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Content Type: 1
Title: Packets and Worksheets: Alternatives, and Making Them Count
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Jennifer Gonzalez recently wrote an extensive blog post about worksheets and packets on her Cult of Pedagogy site. She writes, "there are plenty of instructionally rich things you can do with a worksheet: A graphic organizer is a wonderful tool for research, pre-writing, and notetaking. An excerpt from a primary source can be printed on a worksheet for close study and annotation. Worksheets can be used for analyzing data (like this collection from Maria Andersen), as scaffolds for notetaking, as tools for reflection, or as formative assessments. They can also be used as recording tools alongside more active experiences: data sheets for labs, planning sheets for group projects, and so on.
"In my experience, when people criticize worksheets, they are referring to a specific type of worksheet, what I will call a busysheet, the kind where students are either doing work that’s fairly low-level recall stuff–filling in blanks with words, choosing from multiple-choice questions, labeling things–or work that has no educational value at all, like word searches, word scrambles, or coloring stuff in cases where coloring adds no extra layer of understanding."
Read her excellent blog post for a critical take on "busysheets" and how to make learning meaningful for students: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/busysheets/
Elisabeth of Spanish Mama has responded with a reflective and helpful blog post about worksheets specifically in language classrooms. Read her post at http://spanishmama.com/spanish-worksheets/
Source: Various
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Title: Activities for the End of Class
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Here are several no-prep or low-prep activities that your students and you can do with a few extra minutes at the end of class: https://senorachase.com/2018/03/08/last-5-minutes-of-class/
Source: Señora Chase
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Title: Gaming and Learner-Directed Language Learning
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By Lindsay Marean, CASLS InterCom Editor, and Stephanie Knight, CASLS Assistant Director
All too often, formal instruction is driven by the desires and frameworks of an external source in a relative position of power to the learners themselves. This tendency yields a situation in which each learner’s wants, needs, and abilities to create unique and diverse situated meanings that are derived from their personal contexts and experiences are undervalued or even ignored. Gameplay in formal and extramural contexts provides a unique answer to this situation, as the case study of Edmond below will illuminate.
Edmond, a Mainland Chinese student at an English-medium school in Hong Kong, wanted to play sports with the international students in his residence hall, but he wasn’t confident about his accent and conversation strategies. A friend recommended that he play sports video games to learn language specific to playing basketball. During play, he often paused the game to write down key phrases and repeat them.
The above case study, from Chik’s 2014 study on digital gaming and language learning in East Asia, exemplifies several key aspects of learner-directed language learning that can happen through game play.
- Low-risk practice: Games allow for failure and re-starts. Players can try out different personas and strategies and see what works best without worrying about offending a real person.
- Supportive environments: In-game conversations (as in live chat or audio during multi-player online games) and discussions about games (in online forums dedicated to particular games) are generally supportive, given that all participants have a common interest (Thorne and Black, 2007; Thorne et al., 2009).
- Complex interactions: Even in single-player games, commercial developers carefully build in complexity that is difficult to replicate in classroom interactions (Sykes et al., 2008; Thorne et al., 2009). When you consider live chat and audio in multiplayer games and discussions in online forums, the potential for authentic language interactions grows tremendously. At the same time, a shared context facilitates understanding beyond a learner’s current proficiency level.
- Global competencies: Shapiro (2018) notes that his children are aware of time zones around the world because they determine when their friends will be awake and available to play online games with them. This “macro-mindedness” reinforces global competencies.
Essential to all of these benefits, learners choose whether to play, what to play, how to play (their goals in the game), and with whom and how much. Next time a student wonders how he or she can improve proficiency outside of class, consider recommending game play in the target language, or seeking out target language forums about a game he or she already plays.
References:
Chik, A. (2014). Digital gaming and language learning: Autonomy and community. Language Learning & Technology, 18(2), 85-100.
Shapiro, J. (2018). Digital play for global citizens. New York: The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. Retrieved from http://joanganzcooneycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/jgcc_digitalplayforglobalcitizens.pdf.
