calta winter 2010

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Central Asian Language Teachers’ Association

CALTA NEWSLETTER

Issue 2, December 2010

A Response from CALTA membersAfter distributing our first newsletter, we heard from a number ofCentral Asian language teachers. We appreciate your messages,feedback, ideas and wishes! Keep them coming! The ideas were quitediverse, and we’ll try hard to incorporate all of them. One group ofinstructors asked us to make the newsletter very practical, and createa page that would give them advice about methodologies, classroomactivities, and other current language teaching practices. Anothergroup of instructors asked us to update them on current research andstudies that look at the acquisition of foreign languages. We hope thatboth groups will find something interesting in this newsletter. Wealso hope that you keep sending us your ideas and feedback. Wetruly need them to make CALTA useful for you.

Welcome to our second newsletter!

It is hard to believe that we are almost through with yet anothersemester! As you get ready to give your final exams and grade your

students, we hope that you find a little time to read this newsletter, andcatch up with CALTA related news.

Greetings, CALTA Members!

CALTA Members Distance LanguageLearning: Personal

Reflections

Inthisissue:

2

What’s new?Events and

Publications6

Integer .05

Did you know?Classroom activityideas from and for

our instructors

5

In this issue:




If you teach any of the less commonly taught languages, it is likelyyou already know something about distance classes, as many Central

Asian languages are offered in this format. However, if you are notfamiliar with distance classes, don’t worry! We will provide you withbrief information about systems used to teach such classes, and mostimportantly you’ll read the voices of Central Asian instructors as theyreflect upon their own experience with distance education.

What is the distance language class?

In this type of classes, a language instructor and the students arephysically located in different cities, states or even countries. Theteaching can take in two modes – it can be either asynchronous or

synchronous. In asynchronous distance classes, the student and theinstructor do not meet in real time, instead they interact via the Webor email. Students are assigned to do readings, projects or other tasksand to submit them to the instructor. Course management systemssuch as Moodle, Sakai, Blackboard and others are used to support theclassroom interaction. The participants use these systems to organizediscussions, upload and access course materials, post and reply tomessages.

On the other hand, in a synchronous distance learning, classes areheld using videoconferencing. Simply speaking, you interact withyour students using something like a video chat. As the photograph

below demonstrates, participants watch each other over a largescreen, in a specially designed soundproof room with a number ofhigh quality microphones. Many instructors who use thevideoconferencing system also involve the asynchronous coursemanagement systems such as Moodle, Adobe Breeze, Sakai alongwith emails and chats to make their teaching more effective.

CALTA Members Distance Language Learning: Personal Reflections

Based on the information wereceived from our members,

today a number of universitiesoffer distance classes to teach such

Central Asian languages as

Kazakh, Mongolian, Pashto andUzbek. We contacted two

instructors and asked them toshare their experiences with

teaching a distance class.

Marzhan Arenova is originally

from Kazakhstan, and she hasover 20 years of foreign languageteaching experience. Currentlyshe is teaching three levels ofKazakh at the University ofWisconsin, Madison, and adistance Kazakh class to thestudents of Michigan University.

Tserenchunt Legden is originallyfrom Dundgobi province ofMongolia. She has more than 18years of experience inteaching Mongolian to foreigners.Currently she is teaching threelevels of Mongolian at IndianaUniversity, Bloomington and adistance Mongolian class to thestudents of the AustralianNational University in Canberra,

Australia.

TserenchuntLegden

MarzhanArenova




Q1: Can you name two major differences between a traditionalclassroom and distance learning classroom? What are some of themajor challenges that an instructor who wishes to teach remotestudents needs to consider?

Tserenchunt Legden (TL): First, in distance classroom, there aremore challenges because of two or more sites, the necessity ofadvanced use of technology. Therefore, distance classroomsencourage the teacher to use technology effectively in order toconvey the lesson contents to the students without problems andkeep students interested and concentrated. The second majordifference is the psychological state of students and teachers indistance classroom, which oftentimes produce positive effectsbecause the distance class induces and maintains student curiosity,

as students are exposed to two or more sites.There are several factors on which the productivity of distance

learning/teaching depends on: development of web-based teachingmaterials (audio and video files) beforehand, technology awarenessof the instructors and students, effective class management, studentmotivation, number of sites, scheduling and student enrollmentprocedures, curricular decisions and considerations, and goodadministrative and technical support. So the distance instructorsneed to think about and manage all these factors, which is why onewill have to allocate a lot of time preparing for distance teachingclasses. The most frequent challenges are also unexpected technicalfailures, limited space views, currently unavoidable sound delay,imperfect video delivery and other technical failures.

