So finally we have come to my blog. We have reflected on the role technology now has today in Language Learning. There is a potential space for ICC to be achieved in a much easier and accessible way through using technology and social media.

 

I found through these blogs, it challenged me to be more aware of

1. How much time I use on technology/social media.
2. How I can use this to benefit me more instead of distracting me.
3. The tools available to me online or on my phone to help me with LL.

Reflecting on this semester’s work, I think technology is definitely a part of our daily life now. I also think there is a positive way to look at this situation. It all depends on how we use it.

 

Padlet Link

 

From November 7th to November 12th I’ve been using the app MOMENT to track the daily usage of my phone. I was very surprised at the amount of time I spend on my phone, that being some days where I spend up to 3 hours! I noticed that depending on how many hours I have in college, or how much studying I do plays a big role in how much time I spend on social media.

On the weekends I noticed a trend where I spend more time on my phone, using certain apps. I use YouTube and Instagram more when I am at home. I can stay on these social medias for around 30 minutes to an hour at a time. I could probably spend even more time but I use my mornings studying and I also work in the evenings. I never look at my phone in work, only to text or call my mam. I’m really glad I work because I would probably waste my evenings distracted by social media. I find when I have nothing to do it is so easy to spend long periods just scrolling and watching videos. I was never aware of it before, but now I realize I am wasting a lot of time doing nothing on my weekends.

On days where I have a lot more hours in college, or where I get a lot of study done I don’t use my phone as much. I am trying a lot harder to be more focused in tutorials or lectures and be actively paying attention. I have a lot to do in the next few weeks, with 5 essays to hand up and exams at the end of term, I am trying a lot harder to concentrate on my work and not let myself get distracted by my phone. I noticed that once I get into the swing of studying and find myself getting a lot of work done, if I just pick up my phone for a few minutes during it, it’s a lot harder to get back into it when I put the phone down.

After this week, I’ve turned off my notifications on my phone in an attempt to reduce my phone usage. It’s not realistic to me to delete all my apps, because I do enjoy using social media, however for the rest of this semester I would really like to focus on my college work, and not let my phone be the reason I got the C instead of the B.

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed the blog!

Before I discuss the above corpus, I want you to ask yourself the question: “what is corpus linguistics?”

According to McEnry and Wilson (2001:1) it is described as

“the study of language based on examples of ‘real life’ language use”.

Corpora can show us the most frequent words in a language, it can show us the concordancing, it can show us if certain words carry a negative or positive connotation, we can see key words that can be specific to a certain genre or variety, corpora can show us cluster analysis and finally collocations or semantic prosody.

There are many uses for corpus linguistics: Child language acquisition, diactology, lexicography, language teaching materials, language disorders, speech technology, the list goes on.

In this blog I will be analyzing and discussing the differences between the spoken and written corpora seen above. At first glance they both seem very similar, they share a lot of the same words:

THE  I  AND  IT  A THAT  OF  IN  WAS  IS  BUT  THEY  ON  HAVE  TO  YOU

I want to figure out the differences however between both corpora. These are the words that fall only in either or category.

---

Spoken:  yeah  it's  know  mm  er  so  oh  we  no  laughs  like

Written: he  she  for  her  with  his  had  as  be  from  not  they

---

The spoken corpus has more filler words: mm, er and oh. You could also include like and so as well. This makes sense because when we are writing, we usually think harder before we write compared to how much you think before you speak. We use filler words to pause and think, for sometimes, just a millisecond. We are lot more calculating when we write.

In the written corpus more subjective words are seen like his, her and they. Written corpus is less informal and has more words that refer to people other than the speaker. You can also see more prepositions used like from and with.

Written and spoken language have very different functions in everyday life. According to the journal article “Syntactic Differences between Speech and Writing”

“Speech has few words per sentence, fewer syllables per word, a higher degree of interest and less diversity of vocabulary”

That is all for my blog this week! I hope I shed some light on corpus linguistics and if you have any thoughts please leave a comment below!

Bibliography

• McEnery, T. and Wilson, A. (2001) (2nd edition) Corpus Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
• O’Donnell, Roy C. “Syntactic Differences between Speech and Writing.” American Speech, vol. 49, no. 1/2, 1974, pp. 102–110. JSTOR, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3087922.

