Week One Diary

A new school year is upon us! Today was the first meeting of African 670 and 697. I have seven students enrolled, six here and one at another university who is participating via Skype.

They are learning:

K: Kinyarwanda
LP: Beginning Luganda
SF: Arabic
SS: Somali
LE: Advanced Luganda
H: Amharic
V: Basaa

Both H and V are heritage learners. H is an undergraduate but the rest are graduate students. LE is a returning student, having already taken 670 with me but continuing to self-instruct though 697.

All are women! This seems to be a pattern for this class.

I was a little flustered by dealing with Skype and Powerpoint at the same time, and remembering to fully include V, the distance student, but otherwise our first meeting went well. They seem highly motivated and open to discussion.

We talked briefly about the article I asked them to read for today (Marshall 1987). H mentioned that she was very interested in the concepts of metacognition and in-situ learning and that both are aspects of learning she values but have not been central in her other classes here. LP mentioned that many of the ideas in the article apply to (or should apply to) all learning, not just language learning. And we talked a little about the importance of thinking about a conversation partner who speaks the desired language* as just that, or as a mentor, rather than as a tutor. H and SS both talked about the importance (and challenges) of approaching the communities in which the desired languages are spoken with respect and cultural sensitivity.

* I'm experimenting with using the term desired language in place of target language. What do you think?

Works Cited

 

Marshall, Terry L. 1987. “The Multi-Language Seminar: An Approach to Offering More of the ‘Less Commonly Taught’ Languages.” Foreign Language Annals 20 (2): 155–63.

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.