Please see my attached learning plan for SDLC 111 below!
All Posts (9261)
Sort by
Do some research about the culture of your target language and write about the 'linguistic aspects', e.g., body language, how people talk about time, etc.
Last semester I was in enrolled in a course called Cross-Cultural Management in the business school, and we actually learned a lot about the culture and behaviors of Koreans in the workplace. We discussed the various models such as Hofstede’s model in class, and I was actually part of a group that presented on Asian culture. Koreans tend to be very collectivist in nature. They stick together, and make decisions as a group, tending to not separate their opinions from those from others’ or their bosses’. They are also monochronic, they begin and end things on time and as listed in programs, and they are almost never late without a good reason. Asian culture in general is very indirect. Koreans feel uncomfortable about giving direct negative advice or asking for something out right, they find a way to word sentences in a positive note. In general, Koreans keep to themselves in public and in the office. Without being prompted, most Koreans are quiet and subdued, taking their time to be polite to everyone and everything. This being said, Koreans also accept the hierarchical order of society. They do the work that they are told to do, and accept the direction of their supervisors and the older generation, without the questioning that would be common in Western societies. Korea is a not a very individualistic society. Furthermore, Koreans lead their lives looking towards the long-term, making decisions based on the impact of society in the future, and the direction in which they desire their lives to go to.
As I learned in my class, Korean culture is a stark contrast to American culture, as we act the opposite in every single aspect I have described so far. It is also important to note that societies and attitudes change. I think that while the old generations of Koreans are very much adherent to the standards I discussed, that geographic location, education, and the liberalness of young people may make these standards incorrect. I don’t think all people can be put down under the same behavior models, but as I also learned in my class, as behavior changes, models will change as well.
**Summarize your assessment and goals in a blog post in your learning journal.
According to the Levels of Competence, I would rate my speaking as intermediate-developing 2 because I am most confident in speaking in Korean. However, I am not at the advanced level because I can always increase my vocabulary and make my speaking more clear and fluid. I would rate my reading and writing on the same level of intermediate-developing 1 because I am not so strong at these skills. I would say that I am better at reading than writing Korean, but both skills are weaker than my speaking abilities.
Through SDLC 111, I want to develop my speaking, reading, and writing skills in Korean. My main goal is to use these skills to help me when I try to study abroad at Yonsei University next semester, which is why I will be learning vocabulary about Korean campus structure and the geography of South Korea. I will practice my reading skills by reading articles and short books, while I can work on my writing by learning about grammar and spelling words correctly. I will dedicate 2 hours on Monday to work on these goals with my learning partner, and I will plan out other times during the week to practice!
One of the most interesting passages from the reading was how it is easy to forget the complexity that is involved in saying something as simple and easy as "How are you? Fine. Thanks." Spitting those words out might take only a few seconds, but how several neurological steps are necessary for this to happen is very fascinating. Another interesting point that was very new to me was that tongue slips are not random because the word containing the slip and the word that influences it are found within the same grammatical construction. Before reading this article, I always thought it was just a random mistake that has no meaning or reason behind it. So this article helped me understand that learning a language engages many different parts of a brain in various ways, and there is almost nothing in language that just occurs coincidentally or for no reason.
What stood out to me the most from the chapter about meaning is that it is important to look at different languages because focusing on just one language is likely to prevent the learner from being open-minded about how there could be several different ways of talking about the world and from understanding the difference between sense and reference. I could relate to the passage that talked about how in English, we don't have separate words to mean "mother's brother" or "father's brother" while Australian language does. Korean also has different terms to refer to different people in the family. So this passage taught me that while my target language is Korean, I should be open-minded about how other languages work so that I have a broader spectrum of understanding the world. Also, this article reminded me of the importance of vocabulary and structure work together to convey meanings. I will be remembering this point as I try to learn more advanced levels of vocabulary in Korean which is my weakness because my breadth of vocabulary in Korean is very limited and rather elementary. So while it is important to learn vocabulary, I will try to do so by using them in context or reading them in context so that I have a better understanding of polysemic words.
- Summarize your assessment and goals.
I think I am in the level of Beginning 2 (Novice Level) according to Levels Of Competence. I can understand phrases and commonly-used vocabulary related to areas of personal relevance including basic personal and family information. I am able to catch the main point in short, simple messages and announcements. My reading skill is in higher level than my writing and listening skill. I think my listening skill is Beginning 1 that I can only understand what I have learned in class or by myself.
