Skip to main content

Home/ Resources for Languages/ Group items tagged languages-work

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Isabelle Jones

When do people learn languages? - 0 views

www.zompist.com/whylang.html

languages learning promotion reference resources

shared by Isabelle Jones on 07 Aug 08 - Cached
  • eflclassroom 2.0 on 07 Aug 08
     
    Advice for language learners General warning: what follows may or may not apply to you. It's based on what linguistics knows about people in general (but any general advice will be ludicrously inappropriate for some people) and on my own experience (but you're not the same as me). If you have another way of learning that works, more power to you. Given the discussion so far, the prospects for language learning may seem pretty bleak. It seems that you'll only learn a language if you really need to; but the fact that you haven't done so already is a pretty good indication that you don't really need to. How to break out of this paradox? At the least, try to make the facts of language learning work for you, not against you. Exposure to the language, for instance, works in your favor. So create exposure. * Read books in the target language. * Better yet, read comics and magazines. (They're easier, more colloquial, and easier to incorporate into your weekly routine.) * Buy music that's sung in it; play it while you're doing other things. * Read websites and participate in newsgroups that use it. * Play language tapes in your car. If you have none, make some for yourself. * Hang out in the neighborhood where they speak it. * Try it out with anyone you know who speaks it. If necessary, go make new friends. * Seek out opportunities to work using the language. * Babysit a child, or hire a sitter, who speaks the language. * Take notes in your classes or at meetings in the language. * Marry a speaker of the language. (Warning: marry someone patient: some people want you to know their language-- they don't want to teach it. Also, this strategy is tricky for multiple languages.) Taking a class can be effective, partly for the instruction, but also because you can meet others who are learning the language, and because, psychologically, classes may be needed to make us give the subject matter time and attention. Self-study is too eas
Barbara Lindsey

NEA: World Languages - 0 views

www.nea.org/...worldlanguages.html

articulation culture glastonbury language learning lifelong

shared by Barbara Lindsey on 11 Oct 08 - Cached
  • "The fact that our students study a language from grade one not only teaches them how to learn languages, it gives them the mindset that languages are just as important as any other subject," says Janet Eklund, now in her 20th year at Glastonbury, where she's one of two Russian teachers.
  • "All along, we're working to make them not just language proficient, but culturally aware," says Oleksak. "We always remind them that they have to learn more than just the words to relate to people from other cultures."
  • "There's a Chinese saying, that if three people pass by, one of them is your teacher. We learn from just about every experience we have," says Wang. "Then we make sense of it through our language."   
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • Asia Society's Shuhan Wang cautions against a "language of the month" approach for districts working to build their language programs. It's more important, she says, to build on community resources and to do what you can to make language learning real-world and relevant to them.
  • Presidential candidate Barack Obama hit on some deep-seated anxiety when he remarked in July that we should emphasize foreign language learning from an early age.
  • "The U.S. will become less competitive in the global economy because of a shortage of strong foreign language and international studies programs at the elementary, high school, and college levels," the Committee for Economic Development stated plainly in a 2006 report. "Our diplomatic efforts often have been hampered by a lack of cultural awareness," the report went on to say. The world is becoming so interrelated, if we don't teach our young other languages and cultural values, says Wang, "We are denying them access to the new world. It is just plain and simple. If we continue to view language learning as for the elite, for the "smart ones," or for the family who can afford to pay for it, we are really widening the gap."
  • What does it say about America that we are the only industrialized nation that routinely graduates high school students who speak only one language? Frankly, it says that if you want to talk to us—to do business with us, negotiate peace with us, learn from or teach us, or even just pal around with us—you'd better speak English.
  • "The norm is still either no foreign language or two years in high school," says Marty Abbott, director of Education at the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
  • Foreign language programs are often among the first things cut by urban school administrators desperately adding math and reading classes to raise test scores.
  • "It's time to reassess what 'basic skills' really means for the 21st century," says Asia Society's Wang.
  • Not only will students learn new vocabulary in the target language, but they get to work on the concepts they need to master for other classes, and yes, for high-stakes tests. That's how they do it in Glastonbury, says Oleksak: "We pre-teach, co-teach, and post-teach what's going on in the elementary classroom."
  • The kids reason out what you get when you add three butterflies plus four butterflies: Seven, yes, but really it's practice in Chinese and math, as well as a reminder that caterpillars turn into butterflies.
  • Right now, districts like Glastonbury—with an articulated, sequential program spanning grades 1–12, state-of-the-art language labs, and all the support an administration could give—are the exception.
Pamela Arraras

