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=__**Skype: Use in the Foreign Language Classroom**__=

Introduction
- In today's competitive age of technology, we as a society are forever changing our ways and challenging ourselves to stay up to date with the new age of technological advances. These advances are also reaching the door steps of our classrooms. One technological revolution that combines a computerized video of one's self accompanied by their audio (voice) is Skype. Pen pal writing has been a part of school curriculums around the country for decades. Now, a new approach on pen paling is under investigation. The use of Skype among the children of the United States to communicate with children of other countries is a new approach to pen paling. This brings in the use of technology into the classroom and allows students to become familiar with the new age of communication. Some have even used simple technology such as email to communicate with other children from various countries. This idea has been referred to as //e-paling.// Whether it's using email or Skype, it's essential that children be exposed to as much new age technology as possible at a young age. As stated before, today's societies around the world are in an on-going competitive streak to learn and develop the most advanced sources of communication and other essentials that are critical to our everyday lives. By using Skype to communicate with other cultures, children will be exposed to diversity on multiple fronts. By actually viewing an image of a child from a different culture, that would expose them to diversity through a visual image. By hearing the other children speak, the children in the classrooms would be exposed to language diversity. Based on the child's grade level, teachers could collaborate with the teacher from the other country and they could decide on various ways to incorporate lessons in communication. media type="youtube" key="rxOPX0CblFM" width="425" height="350"

Definition of Skype
-Skype is a communication tool that provides consumers the opportunity to make voice (audio) and video calls over the internet. Skype is a free software application that is provided for any user. Skype also offers a computer-to-land line service for both local and international calls. This type of service has a fee (Eaton, 3).

History of Skype
- The software application known as 'Skype' was founded in 2003 by an entrepreneur from Sweden named Niklas Zennstrom. The software was developed by Estonians and along with the help of Zennstrom, the first public version was released in April of 2003 (Wikipedia). The central concept of Skype is to allow consumers the ability to make voice calls as you would on a telephone, over the internet accompanied by an image of yourself. The first name given to the new software program was "Sky-peer-to-peer"(Wikipedia). In 2008, Skype released new updates that included versions for Sony PSP hand held gaming system. During the seventh season of the show, //Who Wants to be a Millionaire,// Skype was even used during the "ask an expert" video life-line (Wikipedia). In a 2010 report by TeleGraphy Research, it was noted that Skype was responsible for 13% of all international call minutes in 2009 which calculated into 54 billion Skype calls (Wikipedia)

Issues with Skype
-An issue that can arise while using Skype is that it can occasionally have a delayed connection, resulting in an interference with the teacher’s lesson for the day. Problems can occur with webcams and microphones, as all technology can be unreliable, so the teacher would then have to make modifications. Skype does have a chat feature which the students could use if the connection is bad. This feature would be used like a chat room, but it is a safe and protected connection between the students that are using it. They can then talk back and forth by typing, just as they would in an email. This is just an easier and faster way for them to reply back and forth.

Advantages with Skype
-There are many advantages to using Skype, especially in the foreign language classroom. The first advantage is that it's free for everyone to use. The second is that it's very simple to set up an account. You just go to the Skype website and click Join Skype. Then you just follow the simple procedures of creating an account and you can begin your calling. If there are some difficulties when creating the account, just go to YouTube and there are many videos about creating accounts. If problems occur with being able to see or hear friends, Skype has a help section that will guide you through how to fix these problems. -A study that was done on using Skype in the foreign language classroom proved that there was an overall benefit from using this system. Student's achievement in their foreign language classroom improved when talking to someone who was fluent in the language they were attempting to learn. The participants of the study improved on their speaking, understanding and writing of the second language. They were also extending their knowledge of the culture of the foreign students and they improved on social skills (Tian and Wang, 187-90). Students who were communicating to other students in different countries were more likely to do better in their foreign language classroom.

Future direction of Skype
-The use of Skype in the classrooms from elementary aged children to high school ages is an essential approach to expose students to the new age of communication. Teachers should become aware of various lessons and new ideas that they could incorporate into the use of Skype as a different version of pen paling. For instance, elementary age children could benefit from Skype in the simplest ways. Just being exposed to the idea of virtual communication is enough to excite and motivate them to want to learn more about children from other countries. In middle schools and high schools it would be beneficial for groups of students learning Spanish to communicate with a class in Mexico that is learning English. The two classes would communicate with each other on Skype and would take turns speaking each language, which in turn would enhance both students' communication skills. Tian and Wang reiterate in the article that this "involves the pairing of individual language learners learning each other’s native language, in dyads, for the purpose of improving linguistic and intercultural understanding of the target language" (Wang and Tian, 182).

Conclusion
-There is no doubt that we are indeed living in an age that could be looked at as a "technological revolution." Competition on a global front is more evident than it has ever been. The United States has been given much credit for their technological advances and modern computer programming and software. One major communication tool that was invented within our own borders was Facebook, which currently has over 500 million users (Facebook, 2011). Last month President Barack Obama addressed the issue of competition and technology in his State of the Union Address. He also made the comment that, "When a child walks into a classroom, it should be a place of high expectations and high performance" (Obama, 2011). As we continue to embark further into the 21st century, we need to become more aware that our future lies within the hands of our youngest generations. By implementing such software programs like Skype into classrooms, we will be advancing our student's knowledge of technology and communication at a young age. By allowing our young people the opportunity to communicate and exchange ideas with someone of a different culture, we are also broadening their perspectives of the world that we all share. By using Skype as the modern pen-paling system, we are exposing our students to diversity in a different and more modern way. As it was stated above, the exchange of communication through Skype will enhance linguistic understandings of different cultures. Our President shares the same faith that we as teachers have for our younger generations. Faith that with proper guidance, and use of modern technology in the classrooms, our young people will grow up having had the experience of working in collaboration with different cultures using the most modern means of communication of the times. With this experience and exposure they will grow into a generation that will lead our country and the world in a newer age of innovation.

[|Overcoming Obstacles Posed by NCLB]
=== Ceprano, M. A., & Sivret, P. (2007). Overcoming Obstacles Posed by "NCLB": When Preservice Teachers and Special Needs Children Pen Pal with Each Other. //Online Submission//, Retrieved from EBSCO//host//. === [|Using Skype in the Second and Foreign Language Classroom] Eaton, S. (2010). Using Skype in the Second and Foreign Language Classroom. //Online Submission//, Retrieved from EBSCO//host//. How to Incorporate Penpals in the Classroom Ellis, J. (2011, January 16). How to Incorporate Penpals in the Classroom. In // EHow //. Retrieved February 9, 2011, from [] Facebook Facebook. (n.d.) //Press Room Statistics.// Retrieved February 10, 2011, from []. Taking Language Learning Outside the Classroom Jianqiu, T., & Yuping, W. (2010). Taking language learning outside the classroom: learners' perspectives of eTandem learning via Skype. //Innovation in Language Learning & Teaching //, 4(3), 181-197. doi:10.1080/17501229.2010.513443

Obama State of the Union Speech Obama, B. (2011, Jan 25). Obama State of the Union Speech 2011. //The Huffington Post.// Retrieved February 10, 2011, from []. [] []