NLP Technologies in ICALL

In a rapidly growing world of new technologies and based on the researches done on their effective usage in language learning, Natural Language Processing Technologies must be first considered whether they help meet pedagogical goals and students' needs. First chatbots were mostly constructed around pattern matching, while current ones seem to be more sophisticated, with some natural processing strategies, but still, pattern-matching is predominant. Based on my first-hand experience of chatbots I must say, that my expectation from it was more then what I received. Most probably I overestimated chatbots' ability and creativity as I thought it would interact like a homo sapience. When I wrote my very first question and received a nonsense reply I realized that this could not be a platform where I could get answers to my questions as compared with a google search, this could only be a platform I could practice English with no sense. The sentences provided were correct, can not deny this, but no logic was in any of the replies. In case of wrong or misspelt words, it would either not understand what I meant or did not just answer my inquiry. I would recommend using chatbots to my intermediate level 18+ adults just to make a little fun. They could practice conversation but because of chatbot limitation in the case of multi-clause units, the virtual participant of the conversation may confuse, not get a logical answer, etc. As a teacher, I would first find the best chatbot, which could at least make correct grammar utterances and only integrate those into the curriculum.
To practice some everyday English nouns, as well as key words for the fashion industry an app chatbox called Mona (Shopping Assistant Chat) can be used. The learner can communicate through written messages. She will ask questions and give a lot of information through menus and messages.
I really liked ok google voice speech recognition as it not only provided grammatically correct answers but the replies were logic as well. This can be a great alternative to google search, as instead of writing you just say what you want and get the answer. It handles not grammatically correct inquiries but has limitations: long utterances are not handled.

MALL Activity or Project

As a part of my New Technologies course I was to look for mobile-assisted language learning activity that could be integrated into teaching English. I came across an interesting app called English Grammar. The app can be used in a class of schoolchildren aged 7-8 years with elementary proficiency level. As defined by Kukulska-Hulme, "MALL is defined as the use of mobile technologies in language learning" (Kukulska-Hulme, 2013, p. 3701). What I really liked most of the app is that it has multi activities within one app, it has no time limitation, it contains: fill in the gaps, match the action with picture, choose the correct form, rhyming words. The app does not have mobile device limitations (Principle 1) as it is displayed all over the device. Match the action with picture activity can be used in a classroom, in small groups of 2-3 with only one mobile (Principle 4). Those who do not have mobiles can be paired with the ones who have, thus maintaining equity. The activities are short (Principle 7), e. g. fill in the blanks part contains only 7 parts, 2 sentences on each page, activities are divided into smaller parts. As our children nowadays are mostly familiar with mobile devices no specific guidance or training is necessary (Principle 9). Using this app during a class can be a good fit of the technology and environment (Principle 8). This will be part of the class, but because it will be done by mobile phones, learners will be more pleased to use their routine devices in the classroom. Being a mother of a boy of the age I mentioned above, I would not mind mobile use in the classroom settings (Principle 10). But the teacher must be able to monitor the process and not spend most of the class time on MALL activities.

DGBL

According to Jean Piaget's theories, game integration into learning is a process referred to as "cognitive disequilibrium" (Van Eck, 2006, p. 20). It includes assimilation and accommodation, the former is the attempt of fitting new information into the existing categories, while the latter is the modification of the model in accommodating new information that does not fit into the existing category (Van Eck, 2006).  If a game creates a continuous cycle of cognitive disequilibrium, it strives as teaching tools. (Van Eck, 2006). Being a mother of a schoolboy I chose a game cLLED "Influent" designed for a beginner level learner. The genre of the game is gamified language learning. I tried to play the game by myself but couldn't as I had to pay an annual fee for subscription, but as I went through the description of the game, I am more than sure this can be a great alternative to vocabulary learning activities. The game is designed specifically for those who think that language learning could not be adventurous. This is an apartment where everything is clickable and through scanning the player hears the name of the object in English. The game uses native audio pronunciations and tests the memory through quizzes. Through the game the player comes across over 420 nouns, adjectives and verbs that come along with their synonyms. Because it is a common apartment,  it helps the player to learn the names of the objects that are used in daily life. The game gives the players an opportunity to start listening native pronunciation as well as develop speaking skills. In my opinion this game could be a very adventurous alternative to classroom vocabulary learning activities making the learning more realistic from the students perspective. Since nowadays students are mostly stuck to their digital devices why not integrate and use those gadgets in classroom settings. In case the game is used in the classroom the teacher must be a good observer to notice the errors made by the students. I would not recommend to use this game as a main tool of assessment but rather complimentary to the traditional assessment. Once the teacher decides to integrate games into the curriculum he/she must also consider the psychological aspect of the digitalization: students with low digital literacy may feel uncomfortable using the gadgets during the class. The school must also be equipped with appropriate gadgets.
Most importantly once teacher chooses a game and analyzes it for content, he/she has to decide on the missing and inaccurate content. "Some think this is the teachers' responsibility , some suggest that the more students are responsible for their learning, the more they will learn" (p. 26).

