Multilingual Internet Communication: Language Learner Dialogues

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Multilingual Internet Communication Language
Learner Dialogues

• Jane Hughes jane.hughes_at_ucl.ac.uk
• Terry King terry.king_at_ucl.ac.uk
• UCL Centre for the Advancement of Learning
  Teaching

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CrossCall from a different perspective

• CrossCall
• School/university collaboration
• Asynchronous (discussion forum)
• Students paired across the sectors
• Three languages originally (now more)
• German 360 paired activity/402 total messages
• Russian 108/202
• Spanish 99/146
• Topics partly guided by teachers
• Some face-to-face introductions
• Real life constraints and difficulties
• Perspectives
• Multilingual Internet
• Electronic literacy
• Language learning

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Research context

• Multilingual Internet ( Writing in English)
• Netspeak or online written language
• Language choice
• Code switching
• Written and spoken forms,
• How writers adapt to technical constraints
• How languages influence one another
• Electronic literacy
• (How) should language learners be taught online
  communication in the target language? (Schetzer
  and Warschauer, 2000 Chen, 2006)
• Language learning
• Collaboration between native speakers and
  language learners online (eg Lee, 2004)
• Developing student writing in the target language

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L2 writing teacher concerns

• Survey of language teachers what is writing?
• Character and word formation .
• Sentence level, eg. syntax, grammar .
• Text level, eg developing an argument .
• Writer-reader relationship level, eg register,
  cultural awareness .
• Language teacher forum feedback on writing?
• for example this one, dear dear in Russian
  they find in a dictionary - its informal in
  Russian. If you say Dear Sir it isnt formal,
  this cant be an official letter.

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More teacher talk about feedback

• But in terms of learning, what theyre more
  likely to learn are the mistakes that they can
  correct themselves. I mean obviously some
  students will try to correct something thats
  kind of out of their reach and they may learn
  something, but in terms of efficiency of
  learning, stuff they can correct easily, thats
  the stuff theyre likely to think Yeah, come on,
  I should know that.
• I either do it within Web CT with each individual
  letter, highlighting mistakes (?), and emailing
  them attachments. Or on that particular occasion
  I just had a printout of their letters and did it
  by hand.
• I just go in and say grammar, accusative
  something like that. Or vocabulary you know,
• Well if they do the same mistake the second time,
  well Id be somewhat frustrated and send them an
  email

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Example overview of dialogues
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Language use

• Mainly informal but some variation
• Hola! Hi! Hallo, Hey! Guten Tag, Liebe Susan, no
  address
• Bis bald, xxx, Liebe Grüße, schreib bald, deine
  Susan, viel Spass noch in der Schule
• Code switching and language choice
• English mixed with target language in varying
  proportions
• Errors
• Internet and Texting features
• Seufz, )), Chats, D

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Ja!!! Ich habe mir viel Stress! Nachstes Woche
habe ich funf (tests) funf!!!! funf!!! Es ist
nicht fair! Ich muss ein Presentation uber Bayern
machen auch! Obwohl, es sehr interessant war,
als ich uber Oktoberfest lernen. Meinen Hund
heißt Cassie und sie ist ein Collie, sie hat
braunen und weißen Pelz. Normalerweise sie sehr
frech ist, weil sie viele Bleistifte essen!!!
Obwohl, sie sehr suß ist, weil sie vier ist! )
Wie alt ist dein Opa's Jack Russel? Ich muss
verlassen, weil die Stunde beginnt ist! (sorry
there are no umlauts, they did not work!)
Schreib bald D
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Guten Abend! Klingt ja sehr süß, dein Hund! Der
Jack Russel von meinem Opa ist schon über acht
Jahre alt und er tut nicht sehr viel mehr als
fressen! Er isst Unmengen Schokolade, sogar der
Tierarzt hat gemeint, er muss abnehmen! Fünf
Test sind wirklich arg, das ist viel zu viel! Ich
weiß nicht, wie sie sich vorstellen, wie man da
alles lernen soll! Auf der Uni ist es leider
nicht besser, ich habe auch Unmengen zu tun im
Moment. Ich muss noch einen langen Essay
schreiben und habe ein Spanisch-Prüfung! Musst
du bald etwas über Tourismus machen? Falls du
jemals Fragen hast zur deutschen Sprache oder was
auch immer, melde dich bei mir! Also bis bald!
Ganz liebe Grüße J
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For discussion

• What questions should be asking about such
  dialogues?
• As researchers?
• As language teachers?

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References

• Chen, C-F. E. (2006). The Development of E-Mail
  Literacy from Writing to Peers to Writing to
  Authority Figures. Language Learning
  Technology, Vol.10, No.2, May 2006, pp.35-55
• Durham, Mercedes (2003). Language Choice on a
  Swiss Mailing List. JCMC (Journal of Computer
  Mediated Communication?), Vol 9, issue 1.
• Danet, Brenda, Herring, Susan C. (2003).
  Introduction The Multilingual Internet. JCMC 9
  (1), November 2003
• Lee, Lina (2004). Learners Perspectives on
  Networked Collaborative Interaction with Native
  Speakers of Spanish in the US. Language Learning
  Technology 8(1), January 2004, pp 83-100
• Shetzer, H., Warschauer, M. (2000) An Electronic
  Literacy Approach to Network-based Language
  Teaching. In Warschauer, M., Kern, R. (Eds.)
  Network based Language Teaching Concepts and
  Practice. New York Cambridge University Press
• Mark Warschauer, Ghada R. El Said, Ayman Zohry
  (2003). Language Choice Online Globalization and
  Identity in Egypt. The Multilingual Internet.
  JCMC 9 (1), November 2003
• Hyland, K. (2006) Feedback in Second Language
  Writing Contexts and Issues. Cambridge
  University Press.