If I were not graduating and had the opportunity to progress in this self directed course of study, the primary thing that I would change would be the degree to which I use the language during the week. For me, I need personal relationships to fuel language learning. Next semester, if I were not graduating, I would spend more time with native Urdu speakers and try to use what I was learning as much as possible. I did this some, but not to the extent that would have been incredibly beneficial to my studies.
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The presentation on South Korean plastic surgery was very eye opening (absolutely no pun intended). I think it demonstrates the end result of when a culture idolizes one idea of beauty. I hope that the story presented to us gets out in the States and people consider their personal perceptions of beauty and how they associate that with the worth of individuals.
Families in Pakistan are closer than families in America, mainly because most people live with their parents after growing up. The son is the one who lives with the parents; the wife marrying into the family moves, so it is patriarchal. Parents have great influence over the choices and actions of the children, in contrast to America where children are increasingly "independent". An example of this would be the parents say on what the child majors on in their studies.
The father, or rather the oldest male in the family makes the final decisions for the family, referred to as the head of the household. This is similar to how Christian families function, with men serving their wife and children by leading.
For an adult child to go against the express command of the father would be a serious act. In some instances the father may disown the son—but this may be reconciled after the passing of time.
Making the first artifact with Omar was a blast—so much fun. First we brainstormed what we wanted to say in the conversation, planning a flow of greeting, introduction, and finally farewells, using phrases that would be the most common in the context of meeting someone new. I was very happy with it too. Omar and I discussed pronunciation after the take. One thing that wasn't stellar was that it didn't sound "natural".
In terms of my learning goals, I was able to learn them well in the short term. In order to maintain long term proficiency I will need to regularly use the phrases.
artifact%201-%20greetings%2C%20farewells%2C%20introductions.mp3
My goals and tasks for weeks 4 and 5 are twofold. I want to be able to introduce myself conversationally and I want to be able to identify and talk about my family members and friends. I will use LiveMocha to learn introduction, and practice with Omar. I will use Byki to learn how to identify and talk about family, again practicing with Omar and asking him questions that come up. In terms of evaluation, I am going to focus on pronunciation, memory, and being able to respond appropriately to something Omar says. He will help judge competency.
Assessment of Abilities at Beginning of Learning Process and Goals
The LinguaFolio self-assessment checklist gives a detailed picture of the level of proficiency in Urdu.
Regarding Interpretive Listening skills of language, at the beginning of my studies it is not in my ability to do any of the things listed well, but they are all goals. With listening particularly, I do not want to meet these bench marks by being able to understand a recorded voice on the computer, but a real person with a real accent.
Regarding Interpretive Reading skills of language, at the beginning of my studies it is not in my ability to do any of the things listed well, but they are all goals.
Regarding Interpersonal Communication skills of language, at the beginning of my studies it is not in my ability to do almost any of the things listed well, but they are all goals. I am able to say hello and goodbye in a very basic manner.
Regarding Presentational Writing skills of language, at the beginning of my studies it is not in my ability to do any of the things listed well, for I am wholly unfamiliar with the script, but they are all goals.
Regarding Presentational Speaking skills of language, at the beginning of my studies it is not in my ability to do almost any of the things listed well, but they are all goals. I am generally able to imitate sounds I hear well, but there are some sounds required in speaking Urdu that do not exist in English, and I am not presently able to generate these sounds at this point without much difficulty.
I will not be using Rosetta Stone in my studies of Urdu. That said, the bookmarked sites on Diigo and BYKI will be very useful as I explore them. I can learn much from these resources. One site in particular will help with interactive memorization of the alphabet's characters. Another site looks very helpful in learning common phrases. All of the sites I have used have been beneficial in their high degree of interactivity. What most of the resources I have looked at so far lack is the real person interaction—the invaluable linguistic interactions with a real human being who speaks the language as their mother tongue. This is why having a language partner is so invaluable for my learning experience.
I found two resources that are very helpful for learning Urdu. Neither of them were found directly in the Global Studio. My language partner helped me find them. Coupled with online resources they will serve as valuable textbooks for the entire semester. Both resources are Urdu lesson books, entirely written in Urdu, and designed to teach children, which is great news for me because they both have pictures and bright colors as result (I admit that I am partial to pictures and bright colors). One is especially helpful with phrases it includes, and the other is very helpful as it is a good visual reminder of how the letters in Urdu change when connected in a word. He recommended them as material because I believe he found them to be helpful for his own learning.
This course, MLC 105, which is focused on self-directed language learning, has been a very impactful in developing necessary tools to enable me personally to be a proactive and independent language learner throughout my life.
What have I learned from my self-directed language activities? The bulk of my learning has come in a cultural format. By interacting on a regular basis with native language speakers, I was able to hear the target language in a cultural context. I was able to pick up on cultural nuances that I would not have learned in a classroom, or in a textbook oriented learning process. Every phrase or word I heard was first heard in impeccable accent, not in a distorted American sound. And every time I heard a phrase I saw the body language and physical communication that accompanied the phrase.
There were specific things that I found to be most helpful as I experienced the self-directed language learning process. Individually I would recommend any language learner to utilize the bountiful multi-media, technology based resources that are available. I found it very helpful to watch athletic competitions in which the commentators spoke my target language. This was especially true with soccer matches. I am very familiar with the sport of soccer, as I have played it my entire life. Because my knowledge base of the sport is so high, I was able to fight through the initial language barrier. Clearly, the first few times I watched a game commentated in my target language, I was not able to understand anything that was said. But the more times that I watched games, the more I was able to associate sounds with happenings on the pitch with words, and comprehension occurred. Similar results could be seen in watching music videos and television shows in my target language on the Internet, using websites such as YouTube. Even more help than watching sports or Internet clips was forcing myself to take risks with my target language. By engaging the community of native speakers in Richmond, I was immersed in the language and its culture. Though the prospects of immersion were initially daunting, I quickly found native speakers to be very patient in my deficiencies and to be excited to impart knowledge to an eager learner.
