Kidspiration Podcast Outline

Rita, Koyin and I decided to get together for breakfast at my place one Saturday morning. The weather was beautiful as we sat on the patio and talked about life in general, and what we wanted to do for a podcast specifically. With the strong international talent available, I volunteered to act as MC, and interview the experts on WHAT motivated them to learn English in the first place. Kidspiration helped us older kids plan the interview and think about what we wanted to say. So just using the outline, we had a great interview hoping that we could inspire learners to tell us WHY they wanted to learn English.

Podcast starring Carol (MC), Rita and Koyin.


Please listen to our podcast at: http://streamer.utsa.edu/ramgen/2007/Spring/FS/ESL6973.901.Wright/Trial.Interviews.mp3

Even better--here's a video taken at Carol's place of our "recording studio"!
http://streamer.utsa.edu/asxgen/2007/Spring/FS/ESL6973.901.Wright/recording.studio_output.wmv
Let us know what you think!

Cheers, Carol, Koyin, and Rita

Kidpix Slide Questions

Here are the slides from my Kidpix Geography Quiz:

Reading Prompt # 9

EGBERT Ch. 9. Limitations, Caveats, and Challenge
Which of the limitations, caveats, and challenges with regards to computer assisted language learning apply to your current (or future) classrooms? How could these be overcome?

It is refreshing that Egbert balances his text with examples of how technology can be counterproductive. It seems that rather than focusing on the goal: LEARNING--too many excuses are given as to how handwriting or spelling problems can be ameliorated or excused because of the computer. What about the day when the lights and batteries go out, and someone has to add numbers without a calculator or write by hand? Perhaps it is the generational difference, but at one time in the educational system you just had to learn even what you didn't want to, or fail. BTW, that meant getting a "D" or "F" with no excuses. And learning the language in France meant French! Again, no excuses!

Don't get me wrong, it is wonderful to have all the technological
advantages in the world, but it does not replace a teacher who knows how to communicate the subject material.

Last night, I saw one of our own, Joleen, stand up in front of a class for 20 minutes and teach a grammar point (the use of the "fantasy" conditional sentence with the "IF" clause; e.g., If I were rich, I would take us all to Pico de Gallo. No use of computer, blackboard, and just a few hand outs. She knew it, and knows how to teach it. She called on people by name to respond, and helped them out with hints until they got it right. So, taking a teacher like this: technology can be used for homework assignments on the blog or to reinforce via a website, but it is easiest to learn the materia from no other medium but LIVE.

Thanks Joleen!

Reading Prompt #8

CUMMINS Ch. 3. AssessmentEGBERT Ch. 8. Assessment
What is the difference between traditional standardized testing and authentic assessment? Describe how computers can be used for both. Which do you feel is a better use of computers? Describe examples from the readings or from your own experiences how comptures can be used effectively for assessment, and/or how to effectively assess the work students do via the computer.

We are all familiar with standardized testing--think GRE! Is it authentic? Hardly, as the purpose is to pidgeon-hole the student in a percentile, and does not provide a comprehensive evaluation, or rationale for what is considered correct or incorrect on the test. A recent "improvement" makes the test more sensitive to correct and incorrect answers, and adjusts questions depending on the previous answer. However, this is hardly authentic. Authentic testing is defined as tests which make assessments NOT on zip-codes or social class necessarily, but on intentional cognitive effort (what the student has learned) and achievement, such as work portfolios, which may include a variety of output.

Most computer-based assessment is standardized; however, Egbert lists several websites which offer assessment of a range of activities. Students are encouraged to post thier work to the web for feedback from their peers as well as their teachers, and from experts who can be made available. In the latter case, the computer is NOT the evaluator, but merely the transmitter, of information, which then is reviewed by a human being. This latter point is very important, as computer evaluation alone is soulless and tends to discourage, rather than stimulate, learning.

Work done on the computer in audio or graphics programs can be evaluated versus submissions by other students. This would include not only the subject matter being evaluated, but facility and creativity with the software. Once more, it is important that a person be available for evaluation and that computer skills be taken into consideration along with the subject matter assigned.

I'm not Lion!

Reading Prompt #7
EGBERT Ch. 7. Content-Based Instruction
What are some important techniques for designing content instruction that supports both language and content learning? Egbert gives several examples of ways content and language objectives can be combined with technology objectives. Share some of your own experiences or ideas for combining these. In other words, give a specific exmple of how you could teach a content-area lesson with integrates technology and supports language learning for ELLs.

At Hitachi Semiconductors in Germany, I taught International Presentation Skills to Germans and Japanese. So this is a good example of Content (how to present) and language training, as English was a foreign language for all. Of course, some students had better speaking ability than others, but then others were better at standing up in front of the room and talking! I used a combination of readings in German and English (except for the Japanese) and lots of practice using a video feedback plus comments during the class. Where there were problems with the language, we would take time to review L1 to L2 structures to facilitate expression.

Technology was a great aid, as it supported the most basic of learning principles: PEOPLE DO NOT ARGUE WITH THEIR OWN DATA. Video clips are easier than people to "coach" and the whole class was always curious to see the recordings. Students were motivated to read and practice by virtually seeing themselves as professionals.

