At the very beginning of this final reflection I have to say that I didn’t expect so much positive outcomes… Its hard to believe that this is all over.

12 weeks wow!! I’ve been publishing posts for twelve weeks now, its definitely something I didn’t see coming. Before starting to write on this blog, I was clueless about all these ‘bloggy’ things. I didn’t even follow any blog before. Then, I was  introduced to this new Language Technology module and suddenly, I had to adapt to writing weekly blogs regarding the topics discussed in my lectures and tutorials. Without a doubt, this has helped me to understand the topics in a much wider context as this blog made me feel like I was the teacher explaining what is ICC, Corpus Linguistics and CALL.

Also, I started reading my classmates blogs to comment on them and gather more information. In this way, I learned and understood more as everything was explained in a very easy and accessible way.

My digital literacy skills have improved. I didn’t know anything about creating a blog url or screenshotting an image on PC, it was all new to me. As you can imagine, it took me a while to write the first few blogs but after the first four blogs, I didn’t face any struggles except when writing about Corpus Linguistics for week 7… that was challenging.

After all, I surprised myself with my approach to this blog. It didn’t always feel like a university assignment as the topics were really interesting and beneficial such as the the about language learning techniques.

So this is it..

Tina xoxo

Welcome all of you !

In this blog I want to introduce you to the world of Corpora which can serve as a really helpful tool when it comes to research in linguistics.

So what exactly is Corpora? Firstly, corpus is the singular form of the word corpora which is the plural form. Corpus comes from the word ‘body’ in Latin. ( I know, what a fun fact) So, “a corpus typically implies a finite body of text, sampled to be maximally representative of a particular variety of language, and which can be stored and manipulated using a computer”  (McEnery and Wilson, 1996: 59) in other words, a corpus is a collection of authentic texts used for the purpose of research.

To understand what is Corpus Lingusistics I used a video that helped me to understand the concept of this topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32RjJ-lA-8Q

To measure the usefulness of corpora in my module i used Antconc. It is an open source corpus analysis to look for concordance in numerous texts. Firstly, I selected twelve files and I opened them in the software. When I had the corpus loaded, I just started searching for things that I wanted to look for. I searched for the word ‘together’ (random, I know). The display showed me all the hits for my chosen word and I ended up having 35 hits. Keep in mind, I had never done anything so related with technology so i was playing around with looking for very random words for a long while…

One of the main features of Antconc, is that you can sort the results. Once i hit the button ‘sort’ the center word still stayed in the center and then i had the next word highlighted and then the second word highlighted and the third word highlighted, all in three different colors.

An advantage of this tool used by corpus linguistics is that it offers many functions, you can work with a multitude of corpora, offers multi-language support for research and is suitable for beginner users with basic computer experience (me) Also it promotes interactive learning for a student and teaching for a teacher when it comes to second language acquisition as it expands vocabulary and provides meanings.

From my research, knowledge of Corpora may be enriching in the future as technology is moving forward… “Current trends in corpus linguistics research suggest that future studies will rely
increasingly on large corpora, advanced functionality, and sophisticated statistical
methods”  (Reference: Laurence Anthony, Linguistic Research 30(2), 141-161 https://www.laurenceanthony.net/research/20130827_linguistic_research_paper/linguistic_research_paper_final.pdf)

Hola !!

I was very excited to write this post as it is something that interests me and I’m sure ye will be eager to follow my footsteps in downloading the Moment App !! This app answers a very important question: How much time do you spend on your phone in one day? If you add it all up it would probably sum up to seven years… This is relevant to studied subject as it proves how important and time consuming technology is these days for all of us.

The Moment app shows how careless we are with our time and the addiction to our phones. I downloaded this app to see for myself how much time I actually spend on my phone and for what purpose do I use it. Before I did this experiment, I was expecting to so a result that would negatively shock me and disappoint myself as I ( like most people my age ) never step away from my phone, I have it during study, college, dinner etc.

So, this is my result…

Daily average screen time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

Percentage of waking day spent: 17%

Pick-Ups: 51

The results quite surprised me as I thought I spent more time on my phone considering that I’m always on social media and quick to answer any messages. I assume the reason for this result is that I did it on a Wednesday when I was at work, but the outcome still came as a shock. I mostly use my phone for social media like Instagram which is what I have expected. It is so easy to fall into the trap of just careless scrolling, whereas I could spend this time on something much more  beneficial, especially now during my study week.

