Energy Production: Common Terms

no

Lecturers
Students

Engineering
Sustainability

Autonomous learning
Classroom Context

Romanian

English

A2
B1

Activity/task
Audio
Reference resources (online Dictionaries/ grammar guides/phrasebooks)

Vocabulary
Prosody

Speaking
Reading

The resource is part of a pod called Romanian 101pod presents a set of on the various topics, one of which is Energy Production: Common Terms. The pod contains a set of related terms putere, amplificator, baterie turbină etc. (and related information e.g. gender, English equivalent, pronunciation accessible by clicking on the speaker icon), phrases (complex terms energie nucleară, panou solar, rețea electrică) and (few) sentences (Nu e nicio baterie în lanternă./ There is no battery in the flashlight., Preţul benzinei este în creştere. /The price of gasoline is rising.). In some cases of sentences more examples are provided. It fosters autonomous learning, as each item can be replayed if necessary to acquire correct pronunciation). Lack of context for mot items is a problem, but this can be balanced by use of other references (e.g corpora). It can be used by students in technology and sustainability to expand topic related vocabulary.

The resource is useful as a complement to a main unit or as an individual learning , as it only introduces 22 main vocabulary items presented in isolation, however, there is an additional box with contexts and phraseology for those items, which can add to their integration in conversation. Each box - which can be only accessed after creating an account - offers linguistic information and visual elements as well, which supports comprehension. The resource is adequately assessed, it can be used with A2 and lower B1 students. Its main advantage is the possibility of students to practice pronunciation (the items are in Romanian and English) individually, at their own pace, with as many repetitions as it takes. The slight Transylvanian accent of the voice used can be a hindrance, but also a potential topic of interesting conversation for students immersed in other regions of Romania who have been exposed to other accents. We consider it would be difficult for the resource to be used for assessment purposes, but the other methodological suggestions are feasible.

The resource can be used as a pre-reading activity in which most (or all?) terms and phrases are found in a text on the topic, in order to introduce the new vocabulary.
Alternatively, the trainer/teacher can:
- introduce the topic
- elicit already known vocabulary related to the topic
- present the site containing the new set of lexical items
- ask students to practice pronunciation (individually or in class)
- ask student to identify a context for each lexical item presented in a corpus such as CoRoLa (lexical item can be presented selectively, not all need be presented in the same lesson)
- check contexts by asking students to read out loud their finds
- ask students to identify 3 contexts in a corpus such as CoRoLa where the lexical items are present, delete them and present the gapped version to colleagues to suggest the missing word/phrase;
- alternatively, the trainer can do this type of activity for students’ assessment