VoiceThreading: TESOL Strategy Guide

VoiceThread firmly establishes itself as a tool that has the exciting potential to give an actual audible voice to those language students who rarely, if ever, speak the target language in class, and it does so by providing students with the means to construct visually-based digital conversations. In the light of this, the pedagogical affordances provided by asynchronous computer-mediated communication with this tool are considered, along with the types of educational VoiceThreads that are in use today. The efficacy behind VoiceThread development, with and for students, is then oriented toward the teaching of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). This is followed by a brief overview of the instructional strategies useful when employing VoiceThread in English language learning contexts, supported by example activities and resources, and a means of evaluating the outcomes afforded through use of the tool. An overview of the techniques essential for monitoring, producing, and guiding effective VoiceThread development among language learners is also included, as well as a tutorial for getting started with the technology.

David Kent is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of TESOL-MALL at Woosong University in the Republic of Korea. He has been working and teaching in Korea since 1995, and with a Doctorate of Education from Curtin University in Australia, he is a specialist in computer assisted language learning (CALL) and the teaching of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). He has presented at international conferences, as well as published a number of peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and book chapters in his areas of specialization.