Through all of our readings and discussions, one thing that has interested me is the "speaking skills" part of L2 Learning. I have found it very odd that one of the most crucial aspects of FLA is oral communication yet studies in CALL on speaking are very few. I imagine it is because written and listening skills are more easily researched and studied.
I decided for my final project to furthur explore this issue. I think furthur study in the "speaking skills" area of FLA would be very useful because like I said oral production of the target language is indeed a very crucial skill needed. In the real world, that is how people communicate. It's not very common to go to a vendor on the street and write them a message to tell them what you want.
I am currently still fine-tuning my research questions but here are the rough examples of two:
1) To what extent does the use of podcasts improve accentedness in L2 learners?
****My 1st plan in this research question is that through podcasts students will record themselves speaking at the beginning of the semester and then again at the end to analyze and review their accents. Between these two sessions students can DL podcasts of native speakers to hear their accent and then record a podcast themselves doing an imitation of what they have heard. Or something to that nature.
2) What effects do voice-chats offer to FLA that written-based chat does not?
****I'm still working on this one because the 1st question is the one I will more likely use.
I really hope to discover that there are very effective ways to promote speaking skills in L2 learning and hopefully that podcasts/voice-chats are great ways to do so!
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5 comments:
I think you are right Ashley that oral skills are not focused on as much. I feel that many of the studies assume that using a syncronous chat will improve L2 speaking sills, something I am not yet convinced of. I think it is a good idea that you are exploring this more indepthly. I also like your idea of using podcasts to work on accents. Often, we do not realize what we sound like until we've heard ourselves speak. Can't wait to see what you find out :)
I think this sounds like a pretty interesting research topic, and I agree with Liz -- It seems like something that is not addressed very often in research so far!
Are there other research studies on the effectiveness of using podcasts? This seems like a relatively new idea that has potential but needs exploring. The idea you proposed would provide valuable language acquisition experiences outside of the classroom. Research shows that older L2 learners have more difficulties with speaking skills and this idea could aid their acquisition.
I agree that the second question still needs work. To the first one you could also consider (in addition or instead of accentedness -- comprehensibility).
10/10
I like your first topic. In our readings for tomorrow I read about a program that Duke did for its foreign language student- they had to make a portfolio of their speech and upload it as a podcast each week. They could see how they progressed throughout the semester. I think they could also download podcasts of the professors demonstrating correct pronunciation. Very interesting question, good job ;)
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