Mesas-Redondas 2011 - Semana de Letras - UFSC

Página17
Synchronous and asynchronous online activities and the development of L2 speakingskills
MARCELO MARTINS KREMER E FERNANDA RAMOS MACHADO
The two activities selected to be presented were the ones that are more frequently used in thecourseentitled
Compreensão e Produção Oral em Língua Inglesa IV, whichintegratesthe curriculum oftheprogram Licenciatura em
Letras-Inglês na Modalidade a Distância. These activities are the basis of the graded online activities that occur
during the entire semester. The first one is entitled “Skype Chat”, which allows participants to have a real-time
synchronous discussion via the web on a weekly basis. Every Skype Chat may have 5 students at maximum, plus the
Tutor, and each session lasts for 30 minutes. Every week the Skype Chat is scheduled on the online forum of the
discipline by the Tutor and the students. The second type of activity is entitled “Final Project – Audio File”, which can
be done in two ways. The first option is to use the NanoGong recorder, which provides a very simple and transparent
voice recorder support for Moodle. It can be used to record, playback and save a voice file, in a web page. A
NanoGong activity allows the student to submit a voice recording file to the teacher. The second option is to submit
an audio file (.mp3, wva, etc) recorded with any digital recording device. Both the Skype Chat and the Final Project –
Audio File activities give the students a chance to talk about a topic discussed in the lessons using the target
functions and grammatical structure. Keywords: L2 speaking, online tools, synchronous/asynchronous activities
The role of face-to-face tutors in a blended distance learning course
DANIELLE AMANDA RAIMUNDO DA SILVA
Technology has decisively influenced and brought to bear new ways of learning. By using a variety of tools, it is
possible to interact without getting together physically, which makes feasible, for example, to have students from
different cities in the same classroom in an online environment. This is the main feature of distance education;
however, some distance courses are based on a blended format, recognizing that a face– to-face component has its
place in the learning process. In the discipline Compreensão e Produção Oral em Língua Inglesa ofthe Letras-Inglês
na Modalidade a Distância Program (UFSC/UAB), the face-to-face tutors are seen as mediators of a number of
synchronous activities (Tractenberg, 2008) that take place on campus, and which are planned by the instructor in
charge of organizing the course. Aiming to better understand the role played by the face-to-face interaction
component in the discipline, the present work takes into account the impressions of face-to-face tutors about the
development and outcomes of activities taking place on the different campuses. In an attempt of gathering an
authentic report from the tutors concerning their beliefs and experiences, it was administered a questionnaire made
of open-ended questions. Keywords: blended course, tutors, L2 oral skills
Planning, recording and using tailor-made video lessons to teach oral skills online
ROSANE SILVEIRA
In second language courses, both in face-to-face and in distance learning programs, video-based activities play a
central role (Canning-Wilson, 2000; Brooke, 2003). In the discipline Compreensão e Produção Oral em Língua Inglesa
ofthe Letras-Inglês na Modalidade a Distância Program (UFSC/UAB), video lessons are frequently used to enhance
learners’ listening and speaking skills. Although the instructors and the online tutoring team select many video
activities available online, we also make an effort to put together some video-lessons that are tailor-made to our
students. The purpose of this presentation is twofold. First, I explain how these video lessons are planned and
recorded, which includes information about the participation of the tutoring team and other guests, and the role of
the technical team in charge of recording and editing the videos. The second purpose is to explain how these video
lessons are integrated to the online lessons and how students react to this type of activity.
Keywords: video lessons, L2 oral skills, online