Open Up

Conversations on Open Education for Language Learning

Announcing a new textbook: Her Şey bir Merhaba ile Başlar!

Editor’s note: the below post is from the introduction by Jeannette Okur to the Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar textbook and supplementary materials that she recently published with COERLL. This introduction carries a CC BY-SA license.

Hoş geldiniz! This set of openly licensed curricular materials is meant to guide learners from the Intermediate to the Advanced proficiency level in Turkish communication skills, while increasing intercultural communicative competence. Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar’s four units encourage learners to use the Turkish language to investigate, explain and reflect on the relationship between contemporary Turks’ socio-cultural practices, products and their perspectives on family, love and marriage, the environment, social activism, art, film and politics.

Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar is aligned with the ACTFL standards for Intermediate- and Advanced-level communicative skills and intercultural proficiency descriptors, and also reflects the University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Middle Eastern Studies (and my personal) commitment to blended instruction and the Flipped Classroom model.

One main premise of Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar is that learning a foreign language should focus on learning language in use. Thus, all activities are guided by real-life, plausible language situations: How would native and non-native speakers use the vocabulary, grammar and sociolinguistic rules in everyday contexts to make sense of what others tell them and to make
meaning themselves?

Another important premise is that curricular materials designed to help college-age or adult learners progress from the Intermediate to the Advanced proficiency level must:

  • Move from the personal realm to the societal realm in terms of content, vocabulary, text forms and discourse.
  • Provide regular opportunities for practice of the language’s “building blocks” (new vocabulary and grammar structures) and for higher order thinking tasks.
  • Balance the four communicative skills.
  • Balance seriousness and fun!

A final premise is that culture and language are fundamentally intertwined, and that culture is not a separate skill set to acquire, but rather the foundation of all language use. My colleagues at COERLL and I also believe that there is no one “target” culture, but rather that communities have a variety of subcultures, with different life experiences, practices and preferences. Therefore, we expect that the process of “learning Turkish” involves discovery about ourselves, our own cultures and assumptions as well. In the Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar units, learners will find multiple opportunities to reflect on their own perspectives as they strive to understand the viewpoints reflected in the varied Turkish examples they encounter.

Each unit will:

  • Introduce learners to culturally and socially significant phenomena in Turkey today in order to hone their cultural analytical skills through tasks that foster reflection, comparison and articulation of findings.
  • Introduce learners to a variety of authentic print, audio and audio-visual materials aimed at native Turkish audiences, guiding them to use (and reflect on) the reading, listening and viewing comprehension strategies needed to understand these Advanced-level texts.
  • Engage learners in active recognition and repeated practice of new vocabulary and grammar items.
  • Guide learners through practice of oral and written discursive strategies specific to the Advanced proficiency level.

For more information:

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Dr. Jeannette Okur has coordinated the Turkish Studies program at the University of Texas at Austin since 2010. Drawing upon extensive experience teaching not only Turkish, but also German and ESL, she continues to develop new curricular materials for Turkish language instruction at the Novice, Intermediate and Advanced proficiency levels.

Announcing a new textbook: ClicaBrasil!

Editor’s note: the below post is the introduction by Vivian Flanzer to the ClicaBrasil textbook that she recently published with COERLL. The introduction carries a CC BY-NC-SA license.  

ClicaBrasil, the web-based Portuguese program developed and in use at the University of Texas at Austin since 2010, is a media-rich Open Educational Resource (OER), which requires neither password nor fees. An OER is distinguished from commercial materials by its open copyright license (Creative Commons license). Users may adapt the original materials and share their adaptations with others, but must credit the original content and its author.

ClicaBrasil was designed to teach the Portuguese language in the context of Brazilian culture to intermediate and advanced language learners. It can be successfully used either in classroom settings or for autonomous learning. The website and the new textbook comprise an open curriculum that includes seven units based on culturally rich literary texts. In addition, the curriculum contains 157 authentic and unscripted videos of Brazilians from all regions and sectors of society speaking about their lives, their country, and topics that arise from these readings. Each unit contains hundreds of activities that hone language skills while raising awareness about contemporary Brazilian society. The activities are accompanied by a helpful answer-key. ClicaBrasil also provides a grammar bank with concise explanations about verb tenses and conjugations as well as a vocabulary list for each chapter. Designed to accompany the website, the ClicaBrasil textbook is downloadable for free in PDF format and is also available for purchase as a print-on-demand book from Amazon and Lulu.com.

Tips for the Learner

Each unit has four sections with many activities: Pano de fundo (Backdrop), where you will be introduced to the unit’s specific socio-cultural scenario; Leitura (Reading), with glossaries and tools to help you understand the text; Gramática (Grammar), where you will learn and review grammar topics in the context of the readings and the videos; and Aproximando o foco (Zooming in), where you will have the opportunity to explore and reflect more extensively about aspects of Brazilian culture and society that arise in the units.