The best part was when we compared the clips from the first presentation to that made at the end of the six weekly lessons! The dramatic improvement and confidence was VISIBLE! Given all the tools that Dr. Wright has introduced, such as the facility of using video podcasts, surely there are even better ways of motivating people with more modern technology than at that time.
Carol

Software Evaluation #1--Rosetta Stone

Producer: Fairfield Language Technologies
Target Students: Teens through Adults Proficiency Level: Advanced Beginner through Intermediate

Description: Rosetta Stone (RS) is a CD providing a multi-media approach to language learning. It uses pictures, sound on demand, and reinforcement of vocabulary learned by matching words with pictures to provide an authentic approach to the language. The program helpfully reviews what is learned, and provides scaffolding from words to conjunctions, such as "and" to the addition of placement of objects using prepositions; all while practicing the basic vocabulary provided.

In phase two of the Beginner's Addition, verbs are added to the nouns already learned. Using the sound print, learners are allowed to speak L2 into a microphone and receive a rating as to how accurate the imitation is.

Language skills targeted: Vocabulary, pronunciation, reading, writing, listening, and word recognition, as well as simple sentence formation.

Evaluation: In order to judge how effective RS would be in teaching beginners, I chose a language where I have limited familiarity--Mandarin. I would assume that Chinese learners would have problems similar to mine in using the English version of RS. Although it was easy to go from introductory to practice language sessions via the buttons, several problems presented themselves at once. There is a choice of pin-yin, which are alphabetic transcriptions of the characters with accents and umlauts. There is no chance to practice each sound individually or even to know what the diacritical marks mean, only the words. This is problematic as much of the difficulty in Mandarin (and Chinese dialect) interlanguage is pronunciation and the tone system. A simple example is the existence of sounds in Chinese, and not in English, such as "r" are very troubling. Sometimes it sounds like "L" or even "H" and sometimes faintly like "R." This pronunciation difficulty occurs in the first basic words presented to the learner.

The first words introduced are written in pin-yin, and there is no explanation why it takes seemingly three words to say "dog" or "cat." In other words the number and object counter are not explained. The same is true of "girl" and "boy," which are even longer. In looking at the Kanji characters, it is clear that number, counter, person, gender and the kanji for small are used for the word. However, you have to already know something about Chinese characters in order to decipher this. There are two sets of kanji available as buttons, and there is no explanation as to what the differences are.

The sound print of the voice tends to both help and frustrate, as even when the small indicator goes into the green, indicating native-like pronunciation, there is no way to know even if a "red" or "yellow" pronunciation is acceptable.

In summary, I feel that Rosetta Stone is a good way to begin and practice a language, but that teaching is necessary before turning someone loose with the program in order to direct efforts and ensure that frustration does not occur. It would be a good supplement to lessons in class, and provide early work with illustrations and vocabulary. A transcription of some of the language could be played in class, and students could work in groups to figure out what is being said, and then compare their anwers. Then they could be asked to say the opposite by replacing words, e.g., "dog" for "cat," and "boy" for "girl." For pronunciation, targetted work with the vocabulary and use of the sound print together could lead to more productive use of this instrument.

Dr. Wright's Prompt for 2/27/07

Reading Prompt #6
EGBERT Ch. 6. Inquiry and Problem Solving RICHARDSON Ch. 8. Podcasting and Screencasting: Multimedia Publishing for the Masses
Describe an inquiry or problem solving activity appropriate for ELLs that you have used, participated in, read about, or just now thought of. Describe which critical thinking skills it requires students to use and develop. Then, describe how this activity supports language and content learning for ELLs. Finally, comment on how podcasting could be used within the inquiry and problem solving process in a manner which supports language and content learning for ELLs.

Learning is facilitated by working on problems which are authentic, that is, that have something to do with the student's life. The chapter in Cummins which describes the teacher, Mr. Green's, approach to history by encouraging the students to perform a historiography of their own families, is a great example. Exercises which are engage active, rather than passive learning, have also been shown to be more effective. Like Mr. Green, development by the teacher of ELL of experiences which involve inquiry stoke the natural curiosity of the students, and in turning over the problem solving steps to the students, depending on their competence in the language, learners are motivated and empowered to learn more at a more accelerated pace, and can have more fun. The teacher then takes on the role of consultant rather than boss.

Multi-media is useful, as many different approaches to the same material facilitate the repetition required for learning a foreign language, without the tedium of outright memorization. An electronic wordless worksheet with pictures and audio descriptions could be presented to the learners. The students should all have had exposure to the words, but briefly, in both written and spoken form. The students would be asked to listen to a story containing the concepts pictured via podcast, using the vocabulary introduced, plus a few carefully chosen new words. They would then match the audio descriptions with the pictures by moving the pictures to the proper photograph. Finally, in class, groups of students could prepare sections of the story in their own words using the pictures, and tell the story in round-robin fashion. Each group would have to answer questions from the others concerning unknown words or something not understood.

The critical thinking skills exercised are:

• the ability to distinguish words and sounds from another, and to work with a small body of unknown sounds


• to query if the pictures match the description, and if the student renditions of the story are accurate


• recognizing connections, or lack of connections, between the segments of the stories


• resolve differences and clarify thoughts using L2