Technology in the Language Classroom

Reading about the different types of technology that can be used in the classroom and their importance to students learning allowed me to further understand why teachers need to utilize technology to improve the learning process for students.  Throughout my time at UNH, I have only had two Spanish classes that really utilized technology in one form or another.  Only one other class used Blogs and Voicethreads, but other than that, I have only had to use my computer to watch a Spanish movie before class so we could discuss the film in class.

The role of technology is very important in the classroom.  It allows students to use fun and interesting methods to learn more about the material from class.  Most students highly enjoy using technology in their free time, so it makes sense to get through to them with technology.  Students can learn new computer and internet programs easily, because they are so accustomed to using them.  

In many ways, technology allows students to learn the information or use their knowledge to co-collaborate, revise their own work and view the work of other students.  While reviewing the work of others, students can see many of the mistakes that they have made in their own work and furthermore, learn from this to make corrections.  Technology also allows students to use all four parts of learning a target language: writing, listening, reading and speaking.  Voicethreads, for instance allow students to record their own presentations and listen to other students' presentations so that they can further their speaking and listening skills.  There are a multitude of ways that students can improve their reading and writing skills using technology.  Using blogs, for example, allows students to solely use the target language for reading other students' work and writing their own essays or long term assignments.

I believe that technology is something that every classroom needs to utilize.  It is a part of everyone's lives and is becoming a bigger part of life every single day.  It is important also, to remain current with your teaching so that students can connect with the teacher and the material.  Using out-dated textbooks or activities can cause students to be bored or tired with the topic.  When students are using new and exciting programs on the computer, they become more and more interested in what they are learning.

In my article for this week, which was about the usage of Wikis, it discussed many important ideas about the use of technology.  Wikis allow students to read and correct the work of other students as well as revise their own work throughout the semester.  It is a great tool for students to have because they can gain understanding of the language through real writing and reading from their peers.

Digital Technology for L2 Learning and Teaching

I think using technology in the classroom can greatly increase students' proficiency and confidence in their L2 learning, when used correctly.  After reading the article, I learned that the use of one particular online resource, VoiceThread, helped students not only to increase their oral proficiency and content knowledge, but also helped them to increase their cultural knowledge by completing digital news stories on current events in the Hispanic world.  Resources like VoiceThread are useful tools in the classroom because they allow students to use the knowledge they have, but also encourage them to self-critique and improve their L2 skills.  By hearing their own voices on these digital news stories, and by listening to their peers' assignments, the students could improve their proficiency by correcting their won mistakes and learning from the mistakes of others.  This constant self-improvement was a vital benefit of this online system. 
Having been a part of multiple classes which used online tools to promote L2 learning, I can say from experience that some tools are better than others.  There are many resources on the web that can be used to aide students in their L2 learning such as blogs, wikis, videos, conferencing systems, recording systems (such as VoiceThread as used in this article), and others.  In my experience, the key to using these resources, and indeed gaining the full potential of them, is to use them in ways which encourage new thinking and in-depth participation, as opposed to using them simply as substitutes for basic homework.  When used incorrectly, these online resources become a burden and a hindrance for the students, who see the work as busy work, something to be done without critical thinking solely for the sake of doing it.  I have had classes where the online homework was simply a way for the teacher to reduce their carbon footprint, and I believe that we students suffered because of that.  The online work was not though-provoking, interesting, or engaging, and, for me, proved to be detrimental because of these shortcomings. 
I think Second Life would be a useful resource for L2 learners who either cannot access good classes or teachers, or for L2 learners who simply want another way to improve their proficiency.  This might be a fun way for a teacher to encourage students to improve their proficiency by assigning a certain amount of time on Second Life as a semester- or year-long project.  Second Life might also be useful for L2 learners to keep up with or improve their L2 during breaks or time away from school, such as during the summer or during a semester with no L2 classes. 

Blogging, and Technology in General

I read the article entitled “Fostering reflective writing and interactive exchange through blogging in an advanced language course” by Lina Lee (!). After reading this article, I would definitely say that certain types of technology can be beneficial to students learning foreign languages, but I do not think that all types of technology/social media/social networking tools would be beneficial for this purpose.

            Since my first Spanish class at UNH, I have felt that blogs written in the target language are beneficial to foreign language students. As I read in the article, blogs allow students to reflect, write and read at their own pace, and since the learner is in charge of deciding what to write, how much to write, and when to publish it online, blogs promote learners’ autonomy. The open-ended nature of blogs allows learners to be creative, and collective group blogs allow learners to see multiple views on a subject. While I feel that blogs are, for the most part, very beneficial to students, I have seen their disadvantages in my own experiences with blogging. As mentioned in the article, some students’ blog posts on a certain topic will end up becoming very repetitive. For example, if the assignment was to watch a Spanish movie and then create a blog post to answer a few questions created by your professor, sometimes many of the students’ posts end up sounding very similar to each other. Another drawback to blogging in the target L2 language is when professors want their students to critique or give linguistic feedback to their peers regarding the blog posts. In my own experience I have found that most students simply say what they liked about the blog posts of their peers. While compliments are all well and good, they are not always constructive. I do not think that teachers/professors should expect their students to provide linguistic feedback to their peers because, like I read in the article, many students lack the confidence in their own L2 abilities to give constructive feedback to their peers. I think that students should read each other’s blog posts and comment on them if they choose, but I do not think they should be required to provide constructive, editing-like feedback to peers.

            With all of the new advances in technology coming out every year, every month and every day I feel like technology will continue to become more and more incorporated into the ways that students learn in this generation and in the generations to come. Students as young as elementary school aged are already navigating around smart phones, uploading pictures and videos to facebook and youtube, and reading stories on their kindles, nooks, tablets and laptops. Students are posting, blogging, listening and responding to different people from different places and cultures all around the world. When you really stop and think about it, the degree of connectedness that technology has provided is really quite amazing! With that being said however, I do not think every technological advance should be used for foreign language instruction. I think blogging is a good method, and I think some ways of connecting students to native speakers would serve as good methods (ex. emailing, facebook messaging, skyping with a “pen-pal” from the target culture). I think that teachers and professors should pick one or two technology-based methods of teaching/learning for their students to use, and they should keep it at that. If students want to explore and expand more on their own with other types of technology they should be encouraged to do so, but I think too many technological requirements could really frazzle some students who prefer more traditional methods of learning. If a class requires students to post in a blog and to contribute to their class Wiki page (like our LLC 791 class), I think that’s a reasonable expectation for all students. If a class required students to contribute to a blog, a wiki, a twitter, a facebook group, a skype account, a youtube account, and a “Second Life” account I can see where some students would get very overwhelmed. I think that if technology is used appropriately by the instructor and if the instructor knows how to create reasonable expectations for his/her students in regards to technology use, technology-based assignments can be very beneficial to many foreign language students.

