Walking in Cyberspace Integrating Customized Online Activities,

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Walking in Cyberspace Integrating Customized
On-line Activities, Authentic Audio/Visual
Materials into the Language Classroom

• Presentation for the NMC Conference, June 2005
• A Carlson-Lombardi, Ph.D.
• University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

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• Language is more than endless series of verb
  conjugations it is the gateway into the lives of
  a different group of people
• -Armstrong and Yetter-Vassot
• The language classroom tries to create
  relationships between language learners and
  authentic speakers in their cultural context
• This aspect drew me into the study of the
  language when I was young

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This has not always been the case. For years the
Audio Lingual Method was used to impart language
skills

• My experience with ALM, a stimulus-response
  approach ( I was a drill sergeant)
• This worked to some degree. I still recall the
  sentence I drilled into students mind Pablo
  pasó toda la mañana en la cabaña
• Nonetheless, students learned sentences out of
  any real context.

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Speakers without proficiency

• One learns language in order to create meaning,
  and formulate meaning in a creative manner.
  People do not learn a language just to be able
  to produce a stream of correctly formulated
  sentences in the wrong context
• This is seen in the example of students who
  memorize sentences for an oral exam
• The classroom is also supposed to create
  situations for motivated interaction between
  students

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Even the use of technology in the classroom
presented challenges

• In the past, computers were used in the language
  labs for listening practice.
• While these did offer students listening and
  speaking practice, many times, they had
  difficulties
• Students still practiced alone
• They didnt know when instructor would
• listen in
• In grade school, there was a fear others
  would
• hear them speak or sing!

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At the University of MN,

• We feel it would be far better to integrate
  technology in a meaningful way into the
  curriculum to create situations where students
  can engage in motivated interaction face to
  face and online
• This produces a more effective output rather than
  just simple online fill in the blank activities
  or grammar drills

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We base this emphasis on the paradigm shift in
language instruction in the past decades

• Opportunities must be provided for students to
  practice using language in a range of contexts
  likely to be encountered in the target culture
• Alice Omaggio-Hadley

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• Omaggio Hadleys textbook Teaching Language in
  Context, which combines theory and practical
  examples, is the cornerstone for language
  learning methodology
• She affirms that authentic situations and
  communicative contexts must be central to the
  language classroom
• Even up until the 1980s this was not the case in
  the majority of classrooms (even in my Italian
  classroom as a graduate student!)

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• There has been a shift from teacher centered
  classrooms and attention to correct language
  production (no errors please!) to
  proficiency-based teaching
• What was previously de-contextualized is now
  contextualized
• Classrooms are now more energized by the call to
  a way of teaching that encourages the use of
  authentic language and materials, and by the
  interactive communication taking place amongst
  students

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Combining life experiences with local contexts

• Theory and practice in Second Language
  Acquisition recognize and encourage the personal
  qualities, intellectual abilities and life
  experiences that students bring to learning a new
  language (emphasis mine)
• Carla Meskill

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Walking together working together

• Taking into account ones life experiences is
  key to connecting students with individuals
  outside the classroom.

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First inroads into integrating technology into
language classes

• Creating web based activities to combine culture
  and grammar practice
• Introduce students to local customs happening in
  the Twin Cities Latino/Chicano community (Days of
  the Dead)
• http//spanport.cla.umn.edu/langprog/courses/1003/
  traicion_ejercicio.htm
• We would like to amplify this site so students
  can engage in additional activities. We have a
  worksheet that accompanies this site for use in
  class.

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• Taking advantage of a local (on campus)
  exhibition of art at the Weisman and Museum of
  Art in Saint Paul, all students could attend
  Chicano Visions.
• This opened the door to speak of issues related
  to the Chicano community here and around the US
  and the history behind the Chicano movement.
• For one activity, students are asked to surmise
  what is going on in the life of the girl in the
  yellow dress. This brings up many elements of
  the life of someone in a culture which may be
  different from that of the students
• http//www.chicano-art-life.com/visions.html

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Vamos a andar Lets walk together

• Provides students online interviews of
  activists, artists, and scholars, engages
  students with real-life issues and introduces
  them to Spanish speakers in their community.

