Lawrie Hunter's presentations over the years
Summary
Essential for clients of writing centers are (1) knowledge of the various types of errors in academic writing identify and (2) the ability to repair them. It is argued here, from ethnographic evidence, that own-writing based tasks are more efficient than generalized tasks, and that within the post mortem scenario, an interplay between peer group problem solving and instructor ad-lib demonstration constitutes a motivating and effective approach to the development of such learner knowledge and skill.
Abstract
Essential for clients of writing centers (as opposed to editing services) are knowledge of the various types of errors in academic writing identify and the ability to repair them. It is argued here, from ethnographic evidence, that own-writing based tasks are more efficient than generalized tasks, and that in task post mortem activities, an interplay between peer group problem solving and instructor ad-lib demonstration constitutes a motivating and effective approach to the development of such learner knowledge and skill.
In the program reported here, doctoral engineering students in a 3-year, no extension program are required to publish 2 high impact-factor journal papers before graduation. The author's two-semester technical academic writing (TAW) program is designed to serve as a sandbox where the clients can acquired knowledge of the factors of successful academic writing (grammar not included), and where they can decide their individual approach to writing support, i.e. editing vs. mentoring. Upon completion of the TAW program, students are eligible for the author's micro-writing center (MWC) service, based on multiple iterations of 2 page chunks of text.
In the TAW program, writing tasks are mostly formal academic English summaries or interpretations of informal register articles about pieces of research. These exercises are articulately aimed at the development of readability/ethicality/convention related skills. Task feedback is mostly coded, addressing pre-announced aspects of text (e.g. readability), and multiple rewrites (to near perfection) are encouraged.
Before the first rewriting, found errors, screened for salience/commonality/relevance and converted to current-topic tasks (focused, not just blanket 'repair' tasks) are made into a list of small error analysis/repair tasks. In-class group work is aimed at finding solutions to each of these problems; instructor coaching is ongoing. Frequent interventions are made in the form of instructor ad-lib demonstrations. Some of the tasks become individual homework; all instructor demonstration files are made available to the students.
Mapping is a commonplace in education today. The most widely used varieties of map are mind maps, concept maps and argument maps. However, maximizing the benefits of mapping in language task design requires the witting choice of mapping type, based on a knowledge of the structural characteristics of each type.
This poster provides the instructor/task designer with a heuristic tool for mapping-related decision making, focusing on the key issues of (1) map type, (2) content genre and (3) information-related structure. These issues are described briefly below.
(1) The choice of map type determines the linguistic or information structures which may be mapped. Three distinct types of map are identified here: mind maps (whose links are unmarked); Novakian concept maps (which have textually differentiated links); and information structure maps (which have graphically diffentiated links).
(2) Content genre consists of essential information, background information and persuasive/poetic rhetoric.
(3) Information-related structures here refers to
(a) rhetorical structures (e.g. argument; e.g. situation-problem-solution-evaluation);
(b) information organization (e.g. general to specific); and
(c) information structures (at the sentence level, identified by the author as description, classification, comparison, sequence and cause-effect).
Other more readily evaluated design issues include target content, learner profile, and learner-task-instructor interface. All of the above elements are presented in an informative and empowering form here. A set of links to resources and tools is also provided.
Iconic notions in e-learning:
Expanding the Planet Project's pattern language
Poster (pecha kucha) presented at ALT-C Leeds, September 2011
Meta-frame
In Japan, the field of CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) attracts considerable research funding and budget share, yet CALL has arguably not emerged as a well defined field with an all-encompassing model of theory and practice and the interaction between the two. Further, many CALL implementations are not curriculum-wide, and late adapters (particularly part time instructors, who are importantly numerous in Japan) often do not successfully get on the CALL bus, or soon alight and return to traditional classroom practice. This problem is multi-faceted, but surely one important factor of the fragmentation of CALL is sociological. There are subgroups within the CALL user community, and inter-community (e.g. system manager to instructor) communication often breaks down, often irreparably.
Initial search
To support cooperation and collaboration between CALL subgroups, this study set out to create a communication medium, a language of community that would bring technology mavens, traditional classroom teachers, administrators and researchers together in fertile harmony.
