Image retrieved on June 15, 2010 from Google images
Last Friday I implemented for the second time. After checking homework, I told students to prepare their conversation so they looked up their dictionaries to find the vocabulary they needed for the conversation and the pronunciation of each word. They also looked up their notebooks to find the verbs in past tenses they needed for the communicative event. This time, I considered the timing so we went to the audio-visual multi-media room for over an hour in order to have plenty of time to go over the entire procedure. At the multi-media room, I paired student with the partner they had the previous time.
I instructed the students to check the microphones and to do a sound check so they would not have any surprises after they spoke. Students were able to speak for the entire ten minutes and they also saved the recording without any problems, something a couple of groups had problems with during the last implementation. After the recording, students were assigned to listen to other conversations from other pairs and to take notes on their mistakes using the simple past and past continuous.
I had noticed during the last intervention that students did not record any comments on their partners' mistakes nor listened to the few that were recorded by some students so I decided to let them write their findings in the forum. For the next time, students will listen to their own recordings and to comment comment in Voxopop about their partners' mistakes. Another aspect I also need to consider is for students to write more comments regarding the usage of simple past and past continuous. There were some comments that were aimed at vocabulary or they were too vague.
