Week eleven diary

This week our topics were self-regulation and learner autonomy.  There has not been much research on these topics, so our class is comprised of guinea pigs. 

We started out talking about positive and negative feelings that arise in relation to language learning and how one regulates those feelings so that negative ones do not prevent one from learning. The three students who were there today all agreed that the structure and extrinsic motivation from classroom learning leads to more positive feelings than self-directed learning does. Only one student mentioned negative feelings and these were related to vocabulary learning. He has found ways to make vocal learning fun, which he saw as a way of regulating his feelings.

Another topic was setting achievable goals. EH said that she is more flexible and more aware of her options than she was at the beginning.

ED also sees himself as better at setting acheivable goals now that knows how long things take. He is also able to anticipate difficulties.

N said that she does a lot of language learning work when she is in a good mood. Writing down what she does after each session has really helped; listing what she does is gratifying. There was a noticeable difference in her motivation and attitude this week.

Most of us agreed that being able to talk to native speakers is gratifying, good-mood-inducing.

We talked about our class as a support network and how it might be similar to and different from a traditional classroom, a self-directed learning situation in which all students were learning the same language, and one in which one was truly learning alone, without other students and/or without a teacher who is offering some guidance.  Students agreed that struggling with similar difficulties helps to not feel isolated. ED said that because he is extroverted, he likes having other students to talk to even though they are working on different languages.  None of them thought that they could work completely on their own. (I hope that changes since eventually they will be on their own when they are no longer students.)

EN, who led our discussion, asked whether learners use technology, media, pop culture, etc, like the learners we read about did. Students mentioned using news, online courses, Youtube videos, podcasts, and streaming radio. L wasn't in class today but we hypothesized that her target language (Luganda) might have fewer resources than others.

Week ten diary

This week I took notes during class and this will make my diary entry so much easier! I'll have to remember to do this from now on, especially on the days when students are leading the discussion and I can concentrate on listening, asking questions, giving suggestions, etc.

Our topic was "planning" and we read several articles and chapters that covered this while also linking up to topics from previous weeks including learning styles and learner strategies.

ED led our discussion and we began by talking about each learner's initial goals and how they may have changed.  N said that her goals haven’t changed but her approach to them has. She wants to borrow some ideas from the Marshall chapter on lesson planning, e.g. the transportation lesson. She the funny titles for lessons in the Marshall chapter; so did I! She said she set her initial goals by thinking about how she wants to be able to function on a day to day basis, what she already knows, and where the gaps in her abilities are. ED said he'd taken a similar approach to goal-setting.

L said she was initially focused on goals she thought would be appropriate for an intermediate level language learner, rather than her own personal ones. She became very focused on particular grammar, e.g. learning a particular tense, but has now re-focused on what she needs to be able to read particular sources, since her main overarching goal is to be able to read historical sources in her target language.

EH's goal was, and remains, overall communicative competence; she is now emphasizing that even more because of enjoying conversations with her language partner.  She said she finds herself rewarded and motivated by talking about literature (her particular interest) with her language partner.

We then talked about the utility of making detailed daily lesson plans. ED said he found the readings on making a plan really helpful, esp. daily lesson planning (but wants to adapt it to weekly planning).

L said she is already doing the daily planning, but not in such a structured or conscious way.

EH said she has moved away from the structure over time, becoming more flexible. Having a more flexible plan allows her to stay more motivated.

N said she has end-goals but that how she will achieve them is open-ended.  All the skills come in but she doesn’t plan in advance how to cover all of them.

Both L and EH had more classroom-like plans at first (relying on a book, on covering all skills, etc.) but have become more flexible and self-directed, more focused on the skills that matter to them.

Finally, ED made a chart on the board where we all shared our strategies and rated them for frequency, enjoyment, usefulness, and efficiency. This was a really fun activity. Strategies that learners mentioned using a lot and mostly enjoying included learning routines, role-playing, memorizing/using proverbs and idioms, and mnemonic devices. Nobody really uses flashcards with pictures, but L was given a Luganda workbook that had pictures for each word and she said she's noticed that she knows those words really well. Other learners seemed interested in trying out that strategy as well as of creating their own thematically-organized "dictionaries." 

Here's ED's chart: 

It felt like this week was a turning point for many of the students.

Week nine diary

We had a good discussion in class today on the topic of learning styles and strategies. I might move up the readings on these topics earlier in the course next time.

Most of the students seem to be good at style shifting already, and many of them characterized themselves (as did I) as "a little bit of both" of each set of opposed styles. This make sense since all of us are "good language learners" and people who have learned more than one language already.

We brainstormed ways to motivate a learner who is struggling with the lack of feedback: having her give reports on specific things she has done, using checklists to monitor the completion of tasks and goals, giving feedback on each other's blogs, etc. And the students planned a social time when they will each work on their learning at the same time/place and then reward themselves afterwards with a drink or something. Whatever works!

We talked about a new research study that claims that learning new words causes the same pleasure in the brain as sex or chocolate and the students are all going to try to learn a certain number of new words in the next week and report back on this.

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 seven diary

This week a fourth student (Er) joined our class. We had a great conversation about cognition and metacognition on Tuesday. I don't know if it was having an additional voice in the conversation or simply the topic, but it seemed like we all had more to say than we usually do and we were able to discuss the readings for almost the full two hours rather than ending early as we have in previous weeks.

The students seem to finally be grasping the degree of self-monitoring that is necessary to achieve success in self-directed learning.  A few of them seem to be struggling with actually putting this self-monitoring into practice, perhaps because it clashes with their preferred learning styles or aptitudes.

Week six diary

Today we were supposed to discuss working without a native speaker but ended up talking mostly about working with a native speaker. This was partly because the book chapters we read (6 and 7 in the Marshall book) are supposed to be about when you've exhausted the possibilities with your language partner but don't really get into that.  (Although ch. 7 does talk about how to work outside of your target country.) N led our discussion and it was fruitful.

All three students have spent time in their target cultures and were able to reflect on what worked well for them in that context and what they might do differently in the future. Some good ideas were exchanged about how to integrate what they are doing on their own with what they are doing with their language partners.

E is considering creating a Swahili book discussion group, which I think would be great. Maybe I'll go too!

None of them seem frustrated with their language learning, so I take that as a good sign.  N said she is practicing what she knows more than learning new things, but she seems okay with that.

I wonder if we need a slightly more structured way of reporting on their weekly progress. It feels a little like when I ask my 12-year-old how school was and he just says, "Good" and shrugs.

N and E reported back on the books I loaned them. It sounds like Lingo may not be helpful but the DIY guide might be. L borrowed the latter so I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but based on E's feedback I might incorporate it into the course next time I teach it.

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.