Task 3.

Intercultural Competence is an essential component in being fluent in a L2 but not in learning a second language. I think that ICC is where you fully understand social context of a situation as well as linguistic context. It is not required in learning how to speak a language but it is essential in learning how to understand the speakers of the language.

Using the website http://uni-collaboration.eu I looked through some case studies and looked at the role and importance of ICC in foreign language education.

In a cultural speaking exchange carried out by the Universidad Europea Miguel de Cervantes and an American Institution they had 4 sessions where they spoke 20 minutes in Spanish and 20 minutes in English, and at the end reflected on the exchange in an essay. They are given a task each week with a number of topics they should discuss. They speak about their family, friends, daily lives, university, hometown, likes and dislikes, as well as cultural topics like traditions, food and stereotypes.

This was one of the few case studies I looked at that actually touch on culture at all. What is discussed is only really the tip of the iceberg in regards to culture.

link to iceberg model

This exchange requires students to learn about important matters that relate to their identity and nationality that go hand in hand with their language, however it only touches the surface of what is their culture and identity. It is things that you could probably learn about yourself if you lived in there country or town for a year, however to learn about the “deep culture”, that would require numerous years and pure immersion into their culture. I think that is true Intercultural Competence, however this case shows the development you can achieve through foreign language education.

“Telecollaborative projects have the potential for significant
language learning as well as an increase in knowledge in both culture-specific and culture-general areas. In recent years, a large number of case studies have been published, which discuss the various tools and approaches (email exchange, tandem learning, discussion forums, chat sessions, text messages) from theperspective of cultural learning. None of these activities is as simple as assigning a chapter in the
textbook” (Godwin-Jones et al. 2013)

Although they require more effort, they deem more beneficial when trying to achieve ICC because there is cultural and social aspects that cannot be learned in a book.

I think ICC is going to play a crucial role in my future employ-ability. Understanding social context and the actual semantics of a situation is a key part of the sector I aspire to work in. I would really like to go into translating or interpreting and that requires ICC because you have to understand not just the words but what is being said.

I hope this blog gave you some insight to the significance of ICC and the need for its development in foreign language education.

Bibliography:

Godwin-Jones, R. (2013). Integrating intercultural competence into language learning through technology. Language Learning & Technology, 17(2), 1–11. http://dx.doi.org/10125/44318

This week’s blog is based on the “Cultura Project” which was originally carried out by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Institut National des Télécommunications (INT) in 1999. Students in both institutions had to answer a web-based questionnaire which then revealed the similarities and differences in both culture. Afterwards the students analysed and discussed the results of their questionnaires and exchanged opinions and conclusions between an online forum. The aim of the project was to compare both cultures and see the world in different perspectives.

The Institutions I will be analyzing and discussing in this blog are Brown University (America) and Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (Mexico)

Brown University & Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (2011)

Word association : Mexico / México

Brown University’s results had mixed connotations. It contained both positive and negative results. It mentions rich-culture, family, tranquility, home and good food but also mentions poverty, immigration and repeatedly names drugs.

It is actually the students from the Brown University that highlight the fact that drugs is mentioned so much, and straight away begin questioning where this word association has been sourced for them.

“I do think the Brown student responses were very much media-influenced. Brown Students cited drugs and poverty multiple times, complying with what the media has most recently exposed Mexico to consist of.”

Throughout the forum a dialogue begins between the students which comments on the influence media has on Mexico and it’s role it has in this negative stereotype which can be seen. I think it’s really interesting to see how media today can really impact and manipulate a perspective of a country.

What is really interesting about this exchange however is the results of the Mexican students and the assumptions it creates from the American students. There was a lot of positive connotations like comida, hogar, identitad, historia and tradición, however there were certain words that, again, repeatedly pop up like tequila and tacos. The American students were taken aback by this because they felt that they were very stereotypical answers, and guessed that the Mexican students had answered this because they felt “inclined” to answer with these words. However one student felt that these answers did not come from any sort of predisposition but were actual important parts of their culture.

“I think that it is interesting that students on behalf of the UAEH side would cite what would be typically thought of as stereotypes, but I think their purpose was not to be sterotypical, but that many of these items are in fact a part of Mexican lifestyle.”