I would like to reflect back on the topic of learning styles. From my perspective and self perceptions, the reason why this result was lower than what I have expected was that I also used my laptop for similar purposes and one of them was study including completing my assignments, carrying out research for my modules and reading over lecture slides on Sulis. Several studies and researches has shown that nowadays mobile phones are the primary source for educated information and learning and teaching resources. “Ipsos and Verizon  found out that adopting mobile phones with smart technologies has increased fast which also coincided with a more utilization of their Internet capabilities.” ( Tan & El-Bendary, 2017, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0047239516659754)

Hello! Welcome back 😀

In this weeks blog I will discuss the topic of learning  a foreign language through games. Learning a language doesn’t always have to be so boring and tedious. (By the way its never boring!! ) Personally, playing games wouldn’t be my favorite method of acquiring a language but I can see the benefits.

Using games as a method of language learning just adds diversity in the classroom and sustains interest. Howard Gardner, claims that when a person is exploring a topic it should be reached in different ways to maximize the chances of reaching clarity. One of those ways is interactions which is obtained through technology aka. games. (Reference: Gardner.2006.p 142 https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/6467/1/Sigridurdogg2010.pdf )

One of the benefits of using games for language learning is the wide variety of games that are there to choose from to suit personal preferences and learning styles. Also, this is very important as a learner of a language must have interest in order to enjoy acquiring a language without even noticing it. There is many other enriching benefits such as :

1. Adventure games motivate and stimulate and language learners interest and curiosity to learn.
2. Games provide a great opportunity to practice a language at any time.
3. Some games provide interpersonal communication between the players.

While I was looking for language learning games, I came across FluentU. This was recommended on several websites which straight away caught my attention. After reading several reviews, I have to say its very impressing.

“While many videos come with subtitles, there was never an easy way to look up vocabulary words, or pause the video and make sure you really understood what was being said… that is until now. FluentU understands our pain, and picks up the pieces where all those other sites fall short. “Jacob Gill, iLearnMandarin  ( Reference: https://www.fluentu.com/en/)

There are over 1000 games available for language learners and of course not all of them are suitable, or at least they are not as good as others. For Example, The Sims is a virtual game in which the main aim is to stimulate he life of one or more virtual people. The Sims use their own made up language or communicate through signs and gestures, therefore its not beneficial as much as FluentU who can provide an L2 learner with excellent videos. The only way to learn a language, primarily English, through Sims is by reading the signs and following instructions which are displayed in English which may enhance grammar and vocabulary.

Click here, to embrace my padlet that I am very proud of, as before I was given this task I didn’t even know its possible to make one…

I hope you enjoyed this post..

Till next week xoxo

In this weeks task I will take the role of a teacher and student at the same time assessing the role of ICC in both, education and teaching.

Importance of ICC in learning an L2.

Before reading this blog I will just summarize what is ICC as I believe some would be unsure of what is the main function of it. It is the ability to interact with people from different cultures and countries in a foreign language. ICC includes linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence, intercultural competence and discourse competence (Byram, 1997). Integrating cultures in English language teaching is urgent and necessary in order for L2 learners to grasp and enhance their intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in the globalized community where English has been used as a means of communication among people of multicultural backgrounds.
To learners:  The ICC concept goes through the acquisition of intercultural aspects such as practices and different perspectives. It promotes intercultural awareness so that students can compare and analyse effectively beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of students from other cultures to their own. Moreover, knowledge of various cultural backgrounds is an important value to have for the real world.

To teachers: It is important for students to be able to identify their cultures with others. This can be developed by encountering projects with people form different cultures via e-mail and chats.

Intercultural exchange case study

What caught my attestation is a telecollaborative project between students in Brasil. Its a language exchange where students learn languages from each other. In this project, students communicate via Skype. Other ways of communication could be also through email, Whatsapp or even Facebook where students can also video chat and additionally it gives the students a free voice. The main concern in those projects is time as it is an extra activity outside of class time. But, the main advantage of this project is that student can text whenever they have spare time and its not urgent as there is no deadlines. It is for the students benefit as when they are talking to an individual of their own age group in a L2 language they are more likely to grasp vocabulary for everyday use in topics that they are interested in.

Although, this project is for the benefit of students, it has weak points. I noticed that teachers had a difficulty in assessing this project. In teachers point of view, I would ask students to create a portfolio in which they would reflect about the whole collaborative experience including learning outcomes, work with their partner and topics they discussed.

According to O’Down and Ware, (O’Dowd and Ware 2009: 176-177) It is an Information exchange tasks as students are carrying out virtual interviews and they are engaging in informal discussion with a C2 speaker of a foreign language to improve their fluency.

