Introduction
Bonjour and welcome to my first ever blog. My name is Coralee Jeffrey and I’d
encourage you to join me for the next six weeks as I undertake a language
learning challenge, which will see me navigating through a brave new world – 21st century technology and the way in
which it may afford opportunities for improving my existing French language
skills.
My challenge: As a mature age student, the return to study poses numerous
challenges but for me, these issues have been generally manageable due to my
motivation to succeed in mastering not only the French language, but also
embracing the rich cultural and historical subjects that I have been able to
study as part of my program. During
the first two years of my language studies as an enthusiastic beginner, I
devoured the material with voracity and was well pleased with my results and
subsequent capabilities.
However, in my third year I experienced a notable change in the
level of the subject matter and my ability to comprehend and absorb the
material. No longer were
classes taught in both English and French but the classes were now primarily
focussed upon historical and/or cultural aspects of French life and this was
provided solely in French. Ooo
la la!! In previous years,
I had embraced the use of a textbook, carefully adhering to the structured
program of study, practising my verb conjugations and simple sentence
structures, and sometimes bravely engaging in stilted conversations about
family or the weather with fellow students. In third year French, my previous
strategies for study were no longer successful and I struggled albeit with
success at the end of the year. Nevertheless,
the process has highlighted some specific areas that require attention if my
language skills are to improve beyond that of a pre-schooler.
While other language learners and teachers have suggested that
reaching a plateau in second language acquisition is not infrequent, I wish to
reboot my learning ability through utilising language learning technologies that
will focus on my listening, speaking and comprehension skills. In attempts to address these issues
previously, I have employed a limited range of strategies, including watching
French films, listening to SBS French radio and reading French children’s
stories. While these
techniques provided various affordances for the language learner, they failed
to improve my general capability and in some cases, I became frustrated and a
little demoralised by my inability. My motivation suffered temporarily. But not for long, and so with renewed
enthusiasm and hopefully a little more understanding of my learning styles, I
embark upon this latest adventure into the language learning landscape.
My Learning goal: As with any program,
it should be acknowledged that there will be limitations and obviously within a
six-week time frame, it would be unwise and impractical to suggest that I can
become fluent. Nevertheless,
it is highly probable that there can be improvement and I am optimistic of this
outcome. As Wong and Nunan
mention in their journal article, the more effective learner spent more time on
their language acquisition studies (p.151). Time constraints provide a major
limitation and therefore, this was a consideration of which technologies would
be suitable ie. Maximum bang for your buck.
Therefore with a realistic vision for a preferred outcome, I have
set myself the following goals:
a. Undertake a minimum of 45 minutes per
day of language study utilising two varying technologies.
b. Quantify an improvement in my
listening, speaking and comprehension of French at the DELF A2 level.
My learning styles
and strategies: During the initial lectures for SLAT2002, I experienced what
could be called a “lightbulb” moment following a discussion of learning styles
and strategies. My
pedagogical intelligence could at best have been described as minimal but
following a brief assessment of my preferred learning style and strategy, I
could fully appreciate why I had a preference for learning grammar rather than
the more commonly used task based learning strategies. The test also highlighted why to some
degree, listening and speaking skills are my weakest second language skills. Yes, by now, the ugly truth has been
revealed. I AM A
VISUAL LEARNER. Of course,
I’ve always known that I had a preference for writing things down, and then
re-writing them, using flashcards and other visual prompts. These are the tools that engage my
memory, however, now I can shout from the roof tops that it’s because I’m a
visual learner and not simply a result of being on the plus side of 40. Further discussion relating to
teaching methods for second language acquisition revealed my preference for the
audio-lingual method of instruction – it simply connects with my learning style. As life long learners, having this
understanding and awareness is critical and I am sure will enhance all of my
future studies, not merely language studies.