Marzhan Arenova (MA): These are quite different things: traditionalclassroom and distance classroom. It is much more complicated andchallenging to hold classes in distance. Many things should be paidattention to: making sure that students see the screen well andclearly. All the communication takes place using different types oftechnology, for example, you need to make use of a TV set, Polycomremote control for camera, and the microphones. I think one of thedifficulties in distance language classroom is that as a teacher youalways have technology between you and your students. So that

when you hold a class, and especially when you explain newmaterial you are aimed not your students but to the TV screen (atleast, I find this to be a bit impersonal). There is also a time delay orlag in communication, so this gets in the way too. This becomesproblematic when I try to do group-activities, and engage students inboth remote and local sites. But, I believe that these challenges can beovercome after getting good skills in using technology andmodifying your daily lesson plans accordingly. I also think thatmaking students aware of these challenges helps too.

Q2: What kind of training would an instructor need to teach a

Reflections of Tserenchunt Legden and Marzhan Arenova on

Teaching a Distance Language Class

The most frequent challenges …unexpected technical failures,limited space views, currentlyunavoidable sound delay, imperfectvideo delivery and others….the distance instructors need tothink about and manage all thesefactors, which is why one will haveto allocate a lot of time preparing fordistance classes.

Tserenchunt Legden

This becomes problematic when I tryto do group-activities, and engagestudents in both remote and localsites. But, I believe that thesechallenges can be overcome aftergetting good skills in usingtechnology and modifying yourdaily lesson plans accordingly. I alsothink that making students aware ofthese challenges helps too.

Marzhan Arenova

IntroductoryMongolianclassatIU.

Tserenchuntiswithherstudentsatthe

localsite.

MarzhanteachesIntroductoryKazakh

classattheUniversityofWisconsin.




distance learning course? How much training isneeded? Do you need any particulartechnological training?

TL: Ideally, the instructor should attend a formal

training. However, it is doable without one aswell—I, for example, never got a chance to enrollin trainings. Distance language instructors needto learn how to adjust to the “new space” andsimultaneously manage one or more of thefollowing tasks: (1) switch views on the TV screento show the other sites or just one student, (2) tomute the other site, (3) show a video clip on thescreens or just project a reading passage on ascreen. Part of this learning can be based on acouple of sit-in observations. However, hands-on

experience is indispensible. The center that dealswith language learning and technology at IU hasplayed a vital role in accommodating andarranging a mock session. Volunteering studentswere sent to two classrooms and the instructorpracticed a lesson plan, which focused onactivities and challenges that an instructor mightexpect as part of the delivery format.

MA: I think language instructors need a solidtraining on how to use technology. This couldprepare them to resolve certain issues they may

encounter while teaching this type of class.

Q3: Would you use your lesson plans for atraditional course work for your distancelearning course? What do you have to modify?

TL: Previously developed web-based teachingmaterials have crucial effect in improving theinteractive aspects of distance language classes.The Center for Language Technology andInstructional Enrichment at Indiana University

plays significant role in creating such files. Weasked our friend in Mongolia to make video clipsrelated to different topics of the class such as:greetings and farewells, introductions, shopping,dining, home, etc. After we received the videosfrom Mongolia, we worked with CeLTIE staff oncreating such files and posted them in its website.We also posted a pronunciation guideline, songsthat students of Mongolian learned in class, theirkaraoke versions and useful web links aboutMongolia, its language and people.

We also compiled and posted on ONCOURSE(IU’s course management system) a course packetthat students find very useful for improvinginteraction. The course packet includes variouslanguage learning activities, including bingo

games, pictures for description, prompts for essaywriting, various texts, short stories, folk tales,lyrics of the songs, instructions for Mongolianfood, Mongolian games and others. Thesematerials are a wonderful addition to the textbook;they make the class much more interesting.

TserenchuntLegden’s remotesite-

studentsofAustralianNationalUniversity.

I think that the potential for providing instructionin the less commonly taught languages isparticularly enhanced by distance languageclassrooms. This semester the Department ofCentral Eurasian Students at IU initiated distanceMongolian to students of Australian NationalUniversity. It went well and the ANU studentswant to continue learning Mongolian for their nextacademic year starting in February.

Tserenchunt Legden

MarzhanArenova’sremotesite-astudent

ofMichiganUniversity.

We thank Tserenchunt Legden and Marzhan Arenovafor sharing their experience with us!

If you’d like to be featured in our next newsletter,share your story! Let the CALTA members knowabout you and your professional achievements!

