class notes 1-30-8

First off - fantastic class discussion. The small groups I attended had great questions and the open class discussion really took off.

There was a very small number who participated in the whole class discussion in a limited way, which is one reason I think our blogs will be so fruitful. Some students hold back due to influences of native educational culture, affect (sorry for the jargon - but the usage isn't too uncommon, and you'll hear it in professional educational/medical/psychological discussions. I wonder if the usage might come from the trouble some people have it saying "emotion"), etc. I experienced this in a big way teaching in Asia.

Regarding The advantages of blogs over Blackboard. (Great questions - whoever asked that). Last year, when I used blackboard, it was not equipped to use blogs or wikis. I heard some talk about the next version encorporating or importing these technologies - but it would be bringing outside programs in - and questions of compatibility and the added steps necessary to make it work gave me pause.

Threaded discussions incourage short responses - and you can't see much of the content without a lot of clicking. Blogs are journals. Several of the graduate courses (at least 3) that I took required a teaching or learning journal of some kind. Posting journals online offers several advantages. I've written about this in more depth at http://gdixon.edublogs.org/what’s-in-it-for-you-purpose-and-audience/ The savings in paper and costs - not to mention trasportation and the reduction of clutter - are substantial.

Were we to do this through a Learning Management Software (such as Blackboard, Angel, Web CT or other) who would own your work? What would happen to your work at the end of the semester? How might someone else use your work? You might be surprised what's happening.

Re: security. While people can share your address (we may need a modicum of trust in our classmates) - I don't think your blog can be found unless someone knows what they are looking for. None-the-less, using a psuedonym rather than your own name, or an avatar (click for definiton) is always an option. Just tell me in class what your psuedonym is.

Do you keep your completed assignments for future reference - or do they go pretty much straight into the trash? What is better and why?

course outline - weekly lesson plan

For hyperlinks to reading assignments, notes, discussion questions etc. go to
http://web.ku.edu/tesl/ct822_lessons.htm

Lesson 1: Intro, What is theory? How do we evaluate it? Balance between theory and applied knowledge on SLA. What do you want to learn in this class/ what questions would you like answered? Access class blog/ wiki and post

Lesson 2: What is Language? First Language Acquisitionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjQM8PzCEY0&feature=user film clip (Discuss Brown: Chapter 2; Brown & Gonzo: Introduction).
From readings – what questions do we want answered? Everyone brings a question

Lesson 3: Relating first and second language processes and Critical Period Hypothesis (Brown Chap. 3; Brown & Gonzo Unit 2: Scovel, Johnson & Newport) http://web.ku.edu/tesl/ct822_lesson3.htm#2
Questions for lesson 3 what is the critical period hypothesis (CHP)and how does it compare to the adult language learner paradox (ALL paradox). Find the best ejournal article you can (refereed please), provide link and post it to your blog before 3rd class.

Lesson 4: History and Research base of Bilingual Education Film clip (?) & discussion.

Lesson 5: Learning vs. Acquisition (closed reserve: Krashen – Practical Applications; Gregg; Higgs; McLaughlin - Conscious v. Unconscious; Krashen – Reading First).

Lesson 6: Psychology and language learning - Cognitive Styles and Strategies, Affective factors; (Brown: 4, 5, 6; Brown & Gonzo 4: Gardner & MacIntyre; Closed Reserve: MacIntyre et al.; Yashima; Gregersen & Horwitz).

Lesson 7: Psychology and Language - Information Processing, Parallel Distributed Processing (Closed Reserve: O'Malley; Bereiter; Sokolik; Waring).
Midterm Examination*

Lesson 8: Linguistics and language learning, Universal Grammar, (Brown & Gonzo 9: White; Closed Reserve: Ellis; Hawkins).

Lesson 9: Sociolinguistics, Pidginization and Creoles (Brown: 7; Brown & Gonzo 5: Schumann; Closed Reserve: Wolfson; Mufwene).

Lesson 10: Contrastive Analysis, Error Analysis, and Interlanguage Study (Brown: 8; Brown & Gonzo: 6 Light-Brown & Spada; Closed Reserve: Tarone; Chan).

Lesson 11: Communicative competence (Brown: 9; Closed Reserve: Celce-Murcia et al.; Alptekin; Savignon & Sysoyev), Film clip & discussion.

Lesson 12: Connecting the Modules (Brown 10; Brown & Gonzo 9: Long; Closed Reserve: Hatch)

Lesson 13: English for Specific Purposes (ESP), (Closed Reserve: Gatehouse; Evans & Green; Short & Echevarria).

Lesson 14: Future trends, Final Exam Review (Closed Reserve: Larsen-Freeman)
Final Exam (take-home) due* - No Class

Welcome to My SLA Blog

Hello and welcome to my blog. At this point I imagine only my students will be coming here, and they have already read my definitions, history and rational for using blogs with class at http://gdixon.edublogs.org/ , so I'll go straight to some topics from our first class that deserve some more attention.

Next week we will do an icebreaker/name game. I know one person's name - and that because 1) they said their own name out loud, and 2) they gave an unrelated word that sounded like their name - so I had 2 associations to start with. After class I had a great conversation about TPR and how the more senses we involve in a learning activity the more likely we are to store that knowledge in our long term memory. Consider these ideas when read about Parallel Distributed Processing and tell me if you see the connection.

Regarding the Literacy narrative assignment: thanks to someone who asked "why"? Ah. ... the importance of theory. In addition to what I said in class, in Teaching Developmental Writing (Bernstein, 2005), half the text is devoted to ESL/ESOL/CLD/NNS issues. Several scholars tout the importance of autobiographical assignments. Yu Ren Don's research shows almost unequivocally that "students would like their American teachers to understand their struggle with learning the new language, literacy skills, and academic content at the same time. One way of building the understanding is for teachers to learn about the student's native langauge and literacy background." In written form that's popularly called a literacy narrative. I'm asking for you to write one because:

• It's practical and should be done with students - it's applied.
• I like the idea of teachers attempting what they routinely ask of students. It seems only fair.
• it builds community and trust
• it's essentially a brief and abreviated form of the journal entry questions found at the end of the chapters of our book.

We will discuss how and whether they should be shared next class.