Tips for the Instructor

There are several ways to use ClicaBrasil. I encourage you to personalize these open materials according to your students’ needs. As this is an OER, you can edit and remix its content, crediting the original source and author. Feel free to skip a unit or a section, or to do them in a different order. And if, for example, you think a composition activity would make more sense in your course as a class discussion, go for it! It is always a good idea to select which activities you will do in class (as a group, in pairs, or individually) and which you will assign for homework. I suggest you ask your students to check the answer-key before submitting their homework, so they can clear up any questions in class. Some activities offer “suggested answers” because they reflect personal views or subjective opinions. My students have reported that the “suggested answers” have inspired them to discuss the lessons in class after doing the homework.

I have had a lot of fun reinventing the way I teach with ClicaBrasil. I hope you will too.

For more information:

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Vivian Flanzer Vivian Flanzer was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she spent most of her life. She coordinates the Portuguese Language Program at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese of the University of Texas at Austin since 2001. She has a B.A. in Communications; an M.A. in Anthropology from the Museu Nacional of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; an M.A. in Foreign Language Education from UT-Austin; and is completing her Ph.D. in Iberian and Latin American Languages and Cultures at UT-Austin.

The Impact of OER on Teaching

Photo credit: “Impact” by flickr user Walter-Wilhelm, resized and edited for this blog Creative Commons License

COERLL hosted an online “OER hangout” on June 3rd on the subject of the impact of open educational resources (OER) on teaching practices. With 32 people attending, four instructors shared their experiences creating openly licensed resources for teaching and learning languages:

  • Julianne Hammink, Instructional Design & Development Coordinator at the Center for ESL at the University of Arizona who is developing OER for ESL
  • David Thompson, Professor of Spanish at Luther College and author of a set of four problem-based units for Advanced Spanish
  • Sonia Balasch, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Linguistics in the Department of Language and Literature at Eastern Mennonite University and co-author of Español y cultura en perspectiva
  • Margherita Berti, Doctoral student in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching at the University of Arizona, and creator of Italian Open Education, which features 360° Virtual Reality videos.

Although the topic of the hangout was teaching practices, OER can have an impact before teaching has even begun. The panelists pointed out that developing OER made them think more about their course design, giving them more insight into their own instructional practices and goals.

One common factor of success that each panelist mentioned was community. OER can do the often difficult job of bringing different members of the campus community together, for example, librarians, digital humanitarians, and centers for teaching and learning. Each panelist mentioned having talked to their colleagues for advice at some point during the OER development process. After publishing her OER, Sonia heard from faculty at other institutions who were using her materials and she went on to mentor colleagues as they developed their own curricula, thus growing the community.

OER can broach topics that are more challenging, current, and relevant than in a traditional textbook. The panelists exposed their students to a variety of topics. For Sonia, it was social justice. For Margherita, it was virtual reality access to non-touristic locations that would show Italian culture from a more everyday perspective. For David, it was controversies in Spain, such as bullfighting.

This kind of subject matter has the potential to motivate students to think critically. David pointed out that “part of the goal… is to present students with messy or incomplete information that they must then combine and recombine in order to develop a reasonable solution… OER lends itself well to being… less curated or edited for a classroom context.” And this format gave his students the space to develop their collaborative skills.

David, Sonia, and Margherita have all published their materials, and Julianne is beginning to pilot her materials this semester. But their work is still evolving. At the end of each semester, Sonia asks her students in their evaluation if they have any changes to suggest, and then updates the materials accordingly. She said “the readings will be better, thanks to my students. We don’t have the final word on anything… that’s the idea.”

For more information:

Thank you to our four panelists and to everyone who attended! COERLL is planning more OER hangouts for the fall, where we will emphasize various topics in OER (including student-authored OER) and allow plenty of time for questions and discussion. Keep an eye on our social media and our mailing list for more information!

 

Inclusive Pedagogy and the Language-Learning Classroom

Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post from Sarah Le Pichon, an Assistant French Instructor at the University of Texas at Austin, on the topic of inclusive pedagogies. Students, administrators, and faculty here at UT are developing inclusive policies and practices. If your institution is considering the same changes, we hope the following information will help.

We also saw a clear link to open educational resources in Sarah’s advice: inclusive teaching requires adapting or adding on to your curriculum to address your students’ varying identities, and these changes are easier with a curriculum composed of openly licensed materials that can be adapted based on individual needs.

