How to Do Things With Words

A wide variety of media can be used in learning, including distance learning, such as print, lectures, conference sections, tutors, pictures, video, sound, and computers. Any one instance of distance learning will make choices among these media, perhaps using several.

Multimedia in Learning

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century Thomas L. Friedman Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005 Thomas Friedman is a widely-acclaimed journalist, foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times, and author of four best-selling books that include From Beirut to Jerusalem (1989). His eminence as a journalist is clearly demonstrated in the way he prepared for The World is Flat. He traveled throughout the world, interviewing in depth the political and business leaders who have the most direct, hands-on knowledge of the truly incredible developments occurring in the business structures and technology of globalization. Only a journalist who moves freely at the highest levels could interview the likes of Sir John Rose, the chief executive of Rolls-Royce; Nobuyuki Idei, the chairman of Sony; Richard Koo, the chief economist for the Nomura Research Institute; Bill Gates of Microsoft; Wee Theng Tan, the president of Intel China; David Baltimore, president of Caltech; Howard Schultz, founder and chairman of Starbucks; Nandan Nilekani, CEO of Infosys in Bangalore - and many others, each of whom gave him the inside story of how, specifically, the barriers of time and space separating economies, workforces, sources of capital, and technical abilities are crumbling. The result of this unfolding story, already far along but with much farther to go, according to Friedman, is that "the world is flat." With some notable exceptions in sub-Saharan Africa and the Islamic swathe, everything is connected with everything else on a horizontal basis, with distance and erstwhile time-lags no longer mattering. Friedman describes in detail the galloping globalization that has unfolded in even so limited a time as the past five years. Under the impetus of a worldwide network of interconnectivity, the world economy is much-changed from what it was at the turn of the century a mere half-decade ago. Friedman quotes the CEO of India's Infosys: "What happened over the last [few] years is that there was a massive investment in technology, especially in the bubble era, when hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in putting broadband connectivity around the world, undersea cables," while (Friedman paraphrases him) "computers became cheaper and dispersed all over the world, and there was an explosion of software - e-mail, search engines like Google, and proprietary software that can chop up any piece of work and send one part to Boston, one part to Bangalore, and one part to Beijing...." Microprocessors today have 410 million transistors compared to the 2800 they had in 1971. And now, "wireless is what will allow you to take everything that has been digitized, made virtual and personal, and do it from anywhere." The effect on productivity is revolutionary: "It now takes Boeing eleven days to build a 737, down from twenty-eight days just a few years ago. Boeing will build the next generation of planes in three days, because all the parts are computer-designed for assembly." The most strikingly informative aspect of this book, however, is not about technology. Most especially, Friedman explores the rapidly evolving global business systems, each constantly regenerating itself to keep ahead of the others. These are systems that span the continents seeking the lowest-cost providers of everything from expert scientific and engineering work to the lowliest grunt work. Friedman points out that India produces 70,000 accounting graduates each year - and that they are willing to start at $100 a month. It is no wonder that Boeing employs 800 Russian scientists and engineers for passenger-plane design when "a U.S. aeronautical engineer costs $120 per design hour, a Russian costs about one-third of that." Friedman describes a call center in India where outbound callers sell "everything from credit cards to phone minutes," while operators taking inbound calls do "everything from tracing lost luggage for U.S. and European airline passengers to solving computer problems for confused American consumers. …

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century

Learning strategies play an important role in Second Language Acquisition.Understanding definitions and classifications of learning strategies as well as trends in resent research has important significance to foreign language teaching.

Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition

/pdf/authentic-materials-and-cultural-content-in-efl-classrooms-20hsb57g3q.pdf

Authentic Materials and Cultural Content in EFL Classrooms.

INTRODUCTION: What is CALL? CHAPTER 1: Vocabulary CHAPTER 2: Grammar CHAPTER 3: Reading CHAPTER 4: Writing CHAPTER 5: Listening CHAPTER 6: Speaking CHAPTER 7: Communication Skills CHAPTER 8: Content-Based Language CONCLUSION: After Class Bibliography Name Index Subject Index

Tips for Teaching with CALL: Practical Approaches to Computer-assisted Language Learning

Acquiring vocabulary in L2 is rather a difficult and demanding process and most of the language learners wish to know which vocabulary learning method and/or activity is more beneficial or even the best one; however, the responses to this question vary and there is no clear-cut answer though there are some various suggestions and conclusions drawn from the studies related to vocabulary acquisition such as keeping a notebook, regularly reviewing and using vocabulary items in context. This study compares the usefulness of online vocabulary teaching and the traditional methods used in upper-intermediate Academic English class. The control group students practiced vocabulary items in ten reading passages through vocabulary notebooks and cards. The learners in the experimental group practiced the same vocabulary items in the passages through WordChamp. Furthermore, with both groups, the vocabulary items were regularly reviewed. The usefulness of the two methods was evaluated via the post-test. The study showed that the learners in the experimental group outperformed the learners in the control group and that the experimental group students better remember the words studied online, evidenced by a follow-up post-test given 3 months later.

/pdf/comparative-usefulness-of-online-and-traditional-vocabulary-1y3fddui5x.pdf

Comparative Usefulness of Online and Traditional Vocabulary Learning.

/pdf/guidelines-to-evaluate-cultural-content-in-textbooks-3m2oc55kch.pdf

Guidelines to Evaluate Cultural Content in Textbooks.

The paper discusses World Englishes (WEs) in relation to English as an International Language (EIL) and Applied Linguistics. Taking into account Kachru’s interesting but at the same time controversial debate about the status of English in its varieties, which are commonly called WEs and the opposing ideas presented by Quirk, it is aimed to present an overview of these discussions, together with some examples. Kachru’s three concentric circles, the Interlanguage theory, Standard English and English as a Lingua France (ELF) were paid special attention while touching upon the controversial debates on World Englishes. Moreover, following these discussions on WEs, EIL and Applied Linguistics, some answers were provided regarding the questions on teaching and teacher education, seeing that the uses of English internationally are not just related to the Expanding Circle, but also they include native speakers as well as members of the Outer Circle.

/pdf/world-englishes-english-as-an-international-language-and-3rkdilr397.pdf

Ferit Kiliçkaya

Papers

Authentic Materials and Cultural Content in EFL Classrooms.

Tips for Teaching with CALL: Practical Approaches to Computer-assisted Language Learning

Comparative Usefulness of Online and Traditional Vocabulary Learning.

Guidelines to Evaluate Cultural Content in Textbooks.

World Englishes, English as an International Language and Applied Linguistics