The biggest challenge to comprehension and retention as a self-directed language learner is motivation. For the entirety of our scholastic lives we as students in America have been spoon-fed, being taught conformity. Creativity is looked down upon; thinking outside the box is discouraged. Independence is equated with delinquency. Like robots we are crammed into the dynamic of standardized testing. Now all of a sudden education is without bounds and parameters. We as individuals get to determine what we learn and how we learn it?! Because of the lack of deadlines and set rubrics, other than those that are personally set, it can be a temptation to “drop the ball”. I was able to overcome these challenges through finding fun ways to learn my language and to regularly put myself into immersive settings.
The key for new self-directed learners is to put themselves into immersive settings. To help facilitate this, MLC 105 should provide information for students as to opportunities in the greater Richmond area to engage communities of native speakers of their respective target languages. For example, if a student is learning Farsi, Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services teaches ESL classes that include students from Afghanistan. This is a great opportunity to interact with people from a specific country that speaks the target language, and will provide wonderful opportunities for accent and cultural lessons. Another recommendation I have for the improvement of MLC 105 is that the course should be a full year. A semester is an unfortunately short period of time to master self-directed language learning habits and practices.
For my response to this article, I want to focus on what the article itself focuses on. What is learner autonomy? As identified by the article, there are seven elements of learner autonomy. These learners have insights into their personal learning style preferences. They are actively engaged in the learning process. They are willing to take risks with the target language. These learners are proficient at making educated guesses and working with them in a proactive manner. They notice grammatical patterns and emphasize appropriate preciseness. These learners both "attack" the target language in parts, and with this target language are outgoing in its use.
The most important element to learner autonomy and language learning proficiency is being willing to take risks with the target language. My close friend is in the process of studying Bangla, the language spoken predominantly by the Shaikh people in Bangladesh and in West Bengal, India. During the past two summers he has studied the language in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. He proactively took charge of the learning process, challenging himself with his language partner and purposefully putting himself into positions in which he was forced to use the language with native speakers. When learning directional vocabulary, he would get on rickshaws and tell the rickshaw driver, "Left!", "Right!", putting himself in a position in which if he messed up his words he would have been hopelessly lost.
Now, my friend is fluent. Instead of riding rickshaws he jokes with the drivers and tells them to let him drive. He gives entire speeches on complicated issues in his target language, Bangla. By taking risks in his target language, my friend is now better equipped to meet his goal, to become a doctor in Bangladesh.
In the article about figuring foreigners out, I found multiple aspects not only interesting but also relatable to my life. While in India, one of the most notable cultural differences was the individualistic v. collectivistic dichotomy. In American culture, that which I have grown up with, people are very individualistic in thinking, but in India people are far more collectivistic. Life is lived relationally, value is found relationally, the community is more important than the individual.
For me personally, the differences between the monochronic and polychronic are very applicable. In general, western cultures are extremely monochronic. Time is important, and precision with time is expected. If dinner is at 7, arrive at 7. If you are late to class, you are frowned upon. In contrast, in most non-western cultures, people perceive time in a polychronic sense. Time is more general, less precise. If dinner is at 7, don't show up until 9. People do not obsess over time, are in less of a rush, and in general employ the use of wall clocks and watches to far less a degree.
I am much more polychronic than suitable for the American culture. Many times I show up to class around time instead of on time. I am an "ish" guy, meaning I would fit in wonderfully in Latin America.
I am a right handed person, so according to the reading I am left brain dominated in the area of language (what a crazy statistic, 95%).
The writer's argument most impactful for me as a self-directed language learner involves what to focus on first. Should I start by examining grammar rules? Should I look at phonetics, or phonology, or syntax? What the writer concludes is that, because grammar exists to give structure to meaning, meaning must first be understood.
The goal of learning a language is communication, communication with one to whom you would not be able to do so without a grasp of the new language. Because this is the point of language learning, I think that it would be a good language learning strategy to focus on the attainment of vocabulary, a build up of words and a grasp of their usage. After your arsenal of words has been established, then moving on to grammar enables the language learner to structure his/her grasp of meaning and vocabulary.
An example of the greater importance on first grasping vocabulary would be when you need to use the bathroom. If you understand how to grammatically formulate a question in your new language, but don't know the word for bathroom, you will not be able to communicate your need to find a bathroom. But if you have a vocabulary base, you can just say, "Toilet?" and the need is understood.
I really enjoyed taking the Fire Model for Integrative Thinking. It is always good to give form to knowledge. So though I have been a student, a learner all my life, I may have not taken time to think of how I most optimally learn. In the model, I answered all seven sections with either Intuitive or Rational descriptions. I most closely identified with the Rational descriptions, choosing the Rational column 5 out of 7 times.
Generally speaking, I am most successful at learning a new language when I have a personal connection and emotional investment in learning the language. I love language not for grammar rules and the academic nuts and bolts of linguistics. I love languages because they enable me to communicate with people who I love. For this reason, I have not flourished in language learning in a classroom setting, though I have succeeded when looking merely at the superficial indicator of a grade. I do best with relational learning. For example, my spanish does the best when I am hanging out with friends, playing soccer, or teaching ESL at RRIS. I was able to pick up phrases and patterns in Hindi and Punjabi by just living with dear friends in Punjab, India.
For this reason, I am looking forward to going to Morocco next semester. I hope to be able to become conversational in Arabic by merely being immersed in the community.
