Deviant ELLs

On the Internet today there are sites for every interest imaginable, from babies to skateboarding. These are nearly universal, and for English speakers, they are easily accessible online.

My own interests are in art and science fiction, and luckily Deviant Art has attracted artist from several nations, and the forum makes it easy to find them and strike up a conversation. Just today, there are call outs on the Deviant Meet Board to "Deviants" in London, Barcelona, Denton, Ekatarinburg, Venice, Sydney, New York City, India, the Philippines, and more! In my foreign language studies, I've actually run across several Russian and German speakers who just by chance joined the same interest groups as me on the site. This has really improved my writing ability, even if the subject is a drawing of a psychotic, one-eyed samurai who fights aliens.

But regardless of one's own artistic ability, it is easy to get started on this site even just as an observer and to search for art relating to one's interests. Photographers in particular tend to flood their sections with pictures of, say, their Chow. And Chow owners tend to be very enthusiastic about their dogs, so they will be glad to tell you all about them! Or for the more serious student, there is also a section in the forum for political discussion.

Wherever the conversation will be taking place on the site, it is guaranteed a quick response. On the forum, responses are immediate, while personal notes or comments to artists may require a two day wait or more. But a response of some sort is almost certain, and this, I think is the most important part of writing ability. Just like listening is important for speaking, reading is important for writing. To keep up with their new virtual pen pals, students will need to read their reply... and depending on the age and socioeconomic status of the artist, that could be difficult. And even if they happen to be Harvard graduates, recipients are unlikely to provide any correction.

To ensure this interaction (and the ability to monitor what sort of "deviant" input students are receiving), teachers can even create a section for themselves and post pictures or poems for students to comment on. Of course, it will have to be original material, so strap your creativity boots on!

A common strategy for clubs on the site is to allow members to submit their material for publication on the club page. (The administrator will simply save their picture or file and resubmit them there as an original production of the club members as a whole). This could provide a fun project for the class, where students could take turns posting pictures of their surroundings or interests, write a description of them, and wait to reply to comments provided by their peers. Teachers could even connect with other ESL classes this way and invite them to join in the fun! This is also a great way to have students expand on their vocabulary by drawing from their peers' differing interests.