Year 7/8 E-Learning in Languages (ELL)

Year 7/8 E-Learning in Languages (ELL)

How does the use of a variety of ICT tools incorporated with other non-ICT learning activities enhance student confidence and achievement in speaking Japanese?

Teacher Name: Tamsyn McGarva

School Name: St Joseph’s Catholic School, Fairfield

Postal Address: 88 Clarkin Road, Fairfield

Email Address: [email protected]

GST number: 28-670-087

Learning Languages in the New Zealand Curriculum

Learning Languages is a NEW LEARNING AREA – not an 8th learning area.

“In Learning Languages, students learn to communicate in an additional language, develop their capacity to learn further languages, and explore different world views in relation to their own” (The New Zealand Curriculum, 2007, p. 17).

This means that all schools with students in Years 7 to 10 are expected to be “working towards offering … opportunities for learning a second or subsequent language, including Maori Language (in English Medium Schools), by 2010.”

Communication

Language knowledgeStudents will:Recognise that the target language is organised in particular waysMake connections with their own target language

Cultural KnowledgeStudents will:Recognise that the target culture(s) is (are) organised in particular waysMake connections with known culture(s)

Teaching and learning should incorporate the 3 strands of language learning as outlined in The

New Zealand Curriculum (2008, pp. 24-25).

Learning Languages in the New Zealand Curriculum

The generic framework for teaching and learning languages in English-medium schools (NZC, 2007)

Key Competencies

St Joseph’s is a decile 8, full primary, urban Catholic School in

Hamilton. There are 362 students and 26 ethnicities represented

within the school – our school flags represent this diversity…

Ethnicities

New Zealand European

Maori

European

African

Latin American

Pasifika

Korean

Filipino

Australian

Chinese

Sri Lankan

Japanese

68%13%

5%

4%

3%

Aim: To provide all children with the experiences of Second Language Learning, to enable them to acquire languages and be accepting of people from different cultures.

A Lead teacher of Learning Languages liaises with the school support services Learning Languages advisor to develop the teaching programmes and best practise within St Joseph’s School.

Year Level Language 1 Language 2

Year 0-4 Maori

Year 5-6 Maori Chinese

Year 7-8 Maori Spanish

Japanese

French

German

Years 5-8 students lock into an intensive language programme for one year. Languages are taught for 90 minutes per week and integrated into the classroom programme as much as possible through the regular use of greetings and classroom instructions. Lessons are planned using the Language Learning Media kits as a guide.

Room 3 Japanese Class

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Samoa

n

Filipino

Cambodian

Mao

ri

NZ Eur

opea

n

Icela

ndic

Tongan

Congole

se

Ethnicity

Nu

mb

er o

f S

tud

ents

Year 8 Girls

Year 7 Boys

Year 8 Boys

Year 7 Girls

Name Year Gender EthnicityStudent voice relating to prior knowledge in other languages and cultures.

Personal Goal

Learning Style / Stanine

Kenji 8 Male Samoan “My mum and dad speak Samoan fluently but I can only speak and understand parts of it.”

To learn as much Japanese as I can.

Kinesthetic

5

Daisuke 7 Male New Zealander “I have family in Croatia and have travelled around Europe for a month.”

To introduce myself to a Japanese person and tell them my interests.

Kinesthetic 7

Takashi 7 Male Māori “I am a quarter Māori. My mum can speak quite a lot of French.”

To have a conversation in Japanese when meeting someone for the first time.

Visual9

Yuko 7 Female Congolese “I can speak French fluently, and have a basic conversation in Swahili, Lingala and Kikongo.”

To introduce myself and tell people what I like and don’t like and say good bye politely.

Auditory4

Aki 7 Female Icelandic “My Dad speaks fluent Icelandic and I can understand parts of it.”

To be able to talk about myself in Japanese.

Kinesthetic

6

Noriko 8 Female New Zealander “I don’t speak any other languages. I would like to travel overseas one day.”

To introduce myself to a Japanese person and tell them a bit about myself.

Visual7

I used personalised classroom opinions from a whole school survey ‘cueing learners’ prior knowledge’ (Timperley et al, 07) regarding ICT tools to inform my decision on the kind of e-learning and ICT tools to pursue for my inquiry topic.

