On the Great Wall (June 19th, 2015)

The importance of "authentic audience" in language learning

First of all, some of the comments made in an article that I read for my L544 class (Johnston, 2007) at Indiana University made me reflect on my teaching regarding the importance of establishing an authentic audience in language learning.

 According to Johnston’s definition, an authentic audience is “an audience that is concerned exclusively with the meaning of the speaker’s message” (67).

In my understanding he implies that teachers sometimes get too focused on form and do not provide an authentic audience (where students can give meaningful and personal answers), which is more beneficial for students for improving their communicative proficiency (67). For instance, he provides the example of one language expert who experienced frustration when his Portuguese instructor focused too much on correct form instead of real answers; “his teacher insisted that he answer the question, "Are you married?" with the factually incorrect "yes" because "we are practicing affirmative answers (64).”

I think his point here is worth some thoughtful reflection for language teachers. Encouraging students to give real answers from their own opinions/preferences/beliefs (rather than giving any answer for the sake of practicing a structure) would probably be much more meaningful to them and helpful for their retention in the long term. As Johnston states, "audience is a crucial factor in the acquisition of the second language, and the availability of an authentic audience affects the rate and extent of language learning (63).”

After reading these comments, I realized that in the past I’ve done something similar to the example above, sometimes telling students that they “don’t need to give their true opinion or preference here. Just give any answer to practice the form.” 

This is something that I want to reflect more on towards improving my teaching and student learning; are there ways I could adjust my lessons in order to promote giving real answers and preferences? Is there anything more I could be doing to encourage students to want to give these true answers and thoughts? 

I also want to add that while I do agree that establishing this authentic audience is something worth striving for, I also think that there should also be some allowance for students giving a stock answer, especially when they have no experience, preference or thoughts about the topic or question (which would be much better than saying nothing at all). 

"Agency" as a language learning goal

The concept of agency as a language-learning goal mentioned in an article I read for my summer class at Indiana University (Warschauer, 2004) was new to me, and I did some further research on it to get a better grasp of the concept. According to the articles I read (sources noted below), although there are different ideas on the exact meaning of agency, it seems that they all relate to the idea and value of language learners having the power to be self-directed learners that can use language in a meaningful way instead of vessels passively awaiting instruction from the teacher. This article adds the idea of having students create something that can be shared with an international audience, which I think is a really interesting idea.

In my Mandarin classes, I try to give students the opportunity to create with the language, including video projects, role-plays, and presentations (e.g. a travel diary to a fictional country, describing a robot that they saw at a technology expo, and talking about a brief timeline of their lives). I think giving students opportunities to discover and explore with language are important towards promoting extended use of the language after graduation and throughout their lives.

I like the idea of students creating a multimedia document to be shared online (as mentioned in the article), but I haven’t yet implemented this in my class. While I think it’s a good idea, I think that it’s important that there can be some assurance that students would receive some feedback from the “international audience,” instead of sharing it somewhere in a remote part of cyberspace with no viewers.

Supplemental Sources Used:

Duff, P. (2012). Identity, agency, and SLA (Links to an external site.). In A. Mackey & S. Gass (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition. (pp. 410-426) London: Routledge. (invited)

 Miller, Elisabeth R. “Agency, language learning and multilingual spaces.” Multilingual. 2012, Vol. 31 Issue 4, p441-468. 28p. 1 Chart. DOI: 10.1515/multi-2012-0020. ,

 Xiao, Junhong. “Learner agency in language learning: the story of a distance learner of EFL in China” Department of Foreign Languages, Shantou Radio and Television University, Shantou, P.R. Distance Education, 2014
Vol. 35, No. 1, 4–17, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2014.891429

Mobile App Review: Pleco

Mobile App Review: Pleco

Some basic facts:

·                Category: Reference

·                Updated: Jun 09, 2015

·                Version: 3.2.6

·                Size: 91.3 MB

·                Language: English

·                Seller: Pleco Software

For my mobile app review, I looked at a Chinese learning app called “Pleco.” It is labled the “ultimate Chinese learning companion” by its makers. While I’m very impressed with this app, I think this description is a bit misleading as the focus of the program is on the written form (it also includes pronunciation of a word) and does not place much emphasis on the oral/aural aspects; it includes an integrated dictionary, a document reader, a flashcard system a fullscreen handwriting input and live optical character reader. The basic dictionary is free to download, but the other features mentioned above are paid add-ons.

The layout is not flashy, but a simple, attractive design that is very well organized and easy to navigate (see examples below with clear headings/icons for navigation). While the format of the program may not have much appeal for young learners or those without much interest in learning Chinese, the displays are very clear, effective and efficient for those who are there for the purpose of the program: to study and explore the Mandarin Chinese written language. 

 The content seems very accurate to me; for example, when I wrote several characters on the touch screen using my finger (see example below), I received immediate results of the correct character. The example sentences that I read (see example below for the word “noodles” were also accurate and useful to see the word used in context.

Pleco does not appear to provide opportunities to collaborate with others, but there are some ways that a user can adjust settings according to his/her preferences.

          For example, one can choose from the Mandarin, Cantonese or Japanese pronunciation of a character, and display of Korean, Japanese, pinyin or Cantonese definition of a character. Pleco offers various modes of learning activities including a document reader, (one can import a text document and tap on words in it to instantly look them up), a voice recorder (for looking up a word based on the word you say), an optical character recognition tool (one can look up meanings of characters by pointing his device's camera at them, see example below), full screen handwriting input (one can use his/her finger to write a character and obtain the meaning), flashcards (one can create a card from any dictionary entry with a single button tap) stroke order diagrams (animations showing you how to draw each character).