Till next week xx

I hope you will consider doing a tele-collaborative task yourself.

Welcome back to my blog! In this weeks blog I will be discussing the ICC referring to intercultural speakers and Byram’s model of ICC. But first, I will start with something far more interesting, La cultura project. Its a platform which provides discussions from exchange students. As a language student, I love learning about diverse cultures and this Cultura project shows me real life experience of exchange students and it also prepares me for when I will move abroad for my placement.

I have chosen the exchange between University of California, Santa Barbara and Universität Hannover. When I saw the word DENGLISH I had to click into it. According to the discussion Germans speak Denglish when they have traveled to America or England. By some Germans its ‘cool’ and modern but Americans say its stupid and lazy. Nevertheless, there is a cultural and linguistics exchange between two cultures which evolved from communication. Its interesting in many ways, it refers to how German use Germanised English words or vocabulary made up by Germans. This is never printed in a dictionary as it is a personal intake and mixture of two languages. (Reference: https://m.dw.com/en/denglish-a-german-english-mixture/a-298959). Denglish is an example of cultural development and shifts which introduces linguistic development in the modern world.

Whats interesting about this exchange is that they used some features of the Byrams model in their communication.  (Refernce: https://teachingenglishmf.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/3/4/10340840/byram_icc_model.pdf.)

Savoir: This is when people of different cultures understand each others social processes and can identify each others stereotypes. This feature was apparent to me as an American student noticed how some German people use words of English origin. In this way he/she identified their social processes.

Savoir Apprendre: This is based on interpreting skills from another culture. In this case it is quite obvious how a German speaking person has incorporated English language into their daily routine.

Savoir s’Engager: It is the ability to evaluate critically on basis of practices in one owns culture. This feature is evident in the critical comment in the picture that i have attached above which states that Germans who have spent a certain amount of time in  an English speaking country tend to use a few English words. A mixture between English and German is formed then which creates Denglish or Denglisch.

*Sorry if I scared you with the amount of educational definitions and the whole Byram’s ICC model diagrams but keep in mind I would have been in your position one week ago*

As part of my task i have to provide two more definitions… I’m sorry…

An Intercultural mediator is a person who enables intercultural communication between representatives of two different cultures. A mediator helps them to understand each other and communicate effectively.

An Intercultural Speaker is someone who has the ability to interprate and relate to other cultures. Someone who can interact with other cultures. A person who comprises abilities to evaluate perspectives, practices and products of both home and target cultures. (Reference: Byram:1997)

Till next week 🙂

Spoof Website.

As we all know the internet is full of strange and wonderful information… As being a digital native user we have to be aware of misleading websites and facts that are posted. I will investigate a Spanish spoof website that I have found .

The first spoof website that I have found  is El Mundo Today. I have found that it posts bizarre news stories which are not related to what’s currently happening or the stories are over exaggerated. For example: El New York Times publica una carta anónima y en mayúsculas que asegura que “DONALD TRUMP ES EL MEJOR PRESIDENTE Y LOS DEMÁS RATAS TRAIDORAS” (The New York Times publishes an anonymous and capitalized letter that says “DONALD TRUMP IS THE BEST PRESIDENT AND THE OTHER TRAITOR RATS”) As I read it I found it ridiculously enjoyable and irrelevant at the same time. 

Those kind of websites may pose problems for non native speakers of this language who would be unaware that the news and stories are fake.

Main features of  spoof websites are :

1. Numerous spelling mistakes.
2. Beware of pop ups as it could lead to them obtaining personal information.

Social Networking Sites.

This week i would like to focus on social networking sites and how I use them in my daily life. Like every 20 year old student, social media is essential in my daily functioning. I use Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, if you even remember what that is about. First thing I do when I wake up in the morning is check how many more followers I have on Instagram.  Last thing I do before I go to bed is make sure I wont loose any streaks on Snapchat. Who can relate??

For me, my favorite social media site is Snapchat. I’m not even going to explain  how it works and what is the point of sending 87970980 selfies a day as we all understand the concept of it (except my mom). Snapchat has become a more and more prominent social network and a new medium  for communication. Its mostly about the “think entertainment factor, not perfection” that’s why I go for funnier over prettier snaps. Save the perfect shots for Instagram. Its not just about a snap here and a snap there. Its valuable when travelling as you can show behind the scenes actions. Show them the nitty-gritty!!