Digital Story Telling

Digital story telling can be a beneficiary assignment for high intermediate, students aged 15 and above, as it will help develop literacies like persuasive writing, storytelling, developing voice, becoming more confident. Even though in digital story telling the emphasis is more on visuals, learners must also work on providing precise information in the short text, they must also have media and digital literacy. An example of story telling can be providing any information about a particular topic. To be able to present it in an appropriate way, students must be able to decide on the reliability of the source they took the information from. The process also requires planning, drafting and revising.
Digital story telling is a helpful tool to develop multiple literacies like media, critical, computer, digital, etc. As presented by Hughes & L/Robertson in this rapidly changing world of new technologies "the definition of text must expand to include multiple forms of teachers, communication and its social contexts and add empowerment as an additional gain for preservice teachers". 

Collaborative Wiki Project

Collaborative writing project seems to be the easiest project as you can allocate some part of the task among peers and work together to foster the assignment. But to start, first you need someone in the group who will take the lead of the whole process: a pushy person who will lead the group till the completion of the project. As I go back to my studies at the University where new technologies where not part of the learning process this would be a very time-consuming project, as we had to find some time to get together with the group, to decide on the task allocation. Nowadays students are really granted with great technology solutions to make the process more successful and enjoyable. The teacher just assigns a writing task students create a shared doc, and each of them starts working on their part of the task. No need to get together to discuss things, this can be done on distance, through the commenting function of the shared doc. Moreover, students can access, comment, edit through their smartphones, even no need to carry laptops. I, have personally experienced the joyful moment of using a shared doc during my first-year studies at MA TEFL. On Saturdays I would take my sons to the children' cafe, they would play, I would do my assignments. What could be better? In case of a working mother student, shared docs are the best solutions, you do not need to be physically with the group to discuss, finalize and release the task.

Podcast, Specific Considerations

According to O'Bryan & Hegelheimer (2007) "Podcasts can be powerful tools for learning to listen, as evidenced in a recent study on the integration of podcasts into an ESL listening course, where they were viewed very positively by the students".

To prepare the students to get acquainted with the new format named podcast I, as a teacher would start with no limitation on particular podcast selection. First, they would be given enough time to try and find what they really liked and what didn't. I wish my teacher used this technique during a regular classroom setting, as, it would be of great help while I was taking my TOEFL exam many years later. Being an old SLA learner (I started learning English when I was 15) I remember one of the biggest challenges for me was listening part. Even years later when I entered Linguistic University if podcast was used I would not struggle with listening part of TOEFL exam.
As a teacher I would recommend the students to start with the podcast of their interest, not to limit them to particular podcasts Besides, the broader choice a student is given the better selection a student does.
The main purpose of podcasts will be developing note-taking strategies and developing listening skills. To make the podcasts enjoyable I would recommend my students to start with short ones. It can be very helpful as the learner can listen again and again to the podcast be he/ she at home, in a bus or elsewhere. Instead of reading, the learner is listening.
Depending on the level of proficiency of the learners little by little I would guide them to the topics of their level. At the end of every lesson, I would allocate couple of minutes to discuss the podcast they listened to; thus, developing speaking as well. At first, this would not be a graded task to let the learners feel more comfortable with podcast itself and only later would integrate podcast and discussion into grading. 

Podcast

Depending on the LOs (Learning Objectives) of a particular class (in a usual classroom setting)  podcast can be a useful, supplemental source for learning L2. To expand on this, I would like to mention the following important points from my point of view. If the learning objective of a class is to develop note-taking strategies, short dialogues as podcast can be a nice authentic material. The same would apply for teaching vocabulary: students need to listen to the podcast and write down unfamiliar words, then based on the podcast they need to guess the meaning. This can be done in small groups of 2-3.
In case of grammar teaching podcast could be a supplementary material
 Students may be assigned to listen to a particular podcast to fully understand the grammatical part. This can be a helpful tool especially for Armenians who are learning English, since we are used to explicit instruction. We need the rule first.