            Also, in regards to using “Second Life” for language learning, I think that it is a pretty neat idea! Again, I think that teachers would need to be wary to not require their students to do too much technology-based work, but if this was used alone, in conjunction with one other tech-based assignment, or if this was used at the students’ own free will, I think this could be an extremely helpful learning tool, especially for speaking.

Technology and L2 Teaching

The article that I read this week was “Fostering Second Language Oral Communication Through Constructivist Interaction in Desktop Videoconferencing” by Lina Lee.  After reading this article, I do think that technology can be a very useful tool in teaching a second language.  First of all, the constructivist learning theory is an active, collaborative, and social learning process.  That is, learners work with others to create knowledge.  This cannot be done without actual interactions and in the case of learning a second language, the best interactions would have to be with expert speakers.  Just as this article states, there are not many opportunities for students in certain areas, in this case New England, to interact with native or expert speakers.  Primarily communication in New England is accomplished through English.  Since this is the case, other sources of authentic input and communication have to be found in order to support the constructivist learning theory.  Lee suggests and experiments with videoconferencing.  Technology utilized in this way is absolutely an asset to foreign language teaching.  Students are able to communicate with real native or expert speakers in real time.  Students must make adjustments on the spot because they do not know what to expect and they must creatively attempt to get their point across.  It simulates real communication in many ways.  Although it is not perfect, it is a lot closer to actual communication than class for maybe 3 or 4 hours a week is.  Students will hear different accents as well as develop new vocabulary that speakers from certain countries may use.  Videoconferencing could prepare learners for what abroad experiences will be like.  It would make students realize that they need to know much more than simply what they learned in the classroom.  Videoconferencing seems to be a very good way of exposing students to actual communication and beginning to provide them with real life practice.  I think it is a wonderful idea to use this type of technology.  Not all types of technology can be easily integrated into curriculum or even seen as effective, but this one on one experience is definitely worth a shot.  Native/expert speakers should be able to help students improve with not only their language use, but also their language use within a social context.  Talking and working through problems together seems like a very practical way to get language learners to truly use the language they know and to improve.

                Since I read an article about videoconferencing and agreed with the use of it, I would have to say that utilizing social networking tools in foreign language teaching can definitely be beneficial.  First of all, tools like Skype, Facebook, and twitter have the potential to connect second language learners with native speaker within seconds.  Be it written or spoken, these tools allow students to interact with people all over the world without leaving their native homes.  It may not be possible for all students to travel and gain actual expose to native speakers, and through social networking this flaw can be remedied.  As mentioned above, the use of Skype for videoconferencing seems like an extraordinary oral tool.  Written tools can be useful too however.   For example, students could chat via Facebook in real time.  This would require them to utilize reading comprehension and display their own written skills.  Not only that, but students could comment back to each other about pictures that they have posted or even activities that they plan to do.  At the same time that they practice their language skills, they might also be learning about culture by discussing what is happening in other countries or what the other person likes to do for fun.   Furthermore, these types of social networks are already familiar to students.  They grow up with this technology and it interests them.  By using such networks as a supplement to the learning process, it could possibly keep student interest and encourage them to participate directly in their own learning.  They would be able to take ownership of their second language learning.  Granted, all of this would have to be monitored by a language instructor to make sure it was being used properly.  Perhaps having a class Facebook page or constant check-in would be a good idea. 

                Finally, I thought that Second Life for Language Learning was a very interesting concept.  I like how it puts learners into real life scenarios.  Instead of just going over the vocabulary of ordering food in the classroom, students that use Second Life are actually able to simulate the situation.  It also seems to be a good tool in the fact that students are constantly practicing with expert speakers.  There is more possibility for one on one interactions than there are in a purely classroom setting.  Speakers within the virtual world will be able to correct students on the go and make them feel comfortable in a supportive learning situation.  Students will not worry about being wrong in front of an entire class, they will simply get help as they need it and they are able to enter the Second Life whenever they choose.  This way they can further their learning without the assistance of a teacher.  I think the idea of it is fantastic.  I would like to try it however before I completely make up my mind.  As someone who wants to keep improving their language skills however, I would sign up and go on almost every day.  I think that a program like this could get many students to do the same since it is a safe and even fun environment. 

Digital Technology for L2 Learning and Teaching

The technology article that I read was "Situated Learning through Social Networking Communities: The Development of Joint Enterprise, Mutual Engagement, and a Shared Repertoire" by Nicole Mills. This article described a study in which students in an intermediate French college course agreed to use Facebook as part of their course; the students were required to create fake Facebook profiles, assuming the identity of a character that they had created. All these characters "lived" in the same apartment building in Paris and interacted with each other through Facebook updates, notes, chats, etc. Personally, I would not like it if a Facebook assignment like this one was used in one of my foreign language courses but I see how it helped the students a great deal in this study. The students were able to interact with each other in a less stressful setting, focusing on using the grammar skills they had learned in class online while interacting with their peers. They also learned a great deal about the French culture, which was a great benefit of using Facebook; since the characters the students created all lived in Paris, it was necessary for the students to recognize film, music, artwork, etc. that was important to the French culture in order to interact and carry on conversations with each other. The students all learned to communicate in a rapid manner with each other, and assumed the roles of their characters in a way that both enhanced their skills in writing conversational French and writing descriptive French (i.e., the "notes" or "memoirs" the students would have their characters post on Facebook).

With what Mills calls the iGeneration becoming more and more involved with technology, it is important for education to incorporate this into the classroom in order to better engage students. Using Facebook as a part of the course curriculum also proved to be beneficial; 12 out of the 17 students who took part in this class said that the Facebook profiles made them pay more attention to grammar as they were posting in a public place that all the other students could see. This project also seemed to be beneficial in that it caused the students to engage with each other in the target language in different scenarios; some of the characters were a bit meaner than the others, some were apathetic, some were cheery, some were artistic and it was the role of the students to write on their Facebook profiles incorporating the "voice" of their character as best that they could. After reading this article, I think that Facebook is a good tool to use in learning a foreign language. Blogs and Wiki are also great tools because it allows students to collaborate and post information together, and then share ideas as a class. Skype could be a beneficial tool if a professor must travel and can't be in class so that the student can practice their speaking skills in a face to face setting with their professor or classmates. In my opinion, Twitter would not be a good way to supplement or support foreign language teaching simply because it does not allow its users to post an unlimited number of characters. It could be a good way to quickly remind students when an assignment is due, but I do not see the benefit of using it to supplement foreign language teaching.

