Zişan's ELT Journey

My dear readers, we have come to the season finale of a journey which was full of new experiences and gains. Thanks to my instructor and the course which is Instructional Technologies and Material Design in English Language Teaching, I have opened my first blog page and shared my ideas, reflections, self and group projects. Each blog has made a contribution to my future teaching career in some way, however, all of them have a common aspect which is improving the ability to integrate technology and education in a language learning setting. From creating infographic about copyright infringement to The Great Gatsby film review, each activity has offered an integrative and positive way of technology usage to enhance and develop learners' language learning process. As technology has become an indispensable part of our life, integrating it in English language teaching should be as efficient as possible. Through this course, I have recognized the role of technology in educational setting ...

We are here to discuss the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots in language learning . AI chatbots allow us to get answer s to our questions or talk about anything whenever and wherever we want in any language . Therefore , some l anguage learners can create a target language speaking environment because of this major function of chatbots . However, there are a variety of chatbots available and choosing the more efficient one is important for a person to improve their speaking skills with the help of AI. For example, from my experience, voice-chatting with the chatbot of ChatGPT may not be an ef fective means of improv ing speaking skill . The voice chatting system of ChatGPT aims non-stop conversation, however the waiting du ration of chatbot is so short that after one second pause of the speaker the chatbot immediately takes the turn and s ometimes this can lead to interrupting the speaker’s speech. T his system of ChatGPT may not be helpful for some ...

Have you ever discussed the plot, the cast, or exchanged any ideas about the same film you watched with your family or friends? It is a fun activity to hear other people’s views about the film that you also have watched. And now imagine that you bring your ideas together and create a single text about that specific film. This is what we have done with my friends, Nisanur Duranay and Rüveyda Güçlüer . We watched the film “The Great Gatsby” and reviewed the film by giving details about the plot, the characters and the remarkable elements in the film through Google Docs which is a free web-based word processer. Google Docs has allowed us to share our views in one single text and receive comments from our friends. If we take this activity in an English language learning classroom, we can create a collaborative environment for the learners thus, they can communicate and express their ideas through a fun activity. Sharing and receiving ideas and writing them collaboratively in a single text...

Do you prefer to read the story "The Little Red Riding Hood" from a book or do you prefer to watch the video of the story on YouTube? Actually, I would prefer to read it from a book as otherwise I feel like my imagination is restricted. Watching the video of the story shows you the mimics of the characters, the color of the sky, etc., which are the details I want to create in my imagination. However, reading a story and watching a story can both have beneficial effects for a person who is learning a new language. Moreover, details which are shown in the video can increase language learners’ vocabulary and listening comprehension. That is to say, I can learn new words in a meaningful context when I watch a digital story. With technological advancements digital stories have become widespread in second language teaching environments. As a candidate of English language teacher, in the future I can utilize digital stories in digital platforms or create digital stories about a spec...

  We are here again for another new and interesting topic. This time we focus on podcasts, but podcasting as an English language learning tool for students. Before diving into benefits of it, I want to talk about a podcast that my friend Nisanur (her blog link is below) and I prepared. We created Vox-pop which is a type of podcast that involves different peoples’ views about one central question. We asked 10 people to choose a song that they want to listen to forever and we got various answers. Asking people such engaging questions is really fun for both the interviewers and interviewees. Therefore, podcast creating which is an authentic, collaborative, and engaging activity is crucial and effective for students in language  learning. Also, students can reflect on their friends' and their own speaking skills, they can recognize each other's articulation, and podcasts can improve their motivation and enthusiasm for language learning.  There are links of our podcast and my ...

Hi! The picture that you see on the right is my design unlike the pictures in my former posts. It is actually an infographic which is used for visualizing information.In this infographic, with the help of sources which I have included in the infographic, I inform you about how teachers can find materials for their students without infringing copyright law. " Copyright infringement occurs when copyrighted material is used without the creator's permission, often leading to legal ramification" (Kenton, 2026). It is possible for teachers to utilize materials and avoid infringement of copyright law at the same time. For example, I have found images for my posts on sites wich share free images and do not require attribution for the creator. These kinds of sites offer people content without raising a concern about violation of copyright. There are various other available ways for teachers to find specific materials as mentioned in the infographic. The use of an informational inf...

Let’s recall our K-12 (from kindergarten to twelfth grade) education and think of how much digital technology is integrated in our process of learning in the classrooms. As a person who was born in 2007, I stepped into school life in 2012 when it was one year after the FATIH Project (Movement of Enhancing Opportunities and Improving Technology) was initiated in Türkiye. Basically, we had smart boards in our classrooms which meant teachers were expected to teach the subjects with the help of smart boards. They did, and they have continued to utilize smart boards. Ongoing rapid advancements of technology in the 21st century has required teachers to be flexible with changes and have technological knowledge apart from knowledge of their own disciplines. From a student perspective, I encountered technology-integrated education in my school life at the very first stage. In the future, it is likely that my student candidates who are born into digital world will expect me to engage English lan...