The optical character recognition tool is a very unique part of this app, with the ability to recognize characters through the lens of a smartphone camera. It worked very well when I tried it out, but one's phone needs to have focus capability in order to use the feature properly (the camera needs to focus in order to capture the exact shape of the character for efficient recognition). 

 One element of the program that provides feedback and statistics is the flashcard activity (see example below) for recognition of pinyin and meaning of a character. One can choose their own words from the dictionary to add to the system,  or import files from their own list or preexisting list from the software. When the character is shown, one can test himself, and then mark whether his or her answer was correct or incorrect. He/she can check these statistics after completion, and data is saved in order to keep track of progress.

According to the article titled "Investigating Authenticity" by Chappelle and Liu that we read for class, one expert defines an authentic task as “one that learners perceive they will learn outside of class in their real world or that parallels or replicates real functions beyond the class” (Chappelle and Liu, 111). The main function of this app is for exploring definitions, components and pronunciations of words, so there is not much emphasis on activities for authentic use in real life situations. The only thing that might be considered as an authentic component are the examples that provide the word in the context of a sample sentence.

          I think this program can be integrated into a course for study of vocabulary, reading and writing. It can also be a great supplemental source for self-directed learning. According to the website, they offer a user community athttp://www.plecoforums.com, and phone and email support. There were not any bugs that I found while using the program. After reviewing this app, I will think about introducing it to my students this fall as a recommended dictionary that they can use on their smartphones (which seem attached to every college student nowadays). It's also a great resource for those highly motivated students who want to learn more characters on their own time and test their progress on their own. 

          My overall rating for Pleco is a 5, “excellent.” However I recommend that they clarify their tagline to the following one that best represents the purpose of their product : “the ultimate Chinese companion for the written form.”

Website Evaluation for CCTV.com “Learn Chinese”

Website URL: http://english.cntv.cn/learnchinese/

Grade/Age/Proficiency Level: College Aged, Beginner to Advanced Level

Language & Content: Mandarin Chinese, Listening and Speaking

This website by China State Television provides various multi-level video lessons (beginner to advanced) for learning Chinese. Although a couple of the programs teach how to write some characters, the website is most useful for those who want to improve their listening and speaking.

The programs strive to be both educational and entertaining, and include titles such as “Easy Chinese” (teaches basic survival phrases using real people on the street), “Growing Up with Chinese” (teaches common phrases through skits aimed at teenagers), “Travel in Chinese” (teaches language in different settings aimed at intermediate learners), “Happy Journey Across China” (teaches advanced phrases while traveling to various interesting locations throughout China).

Explaining a grammar pattern in "Growing Up With Chinese"

Explaining a common idiom in "Happy Journey Across China"

The website is very easy to use, with videos organized in relation to the target level of proficiency. One of the ways the website could be improved in this area of usage is to be more consistent with the available viewing features on each video; for example, some of the videos (including "Travel in Chinese" and "Sports Chinese" don’t contain a pause or scroll option, which I think are very helpful for a learner. For example, with a pause button a viewer can quickly and easily review an important structure or phrase that he/she might have missed. 

Videos organized by proficiency

The videos vary in extra resources provided; for example, several include the script ("Growing Up with Chinese" includes the English translation), "Happy Chinese Season 2" includes an overview of the grammar pattern to be learned, "Survival Chinese" includes the key phrases to be introduced, and a couple of them (such as "Travel in Chinese" and "Sports Chinese") don’t include any sort of guide. I think this is one way the website can be improved, by being more consistent with the extra resources they provide for each video.

Script with English translation: "Growing Up With Chinese"

The videos offer students the chance to see different places in China, see phrases acted out in real life situations with people in China, and learn aspects of Chinese culture. Most of the videos are well-designed with colorful graphics, animations, music and English subtitles (which are important for a beginning level non-native speaker who wants to learn the language).  Finally, most of the foreigners presented in the videos (as both hosts and actors/actresses) are all highly proficient in the language and offer a great example to students from other countries learning the Mandarin.

On the Great Wall in "Travel in Chinese"

A non-native speaker as an actress in "Happy Chinese"

This website is not connected with any textbook, but it can be very helpful as a supplemental resource for learning; the programs contain many topics related to common textbook lessons such as telling the time, ordering dishes, and giving and receiving thanks. Teachers can have students complete a handout based on the video, and review it together after watching.  On this topic, another way the website can be improved is to offer online quizzes to test one’s comprehension of the content after viewing.

Overall I think the CCTV Learn Chinese is an excellent resource for supplemental learning for listening and speaking areas, with the recommendation for more consistency in extra materials provided and user viewing features (such as pause and fast forward options), and also for an online activity to test comprehension after each video. Also at the time of this writing one of the videos ("Happy Chinese season 1") was not showing up for some reason, and is an issue that should be fixed as soon as possible by the web managers (these "Happy Chinese" videos also can be found on youtube.com).

I've used "Happy Chinese season 1" in my Chinese classes this past year and they have proven to be a great tool to supplement textbook/powerpoint learning as well as help attract interest and stimulate motivation for learning the language and culture. I'm still learning how to best use them effectively for optimal student learning, and hope to learn more about that in my LCLE program.