week 14 readings

Our reading this week talk about how the re-imagining of the self can enhance the learning excercize. This is important to note, because within the parameters of all video games is the design and implementation of the avatar. In Second Life, it can get pretty wild. People can make themselves up with wings, with crazy looking clothes, or make a body type completely opposite to the one they must wear on earth. Diehl (2008) posits that this can have unintended outcomes when playing, or can lead to a more free expression of the self. Dielh argues that technological and cultural literacy are unified, and that to participate most fully in a society, one must best understand the tools available and use them to one's best advantage. In other words, where there is radio, use radio, but when television comes to town, start watching it. thus, with Second Life, the parameters should be explored, and that when we can accept that avatars are what they are, then the language used can be the real language of the person. With this real language, we can then start to really communicate, if you have something you want to say.

We turn to Dr Van Lier again, and this time he wants us to look at affordances in an ecological way. He notes that we all love to prove things with science, because that makes it more concrete and less refutable. Since we know learning goes on in the brain, it would do well, sayeth the scientist, to study the brain. After all, it is something we can test and make number statistics about, so lets do that. And, finally, since all learning is processed by the grey matter in our skulls, we can think of the mind and the brain as the same thing, basically. Ecological learning challenges all of this! Lets forget science! Put away all those tools and devices of measurement! Rene DesCartes is back with his mind/brain division again! Well, ok that last point is too far, but essentially VanLier says here that, of course, we can not separate mind and brain, but that trying to understand learning processes by peering into the firing of neurons is not enough. A learner is stimulated by all around them, and some of that may be better or worse understood, processed now or later, or understood in a gradual way. In this regard, we can use Conversational Analysis to get into the negotiations necesary for communication, and use these as teachable moments. Van Lier then goes on to talk about Gibbson and affordance, which I am less clear about, to be honest. Then he switches to my new fav, Vygotskiy. I have made it a plan to read more about that crazy Russian, because I find his ideas intriguing, and more useful to pedagogic purposes than most. To that end, I also want to study more about John Dewey, because I think he has gotten lost in the shuffle, and, as influential as he was in the early part of the 2oth Century, he is now regarded as classic books are: everyone knows what they are, but no one reads them anymore. Well, unless you are like me, who will read the classics, like Moby Dick--which I thought was a well written exposition of the soul and its wanderings, but could be shortened considerably without all that stuff about whales!
Now, I am going on this diversion, because I think this is the point that Van Lier is making, in that the mind will not stay on topic, but becomes enchanted with all the input around it, and then only later goes back to make sense of it all. In its perigrinations, like on the Pequod. it finds its Ahabs and white whales, and makes sense of all the things it can.

week 13 readings

This week, we discussed Actvities within the classroom.
The first reading, again by Van Lier, discusses the idea of "emergence." It can be from a biological standpoint, or from an "organic" learning process, but in either case it is when simple things coalesce together to become more complex. He suggests that learning by doing, a trusted method of Montessori, is the best one in the scope of language learning. Rather than rely heavily on prescriptive rule doling, Van Lier analogizes children learning to play footie: they have no need to go into explicit detail about the rules, they just start playing, and, when there is something they are not allowed to do, they are told then. They then know not to do so. He expands this to grammar, and phonology and the like, and his main point then delivers the idea that grammar is an emergent practice for learners of L1, and that it should be this way for L2 as well. In this regard, I agree, and I think that there should be more study done on how L1 and L2 ( or L3, L4 or however many more languages you want to try and kill yourself learning) are similar. It takes a child three years to produce simple sentences, and three more before they can really sound like someone who knows what they are talking about. It takes adult learners, learning consistently and with focus, about the same. It might be good to take a look at the natural way language is picked up, and proceed from there.

