Synchronous and
asynchronous online English programs, which one should you choose?
Studying languages has always been popular with
college and post-school students, that is, coming from institutes,
universities, etc. and among professionals who want to give a plus to their
career. What do we do in our countries? We enroll in a language center in our
city, we study one or two hours a day, and we obtain a sufficient level for our
goals. If we are lucky, our college or university gives us a few hours of language
instruction or it is a requirement in our university academic plan. Those who
have the possibility of studying a language in a country where that language is
spoken, they take their suitcases and enroll in an intensive language program,
exposed all day to the culture and academic environment of that language. In
these moments with adverse health conditions, what options do we have?
There were already options to learn a language through
an online program or through an app on our cell phone. Some programs are more
effective than others, but many times we obtained the same results from our
face-to-face classes: some vocabulary, enough spelling exercises, audios to
listen on how to pronounce a word, and grammatical rules.
According to the British Council there are 2 billion
students learning English in the world and one of the most famous applications
for learning English online, for example, had 30 million downloads in a single
year.
The question so far is: what is the difference between
studying a language in person in my country and online?
The first thing to look for is the time of exposure to
the language. The platforms can vary, it can be in your country, on your cell
phone, or in the country where the language is spoken. The platform, tool, or
place you use does not determine learning. The difference is how long you are
exposed to the language. There is no use studying English in New York if you
are exposed to your first language the rest of the day. Therefore, assess yourself
how long you will be exposed to the language you want to learn. At this time,
it is not possible to go to a face-to-face class, therefore if you are going to
look for an online program and it depends how much you want to learn, decide on
the number of daily or weekly hours for remote classes, or how many weeks that
program has.
As director of the English Language Institute at the
College of Staten Island that belongs to the City University of New York
(CUNY), I have seen that many language centers here in the city, here in New
York City, have closed their doors and only 10% are already offering the option
online. Many language centers here enjoyed the privilege of having students who
wanted to live in New York, experience New York culture, ride the subway, visit
the Statue of Liberty, and we had not been prepared to offer the program
online. We always think that, if a student thought of us, they would first
decide to come and enjoy the city instead of paying for an online program with
us. That is why we are now offering the online option for those who live
anywhere in the world to study our programs from the comfort of their home.
That’s a big lesson for language center in big cities around the world.
The second point, after exposure, is a special characteristic
of online teaching: synchronous learning. What is this? Online programs are
synchronous or asynchronous. Most are asynchronous, in which the student enters
a platform where there are instructions on what to read, what book to look for,
what video already recorded to watch, what exercise you should do, or what
essay you should write. The teacher's explanations are already written and if
you have any questions, you should send them a message or email and you will
have the answer, perhaps hours later or the next day. Many English programs are
asynchronous, in which you basically use a platform with all these instructions
and activities already designed. The learning outcome can also be a little slow
and not very useful for a language. The advantage is that the student advances
at his or her own pace and during the time he or she has available. Many
students end up learning with less and less time intensity, without external
motivation, and most do not feel that there is a follow-up from the platform
because our learning cannot be rigorously evaluated. I recommend it for
students with very little time and with changing work schedules or who are in
university with a difficult schedule, and who are not in a hurry to learn the
language in a certain frame time.
The last point is synchronous learning. It is the most
convenient and effective. Unlike asynchronous learning, learning a language
with a live teacher, at that moment, with you, is much more convenient. The
teacher will be there to guide you, to correct you, to listen to you, to explain
that grammar question that you must solve at that moment, which will tell you
to formulate your sentence again, or that will evaluate if you understood or
not the reading questions in which you are working. The great advantage is that
you have the teacher almost the same way as when you have him or her in the
classroom. If the English class or any language program is in a group, much
better. Many online platforms allow you to work in small groups of 3 or 4
students and then ‘go back’ to the class of 10 or 15 students, just like you do
in the classroom. This program is ideal for those students who really have the
time to be exposed to the language, whose work or study schedules allow them to
have a language learning schedule.
Let's make the difference between studying and
learning. We can all memorize the rule of 'do' and 'does', or when using 'have'
and not 'has', we can study that, or hear the correct pronunciation of the word
'yes' (iez) and not 'lles' (llez ), but acquiring a language depends on how
exposed you are to that word, that phrase, that particular pronunciation . For
now, seek to learn synchronously, not study, learn, and you will see that you
are going to acquire a language.
We are pleased to invite you to attend the online
English program that we will offer here at the English Language Institute of
the College of Staten Island / The City University of New York. You will feel
as you were in a real classroom!
Thank you for your time to listen and a lot of
self-motivation to those who are going to take the first step in learning a new
language in these difficult times.
Gonzalo Villena
Director -
English Language Institute (ELI)
College of
Staten Island
The City
University of New York (CUNY)
No comments:
Post a Comment