Alexander et al’s (1997) A pattern language: towns, buildings, construction is a promising resource. It’s a device for bringing together all the perceptual tools involved in the creation of buildings within towns/communities.
To apply a pattern language, Alexander says, one should “…choose elements of the pattern language to shape the project you are making.” What Alexander does not say, but intends, and models in practice, is: always start from the whole language, then choose patterns and compress to form a project.
The above is overlooked in many of the pattern languages presented at http://patternlanguage.com, which has become a not entirely successful meme swamp.
Looking upwards from CALL to e-Learning
The work to create a pattern language (PL) for CALL began with a search for existing PLs in neighboring fields. Setting out to optimize collaboration and sharing of successful practice and materials in e-learning environments, particularly web 2.0, the Pattern Language Network (Planet) Project, which ended in March 2009, worked to create an Alexander-esque pattern language for e-learning. The project did generate an array of 'patterns' for the representation of practice in, and for application to, e-learning work. The product of the project was clearly valuable and useful, and the design of the project was exemplary.
However, the pattern language generated by the Planet Project did not achieve (did not set out to achieve?) the comprehensivity (the holism) of Alexander et al’s pattern language.
This ePoster works towards an expanded version of the Pattern Language Network's pattern language for e-learning in the era of web 2.0, based on the identification of iconic perceptions, values and beliefs that impact on CALL and e-learning work.
References
Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., & Silverstein, M. (1997) A pattern language: towns, buildings, construction. New York: Oxford University Press.
Christensen, C.M. Disrupting class.
Hunter, L. (2011) Gadgets pwn us? A pattern language for CALL. Presentation at JALTCALL 2011, Kurume, Japan. http://lawriehunter.com/presns/jaltcall_2011
Lanier, J. (2010) You are not a gadget.
Project Planet
http://patternlanguagenetwork.org/
http://patternlanguagenetwork.myxwiki.org/
http://patternlanguagenetwork.org/
Pattern language meme site: http://patternlanguage.com
Concept mapping pitfalls: metaphors
and branching
Presented at EuroCALL Nottingham, September 2011
This poster presents an initial exploration of structural issues impacting on the use of concept mapping in second language work, and on related software design and implementation: architectural metaphors, which impact on software design; and the linguistic-cultural phenomenon of left- and right-branching, which impacts on software design and on user acceptance.
In most varieties of concept mapping, there are some implicit metaphors at work, for example 'down is subordinate' and 'large is more salient'. However, many of the software for the creation of concept maps do not enforce the application of those metaphors. For example, Cmap Tools allows the creation of subordinate nodes in any direction from an existing node, thus ignoring 'down is subordinate'. A number of distinct examples of mapping metaphors are presented graphically, with annotations and anecdotes to indicate related software design concerns.
In left-branching languages, such as Japanese, dependents (e.g. adjectives) are generally placed before headwords (e.g. nouns). In right-branching languages, such as English, the situation is the opposite. If a concept mapping system is created for the use of speakers of a right-branching language, and if the system's architecture is branching-biased, that system is likely to be poorly received by speakers of a left-branching language. The case of Novakian concept mapping, in which every link bears a text label indicating the nature of the link, is presented graphically as an example of the branching conundrum.
Links to salient sources and designer tools are also included in this poster and in its online version.
Sources
Fauconnier, G. (1997) Mappings in Thought and Language. Cambridge U. Press.
Gentner, D., & Wolff, P.(1997). Alignment in the Processing of Metaphor. Journal of Memory and Language, 37, 331-355.
Kurosawa, M., & Kawahara, T. (1999). An Experimental Study in Metaphor Comprehension. Bulletin of the Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo 39, 247-257.
Kurosawa, M., & Kawahara, T. (1999). Alignment or Abstraction? Metaphor Comprehension in Japanese. Proceedings, Second International Conference on Cognitive Science. http://www.jcss.gr.jp/iccs99OLP/p3-19/p3-19.htm
Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Mazuka, R. (1998) The Development of Language Strategies: a Cross-Linguistic Study Between Japanese and English. Erlbaum.
Nisbett, R.E. (2003) The geography of thought. Free Press.
