In week one when I was first informed that blog writing will carry 40 percent of this module I didn’t know what to expect. I was not sure of the criteria needed and the layout required for blog writing. However we were thankfully give step by step procedures and guidelines on how to begin our blog writing journey.

What I enjoyed the most…

• I enjoyed familiarizing myself with the layout and choosing my format of blog writing
• I was thankful that we were given the necessary material to discuss each week and how such material coincided with our learning in this module. I feel this made our learning more practical with blog writing.
• We had a lot of autonomy in our writing due to our own unique layouts, writing formats and backgrounds. This made the experience overall to be more enjoyable as we could approach our learning in our own way while blog writing.
• I admired the different approach taken to learning about different topics as I feel blog writing is more practical today. It is much preferred than writing essays!
• I loved how versatile blog writing can be. There are many tools which allowed me to add images, links and references which allowed me to personalise my blog even more
• I enjoyed commenting on my classmates posts. This made the blog writing process much more interactive and aloud us students to receive another opinion or recognition about our blog

To conclude, blog writing allowed me to take a different approach to my learning and delve into topics further in a different format. Therefore it should be introduced to other modules if possible as it is a very efficient yet modern way of adapting to topics and delving further into such topics in a unique way!

Thank you !

https://padlet.com/17223814/qy6yj8rv6zbu

Before downloading this app I presumed that I spent about 3 hours per day on my phone alone. With maybe an hour of that dedicated to Snapchat and another for Instagram as these are the apps I would use most often. This would include my interaction between all the social media platforms that I use. However, I was shocked to find my results from downloading this Quality Time app and also my Screen Time app on the IPhone which automatically gives updates on my phone usage.

 

Time spent on my mobile device…

These are my results over the past seven days.

It is very clear that I spend nearly twice as much time overall on my phone. I know that I am addicted to my phone and these results clearly show it ! It states that last week I spent 6h19m per day and 44h17m per week!

• Snapchat proved to be the most popular with an average of 14 hours spent per week on the app alone and the daily average being 2h5m per day.
• Instagram is my second most used app with an average of 6h22m spent per week on the app and the daily average being 54m.
• Twitter is my third most used app with an average of 4h25m per week and my daily average is around 37m.

 

A statistic shows the average daily usage of social media worldwide. As of 2017, daily social media usage of global internet users amounted to 135 minutes per day, up from 126 daily minutes in the previous year.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/

From this statistic given, it is evident that the daily usage of my phone and social media platforms does not match this statistic but I think this can be accounted for for all students. This result would not only account  for young people my age but it would show for all users of all age categories who use social media.

Today in class we discussed the use of the software Antconc. This software is a free method of collecting data associated with words and phrases which can then be used as a platform for language learning. Antconc allowed us to produce a word list and concordances of the files uploaded . I chose to base my research from the files through the French language. Today we were lucky to have access to a Language Corpora CD-ROM where many files are saved in different languages about certain topics.

The steps taken to do this are as follows…

1. We then imported these files in any language of our choice
2. Upload them to the Antconc software.
3. Choose words, articles and pronouns and type them in the search box
4. Press Start
5. Results of word usage are regenerated

If you want to view a word list you simply click ‘Word List’ from the tabs at the top of the screen!

Reading concordances (dead from L-CIE – spoken corpus)

Below is a concordance of the word ‘dead’. In class we were asked to explain the meaning and the different uses of the word ‘dead’.

This concordance is clearly showing that this conversation is between Irish citizens. I personally don’t think any other culture uses the word ‘dead’ as a way to either emphasis or describe situations. Therefore by analysing this concordance there are clearly many ways in using the word dead. We can see how it is used for emphasis such as “You’re dead right” meaning one is totally correct, it is used to describe a something immobile or still such as “a dead leg” and of course the universal meaning in the English language such as “he’s dead now god rest him”.

It’s quite interesting to recognize how one word can be interpreted into many different meanings. According to this concordance of the word ‘dead’ the culture and colloquialisms of the citizens really stood out.

My own research on the Language Corpora CD-ROM

I decided to research an article associated with sport (Le Sport). After the Antconc software generated a formulated ‘word list’ I noticed that the use of definite, indefinite articles and prepositions were used most frequently.

