Voice tools are versatile, engaging, and collaborative Web 2.0 tools that allow students to practice their oral skills inside and outside the classroom and receive feedback on their performance both synchronously and asynchronously.

The reasons for which we began to exploit asynchronous voice tools are manifold. First, we felt the need to extend our students’ talking time beyond the class into a safe and motivating environment where they could practice at their own pace and at the most convenient time. This environment was expected to offer equal chances to speak to less proficient students who were more reticent to speak in class for fear of losing face in front of more proficient ones. Such students could rehearse and prepare beforehand and record only when satisfied with their production. Because repetition is the mother of learning, there was a hidden target here that could not function as such, especially with adult students. However, in asynchrony and the comfort of one’s own home, it worked perfectly because less proficient students revised, re-edited, and re-recorded until satisfied with their output.

Another compelling reason for asynchronous voice tools adoption was the extension of the students’ exposure to other different accents of real people from all over the world, both native and nonnative speakers of English. Listening to real voices was motivating for some students as they were no longer afraid of sounding less perfect or of speaking with a specific accent, which is crucial especially in the case of more adult learners.

All in all, voice tools can be exploited by language teachers in order to increase the students’ confidence in their own speaking.

VOXOPOP: AN OPEN WINDOW TO REAL SPEAKING PRACTICE

Voxopop (VOP), available at www.voxopop.com,is one of the most user-friendly, free, and versatile asynchronous voice tools that can be used to build an audio discussion. This is why teachers who feel they face the issues mentioned before and are less familiar with technology can start spicing up their lessons with voice technology by using Voxopop.

VOP is a message board with real voices. It is like a message left after the beep of an answer phone, but this message is then commented on or taken a step forward by other participants. Teachers can either create their own talkgroups according to the topics they want, or guide their students to explore and join existing ones. These many ready-made VOP talkgroups and categorized discussions where students can participate are an advantage over synchronous voice tools such as chat. You can browse ongoing conversations by topic (spirituality, business, computers & technology, entertainment, art, health, lifestyle, science, nature, society, and culture), by recently updated, or even by keywords.

You can listen to most messages of existing talkgroups; however, if you want to start adding messages, you will need to join them. Then you can just click the “Record a Message” button and add your message.

Right after that, a new window will pop up with a simple toolbar. Then, once you have your microphone on and you are ready to speak, just click on the red button and start talking.

If you want to create a talkgroup, you have to open an account at www.voxopop.com, then click on “Create a talkgroup” and fill in the details of your talkgroup: name, type and category, as well as access level (i.e., open, restricted or private). For restricted talkgroups, the administrator’s approval is needed to join; private talkgroups also require this approval and are hidden from the public, and so are ideal for classrooms with constraints on students speaking in public.

You can select an image, color scheme, description, rules of conduct, and discussion zones, then click “Create my Talkgroup.” After creating it, you can invite students to join (click “Invite”) or simply give them the talkgroup URL and ask them to join.

Anyone can explore and listen to public discussions, but only signed-up users can start or join talkgroups. A recently introduced feature enables the teacher as talkgroup administrator to delete improper content (individual comment) or a whole discussion. Moreover, a very convenient feature for teachers is the e-mail notification, which can be enabled so that you are e-mailed whenever a new studentcontributes.

In order to start the talkgroup discussion and record the instructions for your students, you have to click “Start a talkgroup discussion” and then the red recording button. Java will be activated for voice recording, so make sure you have its latest version (although your computer should usually do this job automatically). When you are ready, stop recording and then press the “Play” button in order to listen to your production. Save it if satisfied or delete it and record again if you need to improve.

For further information on how to use Voxopop, check out Nicholas Peachey’s tutorial.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES FOR THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

VOP can be used with different levels, from elementary to advanced, with a whole range of integrated reading, listening and writing activities involving both grammar and vocabulary in the same way we do in class. The crucial difference is that now students speak from home and can be heard from anywhere in the world.

For vocabulary practice and discussion, students can be invited to express their opinions (say on their favorite food, hobby, ideal holiday, future job), to describe (themselves or their houses, town, school, experiences, routines), to discuss an article in the newspaper or their coursebook, to bring arguments for and against a certain topic, to negotiate, to agree or disagree, to reflect, and so on. A good suggestion for this type of activities is to record a series of statements and ask students to respond to each one.

Practicing structures in context can also be easily adapted with VOP(you can listen to an example of the present perfect being practiced here).

Alternatively, VOP can be employed to improve pronunciation (record some pronunciation drills and get students to repeat them and record themselves), for dictation purposes (record your own dictation texts, then ask students to write down what they hear and then record their own version), and also as an assessment tool or for tutorials in order to guide students without the teacher being physically there.

For more suggestions on how to use Voxopop in the classroom, check the talkgroup BaW09 Voice Tools for Teaching.

CONCLUSION

To sum up, this tool can be described as user-friendly, engaging, collaborative, authentic, suited for all levels, and, most important of all, an excellent way to fight against students’ timidity, and especially to allow and encourage real communicative speaking and listening practice outside the classroom walls.

The advantages are not only for students, but also for teachers who can keep a record of their students’ speaking and assess their pronunciation and also their progress.

All in all, VOP is a great tool that can help teachers raise their students’ confidence in their speaking abilities and provide a venue for engaging, accessible, and authentic EFL speaking activities.

Susana Gómez is a professor of undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the University of Valladolid, the editor of TESOL-SPAIN Newsletter, a reviewer of TESOL Journal and The Asian EFL Journal, a TESOL-SPAIN Board member, and the supervisor of Cambridge ESOL exams at the University of Valladolid. She is a regular speaker at TESOL conventions and has written several articles on SLA and EFL methodology.

Anisoara Pop is an associate professor at Dimitrie Cantemir University, Targu Mures, Romania. She holds a doctorate in linguistics and has been teaching EFL/ESP for 22 years. Her main current interest is in enhancing English learning with Web 2.0 tools.