Presentation: Are Children Better Language Learners than Adults? (for MQuni; unit grade – Distinction)

Linguistics degree

grade: 88%

Choose a statement about which you have changed your mind during the unit: 'children are better language leaners than adults'

Second Language Acquisition reflection / Learning-Teaching Philosophy (for MQuni; unit grade – Distinction)

Linguistics degree - commentary

SBS's World Watch most days before school, in itself, was a type of listening immersion. The languages of foreign news programmes became phonologically familiar to me with respect to at least some of it passing through Baddeley's (1974) loop into the buffer.

At high school I learnt Japanese from age 14 to 18 in a traditional secondary school setting. Then from age 26 to 32 I lived in Argentina, learning Spanish.

Japanese involved oral practice, usually in pairs, course-book work, listening texts, a movie (the same one many times over). Interaction with Japanese students from our sister school in Osaka, Japan, was also there, when they visited. in Argentina, I spoke Spanish at home and in the street. The practice, if you like, I had watching SBS was the replaying words that goes on, or 'rehearsal', in the articulatory loop: listening practice.

Some SLA experience is out-of-classroom, but key, cross-setting factors were key to learning.

Because the learning experience in high school was very good, Japanese is still very close to me today – I feel proud to be able to read two of its scripts and some charactery. My sister-in-law is Japanese, and so it is in the family. I ended up working at SBS after leaving school; I edited out TV commercials from foreign recordings for broadcast on World Watch, there I also met a Japanese subtitler for World Movies and saw how she performed her work. Spanish is really close to me, as I grew, using it daily over a six-year period of me life.

Aside from self-teaching books, I have also had formal instruction in Spanish at both the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and Macquarie University. In French – formal instruction (3 months), self-teaching in Portuguese (3 months). One day of Norwegian by use of the Silent Way (founder Gattegno, 1976) through our teacher trainer (2008), when we learned basic Norwegian greetings, which I can still remember/use. My surname is Polish and so Polish people have thrown handfuls of phrases at me all my life.

Perhaps, monoculturalism in Australia motivated me to watch exclusively SBS then as a teenager, to look for diversity in languages; my brother-in-law, who is Colombian was motivation to learn Spanish. Effective teaching, I think, in high school, motivated me to keep learning Japanese.

Reflect on your own success or lack of success in learning an additional language. What factors do you think were key to your success or lack of success? Think about the individual and societal factors we have looked at in this course, as well as types of instruction.

I remember hitting a plateau in my Spanish acquisition. A lack of new language coming in, it seemed, was causing depression! Roughly the 3rd to 4th year into SLA, I repeated the same mistakes, people corrected me, and I appear to have been sensitive to it. This is predictable now if I read (Murray & Christison, 2019) about the learning curve of acquisition. There was an 'a-ha' (p.184) moment, I remember, after having dreamt in Spanish. Then a long period of positivity. That, followed by discouragement in a levelling off effect. Key to success in learning Spanish was the structural base I had acquired through self-study before I left Australia – with so many verb conjugations, it's really hard to express basic ideas in Spanish without getting these right first and then understanding other morphology and syntax too.

Unpredictably, I (and the other students) found my learning experience at UBA not quite optimal. One teacher seemed ill-tempered by our mistakes. Another teacher seemed to waffle on until the end of the lesson, checking in with Ss only once or twice (I quit one week before completion – how daft!). It would only take a slight change in attitude to move it from negative to positive, as we were all happy to be studying abroad at university. Another key factor to failing at first was the dialectical nature of Argentinian Spanish: I had to relearn some structural elements of the language and pronunciation when I arrived.

Other key factors to positive SLA (Chamot & O'Mallley, 1994, as cited in Murray & Christison, 2019) have been a certain analytical preference, phonemic ability in the languages (Japanese vowels are almost the same as Spanish!), and preference for memorising (working memory). STRATEGY TYPES included: highlighting newspaper headlines and main points to aid comprehension; listening to my partner read the article before I began the task, keeping a reflection log and asking for correction sometimes from whomever I was speaking to – METACOGNITIVE (p. 235); buying Oxford UP electronic dictionaries for Spanish, French, Japanese and English – notes are organised into moleskins (below)

and cutting a story page in half and trying to guess the meaning before reading the rest, or reading above-level novels trying to infer meaning – COGNITIVE (p. 235); controlled environments (such as speaking with partner's parents) and less-controlled-to-freer practice environments (from talking in the street to talking at home) boosted production – SOICIO-AFFECTIVE (p. 236).  