As a teacher I would most definitely show such examples of Corpus Linguistics to my students. It would really show the students the importance of learning these grammar rules at an early stage of their language learning development.

Chambers and Gilmore state that students use the corpus as a consultation tool (Chambers 2005, 2007; O’Sullivan and Chambers 2006), or to raise their awareness of features such as cohesion, and verb usage (Gilmore 2009)

Chambers, A. 2005. Integrating corpus consultation in language studies. Language Learning & Technology, 9(2): 111-125. http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num2/chambers/default.html

By generating a concordance of a specific word used this would allow pupils to recognise the context that such words are used in. It would also allow the students to become aware of the spelling changes of words depending on gender and number as this is something we do not have in the English language. In the example below one can see the different articles that proceed the word ‘pour’ in French meaning ‘for’ and the proceeding vowel, article and subject that is given afterwards.

Wild Card function

By typing any word into the space bar in this Antconc software and adding * to the word, we can see the various ways in which this word can be used. As a learner of the French language I know that the word ‘Bien’ can be interpreted as an adjective to describe how one is feeling and as an adverb in most cases. By generating this wild card function a learner of the French language can really see how the specific word ‘bien’ can be used. For example, “bien accrocher”, “bien aux” and “bien d’autres”.

By examining the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd words highlighted you will notice the organisation of the words. In most cases we can see the word “bien” followed by a verb, noun and preposition. By looking at the position of the words around this specific word a learner of the French language can develop more of an understanding of particular word organisations.

Is ICC an essential component of learning L2?

Mutual understanding and intercultural competences are very important in the today’s global world, because they allow us to overcome prejudice, discrimination and misunderstandings between people of different cultural backgrounds. I have learnt that many different cultures project many different ideas, opinions and beliefs and when learning a language we also learn about different cultures and it is necessary to appreciate them.

Is it possible to assess students’ ICC objectively?

I do think that it is possible but it may be strenuous for the teacher. The teacher must consider that all students have different learning abilities and different cultural backgrounds that may affect their acquisition of ICC. I think the best possible way to assess this is to fill out a online questionnaire on Google Forums where specific questions are asked and identified. This would then give the teacher an overall idea about his or her teaching ability and of course the students’ learning.

My observations of the case studies                                                 

Firstly I have learnt that there are many ways to target ICC through language learning with technology. It can involve many ways to facilitate people of all ages. Regarding my research into the UniCollaboration.eu website (http://uni-collaboration.eu/) I have found that this website catered for all ages, interests and cultures. For example one task involved young students in describing the best places to go out in their country on a PowerPoint presentation.  Other tasks involved discussing news items that interest them, making up recipes,ecology of ones city with involved exchanging points of view and make intercultural comparisons by producing a text which proposes solutions for the partner’s city. Therefore there are many resources to suit various interests of the students while still facilitating their knowledge of ICC.

According to O’Dowd and Ware, 2009: 176-77  ‘Telecollaborative Tasks” the task of information exchange is met especially as the students are exchanging in informal discussion and story collections. Another task of comparing and analysing  is also met as students are comparing and analysing cultural products. This leads to greater awareness of target culture, development of fluency and increasing factual knowledge of the specific culture.

 

(O’Dowd and Ware, 2009: 176-77)

Future Employability

I personally think that ICC is vital in becoming more employable. Research  has demonstrated that knowledge of a second language increases employability across Europe. The importance of intercultural communicative competence  for working in multicultural teams is widely acknowledged and recognised by employers and so is intercultural dialogue for social cohesion . Degrees in modern languages, especially when they integrate the development of ICC, therefore present strong employability benefits. This is very reassuring to note as a language learner and I feel that ICC is so important as it is necessary when meeting and communicating with new people in a workforce.

 

 

How ICC would benefit social changes in the globalised world

I believe that ICC would benefit the current global situations today if students had developed it through their years of study. This means that people would be more open minded to social situations and take into account  peoples backgrounds, religion,culture and race. ICC is a great method to persuade students into looking openly into different cultures and allows students to have a vast appreciation for other cultures in the world.