This semester, I want to improve my reading skill by practicing to read a menu at the restaurant, a children's book, news headlines and store signs. For my listening skill, I will watch/listen to Turkish pop songs' music videos, and news. I will also work on dialogues with my classmates twice a week. My language partner will guide us to practice dialogues like talking on a phone and ordering food at the restaurant. I will spend 2 hours a week (Mondays and Wednesdays) with my Language Partner and classmates. My Language Partner, Gokhan, will give me a feedback while I am studying independent to the classes (2+ hrs on Sundays for studying vocabularies - at least 15 words, 2 hrs on Mondays for reviewing, and 2 hrs on Wednesdays for reviewing).
Here is My Learning Goals Fall 2017.docx.
In addition to discussing the resources, outline how you have begun to work on your first language tasks.
I have downloaded BYKI but I am not 100% how to use it yet. I could not find an accessible page to start learning the language. Aside from this, I have mainly been using Mango languages as well as a couple vocabulary lists (which I annotated in my Diigo) that I found on Google in order to learn the necessary introductory vocabulary. I am looking forward to using these resources because they will create a good foundation for me in the language. Thankfully, all of the resources with the exception of the vocabulary list that I found on Quizlet have an auditory component to them, so I will be able to mimic the sounds to the best of my ability as a starting point for developing my listening and speaking skills. My plan is to first use Mango languages and the vocabulary lists to familiarize myself with some of the words. Then, I will start using Duolingo to complement the study to develop some writing skills as well as my comprehension of words in sentences. I have begun to write down the words that I learn in my Turkish notebook. More specifically, I have written down classroom/life survival language vocabulary and introductions. I will continue to write down newly learned words in order to find patterns in the language.
What kind of language learner am I?
I have always been an enthusiastic language learner and have developed fast language learning skills since I was a child. My native language is Armenian and as can be expected, I started to learn it right after I was born. At a very young age, I started to pick up Russian as well, because Russian TV channels, music, movies and cartoons were a huge part of my life. The same way, I started to learn English from the 2nd grade but unlike Russian, I used multiple language learning websites, chat rooms, dictionaries, internet articles and even had a private tutor. This being said, I am familiar with several ways of language learning and I would say that, listening to the sounds of the language is the most important part in learning it and that is how I managed to learn some Spanish as well. Once I am familiar with the words, tenses, popular sentences, I am more likely to memorize their meanings. 3 languages that I am fluent in are immensely different from one another, therefore, I consider it a huge advantage to have been able to pick up 3 languages of different kinds. I realize that the language that I will be learning(Turkish) will require a lot of responsibility and precise time management, as it is also very different from the languages I already know. I have always practiced the auditory, tactile and visual styles of learning and all of them have equal advantages for me, although auditory remains my favorite one. I have noticed that expanding one's language vocabulary always helps to pick up the language easier, therefore I am going to try to learn as many new words as I can using auditory and visual resources, such as language websites with pronunciation and vocabulary flesh cards. The surveys I took recommended using pictures and journal writing in order to fasten my language learning procedure. I also think that practice helps me a lot, therefore intensive practice with my language partner and classmates will be my mane tool of remembering words and expressions faster. Overall, I think Turkish is a very interesting language and putting some effort into it, will be both enjoyable and academically fun.
Picture taken from:
http://www.linguaschools.com/blog/2015/07/28/how-learning-a-new-language-can-change-your-life/
Summarize your assessment and goals in a blog post in your learning journal and on the first page of your learning plan.
I have little to no experience in speaking this language. I did not have much exposure to what the language sounded like before starting this class. Over the past couple of days, I have watched a few videos on YouTube and listened to a podcast that taught a few basic introductions, such as “hello”, “my name is…”, and “nice to meet you”. By the end of the semester, I hope to establish a very strong foundation in the language in terms of pronunciation and grammar so that I would only have to learn new vocabulary and idioms continuing on.
Reflect on the readings. How does this knowledge help you shape your language learning process?
I thoroughly enjoyed the readings because they gave me another perspective of language learning that I have not considered before. For years, I have wondered about the specific role that the brain plays in the processing of information and I believe that the first reading effectively addressed my questions. I find the topics that the author discuss incredibly fascinating, especially when he or she references the importance of cooperation or lateralization of the two hemispheres in order to communicate. It is outstanding how our brains are able to execute so many processes simultaneously! I previously did not consider all of the small-scale elements such as syllables and phonemes and its role in speech production.
Furthermore, I love how the author contextualizes the meaning of words and simultaneously references languages other than English that have more specific words for certain situations. For example, the reading mentions how the Australian language Pitjanjatijara have different words for a mother's sister and a father's sister while English does not. This made me reflect on my studies of Mandarin Chinese because Chinese has different words for relatives on the dad and mom side as well. Learning this through the reading has made me realize that there are going to be a lot of linguistic components in my target language that are not going to make sense to me or that will be different from what I am used to. I am excited to explore these differences.