Foreign Language Teaching Wiki - Culture - 1 views

flteaching.wikispaces.com/Culture

virtualbackpacking culture intercultural

shared by Pamela Arraras on 22 Aug 09 - No Cached
  • The main exposure students had to the culture of the target language was through controlled interaction with native speakers in the classroom.
  • Language & culture are more naturally integrated in this approach. Culture instruction is connected to grammar instruction. Its main goal is to teach students how to use the target language when communicating in a cultural context
  • the following are other common approaches to teaching culture: (from Omaggio) The Frankenstein Approach: A taco from here, a flamenco dancer from there, a gaucho from here, a bullfight from there. The 4-F Approach: Folk dances, festivals, fairs and food. The Tour Guide Approach: The identification of monuments, rivers and cities. The "By-the-Way" Approach: Sporadic lectures or bits of behavior selected indiscriminately to emphasize sharp differences.
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • focusing a little more on similarities, instead of the differences, between cultures
  • Latorre believes that focusing on differences instead of on the similarities contributes to people misunderstanding other cultures, often thinking that the foreign cultures are "exotic," perhaps more exotic than they actually are. What Latorre suggests that any teacher of any foreign language should do is focus on the “true differential, the language [itself], rather than enlarging beyond proportion attitudes and activities which are either regional, outdated, or downright non-existent” (672).
  • one of the most important factors for success in learning a foreign language is the need for students to get involved in the learning process. The use of materials based on internet technologies offers many innovative ways of getting students involved in the process of learning a language. Students can get to know the target culture by means of interacting directly with native speakers via on-line communication, with mail exchanges or chatrooms.
  • From her point of view, it is crucial that the students can learn not only the language but also the diversity of the target culture. That is why, according to her, internet resources, such as newspapers and magazines, have a great importance, since they provide students with authentic and current information that can help them understand the target culture. Reading on-line newspapers makes students aware of current social phenomena.
  • According to Lee, recent studies have proved that internet resources can help students improve their language skills in a similar way to full immersion or study abroad, although are based basically on written communication. Besides, this use of on-line resources are more beneficial to students at the advanced level because they require a high level of language proficiency to read, comprehend, and respond to cultural readings, for example, newspapers.
  • The most important part of Stern's research involves his 3-level framework of foreign culture pedagogy: teaching social sciences, applying theory/research, and their practical applications in the classroom. In the 1990s, Stern's cultural/communication mix evolved from describing sociocultural contexts of second language/foreign language to contexts of competence in second culture acquisition (not just language acquisition). This is the first time that cultural pedagogy and social sciences had been paired.
  • In H.H. Stern's breakthrough 1983 study "Fundamental concepts of language Teaching," there are concepts of day-to-day culture and customs that should be used in the classroom. Stern uses a four component model including a 'cultural syllabus' for culture teaching.
  • Foreign language (FL) teachers should make culture more of a central role in the class FL teachers should throw out teaching culture in terms of isolated facts FL teachers should have an awareness of the past on the present within any culture without focusing too much on the past FL teachers should be aware of cognitive and affective influences on the students FL teachers should engage students as active participants FL teachers should teach culture in such a way that students can be cross-cultural here and abroad Given that the teacher’s assumptions about how language and lang learning affect how he or she teaches lang and culture, the approach should aim for communicative competence (that is, real communication)
  • Tang discussed the use of performance-based theory developed by Walker (2000) who suggests that culture could be better taught if done through simulated social interactions in the classroom, for example hosting a guest or accepting a gift. This serves to create a “default memory” within the student's mind that will help him perform in the target culture without drawing conclusions or using as a reference his own base culture which could lead to misunderstandings.
  • Tang also discourages the pure instruction of behavioral culture in the classroom and says that to perform effectively in a target culture one must not only be able to master it linguistically, be familiar with its artifacts, norms and rituals but also with the meaning system, or the hidden significance underlying these. This is why she believes that Walker's performance-based theory can only work properly if the true meaning system underlying the simulated situations and interations created in the classroom are internalized by the students.
  • the Three P's, into three separate categories: cultural perspectives, cultural products, and cultural practices. Cultural perspectives are the values, beliefs, attitudes, and assumptions shared within a culture. Cultural products are things such as literature, music, art, or even utensils such as chopsticks; tangible items that are linked to a certain culture. Cultural practices are the acceptable behavioral patterns, forms of discourse, and rites of passage within a specific culture.
  • the goals are that students "demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied," which means that we should encourage the students to understand why other cultures do what they do and what the members of that culture think about the reasons behind what they do. In addition, the students should come to an understanding of "the relationship between the products and perspectives of the culture studied." This means that we should enlighten the students on what members of other cultures do and what these peoples' own opinions are about what they do. Moreover, culture should be starting point for all classroom education. In keeping with the 5 C's, culture is used to make comparisons and connections about communities and in doing so students can have meaningful communication within those communties.
  • According to Omaggio: Culture is complex and elusive and is difficult to include in linear instructional formats. Culture requires time that many teachers feel that do not have. Teachers avoid culture because of their own perceived lack of knowledge. Culture often requires both teacher and learner to move beyond their level of comfort when confronted with deeper, sometimes controversial issues. When teaching languages that are spoken in many different countries, e.g., Spanish, where are the cultural boundaries? Balancing Big C with Little C.
  • Strategies, techniques, and tools for teaching culture in the classroom
Patrick Higgins