** teacher training was a real teaching-you-how-to-learn experience, learning strategies were integrated into the training, which we could then utilise ourselves (and in the classroom). Another strategy was that learning other skills in Argentina, e.g., tennis and Japanese one-to-one (spoken in Spanish) would also aid SLA.

How do your experiences of success and failure in language learning inform your teaching and learning philosophy?

After changing my whole idea about SLA following a one-day seminar, a very successful task-based, auditory/kinaesthetic and TPR leaning experience, that, and my immersive experience and trial-and-error with the strategies above, my philosophy has changed. My view is lesson planning should include something for everyone. Teaching should be a commitment to correcting a cultural bias towards visual learner styles: learners, whether group or individual, engage in guided discovery under a variety of conditions. I understand the breaking-out-of-the-shell that needs to occur, the curves in acquisition, the attitude adjustments for SLA, and learner autonomy, i.e., taking responsibility for learning skills and strategies. After all it is more of a (endless) journey than a complete acquisition (Harmer, 2007), even in our dominant (first/native) language. Something like this. 

THIS DOES TAKE INTO ACCOUNT the emergent views against learner styles in ELT. Khazan's (2018) article talks about the ineptitude of learner stye questionnaires such as VARK to determine our style, and the inefficacy in tailoring to those styles anyway (Rogowsky et al., 2015; Kraemer et al., 2009) – do auditory learners want auditory input, etc?  In fact, VARK creator Fleming himself warns against getting 'too carried away' by VARK. My emphasis is on correcting an absence I perceive in variety in the lesson. The idea materials can cater to our likes for visual/auditory/kinaesthetic does appeal to me, but my emphasis is on guided-discovery through a more even use of these.

**application to transfer from Bachelor of Speech and Hearing Sciences to Bachelor of Linguistics and Language Sciences is APPROVED**

The plan from here is to complete a Masters of teaching somewhere, with the view of working at a secondary school as a language teacher. Therefore, some more Spanish language certification should be gained before then.

Language Culture & Communication: a module study using family data (for MQuni; unit grade – Distinction)

Linguistics degree

Grade: 90%

 

**application to transfer from Bachelor of Speech and Hearing Sciences to Bachelor of Linguistics and Language Sciences is PENDING**

 Two, possibly three, semesters remaining. The plan following those is to complete a Masters of teaching somewhere, with the view of working at a secondary school as a language teacher. Therefore, some Spanish certification should be acquired before then (gained credit mark from highest level unit available at Macquarie). 

News Article Commentary: Sociolinguistics of Quebec (for MQuni; unit grade – High Distinction)

Linguistics degree

Quebec to Tighten Language Law Force Retailers to Add French Descriptions to Names

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-to-tighten-language-law-force-retailers-to-add-french-descriptions-to-names-1.3111750

Happy with the grade some lessons learned are = less liberal with references: because I have read about related topics isn't reason enough to cite them together (language ideology references removed = Crystal, 2003; Schneider, 2003; Meyerhoff, 2015; Krauss, 1992; Choi, 2005; Perez, 2016), i.e., they should more directly support my argument-building. 

Variation in TESOL with Dr Jill Murray: Native Speaker v. Non-Native Speaker Teachers (for MQuni; unit grade – High Distinction)

Discussion Topic: Native Speaker Teachers (NS) vs. Non-Native Speaker Teachers (NNS)

Would you rather learn a language from a NS than a NNS? 

• I would rather learn an L2 from a native speaker, if, for instance, my learner goals included travel in that country – or countries – pronunciation, L2 for interactional (think conversational) usage with L1s, and cultural knowledge gained through their lessons (materials, information, stories, personality). 
• I would rather learn an L2 from a non-native speaker, if, for instance, my learner goals included increasing understanding of form (or grammar), specialist or academic purposes, or perhaps for transactional purposed only (think shops, tickets), and exams knowledge gained through their own experience. 

What are some factors for schools preferring NS?

• Factors for preference for L1 teachers in the ELT world could be their native pronunciation, their connection with an esteemed variety (e.g., US or British English), their cultural input for the school.

