Deliciously Delicous !

The first thing that crossed my mind when I saw we had to use delicious was this

Picture via

Delicious is a café in Malaysia well known for its desserts especially ‘The Pavlova’. As I clicked the link on this course’s webpage I was directed to a new site specifically about bookmarking (at that time I had food in my mind! Pfft). The newly found delicious bookmarking service eases the norm of bookmarking before which was only saved on a specific computer that we tend to use. Before this I only bookmark things in my computer at the office but when I borrowed my brother’s laptop I would only save the links in my email’s notepad. Now voila, bookmarking will be an easy task on any computer! A big hand to the inventors for such a genius idea.  Do visit mine at delicious/missafz .


Moving on to the oral/audio skill building website, it was a never ending search that reflects that there are so many websites that we can use to adapt for our class. The 3 issues that I had after reading the articles provided were
1. A dilemma for some teachers might be a) whether they want to modify the lesson to a communicative approach lesson and try fun listening activities or b) stick to the routine of chalk and talk (teacher centered) and follow strictly to the syllabus laid out.  
[This falls back to sufficient facilities and creativity of the teacher] Sometimes, if the teacher is not creative listening activities alone can be a boredom for teachers as it requires students feedback on the issue discussed.
2. How far will language practitioners use these sites in their class to promote listening /speaking activities? 
If a teacher is not used to student centered approach/ have students with minimal knowledge of the subject question and answer session after listening can be less interactive due to the lack of response. 
3. Should we wait for all teachers and schools to use CALL or further advance the technology to feed advanced computer/Internet learning users due to the different level of computer literacy/access?

Pennington (1995) as cited in Busa’s article mentioned that speech analysis technology is highly motivating, even learners who had formerly shown no inclination to work on their

pronunciation will often willingly spend time working alone or with a trainer using this computer-based form of input and practice.

1. students must be taught on how to work/study independently using a computer
2. school or parents should invest to upgrade the use of technology in classrooms i.e computers, CDs
3. Website developers should also keep up to the requirements of advanced learners

At the end of the day, no matter how much we are exposed to these resources it depends highly on the teacher to use his/her effort and creativity to integrate listening/speaking activities in class, to evaluate the feasibility of using technology in class and enforcing the activities for students.

*This week was very tiring for me as I’m feeling a bit under the weather. Once the medication kicks in it makes me drowsy instantly . I spent most of the hours sleeping which was a waste of time especially upon knowing I haven’t done much for this week. Here’s for the hope of recovering and for good health for everyone!

Cheers. 


Signing off with another dessert from delicious  cafe. Yums!!