The Prensky (see reference slide) reading work-shopped on Professional Learning Day 1 gave me the confidence to introduce and use new ICT tools with my class. I learnt that as ‘Digital Natives’ students don’t need specific instruction to understand and become familiar with a variety of ICT tools.

My aim in learning languages was for the students to achieve the three objectives in levels 1 and 2 (The New Zealand Curriculum, 2008) for the communication strand with a specific focus on speaking. The language and cultural knowledge strands were interwoven throughout (refer to slide 4). Emphasis was placed on the following key competencies - using language symbols and texts, managing self, participating and contributing.

I chose this aim because Learning Languages is a mandated learning area (The New Zealand Curriculum, 2007, p. 17). I also used student voice in the form of personal goals as further evidence to support my decision along with my knowledge of Ellis’ Principles (2005).

Teacher inquiry and knowledge-building cycle to promote valued student outcomes.

Students need to learn a new

language.

I need to immerse myself in the Japanese language and

teaching methodologies.

I can utilise students’ prior knowledge of

ICT tools.

I need to learn and introduce students to a

variety of new ICT tools.

Progress data – through student voice

and classroom observations.

H. Timperley, A. Wilson, H. Barrar & I. Fung (2007) Teacher professional Learning and Development: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education

How does the use of a variety of ICT tools incorporated with other non-ICT learning activities enhance student confidence and achievement in speaking Japanese?

Research and theoretical base used to underpin focus question:

Ellis Principles (2005)

Principle 6 – Successful instructed language learning requires extensive L2 input (LL kit and teacher, interactive games sites, websites, native speakers).

Principle 7 - Successful instructed language learning also requires opportunities for output (making a video, designing posters).

Principle 8 – The opportunity to interact in the L2 is central to developing L2 proficiency (role plays, cooperative games, learning activities).

How I went about answering the focus question?

• I have a large group of kinesthetic learners in my classroom along with a large group of visual learners. I thought about how I could make each lesson interactive through the use of games and cooperative activities. I created and used Power Point Presentations to teach each lesson thus catering for the visual learners.

• I also have a Japanese native speaking friend who acted as language mentor / adviser for me during this process. She made many intercultural communicative aspects come alive for me and my students during the year. (Newton & Yates iCLT 2009)

• Examples of my lessons follow…

In this lesson you are going to find out …

• Where Japan is on a world map• Some things about Japanese culture• Some of the similarities and differences

between New Zealand and Japan• The roles of the different Japanese writing

styles.

Japanese classrooms are usually

old and have very

little colour. No work is displayed

on the classroom

walls.Instead of learning at their own pace, Japanese children must all study the same material at the same level. Learning is difficult for some children because not everyone learns in the same way and at the same speed.

There is also hardly any room between desks.

Japanese teachers write on a blackboard and always teach the whole class from the front of the room.

Our classrooms are bright

and welcoming

with art work and displays on the walls.

Students are grouped and taught in different ways according to their learning needs. We use different sorts of technology to learn, such as computers and data projectors.

Our classrooms are spacious.

Teachers move around the room and often teach small groups at a time. Teachers write on a whiteboard.

Students take turns at preparing lunch for each other every day. They bring it to their classroom and dish it out for the other students.

Students are also responsible for cleaning the classrooms and toilets at school.

Students bring a packed lunch from home to school everyday.

Students are not expected to clean the classrooms or toilets just keep them tidy.

We eat our lunch outside

School buildings are up to 5 stories high.

The school sports fields consist of dirt and sand.

Students attend clubs such as sport and music practices from 4 till 6 every night after school. There are often no adults at these clubs. Our school has a big field of grass and

a fun playground. We have one story classrooms.

The students all have the same school bag. This must be confusing!

Most schools have new and very fancy gymnasiums regardless of how

run down the rest of the school is. Everyone has their own style of school bag. Our school does not have a gym so we exercise outside.

The students have technicraft classes just like we do.

The students wear a school uniform like us.

Writing in Japanese is a mixture of four different types of characters.

