Internet: English robot chat

Chat Pals English chat using robots www.e-chatpals.com
Having trouble finding keypals or penpals for your students?
Not sure about introducing your students to strangers on the
internet? Would you like to chat at your convenience?
Use Chat Pals www.e-chatpals.com for a convenient
and fun way for your students to practice their English language skills online.

Students have the opportunity to improve their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills by chatting with online robots anytime they like. Currently the robots have over 27,000 patterns. The more you interact with them, the more they learn.

Recommended for high school, university, and adult English language learners. The site may equally be used in large classes as well
as individually. All you need is an internet connect and headphones
to listen to the robots.

The home pages design is written bilingually in Japanese and English, but English language learners the world over may use it.

It's very easy to use the site. Basically students just type in
questions and the robot answers. Below are some ideas for more
structured learning.

A)For self-study and autonomous learning

Some points to remember when chatting with the robots:

1. Please check your spelling when typing a question.
2. It is best to write your questions using complete sentences.
3. Listen to the robot self-introductions (there are other robots available below the main one). You may replay the self
introductions as many times you wish.
4. Take notes when listening to the self-introduction to improve your listening skills.
5. Prepare what questions you will ask the robot. This will give you a chance to check your spelling and grammar and improve your writing skills. When typing your questions, try to say them. This will improve your speaking skills.
6. Freely type and ask the robot any other questions you may have.
7. Copy and paste the results of your dialogue with the robot into whatevernword processing software you are using for later study and review.
8. Practice your pronunciation by typing ?say? followed by whatever you would like the robot to repeat. Repeat after the robot.

B) Classroom use and integration

1. Teacher prepares fill in the gap, or other listening exercise (such as listen for his/her age, where is he/she from? Depending on level of student, the teacher can ask for more detail or to listen for more information.

Fill in the gap:

a) Students are provided a fill in the gap activity which follows the
robot self-intros.
b) Students listen only one time. Compare with partner. Students use
strategic competence- "Did he say...?", "Is _______ right?", "What did you get for______?"
I didn?t hear what he said for ___________
c) Students replay. Check answers.
d) Students receive the same fill in the gap sheet. This time they fill in the correct information about themselves. Another fill in the gap sheet is provided under the one they have filled in which they will use with their partner.
e) Students read their self-introduction to a partner, who listens and fills in the second copy they have (under the one they have filled in). Use strategic competence eg. Pardon me, excuse me, one more time, did you say, etc.
f) After listening to each other?s self intros, students think of more questions to ask (more in depth e.g. react, and ask one more question for a deeper conversation).
g) Think of questions to ask robot.
h) Cut and paste dialogue.
i) Check vocabulary. Try dialogues with partner.
Students discuss if robot responses are appropriate, and if not, what would have been appropriate.

Have fun!

Ron
Chat Pals
www.e-chatpals.com