Contents
Content Type: 4
Title: The Puzzle of Language
Body:
This activity was created for teachers who wish to use complex learning scenarios (CLSs) in their classrooms. It provides support for discovering the puzzles embedded in the languges that are taught.
Outcomes:
Teachers will be able to:
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Indentify three puzzles that they want to use to help learners understand the language targets.
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Prototype three puzzles and make updates.
Mode(s): N/A
Materials: N/A
Procedure:
1. Begin by experiencing an escape room or breakout box. Upon leaving the room, note the different ways that the experience aligned with your experience as a langauge learner. Think specifically about the extent to which play provoked and can provoke learning.
2. Next, observe the world around you. What patterns and structures exist that would facilitate creating a puzzle designed to address a specific learning target? For example, you may note different patterns within words themselves, a perscribed order in specific texts or genres, and even the puzzle of comprehension itself (knowing what to pay attention to and what to filter when communicating in the wild is a puzzle in and of itself).
3. Keeping these patterns in mind, begin thinking of possible puzzle mechanics that would help learners discover information about the learning target at hand. Some examples and potential outcomes are below:
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Use a cipher to help learners engage in reading for detail.
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Hide parts of a text in different areas. Have learners discover them and put them in order to explore target genre conventions.
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Highlight salient examples of a speech strategy to help learners discover how certain utterances are typically formed in the target langauge.
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Use pictograms and other iconography to help learners discover critical vocabulary.
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Incorporate audio and text to help learners discover a specifc pattern. For example, you may have learners listening to a message in Morse code to uncover a critical formula.
4. Articulate your lesson. Think about one language function and what critical information you want learners to unpack with puzzles. Then, make a quick prototype of the puzzles you want to use.
5. Test your puzzles with someone else before working with your students. Make necessary refinements.
Source: CASLS
Inputdate: 2019-10-31 10:09:56
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Content Type: 3
Title: Beyond Games for Learning: Complex Learning Scenarios
Body:
By Dr. Linda Forrest, Director of Research, CASLS
The past decade has shown incredible growth for game technologies in educational settings. Studies show that games can challenge and motivate learners to use language in meaningful, productive ways. Game-based approaches to learning develop social skills, improve deep knowledge, and provide better outcomes for learners (see Reinhardt, 2019 and Sykes and Reinhardt, 2012 for overviews of this research). Recently, the growing popularity of escape rooms, “live-action team-based games where players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal (usually escaping from the room)”(1) has sparked ideas for a new type of educational intervention which we call complex learning scenarios (CLSs). Over the next few weeks, we will explore this topic and explain how CLSs can be created and integrated into your classroom.
What is an escape room like? Imagine that you and your team enter a room and are immediately transported in place and time. Behind you, the door shuts and locks (metaphorically, of course). You have one hour to find another way out. Surrounding you are objects that are both familiar and unfamiliar. A vase has a letter written on the bottom, a picture on the wall shows flags of several nations followed by mysterious numbers, an old-fashioned telephone emits beeps that sound oddly like Morse code. Access to drawers, cupboards, and trunks is blocked by locks requiring keys or codes, no of which you have. At first, you are confused and a bit overwhelmed, but as you and your team members explore the room and share what you find, you begin to see patterns and discover clues that reveal the lock codes. Oh, and if your team becomes completely stuck, you can get an occasional hint from the room operator.
The downside to escape rooms is the time and expense needed to create them. Enter breakout boxes. Instead of breaking out of a room, your goal is to break into a box festooned by multiple locks. You are given a portfolio of papers and objects, which provides a narrative, clues, and puzzles. As in an escape room, you initially feel overwhelmed, but by exploring the materials, applying your background knowledge, and discussing the problems with team members, the locks are finally opened and the rewards within revealed.
As you read the descriptions of the escape room and breakout box experiences, did you notice all the opportunities for language learners to engage in complex discourse and develop social skills through interactions with their team? Did you wonder how to create this type of experience for your own students? Stay tuned to coming Intercom Topics of the Week.
(1) Nicholson, S. (2015). Peeking behind the locked door: A survey of escape room facilities. White paper available at http://scottnicholson.com/pubs/erfacwhite.pdf.
Reinhardt, J. (2019). Gameful Second and Foreign Language Teaching and Learning. Palgrave Macmillan.
Sykes, J. & Reinhardt, J. (2012). Language at Play: Digital Games in Second and Foreign Language Teaching and Learning. Series on Theory and Practice. In Second Language Classroom Instruction, J. Liskin-Gasparro & M. Lacorte, series (Eds.). Pearson-Prentice Hall.
Source: CASLS
Inputdate: 2019-11-03 21:20:34
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Content Type: 1
Title: A Grammar of Pévé
Body:
From: https://linguistlist.org/issues/30/30-4000.html
This book documents the grammar of Pévé, a member of the Chadic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. As a book, it will allow users of Pévé to help preserve their languages, history, cultural activities, and intercultural relations.
Visit the publisher’s website at: https://brill.com/view/title/55637
Source: Erin Shay
Inputdate: 2019-11-04 15:17:39
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Content Type: 1
Title: Call: BAAL TEASIG 2020
Body:
From: https://linguistlist.org/issues/30/30-4061.html
BAAL TEASIG 2020 is inviting calls on the intersection of technology and education with a more specific list of topics available on their website. The deadline for this submission is November, 22, 2019, and the conference will be held March 27, 2020 at The Open University, Milton Keynes.
Learn more at: https://www.baalteasig.co.uk/2020-conference
Source: Linguist List
Inputdate: 2019-11-04 15:19:45
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Content Type: 1
Title: Why You Should Present at Conferences
Body:
From: http://todallycomprehensiblelatin.blogspot.com/2019/10/why-you-should-present-at-conferences.html
In this article, the author addresses the concerns of those who have never presented before and provides them with a vast number of prompts to spark conference topics. The author concludes the article by describing how by having new presenters at conferences, the conference circuit is enriched with new voices and added diversity.
Read more at: http://todallycomprehensiblelatin.blogspot.com/2019/10/why-you-should-present-at-conferences.html
Source: Toda-lly Comprehensible Latin
Inputdate: 2019-11-04 15:23:08
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Content Type: 1
Title: Why Should I Attend a Language Conference?
Body:
From: https://blog.waysidepublishing.com/why-should-i-attend-a-language-conference/
Conferences provide a great opportunity for educators and professionals to engage with one another and improve their own understanding of language teaching. It is particularly useful for teachers of uncommonly taught languages, who may not have frequent communication with other teachers of those languages. Ultimately, conferences build community and opportunity for growth in all attendees.
Learn more at: https://blog.waysidepublishing.com/why-should-i-attend-a-language-conference/
Source: Wayside Publishing
Inputdate: 2019-11-04 15:26:25
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Content Type: 1
Title: Engagement and Immersion in Virtual Reality Narratives
Body:
From: https://iallt.org/webinars/11-14-19/
This webinar describes the Paris Narrative Virtual Reality (VR) project, a collection of VR narratives which allow language learners to vividly experience Parisian life in visual, auditory, and sensory modalities. This is a free webinar happening on November 14, 2019 at 11:00am PST.
Register here: https://iallt.org/webinars/11-14-19/
Source: IALLT
Inputdate: 2019-11-04 15:28:00
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Content Type: 1
Title: How to Tackle Native Speakerism: 4 Levels of Change
Body:
Native speakerism is the bias that many language speakers have towards those who speak their language natively over those who have learned it later in life. This article addresses the negative effects of native speakerism and how members of society can work to lessen the impact of this bias.
Learn more at: https://teflequityadvocates.com/2019/10/23/how-to-tackle-native-speakerism-the-four-levels-of-change/
Source: TEFL Equity Advocates
Inputdate: 2019-11-04 15:31:18
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Content Type: 1
Title: Coffee القَهْوة and Tea الشَّاي in Arab Culture
Body:
From: http://blogs.transparent.com/arabic/coffee-القَهْوة-and-tea-الشَّاي-in-arab-culture/
This blog post teaches learners how to describe and order Arabic/Turkish coffee at an Arabic coffee shop. It takes them not only through the particularities of ordering the coffee and how to describe, it but also where the concept of the coffee shop came from in Arabian culture. This article would be a great frame for a cultural lesson with lexical items interspersed.
Learn more at: http://blogs.transparent.com/arabic/coffee-القَهْوة-and-tea-الشَّاي-in-arab-culture/
Source: Transparent Language
Inputdate: 2019-11-04 15:33:29
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Content Type: 1
Title: 9 Valuable Online Communities for Levantine Arabic Learners
Body:
From: https://www.talkinarabic.com/communities-for-levantine-arabic/
In English speaking countries, it can be difficult to find social outlets for target language practice. Levantine Arabic is a good example. This article provides a solution, helping learners create opportunities to experience authentic dialogue with other Levantine Arabic speakers through online communities. It lists nine different communities for students to access and continue practicing their Arabic skills.
Learn more at: https://www.talkinarabic.com/communities-for-levantine-arabic/
Source: Talk in Arabic
Inputdate: 2019-11-04 15:35:11
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