Annexe : Learning how to learn
Learning Objectives for the Preliminary Unit
This information is in French in the main section of the OER. Use this English version to make sure that you understand how to use the various resources and affordances, like LinguaFolio Online, Hypothes.is, curations on rampages, teletandem sessions, etc.
Learning Objectives for this Preliminary Unit
What you’ll learn and be able to do by the end of this module
- Indicate what you currently CAN-DO in French and plot it on LinguaFolio Online.
- Project what realistically you will be able to do (future CAN-DO) by the end of the semester.
- Plot out what you need to learn & do to move from what you can-do right now to what you will be able to do by the end of term.
- Create your hypothes.is account.
- Create your learning team & assemble your learning materials to achieve your learning goals & objectives.
- Discover what digital curation is, create your rampages.us account, and try your first curation.
- Review what you already know and what you will need to (re)learn before starting Unit 1.
I. Learning how to learn
In this section of the course, you will learn what LinguaFolio is and how to use it to articulate and achieve your learning goals in French. LinguaFolio has been shown in research to provide valuable language learning and tracking tools. Ultimately, it can give you what you need to become an autonomous learner, setting and reaching ever-increasing language and intercultural proficiency. Importantly, VCU Languages has acquired the online version (LinguaFolio Online or LFO) that will allow you to chart your progress inside and outside class, on a computer or mobile device.
Normally in FREN 101-102 we achieve a competency level of Novice Low and Novice Mid. Some students even make it to Novice High. Here are the overall indications given for the oral comprehension by ACTFL for the Novice, followed by the accuracy of the Novice High sub-level, which is the level where you should be currently listening to the spoken language:
NOVICE
At the novice level listeners can understand some key words, cognate words from their native language, or some stereotypical expressions that are strongly contextualized and predictable, like those heard in courteous introductions and polite exchanges.
Listeners at the Novice level are able to capture words and fragments of sentences from simple questions and high frequency imperative statements. They typically need repetition, rephrasing, and/or a slowed-down rate of speech to understand. They rely heavily on extralinguistic support to extract meaning.
Listeners at the Novice level are the most precise when they are able to recognize a speech that they expect. In this way, these listeners have a tendency to recognize more than understand the meaning of the discourse. Their oral comprehension is largely dependent on factors other than the message itself.
NOVICE HIGH
Listeners in the sub-level Novice High are often, but not always, capable of understanding one statement at a time, about the length of one sentence, in basic social and personal situations., with contextual or extralinguistic support, but their comprehension stays very uneven. If they have learned the vocabulary, they are able to grasp speeches addressing areas of practical need such as highly standardized messages, phrases or instructions.[1]
These are the steps you will take to learn about and begin using LinguaFolio Online in this unit.
- Learn about LinguaFolio and LFO.
- Consider how you will set your own learning goals for this semester: https://lfonetwork.uoregon.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/03/Learner-Goal-Setting-Handout.pdf
- Create your LFO account and connect it to this course: (use this code: s.LH3228PM29). Connect LFO to FREN 202-002.
- Fill out your LinguaFolio with your Can-Do statements and input any artifacts that you may have retained from earlier coursework or experiential learning. Add extra-curricular learning and artifacts from previous classes and experiences that add dimensions to your Can-Do statements (eg., study abroad, Francophone roommate, work in a French bakery, internship in a Canadian company, etc.).
- Review the Can-Do statements for Unit 1 to try to shore up any gaps in your current knowledge and skills (what you think you should have learned by now, but just don’t feel as strong as you think you should).
To go further
If you’d like to try out the European version of a proficiency-based test, this one is fun, completely in French, and culturally very authentic. It is from the Centre National de l’Éducation à Distance (CNED). The European Union calls its standards, the Common European Framework of Reference, or CEFR. This test is a preparation for the DELF & DALF tests in France. Have fun! http://www.campus-electronique.tm.fr/testfle/ .Needs copyright info
II. Curation ![](https://pressbooks.rampages.us/testing/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2019/09/Curation-and-Creation.001-300x169.jpg)
In this section, you learn about curations and curating. Curating is a 21st century skill. Given the flood of information online, we all need to know how jump in and out of the flow in such as way that we don’t get swept away, rather that we manage to find, manipulate and create information in both professional and private settings. Learning how to manage information in languages other than English is a highly marketable skill. Curating is a suite of activities whereby the curator seeks information about a given topic, learns about the topic from multiple readings, selects some of the most salient sites and sounds, and assembles a narrative around these artifacts, sharing it with others so that they learn from you. In this section, the class will be learning about curation in general but also learn learning about it in French, noting the ‘French way’ to curate by studying examples from the French speaking world.
