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Claire Siskin's Word Activities

A Word Processor is more

than a writing machine

This information sheet is the second in a series of information sheets under the title Twenty ideas that work! which detail practical activities using specific software that is helpful in supporting language learning. This sheet, developed by Pam Haezewindt, co-ordinator of the Leicestershire Comenius Centre, deals with uses of word processing in language learning. While many of the activities are assumed to be aimed at learners of 11 - 16, most of these would be equally useful in further education.

Why use a word processor in modern languages learning? It offers:

1. easy correction without rewriting, which offers a feeling of liberation: 'I can create in the knowledge that no one's going to ask me to do the tedious bit of writing out a "good" copy...'
2. access for all students to the production of well-presented written work resulting in pride in work and greater self-esteem
3. ease of appropriate presentation for different audiences
4. extension of the possibilities offered by text manipulation
5. increased awareness of language systems and structures
6. potential for enabling differentiation
7. motivational for many learners
8. reinforcement of ICT skills being learned elsewhere in the curriculum contributes towards ICT capability
9. delivery of ICT capability in communicating information made possible
10. ability to re-visit skills in a new environment.

Before using word processing with students, it is important to think about the following general points.

Basic management

Teacher-generated text: Many activities with a word processor in modern foreign languages learning require the teacher to write and store text of one sort or another in the word processor and the student to retrieve this text and work on it according to a set task (often using the tools Cut and paste or Search and replace). The original text which the teacher writes and stores will remain in the word processor in this form as long as any alterations which the student makes are not saved under the original name.

Student use of teacher-generated text: It is important for all students to get used to saving any work that they do under a name which is connected only to them. For example, the first piece of work that Johnny Briggs and Asam Piranda do might be saved as JBAP1, and the next one as JBAP2. They could type their reference code in at the very top of the screen (or as a header) as soon as they begin to work on a file so that it can be easily identified. Encourage them to keep their own index of filenames and work produced for example: JBAP2 penfriend letter, holidays. This is only a suggestion: it is quite possible that your school already has a system in place or that your IT co-ordinator will suggest a better idea. It is also important to save draft and final versions under separate names, particularly if you wish to have a record (for MFL or ICT purposes, and possibly recording contributions to literacy) of drafting, editing, skills progression and so forth.

Basic ICT skills: Most of the ideas both for work with stored text and for creative work in MFL require a knowledge of some or all of the following:

 

• basic word processing skills (often referred to as 'editing') such as deleting and inserting text
• the search and replace function
• moving blocks of text around the screen
• loading text
• saving text
• printing out.

NB This is the sort of capability expected of an average student by the end of KS2: secondary students should be arriving with these skills.

Many students will already be capable of this from work done in KS2 and elsewhere in the curriculum. Others may not be, either because they have not had the opportunities or because their ICT capability is not yet developed to that level. (The notion of differentiation is as important in ICT as it is anywhere else in the curriculum.) Consult your IT co-ordinator about the levels of attainment you might expect and to find out what is happening elsewhere in the curriculum: for instance, how much and what sort of word processing is being done in English and humanities? In most cases, basic editing skills can be counted on in Year 7.

Learning support: Many of the activities described here can be made more accessible to your students with specific needs by the use of a word bank utility like Clickword (TVECC), Clicker (Semerc) or an overlay keyboard. Clicksound (TVECC) offers the extra dimension of recorded sound.

The Becta special needs team produces a range of information sheets. Printed copies are available free on request and they are also published on the Becta web site.

Sound: Soundfiles can be created using the standard facilities on multimedia machines. These may be used alongside the word-processed files as sound cues or stimulus, for instance, included as clues for a gap-fill exercise.

Twenty ideas for using a word processing in MFL

Many of these activities assume that students will be working in pairs.

Storing texts

1 Lists: Store a list of words. Students will load a file and select from the list according to the task set.

• Using a visual stimulus or brief written task, students select words to make up a shopping list for a picnic or an activities list to plan an outing.
• Where are the speakers going? 'Students listen to a tape of different people asking the way to somewhere. They select destinations from the list, print them out appropriately and label a plan.
• Students select words to make up a poem.

2 Model texts (letters, reports, articles, stories)Write and store a model text.

 

• Students load in the model and edit text according to the set task. This could involve information received via spoken, aural or written communication.

A simple first pen-pal letter is written and stored by the teacher.

 

• Students have a cue card with different information in symbol or written form and edit the model letter accordingly.

• Further stages will be to edit in the light of information received by way of another letter (edit a reply), a recorded message or a discussion with someone else. (For some students this type of activity will lead naturally into writing their own letter with a stimulus and then into creative writing.)

3 Store jumbled lists, texts, poems, songs, instructions ...The task of the student is to re-order the text according to an aural or visual stimulus, using block movement.