Sykes, J., Oskoz, A., & Thorne, S. L. (2008). Web 2.0, synthetic immersive environments, and mobile resources for language education. CALICO Journal, 25(3), 528-546.
Thorne, S. L. & Black, R. W. (2007). New media literacies, online gaming, and language education. (CALPER Working Paper Series, No. 8). The Pennsylvania State University: Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research.
Thorne, S. L., Black, R. W., & Sykes, J. (2009). Second language use, socialization, and learning in Internet communities and online games. Modern Language Journal, 93, 802–821.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Title: Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence
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By Linda Forrest, CASLS Research Director
Effective communication is more than simply organizing words into grammatical sequences. It involves choosing the right words at the right time for a specific context. Speakers must calculate the right words based on a number of situational factors, such as the social distance and power relationship between themselves and their interlocutor. And while some words are clearly wrong, there are often several effective options in any particular situation, such as making a request, refusing an invitation, or making an apology. Navigating these complexities is difficult enough in a student’s first language, but learning a new language involves adding more layers of complexity. Confusingly, direct translations from the student’s L1 often do not have the same communicative impact in the L2. Additionally, immense variation among social or regional groups, as well as differing individual preferences, lead to enormous challenges for learners.
These layers of complexity also challenge language practitioners seeking to assess their students’ learning outcomes. Familiar paper and pencil tests with questions having only one right answer do not probe learners’ ability to act effectively in real world situations. Assessments which set up role play situations are a step in the right direction, as students can actually demonstrate their abilities rather imagine what they might to do. Still, challenges remain. Although norms and patterns of behavior exist in the real world, there is usually no set method of handling any particular situation. Thus any role play-based assessment must be carefully observed and rated, an extremely time-consuming process.
Today these challenges are being ameliorated by emergent technological tools which make the delivery of life-like simulations affordable and attainable for most test developers. Immersive digital environments allow learners to interact in simulated, yet realistic, spaces. They offer some particular advantages for those constructing assessments of intercultural communicative competence. For example, items can include extended sequences of conversational turns, situational contexts can be established non-linguistically, ‘standardized interlocutors’ (avatars) can provide systematic variation of features such as power relationships and social distance, situations can be ‘replayed’ with different interlocutors, learners can successfully complete a task using multiple interactional pathways, and data about the interaction can be continuously and effortlessly collected and partially rated (Sykes, 2010; Taguchi & Sykes, 2013). Although such assessments are still visionary, they are currently under development by several organizations. Look for them in the not too distant future.
References
Sykes, J. ( 2010). Multi-user virtual environments: User-driven design and implementation for language learning. In G. Vicenti & J. Braman, Teaching Through Multi-user Virtual Environments: Applying Dynamic Elements to the Modern Classroom, (pp. 283-305). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Taguchi, N., & Sykes, J. ( Eds.). (2013). Technology in Interlanguage Pragmatics Research and Teaching. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Title: Multilingual Encounters in the Everyday World
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By Julie Sykes, CASLS Director
As students engage in everyday life, they, undoubtedly, encounter a large variety of multilingual influences. Whether it be in their neighborhood or in more digital contexts, the reality is that monolingualism is not a reality in most parts of the world. That being said, in many cases, learners pay minimal attention to these encounters. Often relegating them to names of restaurants they know or online personas they are familiar with, many language students perceive their environment to lack multilingual encounters relevant to their language learning experiences. However, when learners start to have a purpose for engaging with the everyday, we see a significant impact on their multilingual interactions. Take, for example, Thorne’s (2008) account of a learner engaging in a trilingual environment while playing World of Warcraft or adolescents’ learning of English vocabulary as they play video games in their free time. The impact is salient and meaningful.
