Field Notes -- Academic Interaction 3

Course Description:

Academic Interactions 130 is a high-intermediate course in academic oral communication. This course prepares individuals to comprehend and produce academic English for a variety of academic encounters. Authentic classroom lectures, academic discussions, and other listening and speaking interactions are studied and analyzed. Feedback on content, pronunciation and pragmatics is a fundamental component of the course, and opportunity is given for speaking practice in a variety of genres.

Course Goal 1: Identify, analyze, and comprehend the content and function of academic talk at a high-intermediate level, including speaking strategies used in varied contexts.

Course Objectives for Course Goal 1:

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the meaning of selected lexical items Identify and analyze the forms and functions of linguistic patterns
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of cohesive strategies in academic talk Identify and analyze the genre and purpose(s) of oral academic discourse
  3. Connect details to main ideas/themes in academic lectures
  4. Make inferences (e.g. speaker bias, speaker attitude)
  5. Analyze academic interaction strategies

Course Goal 2: Produce speech and use speaking strategies at a high-intermediate level to convey, interpret, and connect information and ideas in varied academic contexts.

Course Objectives for Course Goal 2:

  1. Use lexical items appropriately and accurately in speech
  2. Use advanced linguistic patterns appropriately, clearly, and accurately in speech
  3. Use various strategies to produce cohesive speech
  4. Articulate and support ideas and arguments with appropriate oral reference Use appropriate phonological choices in relation to audience
  5. Utilize appropriate academic interaction strategies

Student Learning Outcomes:

  1. Present on an academic topic (1 individual presentation [minimum], 7-10 minutes)
  2. Present on an academic topic (1 group presentation [minimum], 7-10 minutes)
  3. Participate in an interview (1 interview (minimum), 7-10 minutes)
  4. Produce an oral report including ethnographic/descriptive information on a PSU classroom observation
  5. Demonstrate proficiency on Course Objectives through tests and quizzes
  6. Take notes in real-time during academic lectures
  7. Engage in academic discussion appropriately

 

Pseudonym Key

 

Field Notes (Links to date: 10/01, 10/15)

10/01/2014

Field Notes from Researcher 1

Time Activities, descriptions, and noticings.
4:00 Roll call
4:30 Agenda
  • Discuss unit 3 test (test is on next Monday)
  • Vocabulary practice
  • Propaganda role-play (manipulating language for rhetorical effects)
5:40 Discuss Unit 3 test
  • What are the components?

            Vocab terms

Comprehension questions about listening

            Note taking activity (new listening material)

7:10 Vocab practice (fill in the blanks)
  • T presents sentences with a blank and a list of words. 
  • T asks Ss “what are the clues to identify the correct word form?”—fosters metalinguistic awareness. 
  • T gives time to discuss each sentence in groups.
    • E.g., after to comes a base form of a verb, after an adjective a noun, after an article a noun, etc.
    • A lot of computer start-ups hope to ________ the success of Google and Facebook.
    • There are specific ______ one must follow.
    • Viral videos are a social ________ that did not exist twenty years ago.
  • T stressed, “It’s about knowing the words and understanding the grammar structure.”
12:40 Role-play
  • T discusses the directions.
    • Your group will receive a product and a propaganda technique. 
    • Part of your group (you can decide how many) will try to persuade the other members that they should buy/use your product by using your propaganda technique.
    • Other Details:
    • I will give you a handout with a summary of the techniques that were discussed in listening 2.
    • Your role play should be about 2-4 minutes
    • You should include at least 3 of the vocabulary terms from pg. 44 and/or 50
    • You will have about 15 minutes to prepare.
  • Group work (each group gets a different prompt, topic and strategy)
47:30
  • T asks Ss how to write persuasive when she could not write the word on the blackboard.
    • Destabilizes the hierarchical relationship
  • This seemed to create some good atmosphere
  •  C.f., teacher self-talk (Hall and Smotrova)
48:00 Each group presents their role-play
  • T asks Ss to identify rhetorical techniques, persuasive language, and vocab.
  • After the second group, it took some time to decide the next group because Ss were hesitant to volunteer.
    • T had Ss do rock-paper-scissors
  • Topics of role-play
    • First group—Real Madrid
    • Second group—Electric cigarettes
    • Third group—A book
    • Fourth group—Evil eye keychain (Turkish charm)
1:08:20 Homework

The role-play task was interesting in that it was designed to foster students’ rhetorical awareness. Through the activity, students learned to use language for specific pragmatic ends. This is different from regular language instructions which focus largely on grammar. Also interesting was when T asked students how to spell persuasive. Some might consider this as threatening the teacher’s authority. However, what happened was something positive; students seemed to receive the teacher’s spelling problem positively and helped her with it. Through this exchange, the class appeared to create rapport (although this claim needs to be substantiated through some analysis). C.f. Hall and Smotrova on teacher self-talk.

 

Field Notes from Researcher 2

4:47 – Agenda for the day

5:49 – discussion of unit 3 test (that coming Monday)

            -vocabulary, comprehension questions, note-taking (record, reduce, reflect)

7:15 – vocab practice (fill in the blank) in groups

            -end up doing it all together at first (brainstorm parts of speech), then break into groups

            -word bank provided about sentence

9:06 – class goes through the task together (two groups say emulate, one says instill, emulate is    correct)

            -teacher gives a synonym, “to copy”

10:01 – move on to next cloze exercise

            -brainstorm together: singular or plural? Noun?

