Hey there Pete Hi! Pete! How's the weather up there? IT's not raining@ it's hot and humid! Amazing! Like Texas! indeed.. so are you gonna join us on the call? and talk Texan with the gals? Probably can't...multitasking, and no mic nearby.... But will chat! chicken okay Don't you know it! Doing math homework with a young one, among other tasks as I listen... Erin! Hey Erin! yo! what's happening? hey pete! how's the weather? it's -gorgeous- here tonight :) Barbara already told me! she's lying i am not lying Cooler here. That means 85 degrees at 10 p.m. hey, the link in itunes sez ideaunleashed.org is there only one? are we broadcasting? :) i'm getting lisa's 'vator music Nope...muzak.... Jen is changing it or not there are some listeners so we don't want to boot them. whatevs, no biggie i just thought it was funny. unleashing -one- idea look at it go! I'm dancing to this kewl music.... i'm gonna be down your way in a couple of weeks, pete at austin college Are you flying through Dallas? yup Barbara, you are live now. Have a few hours for a visit? We hear you now! i think so ... let me check my itinerary and get back to you? OK! i fly in on thursday morning, and i think i don't have to be anywhere until that evening sounds lurvly That sounds like a lunch stop to me, my treat! wow, that'd be great. Email the date to me when you can.... thanks! i will! ben - are you responsible for the new chatroom? Chris and I are, yes. it is IRC based it rocks. nice job guys! Yep, we finally got that IRC server set up :0 careful whoops do we have a heavy brathe? awesome The program of which I am a proud graduate...! breathr? i'm not hearing any heavy breathing no me too ;-) unless my count my cat snoring Don't let Ben take all the credit here :) I don't hear it.... lol - that you chris (admin)? yup :) Change your name >_< capitalize it or something why? I don't know it looks weird /nick Erin :) there happy? lol ty Chris, how about you change your name? np /nick Chris lawl har har guffaw Erin is now Erin...huh? Erin had a great ee cummings thing going! i was erin ... now I'm Erin stop shouting WHAT? CAN"T HEAR YOU deaf much? i like it lowercase better Much more poetic name! now that was out of spite this is weird. i keep looking around whenever barbara sez aaron Confused me too. uh oh there is a time out mechanism? AARON noterin It means that his internet may have crapped out is it an -american- issue due to us being relatively sheltered / spoiled? His client stopped responding is all I love it when admin talkst echnical or is it an english-speaker issue in general? hi Phil Hi barb welcome hey phil. thanks for joining! thanks. neat chat Is this getting saved in some fashion? that's different? yes it will be saved Yeah, it will be archived automatically? In the future it will get saved as it is typed, yes. At this point in time it will be saved after the fact whoever's speaking now is a good bit quieter than everybody else ... any way to bump up her volume? That's Dolly oh you'd have to ask her... I really can't tell... it's even by the time I hear it In my class this semester, I actually had students take Elaine's BALLI survey and we talk about their responses and beliefs very overtly. BALLI survey? That's Elaine's Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory, used to collect data from respondents. Related to anxiety, overall beliefs. and what did your students say? Wide range of views on various items, but most (as Elaine just said) have belief of "fluency" in fairly short period of time. does anybody know if language learners who acquired an L2 at a young age have the same unrealistic expectations? does it makes any difference in L3 acquisition? or The ignorance of youth may help, not knowing that you "can't" do something.... so then how do we change those expectations? /can/ we change those expectations? Some research about L3'ers out there...but I am not up on it as I was when I was young.... or is it too late by the time they get to college, or even to grades 9-12? Dolly is still very faint, audio. pshaw Pete...you? old? She is a bit quiet on our end Barbara. gotcha' That's better! that's better yeee haw! that's the teacher voice I remembe :-) kids mean on the playground? i don't believe it. ;-) no, never! four square as a content sport cntact erin, you de-capialized your name! Chris will be sad. contact** contact (I hate this PC) I think you just hate spelling :) lol he noticed. accused me of being spiteful me? spiteful? never. where is the whip sound effect ***whipppshhhhhh*** Sweet Erin...um...er...erin? right thur^^^^^^^^ lol erincita I see a t-shirt coming out of this for her.... or a poster for my office, perhaps? what happened to my Tropical Storm Erin bumper stickers? Right