For the first time in
my stay at YUC on a Wednesday in EDU 401 class we had a virtual classroom
session. Dr. Hala was the moderator who introduced Ms. Peggy Tharpe who is an American English teacher,trainer and consultant,
americanpronunciationcoach. I can’t actually remember how many students were in the class but
roughly 15 to 16 of us and a guest teacher. The session was on for about 43
minutes.
The topic of the
lecture was about “how Arabic influences the Pronunciation of English?” Ms. Peggy
started by telling us a very interesting story on how she came to study why
people sound so American when they speak Arabic. From her study she discovered
that;
·
Arabic and English are spoken in
different parts of the mouth.
·
Differences in vowel system.
·
Differences in consonant system.
·
Arabic breaks in sound can occur within
words (glottal stop) while
·
English breaks in sound separate
phrases.
·
Consonants are strong in Arabic whereas
vowels are stronger in English.
·
The problem with learning all the extra
vowels for the Arabic speaker and extra consonant for the English speaker. eg
American
|
Standard Arabic
|
|
vowels
|
12-18
|
3:3+2
|
consonants
|
20
|
27-28
|
When the session was over she asked some questions
and some answers were given. E.g. one question says, what works best to
master unfamiliar consonants? Some students say, practice and listening skills. Ms. Peggy agreed,
adding that even research has shown that the earlier one listens to a language
the better they acquire the accent.
Advantages
Accessibility: one can access a virtual classroom
from home, office, internet café or any other place which has an internet
connection.
It brings experienced people and learners from all
over the world together in highly interactive virtual class.
Recording: all sessions in a virtual classroom can be
recorded and you can watch and listen to the entire session at any time.
Disadvantages
Not all schools have the technology and the
internet.
Cost of the technology.
Some feel that education quality will go down
because of "mass" communication learning systems.
I will like to use virtual classrooms like blackboard
in my classroom. Depending on where I am in the world. In Saudi Arabia I don’t think it will work because of the
restrictions on the use of cameras and videos. However, things are rapidly
changing.