I think that Second Life for Language Learning is a good tool for people trying to learn their L2 because it allows people from all over the world to interact with each other. It's great how teachers from the U.S., England and Australia can interact with students whom they might not otherwise have had the opportunity to instruct and they can give immediate feedback to the people who are participating in their activities. The only hinderance I can see to using this tool for L2 learners is that they can only see the cartoon characters on the screen - I think it is helpful to see the actual teacher and how they pronounce their words so that the student can imitate them in order to successfully pronounce words in the language that they are learning. Other than that, I think Second Life for Language Learning is a great method for learning a language on your own time and at your own pace and I think it is really beneficial because it places students in conversational settings with other students.

Digital Technology for L2 Learning and Teaching

The article that I read this week was “Engaging Study Abroad Students in Intercultural Learning Through Blogging and Ethnographic Interviews” by Lina Lee. Based on this article, I can see that for college students that are studying abroad, technology can be a great asset. Through Lee’s study, the students had the opportunity to express themselves based on free writing and assignment based topics at their own weekly pace and free of the stress of critique. Along with these assignments, students were to conduct interviews face to face with native speakers. Lee found that a majority of the students believed this assignment was helpful to their understanding of the target culture. As cultural understanding is one of the five C’s from the Standards of Foreign Language Learning, these assignments helped to progress the cultural understanding for the students who were studying aboard in their target language’s culture. I definitely think that technology is an asset in the classroom, especially with homework assignments. I believe that if all students have access to Internet, this can be used at any age level to communicate back and forth using the target language. Although it is not practicing oral communication, blogging requires quicker responses than essays take and allow the students to analyze their grammar usage. I think it is important that, as Lee mentions, “Carney (2007) argued that the post-comment structure of blogs results in brief exchange and lack of continuity. Thus, instructors should find ways, such as using guided questions, to engage students in reflective thinking in order to develop a deeper cultural exchange” (3) in order to maintain conversation through more than just a thread or two.

As well as blogging, I think that other forms of social media that incorporate a chat function, such as Facebook, can be helpful to students. Again, they do not have to worry as much about their oral skills, but rather their responses need to be quick and timed, but it still allows the students to visually see what they are saying and correct any grammar mistakes before sending it. Skype can also be a great tool because it can help students practice both chat functions and face to face functions. This can be particularly helpful to classrooms that do not have access to native speakers due to their geographical location. Both of these would be really helpful with classrooms that have a partner classroom in the target language. It would give both sets of L2 students a chance to practice their language. I believe that because Twitter offers such sort exchanges, it would not be as great a tool for communication, especially if students were using it to get more cultural awareness. As well, I think that Wiki is more used as a student to teacher basis. For example, in our class right now, while I read everyone else’s blogs and comment on them, I do not go and read the assignments in other people’s Wikis because I feel like that is more of a student/teacher resource than students/student.

Second Life for Language Learner looks to be a good tool because it creates people into characters that can then interact with other characters from around the world. It puts these characters in real life situations that allow them to use conversational and situational oral communication. Right now it seems that the program is only for speakers of other languages to learn English, but there must be other ones like it for L2 learners of other languages. It seems like a good idea because real teachers are also characters that lead the “students” in what to say and how to act. There is a person right there who is able to quickly help fix their grammar and pronunciation. It is very much like a phone call in that there is an immediate oral response, but you do not have to deal with the stressed of face to face interaction, like the usage of Skype might create. Although, seeing someones face as well as hearing their voice may be useful to some students because they are able to pick up on visual cues that the speaker may be presenting.

Discussion #4: Digital Technology for L2 Learning and Teaching

Based on the technology article you have read, do you feel that technology is an asset to teaching foreign languages or do you prefer not to use it? Why? How do you feel about using social networking tools, such as Blog, Wiki, Facebook, Twitter or Skype to supplement and support language teaching? Use examples to justify your answers. 

View this YouTube video and comment on the use of Second Life for Language Learning.

I think to be effective in teaching a language, the teacher must be, first and foremost, enthusiastic.  I have had a variety of teachers from different backgrounds and with different levels of proficiency and focuses.  In my experience, the classes in which I learned the most were the classes taught by teachers who enjoyed teaching and speaking the language.  I can honestly say that i only had one teacher who was not interested in the subject matter, and seemed only to work for the paycheck.  This class being a lower level university class, I don't think it slowed me down as much as it could have, but I still believe I did not learn as much as I should have in that class.

As far as the type of learning instruction, I think the cognitive-code method is the most useful for new speakers to learn as it focuses on what the student knows and applies it to new vocabulary, grammar, and concepts.  One characteristic of this method mentioned in the book is the teacher's ability to promote "creative use of the language."  I think this is vital to new language learning because it provides the student with an outlet for the knowledge they have gained through studying and reading, and allows them to apply their understanding in a new and potentially helpful way: creatively.  This creative approach will broaden the students grasp on the new language, and will also give more opportunities to learn by introducing new concepts and also applying new structure and vocabulary.

I believe that the amount of time spent speaking in the target language by the teacher should correlate greatly to the level of the class.  In my SPAN 401 class, for instance, I think that speaking to my students only in Spanish would not be beneficial to them this early on.  That is why I usually speak to them in Spanish and then translate my own words to English, so that they can hear the English they are familiar with and apply it to the Spanish they are learning.  As a student progresses, however, I think it becomes more and more important for the teacher to speak in the target language more exclusively.  At the higher levels of language learning, I think the teacher should speak exclusively in the target language, and also speak less, encouraging the students to speak more. 

effectiveness of language teaching

In my opinion, there is not one, single language teaching approach or method that will work 100% of the time for every student. After reading Chapter 3, however, I realized that several of the methods discussed could possibly be the most effective language teaching lessons but it is evident that there needs to be a variety of methods used in a classroom in order to reach all kinds of learners. Personally, I particularly enjoyed reading about the Grammar-Translation Method. This is most likely how I learned Spanish during the past ten years. Learning vocabulary lists, grammar rules, and constant repetition is how the language has really stuck with me but I know that this isn’t the case with everyone. I know that this works best for me because I am aware that I am a visual learner – I need to see the words and grammar rules written down in front of my face in order to retain their meanings and rules. I have a feeling that the majority of my future lesson plans will be presented using this method of teaching because that is what makes the most sense to me. Of course, this method isn’t perfect because I still believe that it is important to hear the language from a native speaker even if you may not understand what is being said, a lot of people just pick up the language from hearing words and phrases in context that isn’t necessarily the same as reading a textbook full of lists and rules.