As we consider learner-directedness, the theme of this month’s InterCom, exploration of language in everyday encounters is warranted. Language instructors have a unique opportunity to give learners the skills to make meaning from, or at a minimum notice, multilingual encounters without the constraints of a formal classroom context. Caution should be exercised to avoid drawing the outside encounters into the classroom through the requirement of a grade or credit associated with these experiences. Instead, calling attention to the multilingual encounters should complement classroom experiences and make connections with out-of-class experiences. For example, as a warm-up or wrap up in class the instructor might show pictures of 3-4 signs in the local neighborhood that call attention to multilingualism. A brief reflection adds saliency to the experience so that, when learners see the sign outside of the classroom, they start to consider its meaning. Learners could also be asked to pay attention to their own experiences by taking note of what they see and then sharing one or two things that they found in their out-of-class context. Adding depth to the experience, the instructor can ask learners to share one domain they are particularly interested in and then provide additional resources where they might encounter multilingual resources related to their hobbies. Finally, the instructor can stay out of the scenario entirely, and instead, give students the opportunity to share their everyday encounters with one another. In doing so, they learn what each other are doing and also make find out about things they didn’t even know existed. Regardless of the approach one takes, placing value on the everyday multilingual experiences of learners can extend their learning experience. Sometimes just noticing the world around them can have a major impact.
Reference:
Thorne, S. L. (2008). Transcultural communication in open Internet environments and massively multiplayer online games. In S. Magnan, ed., Mediating Discourse Online. 305–327. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Content Type: 5
Title: Intercultural Pragmatic Interactional Competence Assessment
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Imagine your students using a digital simulation in which they interact with avatars in several life-like scenarios, such as a service encounter or a peer-to-peer interaction. In each scenario, students will need to speak and act in culturally appropriate ways to successfully complete a task. Sometimes a complication occurs, which pushes students draw on their intercultural communicative skills to rectify the situation. At the end of the simulation, you receive a report on your students’ abilities to navigate these interactions.
Such a test, called the Intercultural Pragmatic Interactional Competence Assessment (IPIC), is currently under development at CASLS, in partnership with the Assessment and Evaluation Language Resource Center (AELRC) at Georgetown University and the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). As AELRC Director Dr. Margaret Malone points out, “Assessing intercultural competence is challenging both to conduct and to provide meaningful and succinct information to students. The IPIC will help language teachers reflect both on how to assess their students' intercultural competence as well as provide a structure for providing diagnostic feedback in ways students can continue to improve.”
Read more at: https://casls.uoregon.edu/classroom-resources/intercultural-simulation/
The U.S. Department of Education, under grant #P229A14004, supports development of this project. Contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education nor imply endorsement by the federal government.
Source: CASLS Spotlight
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Title: CARLA Summer Institute: Culture as Core in the Second Language Classroom
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From http://carla.umn.edu/institutes/2018/culture.html
The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA), our sister LRC at the University of Minnesota, provides high-quality professional development opportunities for language teachers through its annual summer institute program. Now in its 23rd year, the program offers thirteen institutes on a wide range of topics that are all designed to link research and theory with practical applications for the classroom. Check out Culture as Core––one of CARLA's perennially popular summer institutes:
Culture as Core in the Second Language Classroom
July 9–13, 2018
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN
Participants will gain a deep understanding of how language-culture-identity informs their teaching and will learn how to integrate culture and language learning in their classrooms. After this institute, teachers will be able to:
- Bring everyday culture into language instruction;
- Apply common frameworks of culture and culture learning;
- Create integrated language-and-culture learning objectives and lessons;
- Practice using authentic materials for teaching culture;
- Assess culture learning; and
- Use textbooks for culture learning and unlearning.
Presenters: Martha Bigelow (University of Minnesota) and Kaishan Kong (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire)
Find out more about Culture as Core: http://carla.umn.edu/institutes/2018/culture.html
Check out the full line-up of 2018 CARLA summer institutes:
- Transitioning to Teaching Language Online (TTLO) (online course) • June 11–July 1, 2018
- Using the Web for Communicative Language Learning and Professional Development (online course) • July 9-August 12, 2018
- Language and Culture in Sync: Teaching Linguistic Politeness and Intercultural Awareness (online course) • July 9-27, 2018
- Developing Assessments for the Second Language Classroom • July 9-13, 2018
- Teaching Heritage Languages and Learners • July 9-13, 2018
- Culture as the Core in the Second Language Classroom • July 9-13, 2018
- Using Technology in Second Language Teaching • July 16-20, 2018
- Creativity in the Language Classroom • July 16-20, 2018
- Teaching Language Through the Lens of Social Justice • July 16-20, 2018
- Immersion 101: An Introduction to Immersion Teaching • July 16-20, 2018
- Using Authentic Materials to Develop 21st Century Literacies • July 23-27, 2018
- Content-Based Language Instruction and Curriculum Development • July 23-27, 2018
- Growing Learner Language: A Hands-On Approach to Developing the Language Learners Produce • July 23-27, 2018
Find out more about the 2018 CARLA summer institute program: http://carla.umn.edu/institutes/index.HTML. The early bird registration deadline is May 25.
Source: CARLA
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Title: Learner-Directed Language and the Digital World
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By Julie Sykes, CASLS Director
In addition to the physical world around us, the multiplicity of discourse communities in the digital world afford learners a seemingly infinite number of opportunities to engage with multilingual content. One student might be interested in the Instagram and Twitter accounts about their favorite designer or another might enjoy participation in a fan fiction community about their favorite comic book character or TV show. Regardless of the choices they make, interaction with these spaces affords contact with the language of the community and enables practice and learning. While much of the language used in digital spaces is unique to the space or community, much can also be applied in other interactional contexts as well. For example, an avid reader of a sports blog will undoubtedly learn relevant vocabulary and cultural expressions for talking about sports with a friend while studying abroad.
By drawing on these experiences, and helping learners build the skills to engage with them critically, instructors can expand the language horizons of their learners and enable a positive impact of their use. One way, though certainly not a panacea, is through the use of thinking routines (For more on thinking routines and the Culture of Thinking see http://www.ronritchhart.com/COT_Resources_files/6Principles%20of%20COT_V2.pdf).
As learners practice the thinking routine of observation, analysis, and extension, they build skills necessary to engage with language during their out-of-class time as well. Take, for example, this week’s Activity of the Week. While it can be used in formal instructional contexts, the skills learned (especially the types of questions learners ask themselves) can be applied by the learners in any other digital domains with which they might be familiar. As learners begin to observe more, analyze their environment, and expand their participatory experiences, they will become better at decoding and synthesizing how language is used, online and offline.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Title: A Visit to COERLL
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Last week, Julie Sykes, CASLS Director, was invited to give a talk at the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL), a sister Language Resource Center at the University of Texas – Austin. Her talk was entitled Digital Tools, Digital Games, and Communication: Rethinking Foreign Language Learning in Terms of Human Interaction and focused on many of CASLS’ projects around technology and Interlanguage pragmatics. She also spent some time working with the COERLL team. Dr. Sykes notes, “It was a great chance to meet with a team doing amazing work around open educational resources. I am grateful for the invitation and enjoyed collaborating with Carl [Blyth, COERLL’s Director] and other members of the COERLL team. The graduate students I got to meet with at UT-Austin were also inspiring to talk with.” For more information on Julie’s talk and COERLL visit: https://www.coerll.utexas.edu/coerll/gaming-presentation-jsykes.
Source: CASLS Spotlight
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Title: Report: Unlocking Learning II: Math as a Lever for English Learner Equity
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From https://west.edtrust.org/resource/unlocking-learning-ii-using-math-lever-english-learner-equity/
Second in a series exploring English learner equity in California schools, a new report from The Education Trust—West highlights how students learning English are faring in math classrooms across the state. Unlocking Learning II: Math as a Lever for English Learner Equity provides real-world examples of schools and districts closing gaps for California’s English learners.
The report outlines four research-supported promising practices:
- Honoring students’ backgrounds,
- Providing access to rigorous courses,
- Integrating English language development, and
- Professional learning for teachers.
Based on an in-depth analysis of what has worked well in high-performing schools, Unlocking Learning II offers specific practice and policy recommendations at the school, district, and state level for how to best integrate math education with English language development and unlock the potential of California’s English learners.
Access this report at https://west.edtrust.org/resource/unlocking-learning-ii-using-math-lever-english-learner-equity/
Source: The Education Trust - West
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