Advantages & Disadvantages Nativeness

+	-
Outer circle: T is viewed as example of standard; T can serve as real connection with Inner circle countries.	T experiences value judgments held in anti-colonialism views; T doesn't possess insight for non-standard varieties that NNS has.
Inner circle: T provides detailed local knowledge related to procedures, applications, exams, geography.	T gives lessons to constellation of language learners (ESL) though of differing backgrounds and languages, which complicates understanding errors and motivations, etc; NNS may possess greater cultural knowledge.
Expanding circle: T has a token role and can be viewed as a gateway,  teaching can be easier as a result; pronunciation drills; errors across the class can be more uniform; T doesn't always need qualifications (perhaps none!)	T may not have proficiency in the local language, thus be out of touch with learner nuances that NNS has; NNS has clearer language production; NNS is more qualified and may have studied 4-5 years to teach L1; NNS is bilingual and has had to work harder hence can empathise; NSS could have greater specialist or academic knowledge; NS has to be aware of colloquial or idiomatic language they may possess; NS's nationality may not be desirable**

** as a NS in Argentina I was turned away from some schools because of my nationality (not pure British!) like the British Council and International House (which is where I originally gained my teaching CELTA/TESOL here in Sydney!) 

• Every learner of any of these contexts and profiles has their own goals (or has to follow ones set by an organisation, for instance, which requires they  study), and it is important for the T to understand the L as closely as possible, their profile, goals (and learning styles, here is a guide I threw together http://rozynskiplansandmaterials.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-guide-to-understanding-learner.html): if we can understand these, we can understand motivations for things more clearly. One reason, for me, at classroom management level, is that knowing what to correct, remodel, plan for, or to make learning strategies for becomes easier. For example, an 'incorrect' use of language may.... well first, be actually correct in the local variety.... or may only be a 'slip' which doesn't need correction, or may not be an 'error' in light of the goals of the learner (i.e., learning TL for  travelling). That's to say, understanding these can help the T feel less lost when in comes to classroom management and in control. From my experience, and by what's reported (pictured), it is classroom management that language teachers find most difficult. The more local, and classroom-level knowledge a T can have there more useful it is. 

  

Discussion Topic: Including the Variations of English (other than the 'standard') in TESOL. 

• After thinking about Dr Jill Murray's lecture, I think that variations of English deserve better recognition in the ELT world. The idea there is a global standard or prestige standard may blind Ts from seeing some of the local characteristics I mention. The view of one global language or standard helps sustain this view of privilege, evidenced in inner and outer circle speakers or learners. Instead, a language ideology, a homogeneity, the effects of which can be seen in domain and language loss and attrition of varieties of other languages, is maintained, an idea I find puzzling: a rich culture is rich in languages (and their variations), it seems counterintuitive language enthusiasts might think otherwise.

Presentation: Book Launch for Editing & Publishing (for MQuni; unit grade –Distinction)

 This presentation will include an overview of the chosen event, a description of the intended audience and the motivation for the choice of publications created for it

Event: Jules Verne Book Launch (a posthumously published work of J. Verne by a relative) including promotional website (https://julesverne2020.blogspot.com/)

Grade: 83%

Rationale & Style Guide: 88%

(style guide...)

Publishing & Editing: Microsructure & Macrostructure (for MQuni; unit grade – Distinction)

 Linguistics degree

1. Microsructure

It was a calming bit of self-paced instruction in the behavior of compressible fluids; it was even a useful deception of sorts, since after an hour of feeling that spotlight of air playing over your face, your thoughts full of the remembered sight of contrails in a blue sky as seen from earth – the way they first appear like narrow staves of music a little way behind a very high plane, and gradually fatten into shaving-cream crudities before fading – or of cold rides in the back of pickup trucks, when your cheek nerves grew deadened to the insistent flapping of a lock of hair that now doesn’t exist, or of the print ad for Maxell tape in which a man sits in an armchair and experiences a blast of La Mer from his speakers that sinks him deep into the cushions and flings his tie over his shoulder and tips the shade of the standing lamp, you began to think that if the real jet engines were to fail, the plane would float to earth on the output of these tame little verniers alone, as in the parlor trick in which ten guests each use one finger to lift a heavy volunteer – and as the plane lost altitude and the captain flipped desperately through the technical manuals muttering, “It’s got to be a bad chip!” one alert hero would jump up and say, “Turn your air vents to full, people!” and Ernest Borgnine would passionately chime in, “The man’s right! Do as he says!” and every arm would extend, so that from the smoking section you had the impression of an elephant herd reaching their prehensile noses for leafy leftovers on higher branches, and the plane’s descent would slow to a pilotable rate, and as we drifted lower and lower over the water, like the brave Frenchmen who crouched in the wicker passenger basket of the damaged and half-terrifying illustration for Mysterious Island (the nineteenth-century use of wicker is part of what gives ballooning such a Fragonardian, picnicky feel), or like the later Frenchmen who belly-landed on the beach in Tintin and the Red Sea Sharks, when we finally slapped down into the ocean, nobody would be dead: saved yet again by cooperative action and by our own cabin pressure system.