            One of the methods that I consider to be weaker than the rest is the Direct Method. I don’t understand how this method could work as well because there doesn’t seem to be any logical fluency to the learning of a language according to this method. How does one avoid the use of translation and still understand everything? I believe that a student needs to be aware of what they are learning with some more explanation other than miming actions or using objects. I am trying to comprehend that the central tactic with the Direct Method is to use simple discourse when teaching the language but that is not very realistic because you would have to perform that flawlessly in an ideal environment using systematic structures constantly. Even for many highly qualified teachers, this seems idea seems very hard to monitor day to day.

            Ideally, I believe that the type of language instruction that should produce the highest levels of success is one that encompasses hearing the language constantly, written interpretation, visual aids, repetition, drills to practice new vocabulary, and analytic explanations of grammar functions. All of these methods mentioned in Chapter 3 have their strengths (and weaknesses) but if there was a tactful way to include all of these essential factors of language learning that would probably be the most effective and efficient language learning setting.

Effective Teaching Methods

There is no perfect method to teaching a foreign language. After reading chapter three and analyzing nine different methods, this cannot be more evident. A lot of the methods are logical on paper, such as the Audiolingual Method, but are not practical. I believe that not only would it be difficult for the teacher, but also super frustrating to a student if they were in a classroom where everything was taught in Spanish and there were no explanations. Yes, the student would come out of the classroom with paragraphs upon paragraphs of conversation that they can spew out to you, but do they actually know enough Spanish to hold a conversation or survive somewhere where they are surrounded by the target language? I believe that in order to effectively teach a second language, the teacher needs to be flexible and take guidelines and principles from a vast number of methods. I think that most methods explained have something good in them.

Grammar-Translation Method:

                Appreciate literature from the target language and teach culture

                Organic examples of grammar rather than produced

Direct Method:

                Learn to speak by speaking, starting with current situations

Cognitive Code Method:

                Meaningful learning, always understanding what they are being taught

Communicative Language Teaching

                Communication encouraged from the beginning

                Syllabus is based on students’ needs rather than a books order

Total Physical Response

                Listening comprehension is developed fully before intense speech

Natural Approach

                For survival

These are some of the guidelines or principles that I believe are important in foreign language teaching. I think that the vast majority of the instruction should be taught in the target language, but no exclusively. When something needs to be translated or explained, it can be done so in the L1 when it is beneficial for students. I think that speech should be encouraged early on. Although I also believe that grammar has its importance in becoming understandable, the basics for survival are what should be taught first, so common phrases and extensive vocabulary. I definitely believe that students should have a say in why they are taking the subject and what they intend to get out of everything. I believe that there would be a great difference in teaching to someone who wants to carry on the language and eventually become fluent as opposed to a student who just wants the basic survival knowledge. The former would need to be taught structure and the latter would need to be taught mainly vocabulary and common phrases. Curriculum that is tailored to the students’ needs is best, although extraneous for the teacher who would constantly need to be changing the course of the semester and how/when material is presented. Student feedback is definitely important to how best a class is going to learn. No class should really be taught in the same way because there are always going to be different sets of students with different needs and aspirations.

                

Effective Teaching

In my opinion, an effective language teacher uses both the Total Physical Response and the Grammar-Translation Methods in order to effectively teach his/her students and combines it with parts of the Audiolingual Method. In every single beginning language class I have ever taken, the teacher has always used the Total Physical Response method. Not only is it the most helpful by actually showing students and imitating what the word being taught means with your actions, but I have always found that I remember it much easier - when a teacher has acted out the verb or word being taught, it is usually easiest for the students to decipher the meaning and learn it without the teacher actually telling them the meaning in English. One of the  elementary level Spanish teachers that I observed in Education 500 would use this method in every class; she would play Simon Says in Spanish with the kids in order to teach them different verbs and commands, and even to teach them vocabulary. The students would remember these commands, and then the teacher would occasionally let a student lead the game and say the commands on their own. This not only taught the students words, verbs, and phrases without telling them the meaning in English, but the students were confident in their abilities to use commands in Spanish on their own. This method is one of my favorites and one of the most important because it encourages the students to think about what a word could mean rather than the teacher simply giving them the definitions.

As important as the Total Physical Response method is, I also think that it is important to teach students grammar (Grammar-Translation method). The second teacher that I observed in Education 500 loved to use this method - she would often print out a short, paragraph version of a famous story (such as The Boy Who Cried Wolf or The Three Little Pigs) and would tell the students certain keywords and verb definitions, such as comer/comio and lobo for The Boy Who Cried Wolf. After reading the story once or twice with the students (in complete Spanish), she would then have the students translate the entire paragraph into English, or would have the students write a summary of the story in Spanish in their own words. At first, I was skeptical of this method and did not think that the students would learn much, but I was wrong - some of the elementary students had learned to conjugate ER verbs in the preterite tense just from one lesson and continued to do so whenever they would have to write a summary! I thought that was a great way to subconsciously teach students how to conjugate and get them reading - it enabled them to learn words and phrases that they probably would not have learned for a few more years taking language courses. The Grammar-Translation method can seem a bit boring at times, but I believe that in any foreign language class it is completely necessary to learn the grammatical rules of a language in order to fully learn it. The one part where I disagree with the Grammar-Translation Method is that I believe speaking, not just reading and translating the language, is the most important part.

This teacher also combined the Grammar-Translation Method at times with the Audiolingual Method - she rarely spoke in English except to give the students the few definitions they needed before reading the stories she gave them. Although they were very confused at first, after a few classes they soon learned at least the basic meanings of what she was saying. I don't completely agree with banning the students' native language from the class, particularly if they are in a beginning language class; I believe that English should be used when explaining words or definitions and that as the students progress in their knowledge of the language, the native language should be used less and less and the teacher should increase the amount that they speak in the language being taught. It is so important for a teacher to teach most of the time in the target language - whether the teacher says something in the target language and repeats it in English for the students to understand or just teaches the lesson completely in the target language. Jumping into the language and not being afraid to completely immerse the students in it is important, though it does depend on the level that the students are at for it to be the most effective.

Effective Teaching

I believe that there are a variety of methods that teachers need to use to really get through to all their students.  The most effective foreign language teaching is

Total Physical Response is so important in the foreign language classroom, but I am not saying that it is the most important.  This has an emphasis on listening comprehension, which emulates the way that we all learned our first language.  I believe that the way we learned our primary language is the best and most effective way to learn a language.  It’s not very practical, however, to be immersed in the target language 24 hours a day, 7 days a week unless you are abroad.  That being said, it is best for teachers to emulate this kind situation as best that they can.  Completely immersing a first year student, however, can create stress and not accomplish much at all.  Based on appropriate level, the teacher speaking in the target language as much as possible helps that students become accustom to hearing and understanding it. 