In addition to discussing the resources (see above), outline how you have begun to work on your first language tasks.
One resource that I would definitely utilize in the Global Studio is the Korean language textbooks that are available. Since I would like to learn Korean, I believe that it would be best if I utilized a pragmatic way to approaching to learning the language as opposed to my freestyling my way through it. With the help of my TA, I would like to use the textbooks to accomplish my goals for the semester.
The second resource I will definitely utilize is the movie room. I see this as not only a practical way to increase my knowledge of the language and culture, but also as a fun activity that I could benefit a lot from. I could challenge myself to watch the movie without subtitles and summarize the movie after watching it.
Mango languages, BYKI are extremely useful learning guides for me, in that they provide a free software platform for me to able to learn Korean on. Mango helps me translate English phrases into Korean, as this is an extremely useful tool for me. Many of the times when I talk in Korean, I have to process what I want to say in English first, and then translate it into Korean. By utilizing this, I am not only able to expand my vocabulary, but become a lot more comfortable at translating what I want to say into Korean. The Youtube channel that I bookmarked on Diigo teaches how to say certain Korean phrases based on certain situations. It also expands my vocabulary, which is a primary goal of mine this semester. Another thing that I have bookmarked is a website that translates Korean lyrics in songs to English. This will be useful to me as I hope to listen to Korean music as a way to expand my knowledge in Korean, and I will be able to understand what the songs are saying.
I have begun to do my first language tasks by using the language learning channel on Youtube that I bookmarked on Diigo and what was available to me on the Mango site. I reinforced my knowledge on greetings, introductions, and farewells, making sure I knew how not only to spell it properly, but to say it both formally and informally, which is a vital aspect in the Korean language.
For the classroom life and survival, I used Mango to learn the basics of what is necessary. I am learning to translate certain phrases and increasing my vocabulary knowledge.
This helps me understand that the process of acquiring a language is a multi-step process that occurs within my brain. There are localized regions within the brain that aid more towards language. For example, as a right-handed person, I’m more likely to use the left hemisphere of my brain to process my acquisition of language. There are a number of steps taken by the brain to process information within a language. Even within pronunciation of a word, the brain takes steps to spell out each sound. Although it is difficult to technically apply to this to my studies in Korean, it still helps to understand the basic structures of language, and how everything connects to the sounds we make to the meaning words have.
Another way that this can help is through the way we analyze meaning in certain words. This is done through collocation, and how words are defined by the context around them. An example, that the passage provides is the phrases “green with envy”. Even though green doesn’t correlate to envy, we can analyze the meaning of it based on the words it’s used with. This is why vocabulary is so important, and this can help me shape my language learning process by understanding more vocabulary and the phrases that Korean uses.
Lastly, by understanding that different languages have different lexemes, I can expand my knowledge of not only my language learning process, but understanding the cultures behind the language.
What is your interest in 'your' language and what do you hope to accomplish this semester?
My interest in studying Turkish began when I was in Spain this past summer. Someone in my research lab was from Turkey and he would teach me a few random words whenever I would ask him. Jokingly, I told him that I would learn how to speak Turkish and communicate with him the next time that I encounter him in the future. I am excited about this class because it will allow me to turn this into an actual possibility. I know that it will require a lot of effort because the language is less connected to other languages that I have studied. However, I am still striving to reach a B2 level in the language.
Reflect on your experiences as a language learner. What did you enjoy? What did you dislike? Think about the FIRE model and surveys you have just completed. What kind of learner are you? What kinds of language learning activities suite your learning style? How do you think you should expand your learning activities?
My interest language learning developed at the age of 14 on a trip to New York City. Before going, I distinctly remember being excited about seeing all of the famous attractions like the Statue of Liberty and Times Square. Aside from those, I knew nothing about the city. Throughout the duration of my entire trip, one thing kept piquing my interest… SO MANY PEOPLE SPOKE LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH. I was so jealous because I could only speak English. At the time, I was in my third year of taking Spanish, but I could not speak it or understand a native speaker whatsoever. From this observation, I decided to actually take my Spanish class more seriously. However, I became incredibly discouraged at the pace of the course upon return to my school. I realized that the class structure did not align with my goals of proficiency in the language.
