Hmmm...how should I say this. The experience of presenting at LitCon was not as satisfactory as the process with which I came up with my study. I shouldn't feel bad, but I do. Maybe because I've worked hard on this for months then the trip was terrible on my sleep/rest cycle due to the unholy hours of arrival and waiting for my connecting flight etcetera etcetera etcetera. I had a small audience and I noticed my presentation didn't capture the essence of my study.
BUT, I am telling myself to be content after all this is how some conferences turn out to be. You got a shrinking audience towards the afternoon. Half of that shrinked portion are half-listening. There's not much to expect really. AND after all, I already was superglad enough that I was able to write what I wanted to write plus received 2 comments here in my blog. So, I blog away here another portion of my case report...
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Engaging and Sustaining Language Learning and Interactions
At the onset, the choice of topics tackled in 'Speak English Now' appear to be practical and functional for any language learner. Examples of conversational topics in her sessions are marriage, money, uniforms, leisure time, and holidays. The interactions are facilitated mainly through the use of discussions, debates, songs and storytelling. Nellie's choice of content and techniques can be likened to that of F2F language classes as she uses a combination of direct instruction, facilitation and modelling. These techniques are aimed at oral language development and fluency in English while teaching basic spellings, vocabulary and word usage which naturally arise from the interactions based on the discussion topics or debate questions. Some of these may be directed to an individual's response but since there is a chatbox where she sometimes does this, then everyone gets to see it and benefit from these interactions.
Beyond these are responses which I refer to as language teaching points or opportune moments when Nellie decides to pick up from a salient interaction in order to explicitly teach or point out aspects of the English language. One example was when she takes the conversation to a different level when 2 student asked via chat respectively: “Why is your stress american?” and “Which english is better American/British?”. This allowed for Nellie to segue into forms or versions of English around the world as well as languages other than English. In other times, appreciation for all types of English is one aspect Nellie implicitly imparts in her classes as she acknowledges nuances of the accents.
Upon viewing transcripts which appear in the chatbox, one may think that exchanges are relatively simplistic, hardly indicative of complex language use among persons involved. However, once a learner speaks up upon receipt of audio control, the level of discourse starts to elevate and is maintained for everyone to listen to. This maybe attributed to the fact that Nellie herself gives her adult learners the chance and freedom to do so. In fact one can safely say that the learners are provided with good opportunities to control, direct and sustain the type of discourse going on. To sustain the level of discourse, Nellie herself does not water down her vocabulary nor choice of sentence patterns to use just to make herself understood. Alongside this, she is keenly able to listen to the learner on the mic and respond in the chatbox by typing key points, vocabulary words, and popping questions for everyone to see and learn from even while learners themselves may be using the chatbox for social purposes. Since learners maintain a good degree of motivation to use English, the quality of teaching-learning acts happen at a pace all participants are responsible for even if the mic control is relegated to one person at a time. A sample of the flow of 2-3 ongoing interactions, merging at some points, is illustrated as follows: (image with chat—audio response—using speech balloons)
[image needed]
Having control over the features of the virtual classroom afforded by WizIQ, Nellie tries to make use of these efficiently and uniquely to engage and sustain the quality of language interaction in her class. Uniquely to mean interactions are sustained by the nature of her responses which happens to her choice of content, resources and responses through the multimodal features of the classroom. Efficiently to mean that manipulating the features of WizIQ happens simultaneously and seamlessly with Nellie. Through the chatbox, she is able to listen closely to the learner on the mic, type important words to emphasize key points being said by the learner while showing spellings and word meanings via the chatbox. Then she can simultaneously respond to a student query via chat. She is quick to remember a technical problem raised via chat and addresses this either at once or when she finally has the audio control. Similarly, the learners also manage to follow the interactions happening, respond and sustain their engagements even during instances when technical problems arise while the class is going on.
[insert script—Nellie multitasking with audio control]
In sum, one can imagine Nellie occupying different spaces in the virtual class, as if she is also moving in her own F2F classroom to fulfill varied roles as an online participant in her class. She behaves as a master teacher taking center stage when she points out and models good and creative language use of English. She behaves as a facilitator when she asks questions, affirms or summarizes for the class to equally respond to. She exemplifies an image of a guide on the side figuratively and literally whenever she allows a student to freely speak up using the mic and she steps back as the teacher and uses the chatbox on the side while the learner's voice takes center stage. She is one with the learners when she occasionally chitchats via the chatbox and is able to sustain her focus in responding to the learner with the audio control. Add to that, she is clearly a curator when she recommends other online tools and resources she has reviewed and used herself.
This multiplicity of roles Nellie is able to fulfill is heavily mediated through communication---seen, heard and felt via video and audio, read through printed text in chatbox and equally personified through her choice of music and content. So much so that the virtual environment did not even prevent Nellie from pulling a prank on April Fool's Day. This sets an atmosphere of real time learning which is afforded by technology and Nellie's knowledge of pedagogy and technology as well as teaching style. Each class becomes an integrated act of all these roles, initially teacher directed and some equally fulfilled by the learners themselves.