Now, because of Instagram I’m NEVER bored. It has everything what a girl needs. You can follow famous people, friends and famous bloggers. If you’re looking for motivation to get that summer body, get on Instagram. I tried and I failed but maybe you will be more successful. I haven’t spend more time on anything than thinking of what hashtags to add under my posts on Instagram, it can be a struggle. Its the best way to keep up with celebrities, friends and family.

To conclude, I must say there is a good side and a bad side to everything including Social Networking Sites.

Advantages: The Social Networking sites that i have listed are mainly used for communication. I must say how easy it is to communicate ASAP with another person.  No matter if you want to get in touch with your roommate or an international friend, there is no faster or easier way to do it than through Facebook.  When you participate in a  Social Network community you can pick and choose individuals who share the same interests by just simply following them on Instagram or liking their posts.

Disadvantages: The down side of Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter etc. is that nowadays internet is available to young children as young as seven or eight years of age. This can expose young individuals to harassment, cyber-bullying and inappropriate contact. Along with that, there is a risk of fraud and addiction especially among younger individuals.

Hope you will enjoy this post… TTYL

Tina xx

Personalization of your own language learning.

It is important to have your own personalized language learning to suit your abilities and study languages based on your skills. Personalized learning can be based on the teaching style of the teacher or through certain apps on our phones and computers that i have mentioned in my first blog. To do this you can do a test online which shows what learner are you and then pick your study methods according to the results. You can whether agree or disagree with the end results as we all have a rough idea of what helps us with our studies in different subjects. In my case, my results which are below, reinforced my knowledge of what learner I am therefore I will carry on with my learning methodology.

Out of all personalized language learning can be as enjoyable as you want it to be, as it is personal. You can bring learning to a different dimension by adding variety and using different resources. To make it less of a painful journey to acquire all three languages that I’m studying, I try to include watching videos on YouTube, completing online tests, doing grammar exercises etc.

The only negative side of personalizing your learning style is that you might not take it seriously enough and it could be hard to collaborate it into your daily routine as it is extra study in some cases.

Language Learning tips for verbal learners.

As the online test proved that I am a verbal learner, I will give you some tips on how to improve language acquisition and what platforms are the best for that. Alors, verbal learners are also known as linguistic learners who enjoy language (of course), reading and writing. As the name implies it is helpful to read notes and vocabulary out loud and for this aspect Memrise supports verbal learners. In the vocabulary lists there is an option to hear the pronunciation of a specific word for you to repeat and listen. As verbal learners like to listen, YouTube is a particular resource for us. There are many videos with explanation which is like a gold mine for us as we receive knowledge through verbal lecture, spoken instructions and repeating terms out loud. Along these lines, music, rhythm and other types of sound are appealing to verbal learners.

Remember!! 

If you are a verbal learner like me our strengths are listening and speaking, so don`t be lazy and read out your notes out loud and listen to some German, Spanish or French tunes.

The CALL Package idea is all new to me and I will try to explain it as clearly as I can so bear with me. I will then create my own Multimedia CALL package outlining my wish list for a language learning website.

Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) may be defined as the search for and study of applications of the computer in language teaching and learning  (Reference: Levy, 1997, p.1). For Starters, to me CALL is an enhanced technological and modern way of learning languages. Its a new platform or dimension of study from the old way of drilling and practicing rules and words from books. .There are many resources available to us online to be a part of this CALL package. I have already mentioned four language learning platforms in my last blog past that qualify to this subject.

My multimedia CALL Package.

CALL has been used and is used  as a teaching and learning resource therefore it has an educational purpose. It can control the individuals own learning progress and can accelerate the learning for fast learners and can be used as remedial work for slower learners. There are many advantages and limitations on the other hand of this language learning platform but my task is to create an Ideal Multimedia CALL package, therefore clichés and limits aside…

My CALL wish list…

1. User-Friendly
2. Free of use
3. Resources for grammar and useful phrases
4. Providing tests
5. Checklist

1.User-Friendly

An appealing and easy to use website sells itself to the user. Firstly, as all of us have mobile phones these days, for this reason a website should have a mobile optimized website for ease of use. If you are a student, i don`t have to mention about lack of time therefore a good  teaching app may be a very precious tool to achieve success. And what do most websites forget about? The answer is the blind, disabled or elderly. These users typically use screen readers to access the internet and there are simple web design techniques that can be applied to make sure that a website can be accessed by everyone. Along with that there should be plenty of eye-catching pictures or gifs that can stay in long term memory to avoid this. 

2. Free of use

The last thing a student wants to do when paying rent, shopping only in Aldi and paying car insurance is choosing a paid language learning website. Its an immediate turn off. What we really need is a free of use website with all the valuable resources that will help us learn. Do we pay for YouTube or Memrise?  No but at the same they have many helpful resources then what we need is more of those websites to enhance language learning.