            I believe that in addition to the Total Physical Response method, the Grammar- Translation Method is very useful.  In this method, students learn the vocabulary and grammar before really getting into the fluency of the language.  I believe that this is the way that most foreign language teachers teach now.  This is good for students to learn because then they can understand why they must use that word instead of another or the actual purpose behind the words and language that they are using. 

            I am currently in a literacy class and we learned something that relates to this topic.  When children learn their primary language, they memorize the language, rather than actually learning it.  This is similar to the Total Physical Response method of teaching.  Children who are about three years old are capable of conjugating correctly and using the right words.  At this age, children are able to say, “I ran there” or “I woke up”.  Then, when children are about 6 years old, they seem to regress and will begin to say things like, “I runned there” or “I waked up”.  This is because they are now actually learning the rules of conjugation and grammar.  They are beginning to understand that the rule, for instance, that past tense uses “ed”.  Although they do not understand the exceptions to the rules yet, they are learning the rules behind the language that they are speaking.  I believe that this example represents the need for both methods in the classroom. 

         Teaching in the target language as much as possible is important so that students can adapt to using all the skills that they have gained, both in foreign language classrooms, other classrooms and throughout life.  I think it makes them become better aware of their goal of being able to speak, listen and understand.

Effective Teaching

As can be seen in chapter 3, no single teaching method is completely useful or effective.  This is why I think a combination of many methods makes for the most effective teaching.  A foreign language is much like any other subject in that you will have a wide variety of students in your class.  Some may be visual learners, others auditory, and still others kinesthetic.  That being said, you will have to vary your teaching methods and approaches no matter what.  Automatically I would say that the audiolingual method would not work for visual learners who need to see the written form of what they are learning.  It would also seem that the grammar-translation method would not benefit auditory learners.  A happy medium between the two would be the best option.  Even better than that however would be to incorporate elements from many of the other theories as well so that you as a teacher could discover the most effective teaching method for a particular class.  This may take a bit of time, but through a trial and error process you will eventually be providing students with the best way to learn a language for their individual needs. 

 

As for specific types of language instruction that will augment language learning, I would recommend strategies that encourage some grammar and vocabulary instruction, some creative thinking, and some listening and speaking practice.  Generally, I would advocate for the more traditional methods.  I only say this because many of them offer a variety of entry points to a foreign language.  I do not think that at all levels of learning another language that the target language should be spoken 100% of the time.  I think that this would be excellent for students in upper levels once they have some background knowledge OR if students are fully committed to learning the target language.  In many high schools some students are enthusiastic about foreign language while others do not really want to learn it.  Speaking in the target language 100% of the time could possibly frustrate reluctant learners and alienate them completely from future studies.  Using the target language 100% of the time in upper levels however should be expected.  As for explicit teaching of grammar rules and vocabulary, I think that this definitely has to be mixed into language instruction.  Some students are not able to simply “pick up” a language.  They need to have the building blocks to even consider actually learning the language.  Many students are concrete thinkers and it will be necessary for them to understand grammar rules in order to conjugate verbs or even pick the appropriate article to go with an adjective.  I do not think that teachers can assume that students do not need explicit instruction.  Furthermore, as stated in chapter 3, there has been no evidence that explicit teaching of rules, grammar, etc. has negatively impacted language acquisition.  That being said, I do think that students need to practice speaking and listening to the target language after they learn the grammar.  They will never be able to apply it after they learn it on paper if they do not practice in real life situations.  Overall, I think that effective language instruction pulls from all methods to take into account the different learning styles of students.  One method followed in its entirety cannot possible reach all students and many methods must be attempted.

Effective Teaching

The question “what makes effective language teaching” is so difficult to answer because language learners and teachers alike all have different personalities, preferences and learning styles. Some language learners may find that the Total Physical Response method to be most effective for them, while others may feel that the Total Physical Response method did not help them at all, but they really learned a lot with the Grammar-Translation method. As we saw in the reading, there are many different methods of foreign language teaching, all with their own advantages and drawbacks. I think effective foreign language teachers should take all of these methods into account in order to create the sort of hybrid teaching method that they feel works best for their students and for themselves.

While reading chapter three, I came across several aspects of the different teaching methods that I personally found to be very important and effective; these would be the different aspects that I would combine into my hybrid teaching method. First, from the Audiolingual Method, I think it is very effective (if age appropriate) for the native language to be almost completely banned from the classroom. Obviously if you have a class of kindergarteners you will probably speak a little English and allow your students to do so as well, but for the most part, I think the target language should be spoken about 95% of the time in any class above a low-novice level. I think the ideas that students should not be given time to think about their answers and that grammar discussions should be very brief are also very effective because, although this may sound backwards, I think implementing those practices can actually give students more confidence. I feel that by not discussing many grammar rules and by not making speaking seem like such a big deal, students will come to lose their anxiety about speaking in the target language during class. Of course I would never force any student to speak if they really did not feel comfortable doing so, but I think sometimes producing the language yourself through speaking is built up to be such a big, scary thing while really the only way to get better at it is to practice, and once you start practicing more and more, you start to become more used to the feeling.

I also think this idea works very nicely with the ideas of the Total Physical Response teaching method which emphasizes listening and understanding the target language and producing a complete physical response with your body. The elementary school Spanish teacher that I observed for my Education 500 class used the Total Physical Response method with her students, and I only saw good results from it. Although the first through fifth graders that she taught were not speaking much in Spanish, they were all producing complete physical responses which indicated to us that they were understanding the Spanish we were saying to them. If we told the students (in Spanish) to “color the picture of the duck yellow and then put it on your heads,” all of the students, without talking to each other, would follow the directions perfectly. I think that the Total Physical Response method is very effective for lower level language classes, and for students of any level that do not feel very comfortable with speaking because while it emphasizes listening and comprehension, it does not require the students to produce much of the target language on their own.

I think recording your own voice speaking in the target language is very effective for pronunciation (from the Community Language Learning method) and I think the idea of periodically using breathing/relaxation techniques could also be very effective in helping the students think about and internalize new information (from the Suggestopedia method). Like I said before, I think that all of the different teaching methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, and all language learners and teachers will find different aspects of these methods to be effective or not, depending on their own personalities, preferences, and learning styles. I think it’s very important that language teachers don’t feel that they have to choose one teaching method and stick to it; the teacher can take the aspects of each method that they feel are most effective and use them in their classroom when and how they see fit.  

 

Discussion #3: Effectiveness of Language Teaching

Language teaching approaches and methods have cast light on the language teaching and practice. There are still many controversies about the usefulness and appropriateness (e.g., a total of 9 methods mentioned in Chapter 3). In your view, what makes an effective language teaching? What type of language instruction will augment language learning? For example, should teachers speak the target language 100% of the time?