Using a word processor, highlight a sentence or block of text and, using Cut/Copy and Paste, move to an appropriate place.

4 HeadlinesStore short paragraphs, for example, four descriptions, with 'titles' at the bottom of the file.

 

• Students, again copying and pasting, match up titles to descriptions.

5 Supported closeStore a text containing gaps, displaying above or below the text the words which can be used to fill the gaps.

 

• Students use Copy and Paste to insert words or phrases to complete the passage. (This might be in conjunction with listening or reading material).

6 Open cloze: Store text containing gaps but with no help words included.

 

• Students fill in according to information obtained from listening, reading, interviewing or by deduction. A soundfile could be created to provide clues. This option can offer more creative approaches to gap-filling than most text-manipulation software, and can be used to encourage more adventurous use of language.

7 Third person: Store a report written in the third person.

 

• Students change the text into first person (for example, il/elle to je) by using either the 'search and replace' functions on the word processor or simply by deleting and then typing in their text.
• Students then look at the text and together decide what else needs to be altered. (This is quite a high-level skill which raises awareness of language systems in an interesting way.)

8 Descriptions: Store a set of simple sentences on the theme of the current unit of work, for instance:

J'habite une ville.Mon frère est petit.J'habite une maison. Il a les cheveux roux et...Il y a un jardin.J'ai un chat

• Students add descriptors to sentences, print out if possible, and compare with these of other groups, for instance: J'habite une grande/petite ville. Mon frère est assez petit, n'est pas petit, and so forth.

9 Form filling: Store a form to be filled in, such as fiche d'identité, Personalausweis.

 

• Students listen to a taped conversation or read information to extract relevant details, complete the form and print it out.
• Make the most of the resources. Follow up by using the print-out as a cue card for quick pair work in which Partner A creates questions to seek information, while Partner B provides full answers.

10 Dialogues: Store one half of a conversation.

 

• Students listen to the whole conversation and make notes, then load in the half dialogue and complete it from their notes. Students are expected to write for meaning rather than to reproduce the dialogue word for word as in a dictation.
• They can then compare results with other groups or with the original, role-play with different cues ...

11 Interviews: Replicate the exercise described above, but this time the students read an article or report which might have resulted from an interview.

They complete one half of the interview, for instance, the questions.

12 Further dialogues: Replicate 10 and/or 11 above, but this time students complete the other half of the dialogue without further stimulus.

13 Story 'starters': Store the beginning of a story.

 

• Students complete the story. Use a picture or tape as a stimulus.
• Students interview someone or use their imaginations to complete the story and later compare stories.

14 Story 'sandwich': Store the beginning and end of a story.

 

• Students have to create the middle.

There are lots of variations on this theme. How many can you come up with?

15 Skeletons: Store a skeleton text.

 

• Students expand the skeleton text, for example, a text about either a person or a place known to the class or to individuals.
• The stimulus used, if any, will depend on the attainment level of the students and the stage reached in a unit of work.

16 Creating labels: Students word process sets of labels for such topics as shops, towns on a map, rooms in their dream house, leisure pursuits ...

 

• They can print them out in an appropriate font and size to stick onto posters or pictures in their books and folders. (Year 8 students did this with posters of computer hardware and software items which were then displayed in the computer network room for everyone to consult. Year 7 learners took 'furniture and 'household' labels home as a vocabulary learning aid. Tthey had strict instructions NOT to sellotape them to the wallpaper, however!)
• Labels can also be used to create language games for use in class or by younger learners (for instance, memory or matching games with labels plus matching clip-art pictures).

17 Creating texts: Students write their own reports, letters, descriptions, articles or rhymes, according to the task set. The nature of creation depends, as always, on the stage arrived at in a unit and the level of attainment of the student. At different stages the following tasks might be appropriate:

 

• five pieces of information about their house or village or that of their partner or a description for an estate agency or an article about a town or village for a magazine
• an advertisement for a job or a brief description of the student's own work experience.

18 Drafting and re-drafting: The student will write and then re-draft for a different audience, for example:

 

• The student writes a short report about him/herself and partner/best friend/brother the result, perhaps, of a role play. This information is saved and at a later date re-drafted into a letter to a pen-pal or prospective exchange partner.

19 Writing for a different audience: The student reads a letter/description/database printout and writes up an advertisement or a brief article, as suggested in the following examples.

 

• letter requesting to be put on a dating agency brief details written up for a magazine entry.
• database record of house details brief description written up for the small ads
• description of person and occupation requirements - brief details extracted and written up for an 'Occupations Wanted' column in a local newspaper
• database record of a star expanded into a brief article for the school magazine.

20 Story-writing variations: Examples might include the following:

 

• in pairs, students choose between eight and ten target-language words or phrases which they then pass to another pair for inclusion in a story. (This can become quite challenging!)

Text manipulation

This is the first in a series of information sheets under the title Twenty ideas that work! which detail practical activities using specific software that is helpful in supporting language learning. This sheet, developed by Pam Haezewindt, co-ordinator of the Leicestershire Comenius Centre, looks at the use of text-manipulation software and lists a bank of tried and tested activities which teachers can set up and which can be built into any unit of language work.

Why use text manipulation? Text manipulation activities allow students:

 

• to 'play' and work with text in a safe environment
• to consolidate understanding of the written word as a precursor to their own writing
• to discover underlying grammatical systems
• to work on differentiated activities
• to work at their own pace
• to get instant feedback.

They are best used as part of a mixed-skill activity, linked to oral, aural or visual stimuli and followed up purposefully.

What can text-manipulation software do? Text-manipulation programs allow a range of activities with basic text. The text may be created by the teacher, be produced by learners or come from a commercially available package. Typical activities are cloze and gap procedures, re-ordering line by line, decoding and text reconstruction. It is possible to incorporate sound into such packages on multimedia equipment so that a gapped text, for example, might contain sound clues.

The program used for the following activities is Fun with Texts (Camsoft) with its bank of seven types of exercise. Known as an authoring package because you can write your own text into it to match your own classroom needs, it is available for Windows, DOS, Archimedes and Apple Mac.

Other programs which can be used for authoring and text-manipulation activities include Gapkit (Camsoft) and Storyboard (Wida), which are available for Windows. Storyboard is also available for Macintosh.

Assumptions on which the activities are based Relevant text has been written and saved to the programs.

The activity is built in as part of an integral programme of language work within a specific unit.

Students will be working in pairs (or even threes) but some of the activities can be done by students on their own if they are confident with both machine and program, and need specific practice vocabulary reinforcement, for instance.

Where soundfiles are mentioned, you may need to consult your IT co-ordinator for assistance.

Twenty activities that work

Lists Save a bank of vocabulary (this could be, for example, names, towns, months, numbers (ages), colours, unit vocabulary ...) on Fun with Texts.

 

• Use Scrambler or Enigma (jumbles/codes) to practise and reinforce spelling.

It is fun to build in a puzzle so that the student has to find the answer to, for example, 'Who's been left out?', 'Who has the wrong age?', 'Spot the difference', and so forth.

 

• Use Textsalad (re-orders lines) to re-order according to aural/visual stimulus
• Use Copywrite Easy (giving initial letters only of each word) to read aloud the word from the screen, with symbol cues, and 'write' out.
• Using Copywrite Hard (with all letters replaced by blanks), listen to a tape or soundfile of vocabulary items; note and spell. (Accented letters reinforced.)
• Clozewrite (gaps text at intervals chosen either by the learner or by the teacher) can be used to practise gender where appropriate. For example: village – ville.

Word order Use Textsalad to familiarise students with word order in sentences, question forms, and so fon. Raise awareness of lots of different ways of saying or asking the same thing (for example: Quel est ton nom/prénom? Comment tu t'appelles?) Compose sentences and questions, saving the text as one word per line.

Example ton ? nom Quel est

Dialogues Provide a jumbled conversation of up to nine items of known information. (At the earliest stage of a unit, you may concentrate on, say, only three items.)

 

• Using Textsalad, re-order the jumbled conversation.
• In pairs, read the conversation aloud.
• Using Prediction, 'write out' the conversation.
• Print out for reference or substitution exercise: word process or write out your own scenario using your partner's information or cue card.

What was the question? Provide a printed list of answers.

 

• Re-order the questions to match, using Textsalad.
• Using Copywrite Easy, 'write' them out and print them.

A similar exercise with a printed list of questions is slightly easier.

What did they say? Students listen to a taped conversation between A and B – the length depends on the stage reached in the unit.

 

• Note details.
• Using Textsalad, re-order one (or two) third-person report(s).
• 'Write out' using Prediction, Copywrite Easy or Copywrite Hard, depending on ability.

Role-play support Listen to a conversation and make notes. Load the conversation in Copywrite Easy.

 

• Students role-play the conversation from screen with only the first letter of each word to assist them.

You may want to let less advanced students read it for as long as they like, or to have higher attainers work without reading it at all.

 

• Students can go on to load it in Copywrite Easy or Copywrite Hard and 'write' it out.

Conversations Give students a recorded presentation (in first or third person) to listen to.

 

• Using Textsalad, students re-order the conversation or interview from which it might have emanated.

Possible extension Provide similar but different cues to stimulate a conversation between the pair.

 

• Students then load in a report connected to this conversation and work on it in Textsalad, Prediction and Copywrite Easy.