Thus, I decided to take my studies outside of the classroom, in which I would use all of the possible resources that I could find. YouTube, especially, became one of my best friends. I would search for videos of other learners (in English and Spanish) talk about how they learned Spanish. It was a nice start for me to practice my listening skills because they spoke nice and slow. Every now and then, I would encounter videos that I could not understand, but that only motivated me more. In addition to watching YouTube videos, I used to listen to podcasts, distinctly one named Coffee Break Spanish and Showtime Spanish. These two podcasts helped a lot because they helped me develop a stronger foundation of material that I already knew. After a while, I began to get more comfortable with my listening skills. In terms of speaking, I often would chat with my native Spanish-speaking friends in high school. I believe that this was one of the most challenging aspects of independent study for me. I wanted to speak Spanish as much as possible but I only had limited access to my friends’ patience to my broken oral skills. Consequently, I believe that my speaking skills were the last to develop.
The most enjoyable part about the learning process was when I began to observe results from my hard work. I mostly sought for results in my comprehension of television shows and movies. This excitement began with Mexican shows because it was the easiest to understand. When I felt more comfortable with the Mexican accent, I slowly made my way over to the Peninsular accent from Spain, which proved to be one of the most difficult accents for me to understand. In this stage of the learning process, I had a fairly good understanding of the language, but I needed to sharpen my auditory skills. Thus, I began to watch several movies with subtitles to develop a better ear for comprehension. I would also take note of the new words that I would learn in the movies and shows. It was very frustrating at times because I could not see the end result of my hard work. However, I am now pleased with the fruits of my labor.
The results from the surveys aligned with my previously observations about my preferred learning style. They revealed that I am 40% auditory, 45% visual, and 15% tactile. While studying Spanish independently, I noticed that I preferred to write out words and visualize them to learn better instead of just hearing them. At the same time, I was surprised to find out that my auditory skills were as high as they are. I intend to employ some of the same approaches of study from Spanish in my learning of Turkish. I am going to start by studying grammar and pronunciation, because I am a very straight forward and factual person. I believe a very structured start to learning the language would be the most beneficial for me. I intend to expand my language learning by using new language learning websites and programs like Duolingo and Memrise. I will adopt more methods along the way.
Turkish Learning plan (FALL 2017)
Learning goal: To be able easily communicate with people using basic language expressions, use travel language to “survive” in restaurants, shopping stores, be able to introduce myself and my family, describe the surroundings in easy language, talk about hobbies, ask and tell directions and read easy texts.
Methods: Use a wide range of Auditory and Visual materials, memorize vocabulary, watch movies/TV shows, talk to native speakers, practise with my language partner and classmates.
Resources: www.duolingo.com
Global Studio resources, language folder, Byk 4 Express
Other possible resources that may come along the way
1st week- General Introduction to the course and to the culture
2nd week- Learn the Alphabet: vowels and consonants, learn simple words. Intro to Turkish culture and traditions
3rd week-Express gratitude, use greetings, express politeness( Thank you, Excuse me, I’m sorry etc), Introduce my name and and ask if someone speaks Turkish/English, yes/no.
4th week- Learn colors and numbers, proper and full self-introduction(Where I’m from, my age etc.)
5th week- learn some simple nouns, months of the year, days of the week, revise introduction
6th week- Animals, regular(basic) adjectives, learn how to ask and say times in Turkish
7th week- General revision, daily routines, hobbies, revision of the times, "survival expressions"
8th week-Some professions and places. Start reading simple texts, express wants and needs, ask questions, create simple sentences
9th week- Learn to conjugate nouns and pronouns, learn more nouns, the most used verbs, questions, adverbs of frequency, weather words
10th week- Introduce family, continue learning basic verbs, continue learning adjectives, ask questions and answer, create sentences about family
11th week- Speaking exercises, monopoly, general revision, movie.
12th week- Create sentences about daily routines of others, ask questions about them.
13th week- Weather vocabulary, revise food vocabulary, learn expressions to order/buy food, do shopping
14th-Talk about hobbies, learn/revise directions, tell where you work/study, tell the times and everything you've learnt so far.
- During the whole period of studying, use all the resources mentioned above and add new ones if there is something useful.
- Complete the Reflections and Journals
- Watch Turkish movies over weekends to get a general idea of culture and traditions
- Watch“Kara Sevada” Turkish soap opera with turkish sounds and Russian subtitles in order to continuously be exposed to the sounds of the language.
- Explore the culture and make the presentations interesting, ask questions to the language partner
Reflect on the readings. How does this knowledge help you shape your language learning process?.