Homework

 I think that homework is definitely an appropriate choice of assessment for a foreign language class. I understand that many students may view homework as busywork but the fact is that most teachers don’t intend for it to be. I strongly believe that giving homework reinforces the day’s lesson and allows students to work and learn the new material without help from their peers (ideally…) or the teacher. I don’t necessarily believe that it’s important to get the correct answers throughout an entire assignment, but the effort that a student puts in to learn the lesson on their own is important. That way, you can sort through the questions and confusion the next day and then move on. Learning a foreign language is something that needs to be practiced constantly so if there isn’t any work to be done outside of the classroom, then the students will come into class mindless every day because they know it’ll all over in 45 minutes.

            In terms of how homework should be utilized in a foreign language class, it is important that the lesson is, again, reinforced and highlights the most critical points of the day. Whether it is a writing assignment or a simple worksheet, the assignment content should always be relevant to what the students are learning about in class. If a teacher does not give homework every day, perhaps it should be used as a study tool or extra practice in case a student(s) is struggling but above all, it should be useful. In my opinion, I suppose homework could be used improperly if it is just busywork and doesn’t support any of the objectives for the course. One thing that really bothers me is when teachers will assign challenging homework and they do not even address it the next day in class. Essentially, if the homework does not strengthen the students’ academic skills, it is probably useless.

            I think that homework should be given both before and after a lesson is taught. It’s not a bad idea to have students do an activity that will introduce a new topic, even if they struggle through it or cannot complete it. I remember in SPAN 632, we would have to research our next discussion topic before we were introduced to it the next day in class. It was great exercise because we already had an idea about what was going to be discussed and researched before we had a chance to collaborate. Obviously, it is more common to get homework after a lesson is taught so the students have an opportunity to do the work correctly according to what they have learned. I personally believe that if there is homework assigned before a lesson, it should also be assigned after the lesson so students can see the changes they made after they learn the information, or so they can expand on and change their original thoughts/assumptions.

            As for the video, I don’t think I would should my students it because there are too many useless, vague suggestions for proper studying habits. Realistically, not all of those things are essential for a productive homework session. Everyone studies differently and all require a certain, ideal environment to work efficiently. The best way to explain how to properly get your homework done is probably through trial and error; if the student realizes that they can’t get anything done with music on then they should probably shut it off. Giving your students suggestions never hurt but it’s a little unrealistic to say that all of those things lead to successful completion of work. 

The Role of Homework

In a foreign language class, I believe that homework is an essential part of the learning experience.  To help students learn outside of the classroom, and to absorb and retain important information learned in class, homework can fill the role of practice.  I think that homework is especially important for beginner level foreign language courses because practicing a new language is the best way to improve.  Homework should be used as an aid to classroom learning, and should never be used to substitute face-to-face learning, because there are just too many ways for a student to do homework incorrectly, which could lead to a failure to learn.  By using homework to reinforce key concepts and skills learned in class, students can become more confident in their new language and be more prepared for class, where they will continue to learn new things.  Homework is improperly used, especially in foreign language classes, when it is assigned to teach new material, instead of reaffirm material taught in class.  When learning a foreign language, it is important for a new student to hear the language spoken often.  By hearing the new language, the student becomes more familiar with the structure and pronunciation, which in turn makes them more comfortable speaking, reading and writing the new language.  As I have said, I believe that homework, especially in foreign language courses, should be given after the class as a way to reinforce what was learned in class. 

I don't think I would use this video to show my students these studying techniques because I believe that most of the techniques are common sense in the first place.  Although there are some facts that I did not know, such as the daylight studying or the carbohydrate-brain function relationship, I think the execution of the video was poor because it aimed for humor rather than information. 

The Role of Homework

I believe that homework should be given in foreign language classes when it is appropriate. Homework should be used as a tool to practice after a concept is taught in the classroom by the teacher. The only time it would be appropriate to give homework before a lesson when introducing a new concept is if it were for vocabulary terms, but never for grammar. Homework can be useful as a form of repetition and practice after the new concepts are taught. One important thing that must always be done with homework is reviewing it the next day in class. This is a perfect time for students to identify their struggles, ask questions, and go over the material again if it is needed. Other appropriate forms of homework may be reading a short story, working on a project using the concepts taught in class, and writing an essay. Standard book activities can be good homework when they are fill in the blanks or matching or conjugating verbs. They are not good activities when they are busy-work. This can include word searches or crossword puzzles. In the end they are not very helpful for practicing how to use words and conjugations. I think some very good homework activities include listening to music, watching television, recording yourself speaking while reciting something, reading short stories, and researching cultural concepts.

I do not feel like I would show my students this video. When I saw it I was confused as to whether it was meant to be sarcastic or not. I think that the tips that are presented are good ones for doing homework at home like using natural light and having a clean work area. Some of the other tips do not typically work for everyone, such as eating, chewing gum, or listening to music. I also am not an advocate for listening to music while doing homework, especially when working with a foreign language. Maybe if a student were working on a project I could see listening to music, but it would be preferable if it were in the target language. 

Homework

When I hear the question “is homework appropriate for a foreign language class,” the first response that pops into my mind is yes. With that being said however, I think it’s very important that teachers use their best judgment to create meaningful, worthwhile assignments for their students. In my opinion, homework on a particular lesson should be given after the lesson is taught in class, not before. I think the lesson should be introduced, taught, and explained in class because that is where the students will get their basic understanding of the concepts. That is also where the students can ask any questions they might have while learning the new material. After that, I think the students should go home and use their homework to practice what they learned in class that day. The only time that I think it is acceptable for teachers to assign homework for a lesson that has not yet been covered in class is when that assignment is simply to read over that next lesson and become familiar with the ideas. I had many classes in high school where this idea was reversed: the students would go home, read a chapter of the book (covering brand new topics), do the accompanying homework assignments, and come to class the next day with questions. I’ve never liked that method because it seems to me like the students are teaching themselves! Many of my teachers in high school said that they liked this method of teaching/assigning homework because it was good for students to “discover things on their own.” So basically, the students taught themselves the major concepts, and then the teachers answered their questions the next day in class (if there were any questions). I don’t agree with this method because I think teachers are there to teach their students and that is what they should do. Sure, sometimes it’s good for students to “discover” and “explore” new ideas and concepts on their own, but not all the time. I also despise the idea of “busy-work” for homework—in other words, work that is not meant to teach much of anything, but just meant to keep a student busy (ex. coloring, word searches, etc.).  I was assigned a lot of busy-work throughout high school and all it did was waste time. I’m not going to learn anything by coloring a picture of a burrito, or by searching for the words “pedir” and “jugar” in a word search. Homework should not be assigned just to take up your students’ time—they have better things to do. Students should be taught new ideas and concepts in class by the teacher, and homework should be used to practice those ideas that are important for the students’ success in the class.

