1. Learner-Centered South Asian Language Instruction SALRC Pedagogy Workshop June 6, 2005 J. Scott Payne Penn State University jspayne@psu.edu

2. Why Use Technology to Promote SLA? Not for the sake of using it! Provides access to rich, authentic, multimedia learning material. Technology can transform tasks from a cognitive perspective. Enhances communication inside and outside of the classroom. Promotes collaboration Provides additional practice Brings together learners separated by geography.

3. “I don’t have time to do technology, my curriculum is already packed!” Don’t add technology to your curriculum, use technology to transform how you teach! Not Additive - Transformative!

5. Fundamental Questions About Language Teaching What should we teach? How should we teach it? When should we teach it? How do we measure language development? What should the basis be for such decisions?

6. What should we teach? lexical items Listening, speaking, reading, and writing grammar structures cultural understanding not to mention non-linguistic skills, domains, or perspectives

7. How should we teach it? Language teaching methodologies role of the instructor responsibilities of learners linguistic authority

8. When should we teach it? Order of acquisition (e.g. Piennemann, 1998) Focus on vocabulary first and worry about grammar later? “Silent period” Receptive to productive (Nunan, 1999) Language first, culture later?

9. How do we measure language development? course exams (grammar, listening comprehension, vocabulary, etc) written work oral exams standardized tests recording and analyzing the naturally-occurring language use of our students.

10. What should the basis be for such decisions? teacher intuition formal grammars the needs of teachers (prepare students for reading belletristic texts). the needs of students how native-speakers actually use the language in authentic contexts the language learners' L1

11. What is the best method for teaching language? Grammar translation Audio-lingual method (behaviorist) Communicative approach  Natural approach  Proficiency-oriented Methods that emphasize cognitive processing (e.g. Van Patten’s input processing) Constructivist methodologies

12. Learner-Centered Language Instruction What is meant by “learner-centered” instruction? Strong view:  Learners have the right to help decide what they should learn  How they should learn  How they are evaluated Weak view:  Learners taught about learning processes.  Encouraged to take greater responsibility for their own learning. Choices about what is taught, how it is taught, when it is taught, and how learning is assessed revolve around the learner. Learners must often learn how to learn.

13. Negotiated Curricula Arguments for involving learners in content choices:  Adults learn best when content is personally relevant.  Learners react to experience as they perceive them, not as presented by the teacher. Actively involving learners in the learning process - they do all the work.

14. Preparing learners for learner-centered instruction Step 1: Make instructional goals clear to learners. Step 2: Allow learners to create their own goals.  Action meetings Step 3: Encourage learners to use their L2 outside the classroom.  Listen to authentic materials  Participate in forums Step 4: Raise awareness of learning processes.  Discuss learning strategies with students  Design tasks that train the use of good strategies (e.g. semantic- mapping listening activity)

15. Preparing Learners for Learner- Centered Instruction Step 5: Help learners identify their preferred styles and strategies.  Discuss how task design impact cognitive processing and can either enhance or encumber learning. Step 6: Encourage learner choice.  Different options/formats of an activity Step 7: Allow learners to generate their own tasks.  Provide them with the objectives and let them design the task.

16. Preparing Learners for Learner- Centered Instruction Step 8: Encourage learners to become teachers.  Develop video materials used for teaching in subsequent courses.  Write quizzes for each other  Grammar workshops  Rotating small-group discussion leader Step 9: Encourage learners to become researchers.  Learners record the hypotheses they formulate about the L2, investigate them, discuss them with classmates.  Data-driven learning (Wednesday)  Document and analyze their own language over time - speech portfolio (Thursday).

17. Task-Based Language Teaching What is a task?  Real world task - things people need to do to function in the target culture.  Pedagogical task - promote language proficiency development. Task versus Exercise: a task has a non-linguistic outcome, and exercise has a linguistic outcome.

18. Principles of Task Design Authenticity: language data which have not been created for teaching language, but are naturally-occurring. Form-Function: teaching language in ways that make form- function relationships transparent and use inductive and deductive reasoning. Task dependency: sequencing tasks in a logical way so that a series of task create a “pedagogical ladder.”  Thematic units  Multi-stage activities  Project-based learning

19. Project-Based Learning Goal is the creation of an artifact, not language learning per se. Language is the vehicle, not the goal. Examples:  Cultural website (e.g. city tour, theme or topic)  Video projects (more on Thurs.-Fri.) If you are doing a lot of work, you are doing something wrong!

20. Repurposing eCommerce Websites for Language Instruction Migros online supermarket - http://www.le- shop.ch/http://www.le- shop.ch/ Household furnishings - http://www.ikea.com/http://www.ikea.com/ Clothing - http://www1.landsend.de/http://www1.landsend.de/ Jobs  http://www.yahoo.jobpilot.de/gateway/yahoo/index.p html http://www.yahoo.jobpilot.de/gateway/yahoo/index.p html  http://jobdumping.de/ http://jobdumping.de/ Restaurants, Hotels, Tourist information

21. Exercise in Pedagogical Website Deconstruction See worksheet Four Questions:  Who designed this website?  What were the objectives for this design – its intended pedagogical use?  How could this website be integrated into a learner- centered classroom?  Which of Nunan ’ s Nine steps does this website support?

22. Learner-Centered Unit Design Begin preparing a learner-centered instructional unit that either repurposes websites for pedagogical purposes or integrates existing pedagogical websites.