Gadgets pwn us? A pattern language for CALL
JALTCALL 2011, Kurume, Kyushu, Japan (June 2011)
The IT environment, particularly web 2.0, suggests collaboration and sharing of successful practice and materials. To date, efforts in this direction have not been thrilling; issues of findability and matchability appear to be obstacles. In that light, the Pattern Language Network project, which ended in March 2009, worked to create an Alexander-esque pattern language for e-learning. The project did generate an array of ‘patterns’ for the representation of practice in, and for application to, e-learning work. The product of the project was arguably successful, but whether that product was an actionable pattern language is questionable. This paper explores the notion of a pattern language as implicitly defined by Alexander et al. in “A Pattern Language” and explicitly defined elsewhere, and proposes a framework for the creation of a pattern language for CALL in the era of web 2.0. As well, the paper takes some salient notions from the design world"
and seeks useful equivalents
in CALL work. For example, the “formal financial expression” proposed by Jaron Lanier in “You Are Not a Gadget” is reworked as “formal learning design expression”. The notion of “story arc” in literary criticism is recast as “task arc”, “acquisition arc” and “knowing arc”. To activate this presentation, participants will be given graphical brainstorming challenges, the results of which should point to elements for inclusion in a pattern language for CALL. For example, the ELT notion of “scaffolding” and the WIRED notion of ”gadget”will be intertwined in a provocative open framework.
---
[Note: “pwn” (pronounced "own") is standard gamer/geek language for "own", so "I beat you." becomes "I pwn you."]
Publish
or
perish as an instruction-end learning opportunity
Symposium in Second Language
Writing, Taipei, June 2011
The strong external constraints placed on the technical academic writing program reported here demand a highly pragmatic approach to curriculum and instructional design. External constraints, plus the intense nature of technical doctorate research, do not allow sufficient time for grammar study to any useful extent. However, the small size of the semi-annual cohort makes a number of innovative curriculum interventions feasible.
Central learner needs were identified as (1) practical writing skills for the creation of publishable papers; (2) a support network to enable learner navigation through the mentor/editor writing center decision matrix; and (3) a writing program to prepare the learner for work with support personnel and to build composition skills (analytical skills centered around argument and coherence skills focusing on readability) for the learner's professional future.
Within the above program, grammar was made a peripheral concern; argument the center of readability work; and witting mimicry of model language a major tool. Emphasis was placed on meta-language to enable learners to take a 'witting client' position in interactions with support services.
To date more than half of the participants have made use of the writing center services; among those, more than half have achieved semi-autonomy in the writing of research papers in their niche topic areas. These results suggest that the readability curriculum may have broader applicability.
References
Gopen, G.D. and Swan, J.A. (1990) The science of scientific writing. American scientist (Nov-Dec 1990), Volume 78, 550-558. Downloadable as a pdf from http://www.amstat.org/publications/jcgs/sci.pdf
Hunter, L. (2009) How academic writing works. 2nd edition. Kochi University of Technology Press.
Hinkel, E. (2004) Teaching academic ESL writing: Practical techniques in vocabulary and grammar. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Swales, C. and Feak, C. (2004) Academic writing for graduate students 2nd edition. University of Michigan Press.
Language as a
Disguise for Information
Keynote speech,
APTEL Osaka October 2010.
Learning is the placing of information into an ever richer array called knowledge. Clearly learning would be facilitated if the learner had some information structures for use as framing tools. Then, what are the structures in which information naturally resides? And how are these structures reflected in language? Or are there any such structures? Curiously, there are as yet no broad answers to these questions. One approach to this set of questions is to look at language to find out what information structures we signal in our writing and speech.
This presentation begins with an examination of a group of tools that appear to provide a bridge between the world of information and the world of language: concept maps. Two types of mapping are discussed: Information Structure Maps, which show symbolically the relations between atomic bits of information, and Rhetorical Structure Theory maps, which portray graphically the logical process of persuasion in a text. These two mapping systems bridge language forms and information structures at very different levels of abstraction.
The second phase of the presentation demonstrates practical ways in which concept maps are being practically applied to information related learning work. We all use information intensively. However, we do not always communicate information unambiguously, or elegantly. Hence two more questions:
Why is information so often poorly
communicated
via language?