As for the video, I thought it was fun to watch and I would probably show it to my students. I know that the study habits mentioned in the video do not work for everyone (for example, I cannot listen to music, chew gum, or snack on anything while I’m trying to study), but I think this video is just meant to help people feel a little better about their homework load. If you try the methods suggested here and they do not work for you, you do not have to use them. If you try the methods suggested here and they do work for you, than you’ve found yourself new study habits and that’s great.

 

 

Role of Homework

Homework is always appropriate for a foreign language class and it should be used to reinforce what was taught in class and what concepts the teacher wants the students to practice more. With learning foreign languages, memorization and repetitive practice is what helps beginning students learn vocabulary, grammar rules, sentence form and structure and is also what reinforces these necessary things to learn for students that have been taking a foreign language for many years. As it should be used as a method of reinforcing the method that was taught during class, I believe homework should always be given after the lesson is taught so that the student is not confused and spending more time than necessary trying to figure out how to do their homework rather than actually doing it, which is what I feel happens most of the time when homework is assigned before the lesson has been taught – why would you want to confuse your students more by assigning them homework dealing with concepts that have not been explained to them and run the risk of potentially confusing them? In my own foreign language class experience, I always find that when the teacher assigns a few exercises after the lesson has been taught, I retain the information more than I would had the exercises been assigned before the lesson was taught because I would just spend the majority of the time trying to figure out what the teacher was asking me to do without having learned the lesson. Homework can be improperly used when the teacher simply assigns too much homework just for the sake of giving students something to do. Too many exercises grow tiresome and cause students to lose interest, but on the other hand, assigning only a few exercises can be pointless and not enough work to reinforce the students’ knowledge.

I don’t think I would show my students the video about homework/studying tips because I don’t think some of the tips are that helpful, but I would advise them about the study habits that I myself and many people I know find useful. As someone who is easily distracted, I always find that chewing gum or listening to music while I study helps me focus more and drowns out the other distractions or things going on around me. I also think that studying in an organized space or by some natural light is a great tip and it actually helps me focus whenever I am studying so I would advise my students to follow those tips. 

Role of Homework

I think that homework in foreign language classes is appropriate to assign after a lesson.  One of the best ways to learn a language is to practice, however you cannot expect students to know how to do something before you explain it.  In other classes like history or science, pre-reading may be useful before a new lesson, but it is all at least in a language that students understand.  Having students do language homework before they know how to do it would just confuse and frustrate them.  That being said, a student that comes to class already frustrated would be unlikely to participate or engage in the learning process.  They might think that the new language will always be too difficult or that they will never understand it.  For those reasons I do not think it ever appropriate to assign homework before an upcoming lesson that will teach students something new.

As for assigning homework after learning a concept, I think this is perfectly acceptable.  With the current education system we have, students are only practicing or speaking a foreign language for 45 to 60 minutes a day, five days a week.  This is not enough time for many people to develop a deep understanding of language concepts.  A bit of extra practice is necessary.  This is where homework can be very helpful.  For example, if students learn to conjugate verbs in class, they very well may forget how to do it by the next class or over the weekend.  If homework is assigned, then students will be able to practice the concepts they learned in class and a continuous learning process can occur.  I do not think that homework has to be assigned every single night, but based on how the class is doing.  As a teacher you will be able to tell what students are struggling with and what they need more practice with.  These are the types of things that should be assigned for homework and then worked on more extensively in class.  Overall, in my opinion practice is the only thing that will improve language ability and therefore homework is definitely important.

As for the video, I do not think I would show it to my students, but I would give them some of that advice.  I would not show it to them simply because of the mention of listening to music.  In my school we have to tell students to put away their music to listen to instruction all the time.  I wouldn’t want them to confuse listening to music while doing homework with listening to music during instruction periods.  I do however allow my students to listen to music when they are working individually because it certainly does help some people.

Discussion #2: Role of Homework

When (if ever) is homework appropriate for a foreign language class? How should it be used? Do you feel it is ever improperly used? Should homework be given before or after the lesson is taught. Exchange ideas with your peers and be sure to use examples to support your opinions.

 Will you show your students this view? Why and why not?

 

Foreign Language Requirement at the University Level

I believe that it is important for all people to study and learn a second language. My opinion does, however, only refers to a certain level of schooling. By the time we are the University level, we already have an idea, sometimes an exact knowledge, of what we wish to become certified in and have a degree in. I think that although students may still discover that they are unsure of what they want to do when they are older, they usually generally know that they have an interest in art, science, math, ect. I don't believe that forcing them into taking a foreign language is necessary because if people think the subject is interesting, they will make it a part of their lives. In my own case, I believe that required science classes for instance are of little use to me at the University level. I already have a brief understanding of science concepts and ideas, but I am not trying to become an expert in that field. If this question was asking about having foreign language required in elementary, middle or even high school, my answer would be very different. I believe that the purpose of attending college is to become more proficient in the field (and relating fields) that you will be working in once you graduate.

If we can teach our students to have an interest in foreign language at a young age, then we can hope that this interest stays with them later in life.  If they have even a small understanding of the importance of learning a second language, then they may try to make learning a second language into part of their lives.  Although I believe that it is important for all people to learn a second language, I do not necessarily believe that it is useful for every person.  Some people find jobs and social situations where a foreign language is useful, but others may never encounter a situation like this. I believe that teaching a foreign language in Elementary, Middle and High School is important to demonstrate the importance of this subject for all students.  For example, if I was never taught science in school (or only a few days a week throughout my education) I would not have an interest in the subject.  I understand that science is important to learn and have a basic understanding of in life, but I do not find it very useful in my everyday life.  This is how many people approach learning a foreign language.  They understand that it COULD have use in their life, but they do not have an interest in it.  This is why I believe that taking a required foreign language class at the university level may sometimes lead students to have an interest in the subject, but I believe that case is rare.

Foreign Language Requirement

     This issue of foreign language requirements has been discussed quite a bit since I entered UNH as a freshman three years ago. Although I believe my opinion on this topic is a very biased one considering the fact that I am a Spanish major, I still think it's important to push the idea that it is crucial that universities across the country have a language requirement for their students.