next to that glove from the snowbank? i still have those, ya know Never saw a great bumper sticker...sorry.... uh oh confession time! It WAS out of spite.... (three snaps) Identity issues soooo complex.... okay kids...questions for the speakers? so what do we -do- about this? Measurement...how do we measure anxiety? how do we account for many different kinds of anxieties in one classroom? How do we counsel learners, then, knowing what we know about their anxiety? especially when students themselves may not realize what they're anxious about? Many days in the classroom, as a good student of Elaine's, I feel more like a counselor than a teacher! and what about the difference in anxiety between a first-year learner and, say, a third-year learner? first year learner: WHERE is my placement exam score? third-year learner: how am i ever going to get through this novel? Book: http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Language-Teacher-Practical-Learning/dp/0205430821/ third year learners have a different level of anxiety..perfection vs acquisition thanks Pete! it's on LLU too right. and language profs teach multiple levels, yes? so how does one teacher juggle huge difference in anxiety levels while still trying to teach? cuz, ya know, we all have copious free time on our hands Giving the BALLI and discussing results is one way, with students. Took 15 minutes to take on first day. I string results discussion out then over semester, 1-2 minutes/day. and it seems to help? Immensely. Many of my students this semester are in my class, as failed in another language class.... that's a great idea, though, pete - to keep the discussion fresh but not overwhelming I compile the data they give on BALLI on day one and start a discussion daily with results from one of the 30 or so items.... Language counseling at its best! Process vs. product-based approach! oooh i do love me some process :) aaron...you keep bouncing in and out of the chat...everything okay? feel free to ask questions if you have any...:-) I am a process junkie. is there a 12 step program pete? lol My name is Pete, and I love process. booo, bad joke a question pete: how are the questions on the BALLI survery phrased? Likert scale. Statements such as "learning a FL is mostly a matter of learning a lot of grammar rules." ah, got it. is there any kind of similar exit survey? I give the same instrument at the end of the semester, and let the group think about their evolution as language and culture learners. what level do you teach, again? This year, first semester. Usually more advanced, but I am teaching letters and sounds at the start this semester. wooo hoo Second Life! oooh, second life. you can create your own identity but that opens up a whole 'nuther can of worms ... Gamers... ...anxiety over learning the technology yay pete! Pete waving at Elaine! hey now, let's not stereotype scientists ... some of the most understanding profs i ever had were science folks <-- computer science & engineering not scientists, but the "rigor' that people tend to associate with science and math good profs are good profs no matter what they teach -- same with bad profs rigor=fear One of the BALLI items is something akin to "some people have an aptitute for FL's" and another is "I have FL aptitude." math is hard, I won't lie but it can be super interesting but clearly people associate fear with language learning as well ... no? yes, because we ask them to do all of these thigs "in public" but it's more socially acceptable to shy away from learning a second language than to not take science or math and scientists dont? don't? donut? is language learning anxiety really that different from any other kinds of learning anxiety? Anxiety is an amazingly complex construct, tied to identity, ego, history/esperience, etc. Great question erin.... all i know is i didn't raise my hand in language class for the same reason i didn't raise my hand in science class What reason? fear. One of the ways I use BALLI is to get students to address that issue: learn to speak by listening, rather than speaking more. Get them to overtly think. I give them "input," but seldom explain why I do that, in the standard classroom. of being the only one who didn't understand something, of sounding stupid ... fear of lots of things. i just think this isn't a discussion that shouldn't be limited to language learning ...a discussion that -should-... that's great, pete And anxiety is just that...an irrational fear. 