Mobile Language Learning: From Social Media to Gaming Praxis

Mobile language learning: from social media to

gaming praxis

Catherine CawsBernadette Perry

University of [email protected]

@katrinrulokoz

@DL2LLab

© Catherine Caws1Thursday, June 9, 16

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Before we start

• connect your ipads to the Internet using the Delta network (no password)

• use the ipad or your own device to open your Twitter account

• if you do not have a Twitter account, you can use a note taking app

• make sure that your photo or tweet includes the hashtag #app4L2L


Goals of the session1. Redefining learning in a digital world

i. what does it mean to teach and learn (a) language(s) in 2016?

ii. Activity Theory (AT) at a glance

2. Uses, opportunities, challenges, limits of digital L2 Learning

3. Roles of actors: teacher/mentor/learner

4. Mobile apps: byod (bring your own device)

5. Practical exercises using i-pads or your own device

a) Affordances? Usage?

b) Critical survey and discussions


Research lab on learner-computer interactions (LCI)

http://dl2learninglab.com/

instruments

peers

tasks

L2 learner





Many people also fear that reading and writing are “dying” in the face of new digital media. What they really fear is not that reading and writing are actually dying, but that some of our previously favored ways of reading and writing are actually dying or becoming much less prevalent […] Reading and writing are, if anything, increasing in the digital world, but they are also changing. (Gee & Hayes, 2011, p.21)


The artefact (instrument)• Concept, object, or a process that is culturally grounded: a hammer, a pen, a

software, a web site, a text, a word, langage, …

• The artefact mediates the activity. The artefact can also be created, transformed or modified during the activity (i.e. the artefact is not static, such as language) (Kuutti, 1996)

• The artefact is often dynamic and socially constructed/motivated (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006, p.67)

• Selber (2004) defines the computer as a cultural artefact (While Vygotsky would probably talk about a “tool for work” e.g., Friedrich 2012)


The activity (as seen by Vygotsky)

instrument

subject object

“Les deux types d’instrument (matériel ou psychologique) fonctionnent comme des éléments intermédiaires, ils sont intercalés entre l’activité de l’homme et son

objet”. (Friedrich, 2010, p.60)© Catherine Caws

8Thursday, June 9, 16

The Activity system as seen by Engeström (1987, p. 78): an extended version of Vygotsky, then Leontiev

activity systems


Activity system (Engeström1987, p. 78)used to illustrate the use of Twitter

to communicate in a L2

Twitter

L2 learnerslanguagingproductionexploration tweets

norms & conventions

individuals & groups who share the

same goal or instrument

Who does what and when?


Usages & Opportunities• Collaboration/ co-creation of content/

creativity

• Direct, and often spontaneous engagement with the language in authentic settings

• Recycling/Repurposing today’s learners socia media skills

• Establishing a learning ecology

• Easy focus on form (such as during active digital reading)(e.g., Ellis, 1999)

• Creating a learner corpus

‣ data driven learning


Becoming autonomous

• autonomy of learning does not exclude the act of belonging to a learning community

• meta/cognitive and affective strategies to develop autonomy (e.g., Oxford, 1990)


Challenges & limitations• Unsecure or unstable Networks (or lack of)

• Perceptions and expectations of participants/learners

• Space issue (classroom are rarely designed to encourage interactive and collaborative L2 learning)

• Affordances of instruments

• Strict institutional regulations (such as issue concerning tools for which data is stored in the US)

• Digital divide if using the byod approach (network, tool, strategy, ...)


Roles of actors

Instructor Learner

Trainer Trainee

Mentor Researcher


Learning on your device


Example 1: Gamified learning

Explorez:

Language learning quest game in an augmented reality environment


https://youtu.be/UoQJ1VCbMtQ

https://youtu.be/UoQJ1VCbMtQ

PE 1: Practical exercises & comments on various apps

• Recording a text or speech to test your pronunciation‣ In Settings, under General, Language & Region, add one or multiple languages.

Enable Siri (iPhone or IPad). Use any note taking (Notes, Onenote (office), Notability, Evernote, Supernote, .. ) apps to record yourself. If Siri can understand you, there is a good chance that your pronunciation is close to that of a native speaker.

• Recording, translating, interpretating (practicing oral translation)‣ This exercise works well with the Supernote app. Each student translates orally a

sentence that is presenting to her/him on a board. They translate from French into English (a more natural order if you are an English Speaker) or vice versa. Then the recording is played and students must re-translate into the first language. Sentences produced by students are compared to the original ones, allowing conversation regarding language (lexicon, syntax, morphology, etc). Excellent exercise for critical analysis of languages.


