Communication Modes And Assessments 06/08/2013 Day 7

The communication mode that I would like to give more attention to with my students is the interpersonal mode of communication. I have chosen this mode because in my class students learn the vocabulary, read or watch something and answer questions to test understanding, and present what they have learned to the rest of the students. In my class, we are missing the interpersonal mode of communication where students engage and share ideas with other fellow students.

I have chosen group 6 because they have addressed the interpersonal communication mode. Their target language was Spanish and Arabic and their performance range was novice high and intermediate low. Their activity was a blogging activity, asynchronous, and they used edmodo.com. Their learning objectives were for their students to be able to share some personal information, then write it and communicate it in the blog. Students are required to describe and introduce themselves, are also required to list their likes and dislikes, and should be able to respond to other students by asking questions and seeking additional information.

I think that the method that group 6 has chosen is very effective, but as they mentioned, needs certain skills on behalf of the students. Students need to be able to form simple but complete sentences, have writing skills, and have enough vocabulary to describe oneself and ask questions. In order for this activity to fit my classroom, I would start with a synchronous activity in class to have the students feel comfortable with asking questions and forming sentences. Following that, I would ask them to post a blog entry.

In order to assess the students, the teacher needs to monitor the blog entry, give feedback both individually and for the whole group, and make sure that all students have a chance to participate equally in order to be able to assess them accordingly. The challenge that might face the teacher is trying to be on top of the conversations going on in the blog. In spite of that, the teacher needs to balance between correcting some vital mistakes and letting others pass so students wouldn't feel discouraged to write.

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