March 27th, 2009
Grinnell recently hosted a NITLE event exploring ways in which technology can be used to introduce culture into the language learning classroom. The presentations and discussions were interesting. There are a few things that I learned that I’ll be talking about with our language faculty.
At the introductory level students are just being introduced to the target culture, the courses are typically centered around the textbooks, which include cultural components, and technology is sometimes used as a means to introduce supplementary materials. As students progress they begin to study the culture in depth, and the course is less tied to a texbook. There is more flexibility for the instructor in developing the syllabus and selecting course content. In these situations there is great opportunity for exploiting the many resources that are available through the use of technology.
Blogs can be used to expose students to dialog about current events and cultural issues. Videoconferencing can be used to connect students to people with first hand experience with the issues being discussed in the classroom. Mapping can be used to help students develop an understanding of the spaces and context surrounding the issues. A number of technologies can be used to expose students and engage them in discussions about cultural materials such as works of art and literature. There are endless possibilities.
I would like to see the use of technology grow in these higher level courses. If you teach a course that could benefit from any of these applications, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
March 3rd, 2009
I just finished reading an article in the Chronicle discussing the impact of globalization of foreign language education in higher ed. More specifically, the author talks about how institutions’ administrators are responding to globalization by shifting priorities in foreign language from European languages to Asian languages. This approach, the author argues is the wrong approach. A key quote: “The rise of globalization suggests that the United States needs to radically increase the study of foreign languages and cultures, not just shift resources from the study of some languages or regions to others.” I see a great opportunity for interdisciplinary inquiry in the relationship between global economics and language and culture learning. You can find the article here.
Tags: language economics article
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
February 21st, 2008
One of the unique opportunities that computers can offer to language learners is the ability to analyze huge amounts of naturally occurring language. This analysis can serve many purposes and can be a very valuable tool for language learners and teachers if used correctly. Corpus Linguistics involves the analysis (often conducted with the assistance of computers) of large collections of authentic language, or corpora. The goal of corpus linguistics is often to discover the underlying patterns or unspoken rules of use that govern real world language. Data-driven learning (a term coined by Tim Johns [1990]) is a method of using data discovered by a corpus linguistic analysis in a language learning classroom.
The most common tool to present this data is a concordancer using a key word in context (KWIC) format. When given a keyword query, the concordancer searches a corpus for occurrences of the keyword. Each occurrence is then presented in a single line with a predefined number of words or characters to the left and to the right.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Newsletter | No Comments »
May 11th, 2007
Many times oral production is assessed informally during class throughout the semester and formally once or twice in a face-to-face oral exam. Feedback is provided when possible but because of the size of the class and the limited time it’s difficult to provide specific feedback on an individual students’ oral production. Papers can be graded in the office or at home, but you only have so much time face-to-face with your class, and even less with each individual student.
That’s why I’ve set up a system to easily record students that allows you listen to their oral production outside of class and provide specific feedback for each learner.
The system is built into Pioneerweb (Blackboard) and is extremely easy to use for both you and your students. Because it is a home-grown solution it is highly customizable.
Here are some screen captures that will help you see what the process entails:
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Newsletter | No Comments »
November 9th, 2006
Social Software has emerged in recent years as one of the greatest innovations of the internet. Social software can be defined as software that allows people to interact with other users, creating a sense of community among the users of the software. Users can communicate and collaborate with and contribute to the community.
The most popular and well known type of social software is the blog (a truncated form of web log.) A host of people have taken up blogging and blogs can be found about almost every topic under the sun. Bloggers form a sense of community among themselves, the people who read and comment on their writings, and other bloggers.
Another popular form of social software is social networking sites. You may have heard of MySpace and Facebook, and you can be sure your students have. These services allow participants to be a part of a large community of users and also build their own small communities or networks of users who share similar interests. Users post journal entries, pictures, links etc. for their community members to comment on and respond to.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Newsletter | No Comments »
October 20th, 2006
Lately there has been some chatter about the use of Massive Multi-player Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) in language learning. MMORPGs are computer games that set up a virtual environment in which participants (through the network) interact in simulations and role plays. The most popular games include World of Warcraft, The Sims, and Civilization. Typically, the game involves the completion of a series of tasks and participants interact with the virtual environment and other players along the way. It is thought that playing these games in the target language could offer a number of benefits to learners.
While I agree that there is certainly some potential benefit to be drawn from playing these games in the target language, I think the scope of their impact on language teaching and learning and even on the use of technology in language teaching and learning will be fairly small.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Musings, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »