, but the above shows how I use WhatsApp to teach ESFL and ....I enjoy it tremendously!
Susan - I just glanced at the posts in ... Here's a link to a previous discussion in which Nan Frydland.......Thanks!!! There are a lot of great posts! I am going to review it and write a summary.
I would like to add that WhatsApp is very valuable for all those classes run by volunteers at libraries, community centers, churches and other neighborhood groups. I believe it is possible to provide ESFL classes or instruction for every adult who wants to learn English by incorporating tools like WhatsApp. It would be great if everybody could work together.
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Paul, I love that you and students exchange audio files through WhatsApp to work on pronunciation. I've done the same, and I've found that it's super helpful to be able to provide support to individual learners on the specific pronunciation issues they are working on.
Cheers, Susan