Blog 8

Language Learning Challenge Week 4 (Futur Simple)

Week 4 Summary 

I began the week with a Lingolia definition of the futur simple. 

I then completed the Lingolia quiz and scored averagely.

After the Lingolia quiz I completed the 20 sentences outlined in the LLC plan.

I then completed another quiz to see if I'd improved. 

After the quiz I looked on the French Stack Exchange forum, however did not find it particularly helpful. 

To conclude I listened to News in Slow French for five minutes. 

Week 4 Reflection

Even though this is the mid-semester break, it has probably been the busiest week of the year for me, it's been extremely difficult to keep up with the Language Learning Challenge. There has been course work due for other courses, work has been quite full on, not to mention there have been family events. This week was a pretty typical week in terms of the work I actually did for the Language Learning Challenge, I completed what I'd set out to do in the plan and have undoubtedly completed tasks in line with my LLC learning goal. I personally struggled quite a bit with the futur simple (as you can see in my quiz scores) I think this is because we haven't had a chance to cover it completely in class this week, so it is a new concept to me, however I do believe that because of the exercises I have a better understanding of the futur simple, it has at least laid the groundwork. I also took the time to look at a French language forum called "French Stack Exchange," this only lasted 5 minutes however, for the reason that I think I was just uninterested, basically what people were saying was boring and I couldn't really find any examples of language that was pertinent to my goal of learning the futur simple. To close out the week I went back to listening to the News in Slow French podcast, again it did not last long because I was unmotivated and was a bit overwhelmed with the work I had to do this week. 

Revisiting Cultural Influence on the Pedagogical Framework

As was previously mentioned in last weeks blog, I visited a French language forum called French Stack exchange, it was my hope that the forum would allow me to look at French tenses used in an authentic context, as well as allow for me to use the research of Levy to analyze this form of language learning., this was not the case. The first issue was that the forum was mainly used by those that are learning French, meaning that authentic language is difficult to come by, this was most definitely my fault as I failed to comprehensibly research the site before I used it. The second issue was that I just didn't care about what they were talking about, it was mundane things about their life that was in simple French, for me personally it was just uninteresting.  As the text was inauthentic there were very few examples of culture that I could see in the text, as everyone participating was from similar cultures (The majority was British, American and Australian). 

Translation in my Language Learning Challenge 

As much as all those that have attempted to teach me French will hate to hear this, translation, google translate specifically, plays a role in my French language learning, whether I'm reading a French novel or just trying to complete an activity in the textbook, I will use translation to help. Translation has been criticized for its propensity to traditional grammatical structures and the much maligned grammar translation method, it's seen as ineffective. Translation emphasizes form rather than meaning, an issue that has actually affected the LLC, as when I check the sentences I write out, google translate often fails to recognize the context. 

However, there has been a paper written by Inga Dagilienė that advocates for translation as an effective language learning tool, it argues that "When integrated into daily classroom activities translation can help students develop and improve reading, speaking, writing skills, grammar and vocabulary." Dagiliene found that translation was useful for preparation, and also found that more proficient language learners utilized translation. For me personally, I use translation because it is an autonomous activity that usually involves authentic French texts, I do not think that it is a harmful exercise. For this reason I will continue to utilize translation in my language learning challenge. 

See you next week. 

Blog 7

Language Learning Challenge Week 3 (conditionnel) 

Week 3 Summary

This week was a bit different, I began with a pronunciation exercise on an app called "French Pronunciation Speaking," this was because it had been pointed out to me earlier in the week that it needed work. As my week was still busy this acted as a replacement for the podcast. 

I then used good old reliable Lingolia and completed the accompanying quiz for 'le conditionnel.'

Next came the 15 sentences, 5 passé compose, 5 l'imparfait and 5 conditionnel. 

Finally, to conclude the week I visited a website called "Soft Schools," I don't understand the name but the quiz was useful for consolidation. 