Why are attention, involvement
and focus often difficult to evoke in learners?
Towards an answer: we do not always use information frames, nor do we always use the framing leverage available in language. In fact, we do not systematically distinguish types of discourse. Applied linguistics can provide us with some insights about discourse and discourse types. For example, we find that chunks of spoken and written language, which linguists call text, often “mash-up” information with persuasion and beautification. This flattening of the layers of communication makes understanding and learning more difficult.
Graphical
Tagging of Discourse Levels in the IT-endowed technical academic
writing class
Presented at EuroCALL 2010, Bordeaux
In the technical academic writing (TAW) class, information is the primary content, and argument is the dominant rhetorical behavior. However, recent decades have seen the argument grow less explicit in TAW writing: the prescribed text structure of technical academic journals has become a code for argument. This makes it easy to decide the text structure of one's paper, but when text structure is foregrounded in this manner, it becomes difficult to keep in mind the rhetorical structure needed to frame the argument of the paper. It also becomes difficult to write the argument in a coherent text network of logical relations, and information structures at the atomic level (e.g. comparing concrete entities) are often confused with rhetorical structures (e.g. comparing research methodologies).
In an IT endowed environment, simple media software can be used to vary the graphical embodiment of information types so that the learner is more consistently aware of at least these levels of discourse:
1. Statements with concrete referents.
2. Logical networks of statements with concrete referents.
3. Rhetorical moves that announce the play of intentionality acting on logical networks of statements with concrete referents
When the levels of discourse are clear in the learner's mind, it becomes easier to construct chunks of text with well-signaled argumentation and highly readable information orchestration.
This poster presents one approach to the graphical representation of information types, and gives examples of the articulation of arguments by means of such representation.
Rhetorical moves: dossier charts for introduction and discussion
Argument: Cmaps, constrained to only argument moves in the linking phrases
Information structures: ISmaps
Conference files
How Academic
Writing Works for Engineers: A Good-enough Structural Anatomy of
Discourse
Presented at Literacies Universitaires (University
Literacies), Lille, France, August 2010
This presentation describes a
curriculum currently in
use: a one-year, non-grammar technical academic writing (TAW) program
for
English as a second language doctoral engineering students. Discussion
includes
the communication issues which form the foundation of that curriculum:
register, conventions, argument, document structure, rhetorical and
information
structures, readability, conciseness and ethical use of model language.
The
program writing tasks focus on the above concerns. Task types include
text analysis,
register conversion and narrowly prescribed writing skills such as
paraphrasing, nominalization and topic-stress arrangement.
Feedback is predominantly coded, emphasizing
negotiation of meaning and multiple drafts. Completion of the one-year
program is a prerequisite for access to the university's writing center
service, which
employs the same concept bank and feedback style.
Concept mapping and concept mapping software have taken solid hold in many realms of education in many countries, primarily for use in representing learner and instructor perceptions of the interrelations between concepts. However, it is not so easy to design effective and motivating mapping tasks, or to choose the appropriate type of mapping for a task/project/curriculum.
These
important
questions
will
be
addressed:
(1)
Which
kind
of
mapping
to
use
for different instructional purposes;
(2)
When
to
do
mapping
electronically
and
when by hand; and
(3)
How
to
go
beyond
"I
do
mapping in my class" to lead the learner to the use of
specific language forms and patterns.
This presentation will first outline mapping types and the structure issues underlying the witting use of maps: rhetorical structure, text structure, paragraph structure and sentence structure. Without incorporating these structures in the framing of task design, the instructor/designer will not be able to control the form of learner output.
This will be followed by a demonstration of the use of two styles of
mapping:
(1)
Novakian
mapping,
which
is
the
most
commonly used mapping in science education
today;
and
(2)
Hunter's
infostructure
mapping,
which
is
a
very limited (and thus effective)
mapping
style for second language learning tasks.
This will be followed by a demonstation of the use of four types of task constraint which the author has developed for mapping in the teaching of entry and upper advanced EFL writing. These constraint types, which reduce to easily manageable task design elements, are: map size; allowable links; rhetorical devices; and degree of abstraction. The participant will come away with a set of conceptual tools for the witting use of the mapping in the language classroom.