     It is evident that my opinion on the need for a language requirement has only gotten stronger since I studied abroad in Spain last year. For five months I had the opportunity to live and observe the European lifestyle. I ended up leaving the country with a new perspective on how their society is run in comparison to the American way of life, which had been my only source of reference on how a seemingly "successful" nation operates. If the Europeans that I interacted with during my semester abroad had not known English, I wouldn't have felt even remotely safe and comfortable as I had. This is not to say that I couldn't communicate with them in Spanish, but if you have a chance to speak your native language with others in a new places, it is definitely more comfortable especially in times of urgency and stress. Once I realized that just about everyone has to learn English at some point during their schooling, I was embarrassed to admit that we Americans hardly put emphasis on the importance of other cultures and languages outside our own. There's no doubt that as a collective nation, we are viewed as selfish and narrow-minded by other developed countries. The fact that almost every person I came in contact with while in Spain could articulate some form of a conversation with me in English, caused me to feel humiliated that most Americans are not interested or competent enough to do the same in a second language.

   The benefits to learning a foreign language are so significant especially in today's society where we have access to products, services, and information from around the world that may only be taken advantage of if someone knows and understand the language and/or culture of that source. Living in America, it's very easy to forget that there are other people who live a different life from us thousands of miles across the globe. To me, learning a foreign language is all about networking with others. It doesn't mean you have to agree with their cultural values or beliefs, but it does help us all as human beings to continue to relate to each other and work together regardless of where we are from or how we were brought up. People of foreign cultures will always have something unique to bring to the table, just as us Americans have great ideas and opinions to share as well. Making connections and bridging cultures, we can all progress as one.

   Although there are almost no negative aspects to learning a new language, the only one that I consistently hear is that it is "too difficult" or "it takes years to become fluent". Both of those assumptions carry truths; yes it is very difficult and time consuming when one decides to take on another language. I understand that language-learning is not a strong skill for everyone, just as I don't have any scientific skills in my entire body. However, what I do not tolerate is when others simply don't put forth any effort to learning new languages. I don't sympathize with those people who claim language-learning is "too hard" or "doesn't stick" in their mind when they didn't attempt to get something out of their 7th grade Spanish class or a one hour French lesson. Simply put, those who don't try will never learn, regardless of the subject matter.

  To conclude why I believe foreign languages should be required at the university level, it is my hope that one day I will never hear the "everyone should just learn English" argument. Not only is that one of the most egotistical comments I have ever heard an American say (and I've heard it quite a few times...), it is unrealistic. Not everyone is as fortunate as us to have the resources to perfect their English or even their own native language, nor is it one of their priorities to conform to English learning practices and adapt the culture that comes with the language. Everyone should have the right to preserve their own language and culture, regardless of how many people they do or do not share it with. I cannot emphasize it enough-- foreign languages are what bring character and diversity to a society. If we could unite people of different backgrounds together through simple communication techniques, we would create stronger bridges from one culture to another and that's something we can all benefit from.

Foreign Language Requirements

I believe that a foreign language should be required for all students at the university. While some students may know what they would already like to major in when they begin college, some may not and may be confused upon entering college. Exposing students to foreign languages can perhaps open their eyes to majors or even minors that they had not thought they would be interested in at first, but after taking a course they discover that they want to continue in that foreign language. If general education courses such as math, science, history, etc., are required at the university level, then foreign languages should be as well. Even after just taking a foreign language for a semester or two could equip students with skills in a foreign language that could help them later in life, whether it be when they are job searching or even just traveling to other countries. With a country that is as diverse as the United States is, it is important to have at least a basic knowledge when it comes to a foreign language. In my opinion, being required to study a foreign language at the university level can help students greatly whether it is in the present or in their futures after graduation; knowing a foreign language, no matter how basic the students’ knowledge may be, cannot hurt them but only help them.

With a world that is constantly shifting and changing with different countries becoming more and more powerful in the world economy, it is not only important for students to take a foreign language course at the university level but it is quickly becoming a necessity. While English has been the dominant global language for many years, other languages such as Chinese and Japanese are becoming more and more important languages to know within certain industries such as business. Not only is knowing a foreign language important for working in certain industries, but it is important when traveling as well. Simply by taking a Spanish course (whether it is required or not), one can suddenly unlock a language that is spoken by many countries in the world. Requiring students to take a foreign language course, ANY foreign language course, not only can help them in their personal lives whether it be with traveling to foreign countries, but can also help them in their professional lives in the future should they decide to work in an industry where knowing one or more foreign languages can be beneficial to them and could even potentially be a skill that helps future employers decide to hire them for jobs.

Foreign Language Requirement

As a student who chose to spend her four years at university dedicated to a foreign language and plans on spending the rest of her life teaching it, I absolutely believe that a foreign language should be required for all students at the university level. As technology evolves and our global economy and affairs more closely intertwine, it is crucial that the lines of communication between speakers of other languages remain open. It is much more beneficial for a company to hire someone who can not only be a great businessman, but who can also speak the language of his clients without the use of a translator.

By learning another language and living in a host country of that language, a student really gets to experience a completely new culture. Without knowing a foreign language, the options for studying abroad are limited unless the school offers an intensive language class and the student is extremely dedicated. If someone only knows English, they cannot easily study abroad at a school in Germany, for example, where all the classes are taught in German. I am a big advocate for studying abroad as well as learning foreign languages and believe that they are very closely related. The majority of students who study abroad in places that do not speak English, are either majors or minors in the host countries language. I feel as if those students “get more” out of their study abroad experiences than students who decide to study in England or Australia. This is not to say that it is not still a great experience studying in English speaking countries, but it is definitely a different experience. My own study abroad experience was definitely positive, coming out of it feeling like I really grasped the new culture and gained a better hold onto the language. It is always something I refer back to and make constant comparisons of. The reverse culture shock really made me think about my own way of life and how maybe what we do here in the United States is not necessarily the ideal way of doing things.

Not only is learning a foreign language great for communication, but it also offers other useful aspects as outlined in the Standards for Foreign Language Learning. A student who learns a foreign language gains knowledge and understanding of other cultures which allows them to more easily make connections with people outside of their typical communities. They are able to use these insights to make comparisons between this new culture and that of their own. They are able to see other ways of life and potentially find something in there that could change their daily life for the better, for example a new diet or political system. Recently, I have felt like I have heard more and more people (students and adults alike) say that their one regret in college was not learning a foreign language. Our world is changing and knowing just one language is no longer going to suffice. If it becomes a requirement in universities, we no longer have to deal with these regrets and our country can move forward with those connections to non-English speaking countries. Even if this requirement goes only to the advanced level (500's), I believe that the basics are better than nothing and may even spark a new interest for the student. I believe that the benefits of having a foreign language requirement are beyond the benefits of having other requirements as part of the Discovery program, such as the fine and performing arts requirement or the biological science requirement. I know from personal experience, I got a lot more out of taking Spanish than I did taking Germs.