Week 3 Reflection

I really enjoyed this week in the language learning challenge, perhaps it was because I used some new technologies and changed it up a bit. I won't describe my experience with Lingolia this week because I'm pretty sure that you're aware that I love it, instead the two new technologies will be analyzed, first on the agenda is "French Pronunciation Speaking." During a French class earlier in the week we were given general feedback and it seemed focused on pronunciation, consequently this week I added a speaking component. The technology was easy to use with authentic audio however its downfall was that if you typed in a sentence, often the audio was a jumbled mess. This wasn't an issue with my personal use as I only had need for the pronunciation of single words. The second CALL tool was the website "Soft Schools," this was used as a consolidation tool, I was not wholly confident with the conditionnel so felt the need to reinforce what I'd learnt. This proved to be incredibly useful as after studying the sentences I'd written I achieved a 90% score on the quiz, an improvement on the earlier Lingolia quiz. 

Evaluation of Technologies (Level 3 Chapelle Framework)

French Pronunciation Speaking

Language Learning Potential- 5/10

Learner Fit- 7/10

Meaning Focus- 4/10

Authenticity- 6/10

Positive Impact- 5/10

Practicality- 9/10 

Soft Schools 

Language Learning Potential- 6/10

Learner Fit- 8/10

Meaning Focus- 4/10

Authenticity- 3/10

Positive Impact- 7/10

Practicality- 9/10

Cultural Influence on the Pedagogical Framework (Levy, 2007)

During this weeks SLAT2002 workshop the importance of culture in using new technologies was emphasized, an element of language learning that is often overlooked, and embarrassingly I have overlooked it as well. It is pertinent to the my Language Learning Challenge as next week I am looking to look at a French Website or discussion forum, this is because I've found that a varied approach to technology use keeps me engaged in the challenge and avoids the staleness that so often comes with language learning. According to Levy, there are five facets of the culture concept, culture as elemental, as relative, as group membership, as contested and lastly as individual. I will specifically look at "French Stack Exchange," a website that operates as a collaborative forum and look for the tenses I am trying to learn in order to contextualize it. 

The forum is an asynchronous method of communication, meaning that "there is time to consider features of their own cultural background and those of their partner." (Levy, 2007). As well as this, the example I put forward most commonly demonstrates culture as individual, the forums, this facet of culture has three components, "cultural knowledge varies from person to person and has many different levels, students and teachers are selective in how they represent their cultures and there is the aim of sharing individual experiences and building upon them. I will talk about my experience more thoroughly next week this was just a brief overview. 

I'll see you next week. 

Blog 6

Language Learning Challenge Week 2 (l'imparfait)

Week 2 Summary

Last week I made the statement that I would write 15 sentences using the tense, however that was unrealistic in the context of this week, instead 10 were written. 

I then used Lingolia to study l'imparfait and its structure to check accuracy, as well as completed an online Lingolia quiz.

Finally, to close out the Week I, listened a News in Slow French podcast. 

Week 2 Reflection

I am a little disappointed with myself this week, due to poor time management on my part I did not get to engage as much as I wanted with the Language Learning Challenges that I had set myself. However in saying this, I still exceeded the weekly goal set out in the LLC proposal, writing ten sentences instead of five and completing all other components outlined in the challenge. You are probably sick of reading it but I really like Lingolia for my purposes, again I found it quite useful for learning as well as practicing the tense, I did not use Word Reference this week as it seemed a bit superfluous after using Lingolia as well. The original plan was to write five sentences a week, and this week I increased the workload to ten sentences and I think I will continue to increase the workload by five sentences every week, I will elaborate more in the updated Language Learning Challenge Plan. I struggled with identifying when l'imparfait was being used during the podcast, contrary to the passé compose experience last week, however I will persevere as I quite obviously need  to work on my listening skills and listening for context in particular. 

Updated Language Learning Challenge Plan
The previous LLC plan was to write five sentences a week, using one specific tense each week, five separate tenses all up, leaving one week at the end of the challenge in which all five tenses will be used. I have decided that this is not the most effective way of second language learning, the new plan is as follows:

Week 3: Write 15 sentences, 5 passé compose, 5 l'imparfait, 5 conditionnel. 
Week 4: Write 20 sentences,  5 passé compose, 5 l'imparfait, 5 conditionnel, 5 futur proche. 
Week 5: Write 25 sentences, 5 passé compose, 5 l'imparfait, 5 conditionnel, 5 futur proche, 5 futur simple. 
Week 6: Repeat week 5 to further reinforce 

I'm under the impression that this is an improvement as I will be revising tenses learned every week and consequently not allowing myself to forget. Additionally, I will continue with the one podcast per week. 

My Learning Goal Progress
To refresh your memory I will reiterate my learning goal, by the end of the Language Learning Challenge, I wish to be able to use the five tenses previously outlined effectively, without having to pause or think too much, a skill critical to comprehending the French language. I also intend to improve my listening skills to the point where I'm comfortable listening to the intermediate level of French spoken in class.

The first component of the learning goal regarding the learning of tenses is progressing well in my humble opinion, I definitely feel like I have a much better understanding of the passé compose that can only improve as the challenge goes on with the new and improved plan. The study of l'imparfait this week proved to be more challenging, partly because it took me a little while to completely understand its meaning, but mostly because it is a new concept to me. Although I think that it will definitely become clearer as I will revise it every week and even though I say that I struggled this week, I still know more than when I started, a success in my book.

For the listening component there has been less obvious progress, but perseverance is key, I will not be able to understand French overnight. As well as this, there is a connection between learning and challenge, if I'm not challenged I am not effectively learning anything.

Next Week 
In week 3 I'm looking to change up the technologies used a little. Obviously I will continue with Lingolia because it is by far the most useful technology I have used thus far, however I will add to this with a BBC Bitesize conditionnel tense quiz. I may also change podcasts, instead listening to an intermediate level podcast titled "innerFrench."

More to come next week. 

Blog 5

Language Learning Challenge Week 1

Week 1 Summary 

This week I wrote five sentences using the passé composé

I then studied sentence structure using Lingolia and Word Reference to check accuracy as well as completed an additional test on Lingolia. 

To finish the week I then listened to the podcast "News in Slow French."

Week 1 Reflection

I have completed all of the tasks outlined in the original task. I decided to focus on the passé composé and personally I think it was a successful week, the only criticism that I would give myself being that I could stretch to 15 sentences using a tense per week. I feel that the increase is adequate as it is enough to make a difference and reinforce sentence structure in my head while at the same time not being so strenuous that it would impact time for other coursework. Additionally, I completed a test on the passé composé and achieved a passing mark. I enjoyed listening to the podcast as I not only was challenged but found myself being able to pick up when the passé composé was being used. In conclusion, I am under the impression that this format will work for me and help achieve the learning goal of being able to use the French tenses effectively and improve my French listening comprehension. 

Evaluation of Technologies Using Level Three of Chapelle Analysis 

Word Reference 

Language Learning Potential- For word reference the language learning potential (LLP)  is quite low. The criteria for LLP according to Chapelle are; "interactional modification, modification of output, time pressure, modality, support, surprise, control, and stakes." Word reference does not identify strongly to these criteria. It is limited by purely being an information based example of CALL, there are no tasks outlined by the technology itself. 

Learner Fit- I would say that Word reference is an accurate learner fit for me, as I prefer to be independent and develop tasks on the basis of what information I need to learn, rather than just have a task handed to me to do. As mentioned the language learning challenge proposal I am also a visual learner meaning that I am more likely to remember what I read rather than what I hear, an online dictionary is therefore the perfect choice. 

Meaning Focus- As I am mainly using the online dictionary as a means of revising sentence structure and tense, it is possible to say that there is more of a form focus. It may seem counterintuitive as I am literally using a platform designed for finding meaning but it seems to be working for me. Therefore, it can be said that Word Reference scores poorly in meaning focus. 

