USING WEBSITES IN THE CLASSROOM

The web is a source of content which can be used as a window on the
wider world outside the class, of course a ready available collection
of authentic material. We can use web pages in the classroom in a
variety of ways like as printed pages with no computers, with one
computer with an internet connection, and also we can use it in a
computer lab with a set of networked and connected computers. The ELT
websites provide valuable opportunities for more controlled language
work and are often a great help to learners who need to brush up on
certain aspects of the language or to prepare for an exam. In the
other hand, authentic sites provide an ideal opportunity to work
through the issues of total comprehension that plenty of learners have
to deal with at some point in their studies. To find useful websites,
firstly we ca use the search engine, the subject guides, and also we
can use the real language searches. Checking the accuracy, the
currency, the content, and the functionality are the steps that we can
do to evaluate websites. Movie star is a sample lesson plan that is an
upper intermediate to advanced lesson concentrating on famous movie
stars and their lives and work, it's also makes learner explore in
interview techniques, and the way on interacting a social level.
Websites which are more suitable for lower levels will include
websites with simple, clearly presented text, websites with non
linguistic data which is easy to interpret, websites with visuals that
is a task can be based around the visuals only, and ELT website where
the content has been written, edited and prepared with this audience
in mind. By using websites in language teaching, we can provide
learners with knowledge and content which they perhaps do not know, or
would normally not have access to, or to supplement more traditional
course materials that motivating for them, leading to more language
production and a higher stake in the success of the class.
In my opinion, with the authentic websites student can explore
conversation, reading and writing activities that student use to build
vocabulary and engage grammar. In other hand, the ELT websites provide
content that our learners can use for language practice activities
they can do on their own. We also have to evaluate the websites with
accuracy for example, by making sure that the author provides e-mail
or a contact address/phone number. With currency for example, by
asking how many dead links are on the page? With content by checking
whether the site interesting and stimulating or not, and with the
functionality by making sure whether the site work well? Or are there
any broken links? For planning lesson using the internet, we can do it
by following lesson plans have been set up for classroom use and are
designed to teach something about the Internet, teach how to use the
Internet, and teach something by using information gained from the
Internet. In short, using websites makes the teaching and learning can
be freed from the boundaries of classrooms and class schedules.
Moreover, the web can help us re-focus our institutions from teaching
to learning, from teacher to student and the skills called for in
students are critical thinking, problem solving, written
communication, and ability to work collaboratively.

Teaching Reading

One of the blog that I have visited says that the purpose of learning to read in a language has been to have access to the literature written in that language. In language instruction, reading materials have traditionally been chosen from literary texts that represent "higher" forms of culture.

This approach assumes that students learn to read a language by studying its vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure, not by actually reading it. In this approach, lower level learners read only sentences and paragraphs generated by textbook writers and instructors. The reading of authentic materials is limited to the works of great authors and reserved for upper level students who have developed the language skills needed to read them.

The communicative approach to language teaching has given instructors a different understanding of the role of reading in the language classroom and the types of texts that can be used in instruction. When the goal of instruction is communicative competence, everyday materials such as train schedules, newspaper articles, and travel and tourism Web sites become appropriate classroom materials, because reading them is one way communicative competence is developed. Instruction in reading and reading practice thus become essential parts of language teaching at every level.

Reading Purpose and Reading Comprehension

Reading is an activity with a purpose. A person may read in order to gain information or verify existing knowledge, or in order to critique a writer's ideas or writing style. A person may also read for enjoyment, or to enhance knowledge of the language being read. The purpose(s) for reading guide the reader's selection of texts.

The purpose for reading also determines the appropriate approach to reading comprehension. A person who needs to know whether she can afford to eat at a particular restaurant needs to comprehend the pricing information provided on the menu, but does not need to recognize the name of every appetizer listed. A person reading poetry for enjoyment needs to recognize the words the poet uses and the ways they are put together, but does not need to identify main idea and supporting details. However, a person using a scientific article to support an opinion needs to know the vocabulary that is used, understand the facts and cause-effect sequences that are presented, and recognize ideas that are presented as hypotheses and givens.

Reading research shows that good readers

• Read extensively
• Integrate information in the text with existing knowledge
• Have a flexible reading style, depending on what they are reading
• Are motivated
• Rely on different skills interacting: perceptual processing, phonemic processing, recall
• Read for a purpose; reading serves a function

Reading as a Process

Reading is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text, resulting in comprehension. The text presents letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that encode meaning. The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to determine what that meaning is.

Reader knowledge, skills, and strategies include

• Linguistic competence: the ability to recognize the elements of the writing system; knowledge of vocabulary; knowledge of how words are structured into sentences
• Discourse competence: knowledge of discourse markers and how they connect parts of the text to one another
• Sociolinguistics competence: knowledge about different types of texts and their usual structure and content
• Strategic competence: the ability to use top-down strategies (see Strategies for Developing Reading Skills for descriptions) , as well as knowledge of the language (a bottom-up strategy)

The purpose(s) for reading and the type of text determine the specific knowledge, skills, and strategies that readers need to apply to achieve comprehension. Reading comprehension is thus much more than decoding. Reading comprehension results when the reader knows which skills and strategies are appropriate for the type of text, and understands how to apply them to accomplish the reading purpose.

http://www.nclrc. org/essentials/ reading/reindex. htm