Presented as part of the Language Teaching Forum

This presentation will assess some potential uses of polls for language teaching. I will explore how language teachers can use polls when introducing new material, in stand-alone teaching sessions or as a reflective tool to enhance learning. One specific instance of web-based polls (Polldaddy) will be used to demonstrate how polls can be productively used in the language classroom to engage students in learning activities. I will also demonstrate how polls/surveys can be used to gather data about the progress of student learning or student perspectives on a specific topic.

I argue that web-based survey/poll tools are easy to use and flexible enough to integrate with Moodle or other platforms as wordpress, smartphones and tablets. This presentation will offer practical examples of how different activities have been developed via these means using Polldaddy for the language classroom.

Malba Barahona is an educational researcher and a language educator with a vast experience in teaching Spanish and English as foreign languages. Her research interests include second language teacher education, second language acquisition, critical applied linguistics, Cultural Historical Activity theory, emerging technologies and innovative pedagogies. Currently, she teaches Spanish language at the Australian National University and second language acquisition to prospective language teachers at the University of Canberra.

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The Language Teaching Forum aims to provide a discussion platform for language teachers and researchers across ANU colleges. Its main objective is to enhance the exchange of research and new approaches in language education. The forum is open to interested people from outside the university such as school teachers and teachers from community schools.

The LTF is held on the first Wednesday of each month, 4.15-5.15pm followed by drinks and nibbles.

The forum is jointly coordinated by:

• Dr Gabriele Schmidt, School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, CASS
• Dr Duck-Young Lee, School of Culture, History & Language, CAP
• Ms France Meyer, Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies, CASS