Reflecting On Our Call Experience

In our final meeting, we'll start reflecting on our CALL language learning journey and thinking about what we might discuss in our May 6th roundtable discussion/workshop. Elissa has emailed you a reflection sheet as well as sample reflection responses to help guide you in this process.

Learning and goals

Howard's explanation of what is meant by 'goal-setting' at the meeting last week helped me to recognize how I do indeed set goals. As he noted, the first few times I went on-line the goal was to find and familiarize myself with what's out there. Setting language goals is very frustrating if our resources don't supply what we need to meet our goals. Hence, at the beginning I basically allowed the program that I was working with to set the goal. Now that I've become familiar with a few programs, and as I become more aware of the language itself and my strengths and weaknesses, I find myself coming to the computer with a more specific goal in mind. For example, I had wanted to practice listening to something above my level, and in the process, to try strategies for making difficult material easier. I've been able to do that with Lingq. When I try to do the writing exercises for Spanishl2, I'm quickly made aware of grammar and vocabulary needs. The Lingq flashcards are helpful for vocabulary. I googled "spanish grammar review" and found a website - www.studyspanish.com - where I can access a lesson on a specific grammar point. I'm more motivated to continue when I can meet some of my goals, and each 'lesson' raises new points of interest to pursue.

More about goal-setting

I haven’t consciously been setting goals for myself each time I sit down to use the language-learning program. Maria mentioned at our last meeting that she was basically allowing the BBC program to dictate the goals to her, and I have been been approaching the whole learning experience in much the same way. Upon reflection, however, I realize that I have actually had goals, albeit subconscious ones. I am currently taking an Italian course and my main objective when using the software has been to try to understand as much of the recorded dialogues as possible. Initially, my aim was just to “test myself” to see if I could understand anything at all - just to know whether or not I was really learning anything in class. Thus, my goals have been to understand at least the gist of the conversations without having to look at the dialogues. All of the discussion about goal-setting got me to thinking about my own learning strategies, however, and I now realize that my learning strategies are much different from my teaching strategies. When I prepare a lesson for my own students, I always have clear objectives. When I study a language myself, however, I don’t always have very clear, explicit objectives. This got me to wondering how many language learners really do set those kinds of concrete goals for themselves. Am I unusual in that I do not? Do most people sit down to a lesson and say to themselves, “Today I will master the verb ‘avere’” or “This week I will learn to roll my r’s like a native?” Or is it more like, “I hope I can work through one or two lessons each week with a reasonable amount of retention?” It also makes me wonder if it might be useful to encourage students to think about their subconscious goals.

Learning and Practicing

I have found that I am as frustrated as my colleagues when it comes to finding a site that actually teaches a lesson. Too many sites teach vocabulary or grammar in isolation making it difficult to understand, let alone learn, the lesson. As Larry said in the meeting, having a living breathing instructor in front of you seems to be the key to actually learning a language. The instructor can guide you and help you to learn and understand the target language. Plus, with instructor guidance, students can use computer programs to reinforce what they have learned, or to help them understand any difficult points about the grammar etc. about the target language. Another thing that is important is to practice what I have learned, so repetition seems to be the key. If I don't practice what I have learned, then I put myself back to where I was. This reminds me of my TaeKwon-Do lessons I took as a youth. Repetition was the key to mastering any move. It is like the old joke about getting to Carnegie Hall. The only way you can get there is by practice, practice, pratice.

Learning about my teaching and students

I find that I am comparing myself as a language learner to my students. I see myself as one of those students whose listening and reading comprehension as well as pronunciation can be quite good, in contrast to my productive capabilities. As I struggle with Spanish grammar, I am both more sympathetic with their challenges and less understanding of some of their grammatical lapses! For example, after torturing myself with a difficult practice on irregular verbs on the indiana.edu website, I wonder how my native Spanish speakers can have any difficulty at all with Eng. verb endings! On the other hand, I feel the pain of some of my speaking-challenged students who ace the grammar exams, and other fluent ones who don't "apply" my neat little grammar lessons. In addition, I am almost tempted never to complain again about students not following written directions, having realized that I tend to skip right over those in Spanish.