New Jersey Department of Education - 0 views

www.state.nj.us/...index.html

nj worldlanguage standards curriculum actfl levels

shared by Patrick Higgins on 12 Feb 09 - Cached
  • In Preschool, children are just beginning to learn about language and how it works. Exposure to multiple languages is advantageous for all children and can be supported by developmentally appropriate teaching practices that make use of songs, rhymes, and stories. In programs for beginning learners that offer appropriate time and frequency of instruction, students communicate at the Novice-Mid level using memorized language to talk about familiar topics related to school, home, and the community. After three-six years of study in programs offering the appropriate time and frequency of standards-based instruction, Novice-High through Intermediate-Mid level students communicate at the sentence level creating with language to ask and answer questions and to handle simple transactions related to everyday life and subject matter studied in other classes. After nine-twelve years of well articulated standards-based instruction, Intermediate-High through Advanced-Low level students communicate at the paragraph level and are able to handle complicated situations on a wide-range of topics.
  • Integration of technology within the CPIs necessitates its use as a tool in instruction and assessment.
  • Patrick Higgins on 12 Feb 09
     
    # In Preschool, children are just beginning to learn about language and how it works. Exposure to multiple languages is advantageous for all children and can be supported by developmentally appropriate teaching practices that make use of songs, rhymes, and stories. # In programs for beginning learners that offer appropriate time and frequency of instruction, students communicate at the Novice-Mid level using memorized language to talk about familiar topics related to school, home, and the community. # After three-six years of study in programs offering the appropriate time and frequency of standards-based instruction, Novice-High through Intermediate-Mid level students communicate at the sentence level creating with language to ask and answer questions and to handle simple transactions related to everyday life and subject matter studied in other classes. # After nine-twelve years of well articulated standards-based instruction, Intermediate-High through Advanced-Low level students communicate at the paragraph level and are able to handle complicated situations on a wide-range of topics.
Stéphane Métral

What are your favourite tools to teach or learn languages ? - 290 views

Bonjour, I teach French to foreigners recently arrived in Geneva. We have 2 Mac in class in a computer room with a PC for each student I use a blog to make my students write and t...

languages teaching tools

started by Isabelle Jones on 07 Jun 08 6 follow-ups, last by Stéphane Métral on 22 Feb 09
Claude Almansi

PopuLLar: Motivating secondary school students to learn languages through their music - 9 views

popullar.eu/index.html

languages music EU_Educators EU popullar

shared by Claude Almansi on 10 Sep 12 - No Cached
  • Claude Almansi on 10 Sep 12
     
    "PopuLLar is a European Union, funded, innovative, education project designed to harness music, the primary social interest of secondary school students, in to their language learning. There is a huge need to motivate secondary school students, in particular, to learn languages, focus digital competencies and be creative; and music is the key. The project will ask students to write their own lyrics to songs of their choice. They will then translate their songs in to the target language they are learning, The students will then record their song (audio or video) and share it with students all over Europe. Students will be able to combine their love of music, with creativity, literacy, digital competencies, group collaboration and, most importantly, use LWULT languages. PopuLLar is a project that is 'Owned' by the students, they work autonomously and collaboratively, teachers are guides to the project process."
Andrew Jeppesen

Building Peace - Thoughts on Modern Conflict - 0 views

www.buildingpeace.net/...why-language-matters.html

languages promoting-language languages-work buildingpeace learning a language

shared by Andrew Jeppesen on 13 Jul 09 - Cached
  • This is the crux: foreign language ability is not just about converting information from one format to another. It's about human relationships.
  • A few years ago, while General Abizaid was still CENTCOM commander, I flew a C-17 into Cairo to pick him up after a meeting. While I sat on the parking ramp with my engines running, knocking out checklists for the next takeoff, I looked out the window and saw General Abizaid moving among a circle of grinning Egyptian military officers. He was shaking hands, talking, doing the kinds of things a combatant commander is supposed to do: keeping our alliances strong at a time when the situation in Iraq was critical. Because he is fluent in Arabic, I presume he was doing at least some of this in Arabic. I remember thinking, Wow. This is why language matters.
  • Language is extremely hard. We need as many language solutions as we can get, and technology certainly can and should help fill the gap. But no matter how good the technology gets, no matter how prevalent English becomes, old-fashioned speaking of a foreign language still matters.
Claude Almansi

