Using Google Voice for Oral Language Homework

I have been searching for a safe way to encourage my adult newcomer ESL students practice English outside of the classroom. Although there are some great apps for practicing oral communication, they are generally too high-level and most of my students don't have iPhones, Androids, or anything beyond a "dumb" phone. This idea comes from one of my colleagues who did this before the internet was around -- thank you, Teacher Rich!

What?

Use Google Voice to practice simple questions and answers over the phone.

Why?

• Usable across the digital divide -- you don't need a computer for this one.
• This is a safe way to practice communication skills outside of the classroom, especially for older, isolated ESL students.
• Easy to collaborate with your less tech-savvy peers -- all they need to learn is how to call the number and change the voice-mail greeting.
• The teacher can download the recorded messages from students and have students listen to themselves and their peers. Depending on how cohesive your classroom is, students (and/or the teacher) could give feedback to each other on how easy or hard it was to understand the person.
• Multiple teachers can share a Google Voice number and divide up the work of making new messages.

How:

1. Setting up a Google Voice number is as easy as setting up a Gmail account. Google Voice YouTube Video and add participating teachers' phone numbers under Settings > Phones
2. Check "Do Not Disturb" Settings > Calls so that all calls go straight to Voicemail.
   
   
   
   
   
3. a) Record the voicemail greeting under Settings > Voicemail and Text > "Record New Greeting" OR b) Record the voicemail by calling your new Google Voice number from one of the participating teachers' phones.
   
4. Give the number out to students. Demonstrate calling in class from a non-participating phone on speakerphone.
5. You can be notified by email of messages. From the main Google Voice page, you can download an MP3 of students' messages by clicking More > Download.
   

Some possible questions to start using with your newcomer students:

Hello, what is your name? / My name is …

What language do you speak? / I speak …

What is your phone number? / My phone number is …

What is your address? / My address is …

What is your city? / My city is …

Where are you from? / I come from …

Where do you live? / I live in …

Hello _______, I can't come to school. My name is .... My teacher is .... I am sick.

Where do you go to school? I go to ....

When does school start? School starts at ___________.

What do you do? I am a (student) …

What is the school address? The school address is ....

What is the school phone number? The school phone number is .... If you have some helpful suggestions or questions, leave a comment below. -Teacher Tim