CHINSWING

Chinswing is a global message board where anyone can add voice messages to ongoing topical discussions.


It is a tool that can be used in many different ways to practise both listening and speaking skills with students of all levels. Of course, if we want our students to become active listeners, we should make it clear in the rubric that they will have to continue/respond or react to the previous posts.


One of the advantages of CS is that students can record their messsage again and again (before they click on save to upload it) if they are not satisfided.
Their message can be as long as they want, so it is up to the teacher to set a time limit for recordings (either maximun or minimun).


In the case of more advanced students, we could make them participate on authentic threads. The interesting thing is that discussions are categorised, so students could choose a discussion on a topic of their liking. One of the benefits of making students join ongoing discussions is that they will be exposed to many different accents.
Here’s a link to a thread on one of the parts of TOEFL speaking test, which exemplifies how this tool could be used to practise the individual long turn in Cambridge exams (the mini presentations in the BEC suite, for example).
http://www.chinswing.com/pages/discussion.aspx?id=4f896910-fa90-4467-9843-bb557b45a8af


Here’s a link to another thread. It’s a good example of how to integrate the book with CS. Listen to the teacher’s rubric.
http://www.chinswing.com/pages/discussion.aspx?id=b464200a-0c9c-4b98-8795-a44e3f4c0406

Actually, we can start threads on many different topics to further practise what is being taught in the coursebook (e.g you can ask students to describe their house, a room in their house, their hometown if you are teaching there is/are and prepositions of place).

Here’s a link to a thread I have created. We know children love listening to stories and inventing stories. After teaching and practising the past tense, the teacher could start a story in CS.
http://www.chinswing.com/pages/discussion.aspx?id=98d19b90-7b8c-4ca8-b2de-e21f18fa6540
Of course, we could introduce this activity by creating an oral chain story in class. Besides, the teacher could post again if necessary (e.g if kids have lost track of the story).

And here’s another link to a thread for intermediate students.
http://www.chinswing.com/pages/discussion.aspx?id=4f3206a8-9290-4757-8c3e-8ffb48092a10


Last but not least, Chingswing is very, very simple to use. Click on the link below, read the instructions, sign up and join an online discussion or start your own.
http://www.chinswing.com/pages/firststeps.aspx