[email protected]




As we stated in our first newsletter, the main goal of CALTA is to share ideas, and promote a professionaldevelopment of Central Asian language teachers. To fulfill this promise, our newsletters will have this sectionwhere we provide classroom ideas and best practices offered by our members.

Below we provided a number of activities that our experienced language instructors shared with us. They donot claim these activities as their own; they adopted them from different sources. They also modified them alittle so that it worked well in their classrooms. Based on your classroom size and the level of your students,you should do the same!

Did you know?

Classroom Activity Ideas

Sentence auction Level: Introductory/Intermediate/AdvancedFocus: Form/Language StructureThis activity can make a great review session. Use itbefore your midterm or final exam; your studentswill have fun while reviewing the most importantgrammar points.

What do you need? Create 10-15 sentences in thelanguage you teach. Use the forms that you taughtrecently. Half of the sentences you provide shouldbe grammatically incorrect.

How to play this game? If you are a lucky and havea large class, divide your students into a group oftwo or three. However, if you have a small group ofstudents, each student can be an individual buyer.Tell your students that each of them has $1000 (söm,tenge, manat, afghani, or tögrög is even better!).Show one sentence at a time and let the biddingstart. Ideally, students should bid for correctsentences and try to buy them. The student or thegroup who ends up buying the highest number ofgrammatically correct sentences wins the auction!

Follow up: When auction is over, go through eachsentence. Ask your students why they bought or didnot buy the sentence (why they thought it wascorrect or incorrect). Ask your students to correct thesentences which are deemed to be incorrect.

Definitions

Level: Intermediate/AdvancedFocus: Speaking, New vocabulary

How to organize the activity? Ask one of yourstudents to leave the room. Using the dictionary,the remaining students choose a word, they donot know. The word is written on the board. Onestudent memorizes the real definition of theword. The other students make up fakedefinitions for it (in the target language,certainly). The student is called back in. Youshow him/her the word, and the student asks

other students for their definitions. He can alsoask additional questions about the use of theword. After he listens to all the definitions hechooses the one he thinks is the correct definition.

What do you need? A dictionary, blackboard,and at least 3 students!

Follow up: After you finish the activity, talk toyour students about the new word. Make themaware of derivations from other words they have

learned. Ask them to find a word that matchesthe fake definitions that they made up for thisactivity.

5




As you might already know, we have startedour own Facebook Page! This truly bolstered ourassociation, it added a number of new members, andgave us an opportunity to keep you updated with joblistings, upcoming conferences, and publications. Ifyou have not done so, make sure to check it us out athttp://www.facebook.com/update_security_info.php?wizard=1#!/pages/Central-Asian-Language-Teachers-Association-CALTA/164998046862452 andshow your support by pushing the “Like” button onthe right corner of the screen!

The submissions for NCOLCTLconference are now officially over. Regardlesswhether or not you submitted a paper, we hope thamany of us can make it to this conference and to ousecond official CALTA meeting.

Eighteenth Annual Central Eurasian Studies Conference

Dates: March 5, 2011Location: Indiana University, Bloomington, INNote: The papers and panels presented at theconference deal with all aspects of Central Eurasia.

Proficiency Guidelines and Tests for Turkmen, Uyghur,Uzbek, and Pashto are available from the Center forLanguages of Central Asian Region (CeLCAR):http://www.iub.edu/~celcar/evaluation.html

NCOLCTL if offering more online courses forprofessional development:http://www.ncolctl.org/resources/links/online-teaching-course

Allen Johnshoy, M. (2009, August 10). "Web tools for

digital storytelling." Virtual presentation for the

Language Acquisition Resource Center (LARC).

Social Media Summer Institute:

http://larc.sdsu.edu/socialmedia/?page_id=88

Other interesting Central Asia related publications

Ioannesyan, Youli. (2010). Afghan Folktales fromHerat. For more information:http://www.cambriapress.com/abi/9781604976526bi.pdf

Yuka Kadoi. (2010). Islamic Chinoiserie: The Art of Mongol Iran. Edinburgh University Press.

American Association of Applied LinguisticsDates: March 26-29Location: Chicago, IllinoisNote: The conference offers thought-provokingplenary presentations, in-depth colloquia and papesessions, excellent book exhibits, and plentifulopportunities for networking with applied linguistsfrom North America and countries around the worl

Newsletter contributors:Nigora Azimova, Indiana University Akmaral Mukan, Cyracom InternationalNarantsetseg Tseveendulam, University of Maine &

American Center for Mongolian Studies

What’s New?

Events and Publications

calta winter 2010

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