Conference filesConcept mapping and concept mapping software have taken solid hold in many realms of education in many countries, primarily for use in representing learner and instructor perceptions of the interrelations between concepts. However, it is not so easy to design effective and motivating mapping tasks, or to choose the appropriate type of mapping for a task/project/curriculum.
This paper sets out a set of conceptual tools for the witting use of mapping in curriculum and materials design.
These
central
questions
are
addressed:
(1)
Which
kind
of
mapping
to
use
for
different
instructional purposes;
(2)
When
to
do
mapping
electronically
and
when
by
hand; and
(3)
How
to
create
curriculum
and
materials
that
go
beyond "I do mapping in my
class" to lead the learner to the use of the specific language forms
and
patterns appropriate to each type of information.
This paper identifies mapping types and information structures underlying the witting use of maps: rhetorical structure, text structure, paragraph structure and sentence structure. Without incorporating these structures in the framing of task design, the instructor/designer will not be able to control the form of learner output.
This is followed by
an analysis of the information-related
character of two salient styles of
mapping:
(1) Novakian
mapping, which is the most commonly used mapping in science education
today;
and
(2) Hunter's
infostructure mapping, which is a very limited (and thus effective)
mapping
style for second language learning technical-oriented tasks.
The conclusion includes a description of four types of task constraint which the author has developed for mapping in the teaching of entry and upper advanced EFL technical writing. These constraint types, which reduce to easily manageable task design elements, are: map size; allowable links; rhetorical devices; and degree of abstraction.
Conference filesPhysical plant
limitations mean that not every English class
can have full access to information technology. Yet 'virtually' every
learner
does have some means, personal and/or instititutional, of personal
access to
web and media (e.g. mp3) content and technology. Though standardization
remains
an obstacle, IT uniquely presents the valuable possibility of
individualization
of learning activities, e.g. in matters such as video watching style.
For the
most part standardization obstacles can be overcome by heightening the
learner's motivation/need to access the task resources/media.
Media leverage (design of task sequence and resource interplay) can
greatly
enrich the learner's experience of a task. This presentation shows some
designs
for leverage in task motivation and agenda. For example, web- and
mobile-accessible sound files presenting 'answers' for preparation for
oral
testing of line graph language; hidden curriculum agenda in peer
assessment of
'Japlish' in student presentation videos.
Wesch
<http://blip.tv/file/2615703/> presents a call
for education to move beyond absorption learning and critical thinking
towards
developing learner creativity. The notion of creativity in language
learning
scenarios raises essential issues such as curriculum control, learner
time
demand, and input/output sequencing and proportion. The use of recently
available tools such as Cmap Tools, Yahoo Pipes and debategraph may
provide
partial resolutions to these issues, but task-intrinsic behavioral
constraints
such as media leverage, as well as content-related constraints, can
provide
overall resolutions while at the same time making tasks more effective
in terms
of motivation and available agenda.
This paper
demonstrates the application of the
pragmatics of signification and pragmatics of communication (Eco 1990:
212) to
the analysis of the interplay between the speakers of two highly
dissimilar
languages engaged in meaning negotiation by means of semantic maps.
When a
language learner's first language and target
language have profoundly different systems for encoding meaning, the
interpretation and formation of complex second language utterance are
at times
impeded by the learner's lack of a confident mapping between meaning
and second
language syntax. This paper presents information structure maps
(ISmaps), the
author's system for low-text representation of the structured
information
represented in a constrained body of utterance, and examines the use of
two
pragmatics approaches to explain the apparent success of the system in
overcoming second language learner doubt.
In
Japanese, written signs carry meaning, but in many
cases do not speak, or do not speak unambiguously. As well, Japanese is
a
left-branching language, and thus clause semantic completeness is not
the
primary processing unit in initial segmentation (whereas it is the
primary unit
in English). This results in a mindset where written utterance need not
speak,
is not expected to speak, yet where rich meaning does arise. Some
Japanese
college level learners of English, dubbed 'false beginners,' have
acquired
English vocabulary and grammar knowledge in six years of high school
study but,
resuming their study of English in college, they appear unable to make
sense
of, or sense with, strings of English lexical units.