Hiragana – 46 simple characters that represent the basic sounds of Japanese.

Katakana – 46 simple characters that represent the basic sounds of Japanese, but are used for words borrowed from other languages.

More complex characters adapted from the Chinese writing system.

The alphabet that is used to write English.

When the Japanese started writing many centuries ago, they used only the ‘Kanji’ they had borrowed from China’s writing system. Because their language and culture was so different to that of the Chinese the Japanese found it necessary to adapt the complex characters for their own use. Out of this came ‘hiragana’ and ‘katakana’, and later, as more contact with the West was established, the writing system used in most werstern languages – the alphabet, or ‘roomaji’ in Japanese – also became a part of Japan’s writing system.

The purpose of this lesson is to reinforce the new vocabulary and

phrases you have learnt and to put this knowledge into practise through

games and role-play.

We are learning to …

• Greet people• Introduce ourselves and others• Say goodbye to people• Give our nationality and ask others for theirs• Name classroom objects• Recognise and respond to simple instructions

How do you know when you have learned it …

• I can greet people appropriately• I can introduce myself• I can introduce my friend• I can farewell people appropriately• I can give my nationality • I can ask others what country they are from• I can ask what an object is• I can name classroom objects• I can understand classroom instructions

Write all the answers in your Japanese book. Look for the clues on each page – Translate or answer in Japanese.

Onamae wa nan desu ka

in Japanese

into English

Ohayoo Gozaimasu

in Japanese

Boku wa Beau desu. Oosutorariajin desu. Nani jin

desu ka

in Japanese

Watashi no denwa bangoo wa san ni yon no hachi zero zero

ichi desu

into English

• I consciously looked for contexts where students could use single utterances already learnt in authentic communicative contexts which enabled them to progress from single utterances to phrases and full clauses.

• Roll call• Games • Role plays• Designing posters• Card games• Questions and answers

(Ellis Principle 7, 8, 2005)

• I invited native speakers of Japanese into the classroom to communicate with the students and assist them with their learning.

(Ellis Principle 6, 2005 and Newton, 2008 )

• Deliberate links were made between sounds in the Māori and Japanese languages. This process was part of a chain of influence from myself to my student teacher.

(Timperley et al. A chain of influence (2008) Fom Ki te Auturoa).

How I went about answering the focus question?

I collected my data on student achievement through on-going formative assessment.

• Initially students completed a baseline survey to ascertain prior knowledge of the Japanese language and culture.


• I reviewed videoed lessons and recorded the single words, phrases and full clauses used by the students and myself.


• Students completed a self-assessment checklist at the end of each unit to record their progress.


• The students used glogster on the internet to create posters to share their learning.


• Students recorded themselves speaking at various times during each unit.

• I reflected on my teaching by recording anecdotal notes based on learning conversations with the Learning Languages Advisor.


• The final Endpoint was a task based role play (Ellis Principles 7 & 8, 2005) which the students wrote in small groups and filmed using a video camera. Students recorded the single words, phrases and full clauses that they used in their role play.

Number of single words, phrases and full clauses that the target group could write in Roomaji

0

10

20

30

40

50

Student

Nu

mb

er Single Words

Phrases

Full Clauses

Number of single words, phrases and full clauses that the target group could speak in an authentic context

0

2

4

6

8

10

Takas

hi

Yuko

Daisuke

Noriko

Kenji

Aki

Takas

hi

Yuko

Daisuke

Noriko

Kenji

Aki

Student

Nu

mb

er Single Words

Phrases

Full Clauses

Time 1 – Baseline Survey Time 2 – Glogster

Time 1 – Teacher questioning Time 2 – Role play

• Self-assessment checklists showed that students’ motivation, enthusiasm and keenness to learn Japanese remained high throughout the year.

• The graphs on this page clearly show the students’ shift from using single words to full clauses.

• The graphs also show that students are more likely to use full clauses in the target language when interacting with others, especially in authentic contexts.

What shifts have you observed in your students’ learning?