After reading the articles, I can see the deeper connection of the brain’s involvement in the language learning process, and how the learning process is made out of building blocks of association and meanings. In the first article, I read that the left hemisphere controls the movement of the right side of the body, and it is dominant in language for right handed people. The left hemisphere is also dominant in analytical tasks, categorization, calculation, logical calculation, information sequencing, complex motor functions and language. As a right handed person, I often use my hand to make gestures when I try to describe something, or a word. I can see the connections between using my right hand for language and using my left hemisphere for analytical tasks and calculations. I often fidget with my right fingers when I try to remember something or try to study for tests. I am also more of a left hemisphere person, as I am an Accounting major, and as an Accounting major I do many calculations and analytical work everyday. I see that I can use this knowledge to my advantage by trying to using my right side of my body to awaken my left hemisphere connections. I can make gestures when I say different words in Korean, for example say the word for ‘run’ in Korean and make a running gesture with the right side of my body-- hopefully this type of learning will help my remember words better.
I also have to say that I agree with both the naturalist view and conventionalist view. When I was learning Spanish, there were certain words that I learned and could guess the meaning from without knowing the definition. It would have to do with the way the word sounded, and the way the word was spoken. Take the word “emocionado.” Obviously from the context of the English word “emotional” you can tell it has something to do with emotion. I didn't know the word before I studied in Spain, but when people would use the word they would say it with such feeling, that I knew what it meant, without connecting the word to the English word. However, I also agree with the conventionalist view that words need to be put into sentences so we can gather the meaning of them. There are many English words that I need a dictionary for in order to transcribe the meanings of the word. I imagine that when I learn Korean I will have to draw from both disciplines. I will have to learn to associate some words with their natural meaning, and simply have to memorize the definitions of other words. I believe being open to a mix of the two disciplines will help me accelerate my Korean learning process.
Reflect on the readings. How does this knowledge help you shape your language learning process?.
After reading the articles, I can see the deeper connection of the brain’s involvement in the language learning process, and how the learning process is made out of building blocks of association and meanings. In the first article, I read that the left hemisphere controls the movement of the right side of the body, and it is dominant in language for right handed people. The left hemisphere is also dominant in analytical tasks, categorization, calculation, logical calculation, information sequencing, complex motor functions and language. As a right handed person, I often use my hand to make gestures when I try to describe something, or a word. I can see the connections between using my right hand for language and using my left hemisphere for analytical tasks and calculations. I often fidget with my right fingers when I try to remember something or try to study for tests. I am also more of a left hemisphere person, as I am an Accounting major, and as an Accounting major I do many calculations and analytical work everyday. I see that I can use this knowledge to my advantage by trying to using my right side of my body to awaken my left hemisphere connections. I can make gestures when I say different words in Korean, for example say the word for ‘run’ in Korean and make a running gesture with the right side of my body-- hopefully this type of learning will help my remember words better.
I also have to say that I agree with both the naturalist view and conventionalist view. When I was learning Spanish, there were certain words that I learned and could guess the meaning from without knowing the definition. It would have to do with the way the word sounded, and the way the word was spoken. Take the word “emocionado.” Obviously from the context of the English word “emotional” you can tell it has something to do with emotion. I didn't know the word before I studied in Spain, but when people would use the word they would say it with such feeling, that I knew what it meant, without connecting the word to the English word. However, I also agree with the conventionalist view that words need to be put into sentences so we can gather the meaning of them. There are many English words that I need a dictionary for in order to transcribe the meanings of the word. I imagine that when I learn Korean I will have to draw from both disciplines. I will have to learn to associate some words with their natural meaning, and simply have to memorize the definitions of other words. I believe being open to a mix of the two disciplines will help me accelerate my Korean learning process.
As I’m currently learning Mandarin through the University of Richmond, one aspect of learning a new language that I enjoy is finding words and phrases that are non-existent in other languages. For example, in Mandarin, it is difficult to find a word that directly translates to “hate” in English. These kinds of cultural differences that appear within the language are extremely fascinating.
What I didn’t like about learning new languages, however, was the difficulty of acquiring new grammar styles dependent on the language. For example, when I translate an English phrase into Korean, I get my grammar mixed up and make it sound convoluted for Korean grammar. Although it is inevitable and is part of the process in learning a new language, the translation into grammar makes it difficult, and I don’t enjoy it.
Through the survey, I discovered that I’m a visual learner. As a visual learner, I need to reinforce visual cues that will help me remember aspects of what I’m learning. This means I should take notes of certain keywords or phrases, as well as utilizing flashcards to reinforce my visual cues of the words that I learn. However, it was also encouraged that I draw pictures and color coordinate to help my studying habits, but I’m not sure this is the best way for me to study, as I do not like drawing for my studying habits. Flashcards, however, have been proven effective for me, and I will like to utilize them in the future as I learn more Korean.
