gxw0581's blog

When I first entered the classroom in August, I was a bit apprehensive about a language teaching course.  I do not plan on being a teacher and have always been on the student side of things my whole life.   One of the first assignments that were given to us by professor Rings was to simply write our ideas about text, culture and meaning and/or how these are related. This seemed easy enough but in the end what fascinated me was that every one of these things has many differences in interpretation.   At the beginning of the class I believed text was simply written words in a book or on a computer screen.  I found out that many scholars see pictures or objects as text as well.  Culture is different all around the world and depending on which part of the world a person comes from, they will bring different ideas and values with them.  As for meaning, we examined a pledge of allegiance.  Growing up in the United States we understand what the pledge means for the country and that it is an important part of a student’s everyday life as they repeat it each morning at the beginning of class.  Except this pledge only had the same format as the one used by the United States.  This pledge was referring to saving the planet and being green.   We saw that someone growing up in another country had no idea what the pledge of allegiance was and what the green website was referring to.  I had never thought of this topic before.  The idea that a non native will not pick up on references to various cultural topics was new to me.

I wanted to put myself on the opposite end of the spectrum because I thought that if one knows something, then they will be able to teach it with ease.  However, I was proved wrong time and time again! I am fluent in Polish but teaching it was another story.  We were assigned to create various teaching segments for students each week.  Sometimes we would stay with the same topic and activity for a few class periods which I believe helped develop the activity.

My favorites were the small presentations that we had to do in front of the class.  The assignment was to find pictures that were culturally important and explain them.  The very first one that I chose was a picture of a highway.  The students did not respond very well because I used too many words for them, which was frustrating for all of us.  I then chose American football and soccer.  My idea was to do a comparison between these two similar ideas using pictures of the players actually playing the sports.  It was fun to watch the students trying to understand what I was talking about, as I pointed to the different colored jerseys or the different body parts students reacted positively answering correctly.  Another fun activity was to find a short clip from the culture and share it with the class.  Many students used commercials.  I used a very famous Polish car commercial.  Poland is not known for their cars at all and the few that they did build are somewhat of a joke.  The video showed attractive women modeling around these ancient cars making it a parody.

The best overall teaching activity had to be on the topic of children’s stories.   We also stayed with this subject for a few weeks and I watched my group go from a big headache the first time around, to actually interacting and remembering my characters and vocabulary!  This was really fun and made me feel really accomplished that I was able to share my language with people.

From my other group mates I picked up a lot of Spanish and Portuguese which I never thought would be possible by doing small children’s activities.  This really made me question the way people go about learning a foreign language.  It does not have to be scary or boring, as long as you are presented with somewhat of a challenge and keep the studies at a level higher than you are at.  We did not require huge vocabulary lists or too much grammar.  What we did have was a lot of repetition and real cultural ideas being shared within the stories.

The activity which I probably enjoyed the most was that of the Portuguese students and their simulation of a restaurant.  This really made you use the language and gave you a real life outlook on how things would be if you were to order food in Brazil.

Another aspect that opened my eyes about many focus points was when I was introduced to the many online modules from various professors.  Topics included things such as vocabulary, culture, technology, listening, classroom management, writing, grammar, and assessment.   These professors had very in depth ideas about these topics.

Dr. Nancy Guilloteau believed in her module on vocabulary that the words should be repeated over and over and later introduced into richer texts.  Dr. Thomas Garza had the fascinating idea that culture is almost like a fifth skill.  Students cannot just plainly learn to read, write and speak the language, they must also learn the culture and embrace it or else they may do some cultural blunders.  Dr. Orlando Kelm spoke of technology and how it can be used to help in the study of languages. Dr. Mahmoud al-Batal had various ideas on how extensive listening was correlated with extensive reading.  Dr. Esther Raizen spoke of classroom management and how it is more a sense of controlling the class and keeping them on task rather than actual management. Dr. Zsuzsanna Abrams had many activities to develop a student’s foreign language writing.   Dr. Rafael Salaberry’s module of grammar showed us that it is very important to realize with whom or for who the text is being prepared for.  What age level are we speaking to or from what region the people come from.  Things like this are very important when deciding what words to use.  Lastly, Dr. Lia Plakans spoke of assessing a student.  Her idea that there are three things the teacher must ask themselves before preparing a test, why are we testing the students, what are we testing and how will it be tested.

I never realized how much goes into the studies of these topics but it is great to know that so much is going into the idea of language learning and teaching.

After taking this class I realize that culture is the most important thing that one can possess.  It is what makes us different and worth studying.  More and more people are beginning to understand the fact that a language cannot be fully taught without some kind of cultural emphasis.  Maybe I am optimistic but I believe that very soon the days will be gone of the textbook with only a few pictures of the foreign country.  I can only imagine what future students will be exposed to once technology is controlled and used properly inside of the classroom.  Maybe it will be normal for students to be trilingual because learning languages will be more easily accessible.  In the end I believe that the most important aspect of learning a language is repetition.  Keep repeating terms and topics throughout your studies so that they will stay in your long term memory and eventually you will be surprised at how much you retain and know.

Textbook analysis

The book that I chose to analyze is the sixth edition of “Wie Geht’s” an introductory German course book.   Overall I believe that it is a very good beginning source of learning.  The book, like most is split up into various chapters which have various topics.  The student can interact and learn about things such as family, hobbies, living, traveling, restaurant layout and many others. 

I like the fact that at the very beginning of the book there is a map.  The student does not have to search throughout the book for it.  Although this may not seem like much, I believe that the student should become familiar with not only where the country is, but also what other countries are close to it. The book also has many pictures which are entirely German.  This is good because it allows the student to get a visual of the culture.  

Most of the topics are very much real life situations which are helpful in everyday life.  Knowing the names of different clothing pieces or labeling animals are all small but necessary things the student must learn.  Other good things that are studied are directions for example.  This is very helpful to know especially when entering a foreign land. 

There is very good guidance throughout the book and the activities do seem age relevant.  The one thing that I now see is that when using a website, the student can have everything translated much quicker.  When using this textbook the student must go to the glossary to see what is meant by some words. 

The student can definitely demonstrate what they understand when engaging in the small conversations listed throughout the book.   There are also many different ways in which the student can engage in learning.  There is a lot of true or false questions fill in the blank, matching, and even short answer.

Dec 6^th

I began watching the module by Dr. Esther Raizen, and her views of Classroom Management.  During the course of the video I learned from her that managing a classroom is more about having control of all the situations that happen.  It is a simple concept that I never thought of before.  I always thought that as long as the teacher has something to teach, the classroom will follow what is being done.

This may not always be the case.  I thought back to times when students would undermine the teacher’s authority, sleep in class, come tardy or speak while others are presenting or speaking.  Being a student, it bothered me quite a bit, but I was not in charge of the classroom and never paid attention to what was done to improve the situation.  The module also makes me feel bad about some of the times that I myself may have been disrespectful inside of a classroom, not realizing how hard it actually is for the teacher to stay in control.

A couple of Dr. Raizen’s points which I agree with are that the teacher should define his or her expectations and policies starting with the first day.  Personally if a teacher is always changing what we are learning and not going according to the syllabus it can become frustrating for the student and they can become distant because there is no structure.  Another aspect which I agree with would be to never embarrass a student in front of the class.  This could have very negative consequences for the student as well as the teacher.   Pull the student aside and discuss the problem personally.   The most important concept I think would be to stay calm and concerned with the students at all times.  Almost any situation can be diffused if a person tries to do so.

The classroom should be a place for the student to grow and it should be made specifically to fit those needs.  The idea of classroom size was discussed which I believe falls into this topic.  Classroom size that is smaller is typically better for students because they are getting more time with the instructor and it is better for the instructor because they can keep “control” of the situation.  Whereas in an auditorium style classroom it is hard to pay attention to each individual as well as teach the subject matter.

Nov 29^th

After going over the module of Dr. Lia Plakans, and the topic of Assessment, it really made me think about testing and all of the different exams that I have been exposed to over the years.  Ever since I was a little kid, fear would strike me whenever I heard the word “test.”  A lot of times I am afraid that I will have a bad day, studied the wrong things, or the question will be asked in a way that I will not understand.

When thinking about testing, the questions why, what, and how come to mind.  Why are we testing the students?  Things such as, are we trying to put the students in different levels or check what the students strengths and weaknesses are.  Secondly, the instructor must find out what they are trying to measure.  Lastly, the instructor must make up how, or what format of test to use for the students.

As the instructor is making an exam they must make sure that the test is in context to what is being learned inside of the classroom.  A few of the different forms of testing mentioned were true or false, fill in the blank, open ended and multiple choice.  One student brought up a good point about true or false testing, he mentioned that when a student chooses for example false and gets it wrong, that we do not see the thinking process of the student and why they may have gotten it wrong.  Did they guess?  Or do they have a valid point as to why they chose their answer?  In fill in the blank testing, the questions are very easy to make but at the same time they can be good for the student because guessing is limited.  It is harder to just throw in a random answer if the student has no idea what is being asked.  This shows which students studied more.  The problem is that there may be numerous answers which fit into the blank.  Or if there is a word bank, the instructions must state how many times each word should be used.

During open ended discussions it really allows the students mind to show.  It may take longer to grade and the rubric can be vaguer, but this allows much more participation from the student.  Lastly the method of multiple choice was touched upon.    These questions are easy to score, there is not many instructions needed and it may lower test anxiety.  At the same time these questions may raise test anxiety because the students may get confused by the multiple possibilities.  I personally believe it depends on the professor.  Some professors will give you some choices that are fairly similar than throw in something that is completely wrong.  Other professors will have every choice seem as though it could be the possible answer.  This can be very difficult and could raise anxiety.  The main problem is that students can guess the answers just like in true or false and their thinking process cannot be examined.

There is many ways to assess students.  It is up to the instructor to decide which method will work best for their students.  As long as they stick to the three simple questions of why, what and how I believe they will find the proper way to assess their students.

nov 22nd

This week I played around with the three different sites off of the syllabus.  These sites were Spanish, German and French language learning sites.   The French and German sites were very similar; they included a welcoming chapter and then went on to various topics.  The Spanish site was a little bit more advanced because  not only were there many chapters to study from, there were also higher levels to move on to as the student became more and more comfortable with the language.  I was on the German site for the most part and really enjoyed it.  It really did not feel like studying but more as an experience.  Sure at the bottom of the page there is a vocabulary list and at the top there are chapter numbers and topics, but just listening to people speak German about various things was interesting.  It definitely did not feel as if I was cramming out of a textbook.  There was a sense of realism to it.

                I think my favorite thing about the sites was the fact that as the speaker is speaking, you could see the dialogue in both the natives’ language as well as in English.  This was huge for me because sometimes as I am listening to a text, I may lose track of a few words.  This way I can read the dialogue over and over and see what I missed.  After looking at the words which I did not understand I can quickly switch over to English and see what they mean.  Without this website I would have to grab my dictionary or click to my leo.org in another window and sift through the hundreds of different definitions.  This way I can see in what context the word is being used and which definition is intended for that particular use.  I can use my dictionary as a supplemental source instead of something I depend on when studying.  A big problem for me was choosing the right word or the right definition for a word when writing a sentence.  After listening to a few excerpts and then switching back and forth from the natives language to English, I believe that I could gain a sense for when which word is appropriate.            

                Websites like this are really something that I wish would be used more often inside of the classroom.  For one, they are showing the speaker speak which is always good because it helps with pronunciation, but secondly seeing the dialogue directly translated is the most important to me because it cuts down on the time it takes to figure an excerpt out.  This way the student can engage themselves in more topics while staying interested longer.

Nov 15th

Technology

                As I began watching Dr. Orlando Kelm’s module on technology, my first reaction was that I would disagree with everything he had to say.  I am the opposite of a technological guru and prefer older methods for the most part when it comes to learning anything.  However, as the module went along I started to change my opinion of technology in language learning.  He has several ideas when it comes to using technology in language acquisition.  The idea that more time on task is needed, higher context levels created, chunking and input vs intake.

                First off, by looking at some basic data, it is believed that to learn a language like German or Spanish an English speaker must spend around 500 hours studying and to learn a language such as Chinese it is believed that the student must spend around 1000 hours.   The problem is that whenever a student is learning one of these languages at a university, they are not getting enough time on task.  On average the student may only get about 240 hours.   Now if there was another way for students to be around a language that would be very helpful.  The classroom time is simply not enough to become proficient in a language.  I believe many students come into a foreign language class with false expectations.  They think that they will enter the room, do the work then after four semesters speak the language fluently.  This is not realistic and I believe a lot of people get discouraged after their formal schooling is over.

                With the idea of technology the student can listen to audio and be active on different websites.  While visiting these websites, the student can have the language put into context.  Instead of learning vocabulary from a list or book, they are now being active and actually using the language in different cultural settings.  The next topic was about chunking and script.  This belief is that we learn small phrases or sayings and retain those better than if we were learning one word.  Something as simple as “Hi, how are?” with the response, “fine, thank you” stays in the students memory much better than if they were to learn just one word.  Each culture has short scripts like this that are followed each day.   I remember when I first came to this country and played that same exact script with my father one day.  We thought it was the funniest thing, that a person usually has to answer “fine” or else they will be looked at oddly.

                The last topic was about input vs intake.  “Inputting” a foreign language is the basic idea of every aspect of that language that is available to us.  This is not enough because we are not taking much of that in.  Foreign languages are all around us every day.  The problem is that websites have to be filtered through in order to get anything useful out of them that will result in positive intake of information.  I believe this is the only problem that technology presents.  There is so much out there, how do you decide what to use in your curriculum?  If each class had a site like the one that was presented in the module, or if each class used a program like Rosetta stone, then yes I believe the text book can be made obsolete.  However, if the websites and information is not all related and comes at the students at different levels it is just too hard to rely solely on the technology.

nov 8

For this piece, I listened to the studies of Dr. Thomas Garza and his ideas on the topic of culture. I really liked the way that he added culture in as almost what he called a, “fifth skill.” The idea that when a student is learning foreign languages they must learn to read, write, listen, and speak is not enough. Because whenever they go out and actually interact with natives of that particular country, they may do some cultural blunders which will embarrass them. These things could have easily been avoided if they were at least brushed upon inside of a classroom setting. Whatever the student can do to help them with their confidence is meaningful when they begin to enter a foreign country and use another language. Not knowing how to communicate is already stressful enough so if at least a person is familiar with why the people in that country are dressed the way they are or eating the foods they are eating then things will be easier, when it comes to communicating.

This topic is very important to me because my major is international business and I just love the differences between countries and the origins of those differences. I was studying a chapter on cultural dynamics in my international marketing class and this idea of cultural differences when giving gifts was mentioned. For example, when giving gifts in Japan, do not expect your counterpart to open the gift in front of you, unless they are asked to do so. I chuckled when the roses in Russia topic came up, because in my class we learned that typically Russians enjoy receiving gifts, and usually wine or chocolates are acceptable. However, vodka even though it is plentiful in the Russian home, should not be used as a gift. Lastly the flowers, when giving flowers they MUST be an odd number, because it is believed that even numbers are for funerals! That is probably why Dr. Garza received a blank stare from his hostess!

With the idea of “big c” culture and “little c” culture I believe that both are important. Big C culture is more historical and can be learned by reading books but I don’t think that it is as beneficial when dealing with natives. The little C things are the day to day occurrences of that country that the natives are current with. It is the present, which cannot be taught as well as history. The student must embrace the country and try to follow the little C things as they happen in order to communicate with the natives.

Dr. Garza went into using authentic video materials, whenever teaching culture. I think this idea is great because whenever the instructor can incorporate real life situations into their teachings, it makes things more interesting for students and it makes them remember more. So whenever they are in the foreign country they can look back to the time that they watched that video in class on how to buy a bus ticket, and it will help them not be out of place, which in turn adds to their confidence. All in all I agreed with Dr. Garza and thought that his ideas on the study of culture would be a good addition to any curriculum that has not already done so.

Reflection piece 9

Nov 1^st

I watched the module by Zsuzsanna Abrams on the topic of writing.  It mostly mentioned how different writing tasks help students develop their writing skills in the foreign language.  For example Professor Garza showed how he teaches his students the Cyrillic alphabet.   By using simple flashcards writing helps him show the students what the different letters stand for in English.  A good way for students to use writing in their studies is by using an associogram.   The module showed a third year German course forming one of these.  Basically the students have a main topic or theme in the middle circle.  They later come up with different things that relate to that particular topic.  We did this in class when we spoke about the topic of socialism and the different views that several countries have on the topic.  So in turn our associogram was actually more complex than the one shown in the module because not only did we have the aspect of a foreign language and a topic, but we also had different cultural ideas and values being drawn together all at once.

Several other writing ideas were mentioned in the video.  Ideas such as, writing prompts and interviews are things that can help students learn to use writing in the foreign language.  When using a writing prompt the student sees a picture such as a beach and then is asked to describe their summer vacation.  This is helpful because the student can then visualize their vacation in their mind and more words in the foreign language come to mind.  Sometimes when a student is asked to describe something without a picture, or writing prompt it is hard for them to come up with ideas on their own.  I know that for me the picture would always help spark new ideas and the words would flow better.

The other writing tool was interviewing.  An interview is good because it forces the students to speak the foreign language.  I personally always stress the fact that a language learner must be forced to use the language or else they will never learn past a certain level.  Although it is very scary for some students to speak a language that is foreign to them, it is something that must be done.  If they are not comfortable using the language in a controlled environment then they will never use it in the other country.

Oct 25^th

For this piece I watched Dr. Rafael Salaberry’s module on grammar instructions.  The most important idea that I drew from the module was that there is a discourse between written and spoken language.  Grammar is a good base for language and is needed in order to have a framework for the language.  The only problem is that when native speakers speak, they use many different forms such as, impersonal, first person singular, first person plural, second person singular, second person plural and infinitive.  The main difference is that formal commands are almost never used in proper speech.  A lot of times this is the way to see if the speaker is a native or not.  First you can look for the accent but secondly if a person is using formal commands something is not right.  These commands may sound normal when written, but when someone speaks formally it sounds wrong.  On the other hand if a student writes in different forms such as second person singular, it may sound awkward as well unless they are writing a story.

In the module, there was a clip from a youtube video showing students play out a cooking recipe.  The things which they were saying were very formal and did not flow well with the overall video.  The point is that they must be watchful on how they say things.

People should also be very careful when and how to use certain forms of speech.  So now not only is the actual grammar important, but we must also view which mode we are using (written, oral, phone, email), the different interlocutors (age, social class, education level), regional variation (countries, regions, localities), register (formal, informal, personal), genre (scientific, factual, journalistic, debate), physical context (bus station, morning, lunch) and purpose of communication (convince, describe).  These are all different means in for which a person must alter the way they speak and watch the things they say.  This makes grammar a much more important topic to discuss, because now we are including all of these things instead of just commas, periods and question marks.

Oct 19

This week I looked into the aspect of spoken language.  When doing so I read several interviews and an essay regarding the differences of American and German/European cultures when it comes to public nudity. My overall understanding of cultural differences is that although things may sound the same or involve the same issues, they may be interpreted very differently. 

The overall attitude of Americans about public nudity is very negative.  Seeing a woman lying in the nude, or at least topless, would be considered a taboo thing to do.  Also, seeing nudity on TV or on advertisements is not as common as it is in most of Europe.  In America most everything is censored and banned especially from younger children.  I am not in the position to judge because everyone has their own opinions on the issue, but my input on the subject would have to be that I agree more with the European side of things.  I have seen both sides of this argument because I have lived in Poland, visited Germany and Italy and at the same time, lived most of my life in the United States.   

Whenever a person sees nudity as a natural occurrence and an everyday thing, it is not as big of a shock.  In America, even when a woman is wearing a short skirt, men break their necks to try and look at her.  I always laugh at them because to me, they look like creeps!  When I was younger I remember watching a movie with an American friend of mine along with his parents.  There was a scene in the movie which involved a naked woman.  My friend’s mother ran to the TV with a large blanket to try to cover up the screen.  As a young boy this did not deter me from wanting to see what was on the screen! In turn, it just made me more curious.  I believe that is the problem.  I compare this topic to rules which parents set forth for their children.  The more rules that there are, the more children will try to break them.  Instead, there should be an understanding of the subject and not just a label put on it.  This is how most Americans grow up in my eyes.  So as grown adult males, they cannot control themselves because they were not given the chance as children.

 If I happen to be at a beach with my wife in America, and even if we saw others topless, I would not let her be topless.  There are just too many people in the states that are moved by the subject as well as too many grown males that stare.  If on the other hand we were in Germany or Italy, she can be topless all she wants.  Although people may look at her, I am less likely to get offended and have problems in European countries. 

This brings us to the main focus of spoken language.  That something as simple as the word “nude” can bring such a complex variety of ideas and misunderstandings.  Americans may view the Europeans as a bunch of wild and naked party animals, while the Europeans may view the Americans as uptight conservatives, all because they do not understand what the word “nude” implies in each culture.