ISmaps
provide an 'interlanguage' for a restricted
domain of English utterance: sentence level utterances consisting of
logically
related atomic lexical units with concrete referents. After using this
mapping
tool for meaning clarification for a brief period of time, false
beginners have
rather consistently demonstrated willingness to interpret received
English
utterance, and to engage in the risky business of producing English
utterance
to convey meaning.
Rational
use of ISmaps as a tool for professional
second language teaching work requires a theoretical characterization
of how
the tool functions. In its analysis of the dynamics of this scenario,
this
paper uses pragmatics of signification and pragmatics of communication,
suggested by (Eco 1990: 212).
There are a great number of mapping software products now available, for the creation of many kinds of map. The most common varieties of map are mind maps, concept maps and argument maps. This richness of offerings, along with task design considerations and the practical concerns of platform, web-readiness, cost and usability, present the course designer with a complex set of considerations.
This poster provides the program designer with a heuristic tool for mapping-related decision making, focusing on the primary issues of (1) map type, (2) content genre and (3) information-related structure. The issues presented in graphical juxtaposition in the poster are described briefly below.
(1) The choice of map type determines the linguistic or information structures which may be mapped. Mind maps (á la Tony Buzan) consist of dyads or trees with all links being associations, undifferentiated and thus masked in vagueness. Hunter's information structure maps have graphically (not textually) differentiated links, with dyad representation confined to the sentence/paragraph level. Novakian concept maps have textually differentiated links, with ongoing debate as to the syntactic range of dyad representation. Argument maps have textually signaled rhetorical devices for links, with dyad content restrained to argument moves. Rhetorical Structure Theory maps have textually signaled rhetorical devices for links, with dyads representing any of (a supposedly exhaustive) 38 rhetorical devices.
(2) Content genre here is taken to consist of essential information, background information and persuasive/poetic rhetoric. This is particularly approachable in the case of informal sci-tech reporting, since in this type of writing essential information is rather easily identified.
(3) The term information-related structures here refers to
(a) rhetorical structures (e.g. argument; e.g. situation-problem-solution-evaluation);
(b) information organization (e.g. general to specific); and
(c) information structures (at the sentence level, identified by Hunter as description, classification, comparison, sequence and cause-effect).
Other more immediately evaluated design issues include the following.
(1) Target content: the linguistic forms desired in the language output generated by the learner when processing the map. Node content refers to the linguistic units which constitute allowable node text. Dyad syntactics refer to the question as to whether a dyad should lend itself to simple reading as a sentence.
(2) Learner profile: learning style; affinity for graphical depictions of information; and experience with a variety of rhetorical styles in the second language.
(3) Learner-task-instructor interface: the way in which the map will be used as an artefact of information or communication. Cognitive weight indicates the change in cognitive load imposed by the introduction of a mapping device in the task/communication scenario. If cognitive weight is a negative value, the use of mapping has reduced cognitive load. Usability, as in the case of web usability, refers to efficiency, effectiveness and appeal of the mapping as a means to achieving a communicative goal. Key computer related issues are platform, webbability and cost.
Conference filesConcept mapping: styles, techniques and language
tasks
Presented at JALTCALL 2009, Toyo Gakuen University, Tokyo June 6 2009
Download
the
intro
powerpoint
(.ppt
1.5
MB)
Download
the
mindmaps
powerpoint
(.ppt
0.3
MB)
Download
the
ISmaps
powerpoint
(.ppt
1.3
MB)
Download
the
Novakian
powerpoint
(.ppt
1.4
MB)
Download
the
decision
matrix
powerpoint
(.ppt
3.0
MB)
Download
the
info-rhetoric
separation
powerpoint
(.ppt
0.1
MB)
Download
the
Cmap-ISmap
comparison
powerpoint
(.ppt
0.2
MB)
Download
the
argument
mapping
powerpoint
(.ppt
1.0
MB)
Download
the
RST
powerpoint
(.ppt
0.3
MB)
Cmap
link
label
constraint for the structural narrowing of
constructivist second language tasks
CMC2008 - 3rd International Conference on Concept Mapping, September
20-26, 2008
Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia / Helsinki University, Helsinki,
FinlandIn
constructivist
second
language
(L2)
learning
environments, particularly in relatively
teacher-remote situations such as those involving Learning Management
Systems
(LMS), learner freedom can be an obstacle to the achievement of
specific educational
objectives. This paper presents an example of task-narrowing achieved
by Cmap
interface related task design.
The use of concept
map systems based on associational links can result in excessive task
performance freedom. Cmaps have labelled
links, and by constraining the content of the link
labels, we can constrain learner behavior towards more articulate
expression,
while still retaining a high degree of task performance freedom. By
constraining the nature of link labels the materials designer can push
the
learner to very specific language structure behaviors.
This purposeful
constraining of task is illustrated by the author's work with the
informal
technical academic English register (used for example in science
magazines and
presentation scripts). An important second language reader/writer skill
is the
ability to distinguish between (1) technical content and scientific
argument
and (2) motivating or persuasive rhetoric.
This paper
presents
the author's adaptation of Cmaps and Cmap tools for L2 learner
analysis of technical text and for
the subsequent writing of technical text, using Cmaps for argument
mapping.
Limiting
writing
task
freedom
by constraining Cmap link type
WorldCALL conference
2008, Fukuoka International Conference Center
Download
the powerpoint
(.ppt 2.3 MB)
Let's Be
Novakian: Constraining Task with Structural
Mapping Software
JALTCALL annual conference
2008, NUCB Nagoya
Download the powerpoint (.ppt 2.8 MB)
I. What is Critical Thinking?
The term "critical thinking" has been defined variously, and EFL
teachers interested in building CT into their content are often
confounded by a confused offering of materials.
This presentation outlines the major variations of the CT theme:
American-style issues-based adversarial discourse, de Bono's
issues-based divergent thinking, formal logic, and foundation literacy
skills.
II. The task-based approach in "Critical Thinking" and "Thinking in
English."
The second section of the presentation details the presenter's
task-based approach to leading upper beginners and lower intermediates
towards the skills required to begin the study of critical thinking, as
embodied in his textbook, "Critical Thinking."
The learning process involves four steps:
INPUT (demonstration/listening/reading of
vocabulary and phrases;
USAGE PRACTICE (activities and tasks using the vocab and phrases;
AUTHENTIC TASK (arranging information, solving problems); and
EXPRESSION (reporting task results as presentations, dramas, videos or
written reports).
III. Information structures vs. language structures.
IV. Hands-on practice in building a lesson unit.
View
the
powerpoint online
Download the
powerpoint (.ppt 6.0 MB)
Download the handout
Graphics for cognitive load reduction
JALT Annual Conference, Tokyo, November 2007
Second language writers of English for critical thinking are performing a number of cognitive activities simultaneously: recalling lexical units, remembering appropriate register and attending to sentence word order, and orchestrating rhetorical structure and readability. In addition to lack of confidence in decoding the wording of problems, this amounts to considerable cognitive load. This presentation outlines the author's collection of graphical tools for reducing such cognitive load: illustrations, sentence charts, readability charts and knowledge structure maps, and demonstrates the use of each tool.
Illustrations can support and/or confirm the learner's comprehension of task input language, and can motivate problem solving, thus backgrounding language concerns. Sentence charts are highly prescriptive, but do afford check-list confirmation that the writer has gotten all the necessary parts together for sentence construction. Readability charts enable the learner to keep in mind some basic principles of cohesion, and to confirm cohesion after writing. Knowledge structure maps (following Mohan, 1986) keep learner attention on the information aspect of task, even during learner composition. The use of information maps as graphical heuristics is also shown here. As well, a decision matrix is proposed which can help clarify instructor decisions about (a) degree of explicitness of scaffolding and (b) assessment criteria (e.g. selection of best lexical model; correct application of model).
