Monday 18.11.08 – Reflective writing
Interview with Alan Patterson – Senior Lecturer ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) University of Derby
Work shown:
Animations reviewed: Delyse “What’s your favourite part of the day?’
Audio reviewed: Ken “If you were about to be shot, what would be your last request?’
Sketchbook: Transcription conventions/lexical repetition/word stress dots
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION
TAS: Are there other conventions to mark intonation and word stress?
AP: Yes, phonetic script or symbols can be very helpful to express how to pronounce the words.
TAS: Who are the linguistic pioneers within this field of study?
AP: I’m not sure, we deal with generic books on the subject.
TAS: Within your curriculum, is slang and everyday language addressed?
AP: We try to mix formal with informal and be realistic. We realise ‘good morning’ has long been replaced with ‘hi’ and ‘how are ya’?
TAS: How much or little do your students know about British culture?
AP: It varies, some have travelled a lot, very few haven’t been here before.
Seeing visual aspects of British culture in the animation wouldn’t harm the students’ knowledge.
TAS: What variety of materials are your students provided with to help their learning? i.e. books/internet/audio/TV/video/podcasts etc.
AP: All of these, we sometimes use clips from ‘youtube’ to make the work contemporary and up -to-date with the students age range, it always links to the topic of the day, i.e. useful to show aspects of grammar.
TAS: Approximately what percentage of the student’s time is linked to the printed word (text book)?
AP: I would say 70% is based on the printed word, because it can be accessed at the students pace.
TAS: What percentage of the student’s time is linked to audio work?
AP: Approximately 30% of the time it is pure audio (tapes/vt etc). The students are constantly listening to conversations and the classroom experience has audio aspects.
TAS: What are common/major issues your students have with acquiring
a second language?
AP: The greatest problem by far is word stress. Take for example how to pronounce the words photograph and photographer. The wrong emphasis on a word or sentence can result in miscomprehension. You can get grammar wrong and even the order of words, but the importance of word stress is of paramount importance.
It is also useful to recognise that spelling and pronunciation are wide apart. Think of word such as ‘thought/through/bough/bow/thorough etc.
It is confusing for new learners.
TAS: Are there many lessons about intonation of voice?
AP: No, only before formal presentations, we try not to over-correct this aspect as the student can lose fluency. If a student is monotone, we will highlight this as it will affect the delivery of their presentation.
TAS: Can you describe the student profile you are currently teaching (cultures, ages, ethnicity, nationality).
AP: It is varied. We have Spanish, Portuguese and Korean students from ages approximately 18-21.
TAS: Can you see parallels between typography and oral language?
AP: Not really. What I think will help students is printed work and slowing the pace down the way that typography on a page slows down in general.
It would be good to offer the students the script first, before they see the animation. Is there a way the sound can be slowed down without distorting the voice?
TAS: I am not sure, I will try to find out about this.
TAS: We only listen to 7% of the contents of speech, the rest is tone of voice…discuss! See comments from previous question about intonation.
REVIEWING THE WORK
TAS: Which parts of the animation do you think will help the students to learn English?
AP: At the moment, I think it would be too confusing for them. It’s a more artistic than practical. I like the visual aspects though.
TAS: Would printed supportive material help the student to capture the message?
AP: Yes, definitely it would slow the pace and help comprehension.
TAS: Are there parts of the animation you think might hinder learning?
AP: The pace mainly, perhaps Ken’s voice will be better as he doesn’t say as much.
TAS: Can you see this work fitting into a module or during an
induction/introductory phase?
AP: Not at the moment it is too fast for a learner, I was struggling to watch and listen and it’s in my first language!
My reflections and conclusions from the interview:
1 PRINTED SUPPORTIVE MATERIAL
Printed materials will be helpful to show different aspects of language.
Small printed booklets could explore the following:
1 Word stress
2 Pronunciation (using phonetic script)
3 Transcription convention (how the words were said)
4 Regional Accents (highlight this more/’bus’/’buz’)
5 Patterns of speech (lexical repetition)
2 PACE OF VISUAL MATERIAL
Review how much content goes into the animation, ensure the work is not visually cluttered. Simplify your visual language and keep to one theme, ie road markings or tea related to reduce visual noise.
3 PACE OF ANIMATION
Can the animation be slowed down, paused stopped, points made then the work continues? This will be harder to implement and will alter the fluidity of the work.
I am not keen on doing this because it forces and unnatural stop where the audio and visual need to be continuous and flowing.
4 VALIDITY OF USING THE WORK TO AID ESOL STUDENTS
Is the animated work the right medium to teach aspects of language to ESOL students? It might not be. Currently the work is too fast, experimental and frantic.
I need to be mindful of selecting the right words to be experimental with. For instance, ‘in’ ‘then’ ‘on’ ‘yeah’ would be better to experiment with than more complex words. This has been Barnbrook’s approach.
If the animations aren’t right for ESOL students where does this lead
me to next?
I think that working with ESOL and overseas students has helped me to focus on specific parts of oral language and has helped my research become clear. I now see that if I continue to work with this department the outcomes could begin to be too restricted. I will aim to strike a balance between function and aesthetics.
Weds 19.11.08
I presented the work to my work colleague today in an auditorium and had the session timed and notes were taken. There were a few technical hitches connected to switching programmes to view movie files, which I have now resolved. The pace of the work and titles sequence and contents were well received. The presentation was perceived to be in a well-ordered and logical framework. The words ‘handmade’ were queried, does this sound glib or could it be misunderstood? I have altered the text to read as I have adopted a ‘hands on’ approach.
My colleague found it useful to see my influences and understood the hierarchy
of the artists/visual communicators chosen. Useful references were suggested, ‘Ursonate’ by Kurt Schwitters (see web references) and Johnny Hannah (‘the man with the beautiful eyes’). These references are broad ranging from historical to contemporary and audio dominant to visually dominant. I have spent some time researching these artists and include screen shots and references. Concrete poetry was mentioned again, this is in my context files but I will include it in the presentation as a research topic.
Suggestions for future animations are to consider hand-drawn letter/writing from the speakers themselves. This could add to the authenticity of the work and personify the speeches.
Useful Urls for Kurt Schwitters Ursonate
http://www.ubu.com/sound/schwitters.html
http://www.schwitters-stiftung.de/bio-ks2.html
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/cutandsplice/media/ursonate2_205.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/cutandsplice/merz.shtml&usg=__HJqHa8pSG6rL0VpjjS3Xz7XuLsI=&h=205&w=205&sz=7&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=YsZHoIPczN5rZM:&tbnh=105&tbnw=105&prev=/images%3Fq%3DUrsonate%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gPKpX0bGqps&feature=related
http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?hl=en&resnum=0&q=Kurt+Schwitters+Ursonate&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#
http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?hl=en&resnum=0&q=Kurt+Schwitters+Ursonate&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#
http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?hl=en&resnum=0&q=Kurt+Schwitters+Ursonate&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#
http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?hl=en&resnum=0&q=Kurt+Schwitters+Ursonate&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4JZfONAWMWg&feature=related
General typography (youtube ref)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4gzDgj5MFGY&feature=related
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