The next reading, Stoller (2006) is what I presented on this week! And, I stand by what I said about incorporating projects of the classroom to extend beyond the classroom. Since I spoke so much then, I am just going to say here that I am a big proponent of language partners, and I think that we can really use the technology of Skype to fufill this. However, language partners only work when both are willing to invest time in the target language, have something that they want to say, and are encouraged to speak freely. So, the challenge here is to find a person with whom you can do this. In this case, I think the role of the educator is similar to what Stoller argues for, that of a mediator for the mediums. If one can design a project which captivates the interest, and entices a learner to go beyond the classroom, then the work of the teacher is accomplished. Not done, mind you, but accomplished in the sense that the learner is engaged in their own learning, and thus the teacher has engaged in a Freirian "revolutionary pedagogy."

Week 10 readings

In this week, we read about distance learning.
Blake et al. suggest that distance learning can be an effective tool for those who may not have access to a traditional classroom setting, and can use the dvds and cdroms to their best advantage. Furthermore, the telephone interview can test proficiency, and gauge how much, or how little learning has been accomplished. They put a lot of charts and graphs, and use a lot of statistics I can not understand, so I am going to have to take their word on it that the research is good.

Incidentally, this is something I have to really challenge myself on. I can parse out long texts, get down into the nitty-gritty of even the most dull of prose, but when it comes to statistics, well, I am lost. I would say "it is all Greek to me," except I took Greek in school, and can understand that. These numbers really donot speak to me, so I am going to have to learn their language. I am actually a little scared of numbers, to be frank, being that I can barely add or subtract in my head. Well, I will have to forge on and figure it out. I got a "Dummy's Guide" to stats, and am going to start there

Anyway, back to the main point. Blake and crew do think that distance learning is valuable, but that the assessment be done by a qualified instructor, and this is the rub: how to find people technologically savvy enough to engage in the project, yet still flexible enough in their language skills to know when and how the students are having problems.

Next, Goodwin-Jones posits that the range of learning afforded to the distance learner lies in the realm of chat and blogs. This article is more of an informational gathering than critique, so that is left up to us to see if these resources can be used effectively. However, chat is an informal method of communication, and we can use this to encourage relationship building within students who are not in the class. Blogging is an extension of journal writing, which has been a tried-and-true activity focus for many educators. The key here is to make sure that the evolution of the technology of chatting does not encourage learners to think that the written and oral means of production are the same. Writing in a language is learning a meta-language, in my opinion, in that there ought be far more attention placed on the prescriptive. Clarity of purpose, ease of reading, poetry in the language--- these are all reasons to differentiate the written from oral, and it would do well for language educators to adhere to this, even when they are using the interweb.

Week 9 readings

This week we read about what we can do for advanced learners of language, within the area of technologically mediated space. Much of the previous data collected has focused on early or mid- level learners of a language, and how they acquire new vocabularies to begin their communicative journey. Video games can be a great way to hook and draw new learners, but what about those who are already on board? what do you do for learners who do not need to be enticed, but still need something to maintain their interest? Steven Thorne (2008) suggests that research from the CALPER Technology project can assist in this regard. In this research, advanced learners need what they call "bridging activities." In other words, these activities should be close enough to the real thing to be useful, but still pedagogically monitored by the instructor, who parses for meaning and overall comprehension.

In this regard, I think that Thorne is right to focus on the bridging role of the instructor, because in this way the teacher can become more of a conductor, leading the people through a now familiar, yet still unsure area. The roll then is to make sure the student does not fall into pitfalls.

And, talking about these bridges really started to make me understand the role these games can play, so in more reflection, I wonder how much we can allow the play, but also to make it productive?

week 8 readings

During this week, we considered the effectiveness of video games, and how they can enhance learners experience of language. Purshotma (2005) makes an interesting commentary about how many critics find that video games are nothing more than recreational diversions at best, and as time bandits, at worst. Most educators even now will decry using video games as a means for better expression of one's language. Yet, if used in any medium, is not the point of any communication how one expresses desire? It all comes down to motivation, really. If I am motivated to do something, the learning process is much less onerous, and therefore the tedium of learning is gone. Learning happens, rather than being part of an overarching process. Purushotma claims the idea behind re-imagining the use of the popular game, The Sims, is precicely this. He uses the claim that playing games is not studying, and embraces this, in the sense that he wants students go beyond mere study, and to engage in acts that contain the essence of language: talking over problems, discussing ideas, and using vocabulary creatively to get ones point across. His argument is that any engaging activity allows the learner to become less passive about the language, and become more of an active user of a method of information gathering, such as browsing the web.