 

Cultura Project Webpage

I chose a section of discussion between Bentley University in the United States and Toulouse in France. One section that surprised me the most was the topic of discussion entitled ‘A good citizen’. With the american students opinions on the left and the french students opinions on the right, a true cultural difference between was displayed.

http://cultura.mit.edu/cultura-exchanges/year/2009/semester/spring/host/bentley-university/guest/toulouse-i/sentence-completion/good-citizen-un-bon-citoyen

I found the third comment from an American student quite interesting. ‘A good citizen…is never rewarded’. This student clearly feels that it is those who do good for their community and country are the ones who get no recognition. Some of the time it is the badness that is only highlighted maybe by this particular student and especially with the growing tensions of US government. Other than this, other opinions include someone who cares for their environment, someone who reports a crime and helps others.

However regarding the French students, the opinions seem more general. They proclaim that a good citizen, respects the law, is someone who votes and pays taxes. These opinions seem more focused about the necessary aspects of mandatory government regulations. Therefore I found that the American students thoughts about a good citizen were more focused on societal needs whereas the French students focused more on the importance of government and obeying laws more so than helping people.

Byram’s Model of ICC 

 

    Byram’s model of ICC (1997)

 

Savoir Être

This includes the readiness to suspend disbelief about ones culture and others while keeping a positive mind. From looking at the two opinions from the different cultures, I felt that they were quite one sided.The american students perceived to be more focused on their willingness to help others while the french mainly claimed their willingness to vote and respect the law.

Savoir

Both students from each university had very a clear and knowledgeable understanding of social cultures and its functions. They presented  very obvious and reasonable statements on what is necessary to being a good citizen.

Savoir Comprendre

This states the ability to interpret an event from another culture. By looking at the two different opinions coming from both cultures you can truly see the clash of cultures. The students of Bentley University displayed their willingness to help others as part of being a good citizen while the students of Toulouse focused more on government necessities rather than being a helpful citizen in their community. This would seem more realistic to comprehend as these thoughts and opinions truly express both cultures.

Savoir S’engager

Speaking to people from another culture always involves the evaluation of a culture – this often leads to an exchange of stereotypes, aiming for a critical evaluation of another culture. I feel that one can truly see a clear perspective of the two various cultures in the students’ opinions given. This can lead to the believed stereotype of Americans being ‘overly friendly’ and the French being very ‘stubborn’.

 

Intercultural Speaker                                                      

After discussing this term with my partner, we came up with a definition for an ‘Intercultural Speaker’. This is someone who has the knowledge and awareness of one’s own culture and background as well as others. It is also someone who appreciates and acknowledges the different of cultural practices and traditions.

In my opinion it is vital to develop ICC in CMC because internet users bring with them their own culturally specific communicative norms and modes of behavior, and, in an intercultural exchange, they must determine whether their norms and behaviors are compatible with those of their partners. Having such knowledge of ICC can make this situation more worthwhile when communicating with others from different cultures.

 

 

 

 

 

On the diagram below I have mapped my personal uses of social media and web platforms. These have been divided into:

• Personal- the sites I use for my own use
• Resident-where I post on these websites and leave a trace
• Institutional-the sites which I use for college work
• Visitor-the sites I use but leave no trace persistent social trace

Today in class we were asked to research some fake websites in our second language that we are learning. I found this French website called ‘LeJournalNews.com’

https://lejournalnews.com/

What makes a spoof website believable?

Display of headings

I found this particular website to be extremely believably as the specific headings of each category of the news such as politics, entertainment and economics are displayed in perfect categorisation as if one was visting Sky News or RTE News.

Satirical Imagery

The use of imagery in many posts is quite satirical. For example one post about the recent UFC match with Conor Mcgregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov claims that after having ransacked Las Vegas, Khabib is on his way to Chicago with a picture of destruction of Chicago city in the thumbnail.

Dates and Times

The time and dates that the posts on the website are posted are quite irregular. If this was a real website for news and entertainment as I refresh the page more updates would appear immediately. For this website, the most recent post was posted today the 11th of October, then the 10th, the 8th and then the 6th and so on…

Links to other social media

Links to other social media are tagged along with every post so one can share the posts to friends. This will obviously increase popularity of the website, spreading awareness of this website and other spoor sites too!