These are the steps to take to learn how to curate effectively in French (and in English!) :
- Create your rampages.us site if you don’t have one already. Join the French curations rampage: https://rampages.us/french2atvcu).Read one or more curations on curation, learning the vocabulary and discourse surrounding this field in French.
- Work through a module on curations here: http://fren425frenchmedia.pbworks.com/w/page/50964301/Ce%20que%20c’est%20que%20la%20curation
- Learn about curating for this course here: https://rampages.us/french2atvcu/?page_id=1946
- Try out curation by seeking at least 10 sites, at least half of which are from a Francophone country, that will help you fill in one of the gaps you noted in Section I.1 as you worked on your LFO. Write up your summaries of at least 6 (at least 3 in French), how each selected site promotes your learning, and why/how in particular these sites will help you improve your French. Post your curation on rampages under the category FREN202f2018, with tags: curation0, yourname.
- Learn how to peer edit so you can help and be helped in class on your curation narrative. See here 🙁https://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/modules/writing/04/editing.php & https://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/pdf/wr/writing-feedback-codes.pdf )
- Revise your curation in rampages based on peer editing the professor’s feedback.
- Evaluate the class curations on the rampages site:https://rampages.us/french2atvcu/?page_id=1946.
A Good Definition of Curation (en français !)
Mr Rohit Bhargava for the content (www.webbythoughts.com/content-curation-tools-resource/), and welenia studios for the image (www.facebook.com/weleniastudios/
This is a podcast on curation that explains it quite nicely.
If listening to French is still a bit hard for you, click the “CC” button for captions in French: that can help a lot.
Vocabulary is important:
- contenu = content
- la veille = aggregation
- les sites =sites
- un piège=a trap
- un lien =a link
- assommer =to bore to death
- réseaux sociaux=social networks
- partager = to share
Shouldn’t be hard : Facebook, blogs, Tweeter, le buzz, le challenge, photos, informations, etc.
III. Teletandem & other online intercultural exchange forms
Teletandem language learning, a.k.a, online intercultural exchange (OIE) or telecollaboration is a 21st century learning affordance for second language acquisition. It works by connecting two people wanting to learn the other’s native language. So, for example, an American student who wants to learn French partners with someone from Belgium, Canada or Mali. In their online meeting (via Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Adobe Connect), of 30 minutes, they discuss a given topic or two for 15 minutes in each language: French and English. In some instances, the topics are the same; in others, each person has a specific one. The exchange experience may be organized by the learners’ schools or people may seek out a site like the Mixxer, where one signs up by language and level for exchanges with learners of the native language. Another version, although not really ‘tandem’, is a paid service (like TalkAbroad, iTalki, etc.) in which the language learner works with an online ‘tutor’ who has been hired to work on given topics with the learner entirely in the target language, French in our case.
For tandem learning to work well and for you to get the most from the experience, there are a few communicative functions you’ll need to master as well as some preparation before each session. First of all, take note of which country your partner comes from and learn a bit about the country, the inhabitants, and some of the cultural products, practices and perspectives. In more general terms, you should review how people in French speaking countries greet each other, for example (France, Canada, Mali).
For Belgian partners in fall 2018, we’ll be exchanging with École Professionnel de Hautes Études Commerciales (EPHEC) students. They have a site on genial.ly that will help coordinate our work with them: https://view.genial.ly/5b2bdc55e0c5ed42eb354b9e/ukusephec-language-tandem. There will be 3 “missions” (a very French notion about task-based learning):
- Mission 1: Getting to know one another
- Mission 2: Cultural probing
- Mission 3: Professional work
So why do this? It may seem to some people that English is enough. So many people worldwide are learning it, so why learn their languages? The first is that those people who are monolingual, speak only English for example, are limited in their ability to think, act and communicate. They are most certainly not ready to participate broadly in the global 21st century. The second is that a bilingual person has two ways to see a situation, figure out a problem, choose a response. The third is that languages surround us, not only globally, but in our own neighborhoods, here is the USA!