BUT, I am telling myself to be content after all this is how some conferences turn out to be. You got a shrinking audience towards the afternoon. Half of that shrinked portion are half-listening. There's not much to expect really. AND after all, I already was superglad enough that I was able to write what I wanted to write plus received 2 comments here in my blog. So, I blog away here another portion of my case report...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Engaging and Sustaining Language Learning and Interactions
At the onset, the choice of topics tackled in 'Speak English Now' appear to be practical and functional for any language learner. Examples of conversational topics in her sessions are marriage, money, uniforms, leisure time, and holidays. The interactions are facilitated mainly through the use of discussions, debates, songs and storytelling. Nellie's choice of content and techniques can be likened to that of F2F language classes as she uses a combination of direct instruction, facilitation and modelling. These techniques are aimed at oral language development and fluency in English while teaching basic spellings, vocabulary and word usage which naturally arise from the interactions based on the discussion topics or debate questions. Some of these may be directed to an individual's response but since there is a chatbox where she sometimes does this, then everyone gets to see it and benefit from these interactions.
Beyond these are responses which I refer to as language teaching points or opportune moments when Nellie decides to pick up from a salient interaction in order to explicitly teach or point out aspects of the English language. One example was when she takes the conversation to a different level when 2 student asked via chat respectively: “Why is your stress american?” and “Which english is better American/British?”. This allowed for Nellie to segue into forms or versions of English around the world as well as languages other than English. In other times, appreciation for all types of English is one aspect Nellie implicitly imparts in her classes as she acknowledges nuances of the accents.
Upon viewing transcripts which appear in the chatbox, one may think that exchanges are relatively simplistic, hardly indicative of complex language use among persons involved. However, once a learner speaks up upon receipt of audio control, the level of discourse starts to elevate and is maintained for everyone to listen to. This maybe attributed to the fact that Nellie herself gives her adult learners the chance and freedom to do so. In fact one can safely say that the learners are provided with good opportunities to control, direct and sustain the type of discourse going on. To sustain the level of discourse, Nellie herself does not water down her vocabulary nor choice of sentence patterns to use just to make herself understood. Alongside this, she is keenly able to listen to the learner on the mic and respond in the chatbox by typing key points, vocabulary words, and popping questions for everyone to see and learn from even while learners themselves may be using the chatbox for social purposes. Since learners maintain a good degree of motivation to use English, the quality of teaching-learning acts happen at a pace all participants are responsible for even if the mic control is relegated to one person at a time. A sample of the flow of 2-3 ongoing interactions, merging at some points, is illustrated as follows: (image with chat—audio response—using speech balloons)
[image needed]
Having control over the features of the virtual classroom afforded by WizIQ, Nellie tries to make use of these efficiently and uniquely to engage and sustain the quality of language interaction in her class. Uniquely to mean interactions are sustained by the nature of her responses which happens to her choice of content, resources and responses through the multimodal features of the classroom. Efficiently to mean that manipulating the features of WizIQ happens simultaneously and seamlessly with Nellie. Through the chatbox, she is able to listen closely to the learner on the mic, type important words to emphasize key points being said by the learner while showing spellings and word meanings via the chatbox. Then she can simultaneously respond to a student query via chat. She is quick to remember a technical problem raised via chat and addresses this either at once or when she finally has the audio control. Similarly, the learners also manage to follow the interactions happening, respond and sustain their engagements even during instances when technical problems arise while the class is going on.
[insert script—Nellie multitasking with audio control]
In sum, one can imagine Nellie occupying different spaces in the virtual class, as if she is also moving in her own F2F classroom to fulfill varied roles as an online participant in her class. She behaves as a master teacher taking center stage when she points out and models good and creative language use of English. She behaves as a facilitator when she asks questions, affirms or summarizes for the class to equally respond to. She exemplifies an image of a guide on the side figuratively and literally whenever she allows a student to freely speak up using the mic and she steps back as the teacher and uses the chatbox on the side while the learner's voice takes center stage. She is one with the learners when she occasionally chitchats via the chatbox and is able to sustain her focus in responding to the learner with the audio control. Add to that, she is clearly a curator when she recommends other online tools and resources she has reviewed and used herself.
This multiplicity of roles Nellie is able to fulfill is heavily mediated through communication---seen, heard and felt via video and audio, read through printed text in chatbox and equally personified through her choice of music and content. So much so that the virtual environment did not even prevent Nellie from pulling a prank on April Fool's Day. This sets an atmosphere of real time learning which is afforded by technology and Nellie's knowledge of pedagogy and technology as well as teaching style. Each class becomes an integrated act of all these roles, initially teacher directed and some equally fulfilled by the learners themselves.
Learning a new language is not just about learning the words. Instead, one is required to think with a new set of labels for everything around them. Recognizing this, many language courses use pictures and symbols to illustrate the meanings of new words instead of handing out vocabulary lists with translations into one's native language.
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