(Room Temperature, Nicholson Baker, 1990)

The author has used a literary device in creating the text, a relatively lengthy chain of sub-clauses and interrupting clauses, which would be clearer were they segmented into separate main clauses. The text, perhaps, refers obliquely, or implicitly, to a deadly jet aircraft incident. The device seems to construe a sense of disbelief, deliriousness, edification and irony in the character, directly subsequent to the crash, to the reader.

The relative lack of separated segments helps to construe this, in effect, shock to the reader, as, without much pause from one clause to the other, all the subsidiary clauses detail the overarching concept of the first two independent clauses (it was a calming bit of self-paced instruction in the behavior of compressible fluids; it was even a useful deception of sorts), which themselves seem to refer only obliquely to an accident.

An attempt at a split comment pattern of topical progression,

It was a calming bit of self-paced instruction in the behavior of compressible fluids; it was even a useful deception of sorts, since after an hour of feeling that spotlight of air playing over your face, your thoughts full of the remembered sight of contrails in a blue sky as seen from earth. First, that is with respect to the way they first appear like narrow staves of music a little way behind a very high plane, and gradually fatten into shaving-cream crudities before fading. Secondly, l refer to the cold rides in the back of pickup trucks…

Finally, l loved the author's use of the word earth rather than Earth...

2. Macrostructure

Find below the headings for a book on the Himalayas. Consider how you would group these headings (sequential order, level of heading). What difference to the publication does it make if you change the order or omit any of them? Would the structure change according to whether it’s was a printed or an electronic publication?

First, I might put them into the topic-based categories, with the more important for travel of those at the front ('preparing to go') and the back of the book ('travel matters', 'index'): as a travel guide it will be easier to access them there. However, the 'introduction' and 'photography' sections in the preliminary pages would also help to shape the reader's expectations of its primary contents ('regions', 'what it's all about', 'tracking', and 'climbing'). Finally, the rest of the end matter ('bibliography', 'river rafting India' – further reading) might do well to supplement and authenticate the text (Mackenzie, 2012).

Sections (without headings) and subsections, as follows:–

Foreword

Introduction 

Acknowledgements

Preparing to go

Fitness

Visas

Permits

Regulations

Immunisation

Money

Clothing and equipment 

Photography

Regions 

The Himalayan region

Kashmir

Nepal

Pakistan

Tibet

Bhutan

What’s it all about?

Natural history

History of trekking

Geography

The silk road

Culture and religion

Politics

Climate and seasons

Conservation

Trekking

Trekking styles

Choosing a trek

Trekking peaks

Climbing

Climbing - what’s involved 

Climbing styles 

What mountain

Altitude sickness

Travel matters

Cultural considerations

Staying healthy

Language

Glossary

Index

River rafting India 

Bibliography

3. Bonus question. Can you identify which famous (old) novel this synopsis is describing? 

A: Tristram Shandy

Participant of research for Psychology 105 (for MQuni)

Native Australian English speakers only - Glottalisation in Australian English

Australian Hearing Hub Level 1 

Brief Description: The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the links between speech production and perception in Australian English speakers and listeners.

Detailed Description: 
The study is being conducted by Josh Penney from the Department of Linguistics to meet the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the supervision of A/Prof Felicity Cox and Dr Anita Szakay and in association with Dr Sallyanne Palethorpe. If you decide to participate, you will participate in a perception task where you will listen to a set of computer generated words and select words from a list that match what you hear. We will also ask you to complete a short (5 mins) demographic questionnaire, which will be emailed to you upon sign-up. All tasks will be explained before you start.

Grammar & Meaning: Text analysis (for MQuni; unit grade – Distinction)

Linguistics degree

grade 82.5%

complete submission here