Language pedagogy most often focuses on linguistic theory and the most successful modes of language learning. Discussions of inclusivity, however, are crucial to successful language pedagogy; in fact, language learning and teaching are largely about coming in contact with different populations and broadening our world view. More importantly, instructors must remember that students cannot leave their identities at the door when they enter our classrooms, and we must therefore adopt pedagogical practices that acknowledge and welcome all populations and identities. Inclusive pedagogies aim to outline implementable practices that encourage open and welcoming learning environments for all populations and identities.

Remember​: These techniques work differently depending on where you are in your career, as well as on the teaching context and your own teaching ethos or style. Use techniques you feel comfortable with; hold off on ones you don’t.

Welcoming Trans- & Gender Non-Conforming Students into our Language Classrooms

Trans- and gender non-conforming students may feel particular anxiety in entering a language classroom, where partner work abounds and where, most often, gender pronouns and gender agreements are addressed on a consistent basis. Language classrooms must finds ways to welcome trans- and gender non-conforming students, and aim to minimize anxiety that might hold students back from learning a language. We should not, however, assume that any individual is ready to or wants to share their gender identity with the classroom or their partner. This means that instructors should be prepared and trained to have conversations with trans- and gender non-conforming students, and work together to establish the best course of action for them in the classroom.

  • Make Room for Your Students​:
    • Distribute notecards the first day of class that ask for the student’s name as it appears on the registrar, their preferred name, and their pronouns. Present yourself to your students using this model as you distribute the notecards, for example: “My name is Sarah Le Pichon, and I go by Sarah. My pronouns are she/her/hers. You are welcome to leave your pronouns section blank, or if you would like to discuss further, you can indicate that on your notecard as well.”
    • Follow your students’ lead: Have a conversation with your trans- and gender non-conforming students about how they would like for you to proceed in the classroom and with their peers.
    • Offer options: For example, give them the option to stick with a single partner they feel comfortable with for the semester, rather than switching partners, thereby avoiding unnecessary misgenderings, or repeated requests.
  • Know Your Information:​
    • Know your gender-neutral pronoun information. If you feel like it is complicated, go over it and practice using those pronouns and making those agreements until it comes to you more easily.
    • Do research on how trans- and gender non-conforming issues are addressed in the language and various cultures you teach. These conversations might be very different from one country to another, even if those countries share a language. Acknowledge the different ways in which this conversation is being held across different cultures. Many languages also have several different options for non-binary individuals; research these different linguistic possibilities, and offer your students options.
    • Provide students with accessible and clear information, and diverse resources: show them blogs, videos, articles, etc. from trans- and gender non-conforming individuals who speak the language you teach.

Representation: Race and Diversity

Cultural discussions that address matters such as race are crucial to an inclusive language classroom. Think about and practice methods to properly and confidently mediate discussions on these complex cultural topics so that you feel more comfortable and knowledgeable when addressing these in the classroom, while providing authentic resources that allow a diverse set of voices to be heard.

  • Rethink Your Texts:​
    • Diversify your texts! Think and rethink your material every semester. Find authentic online material that makes your students feel represented, including blogs, videos, articles, etc. from various identity groups.
    • Eliminate any exclusionary language: make sure none of your material stereotypes, mocks, or in any other way targets an identity group.
  • Create an Open Environment​:
    • Have open conversations with your students about how these conversations are being had in the various countries in which your language is spoken.
    • Acknowledge gaps in knowledge, and your own experience/privilege; this is especially important if you yourself are not a part of the identity group you are discussing.

Providing Resources and Working Beyond the Classroom

While not all of us have the opportunity to rethink our materials and texts, we all have the opportunity to provide our students with adequate resources. There are always ways you can create an inclusive syllabus, and small ways you can diversify the material you present to your students.

  • Be Prepared with Referrals:​
    • Know the resources your students need, and provide specifics (counseling and mental health services, services for students with disabilities, behavioral concerns advice line, student emergency services, Ombuds Office, etc.), including phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses. Add these to your syllabus and/or course site.
  • Seek Other Input​:
    • Let other voices be heard by providing outside/online resources (blogs, YouTube videos, etc…). Create a weekly newsletter that links to all of the resources you’ve studied or discussed that week.
    • If you feel comfortable doing so, talk to your supervisor about inclusive materials and additions.

For more information:

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Sarah Le Pichon is a PhD student in French Studies working on non-conforming individuals and identity negotiations in the nineteenth century. She has taught French at various levels, from pre-k to higher-education classrooms, since 2013. She now leads Trauma-Informed Teaching workshops for staff and faculty in addition to working as a French instructor at UT Austin. Sarah also creates inclusivity workshops for various groups on campus. Most recently, she was invited to speak at the Faculty Innovation Center’s Inclusive Teaching and Learning Symposium. She does not claim to be an expert on any topic, except for the Harry Potter series.

Working with Students to Create a Textbook

Editor’s Note: Guest blogger Julie Ward edited an anthology of Hispanic literature with her students, elevating the role that the students played in the class, and proving that the pedagogical affordances of openness are just as important as the low costs most often associated with openness.

