Communication Technology – Resource

Pages
FIND SOMEONE WHO...

www.esolht.org. has used a

has sent
computer
an e-mail. knows the ESOL Home
in the last
Tutor Service web site
week.
name.
NAME: ____________ NAME: ____________ NAME: ____________

remembers the first has children has an

time they who know e-mail
used a more about address.
computer. computers than they do.

NAME: ____________ NAME: ____________ NAME: ____________

can give two meanings knows the e-mail has visited the
for the word mouse. addresses ESOL Home
of two other Tutor Service
people. web site.

NAME: ____________ NAME: ____________ NAME: ____________

can name can name chats on-line.

two two places
web site to access
addresses. the internet.

NAME: ____________ NAME: ____________ NAME: ____________

Using this resource:

- use this resource with your group of elementary/lower intermediate learners. Lower level learners
can work in pairs.
- before the activity go over vocabulary, review asking questions, and give an example.
- give each learner or pair a copy and have them ask questions to fill in the sheet.
- as a follow on activity you could collate the answers, or make a list of e-mail addresses so learners
can contact each other (and you them) easily, discuss places to access the internet and discuss the
web sites for learning English (later in this insert) and our web site www.esolht.org.nz

ESOL Home Tutor Service

 JARGON
CLUES
1. 2.
1. A m___m lets you
access the internet 3.
through a
4.
telephone
line. 5. 6.
2. Our
h___
p___ is the front page 7. 8.
of our web site. From
there you can reach
other parts of the web- 9.

site. 10.
3. To get information
from the world wide web and transfer it to your computer.
4. Netscape is one, and so is Explorer. A b______ lets us browse
through the internet.
5. To find information on the internet you can use a s_____ e______.
6. Electronic mail.
7. Frequently asked questions are also know as ___.
8. How do you say this sy mbol – @?
9. When your computer is connected to the internet you are o_l___.
10. Uniform Resource Locator – our ____ is www.esolht.org.nz.

HERE ARE SOME WEB SITES TO PRACTISE YOUR ENGLISH:

www.englishday.com – plenty of crosswords, games and other things to do.
www.efls.com – lots of practise activities.
www.rong-chang.com – links to other sites which have games, listening,
reading and writing.
OR TYPE IN “LEARN ENGLISH” ON YOUR BROWSER TO FIND MORE.

The latest Password magazine (Vol 25 No. 4) has readings and exercises on communication too!

L R U Using this resource:

- you can use this crossword to introduce the topic of communication
SOLUTION

E N I L N O E E

I G S
on computers or if your learner is lower level you can use it to check
the vocabulary you have covered.
T A Q A F W

- to make it easier you can write the answers in a box and the learner
M P O M

E N I G N E H C R A E S

M B D
has to find the correct word from the box to put in the spaces.
D A O L N W O D O - to make it harder white out the letters given in the clues.
H M - you and your learner can write different clues or your own
crossword using different words.

ESOL Home Tutor Service

 WEB WRITING
You can add a new
Symbols to This is the
Write your Add a subject The name topic or reply to
add to your learners’
message here. to your you want one already on
message. bulletin board.
message. to use. the board.

This is a picture of the learner bulletin board in our web-site. This Bulletin Board is a place for you
to share your opinions, ideas and useful information with other learners all over New Zealand.

Have a look at the parts of the page and then write your own message. Include your name and
subject and then your message in the white boxes. Here are some ideas of how to begin, or you can
choose your own:
• I practise my English by...
• I like learning English with my home tutor because…
• I prefer to learn English in a class because...
• The hardest thing about living in New Zealand for me is…
• The best thing about living in New Zealand for me is...
Using this resource:
- you can use this resource to practise writing. Have your group learners fill it in then swap for
correction.
- use it as a chance to discuss ways to practise out of class and suggest learners post their messages.

ESOL Home Tutor Service

 TIMELINE – A DISCUSSION

1876
the telephone This timeline shows some major developments in
communication technology. It gives the date, the
Bell and Watson
invention, the inventor. Here are some questions to discuss.

- Which invention do you use the most?

1895
radio - Which invention has changed the world the most?
Marconi
- What important inventions were not included here?

1925 Look at the quotes below. Time has proved them all wrong.
television
- What do you think the same person would say today?
Baird
- What would you predict for the future about
communication technology?
1943
the computer
Aiken “Everything that can be
invented has already been “Th
e
invented.” Charles H. Duell, a n y re is
one no
director of U.S. Patent Office. com w re
1965 put o u l d a s o n
(1896) Ols er wa wh
e i n y
the mouse a n d n , p r n the t a
f e s i r
Englebart E q u o u n d i d e n t home
ipm er , ch .” K
ent of air en
Cor D i g m an
p. ( i t a l
197
ay 7)
u r em
1971 fut s.”
t h e .5 ton s t i n g
e-mail in 1 ca e.
u t ers t han f o r e cienc “I think there is world
Tomlinson mp s , fs
les a n i c s
“ C o h no c h r c ho market for maybe five
ig e a
we l a r M ess m computers.” Thomas
p u t l
P o relen Watson, chairman of IBM.
1989 the ) (1943)
49
world wide (19

web
Berners-Lee

Using this resource:

- you can use this resource as a basis for a discussion.
- you can use it to practise the passive voice with your learner (e.g. “The computer was invented in
1943 by Aiken” is passive voice and is used when the action and its result are more important than
who did it. Compare it to “Aiken invented the computer in 1943.”)
- you can practise language for making predictions – “I think...”, “In the future, computers may…” ,
“There is no reason why…”. Think of other examples and practise making predictions with your
learner.

ESOL Home Tutor Service