The technologies I
am going to test: In order to undertake my learning challenge, I will be employing
two different technologies designed to provide improvement as per my previously
outlined goals. The first
of these is an online program, Coffee Break French, which provides free language
podcasts for French learners at various levels. As a visual learner, the audio
podcasts will be somewhat of a challenge for me but I feel that it is necessary
to extend myself in this area if improvement in aural skills is to be achieved. I intend to commence with Season 3 in
which Mark, the presenter, guides the listener through the journals of three
English speakers who are learning French in Nice. In Season 3 there are 40 episodes,
each of approximately 15 minutes duration. While I have previously listened to
some of these podcasts, during the challenge, it is my intention to listen to
the same episode each day for one week. Therefore
after six weeks, I hope to have a thorough understanding of the language from
the initial six episodes.
https://radiolingua.com/coffeebreakfrench/
The second program that I will be using comes from the University
of Texas – Tex’s French Grammar. The online program describes itself as
the following:
“ a pedagogical reference grammar that combines explanations with surreal
dialogues and cartoon images. Originally built for students at the University of Texas
Austin as a user-friendly guide to French grammar, this web site may be profitably used by any learner of French, provided he or she possess a sense of humor.”
As I consider myself to have a sense of humour (compulsory for anyone
over 40 undertaking an Arts degree), I felt that this program sat particularly
well with my learning style. While
it may not provide the same affordances as that of Coffee Break French in terms
of listening comprehension, I believe its reinforcement of grammar would
provide a solid foundation upon which to develop my speaking and listening
skills. In using this
program, I will be working through key areas such as verb tenses, direct and
indirect object pronouns and the ever elusive French subjunctive. Traditional note taking will be employed
(yahoo says my inner visual learner).
https://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/index.html
My plan: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” – Benjamin
Franklin
I would certainly agree with Ben and while plans don’t always
result in the desired outcome, I would suggest that at least they provide a
road map to the disaster.
Daily activity:
a. Listen to Coffee Break French podcast
– duration 15 – 20 minutes
b. Take note of new vocabulary and
practise saying aloud
c. Record details of new or challenging
vocabulary in Learning Challenge Notebook
d. Use key vocabulary in daily speech –
10 minutes daily
e. Tex Grammar – spend 30 minutes
reading, writing and listening to grammar.
f. Document note taking in a Learning
Challenge Notebook.
Weekly activity:
a. Update learning challenge blog with a
description of learning activities, any assessments undertaken, emotional
considerations and constraints.
b. Review learning challenge plan and
update/implement as required
My evaluation
approach: While
Ben Franklin notes it is essential to plan, it is equally important to assess
the results/outcome of the plan and its subsequent actions. In order to evaluate my progress or
improvement, I will be undertaking the following strategies:
a. Completion of the DELF A2 online
listening tests.
b. Completion of the Tex Grammar
assessments at the end of each lesson.
The collection of these results will not provide detail of whether
improvements have been achieved without the ability to benchmark against
previous results. To this
end, prior to the commencement of Week 1 activities, I will be completing
several of the above tests and recording the results. This information will be included in
my updated blog at the end of Week 1. It
should also be mentioned that analysis of the results would not solely
constitute the success or failure of the learning challenge. Other factors for consideration in my
evaluation will include such areas as whether my motivation has increased, have
I become more disciplined in my approach to study, has my confidence in speaking
improved and have there been any additional benefits eg. Cultural awareness.
The last word: I’m eagerly
approaching my language learning challenge and am already viewing this as an
opportunity to reinvigorate my study of French. So from a motivation aspect, I’m
already having some success. As
I’m rather fond of quotes from deceased men, here’s another to leave with you.
“I have chosen to be
happy because it is good for my health.” Volaitre
A bientôt mes amis.
Coralee
References
Day, D., & Lloyd, M. (2007). Affordances of online
technologies: More than the properties of the technology. Australian
Educational Computing, 22(2), 17-21.
Wong, L. L. C & Nunan, D. (2011). The learning styles and
strategies of effective language learners. System 39, 144-163.
Levy, M. (2009). Technologies in use for second language learning.
The Modern Language Journal, 93 (Focus Issue), 769-782.
Steel, C. H., & Levy, M. (2013). Language students and their
technologies: Charting the evolution 2006 - 2011. ReCALL, 25(3). 306-320.
