As a world language
teacher, many teachers face the problem of the most important component of
language acquisition also being the weakest for their students. This component
that I am talking about is speaking. In research from Georgia State University,
2/3 of students thought that speaking was the most important component of
language acquisition, but only ½ felt comfortable to do so. The problem that
teachers face is that students are not comfortable speaking in the target
language with an authentic accent in front of their classmates. Students
cannot become fluent the language unless they are proficient at all components
of language acquisition: speaking, reading writing and listening. The other
problem is that the teacher does not have enough time in a 40 minute class
period to individually ask each student to have a meaningful conversation that
can be graded.
In order to solve this
problem and maximize instruction time as well as increase oral proficiency, I
have researched tools and found tools that allow teachers to create web-based
assignments as well as submissions that students can make in the comfort of their
own home. These tools allows for teachers to re-create conversation as well as
give students an opportunity to speak more in the target language since many
students only speak in the target language during class time.
In order to implement
this plan, I created a wikispace that served as a resource for teachers. I was
able to share my wikispace with friends who went to school to become a language
teacher as well as current world language teachers. On my wikispace, I
identified the 7 resources that I used : Voicethread, Audio Dropbox,
Conversations, Lingt Language, Vocaroo, Voki and Blabberize. I was able to
create separate pages for each tool. I gave the teachers a brief description
about the resource, how it could be used effectively in the world language
classroom, provided an example of the tool being used as well as a start-up
sheet on how to use the resource.
I created a survey on
survey monkey to infer about the success of my project. I asked teachers to
answer questions about language acquisition, the resources that I shared with
them and the components of my wikispace. All the teachers strongly agreed that
the tools would make the students more comfortable speaking, which was one of
the main goals of my project.
In regards to the
TPACK model, I believe that the interaction of technology, pedagogy and content
makes the solution to my problem promising because the technology is enhancing
the content as well as creating a safe environment for students to be
successful in. Students will better succeed in an environment that allows for
them to feel safe to express themselves and think openly. In relation to
technology and pedagogy, the resources allow teachers to create authentic and
meaningful speaking situations for the students that allow for personalized
responses. In regards to the technology and pedagogy in my implementation, I
was able to model for the teachers how to effectively create an assignment for
students using the technology. In relation to technology and content, the
tools allow for the resources to increase the rigor by having students speak
outside of the classroom, giving them a deeper understanding of the content. In
regards to the teachers, the content becomes more accessible and the teachers
can better understand more about selecting the proper technology for each goal
by reading about the resource and viewing the start-up sheet. In regards
to pedagogy and content, students have multiple ways and tools to represent
their knowledge and teachers have multiple meanings to give a speaking
assignment. Through the tools students can take part in a simulated
conversation with the teacher, create an avatar or photo that speaks using the
students’ voices, submit an online assignment that uses oral responses or
submit a recording of themselves. Teachers are able to select the resource that
they would like to use based on the goals that they have.
If I were to complete
this project again under the same circumstances, I would have asked the
teachers to complete a Google doc as well. I would want the teachers to be able
to give me opinions about each resource as well as ideas for how they would use
it in their classrooms. I would also want to have the project be extended
longer so that I could ask teachers to implement it into their lesson plans and
help them to do so effectively. Overall, I think that my wikispace is a
worthwhile resource to look into. The tools that I have found allow for
teachers to grade each student on their oral proficiency, increase oral
proficiency, create a safe environment for students to speak in, allow teachers
and students to reflect on their oral progress, extend language use beyond the
school setting and provide opportunity for personalization. The start-up sheets
are a convenient resource that allow for all teachers to learn how to use each
tool. In regards to what this project did for me for me, the wikispace helped
to build a foundation of resources that I can share with my colleagues at my
new long term sub job.
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