The Mexican students backed this opinion, and explained how tequila, sombrero and taco were not offensive/negative connotations for them because they are important components o their culture which are seen daily in their life.

“Despite preparatory work, telecollaboration projects can result in misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and even reinforcement of negative stereotypes. The problems may arise from insufficient language skills, lack of knowledge of the other culture, or individual insensitivity”(Godwin-Jones et al. 2013)

The other side to these telecollaboration projects is the misunderstandings that can arise. This project is the perfect example. However, I think that is part of the journey to learning about other cultures. We have to learn from these situations because they are bound to happen. Nobody is born knowing everything.

I can see how this project pushes students to see other cultures, as well as their own from other perspectives but also make them question how they have formed their opinion on certain places or people. I think it is very effective in treating bias and assumption that can easily be created especially in today’s media.

That is all for this week, hope you enjoyed this blog!

Bibliography:

Godwin-Jones, R. (2013). Integrating intercultural competence into language learning through technology. Language Learning & Technology, 17(2), 1–11. http://dx.doi.org/10125/44318

According to Byram’s model of ICC, there are five factors you have to fulfill :

• To have an open and curious attitude, capable of learning more about other cultures as well as you own.
• Knowledge of social groups in one’s own culture and others, as well as social practices and constructs. In doing so, how to act appropriately.
• The ability to interpret documents, symbols or events in another culture and relate them to one’s own.
• To have the skill of interaction and discovery; to understand social interactions with other culture
• To have the political education as well as the critical cultural awareness to evaluate and reflect on multiple cultural perspectives.

“A frequently stated goal of ICC is to enable learners to gain the knowledge, skills, and sensitivity to be cultural ambassadors and mediators, able and comfortable in the role of interpreters among cultures, including their own.” (Godwin-Jones et al. 2013)

BYRAM ICC MODEL PDF

In short, ICC is the ability to have a conversation with someone from another culture in their own language and understand fully the social context of what is happening as well as the linguistic context.

Therefore, my interpretation of the term “Intercultural speaker” is the members of this social interaction. They would possess these skills and attributes and be capable of putting them into use in different types of situations. For instance formal interactions e.g. in an academic setting, a student on Erasmus speaking to a lecturer. Along with informal interactions e.g. in a village market in a foreign country, buying vegetables from a stall. I imagine to be an Intercultural Speaker is a long term goal, not something that can happen overnight, or even in a year. To fully understand a language but also the social constructs of the society that uses it requires time but also experience. Exposure to different types of people and situations is one of the key intentions to achieve this higher level of understanding.

However my interpretation of an “Intercultural mediator” is slightly different. According to the Collins English dictionary the verb mediate is where “someone mediates between two groups of people, or mediates an agreement between them, they try to settle an argument between them by talking to both groups and trying to find things that they can both agree to.” In my opinion, an Intercultural mediator is someone who possesses the same skills and abilities an Intercultural speaker has, but puts them to use by intervening in intercultural conflicts to help resolve the situation, using their coherent understanding of both perspectives. The website Master of Advanced Studies in Intercultural Communication has perfect examples that explain this position. One case study is about an inter-cultural marriage between a young Mexican couple. The wife’s father was of Jewish origin and her mother Catholic, she grew up in a Christian household but before she got married to her husband converted to Jewish faith. Her husband came from a third generation Jewish family, and had who’s family environment had been clearly Jewish growing up. The case discusses the possible problems and stereotypical issues that could arise in their marriage for them and their children in their community. This is where the mediator comes into play, she would help bring awareness to these issues and help resolve them. CASE STUDY : mixed religion marriage

I hope my blog was helpful to anyone reading, and if anyone has any other takes on these terms please share them with me. Bye!

Bibliography:

Godwin-Jones, R. (2013). Integrating intercultural competence into language learning through technology. Language Learning & Technology, 17(2), 1–11. http://dx.doi.org/10125/44318

Digital Literacy is made up of cognitive, emotional and social components like

• use of texts, tools and technologies
• skills of critical thinking and analysis
• practice of message composition and creativity
• the ability to engage in reflection and ethical thinking
• active participation through teamwork and collaborationFrom: Digital and Media Literacy: A plan of action. (Hobbs, 2011)

Today I am analysing the social medias I use day to day and seeing how digital literacy has a connection between social media and the definition above.