Like any other young adult I can admit that I am one of those people who is always glued to their phone. My most preferred social media platforms are…

• Instagram
• Snapchat
• Twitter
• Facebook

 

 

 

Advantages of social media…

• I can connect with friends and family easily
• Any information needed for assignments or information in general is easily accessible
• I can keep up to date with my interests such as watching YouTubers
• I have many platforms available to me for my language learning such as duo lingo and communicating with others in my second language
• A great platform to use to help spread awareness about certain topics

 

Disadvantages of social media…

• It is a huge distraction when studying
• It’s tiring scrolling through peoples selfies, pictures of their food and workout routines and basically their whole lives in general
• It is a huge platform for bullying, so many young people are not properly educated on how to go about these issues yet they are handed a phone at the age of eight
• Reduces communication skills as young people are becoming increasingly dependent on communicating through their mobile devices

 

The key words that stand out for me in order of importance from Martin’s (2005) view of digital literacies

—Martin (2005) proposes an expansive view of digital literacies as:

“The awareness, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital tools and facilities to identify, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, analyze and synthesize digital resources, construct new knowledge, create media expressions, and communicate with others, in the context of specific life situations, in order to enable constructive social action; and to reflect on this process.” (p. 135)

• Communicate
• Constructive social action
• Identify
• Integrate
• Attitude
• Ability

 

Today in class we took the learning styles questionnaire. This was a questionnaire that entailed many questions associated with different styles of learning. For me, my strong points in learning  are sensing and visual learning. These types of learning are quite accurate as I really prefer being presented with facts and information in an orderly manner that are realistic to todays world. For example as I am studying the French language I love learning and practicing grammar as the explanations of verb conjugations are laid out clearly and one must follow the steps given. Of course practicing oral work is probably my favourite as it’s practical and worthwhile when learning a language. However, I am currently studying ‘Candide’ by Voltaire written in the 1700s for a sensing learner like me discussing the ideas, themes and thinking profoundly about 18th century literature is not my forte! Of course I can’t escape this and must therefore try to use my other preferred learning styles to retain such information.

As a visual learning I love being presented with pictures and diagrams. As I’m studying Linguistics which can be difficult at times,  I appreciate when the lecturer displays graphs of data explaining a topic to the class. It really helps me to remember the topic as a visual learner.

Active learning is where students engage with the material, participate in the class, and collaborate with each other. This really helps me with my learning as I love hearing other students ideas and opinions in class. It allows me to think even further on my opinion and develop much further thought.

I would definitely consider myself to be a global learning too in some cases. Global learners tend to learn in large jumps, absorbing material almost randomly without seeing connections, and then suddenly “getting it.” they can solve complex problems quickly or put things together in novel ways once they have grasped the big picture. I like to see the big picture in what I’m learning first and then slowly picking up the smaller details as I go along. For example in my Linguistics module I prefer to be presented with the general idea or concept and afterwards as I proceed with my learning I like to pick up the smaller details gradually.

Method of teaching a language

I decided to choose teaching a language to visual learners as this is probably the most common learning style for students. I found a very interesting website which gave me loads of information on how to conduct this method of teaching and what not to do to grasp the attention of visual learners!

https://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-methods-tips/18625-dos-and-donts-for-teaching-visual-learners/

Personalised language learning

From studying this website I have concluded that to suit language learning for visual learners one must print new words in large font and using imagery on the classroom walls. Combining both of these methods, If I was to teach a class of new french language learners I would introduce a new ‘Word of the Day’ to the class. I would place the new word visibly in the class and in an eye catching font and a symbol associated with the new word. Therefore students can always remember this word and build on their vocabulary.

Advantages/Disadvantages

I believe this personalisation of language learning can really help students to put their specific learning style to good use. Being able to cater for different language styles is a huge skill in itself as a teacher. However some students may find it difficult to adapt to this form of teaching as it may not suit each student. Some students may prefer to be with groups and discussing different topics, practicing vocabulary and speaking the language. So, teaching for the visually acquired students may not benefit the students who are more active learners in the class.

Multi-media CALL package (Self Explanation)

This package includes the platforms that I as a teacher would use to help students learn, progress and acquire a new language. This environment that students learn in is vital to their success in achieving progression in language learning. As technology plays a huge part in our society today, it’s important that students can use this platform to learn a language to help with enhancing language skills and motivation.