I agree with the idea that any kind of learning is good learning, and that someone who wants to know a language, needs it for particular purposes. So, combined with the fun of surfing the web, let the games begin!

Jonathan De Haan brings science into the picture. He and his collegues study how interactivity and videogames combine, and sets up his research to find the answer to the question: how can using a video game help or hinder vocabulary recall. He uses as his subjects Japanese people who then play an English language video game to track their results. The results were mixed, however in that watchers of the game recalled more vocabulary than did players, suggesting that the combined task of learning vocabulary and playing the game bifurcated attention enough that vocabulary building suffered. However, some questions do remain. the big one is: when players are accoustomed to controls, game play standards and parameters, can or can not new vocabularies then be better learned? a follow up study is in order here, methinks.

one critique also discusses the comparison of using traditional teaching structures versus video game learning, and concludes that visual learning, combined with the ready identification of target words or vocabulary, can make for a more enriched learning experience.

The question over all now, is, what if you are not really into games? What do we do for these kinds of learners?

In the discussion, we talked about how these games can be a bridge between the way you view your class and your life, so I guess I could answer my own question by saying that if you are not so much into solitary games, then playing with someone would be ok. I had more fun goofing around with people as we tried to figure out the controls than with the actual play of the game itself, and I find that I like building games the best, where you have to make a city or an army or something like that. Thus, a good teacher should try to find the right game for each student's personality.

Catching Up

I have been remiss in posting thoughts and ideas about the various issues on this blog. Our classroom discussions have been very lively, and I feel that I have learned a lot from them, but, now I have to go back through my notes and see what my feelings were at the time I read some of the readings. I wanted to do this throughout the weekend, but find myself catching up on a lot of stuff. So, this may seem a little disjointed, but I will make as much sense about as many of the articles as possible. in the next few posts or so.

Project Rationale

A classroom can either be a stultifying experience, or it can be a roomful of opportunities to learn. Recent research on game playing suggests that students who use interactive media to practice language do better than those who are taught using drills alone. However, it is not useful for students simply to log in and play any game, because they may not be able to relate these experiences to other classmates, and in doing so, fail to have a reference for themselves or their instructors. Our project will combine a number of different ideas to show how a dynamic classroom can use a coherent strategy consisting of self organizing learning through computer-based learning, and how this can be broadened into a project where students must find and communicate with others, use appropriate language and build skills necessary to further enhance their enjoyment of playing a game in the target language. While the target here will be English, the lesson plan we use can be adapted to any other language, using similar methods. We use as our theoretical base the ideas of Purusotma (2005) and Shaffer (2009), where we are informed by how on-line games can be used pedogogically; Little (2007) for ideas of learner autonomy; and Zheng (2009) to talk about English learning, on-line.
In order to better illustrate how a classroom can use different media, we propose to use a game on Facebook, and illustrate its use for students by playing it ourselves, Facebook is extremely popular around the world. The very popular Facebook application, Farmville, is played by a wide variety of participants with different cultural backgrounds and identities . We have noted that players range from all over, for example South America, Philipines, Vietnam, France. The dominant language of the game is English, and it is within this language people must negotiate to build their farms, hire others to help them, chat about different aspects of the game, and to participate in the community in general. Our lesson will combine three strategies:
- using a MMRPG to communicate
- using the game a topic of communication for students
-encouraging them to blog about their experiences each day
The goals of the lesson will be
-to teach Farmtown vocabularies
- to chat with people in the Inn
- to teach how to hire people make friends and neighbors, and to sell goods.