I initially had the idea to work on OER because of the wonderful OER librarians at my campus. Their initiative to promote the adoption and creation of OER on campus inspired me to propose a project for my Introduction to Hispanic Literature and Culture course, a third-year Spanish course required for Spanish majors.

The course generally relies on fairly expensive and large anthologies. I thought that if I assigned texts that were in the public domain, and asked students to choose one particular text to study and prepare for inclusion in an online, open-access anthology, the Antología abierta de literatura hispana, they would have a richer research experience and really get to understand what literary studies are about.

This project would also give them the chance to practice their writing in Spanish, and to write for a much larger audience than a traditional classroom paper provides. Students knew that they had the option of submitting their work for inclusion in an open-access anthology, and that anyone with internet access around the world could potentially read their work. This fact motivated them to do their best and to consider their audience.

Finally, I was happy that students had the chance to create something that could help other students. Their results of their hard work over the course of the semester are visible and useful. The learning experience doesn´t stop at the end of the semester, but is shared with others. It is also a lasting example of their skills that they could highlight in the future.

My goal in leading students to create their own textbook was to help them learn the tools of literary research and give them an audience beyond the classroom or the campus. In small groups, students chose one of the texts studied in our Introduction to Hispanic Literature and Culture course and created a critical edition, complete with introductory information about the author, time period, and literary context; footnotes annotating various aspects of the text itself; and a bibliography for further study.

With the help of two undergraduate research assistants, I uploaded the results into Pressbooks, where it is downloadable and accessible in many formats. Now the first edition of the anthology is available for students of Hispanic literature, and I am working on a second edition, with the help of the Rebus Community, that incorporates critical editions made by students at other institutions.

My goal is for the AALH to continue expanding and become a go-to, open-access resource for anyone who wants to know more about Hispanic literature and culture.

For more information:

Julie Ward joined the faculty of the University of Oklahoma in 2014 as Assistant Professor of 20th- and 21st-Century Latin American Literature. She holds a PhD in Hispanic Languages and Literatures from the University of California, Berkeley (2013). Her current research focuses on the representation of the real in contemporary Latin America.

Plunge into a text with social reading

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Photo credit (left): flickr user Jake Macabre Creative Commons License
Photo credit (middle): COERLL Creative Commons License
Photo credit (right): Deutsche Fototek Creative Commons License

COERLL recently made the social reading tool eComma available for users of Learning Management Systems (LMS). In eComma, a group of students can annotate the same text together and share their annotations with each other in the form of comments, tags, and word clouds. Students’ natural capacity for socializing online is put to good use with social reading, as they learn from each other, uncover the multiple layers of meaning in a text, and reflect deeply on their reading. But how does a teacher set this process of learning and reflection in motion?

There are a lot of options for using eComma with your class, and how you choose to use it depends on what your goal is. Here are some possible goals for reading, and ideas for how to meet them:

  • Introduce a new grammar concept: Provide students a grammatically rich text to read in eComma before coming to class. Ask them to comment on words they don’t understand, to make observations about certain parts of speech, and to make guesses about grammar rules, all while responding to each other’s comments and questions. In this way, they learn from each other as they form patterns, solve problems, and build hypotheses. (This inductive technique was developed by Alex Lorenz from The University of Texas at Austin.)
  • Raise awareness of cultural constructs: Lead students through a series of steps to build awareness of their assumptions about the L2 culture and language. They begin by “red flagging” a text based on anything that stands out. Through comments to each other and further research, they discover where they may have been misconstruing a text, and finally formulate a modified interpretation of the reading based on research and peer feedback. (This process was developed by Joanna Luks, as described here in more detail.)
  • Guide students in identifying key information in the text: Kara Parker of Creative Language Class uses highlighters and paper instead of eComma, but the same ideas can apply in eComma… ask students to identify “who”, “where”, “when” and “action taking place” in the text. Then, they can use this information as a basis for a summary of the text, in paragraphs or tweets. (Read more here.)
  • Show how tenses convey meaning: Ask students to label verb tenses to bring their attention to the differences in how the tenses are used.

These are only just a few ways of using eComma, and any of them could be done asynchronously as homework, or synchronously in the classroom, where students can see each other’s comments popping up in real time.

You can also make use of certain strategies to ensure your students are engaging with each other and with the text. For example, require each student to respond to at least one comment from a fellow classmate, ask them to find patterns in what their peers are commenting on, ask them to make comparisons, or assign them each a role in reading and annotating the text. (For example, each student highlights a different grammatical structure.)

We hope you will find a way of using eComma that works best for you and your language class! If you do, we’d love to hear about it in the comments below… your ideas could be valuable for other teachers.

For further reading: