Ideas about How to Use Chatting in My class

Chatting has ever been a nuisance in my language class, if I may say so. In the past few years, I have been teaching non-English majors of higher level. Students who stand out in a placement test upon entering university are entitled to have language class in our language lab once every week. We have a kind of course manage system in the lab and for every class students need to complete the assigned task, mostly listening tasks. However, much to my annoyance, I find some students from time to time chat with their friends in QQ or MSN, and they are talking in Chinese. You know, even if I manage to regulate them to stay focused in the listening material, sometimes it is beyond me as we normally have 50 students in the lab. When I finally get frustrated with getting students off the chatting, I have no other choice but to shut off the connection to internet, only keeping the intranet.

Yet after this morning’s class with Nikki in IECP lab, this nuisance is already gone. I really get refreshed when carrying out all these feasible chatting activities. The information gap, the jigsaw and problem-solving all give me enlightenment about applying chatting in my language class. Take problem-solving for example; it can be further developed with selected themes. One activity I have ever tried in my class is to design a party, and then try to get as many people as possible to sign in it. During the activity, students are asked to talk in groups first and then move around the classroom to seek for participants. Students find this activity enjoyable. But I think if I orient this activity as a chatting activity, it might be more competitive and interest-arousing. Firstly, for the design of party, they must rush to give suggestion and search for necessary supporting ideas from the internet. Secondly, in the second stage of asking for signing in, chatting may be fairer, since they are not asking that person face to face. You know, sometimes, you may be uninterested in that party, but that person is your roommate, you need to give him the “face” (which may mean ‘dignity’ or else); besides, voting on the net may be more efficient and easy to count. Lastly, chatting records can be kept both for present judgment (for teachers to score or correct major mistakes) and future use (as an example to introduce similar activities to different classes). So far, I have only figured out these merits with chatting. At application, I think more functions can be developed. Anyway, as long as it fits into the teaching pedagogy and helps to realize the goal, it can be regarded as a pearl.