This post is going to be related to this week’s discussion: Second
Language Speaking and Listening.
I want to start this post by saying that I have learnt a lot from my
classmate Sam. I am really glad she mentioned that Ted Talks offer the transcript and activities for free in
her discussion. This is going to be really useful for me since I am not an
English native speaker.
I have been using podcasts without transcript and sometimes it is hard
to understand colloquialisms or vocabulary related to unfamiliar topics. McBride
(2009) mentioned in her article that the Net Generation is good at
multitasking. I think I am part of that generation since I can be cooking,
walking or working out at the gym and at the same time I can be listening to a
podcast.
Also, Sam mentioned that lifestyle videos are a good resource to learn languages.
I really like to watch lifestyle videos to learn English (or just for fun) and
it is addictive. In my Spanish 590 class, I have learnt that just because I
like a video does not mean that my students are going to like it, or it is
going to be convenient for them. For example, Sam said that she likes political
videos/podcasts and that does not mean she is going to use them in class with
her students.
It is important to highlight that we need to choose the appropriate
video for our students considering different aspects: age, level of language,
their likings, etc. If we do not keep in
mind these aspects the class can be overwhelming for the students and instructors.
As McBride (2009), I
think it is really important to use authentic listening materials in our
classes for several reasons: it is exciting, we can choose topics interesting
for our students, they can connect with the culture of study, etc.
Finally, from Yanguas
(2010) reading I would like to highlight the concept of Negotiation of meaning.
What is this? Negotiation of meaning is a process that speakers try to reach a
clear understanding or agreement of each other asking clarification, defining,
repeating, etc. I have seen this in my Spanish 1 class today. The students
shared personal information about their likings:
1 A: ¿Cuál es tu color favorito?
[What is your
favorite color?]
2 B: ¿Calor?
[Hot?]
3 A: No calor, tu COLOR favorito
[Not hot, your favorite COLOR]
4 B: Oh
sí, sí… Mi color
favorito es el azul
[Oh yeah… My
favorite color is blue]
Best,
Samanta.
Best,
Samanta.
Dear Samanta,
ReplyDeleteI love reading your comment on this week´s readings and discussion. I totally agree with you in many aspects you mention on your post:
First of all, it is important to keep in mind that we need to choose the appropriate video for our students considering the different aspects that you mention so that it is not overwhelming for our students. Secondly, I like the suggestion that McBride (2009) offers since using authentic listening materials in our classes is exciting. We can choose topics interesting for our students, they can connect with the culture of study and all of that favors the interrelated curricula. Finally, the concept of Negotiation of meaning is something we can never disregard. Students need to negotiate in their communicative exchange so that they notice the gap when they cannot produce something and learn from it.
Overall, amazing post! I love that you always post soon after the discussion and I can read and compare with my post :)
Samanta and Alexandra, your posts are exactly what I had envisioned for the blogs, namely that you would write your reactions to something you had read or we had discussed in class. And of course, the sooner you do that, the fresher it is in your memory :). Two things you said were especially pertinent to me: first, that students don't necessarily like the same things that we (teachers) do. So even if we are enthusiastic about some thing and do our best to convey that enthusiasm, e.g., lifestyle videos, there is no guarantee that all of our students will feel the same way. We ideally then have to give students different options. Secondly, I liked the way you gave an example of "negotiation of meaning" in your Spanish 1 class; my hope is that whenever a new concept is introduced or learned, that students will then notice examples of it in their classes or in their everyday life. Well done!
ReplyDelete