Like most people my age I am a avid user of most social networking sites. I am active on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and the odd time I will share a video of a funny FAIL on Facebook. I probably spend at least four hours everyday on social media, it is the first thing I check in the morning and the last thing I look at at night. I probably use Snapchat or Instagram the most, I use Snapchat to send texts, photos and videos to my friends. In Ireland, Snapchat is definitely used more between teenagers to text one another than using our actual phone numbers. I use Instagram to post photos or stories, and follow my friends or celebrities “lives”. I enjoy using Instragram, it is a very entertaining app but I can tend to spend too long on it, just looking at peoples photos or watching videos. I will always get a laugh going onto Twitter, it’s hard to explain why it’s so funny, but if you are on Twitter, then you will understand.

 

I think there is an equal amount of pros as there is cons when it comes to social media. Like most things in life, it’s all about moderation.

PROS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES:

• It is extremely entertaining. I enjoy funny memes and videos and the latest viral video. Vine is dead but the content is still gold.
• It is now extremely easy to keep in contact with the family and friends that you never get to see. A facetime with my Aunty in Indonesia is only a fingertip away. I can text my best friend from home at any given second of the day.
• You can meet so much people with the same interests and hobbies as you. There is numerous groups/discussions/forums/websites available.
• Similarly you can reach a huge audience with people who have the same interests as you. E.g. aspiring singers, dancers, artists, etc can share their works and in some cases achieve great success through it. Perfect example is Justin Bieber or Jeffree Star.
• You can be up to date with what is going on in the world, and as well as that, you can see different perspectives of today’s headliner. Every side can now be seen and heard through social media, the news can no longer sell only their version. Social media is now being used to speak out on both sides.

 

CONS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES:

• Social networks can be extremely addicting. I know I spend too much time on my phone looking through social media and I am not present in what is going on around me. This blog makes me question myself, “Am I missing out on my own life by looking down at my phone?”
• Cyberbullying – I think cyber bullying is extremely horrible and a huge con of social media. I think it really effects those who have a large following as well. It’s like the bigger the audience you reach the more hate you are susceptible to. Some people tend to forget that their little hate comment that they typed in 2 minutes and then proceeded in closing their app and going on with their day can really affect the person on the receiving end of it. People do genuinely forget that the person in the photo or the video actually have feelings and are HUMAN.
• Social networking sites have the power to be very distressing and upsetting. With so much news and stories available to you, it can be scary to scroll through and read about all the tragic and sad things that are happening everyday. I thinks it’s really important not to get too bogged down into what’s going in the world sometimes because as important as it is to be aware and up-to-date it’s also important to not let these things get to you.

Technology is such a pervasive aspect of learners’ everyday lives and future use of the language they are learning that it should be an integral part of language learning: “Anyone concerned with second language teaching and learning in the 21st century needs to grasp the nature of the unique technology-mediated tasks learners engage in for language acquisition” (Chapelle, 2001: 2).

Today’s technology proves to constantly stimulate and encourage interaction between you and other people. Which is also a key component to becoming Inter-culturally competent. I think if you look at the pros from a perspective of how could this help me with LL? For example: Meeting someone with the same interests as you but from another culture. You would connect over something you have in common but also teach each other about your differences.

Biubliography;

Chappelle, C. (2001) ‘Computer Applications in Second Language Acquisition’ Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

This week my blog will discuss the effect of LL apps depending on what your learning style is. After taking a test that helped me determine my best suited style of learning and studying, I discovered that I am a fairly balanced learner, I can adapt to most styles, however I leaned more towards active, sensing, visual and sequential.

The app I will be reviewing is “Memrise”. A language learning app that utilizes visual and audio tools to help you grow your vocabulary and also places importance on the semantics of certain phrases and words.

Even during secondary school I noticed I always found it easier to learn and study a subject where I had a teacher that was engaging and who kept my attention. Working in groups where we had to discuss what we were learning really suited me. Active learning was a really important way of studying a subject for me in school, some of my teachers really emphasized it. I find the “Memrise” app extremely engaging and the use of its audio as well as its visual really helps me. Its constant quizzing helps me retain the information.

