Vol. 4 Issue 30 – Article: ‘How can creative writing develop language skills?’ by Tarala Joshi

Many English teachers from my region would agree that English as a second language is mostly only a writing affair. Our students read and write English; rather they reproduce in their writing what they have read. How would they express their ‘own’ ideas and thoughts in English?

Vol. 4 Issue 30 – Video: David Crystal – Texts and Tweets: myths and realities

 ELTWeekly Vol. 4 Issue#30 | July 23, 2012 | ISSN 0975-3036  Professor David Crystal, one of the world’s leading linguistic experts, challenges the myth that new communication technologies are destroying language.

Vol. 4 Issue 30 – Research Paper: ‘Role of Mother Tongue in Teaching English as a Second Language to Tamil Students’ by Vairamuthu Suntharesan

Using the student’s mother tongue in the ESL classes has been felt to be very productive as it is found to develop language accuracy and fluency. The objective of this paper is to discuss how mother tongue can be effectively used in teaching certain linguistic areas in order to motivate students and promote their language proficiency faster. Translation in ESL classes which enables the process of comparing student’s first language with the second language would undoubtedly enable students to attain the ability of using the language in real life situations for communicative purposes.

ELTWeekly Vol. 4 Issue 29

ELTWeekly Vol. 4 Issue#29 | July 16, 2012 | ISSN 0975-3036 Book of the week: Rainbow Video: Teacher+Learner=Turner Cambridge ELT Interview with Michael Handford eBook of the week: Context in Language Learning and Language Understanding Video: Krashen and language acquisition Research Paper: ‘Influence of Culture in ESL Learning in Jaffna, Sri Lanka’ by Vairamuthu Suntharesan David… Continue reading ELTWeekly Vol. 4 Issue 29

Vol. 4 Issue 29 – Research Paper: ‘The Confusing Role of Teacher in the Era of Technology and the Use of ICT in Education’ by Dr. Chetan Trivedi

“We shape our tools,” McLuhan said, “and then our tools shape us.” The quote raises the question: Do we create our own destinies or become subordinate and play into the hands of forces beyond us? Technology, according to McLuhan, is an extension of our own natural faculties. Every technology is, likewise, an extension of our own natural powers, born out of some natural need or the other. “This is to say that technology can be understood in terms of final cause, or purpose, and that purpose is a purpose of the living human being.” Technology, therefore, has a relation to the need and purpose and cannot be otherwise. As such, technology has an important role in linking people at the grass-roots level to the outside world. There are many examples in rural areas of how technology is helping people to take informed decisions. Technology will continue to play a decisive role in ushering change in the rural areas.