30 MINUTES OF SYNCHRONOUS CHAT WILL BEGIN AT 12:00PM (MST) WEDNESDAY OCT. 5 USING THE EMBEDDED TLK.IO WIDGET ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN (PLEASE LOOK FOR THE BLUE BAR TITLED L2DLAZCALL2016).
Yi Wang, Borbala Gaspar, & Chelsea Timlin, University of Arizona
Click the video frame above to view the presentation. To ask the presenters a question about their presentation, please add a comment at the bottom of this page between October 3 and October 8. Presenters will check for and reply to questions each symposium day.
Abstract
This study investigates the insufficiencies of technology-centered training for Foreign Language (FL) graduate student instructors at the collegiate level and proposes a detailed training model as a solution. As called for by the MLA Ad Hoc Committee on Foreign Languages (2007), “graduate studies should provide substantive training in language teaching and in the use of new technologies”. This statement is supported by many in the field of SLA (Lord, 2014; Melin, 2000; Muyskens, 1997), and yet there are still gaps in understanding how graduate student instructors view and approach the use of technology. Using two online surveys, we collected information from 20 graduate teaching associates (TAs) and 6 language program directors (LPDs) from various collegiate foreign language departments about their current use and perceptions of technology in the classroom and training they have received or offered.
Two goals of this study are stated: 1) to understand the state of current technology use and training in collegiate-level FL programs and 2) to learn the perceptions toward technology use and training from both stakeholders. Based on qualitative and quantitative analyses, we identified a discrepancy in perceptions between LPDs and TAs, and an insufficiency of the current technology use and training. As a response we propose the 6FS (Six For Success) model, a detailed training program that promotes collaboration among faculty and graduate associates.
While making foreign language teaching inventive and responsive to new technologies it is easy to get lost in the ‘cloud’. It is time for us to turn our attention to what type of technology we use and how we use it. This presentation gives an outline of the visible gaps based on our findings and proposes the 6FS training model, a module that is responsive to the current literature and considers technology use to be paired with pedagogical frameworks.
Presenters
Yi Wang
Ph.D. student in East Asian Studies and Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT)
University of Arizona
Borbala Gaspar
Ph.D. student in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT)
University of Arizona
Chelsea Timlin
Ph.D. Student in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT)
University of Arizona