- to teach how to communicate through indirect speech with appropriate tones, such as
making requests, for example
-to teach how to negotiate their identities while playing different roles, such as an owner or as a helper

As part of our lesson, we will model how these things can be done by playing the game ourselves, and show this model to the students as a means to instruct and to emulate, themselves. We hope to show how an integration of several skills, using a computer based game as a medium of exchange, can serve to make the learning fun, useful, and relevant to the students' lives.

Virtually Next

Our virtual study project this week was to investigate the potential of Second Life. In this interactive portal. a person can re-invent herself--- hence the name of the game. One makes an avatar, and explores different areas of the site, each with its own particular orientation. The point is to interact with other people from around the world, and is meant to encourage people to express themselves, in a friendly, non threatening way. Once you join, you have the option to use different languages to try, and can speak to many different kinds of people. However, in my experience, it takes a lot of trying. The communities do not take to strangers well, and you have to be a presence for a while before you can start relationships in many of the boxes. I went to a jazz club, to check it out, but the people there were not interested in talking to me. I tried other places, but got the same response. This is community building, and you have to be a participant on a long term basis to really be part of it. If someone is willing to invest the time and energy to do this, or has no other option, this is a great idea.

For language learning, this medium is ideal for those who feel they are in isolation with their language learning. It is near enough real life to afford someone the experience of social communication, and one can develop the critical skills of communication and production of language. However, it is not really a substitute for real life, because you cannot see people's real faces, make connections with body posture, or begin to understand some cultural norms of pausing or turn taking. But, it is a good go, and has its place in pedagogy.

Taking Action

Action based teaching (Van Lier 2010) is an interesting approach to the conundrum of instructor-authority and learner/learning input. Simply put, we have come to realize that the teacher can not be an autocrat, and that for real learning to take place, there must be a comfortable space for both agents to feel that there is a process of sharing. I agree with Larsen-Freemen: learning is a process learning is a non-linear process that emerges in often unpredictable ways..." (2003). Language learning in particular should embrace the fact that our discipline in heavily vested in society itself. Why else would anyone want to learn language, if it were not to somehow communicate and or commune with people outside of their world, and, indeed, outside their initial comfort zone. The role of the instructor in this sense is ambassador to the new world, but I do think that there needs to be a structure to the group meeting, or class. Honestly, I think that moderation and mediation are the keys to successful classes, where the instructor become the conduit for learning and can be turned to as expert, and the learner, as she becomes increasingly more familiar and comfortable with the language at hand, accepts a greater role in the learning process and production of the language outside of the meeting space.

This is where Van Lier is absolutely correct in that we must recognize that all learners, children as well as adults, have lives outside the classroom which affect the learning. The job of the language instructor in particular is to harness as much of the outside interest as possible to reshape the imagining of that life, so as to include the new language as an integral part of the living we all do.

Being Legit

This week's readings discuss the role a student has in the community of learning. The authors talk about the idea of apprentenship, which they then reject as being not viable for their theoretical purposes. In the introductory chapter, they outline what they believe to be a crucial stance for education, that there are those who exist on the "legitimate perifery." We then read in Chapter four about different examples of what the authors recognize as true master-apprentice relationships, e.g. what tailors did in the past, the development of midwifery, and even the relationship between a quartermaster and his charge. In each of these relationships, there is an expectation of deference to power, an involvement in the community of the task, and a set of specific performances necessary to draw inwards from the perifery to become part of the core. The authors then posit this against the role of students and teachers, noticing that there is a social sphere in schools, and that students of any kind have periferal learning at some stage in their career.

This is where there is a difference between school learning and the apprentice-master relationship, in that the motivation of the young student (the authors focus on primary and high school students as their learner focus) and the teacher are not equal in motivation. An apprentice wishes to involve herself fully within the community of practice, whereas a pupil will go through the motions, or, at best be willing to be introduced to various learning events (which we call classes) in order to reach a goal, usually that of progress to
the next grade, or the completion of schooling (one way or another).

This is an intriguing way to envision how students and teachers can interact. We can involve more learners in a community of practice which will enhance their learning experience, particularly by encouraging them to step beyond their perceived world, and enter into another community by which they may grow and experience a larger understanding of their former, smaller space.