Week eight diary

I've been bad about keeping up my blogging habit. LP posted an interesting article about keeping a diary that resonates with much of my thinking about student blogs, my own ethnographic writing, etc, so I am resolving (again!) to better about writing here. V thanked me today for formatting the class the way I have and requiring them to document their learning, because she's finding the weekly diary very useful for her larger dissertation project.

The learners have finally gotten into a groove. Everyone has a language partner they are meeting with either by skype or in person, most of them just once a week, I think. Our meetings have been going well, and we've had a lot to say about the readings so are not spending as much time on learning reports (which is fine since they also post their reports online and share about their learning during our discussion).

Today SS noted that this week has seemed mark a turning point for everyone, which is really interesting because this time last year was also a marker for learners. At the time they attributed it to particular readings we did on meta-cognition, but maybe it's just the timing.

We talked about motivation a lot today, both long-term and short-term. LM noted that posting in the Facebook group motivates her to do something every day, but that she's fallen out of the habit of posting and wants to get back into. SS noted that she is motivated by educating her family about Somali culture because they hold a lot of negative stereotypes. SF is motivated by shocking other Iranians who are surprised to learn that she is studying Arabic, and also changing their perceptions of Arabs and Arabic.

Today V led our discussion of Ch. 4 in the Leaver et al book, about feelings, motivation, and personality. She formatted the discussion in a different way than I've ever been a part of: She divided the class into two parts and had half of us each present our reactions to and thoughts about the reading, while the others had to just listen and take notes and wait to respond. After half of us had each presented, then the other half had a chance to respond to us. I liked this a lot because it required everyone to really listen carefully to others and to frame their contributions in relation to what had been said before. I will try it in my other class. V also noted how our individual reactions to the discussion format related to our personality types, tying it back to our reading and discussion of Myers-Briggs types.

I'm getting ready to go to the NASILP conference next week and am planning to treat it as chance to do some fieldwork, keeping fieldnotes on the conference to compare to my own notes from our class.

Week eight diary

Today we discussed motivation, anxiety, and Myers-Brigg-type personality tests. The students seemed particularly interested in how their personalities play into their language learning. Their motivations vary considerably from one another and seem to be having a clear effect on their abilities to set goals and advance in their language learning, e.g. self-directed learning is difficult when you're used to being motivated by doing well on tests. The two students who have been working most regularly with language partners seem to be using this to keep their motivation levels high.

Week five diary

Yesterday L was sick so we had a small class.

Our topic was how to work with a language mentor. We read two chapters from the Peace Corps language guide and two from Marshall's book The Whole World Guide to Language Learning. Both are filled with concrete examples of how to design your own lessons and use them with a conversation partner, and also some suggestions on how to select one. I found them very useful but N and E didn't seem to get much out of them. Some of the focus on repetition seemed more applicable to the beginning level than to their needs (advanced plus). I wonder how they might be adapted to more advanced learners?

We talked about their progress this past week. N has found it hard to make a plan and stick to it and instead feels good just touching her Yoruba in some way each day; so far she has been working with videos made by a former students, Titilayo. She asked if I thought it would be better to have a more structured plan each day and I said yes.  I suggested even having a small goal would be helpful—like learn five new words—because it would provide a way to test that you are actually learning something.

E is struggling to read a book that may be beyond her level and/or is just unrelated to her needs/interests. She has decided to talk about it with one of her contacts in East Africa as a way to motivate herself. I'd probably just switch to another book, but she is persistant!

I got two new books, Lingo!: How to Learn a Language and DIY Techniques for Language Learners. I haven't had a chance to read them yet, but I brought them to class for students to borrow. E and N each took one and will report back next week on whether they are useful or not.

Week four diary

This week L led our discussion about two readings. The first was really old article about the so-called "linguist-informant" method for learning LCTLs whereby a small group of students would meet with both a linguist and a native speaker informant. The second was the materials that the NASILP program gives you access to if you pay to join their organization, materials designed for self-instructing learners who are working with tapes and a native speaker. L did a good job noting the similarities between the two methods in their focus on working with a native speaker but not treating them as a teacher.

I was pleased to learn that L had gained something from these readings that she is putting into immediate practice with the tutor in Uganda she is working with over skype, shifting from having him in a teacher role to more of a conversation partner. She initially planned to also have him "drill" her on pronunciation but she seemed receptive to my suggestions about other ways of using their time together to practice rather than drill.

The other students shared some minor successes and pitfalls.  E shared the difficulty of reading and having to look up lots of words that end up not being useful.  This is probably because she chose the text herself, at random, rather than having one assigned by a teacher who would chose one at an appropriate level of difficulty and/or of choosing one on a topic she might have more vocabulary about already.  N shared the challenge of knowing what grammar to focus on when she's only been in communicatively-focused classrooms in the past and never learned the grammatical terms for what she is learning.  None of the learners seemed too phased by these struggles -- they all seem determined and working hard.