LearningForward

Kent Chesnut's technology in education blog.

Boy, things have been busy around here!  I’m still working the constructivism / constructionism ideas for language learning, but I ain’t doing it fast!

As the Spring semester started, my daughter’s Spanish 3 class has started using the Notes in Spanish podcasts by Ben Curtis and Marina Diez.  I’ve been listening to the Notes in Spanish Inspired Beginners podcast - and it’s very good.  However, Brit’s class is using the Intermediate level podcast - and it’s above my level.  Unfortunately, it’s a pretty big stretch for Brit as well.

If all goes as it did the first week, the class will be assigned to listen to a podcast and answer some questions about it on a handout.  The students have the week to get this done.  The goal is to improve Spanish listening skills.  I personally think this is a great idea, but the intermediate speed and vocabulary are very challenging. 

As a typical dad, I want to help my daughter.  But how can I help her in Spanish when she’s arguably ahead of me??? (and believe me, she likes to argue ;-)  As an Engineer and problem-solver, I’ll try to put together a procedure which I think will help her quickly come up to speed with the Intermediate level podcast.  As an additional benefit, I think it’ll accelerate my Spanish language acquisition as well.

In this post I’ll be elaborating on a procedure which I think will help Brit and me quickly come up to speed on listening to intermediate level podcasts.

Speed and vocabulary are the 2 biggest stumbling blocks to moving to the Intermediate podcasts. 

• The Inspired Beginners podcasts include an introduction to the vocabulary in English before launching into the Spanish conversation. 
• Ben and Marina speak more slowly in the Beginners podcasts.

Please note that Notes In Spanish offers worksheets for both the Inspired Beginners and Intermediate podcasts that includes the vocabulary and transcripts / translations of the podcasts (and also some learning exercises).  I think if I were pursuing learning Spanish on my own and had sufficient non-driving time to dedicate to it, these would prove very useful.  I’m not going to use them in my procedure here, however, as I would like it to be generalizable to situations beyond these specific podcasts. 

The procedure will be built around several “listen throughs” of the podcasts - with an emphasis on different aspects during each listen. 

Step 1: Isolate new vocabulary

• Use technology to slow down the podcast if possible.  A number of audio programs can do this… and apparently iPods have this capability as well (at least for ebooks).  I might address this more in a later post.
• Listen to the podcast while stopping every 2 - 3 sentences.  Note down any new vocabulary - and its context if possible.
• Use a dictionary to look up the new vocabulary.
• This can be done alone, but might be more effective when done with a partner or a small group.

Step 2: Put new vocabulary in context

• This step could still be done with the slowed down audio.
• Listen to the podcast while trying to integrate the new vocabulary into the conversation.  Stop where needed to allow some time to digest what has been said.
• If working with a partner or small group, discuss to come to a concensus on the meaning during these pauses.

Step 3: Listen to the podcast

• Listen to the podcast at full speed. 
• If working with a partner of small group, discuss the podcast working out differences in understanding.  If working alone, try to isolate any comprehension problems you are having.  Repeat Steps 1 and 2 for small sections of the podcast if necessary.

Step 4: Answer the worksheet questions

• Read through the worksheet questions.  Think about how they relate to the podcast (that, hopefully, you are beginning to understand).
• Listen to the podcast at full speed.
• Answer the worksheet questions.  (Depending on your school’s view of collaboration - it’s either an important 21st century skill or cheating, you may need to do this step on your own.)

Step 5: Discuss the podcast in Spanish with your partner or small group (optional - enrichment exercise)

• This goes beyond the stated goal of improving listening skills - but would (IMHO) help one learn the vocabulary better.

Can you think of any improvements that can be made to this procedure? 

It might be interesting to compare the effectiveness of using the Notes In Spanish worksheets and the act of building your own vocabulary list by listening to the podcast.  I strongly suspect that the more constructionist “make your own” method would prove more effective and that the more traditional “buy them” method would prove more efficient.  Any thoughts on this?