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• This perspective on teaching and our desire to
  give all students a chance to encounter Spanish
  speaking individuals from the University and
  local community brought together key members in
  our department
• Fernando Ordóñez, College of Liberal Arts IT
  Fellow for Spanish Language Courses
• Susan McMillen Villar, Director of Language
• A. Carlson-Lombardi, Supervisor Spanish 1003

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Funding and time

• The IT Fellow was granted time off of teaching
  from the Office of Instructional Technology at
  the UMN for two years to dedicate that time to
  assisting the language program
• The Supervisor of Spanish 1003 received a grant
  from the Universitys Digital Media Center which
  provided course release time and access to DMC
  instructional staff

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• The IT Fellow then contracted student workers to
• Compile a listing of major Chicano/Latino
  organizations in the Twin Cities area
• Gather information about these services to see
  how they would fit with the themes in the second
  year textbook
• Film interviews
• Transcribe interviews
• Assist with uploading information on the web

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Accessibility for all Spanish students is
facilitated online

• Materials are accessible online for all 30
  sections (per semester)
• It is impossible to take 650 students per
  semester off campus to meet Spanish speaking
  individuals in the community

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• Working with the Technology Fellow, we determined
  we wanted to engage students with real-life
  issues and introduce them to Spanish speakers in
  their community via the Internet.
• "Vamos a andar, web enhanced materials for the
  classroom, introduces students to these
  individuals whose interviews are accessible
  online.
• Provides authentic listening practice

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• Contextualized activities enrich the classroom
  experience, providing students listening and
  reading practice,
• online interviews activities to complement
  second year language courses at the university
  level,
• We emphasized customizing materials to relate to
  issues facing the local Chicano/Latino community
  in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, Saint Paul, MN).
  
• All chapters have pre-listening activities
  listening activities follow up activities and a
  quiz
• http//spanport.cla.umn.edu/vaa

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Themes in Vamos a andar Spanish 1003

• Environmental Issues, especially those
  pertaining to
• Minnesota
• Human Rights This has been a way to
  introduce
• human rights scholars at the UMN to
  students and to
• incorporate doctoral research with language
  classes
• The World of Entertainment Students meet
  Latin American
• musicians and artists living and working
  in the Twin Cities

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Themes in Vamos a andar Spanish 1004

• Human Diversity, especially as it relates to
  the changes in
• population in Minnesota
• Culinary Arts Instead of just a food
  chapter, here we relate
• the creation of authentic dishes in a
  fine dining establishment to
• issues of history, migration and
  cultural confluences
• Employment and the Economy Students here
  impressions of the
• effects of NAFTA in the words of someone
  who works with
• those who have felt the effects first hand

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Vamos a andar, Chapter 2 El medio ambiente y el
progreso

• We start with a local focus (Sierra Club on
  Franklin Ave)
• Interview with local Sierra Club activist
• Non-native speaker
• Someone who has lived and worked in Central
  America
• A person with expertise on issues facing some
  Spanish speaking countries and Minnesota
• http//spanport.cla.umn.edu/vaa/1003/leccion2/CAPI
  TULO-2.htm

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Vamos a andar, Chapter 3 Los derechos humanos

• Interview with prominent human rights scholar in
  Political Science at the University of MN
• Non-native speaker who has lived in South America
• Research focus dealing with international human
  rights
• Puts human rights into an international and
  national perspective (bringing up the questions
  surrounding human rights regarding the US
  detainees)
• Also lets students see the perspective of a
  photographer returning to his country after 20
  years in exile (Buena Memoria)
• http//spanport.cla.umn.edu/vaa/1003/leccion3/CAPI
  TULO-3.htm

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Student response chapter 3

• Reflecting on a quote from Kofi Annan
• The more we know about our own rights, the more
  we respect the rights of others
• I never thought about rights in that way
  before, but it is probably true. It is possible
  that if we dont value our own rights, we dont
  value those of others.
• Regarding the quiz on Buena Memoria
• I am sad when seeing the pictures of the
  children/ youth, especially knowing the abuses
  were not necessary. The innocence of childhood
  represents the contrary to the corrupt
  dictatorship. The essay and the photos could be
  about all wars, not just about the dictatorship
  in Argentina.

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Vamos a andar, Chapter 6 El mundo del
entretenimiento

• Interview with Latin American artist and musician
• Native speaker who is from Buenos Aires
• Music style combines Argentine rhythms and global
  beats
• Opens up student awareness to diversity in Latin
  American music
• Plays and describes instruments from that region
  of the Spanish speaking world
• Plays an excerpt of his own music
• http//spanport.cla.umn.edu/vaa/1003/leccion6/CAPI
  TULO-6.htm

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Keep on walking! Seguimos caminando

• All chapters have a listing of websites for
  students to explore
• These range from local organizations to
  international sites mentioned in the interviews
  and in the text
• This project is something we would like to expand
  to include all of the 12 chapters in the text
• Caminante no hay camino, se hace camino al
  andar
• Antonio Machado