Achievement Objectives

1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 2.1 2.2 2.3

Kenji LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW

Daisuke LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW

Takashi LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW

Yuko LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW

Aki LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW

Noriko LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW LVSRW

JiNZC - Achievement ObjectivesLevel 1 Emergent Communication

1.1 Greet and farewell people

1.2 Recognise and respond to greetings, farewells and introductions

1.3 Introduce themselves and others

1.4 Recognise and respond to classroom expressions and simple instructions

1.5 Use the numbers 0 – 20

1.6 Express and respond to apology and thanks

Level 2 Emergent Communication

2.1 Ask about and respond to personal information about themselves and others

2.2 Use the numbers 0 - 100

2.3 Recognise , express and ask about likes and dislikes

Learning was benchmarked against levels 1 and 2 in NZC and scaffolded by Level 1 and part of level 2 in JiNZC (second tier documentation).

The table below shows whether or not each student in the target group is within the standard for level 1 and level 2 achievement objectives. These results were obtained from student self-assessment and teacher assessment, both of which were completed at the end of each unit in the Hai kit.

All target group students are achieving at least within the standards.

Takashi and Yuko always understand and respond in actions or words to simple phrases, key words, questions or images. Yuko has excellent pronunciation and intonation of the language. Both read Roomaji with competent understanding and recognition and write simple words and phrases correctly.

Above Standard Within Standard Below Standard

“I am now confident in introducing myself and explaining my likes and dislikes. I sometimes have trouble listening to what an actual Japanese person is saying because they speak so fast compared to other people in my class. The listening comprehension activities and Foster Sensei have helped me to improve my listening skills. I really enjoyed having our role plays filmed even though I was a bit nervous at first.”

- Aki“I feel very confident in introducing myself and counting but not so confident in saying phone numbers. I didn’t know any Japanese sentences at the beginning of the year just a few words. I feel proud of what I can do now and I really wish I could do Japanese next year. Using video footage is very helpful because you can see yourself and you can see what you need to improve on and you can hear yourself speaking.”

- Noriko

“I am very confident in speaking Japanese and I learnt my role play very easily and quickly. I think this is because I have grown up speaking many languages. I would like to learn more hiragana characters so that I can read Japanese too. Watching my role play helped me because I could hear my pronunciation and I could tell what I needed to work on compared to an expert.”

- Yuko “I have nearly achieved my goal because I am able to introduce myself and tell my likes and dislikes. I can not yet tell my interests. I am confident talking to a person in Japanese but I sometimes have to take my time to understand them. Using ICT tools such as sound recording and video has helped me heaps because I could hear my pronunciation and work on it if it was wrong.”

- Daisuke

“I am confident in all areas of Japanese that we have done this year except for introducing my family. Watching myself on the video was great because I could see the mistakes I made and correct them and hear my pronunciation. I am looking forward to doing Japanese next year.”

- Kenji

“I am pretty positive that I have achieved my goal and I am confident with all the units we have been taught in Japanese. I still sometimes struggle with remembering which family member is which. Using the video camera really helped me with my fluency because it sounded weird if you spoke too slowly or thought too much about your sentences. I really really enjoyed learning Japanese this year and I can’t wait to go to high school where I can learn more.”

- Takashi

These quotes show the shift in the students’ confidence with speaking and their thoughts on using ICT tools.

• Classroom conversations revealed that students with English as a second language acquire a new language more easily. (See slide 46)

• When new vocabulary and phrases are introduced to students in interesting ways which correlate with their individual learning style they are more engaged in learning activities and motivated to learn. (Ellis Principle 9).

• The use of ICT tools in Learning Languages engages learners in tasks and allows them to communicate in ways that they are familiar with. For example glogster pages allow for communication between class members in a similar way to social networking sites. (See slide 40)

• I found that students, having grown up as digital natives (Prensky, 2001), particularly enjoyed tasks which required them to use technology such as sound recording, photography and video cameras. I also found that students were able to quickly familiarise themselves with new programmes and software. Technology is second nature to my students. (See slide 42)

• I was able to answer my focus question and my data shows that the explicit use of ICT tools incorporated with other non-ICT learning activities does enhance student confidence and achievement in speaking Japanese?

Based on your findings, how might this inquiry into your practice influence your future teaching?