Authenticity- According to Chapelle, authenticity refers to " the degree of correspondence between an L2 learning task and tasks that the learner is likely to encounter outside of the classroom." Going by this definition there is certainly a lack of authenticity with the online dictionary. 

Positive Impact- Positive impact is the degree to which the CALL task will motivate the student to develop their learning skills outside the classroom. In this respect I think using the online dictionary was effective for me in learning grammatical rules in particular, I am quite an independent learner and anything that involves me listening or watching I will often very quickly lose interest. 

Practicality-  Word Reference is an extremely practical and accessible platform for language learning, subsequently Word Reference scores highly in this criteria. 

Lingolia 

Language Learning Potential- Lingolia is quite similar to Word Reference in this criteria, though I believe it is a little better. Lingolia offers both a more detailed outline of the passé composé and a quiz to take afterwards to measure comprehension. The quiz was quite helpful is it was not just testing the basic forms of the tense as most sites do, there were reflexive verbs and differing structures. I would rate the language learning potential as medium. 

Learner Fit- As with Word Reference, Lingolia fits my preferred learning style perfectly, the work is independent and there is a comprehension test where the results are instaneous. It also fits my personal schedule as it's possible to use while travelling and not so strenuous that I'm stressed out to do, it is actually quite fun which I think is a good sign. 

Meaning Focus- Lingolia scores quite poorly in this criteria as it uses more form-based tasks to teach, for example filling in correct verb tenses. I do not see this as an issue as it's my belief that there is more of a meaning focus in the French workshops I am already attending and hopefully that is enough to be able to learn effectively. 

Authenticity- Lingolia gets another low score for authenticity, as there is little active engagement, however the usage of verb tenses is a everyday  occurrence so I would argue that it is authentic in some way. I do not think that authenticity will play a very big role in whatever technology I use for learning French tenses, it is very much an independent task that does not require all that much communication at the moment. 

Positive Impact- For me Lingolia has definitely had a positive impact , I am motivated to do it again next week as a feel that it has reinforced and strengthened my knowledge of the passé composé. I enjoyed using the technology and am excited to use it again next week. I am therefore giving Lingolia a high mark in positive impact. 

Practicality- It is much the same as Word Reference, it is highly accessible, practical and easy to use, I can't find many faults in Lingolia for my purpose. 

"News in Slow French" Podcast

Language Learning Potential- The language learning potential for the podcast is quite limited in my view, as a tool it is only useful when you have quite a high degree of previous knowledge and access to people you can communicate with in your L2. However, the podcast was very useful in reinforcing what I had learned using Lingolia and word reference, I was able to identify at various points when the passé composé was being used, additionally it undoubtedly helped with listening comprehension. I give the podcast a low to medium mark for the language learning potential criteria. 

Learner Fit- Because I am a visual learner I had a bit more trouble using this technology, I am just too easily distracted, I can't sit still and just listen, I feel like I need to be doing something else at the same time. In saying this however, I will persevere as I feel that in the long run it can only be beneficial for my French listening skills. I will give the podcast a medium ark for this criteria as I need to earn how to listen. 

Meaning Focus- There is a heavy meaning focus as this is purely a listening task, I need to be engaged in order to understand what is going on. Communicative learning has been proven to be the most effective form of learning, so it cannot hurt to have one task focused on communication and understanding meaning. The podcast has a high meaning focus. 

Authenticity- The podcast also scores highly in this criteria as the news, as well as listening comprehension in general is an essential aspect of language and will be useful beyond the classroom. This is by far the most authentic CALL system I will be using in the language learning challenge. 

Positive Impact- Personally I am a lot less motivated to listen to the podcast compared to my willingness to engage with the other two platforms. However, as previously mentioned, I will continue with the use of the podcast as I don't see another more effective way of improving my listening skills. The podcast scores quite low in the positive impact criteria. 

Practicality-  It is every bit as practical as the previous two technologies, its only downfall being that it is hard to follow sometimes and on a few occasions I had to use an online dictionary to figure out what had been said. 

I will be back next week.