Language Learning Pilot Project
INTRODUCTION
This project brings together primary school students in Australia and China to see if semi-structured use of a social media platform (Edmodo) could support the learning of a foreign language. We sought to discover if in reaching across 8,000 kms of geographical and cultural barriers to build a new friendship, students would also want to extend themselves to in order to learn a new and difficult language.
This project is cross-disciplinary and experimental. Before embarking on the project we searched and could find no other project exactly like this one anywhere. Thus we believe it is a first. It combines IT and second language learning in a structure of interaction that is particularly aimed at primary school aged children, not older children, because of the difficulty of learning Asian languages.
Because this was ‘blue sky’ experimentation, we decided the best path was not to try and isolate one or two variables to test those at the expense of finding a whole ‘package’ that might work. Rather the team took the approach of throwing everything we thought might work at a pilot to see if it did actually work in practice in the classroom or not. We were blessed with a diverse team who had different areas of expertise across ICTs, Teaching and Learning, and second language acquisition –and we put this team to good use.
We acknowledged that this meant the meaningful data would be primarily qualitative not quantitative, and that the results would be indicative rather than definitive. However we viewed that the qualitative data gathered would let us determine first, if the whole pilot was a useful path for education more broadly, and second, which particular aspects seemed most fruitful for further exploration.
BACKGROUND
This project had its origins long before social media became commonplace on every teenager’s smart phone and tablet.
In the mid to late 1990s, team co-leader Dr Dreyfus was researching the computer underground culture of the early internet. Over the course of several years of interviewing teenage hackers from different countries on line, she noticed that their written English improved dramatically, despite it being a second or third language. It became clear that the source of the improvement was not formal school classes, as some of them did not study English in school and others took little notice of their academic studies, including frequently skipping classes and not handing in homework.
The improvement appeared to come from talking, via typed real time conversations with other teenagers frequenting the computer underground online sites across the world. The strong desire to access and share information and ideas in this environment served as a powerful motivation to learn their second language. The constant practice of typing in conversations, on a themed topic with frequently used vocabulary to each other, reinforced the learning on an almost daily basis. As they learned the vocabulary specific to their technical topic, they would grasp at and quickly acquire words and grammar to support a conversation on the topic. To them, the language acquisition was of secondary interest – it was simply a means to an end. It allowed them to learn about the technology they wanted to understand, and to forge friendships with like minded teenagers who shard the same specialist interests. Dr Dreyfus observed the written language acquisition appeared both rapid and conversational. They also seemed to have a good understanding of the cultural context of the native English speakers they were interactive with across IT networks.
Social media software has brought online chat options, both text and voice, to a much wider audience. Dr Dreyfus wondered if the observations in her studies of young computer hackers could be turned to the useful broader purpose of improving foreign language acquisition for children, as well as cultural understanding and acceptance. This is how the kernel of the idea for this pilot research project started.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The aim of the project was to see if it would be possible to use social media to support teaching a second language (Mandarin), and particularly if the application of this ICT would improve student enthusiasm for learning it. We designed, built and piloted teaching modules to engage students in small clusters and improve their language learning. The site chosen was a primary school in Victoria, Australia. The school has a sister school in China and both schools teach the language of the other to their children as a second language. The Chinese teacher at the Australian school worked closely as part of the University of Melbourne team, along with the teachers at the Chinese sister school.
We developed, tested and refined teaching modules in this setting. They were specifically designed to engage the students using the benefits of social media including uploading pictures, links, video and audio recordings and near real time chatting. We chose Edmodo as a social media platform because it was already in use at the school for other classes. However at the time Edmodo had no Chinese language interface – all the menus and screens were in English or other languages. We built an entire Mandarin interface for Edmodo specifically for this project, which the parent company has now implemented so everyone can use it.
The Project:
1. Involved pairing up students from the two sisters schools, one in one country and one from the other, using our iFish matching software
2. Used a social media platform (Edmodo)
3. Provided a semi-structured environment where the students had to complete structured tasks with each other, including asking their partners questions, but which also provided leeway for free discussion online
We were keen to see if some friendships could develop between the ‘social media pen pals’ as a motivating force in acquiring and practicing new vocabulary and syntax. Most of all we wanted to know if reaching out to a new friend, across 8,000 kms of geographical and cultural barriers, would also make the students want to reach for a new language.
HOW THE PROJECT OPERATED IN PRACTICE
The project was run as a small pilot across two classes at the Australian primary school site, mostly with Grade 6 children (and some Grade 5s). Most the children were ages 10-11 over the course of the project. Our focus on this age group was driven by the fact that in order to achieve real fluency in a difficult Asian language like Mandarin, children must start learning the language early, in Primary School. Introducing this sort of project in Year 11 or 12 is far too late.
The core idea was to determine if the project would improve the students’ motivation to learn the second language, which is a difficult language with high cultural barriers compare to many European languages. We also wanted it to have the practical benefit of improving the students’ vocabulary and grammar in the second language, as well as cultural understanding.
The teacher taught one of the experimental modules, often over a two-week period, and gave the children homework assignments to do either for or with their partners. The children in the Chinese school had to do a similar/related assignment after hours.
It was impossible to get a matched cohort, so the research in this project has been indicative rather than definitive. However we conducted in-depth interviews with the students. The team developed the questions for the interviews together.
The interviews were held by a separate teacher who is known and loved by the children but does not speak or teach Mandarin, nor is she home room teacher to any of the children. The interviews were set up in this way to ensure that the children could speak freely and comfortably. This qualitative data was very rich – and very positive.
SCHOOL SETTING – CLIFTON HILL PRIMARY SCHOOL
Clifton Hill Primary School is a state (public) primary school in the Melbourne area of Victoria. It has approximately 600 children, grades Prep through Year 6, and is co-ed. It offers two languages, French and Mandarin. Most students study language twice a week, however some cohorts of Mandarin study it 3, 4 or 5 times a week. There is strong parent support at the school for the study of Mandarin in primary school. Almost all of the children who study Mandarin do not speak the language at home, and many come from entirely monolingual households, which only use English.
MANDARIN PROGRAM PROFILE (structure)
The Mandarin Program started at the school as a parent initiative with school support in Term 4 of 2009. It began with just two sessions after school a week, and four children. As of 2015, approximately 200 children at the school study Mandarin, as either a LOTE or specialist subject. Dragon Group is a class of Grade 6 students, which meets three times a week. Red Group is a mixed class of Grade 5 and 6 students, which meets 4 times a week.