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Dimensions of Media Object
Comprehensibility
IWoM3C: 2nd International Workshop on Machine-Mediated Multimodal
Communication
7th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies
July 18-20, 2007 Niigata, Japan
The work towards a human-communication paradigm for the guidance of machines within the frame of the new multidisciplinary approach of machine-mediated communication (e.g. Elsayed, [1]) gives rise to important subordinate questions. With the development of a pattern language in mind, this paper outlines the author's structural model of content information for second language learning materials and from that frame examines the question of what factors influence the difficulty of comprehension of a media object. This is one approach to the question of how media objects carry information. The discussion of parameters of difficulty is grounded in related issues in second language learning materials, which are germane here: the much examined notion of ‘considerate text’ has recently evolved into looking at ‘considerate multimedia,’ an even more complex matter. A tentative list of parameters of difficulty in media object comprehension is developed here, opening questions of significance and applicability for machine automation.
Graphical Anchoring of Second Language Writing
Task
Symposium on Second Language Writing, Nagoya, September 2007
The emerging non-native writer (NNW) of technical English, seen
here in the case of the Japanese undergraduate engineering student, is
attempting a multi-level orchestration of rhetorical moves and cohesion
devices, information elements and lexical units up to the sentence
level.
Non-native writing, then, carries a considerable cognitive
load. It requires the writer to hold in conscious mind several types of
linguistic representation: information, information structure,
rhetorical structure and grammar. If some of these can be represented
graphically, likely cognitive load will be reduced.
This paper presents several load reducing graphical
representations currently in use in the curriculum and materials
designed by the author; these representations provide writing task
'anchors' for information structures (cf. Mohan, 1986), sentence
patterns and rhetorical structures.
Mohan, B.A. (1986) Language and content. Addison-Wesley.
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Working memory and text-to-speech-to-text in
language task
EuroCALL, September 2007, Coleraine, N. Ireland
Recent advances have made text-to-speech and
speech-to-text (T2S2T) software usable in a very practical sense, and
the user can now both create text by speaking naturally and listen to
electronic text. This suggests that working memory as modeled by
Baddeley (1986, 2000, 2001) can now be externalized to some extent,
which would in turn impact on cognitive load in language task.
Olive (2003) reports findings from dual-task experimentation which link
writing task and short-term storage. In a time of earlier technological
capability, Ong (1998) claimed that cultures that do not have a system
of writing (primary oral cultures) and those that do (chirographic
cultures) think differently as a result of the writing difference. Ong
said that a second orality dominated by electronic modes of
communication has emerged in Western culture. This second orality has
aspects of both oral and chirographic modes. Ong suggested that
orality-literacy differentiation would influence our interpretation of
various kinds of writing. If text-to-speech-to-text empowerment were to
become broadly used, hypertext, which is just settling into a
mainstream niche, would have to undergo a severe framework
reconstruction.
This paper juxtaposes Ong’s second orality and Baddeley’s model of working memory, with its (since 2000) 4 components, the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, the central executive and the episodic buffer. Workable T2S2T promises to change the nature of cognitive load constraints in language learning task. It also makes Baddeley's concept of working memory look like a most promising task design tool. This presentation examines whether a new third kind of orality may emerge from the new T2S2T technological reality, and makes some tentative observations based on the exploratory hands-on experience of second language users.
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Hunter presentations at http://lawriehunter.com/cv/presns.htm
Media Object Comprehensibility
3rd Orality
Thinking
in
English
The uses of powerpoint
The Style Dossier
CALL
paradigms
"Processing" Heuristic
Hypertext Accessibility
Thinking in English
Your own textbook
ESP
graphics
Semantic mapping
Signalling
text
structure
CALL in a shadowing curriculum
Shadowing
v.
2.0
Genres for critical thinking
IT
and Education
CALL lab planning
CALL lab
pics
Motivation in a CALL lab
Text
nouveau
CMediated L2 Tech writing
Text
Nouveau
II
Push: Semiotics of CALL
Technical HyperText and the Non-native Reader:
Information Structures and Rhetorical Framings
HyperText 2005 Salzburg
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Thinking in English: task support with
graphics and varied processing
Task Based Learning 2005 Leuven
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Blending Tasks, Motivation and Ownership of Text
East Shikokuku JALT 2005
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"Processing" as a Heuristic for CALL Task
Design
EuroCALL 2005 Krakow
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Anticipating thunderous change: reflection
tools for paradigm work
JALTCALL 2005 Biwako, Kyoto
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