'zactly. And you turned out just fine! lol i dunno about that. :) but seriously, what can we learn from scientists? from historians? I HATED spanish class... but I had no problem speaking up in Math/Science/History.... about anxiety in the classroom First thing: that it exists in every classroom, for practically everyone. It would vary day to day of course, pending my experience with the subject oooh, second life. you can create your own identity but that opens up a whole 'nuther can of worms ... Gamers... ...anxiety over learning the technology yay pete! Pete waving at Elaine! hey now, let's not stereotype scientists ... some of the most understanding profs i ever had were science folks <-- computer science & engineering not scientists, but the "rigor' that people tend to associate with science and math good profs are good profs no matter what they teach -- same with bad profs rigor=fear One of the BALLI items is something akin to "some people have an aptitute for FL's" and another is "I have FL aptitude." math is hard, I won't lie but it can be super interesting but clearly people associate fear with language learning as well ... no? yes, because we ask them to do all of these thigs "in public" but it's more socially acceptable to shy away from learning a second language than to not take science or math and scientists dont? don't? donut? is language learning anxiety really that different from any other kinds of learning anxiety? Anxiety is an amazingly complex construct, tied to identity, ego, history/esperience, etc. Great question erin.... all i know is i didn't raise my hand in language class for the same reason i didn't raise my hand in science class What reason? fear. One of the ways I use BALLI is to get students to address that issue: learn to speak by listening, rather than speaking more. Get them to overtly think. I give them "input," but seldom explain why I do that, in the standard classroom. of being the only one who didn't understand something, of sounding stupid ... fear of lots of things. i just think this isn't a discussion that shouldn't be limited to language learning ...a discussion that -should-... that's great, pete And anxiety is just that...an irrational fear. 'zactly. And you turned out just fine! lol i dunno about that. :) but seriously, what can we learn from scientists? from historians? I HATED spanish class... but I had no problem speaking up in Math/Science/History.... about anxiety in the classroom First thing: that it exists in every classroom, for practically everyone. It would vary day to day of course, pending my experience with the subject I LOVE the subjunctive, and tell my students that! back to that 12 step progam for you Pete I never left! So many programs, so little time. my name is Pete and i love t subjnctive so then, pete - students who are more comfortable / experienced should speak up more (to provide a proper model)? and those who aren't should speak less / listen more? Would that I could stop...were that I able...(wow, grammar jokes!!)... More: students should recognize that they are great at listening, and that speaking will come.... Ego-involvement--loved Elaine's phrase. I totally agree with Elaine, that teachers should bring up more often in the class this topic of language learning Yes, how to explain to them that they need to listen more, in order to speak more later.... but she -is- crazy. :) Amen. she = barbara That's what I meant: amen! lol well, Pete, explain to them how you do it, how you listen She needs better gloves for winter. It's interesting...they do believe...but at the surface it's so illogical...and so unlike their existing belief set. Idea of teachers "being themselves." who's crazy? you are that you kettle thank Erin says you are, Barbara. no, i'm pot. you're kettle DULAP/Drake. the pot calls the kettle ... :) Drake as model of curriculum that stresses independent study, technology-supported. where did aaron go? He's been in and out numerous times...his link is pinging out.... Does the language requirement retard our curriculum evolving? but in the discussion ... he was in the webcast at the beginning and dropped out a while ago? I think so. great question pete erin, click on my name at the top of the irc chat window Oh, no, say it isn't so.... thank you, Barbara, for saying nice things about scientists :) I can say that when I taught in a school where community sevce was required it was not done out of love of service for shame I agree with Elaine!!!! Absolute best profession on the planet, bar none. Process...learning as becoming. Love it! Waving good evening from Texas! bye pete! i'll email you this week or early next Looking forward to seeing you! tomorrow is friday omg! Before you all leave, those of you that were having connection problems, we are aware of it and it will be resolved as soon as this chatroom is over :) you too. have a great night! thanks chris y'all rock you're very welcome, and thank you Erin :) Great, great conversation!!