Avatar Languages Blog

I have been focusing on working with phrases with my students (and also in my own Chinese learning), and in both cases I have realized that phrasebooks can offer some support with language learning.

The significance of phrases

Phrases are especially important in language learning because they increase fluency for both native speakers and language learners alike.  This is because there is a limit to the length of sentences we can create without using pre-constructed phrases as shortcuts; phrases reduce the cognitive load and so speed up our talking.  Personally, I find some peace of mind when using phrases in a foreign language, because I know that they will be grammatically correct without my needing to think about it.

Learners tend to gain new phrases through repeated use (presumably in real-life situations, but also in simulations/role-plays and any related class-work), just as native speakers do.   But how can learners find the right phrases when they need them?  Two classic solutions are the travel phrasebook and the business writing guide (book).  Both are kept to hand: in the traveler’s pocket or on the office desk; and both are organized according to themes or situations.  These reference books are very useful and with web and mobile phrasebooks appearing, they will become easier to use exactly when needed.

The need for a “personal” phrasebook

However, published phrasebooks are very general and will often not respond to the specific need of a particular learner.  When I went to the post office in China last month I found my travel phrasebook useful for considering initial requests, but preparation in lesson was what enabled me to have a more complete list of phrases for my exact situation.  I found that I needed my own Personal Phrasebook (PPB), tailored precisely to me and my needs.

(more…)

The online journal “CORELL” (Computer Resources for Language Learning) recently published an article I wrote on using a Dogme approach with WebQuests in Second Life or other 3D virtual worlds.

The article looks at how the WebQuest model can be used with 3D virtual worlds to enable language learning that is exploratory, social and creative.  It looks at how a Dogme approach can help teachers draw upon the 3D experiences for class-based work.  The paper also considers how this “VirtualQuest” model shares common ground with simulations (unscripted role-plays) and that this naturally leads to a focus on fluency and “whole-task practice” (Littlewood 1981).  VirtualQuests offer scope for more relevant (and therefore more motivating) activities because the student has considerable choice in the quest’s design and implementation.  This approach therefore also requires (and develops) greater autonomy on the part of the learner.

Here is the abstract…

The incorporation of 3D virtual worlds into WebQuests offers a more exploratory approach to language learning, where the learner engages in social, immersive and creative activities as part of the quest’s research. This experiential learning leads the teacher to play a greater facilitator-role and to focus more on responding to students’ needs, and less on preemptively teaching. Dogme language teaching, with its focus on dialogic learning and emergent pedagogy, offers guidance in drawing on virtual world experiences for language classes.

And introduction…

The WebQuest model offers an inquiry based learning approach where much of the research takes place online (Dodge 1997).  As such, WebQuests are a task-based method where learners are guided through the use of the web to discover and explore a topic.  LanguageQuests adopt this model to more specifically reflect the needs of language learners.  This article explores how the LanguageQuest model can be further adapted to take advantage of the exploratory and experiential learning opportunities available in virtual worlds.

The incorporation of 3D virtual worlds into inquiry based learning models changes the nature of the learning experiences and necessitates a less structured style of teaching than normally used with task-based or quest-based learning activities.  Dialogic approaches to language teaching, such as Dogme, are especially relevant for helping teachers to draw upon virtual world experiences for the language learning opportunities that emerge.

The full article is available online at http://www.ucam.edu/corell/issues/Vickers.pdf

Reflecting upon my recent one-to-one Chinese lessons in southern China, I felt that a dialogic approach (essentially Dogme) worked so well because the conversations with the teacher were much more than a dialogue that just happened to result in language learning.  Rather, the class conversations had certain attributes that made them good vehicles for language learning.

Talking about Chinese soymilk

During my lessons I brought objects, photos, texts, audio and video into class to share with my teacher and discuss:

• Objects: drinks I had bought at the shop
• Texts: photos of menus or signs I had seen the previous day
• Pictures and video: photos and videos of things I had seen, done or eaten
• Audio: recordings of conversations I had had – perhaps when buying something

(more…)

Are dictionaries changing to become more phrase-based rather than word based? There are now a number of ways to look up the meaning of phrases online that make me to think that the very nature of (online) dictionaries is changing.  Paper-based dictionaries let us look up one word at a time, whereas online search tools allow us to enter strings of words.

(more…)