The students benefited greatly from the regularity of once a week 90 minute Japanese lessons.

Varying the way that I put the target language into the learners’ heads by using different forms of presentation and ICT tools meant that I was catering for different learning styles and the students were experiencing more success.

Focusing on oral input and creating games / activities which involved social interaction greatly improved the students confidence and ability in speaking Japanese. I did not put much emphasis on learning katakana or hiragana characters as this was not part of my focus question.

The use of ICT tools helped the students to see, listen, use and interact in the target language. I will continue to use ICT tools as frequently as possible when teaching a second language.

I found that engaging learners in tasks that focused on communication and meaning enabled them to acquire language and was intrinsically motivating (Ellis Principle 2).

I provided many opportunities other than during designated Japanese lessons to listen to, view and read Japanese in the classroom. Therefore increasing target language input and exposure. (Ellis Principle 6).

How has your own learning shifted / improved?

The use of ICT tools helped the students to see, listen, use and interact in the target language. I will continue to use ICT tools as frequently as possible when teaching a second language. A major challenge faced during this research was that the school only had a few of each ICT tool available. Small group work and learning centres seemed to be the best way to get around this.

Using inquiry as a cyclical style of professional learning is a not a new concept for me. Consciously collecting student voice has really helped me to see the benefits of using ICT tools within the classroom.

This professional learning has meant that I have put a lot more time and effort into my Japanese planning and teaching. All teachers have ensured that language lessons occur regularly. I have seen a lot more progress in my students this year compared to other years. Overall my whole class are much more enthusiastic and confident with their Japanese learning.

I have spent a considerable amount of time learning Japanese with a Japanese friend (Miyuki Foster) and feel much more confident in speaking and modelling pronunciation. Miyuki has been an invaluable resource for the students as well who particularly enjoyed practising their conversational Japanese with her and increasing their vocabulary.

My knowledge of 2nd language acquisition has improved also. I found applying the Ellis Principles (2005), with IRDPX as an example of principle 6 ,to my teaching particularly rewarding.

Ellis, R. (2005). Instructed Second Language Acquisition – a Literature Review. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media for the Ministry of Education. Available on http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/5163

Ellis, R., Erlam, R., & Sakui, K. (2005). Principles of effective instructed language learning. NZ: Ministry of Education.

Intercultural Communicative Teaching and Learning (iCLT) From Section A, 2008 draft report Intercultural Language Learning: Implications for Effective Teaching, Newton et al. available on: http://secondary.tki.org.nz/learning_languages/french

Hai! An Introduction to Japanese: Teacher’s Guide & Support Materials. NZ: Ministry of Education.

Japanese in the New Zealand Curriculum, NZ: Ministry of Education. (1994)

Madden,J. Gilbert, J. IRDPX, The X Factor- A 2000 Adaptation

Ministry of Education (2007a). Ka Hikitia - Managing for Success: The Māori Education Strategy 2008 – 2012. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education. Available at http://kahikitia.minedu.givt.nz/default.htm

Ministry of Education (2007b).The New Zealand Curriculum for English-medium Teaching and Learning in Years 1-13. Teaching as inquiry, p 36. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education. Available at http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz

Ministry of Education. (2009). Te Aho Arataki Marau (TAAM) Mō Te Ako I Te Reo Māori – Kura Auraki: Curriculum Guidelines For Teaching And Learning Te Reo Māorí in English-medium Schools: Years 1 – 13. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media for the Ministry of Education.

Prensky, M. Digital Native Digital Immigrants. (2001) From On the Horizon NCB Uni Press Vol 9(5)

H. Timperley, A. Wilson, H. Barrar & I. Fung (2007) Teacher professional Learning and Development: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education

Timperley et al. (2008) A chain of influence. Ki te Autuuroa). Learning Media

http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/5163

http://secondary.tki.org.nz/learning_languages/french

http://kahikitia.minedu.givt.nz/default.htm

http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/

Use of this report

Would you be willing for this report to be published on TKI? (The report would be edited to ensure teachers, students and the school were not identified if necessary)

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Year 7/8 E-Learning in Languages (ELL)