I would personalise my app to be along the same wavelength. I would want an app that is suited to those who are active learners, where it takes up your full attention. I also would use audio e.g. as you are reading sentences/phrases/words a clip of a spanish speaker saying it is also being played. Visuals of what you are reading would also be available to help you remember the vocabulary you would learn. I would use daily quizzes to test you on the vocabulary you would be given, for example, the day before to help you practice and rehearse all the information.

I am definitely a more “sensing” learner. I find it a lot easier to learn a fact than grasping abstract concepts. In a way I actually think the app “Memrise” would suit intuitive learners as well because it requires you to connect the dots when dealing with the context and semantics of certain linguistic situations. Even though I have a sensing learning style I think this part of the app is really effective.

In my LL app I would include this type of semantics teaching but I would also have a dictionary type explanation of words. If you search a word, it would show the different meanings a word can have in different contexts. I would also use examples to emphasize it.

When it comes to visual or verbal learning, I can definitely adapt to either one or the other. I can learn through pictures, diagrams and visuals but I also find it really effective to be taught through explanations and discussions, especially considering I study languages. The app “Memrise” caters equally to both learning styles, if you prefer to only study visually you are able to edit the settings so you don’t have to answer the questions that require you to hear a sound file.

As a sequential learner I like to learn things in steps, little by little, rather than a global learner who can jump from topic to a topic and learn in big chunks all at once. The app “Memrise” focuses on a small amount of new voabulary or grammar daily, which I think is more suited to a sequential learner. Global learners absorb material randomly, like an “a-ha” moment compared to a sequential learner who will not always understand fully the material but will be able to make sense of what they are doing.

That is all for my blog this week, see you next week !

Welcome back readers,

This week my blog is about an in-depth analysis of the CALL website – Duolingo. One of the most popular LL websites available, I will evaluate what makes this website effective or ineffective.

Five important criteria I will be discussing regarding this site is the

• language learning potential
• practicality
• learner control
• error correction and feedback
• teacher factor

The language I will be basing this blog post on, is again, Spanish. The learning potential with Duolingo is quite extensive. As you progress through each level, more and more vocabulary is available. As well as that, you can learn phrases, requests, directions as the level of difficulty increases. The highest levels deal with tenses, even more complex ones like Past Imperfect or Conditional Perfect. The website has the potential to aid you greatly in your language learning.

The practicality of the website however finishes with the word “tool”. Although I believe the website is very useful, in my opinion, it alone cannot teach you a language. CALL packages are useful tools in the learning environment, however to achieve (near) fluency we need a teacher or a native language speaker. We are not born and learn our own native language through a computer or app. Learning a language requires the daily oral use of it. It is an easy to use app, you can download it and use it in your spare time. Even if you use it for ten minutes everyday it would be beneficial to your LL, I don’t think it alone can teach you a language.

Learner control is A1 with the app. You can choose in each level what you want to learn and quiz yourself on. It’s easy access and easy to use, as well as being free of charge. There are also forums and discussions in which you can bring up any questions or problems you have.

Error correction and feedback are also put into good use in this CALL package. You have a clear and instant explanation on where you made a mistake. Through trial and error you correct your grammar mistakes or lack of vocabulary, which I believe is more effective than trying to learn off lists of vocabulary.

Finally, “teacher factor”. In my opinion, the teacher plays a huge role in learning a language. Some CALL websites can incorporate teachers, like “Pancomido”, a LL founded by a teacher in Ireland that aids Junior and Leaving cert students taking Spanish.  When I was in my leaving cert, my Spanish teacher used her website to help us with our essays. Duolingo lacks a teacher role, and I don’t think you get the same level of understanding by learning grammar from a teacher compared to the app.

After looking at the five important criteria that I believe make a CALL package effective, I’ve evaluated that Duolingo is competent and progressive CALL package, however is nothing more than a tool in language learning and cannot replace the teaching environment and the effect a classroom or immersion has. I don’t believe it can achieve the goal of fluency, however I think its standard of teaching is high and also useful. I would say it’s a valid and reliable CALL package.

That is my summary and evaluation of the CALL package : Duolingo, I hope you enjoyed it. Adios!