Unknown_New_Language

CertTESOL 05-30 November 2012 UNL (Unknown Natural Language) FIRST IMPRESSIONS The tutor entered to tell us about a language that would be taught and stated that on returning into the class she would teach that language. She did not tell us which one. We were just told that from now on, during the lesson, no English was to be spoken. I was shocked by our tutor’s energetic and gesticulating entry, whilst speaking only Turkish. Starting with a greeting to the whole class, she then went on to introduce herself. She did this by means of saying words and phrases, using body language, and hand signs to elicit the word or words, through understanding and guess work. At each stage of this process she prompted the correct item, drilled the words and phrases into the class, and concept checks were carried out. This ensured that within minutes, I had started to pick up my first words and small sentences in Turkish. FINAL IMPRESSIONS I believe I learned more in these 4 periods, than I did in my first intensive German course. The pace was fast, but followed a logical sequence. The tutor brought in a dynamic that I had never seen before, it was fun and exciting, and the manner in which it was taught ensured my attention and made me want to learn more. By the second lesson, I found myself on a learning curve that I had never before appreciated. EFFECTIVENESS OF METHOD The method used for teaching the unknown language was a direct method of teaching. This method is often used for teaching foreign languages and dates back to Europe at the turn of the 20th century. All teaching is done only in the target language. This is a very artistic form of teaching languages as it incorporated the teacher being somewhat like a pantomime actor. Very gesticulate and using a lot of miming, the students are able to see by impression what some words mean. The language is taught using native pronunciation and in the manner that it would normally be spoken. Only vocabulary is taught at the beginning and this is followed by a careful progression to sentences and onto reading and writing as time goes by. Grammar is taught in a manner called inductive teaching, whereby the students have to find out for themselves what words are by watching and listening to the tutor using that language and deciphering those actions, intonations, facial mimicry and body language that is used. A lot of time is devoted to questions and answers in that language using what has been learnt up to that point. This also means asking as well as answering. Only that which has been taught is questioned. That which is not known, is guessed. Pronunciation is very much emphasized as well as the grammar. The student should do at least 75% of the work and talk time during these lessons. PERSONAL REACTIONS I found the learning of Turkish quite interesting. On the first day we were all under an immense learning stress because we knew nothing about the language. By the second lesson, most of the students held more of a grasp than the previous day and engaged immediately. We became more relaxed. I felt my ability was going to be challenged but had no fear that I would not be able to understand or speak Turkish. The Tutors intimate knowledge of Turkish was vital for the lessons to progress and this was more than evident. TREATMENT OF ERRORS AND YOUR REACTIONS TO THEM The main errors were in the pronunciation of words and word phrases. Phonemic errors were dealt with by repeating words, following the phonemic chart and drilling. If I made mistakes, the tutor did not make it overtly obvious. She made the point of involving everyone to ensure that the corrected item was made clear to everyone. I had no issues with being corrected. I experienced a willingness to embrace the critique and a wish to carry on in the correct manner. The tutor would meaningfully praise those of us who were able to understand the corrections and this gave me more motivation to make more of an effort. Self corrections seemed to be made quicker by all students and known phrases were being pieced together to form questions in Turkish, by the students themselves, to elicit more understanding. INVOLVEMENT OR ENGAGEMENT LEVEL OF GROUP All the students were ready to take up the task of learning a new language. For some students, this was the first new language they had tried. There was however, an element of initial stress, but in a fun manner. All students were given equal opportunity to speak and describe, and all of them made the same general mistakes. All students were given time to practice and engage in the language. The main feature of the willingness to embrace this language was the theatrics of the tutor and how this was interpreted. It was fun, dynamic and everyone was involved and enjoyed it EXPLICIT INFORMATION The explicit information given when teaching in this manner leads, some say, to a greater understanding of that which is being taught. There is however those who would dispel this theory. It is aided by giving the students guided information in bite size chunks and drilling it until the mind has taken on enough information. Then the information stops. This could be in the form of pictures and short words in written form as well as spoken in an authentic manner. The style in which it is brought across also plays a big roll. The mind consciously takes this in better than just being told the word and expecting it to be remembered. The sight jogs the memory. It is there in front of you. Having experienced this for the first time I consider it to be a positive learning experience. COMPARISONS AND CONTRASTS WITH ENGLISH Turkish in the form we have been taught was only regulated in 1928. The language stepped away from the Arabic script and moved to the western alphabet. It is; and was designed to be phonetic. It‘s defined as an agglutinative language, whereby numerous endings are placed at the ends of base words. The immediate difference, I perceived in this language, is that it seemed very softly spoken. The letters c, g, ı, o, s, and u have softer, less guttural versions in the Turkish alphabet e.g. `C’ as in ‘car’ is pronounced as ‘ʤ’ in the phonemic alphabet, as in ‘jacket’. The letter ‘I’ is pronounced as the ‘ǝ` in the phonemic alphabet as in the ‘er’ in ‘learner’. It has no dot above it, as opposed to the ‘i’ that is pronounced as the ‘I’ in the phonemic alphabet, as in the ‘i' in wicked’. The phonetic letters / θ ð/ don’t appear in Turkish. The Turkish language does not use the verb ‘to have’. Their way of saying ‘I’ve got a dog’ would be ‘dog my there is’. Intonations are used in the Turkish language. These are however mainly used at the end of a set of clauses. This gives the whole language a very a flowing feel. The stressing of words is not like English. Turkish seems to be stressed at the end of words. Numbers are in the same order. Turkish grammar is however such that its words take on a new dynamic and meaning by adding on letters and letter groups to produce its verb phrases. Word order seems to be the same as in English. As an example ‘Onun adi ne'’ meaning ‘What is your name'’ Some words are also very similar: |Ser |Turkish |English | |1 |limon |lemon | |2 |kivi |kiwi | |3 |kamera |camera | |4 |film |film, movie | |5 |aktör |actor | |6 |aktris |actress | |7 |müzik |music | |8 |bariyer |barier | |9 |biyoloji |biology | |10 |akademik |academic | IPA PRACTICE The following Phrases and words from the Turkish language have been translated into the Phonemic to illustrate pronunciation. |UNL |IPA |English translation | |Onun adi ne' |/ɒ n ʊ n ʌ d I n e/ |What is (his, hers, its) name' | |Senin adi ne' |/z e n I n ʌ d I n e/ |What is your name' | |Memnun oldum |/m e m n ɘ m ɒ l d ʊ m/ |It’s a pleasure | |Sen nasilsin |/z e n n ʌ z I l z ɘ n |And how are you' | |Yirmi dokuzs |/j I ə r m i d ɒ k ʊ z/ |Twenty nine | |Martar sevmiyorum |/m a: t a: z e v m j Ø: r ʊ m/ |I do not like mushrooms. | |Seviyor musun……..' |/z e v m j Ø: r m u: z ʊ n/ |Do you love………' | |Ben çhikolata seviyorum |/b e n ʧ I k ɒ l ʌ t ʌ z e v j Ø: r ʊ m/ |I love chocolate | |Iyiyim Sağol |/i: j I m s a ʊ l/ |Good thankyou | |Başbakan Erdoğan |/b ʌ ʒ b ʌ k ʌ n eə r d w ɑ: n/ |Prime Minister Erdoğan | |Merhaba |/m eə h ʌ b ʌ/ |Hello | |Kral |/k r ʌ l/ |King | |Şarkici |/ʃ a: k I ʤ I/ |Singer | |Evet |/e v e t/ |Yes | |Yedi |/j e d I/ |Seven | |Hoşcakal |/H ɒ ʃ ʤ k ʌ l/ |Goodbye | |Two |/I k I/ |I love | |Çokuk |/ ʧ ɒ k ʊ k/ |Child | |Mutluyum |/m ʊ t l ʊ j ʊ m/ |I’m happy | |Balik |/b ʌ l I k/ |Fish | TEACHING POINTS Greetings, names, how to ask and explain a name, famous personalities, Political and Royal terminology, genre of personalities, Turkish alphabet, numbers, specific food items and groups. The objectives of lesson 1 were the vocabulary of greetings and salutations and their phonemics. The function being highlighted by the role played situation we were supposed to be in; meeting people for the first time. This was elicited, to a great degree, by gesture and body language. The alphabet was looked at and concept checked in detail, including pronunciation. Lesson 2 (double) covered the same general functions. Personalities in entertainment, literature, royalty, sport and politics were introduced, leading to phrases about who the personalities were and their positions held in life. From there, numbers were introduced and concept checked. Lesson 3. The vocabulary of food and drink was introduced. The function of likes and dislikes was then introduced to concept check the vocabulary and phrases used. A listening comprehension exercise was introduced. This was a recorded conversation. This offered the tutor the ability to see the student’s grasp of the phonetics. For beginners it is important to start off with small but important words. Little stages are very important. Knowing the rules of the language will not help the student at this point. Seeing or holding something, drilling in the TL and constant concept checks seem to work far better in this learning experience. Just hearing, seeing and spelling, whilst reading, or being read to from a course book, just does not have the same effect. IMPLICATIONS FOR YOU AS A LANGUAGE TEACHER This has shown me the enormous initial pressure that students are under when confronted with an unknown language. I like the idea of the explicit information method. It leaves the student in no doubt that he will have to learn. Should I subsequently channel into teaching younger children, I would likely try and emulate the style of the tutor. It was outlandish in some ways, but contagious at the same time. For the purpose of the course it worked on me as an adult. It may work in others too. Unfortunately, where I intend to teach in Germany, children are brought up to be conservative learners, and very syllabus reliant. As adults they are very reluctant to ‘learn outside of the box’. I will, however, certainly give it a go.