Getting into a rhythm with my two classes this term, and by far the most interesting is Online and Distributed Learning. The format of the class is quite different from the others that I haven taken.
It seems like a relatively small group, and everyone is fairly actively posting on the bulletin board set up for the purpose. We have a variety of smaller assignments during the course of the term, instead of one or two big ones. Also, the course moderator is especially active and does a good job in drawing out discussion.
As for the topic itself, it is particularly interesting to me. When I first decided to pursue a master's degree, I did a lot of research online to find out what the best way to go about it was. There was definitely a sense that it is best to do your master's work at a campus rather than doing it by "distance learning". There was plenty of online sneering at people that had a "degree by mail" and it was hard to imagine that all of this negativity wouldn't filter into the university systems that employ teachers, devaluing the experience of learning online or by distance.
The more I read about and explore online and distributed learning, the more it seems like it is a trend that will only continue and become more popular. The idea of students having to actually sit in the presence of a teacher, all at the same point in time to learn on a fixed path through a syllabus - well, it is starting to sound a little quaint.
When I see modern college classrooms filled with students carrying laptops, it makes me wonder why the students need to be there to listen to the instructor. Can't they watch a video of the lecture? How about submitting questions via email or online chat? Students collaborating on projects online as well as working individually can lead to some stimulating discussion and ideas as well.
Formal classroom learning is in no danger of extinction. Of course there will always be a need for learning from an instructor in person, but to me it seems like the future of learning is one that shifts the navigation of the learning path to the individual student, with the instructor acting as a guide to learning rather than the source of the learning.
It seems like a relatively small group, and everyone is fairly actively posting on the bulletin board set up for the purpose. We have a variety of smaller assignments during the course of the term, instead of one or two big ones. Also, the course moderator is especially active and does a good job in drawing out discussion.
As for the topic itself, it is particularly interesting to me. When I first decided to pursue a master's degree, I did a lot of research online to find out what the best way to go about it was. There was definitely a sense that it is best to do your master's work at a campus rather than doing it by "distance learning". There was plenty of online sneering at people that had a "degree by mail" and it was hard to imagine that all of this negativity wouldn't filter into the university systems that employ teachers, devaluing the experience of learning online or by distance.
The more I read about and explore online and distributed learning, the more it seems like it is a trend that will only continue and become more popular. The idea of students having to actually sit in the presence of a teacher, all at the same point in time to learn on a fixed path through a syllabus - well, it is starting to sound a little quaint.
When I see modern college classrooms filled with students carrying laptops, it makes me wonder why the students need to be there to listen to the instructor. Can't they watch a video of the lecture? How about submitting questions via email or online chat? Students collaborating on projects online as well as working individually can lead to some stimulating discussion and ideas as well.
Formal classroom learning is in no danger of extinction. Of course there will always be a need for learning from an instructor in person, but to me it seems like the future of learning is one that shifts the navigation of the learning path to the individual student, with the instructor acting as a guide to learning rather than the source of the learning.
Labels: FET5600
With the start of a new term I thought I would review the previous term's courses, as well as assess my own performance.
Being my first foray into the lively forum that is modern post-graduate academia, I was expecting a certain amount of challenge, and I was presented with several. One challenge was whittling down the huge amount of readings available and digesting them in a timely manner, and another involved producing output in the form of papers and essays.
LIN 5000 (The Nature of Language) was a very satisfying course that provided a good survey of language in general, which is no small task. The readings were very helpful and the textbook was well organized and informative. The assignments that I was responsible for during the term were fairly large scale, and if I was able to do it all again I might get started a little earlier on them. In the end I think I did fairly well in the class, after a sub-par performance with my first assignment.
LIN 8001 (Second Language Learning) was a much more challenging course, and I think that taking these two at the same time might have been a little too much to handle for a first term. I would have liked to have taken this course after completely finishing LIN 5000 - the format and style of the assignments would be much more familiar. Also topics addressed in LIN 5000 seemed to come up fairly often. I did rather poorly on the first assignment, partially because of the time constraints that I inflicting upon myself, and partially because I was writing this assignment almost concurrently with the LIN 5000 class assignment. The second assignment was even more ambitious, and although I feel like I improved a bit, the results were much the same. Unfortunately I don't have access to comments because it was a take home test situation. So the end result was a pass (60% or so) in this course, but now I feel like I am better equipped to take on the next two courses.
Being my first foray into the lively forum that is modern post-graduate academia, I was expecting a certain amount of challenge, and I was presented with several. One challenge was whittling down the huge amount of readings available and digesting them in a timely manner, and another involved producing output in the form of papers and essays.
LIN 5000 (The Nature of Language) was a very satisfying course that provided a good survey of language in general, which is no small task. The readings were very helpful and the textbook was well organized and informative. The assignments that I was responsible for during the term were fairly large scale, and if I was able to do it all again I might get started a little earlier on them. In the end I think I did fairly well in the class, after a sub-par performance with my first assignment.