Reference to De Castell on CALL evaluation (Explanation)

“New ‘partnerships’ of designers and developers committed to technology for its own sake now create products for the ‘education marketplace’, with little or no experience of, or interest in, underlying educational goals, while explicitly educational theories are supplanted by a re-purposed economistic discourse” (Castell et al, 2000).

De Castell, S., M. Bryson and J. Jenson. 2000. Object lessons: towards an educational theory of technology. First Monday, Peer-Reviewed Journal on the Internet.

Multi-media CALL package wish list

These are the elements or platforms that I feel would really help a language learner achieve confidence in their learning…                                                           

• Virtual games- Apps such as Duolingo which involve virtual games would allow students to learn new phrases or vocabulary whilst enjoying the game at the same time. Games that involve students to pronounce words to include a micro phoning system would also help with pronunciation. This app would be viewed to students through a class projector and interactive white board.
• TV programmes- Playing at least thirty minutes of a television programme for students during class would be very beneficial to their learning. For younger students, television programmes which involve different animated characters or symbols would allow students to interact and aid memorisation of words. For more mature students playing programmes such as ‘Home and Away’ or ‘Friends’ which have voice audio of the specific language over the show would help students pick up words while enjoying different tv programmes.
• YouTube- There are many accessible tools on YouTube which help with language learning. The accessibility to songs in different languages is very achievable. I think that an important part of learning a language involves constant repetition. Therefore, why not incorporate language learning with learning songs from the YouTube app. This allows students to pick up colloquial phrases, recognise different verbs conjugations and new words all whilst learning through a catchy tone of a song.

•  Social Media- I know what you’re thinking: “isn’t this what we try to get students to avoid doing during class?”. I feel a teacher of a language should encourage students to make use of all their time spent on social media! Tell students to “like” a page about something of particular interest to them in their target language. Such as advertisement pages, bloggers and You tubers. Alternatively, start a Facebook group for the class! By making it a place where they can have casual conversations with each other and native speakers of the target languages. Skype is also an excellent tool to help with communication for students. Explaining cultural differences and verb conjugations is one thing, but transporting  students to an environment where they can witness them is another! Aside from its use as a transportation device, Skype is also a good way to get your students to interact with a speaker other than the teacher.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Courtney Collins and I am studying French and Linguistics in the University of Limerick. I am a huge lover of the French language and French culture. I try my best to use the French language on a daily basis through many technological platforms. Without technology there is no way I could possibly explore and improve my language acquisition in French!

Netflix

I am a lover of Netflix therefore I want to use my time wisely to improve my French language skills. To do this I often put the subtitles in French. I also watch French documentaries such as ‘The November 13 attack of Paris’ about the devastating terrorist attack which was described through the French language. By watching such programmes, this allows me to pick up on words and phrases of the language whilst enjoying my favourite TV programmes at the same time.

                                                     

 

Spotify

I believe that French songs really help me to delve into the culture and society of the language. I really enjoy listening to the artist Stromae who is a Belgian musician. He sings about common social issues in an enjoyable and catchy tone such as the song ‘Alors on danse’. I mostly listen to my music on Spotify which is a music app All of his songs and many other French artists are easily available on this app

 

 

 

 

Youtube

If if encounter any trouble with my language learning I always use YouTube as a method to find various channels to help with explanations.  FrenchPod101 on YouTube is very helpful for this especially when trying to revise basic grammar rules, pronunciation of phrases and new vocabulary.

As a lover of makeup and fashion I follow many beauty bloggers who are French. Sananas is one of my favourites. She posts regular beauty videos of makeup, fashion and her everyday life. I also follow her on Snapchat and Instagram to get even more of an insight into her life and of course listening to the french language. Whilst watching such videos I pick up on everyday colloquialisms of the language and what the latest trends are in France aswell!

         

DuoLingo

DuoLingo is the most popular language-learning platform and the most downloaded education app in the world, with more than 300 million users. This app makes education free, fun and accessible to all. Duolingo is designed to feel like a game and scientifically proven to be effective. When I’m feeling bored I use this app to keep up to date with my language learning. I think it is an excellent method to help improve my skills and accuracy with regards to the games offered on this app. I’m passing the spare time that I have and improving my French at the same time!