What can you see? Provide a visual stimulus – perhaps a cue card, a picture or a cartoon strip story.

 

• Students re-order and 'write out' a description using Textsalad, Prediction and Copywrite.
• Print out the work.
• Using a different stimulus, word process a similar type of description, thus adapting a model.

Find the picture Provide a sheet showing several pictures with text in a Fun with Texts file which matches one of the pictures. (You may like to use pictures of people, 'wanted' posters, town scenes, houses or timetables as the stimulus.)

 

• Students re-order the text and decide which of the pictures it describes.
• Students could word process a description of one of the other pictures or create a Fun with Texts file for another pair to work on.

Spot the extra! Provide a simple soundfile describing a scene. Write a Fun with Texts file describing a similar scene, including either a bit more information or some different information.

 

• In unjumbling the text using Textsalad, students must discover the extra detail or the different detail, and report back orally either to the class or to the teacher.
• Students quickly sketch the two scenes to verify their understanding.

Matchmaker Students listen to or read a text and match up.

For example: match towns to their speakers or re-order penfriend partners to match written details.

Précis decoding The student reads a report, letter, or article.

Using Enigma, decode a summary text.

You could be really 'mean' and build in a factual mistake that has to be spotted!

Re-verse Learners listen to simple poems or songs.

 

• Using Textsalad, learners then unjumble the verses on screen.
• Listen for key vocabulary on a recording and fill in gaps in text in Clozewrite.
• Use Prediction to 'write' them out.

Sequences Provide visual (and/or aural) stimulus for following instructions or directions (for example: following a recipe, using a washing machine).

 

• Students re-order using Textsalad and then go on to working with Prediction and Copywrite Easy.

This might also be a fun way for students to practise target-language instructions and directions for operating in the classroom (Posez vos stylos. Ecoutez bien. Vous allez écouter... / dessiner... / ranger... , etc.)

Form filler Provide a blank grid/form such as identity card format.

 

• Using Textsalad or Copywrite Easy, students deduce from the text they are working on (an introductory penfriend letter, for instance, or an interview transcript) the information needed to complete the form.

Talking it through Load a text (narrative or playlet) in Fun with Texts. Bring it up in Closewrite (deletion interval 4 or 5). At the teacher's discretion, students may read the whole text for as long as they wish or not at all.

 

• Students then read the text from the screen, deducing what should be in the gaps.

Replies Provide a letter containing some questions for students to read and put a reply into Fun with Texts.

 

• Using Textsalad, students re-order the reply (or vice versa).
• They then 'write' it out using Copywrite Easy.
• They note the answers to questions from the initial letter and report back.

Reports Use Fun with Texts activities to familiarise students with report writing. This can apply at all stages of a unit of work: it may simply be to progress from a list of sentences to a paragraph; or it may be to practise sequencing or to use comparatives.

 

• Students can then follow on with word processing similar reports or their own, with different cues.

Peer tasks Two students write a text for another group. They create a text according to a task and write it into Fun with Texts, choosing the activities to be done with it. They must have enough language at their disposal to do this realistically and their text should be relevant to the unit of language work.

Examples might include:

 

• a list of 15 items of vocabulary (with articles)
• a report written after interviewing another student about likes and dislikes (the aim being for yet another group to report back the results of the interview and verify it)
• a poem
• a summary of a magazine or newspaper article which has to be re-ordered then the article could be searched for in its original form in the magazine or newspaper and the two compared and used for further summary work.

Advanced tasks KS4 and sixth-form students may be ready to decode quite complex newspaper or magazine articles without stimulus.

 

• For example, students who have done quite a lot of work on reporting incidents may use Clozewrite to deduce and consolidate vocabulary, and Textsalad and Copywrite to re-order or disclose authentic newspaper articles written into Fun with Texts.
• Texts and articles from CD-ROM resource applications (such as foreign language newspapers) and from the Internet can be saved, re-drafted and transferred (within an institution) into software such as Fun with Texts, Gapkit and Storyboard and other appropriate software.

This will help familiarise students with content and register, provide summarising practice and prepare them for writing their own articles on a similar theme.

Further information

Many of these ideas can be set up (and followed up) by using a word processor - see A word processor is more than a writing machine.

Source material Lingu@NET has sample Fun with Texts files in the publishers' forum area.

A good source of authentic texts from target language countries for text manipulation files is e-mail and exchange letters/information.

Software information There is text manipulation shareware on the Internet from different target language countries. This can be useful and is worth browsing for from time to time.

Text-manipulation publications More ideas on using text manipulation can be found in the following publications: CALL, Hardisty and Windyatt (OUP) Text Manipulation, Sue Hewer (InfoTech series no. 2, CILT) Fun With Texts Resources, McElwee (TVECC).