PE 1 (...): reading online [What activity could you imagine?]

• Dynamic readingUsing ibooks, the reader/learner selects a book to read in the L2. Using the search function, a word can be selected to show other occurrences of the same word in the text (hence focusing on forms in context), to look up the word in a dictionary (define function), to annotate (note function), to underline (for grammatical analysis for instance, highlight function), to copy an extract (copy) and share it (share). Any note that is added to the original text can then be shared via email or SMS (please note that the sharing function works on mobile device but not necessarily on the computer version). Figures 1 et 2 below illustrate some of these functions:

Figure 1: digital book (computer version) Figure 2: digital book (mobile version) © Catherine Caws


PE 2: words in French

• Mobiles dictionnaries

‣ Antidote ardoise 2

‣ dictionnaire (CNRTL)

‣ Robert mobile

Q: What advantages/disadvantages of digital dictionaries VS paper dictionaries?


EP 3: the pedagogical scenario

• In groups of 2 or 3, using your device or an iPad

• Select an app ( artefact/ instrument)

• Think of an activity that is directly related to a learning objective/outcome

• (re) think about the app you selected: what motivated your choice?

• Using the AT figure, try to imagine every component of the activity

• How will the activity be organized/managed?

• How will it be evaluated? (success/ failure)

• Prepare your scenario using Notability


The pedagogical scenario (adapted from Mangenot and Louveau, 2006)

‣Define the learners (subject)‣Define the objective (short/long terms, abstract or concrete, generic or specific)‣Affordances of the instrument(s) (artefact) and of other tools used‣Constraints (rules, time, network, etc)‣Define/imagine the role played by each participant (Division of labor)‣Consider the context (language learning community, inside/outside the institution, etc)


The pedagogical scenario (adapted from Mangenot and Louveau, 2006)

‣Define the learners (subject)‣Define the objective (short/long terms, abstract or concrete, generic or specific)‣Affordances of the instrument(s) (artefact) and of other tools used‣Constraints (rules, time, network, etc)‣Define/imagine the role played by each participant (Division of labor)‣Consider the context (language learning community, inside/outside the institution, etc)


Selected references

Besnard, C. (1995) Les contributions de la psychologie cognitive à l’enseignement stratégique des langues secondes au niveau universistaire. The Canadian

modern language review, 51(3): 426-441.

Bertin, J.C. & Gravé, P. (2010) In favor of a model of didactic ergonomics. In Bertin, J.C., Gravé, P., & J.-P. Narcy-Combes (Eds.), Second language distance

learning and teaching: theoretical perspectives and didactic ergonomics (pp.1-36). IGI Global USA.

Chalmers, P. (2003) The role of cognitive theory in human–computer interface. Computers in human behaviour, 19: 593-607.

Engeström, Y, 1987. Learning by expanding: an activity theoretical approach to developmental research. Helsinki : Orienta-Konsultit.

Friedrich, J. (2010). Lev Vygotski: médiation, apprentissage, développement. Genève : Carnet des Sciences de l’Education

Ellis, R. (1999) Learning a second language through interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Gee, J. P.& Hayes, E. (2011) Language and learning in the digital age. New York: Routledge.

Oxford, R. (1990) Language learning strategies-What every teacher should know. New York:Newbury House Publishers.

Lantolf J.P., Thorne S.L. (2006). Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Levy, M. & Stockwell, G. (2006) CALL dimensions: Options and issues in computer-assisted language learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Norman, D. (1991) Cognitive artifacts. In Carroll, J. M. (ed.) Designing interaction: psychology at the human-computer interface. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 17-38.

Rabardel, P. (1995). Les hommes et les technologies : approche cognitive des instruments contemporains. Paris: Armand Colin.

Raby, F. (2005) A user-centered ergonomic approach to CALL research. In Egbert J.L. & G.M.Petrie (Eds.) CALL research perspectives (pp.179-190). New York:

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Selber, S. (2004) Multiliteracies for a Digital Age. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

Vygotski, L. (1997). Pensée et langage. Paris : La dispute.

Warschauer, M. (2011) Learning in the Cloud: How (and Why) to Transform Schools with Digital Media. New York: teachers College Press.© Catherine Caws
