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The pedagogical purposes of this project consisted of introducing computer technology to the Basic Italian course and increasing Italian language fluency by increasing the quantity and quality of student contact hours with the language. By exploiting the four grammar exercisepossibilities of the SuperMacLang Authoring Program, created by Judith Frommer of Harvard, I developed six grammar and four dictation exercises. The computer grammar exercises are pedagogically superior to those offered by traditional workbooks because an instructor is able to offer information via instant feedback for right and wrong answers. Particularly exciting was the inclusion of video clips in the dictation exercises. Traditional language lab dictations via cassettes are often unpopular; this new multi-media method offers immediate cultural information about Italy as well as an audiovisual presentation of the dialogue.
The shortcomings of SuperMacLang were miniminal and consisted of occasionally weak resolution of the video clips due to predictable memory constraints and the authoring limitation that does not allow editing after a "Jumble" sentence has been scrambled.
I found our two mentors, Jonathan Walsh and Jenni Lund, invaluable in their diligence and support of my project and expect that this project will mark the first step in a complete technology transformation of our Italian language courses.
Report
A.
Pedagogical goals and problems
In this project, I created 6 grammar and 4 dictation exercises,
with the SuperMacLang Authoring Program, as a new requisite to
the Basic Italian course 101-102.
The goals of this project are two-fold:
I) To introduce
technology as an integral and required component of Basic Italian.
I expect this to be a first step in a more elaborate future course
transformation through technology.
II) To increase fluency in the Italian language:
a) by increasing
contact hours with the language
b) by developing -- with the 6 grammar exercises -- a different
type of homework exercise than is offered in the traditional
workbook, namely one that gives not only answers to questions,
but also provides feedback and information about wrong AND right
answers
c) by enhancing the traditional and often unpopular language
lab dictation exercise
B.
Strategies
In this, my first SuperMacLang project, I sought to employ the
entire range of SuperMacLang exercise possibilities: fill-ins,
multiple choice, jumble and matching. I suspect that varying the
exercise format will add variety to the computer assignments,
and maintain student interest.
In the 6 grammar exercises, I chose those grammar points over
which students have traditionally stumbled in my 12 years of teaching
Basic Italian, such as adjective-noun agreement, the present perfect
tense, and the use of present perfect vs. imperfect.
For the dictation, I used video clips from the video that accompanies
our current grammar textbook and asked students to unscramble
the dialogue that they hear (The students are able to stop and
replay as often as they wish.). By using the video clips, I hope
to improve student satisfaction with the dictation component,
and provide cultural information. This cultural information includes
shots of the most renowned monuments in Rome, as well as an Italian
train station and newsstand.
Integral to my strategies was to seek the aid of Jonathan Walsh
and Jenni Lund. To Jonathan, I am particularly grateful for his
SuperMacLang directions and his help in developing the Dropbox
file. Jenni Lund was invaluable in digitizing the video clips
and in general problem-solving. We often met about the project
on Wednesday mornings throughout the summer, and communicated
as well by E-mail.
C.
Assessment
The results of my project are available in my Dropbox under "Basic
Italian." I expect to limit access to these exercises when
classes begin, so that students can only see their current assignment.
I found the SuperMacLang program extremely user friendly. I was
especially pleased with the tight ratio of time invested vs. end
result. I can't wait to use it in September!
I did, however, encounter the following problems:
1) Predictable memory constraints when digitizing the video clips
resulted in the use of a small frame and somewhat weak resolution.
Jenni Lund's efforts in digitizing are truly praiseworthy, and
I feel that this problem is negligible given the benefits of a
visual-cultural component. In fact, I was so excited by the pedagogical
advantages of a video clip over a mere cassette that I developed
two more dictation exercises than I had originally planned in
my Techproposal.
2) We discovered that the Jumble exercise in SuperMacLang does
not permit any editing after the sentences have been scrambled.
Nor does it have an "unscramble" command! This is truly
limiting, since this means that no last-minute changes can be
made. One must start the exercise over.
D.
Dissemination
If there is no objection, I may offer the results of my project
to the two Italian participants -- from Wellesley and Regis College
-- in the Wellesley workshop at which Judith Frommer presented
her SuperMacLang Authoring Program. I am also considering a possible
technology project with Nicholas Patruno, Professor of Italian
at Bryn Mawr College, which is part of the Mellon Consortium.
Professor Patruno was involved in computer grammar exercise development
in the early 1980's. He may be interested in seeing this project,
as we develop ideas for a possible collaboration.
Last updated
on 1/26/99; 2:15:07 PM
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