3.Resource for grammar and useful phrases. 

Now, the main point of a CALL language learning resource is to be effective. To achieve this a website should have a package of many useful phrases that are used in everyday life. Along with that there should be an explanation of when and how to use them. It is easy to listen and get used to hearing a language but grammar is much more complex. Other than that rewriting rules and trying to learn them, practicing exercises in that given topic is very helpful therefore an ideal CALL website should provide interactive activities and videos with explanation.

4. Provision of tests

For a students own record, its important to have the option to check their own progress. Obviously these online tests are not as strained as the ones done in class and checked by a teacher therefore a student has the chance to check how much they know about a certain topic themselves and be better prepared.

5. Checklist

To all of the people who like to make up numerous to-do lists and never actually stick to them, this would be an amazing bonus. Imagine having a to do list on a sidebar and all the resources available on the same site. Absolute dream. This feature would save time and its harder to loose it than a piece of paper. It would give us the opportunity to set goals for ourselves and achieve them.

Funny Gif  : checked.

I hope you enjoyed this post and remember to look for some of those features on language learning websites.

Till next week x

I would like to focus on language acquisition of German and Spanish in this post. I will reflect on four useful websites for this purpose and at the end I will evaluate and compare all four. The websites that I will be analysing cover the aspects of vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar. It is important to incorporate language learning platforms in the study of langauges as “there will be little of the traditional approach in future classrooms as information in instructional technology approach continues to rapidly grow…” (Reference: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306119651_E-Learning_as_a_Platform_to_Learn_English_among_ESL_Learners_Benefits_and_Barriers , Research in Language Teaching and Learning, Chapter: 5, Publisher: Penerbit UTM Press, Editors: Mahani Stapa; Haliza Jaafar, page 80)

Memrise:

I have come across this website by accident while I was looking for any resources to help me enrich my vocabulary for German. Vocabulary is provided on this website according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). As I would like to be an independent user of this languages I chose to start with vocabulary for level B1.I have found thirty eight categories for word banks for German. It is a free account and it gives you the access to fulfilling content along with the English translation and it uses audio to improve pronunciation. Memrise is accessible through a website and an app which is ideal for students. Memrise has helped me to enrich my word bank in German and Spanish. It is worth to give it a try if you want to acquire lots of new vocab.

Pros:

• It is free.
• Supports over one hundred languages.
• Provides useful expressions.
• Can be downloaded from app store.

Cons:

• Vocabulary based only, words and phrases don’t help in real life situations.

Netflix

I believe that one of the best ways to learn a language is to incorporate it into our daily routine. Language acquisition is a difficult and long process but it can become easier and more fun by watching our favourite tv shows in that particular language. In my case its German and Spanish. Netflix gives me the advantage of watching movies and my favourite tv shows with subtitles. To improve my German language skills i watch “The Crown” with English subtitles and “Narcos” to improve Spanish. In this way, i learn a language without even realising this as I get more and more engrossed into the plot.

Pros:

• Large variety of movies and tv-shows
• Provides the opportunity to hear native speakers.
• Learning comes indirectly through visual and audio media.
• Enjoyable platform to learn a language.

Cons:

• Can be hard to acquire a language without making notes at the beginning.
• Time- consuming.

WordReference

There are many online translators and by far WordReference is my favourite. It provides a way to look up words and not phrases which gives more accuracy and less space for mistakes. I find it very useful when writing an essay because there are examples of how the word can be used in different meanings. I have learned to double check myself using this tool. I do not have any suggestions for improvement as it satisfies all my expectations.

Pros:

• Provides examples, part of speech and gender.
• Provides synonyms to help expand vocabulary.
• Free dictionary for my core languages.

YouTube(music platform)

Learning  a language through music is a smart way to self-study by joining it to your hobby. At the start I thought it was weird to listen to songs in a foreign language as I was not used to it. Then I figured out that music is sticky. Think of the amount of times a song is stuck in your head for the whole day. This helped me to memorise new words. I already have a few songs that I could classify as being my favourite and as I listened to them over and over again, I can say that I have learned a few single words. I found that some YouTube videos have subtitles in English which is an extra help. Additionally, I found that it improved my grammar skills also as I learnt how to use complex grammar without memorising all the rules listed on a white sheet of paper.

Pros:

• Music is portable, can use it anywhere
• Singing improves pronunciation
• Quick acquisition of new vocabulary

Cons:

• Some songs can have slang.