LIN 8001 (Second Language Learning) was a much more challenging course, and I think that taking these two at the same time might have been a little too much to handle for a first term. I would have liked to have taken this course after completely finishing LIN 5000 - the format and style of the assignments would be much more familiar. Also topics addressed in LIN 5000 seemed to come up fairly often. I did rather poorly on the first assignment, partially because of the time constraints that I inflicting upon myself, and partially because I was writing this assignment almost concurrently with the LIN 5000 class assignment. The second assignment was even more ambitious, and although I feel like I improved a bit, the results were much the same. Unfortunately I don't have access to comments because it was a take home test situation. So the end result was a pass (60% or so) in this course, but now I feel like I am better equipped to take on the next two courses.
This course explores the value and uses of distributed and online learning as a possible response to the delivery challenges of the emerging educational environment. From this historical platform, participants then consider the make-up of the online and distributed environment, looking at the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders who support and utilise this technology-enhanced approach to learning. Participants will clarify and understand the role that technology may or may not play in the support of effective learning and will be expected to take a critical look at online and electronic environments, developing criteria and skills for evaluating such learning environments. The skill and ability of the online facilitator is important to the success or otherwise of online and distributed learning environments. Learners will look at what makes for successful facilitation of online environments and explore strategies for engaging learners through the electronic medium. Making our learning environments flexible and attractive is a popular aspiration of many current teachers and providers. However, the challenges in terms of articulating flexible and responsive assessments are an elusive and challenging consideration. This learning package will take this challenge into discussion and collaborative analysis. In collaboration with its participants, this course is about constructing knowledge, skills and attitudes that will support professional activities in building, managing and assessing online and distributed learning environments.
Labels: FET5600
The course will introduce students to the different types of language tests and forms of language assessment techniques and their purposes. It will look at how language proficiency is measured and the ways scores are interpreted. It will also discuss the criteria for good tests: reliability and validity. Students will have practice in devising their own test packages in which they will demonstrate their understanding of the principles of second language testing.
Labels: LIN8007
I'm reading about theories in second language acquisition, and I see that this field is nearly as controversial as first language acquisition. Several models are introduced, but the most interesting to me are the sociolinguistic models. Second language learning has a huge social component to it. I see the social environment playing a large role in the success or failure of learning a new language.
Every day I teach elementary school Japanese students in an all-English environment, and I know that this environment tends to make the students uncomfortable. Although I speak English the whole time, they are allowed to use Japanese here and there. At this age all English is maybe a little unrealistic - their vocabulary is very limited.
Schumann's conditions that he outlines for successful L2 acquisition are particularly striking because I can easily find examples of each one in my daily life. It kind of takes the thinking out of the theoretical world and puts it squarely in mine.
Every day I teach elementary school Japanese students in an all-English environment, and I know that this environment tends to make the students uncomfortable. Although I speak English the whole time, they are allowed to use Japanese here and there. At this age all English is maybe a little unrealistic - their vocabulary is very limited.
Schumann's conditions that he outlines for successful L2 acquisition are particularly striking because I can easily find examples of each one in my daily life. It kind of takes the thinking out of the theoretical world and puts it squarely in mine.
When I first began thinking about applying to a school to further my studies I read a few books and did some research to figure out what area I would like to concentrate on. I remember clearly going to a seminar and looking through a few readers on various disciplines. I picked up a couple of them, and I remember not picking up the one on sociolinguistics. I have a huge interest in sociology, and obviously in linguistics, but just like beer and ice cream I have no interest in ingesting them both at once.
Now I'm going through the readings in the text on the social aspects of language. I'm particularly interested because the social aspects of language is part of my first assignment that is due later this month.
I live and work in an environment (Japan) that has a lot of emphasis on social norms and customs, so I'm eager to see just what kinds of issues I can take from the readings and apply to my daily life as well as in the classroom.
Now I'm going through the readings in the text on the social aspects of language. I'm particularly interested because the social aspects of language is part of my first assignment that is due later this month.
I live and work in an environment (Japan) that has a lot of emphasis on social norms and customs, so I'm eager to see just what kinds of issues I can take from the readings and apply to my daily life as well as in the classroom.
Lots of information to digest lately. I'm reading about how to critically evaluate research papers lately, and it is an interesting topic. The papers that I have come across to date tend to be more discussion based, rather than research based. The style of the discussion based papers lends itself more to free thinking, while the research papers are pretty much just reporting on facts.
I am starting to see the structure and connections behind the different styles of papers, and how they relate to uncovering new ideas. I'm also starting to get more familiar with certain names that keep popping up, and connecting the names with the different theories is like identifying the heads of state of warring nations.
I am starting to see the structure and connections behind the different styles of papers, and how they relate to uncovering new ideas. I'm also starting to get more familiar with certain names that keep popping up, and connecting the names with the different theories is like identifying the heads of state of warring nations.