In several posts I’ve talked about how a strange convergence of events has triggered my thinking on a certain topic.  Well, it’s happened again.  Several seemingly unrelated things have focused my thoughts on technology - specifically the use of technology in contructivist / constructionist methods - and language instruction.  Some of the events include:

• I took 2 years of Spanish in high school (it seems unbelievable… but that’s been 30 years ago!).  I always got good grades, but I was never able to hold a real conversation.
• About a year and a half ago, I decided I wanted to learn Spanish (the strange convergence of events that led to that decision would be a different post!).  I’ve progressed slowly by listening to podcasts, finding interesting things to read, and making lists of words / verbs / conjugations.  I still can’t hold a real conversation.  My personal learning space is available in the Introductory Spanish course on http://www.g4classes.com if you’re interested in seeing my learning plan and resources.
• My daughter is in her 3rd year Spanish class at the local high school.  She can memorize vocabulary like no-one I’ve ever known.  I’d say she’s able to hold simple conversations at this point.
• Recently, we’ve watched a 2 year old for a couple of days.  She can’t read or write (does know a few letters and can use a mouse).  Her vocabulary is very limited.  She certainly can’t conjugate a verb.  She hasn’t had any classes.  But she can hold a conversation and get her point across.

Ok, so you’re saying this isn’t a fair comparison.  But if I were learning Spanish as efficiently as the 2 year old is learning English, I’m I would be much more fluent by now! 

In this post I’ll reflect on the differences between the way I’m learning Spanish and how the 2 year old is learning English. 

Back to the 2 year old… I think one can identify several differences between the way I’m learning Spanish (and the way I think foreign languages are taught based on what my daughter is doing) and the way the child is learning English.  Key terms in the differences would be necessity, immersion, and authentic contexts.

• Necessity - The 2 year old needs to communicate.  And English is the only way she’s going to do it effectively!
  The classroom need is much more limited - to get a good grade.  And I don’t have any real necessity - only a desire to learn Spanish.
• Immersion - The 2 year old is constantly immersed in a world of English… people talking, radio, TV, …
  In the classroom, immersion is limited to the class period.  For me, it’s mainly when I’m listening to Spanish learning podcasts.
• Authentic contexts -The 2 year old uses English in completely authentic ways… she wants her sippy (cup), she talks to the stuffed animals as she’s making them do stuff, she registers complaints or requests to the adults in her world.  She learns English in the contexts in which she uses it.
  In the classroom, the student learns in a context very different than he would use in life.  Role play is sometimes used - but this wouldn’t consistently match the way the student would actually use the language in real life.  And teacher lecture and Q&A in the foreign language matches the “school” context much better than the students’ life context.  My studies would certainly not be considered authentic (i.e. sitting in a car listening to a podcast).

So if I want to learn Spanish like the 2 year old is learning English (and hopefully with increased efficiency), I’ll need to create an environment which increases the necessity of Spanish, immerse myself more into Spanish, and find ways to use Spanish in my normal life contexts.  A little brainstorming (and some input from my daughter) yielded the following ideas: 

• Increase necessity (by real or contrived mechanisms)
  • Real - Move to a foreign country (ain’t gonna happen)
  • Real - Find a job that has a a Spanish requirement (very unlikely)
  • Contrived - Commit to engaging in specific Spanish usage activities each week.  (this is only a need if one has a “need” to check off the stuff on their to-do list)
  • ???
• Increase Immersion
  • Join a Spanish conversation club (live or online)
  • Find a Spanish pen pal (or join a Spanish forum)
  • Listen to more Spanish podcasts or radio
  • Read more Spanish blogs, newspapers, … online
  • Watch the Spanish TV channel (or look for Spanish YouTube videos)
  • Attend Spanish language events (Church service, ???)
  • ???
• Use Spanish in more authentic contexts
  • How do I add Spanish to the things I do every day to learn it in context???

I use this blog for reflection and personal development, but if anyone else actually reads it and has any suggestions, I’d sure love to hear them.

There are obvious technology applications associated with immersion - and the internet can be an important resource.  And I’m not sure that technology can create a “need” for me to know Spanish.  The most intriguing question for me is in regard to authentic contexts…

• How can Educational Technology be used to improve foreign language learning by affording more authentic contexts? 
• Can constructivist / constructionist activities be designed such that students can build personally relevant, authentic contexts for learning and practicing a foreign language?

As you might guess, these are the questions I’ll consider in my next post.