Of course these are not earth-shattering observations, but I find it very useful to be in the students' shoes for a change. As for my own learning Spanish on the computer, I find that interest is the key to motivation. Several obvious factors influence my interest, such as lesson content, length of a passage, video or listening exercise, speaker's accent, and my current mood. We often expect a lot from our students and don't always consider their differing needs, or appreciate the difficulty of tasks.

Goal-Setting

Setting goals is important for a student to focus. I find that when I'm teaching, I'm clear about what I want the students to get out of the lesson, even if I don't tell them explicitly. If I stay on-point, they will get what I'm trying to get them to do. It seems to me, guiding them works nicely. As a student, I realize that I need more specific instructions. I feel that the goals that I'm setting for myself haven't always been met by the programs that I am using. In fact, it has been somewhat difficult for me to pick up the pronunciation because the writing system doesn't necessarily correspond to what I'm familiar with. It has also been difficult for me to remember some of the grammar. Maybe I'm just not that good of a student!!!

Listening

Today I explored lingq.com and worked on Spanish.

I found that length had an impact- shorter scripts kept my interest and of course certain topics bored me a lot.

Also, I found that when I started reading the text I translated immediately, yet when I listened I did not. I learned something about myself- my listening skills are stronger than my reading skills!

"Homework" Reminder

This week, we'd like you to do two things:

1. Publish a New Post in reaction to one of the questions in today's handout.

2. Make a Comment in reaction to any group member's previous posting that you wish to weigh in on.

Have fun with your language studies!

Are you learning about your chosen language? About your teaching? What?

I think the wording of the first question is interesting. It is geared to an educator. Notice the wording, "Are you learning ABOUT your chosen language?" Is this different from asking, "Are you learning your chosen language?" I think so. It seems to me that the first question asks for an analysis of the structure of the language while the second question deals with language mastery. What do the rest of you think?
I am learning some German (to answer the revised question) and I am learning that German is difficult to pronounce and difficult to spell...and consists of long words...to answer the original question. The basic program is rewarding because when one starts off at point zero, the language acquisition is very significant. I can state the time in German and ask for some directions with very controlled vocabulary. I've learned some of the vocabulary of family relationships and friendships. I find that the dialogues are too fast and too indistinct for my ears. I need to hear them several times along with looking at the German captions before I really hear them completely. It must be how our students feel when they say that a tape or CD is too fast! I can sympathize.
What have I learned about my teaching? On the positive side, my students generally tell me that I speak sufficiently slowly and loudly. That makes me happy. When I go into a native-speaking environment, I have to slap myself to speed up my speech because I am so accustomed to slowing down. I really have learned how important it is to have my students work at their own pace in the computer lab and progress to another area only when they understand the previous one. I will emphasize this. I will ask them to keep a journal of errors and corrections that they can refer to as they move forward.
Ultimately, the value of this experience for me is what it must be for all of us. We are putting ourselves in the position of the learner in a realistic setting and we are encountering the issues that arise for any language-learner. I believe ESL teachers are sensitive to their students' needs to begin with, but this experience certainly creates a heightened sensitivity.

An obvious observation

Unlike Howard who is experimental, I am sticking to my BBC Beginner German lessons. This morning I completed a lesson on asking for directions. I previewed the vocabulary first, studied it, finally knew it, and then went through the rest of the lesson which involves listening to a dialogue, sequencing the dialogue, speaking in German, and finally writing questions and answers about directions in German. I did very well....and that was this morning.
This afternoon I came back to the same lesson and I would say that my retention of the vocabulary was perhaps 70%. How discouraging! I am saying this not so much to point out my faulty memory as to emphasize how valuable it is to be in an immersion setting when you are learning a language so that your environment is supporting you. To that extent, our students who work with English-speaking people and who live among English-speaking people are fortunate. Those who live and work with speakers of their native language don't have this tremendous advantage.
I feel that I need to go over every lesson a number of times over a period of a few days to retain the language I am learning. Otherwise the words are gone! Is anyone else having this problem? (Please say yes!)