I'm a fan of the MERLOT concept and the website full of so many wonderful peer reviewed materials. I think it is a great place to share and hope to add some of my activities in the future that could be helpful to Spanish teachers. After spending quite a bit of time searching through the Spanish language activities I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping for more than simply a digital textbook or workbook activities or PowerPoint presentations. I searched for animations and fun grammar games but didn't find much. What I did find were several digital textbook type activities, and some cultural presentations that might or might not fit into my curriculum. I think culture is easier to teach than complex grammar so I wasn't very interested in those lessons. One subject that is always difficult for English speakers learning Spanish is the use of the subjunctive tense. I found one activity that was promising based on Juan Luis Guerra's song Ojala Que Llueva Cafe. (I hope it rains coffee).
Quality of Content
The quality of content of this tutorial is high. The use of the subjunctive in the song is prolific, and it will be fun to connect a hip song to the use of this grammar. The song models the concept throughout, and the website follows through with example after example of the subjunctive being used throughout this Dominican song. Further, the website puts the song into the context of life and culture in the Dominican Republic, so it integrates the grammar into the lifestyle of this island nation which is a plus. The tutorial is educationally significant, playing on the concept of the present subjunctive, modeling it, and providing exercise activities.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching-Learning Tool
1. The materials should be used as review and practice of the present subjunctive, not as an introduction to the concept. It will be best used as reinforcement and to help students understand the real-life usage of mastering subjunctive skills. The tutorial lacks a basic explanation of how and when to use the subjunctive tense, but it does include practice, demonstration of the use of the subjunctive which is the focus of the materials.
2. The teaching and learning goals were not specifically stated, but from what I see in the tutorial, the main goal is to practice the use of the present subjunctive by listening to the song and finding the subjunctive verbs, experiencing Dominican culture, and practicing the subjunctive through drills within the context of the song and the culture of the Dominican Republic. It would seem that the students should be able to recognize the use of the subjunctive in the song, apply the correct form of the subjunctive when provided questions or statements, utilize vocabulary in context, appreciate the use of the subjunctive as a tool in Spanish language, utilize the subjunctive within the context of specific Dominican situations.
3. The tutorial specificially says that it is "especially appropriate for introducing and practicing the present subjunctive mood of Spanish". I disagree that it is appropriate for introducing the present subjunctive however I believe it would be good for practice and review,especially in a lab setting where students could work on their own or in pairs. If I were to use it as an introduction, I would use an LCD projector to bring up the tutorial and go through the song which highlights the subjunctive tenses and guide my entire classroom of students to deduce what the rules of grammar are for this tense. Since the subjunctive is so difficult for learners to grasp (we generally don't use this tense in English), I believe there are more effective ways to introduce this traditionally problematic topic. Indeed, the subjunctive is a concept for which Spanish teachers anticipate confusion and frustration on the part of students. We do what we can to ease their stress so they can learn!
I do believe this is a helpful tutorial for practice, and thus it can improve faculty ability to teach the subjunctive by providing a solid example of the use of the subjunctive in daily life and pop culture. It can also help students learn by seeing and experiencing real life use of the subjunctive in daily life and pop culture. The tutorial can readily be integrated into curriculum and pedagogy within the Spanish curriculum. Since it is often difficult to find a Spanish substitute-teacher, if the timing was right within the course schedule this would be a great sub-day activity. The tutorial can be visited and revisited for practice, the variety of ways to use it is limited to the 5 or 6 tabs presented. Quality learning assignments can be easily written using this tutorial. Teachers can expand on the tutorial and create new instructions and activities. A nice feature is that students can actually input their teacher’s email and send them their work directly.
Ease of Use
The tutorial is extremely easy to use. The layout is simple and intuitive, buttons and text are clear. Users do not get lost or trapped into the site. The practice activities provide immediate feedback (correct, incorrect, and check your answers). The tutorial is flexible, students can jump around between tabs and begin where they wish or review when they need. There is little need for technical support or instruction, students and teachers can simply enter and explore within the tutorial. The material should look familiar to students, it looks like a professional website with tabs and clearly marked buttons and links. I believe it would be attractive to students because it has many places to explore, such as links to vocabulary in the song. It is also very tidy and neat. This site is not busy at all. Teachers would find it appealing for the same reasons. Overall I do believe this is a tool that I would use as a teacher as a review/reinforcement activity. It would be a fun homework activity and a break from the textbook/workbook activities.
No comments:
Post a Comment