Reviewing the literature and recommended readings in LIN5000 has been interesting. The sheer volume of information to digest is a little daunting, and it still feels like we're only skimming the surface. I particularly liked the sections on dialects. Japan is a place that is rife with dialects. Where I live there are several dialects that are identifiable, mainly by neighborhood. In my previous apartment in Futami they spoke a working class version of Japanese, Banshu-ben, which is a sub-dialect of Kansai-ben. In my new neighborhood it is a little more refined Osaka-ben, probably because I'm in more of a business/farming community. Futami was a little more blue collar fishing and construction town, so it is interesting to see that reflected in the language.
I also noticed that living in a foreign country and learning another language makes the deliniations between dialects much more apparent to me than when I lived in America. Maybe it has to do with the size of the countries as well as how people migrated through. In Japan people have been living in the same places for a long time, and it seems like geography plays a big part in how dialects where formed rather than immigration.
I also noticed that living in a foreign country and learning another language makes the deliniations between dialects much more apparent to me than when I lived in America. Maybe it has to do with the size of the countries as well as how people migrated through. In Japan people have been living in the same places for a long time, and it seems like geography plays a big part in how dialects where formed rather than immigration.
So far the studies that I have undertaken have been pretty interesting, but I generally file a lot of the stuff I encounter as "technobabble that I hopefully will understand more fully later". I understand that a lot of the reading that I am doing now forms the "base of the pyramid" and that as I build this foundation of knowledge I can reach more interesting and pertinent information later.
The textbook for LIN5000, An Introduction to Language, is actually one of the more interesting textbooks that I have worked with, and I've found a lot of interesting things in there outside of the normal course of reading.
We're starting to think about our first assignment, and I'll admit the idea is a little daunting. While I am very comfortable with the material in the textbook and the reading that have been assigned, we've also been given a huge list of academic journals, books and other resources that we should use to base our assignment on. This list represents thousands of pages of material, and paring that down into valid supporting facts seems like it will take so long that I must be misunderstanding something.
I'll spend some time this weekend poking at the assignment and we'll see what comes of it. More later....
The textbook for LIN5000, An Introduction to Language, is actually one of the more interesting textbooks that I have worked with, and I've found a lot of interesting things in there outside of the normal course of reading.
We're starting to think about our first assignment, and I'll admit the idea is a little daunting. While I am very comfortable with the material in the textbook and the reading that have been assigned, we've also been given a huge list of academic journals, books and other resources that we should use to base our assignment on. This list represents thousands of pages of material, and paring that down into valid supporting facts seems like it will take so long that I must be misunderstanding something.
I'll spend some time this weekend poking at the assignment and we'll see what comes of it. More later....
Note: These entries serve as my first impressions of a topic before reading and/or studying them in class. They can be pretty rough.
First Language Acquisition and Second Language Acquisition are fundamentally different in that they take place at two different stages of a person's development. With the possible exception of children raised in a bilingual environment, people learn their first language as children, and there is a significant gap in the learning process before they begin to learn their second. Also, children learning their first language have less mental work to do to learn the words for the objects and ideas around them.
In my experiences teaching in Japan the Japanese student learning English shows a great reluctance to stray from their first language, and taking a chance while learning a second language is rare. While this really is a social factor, my point here is that while learning your first language there is a social requirement to learn it, while the second language has no such heavy social burden of requirement.
First Language Acquisition and Second Language Acquisition are fundamentally different in that they take place at two different stages of a person's development. With the possible exception of children raised in a bilingual environment, people learn their first language as children, and there is a significant gap in the learning process before they begin to learn their second. Also, children learning their first language have less mental work to do to learn the words for the objects and ideas around them.
In my experiences teaching in Japan the Japanese student learning English shows a great reluctance to stray from their first language, and taking a chance while learning a second language is rare. While this really is a social factor, my point here is that while learning your first language there is a social requirement to learn it, while the second language has no such heavy social burden of requirement.
Or in lingoese, Children and FLA. I don't have any children myself, and despite overcoming this challenge myself first hand I don't seem to recall quite exactly how I did it. I won't this apparent lack of evidence keep me from spitting out some ideas, however.
Children seem to pick up their language quite easily. I am of the opinion that they are somehow biologically equipped with the mechanism to learn their first language at an accelerated rate. Children at a young age tend to do better with learning a second language as well, so it seems that whatever is in place in their youth fades over time.
Just how do children accomplish this? I believe that it is through a series of trials and errors (mostly errors). The child studies the reactions of those around it while speaking and starts to realize what utterances make words, and what word elicit reactions and responses from people (and animals) around it.
Anyway, these are my impressions of the learning process before my studies begin, and I'll be interested to review these thoughts once my studies complete.
Children seem to pick up their language quite easily. I am of the opinion that they are somehow biologically equipped with the mechanism to learn their first language at an accelerated rate. Children at a young age tend to do better with learning a second language as well, so it seems that whatever is in place in their youth fades over time.
Just how do children accomplish this? I believe that it is through a series of trials and errors (mostly errors). The child studies the reactions of those around it while speaking and starts to realize what utterances make words, and what word elicit reactions and responses from people (and animals) around it.
Anyway, these are my impressions of the learning process before my studies begin, and I'll be interested to review these thoughts once my studies complete.