Digital October - Knowledge Stream. Coursera: This Time In Russian 2013-11-13 - 0 views

digitaloctober.ru/...ream_coursera_sdelano_v_rossii

Coursera abby abby_ls eli eli_bildner digital_october subtitle subtitles translation 2013-11-13 2013 russian

shared by Claude Almansi on 02 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • Claude Almansi on 02 Sep 14
     
    "On November 13 the Digital October Center hosted a web meeting with Eli Bildner, one of the Coursera team members. Bildner is responsible for looking for educational partners and translating selected videos into the native languages of the projects's multicultural audience, and shared the results of the first few months of work he has put into localizing the content of the most popular platform for free online education. He discussed: which translation approaches have been tried and how well they have worked from country to country why Coursera settled on working with local partners the statistics on what has already brought about growth in the number of users who do now know English well enough or even at all. Lecture guests also were the first to see how the crowdsourcing platform ABBYY Language Services and the Knowledge Stream team built to translate Coursera content works. This solution at some point in the future may become a universal tool for localizing courses around the entire world. At this point, however, the development is in beta testing."
Isabelle Jones

Word2Word Language Resources - 0 views

www.word2word.com

languages reference resources translation

shared by Isabelle Jones on 18 Jun 08 - Cached
  • Dianne Krause on 18 Jun 08
     
    This site is dedicated to breaking down of language barriers and assisting the users who have the desire to learn a language, a need to communicate between languages, and for those who work with languages as a profession.
Patrick Higgins

eufeeds - over 1000 newspapers, updated every 20 minutes - 0 views

www.eufeeds.eu/uk

contemporaryissues currentevents worldlanguage languages

shared by Patrick Higgins on 04 Mar 09 - Cached
  • Patrick Higgins on 04 Mar 09
     
    Every newspaper in the EU in it's native language. Awesome for World Languages and current events. Google Translator works well too.
Claude Almansi

Deb Roy: The birth of a word | Video on TED.com 2011 (filmed and posted= - 7 views

www.ted.com/...b_roy_the_birth_of_a_word.html

TED language computer Roy Deb Roy MIT webcam

shared by Claude Almansi on 13 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • Claude Almansi on 31 Mar 11
     
    "MIT researcher Deb Roy wanted to understand how his infant son learned language -- so he wired up his house with videocameras to catch every moment (with exceptions) of his son's life, then parsed 90,000 hours of home video to watch "gaaaa" slowly turn into "water." Astonishing, data-rich research with deep implications for how we learn. About Deb Roy Deb Roy studies how children learn language, and designs machines that learn to communicate in human-like ways. On sabbatical from MIT Media Lab, he's working with the AI company Bluefin Labs"
Lauren Rosen

Can Foreign Language Immersion Be Taught Effectively Online? | MindShift - 5 views

ww2.kqed.org/...n-be-taught-effectively-online

online learning

shared by Lauren Rosen on 23 Apr 15 - No Cached
    • Lauren Rosen
      Lauren Rosen on 23 Apr 15
       
      Primarily interpretive activities
  • there’s really no substitute for engaging in real conversations with other people, which is one of the reasons she is fond of the districts that are using the Middlebury curriculum in blended learning classrooms
    • Lauren Rosen
      Lauren Rosen on 23 Apr 15
       
      Presentational speaking
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • record themselves and submit audio
  • blended model
  • language teacher is present one day a week, the focus is on speaking with one another and group work.
  • Lauren Rosen on 23 Apr 15
     
    Middlebury's program is mostly interpretive with some presentational aspects so best used in a blended environment where learners have the opportunity to practice spontaneous speaking in live situations. That said, if this is the only option it seems much better than the majority of what's out there for independent language study, in my opinion.
Martin Burrett

TalkTyper - 11 views

talktyper.com

speech voice voice to text speech to text mfl English French German Spanish Italian Mandarin Chinese Japanese speech recognition

shared by Martin Burrett on 02 Jul 12 - No Cached
  • Martin Burrett on 02 Jul 12
     
    A useful site that allows users to dictate and generate text. A great resource for children with writing difficulties to get their ideas written quickly. It works with a range of languages including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and more. For mistakes, the site offers alternative words with similar pronunciation. Only works with Chrome. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools
Barbara Harper

ALL SW resources blog - 11 views

sdvaughan.edublogs.org/language-world-2010-workshop

resources French languages ideas

shared by Barbara Harper on 12 Jun 10 - Cached
  • Barbara Harper on 12 Jun 10
     
    resources for cross curricular working in languages
Isabelle Jones

Languages Work Gallery - 0 views

www.createandwait.com/...Spanish.aspx

display french ideas languages mfl promotion spanish

shared by Isabelle Jones on 12 Jun 08 - Cached
  • Isabelle Jones on 12 Jun 08
     
    Ideas to display students' work online
1 - 20 of 39 Next ›
Showing 20▼ items per page