                        -one student says “protocols” – don’t discuss in groups

10:57 – third cloze exercise

            -part of speech, noun; singular or plural?, singular (point to the article, a, to confirm)

            -one student says “phenomenon”

                        -discuss as whole class

            -students offer synonyms as well

10:22 – plural of phenomenon?

            -student gives the answer “phenomena”

12:40 – teacher introduces role-play

            -part of the group has to convince the others that they should buy/use their product

            -write what they’ll say on a notecard, underline the persuasive speech

            -to practice propaganda, 2-4 minutes

            -given 15-20 minutes to prepare

14:47 – teacher asks if there are questions

15:07 – teacher asks for a volunteer to distribute materials

            -passing out of materials

16:30 – teacher passes out group assignments (products and techniques to use)

            -teacher walks around during the group work

~45:30 – 2-minute warning, teacher checks in with groups to see if they’re almost done

46:17 – teacher picks group to go first; tells them they seem to have it together, so they’ll go first

47:05 – teacher writes on board:

Technique Persuasive language Vocabulary

 

~48:50 – teacher assigns other groups to look for each of the above in the presentation

49:37 – first group presents (demonizing soccer team Real Madrid)

51:22 – teacher asks other groups what technique was used – demonization

            -teacher says they’ll come back to the other two categories at the end of class if time         allows

52:38 – second group presents (e-cigarettes)

54:33 – what techniques? – selective omission, glittering generalities

            -used other techniques too – gray propaganda, transfer

56:10 – discussion over which group goes next

            -rock-paper-scissors to decide

57:38 – third group presents (book recommendations)

            -each student in group recommends a different book for different reasons

            -techniques – white propaganda, demonization, transfer, calls of leadership

1:00:54 – fourth group presents (blue evil eye necklace)

~1:03:30 – techniques? – ad nauseum propaganda, black propaganda, white propaganda

1:04:34 – last group presents

1:06:45 – techniques? – bandwagon, fear, deception

            -discussion of fear versus prejudice

1:08:13 – wrap up; teacher goes over homework (prepare for test)                 Go back

 

10/15/2014

Field Notes from Researcher 1

Time Activities, descriptions, and noticings.
8:00 Agenda
  1. Video Analysis Activity – Video 1 + 2 Discussion (whole group)
  2. Video Analysis Activity – Video 3 + 4 (small groups)
9:00 Advice to PSU student interviews from group speaking task 3

Ryan’s advice about question numbers

  • Maybe it’s more natural if you don’t say question numbers.

Sung Jun’s advice

  • Summarizing format at the beginning (we are going to ask you…)
11:20 Interview analysis activity

(Video 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf1nRKV6YTE)

  • What did the purpose of the interview seem to be?
  • Who do you think the intended audience was?
  • The class also analyzed the video in terms of the interview techniques preparations (gesture, acknowledgement tokens (nodding, cool, etc.))
    • Specific questions and video links available on handout
  • T asks a number of questions and Ss self-selects and responds.
    • The group in the front to the right of the teacher talked predominantly at first; later on other Ss also participated more.

 

22:00 Video number two

Discuss the questions in groups.

T reminded Ss of some tips for group work (@26:50)

  1. Even though you have headphones, stay engaged with your group. Take advantage of the opportunity to discuss your findings with your group members.
  2. Don’t wait until you have answered all of the questions to confer with your group members. You can pause the video to discuss as you are working.
  T talked extensively with the group right in front of the SV camera during the group work. This might be captured in the SV camera. Worth checking.
1:06:00 Getting back to class.
  • Share an issue that emerged:

“Can you research PSU students before you interview them?”

  • S said facebook, google, etc.
  • T suggested using PSU directory and demonstrated how to use.
  • Each group say one thing (1:09:00)
    • We can do a survey among IECP students about their problems and inform interview questions.
    • Do some research beforehand.
    • During the interview, show positive feedback during interviews (smile, etc.)

 

Today’s class looked as if it were an applied linguistics class. The activity of analyzing interviews to improve their own practice is very similar to what we are doing, i.e., observing classes and identifying the effective instructional practices and actions.  The class engaged in this for the majority of the time. T had Ss discuss the first video as a class to demonstrate how to analyze data. Subsequently, T had Ss discuss in small groups and watch the videos on their own devices if needed.  Like in other classes we have observed, T approaches academic skills from the bottom up; she has students discuss and identify the skills.

Field Notes from Researcher 2

~8:30 – teacher projects and discusses the agenda for the day

9:00 – watch group speaking task 3, submitted by 1 group

                -teacher says she wants to share useful advice from this group

                -teachers analyzed other students’ videos and gave feedback/suggestions

                -feedback given by students in video: 1) question numbers, 2) summarizing format at       the beginning

11:20 – interview analysis activity

                -discuss what they came up with for the homework

12:51 – purpose of the interview?

                -who is the audience?

                -formal or informal?

                                -comparison of two interviews

                                -discussion of what to wear

                -what topics did they focus on?

                -discuss relationship between interviewee and interviewer

                -discuss body language

                                -find examples on the video

                -listener feedback

~18:57 – class goes through questions asked in the interview

20:00 – teacher asks how the interviewer prepared for the interview

21:25 – teacher asks: “did you notice anything else interesting?”

21:50 – break into small groups to discuss video #2

26:30 – teacher gives instructions for the next activity

                -complete the handout (analyze other videos)

                -stay engaged with group while watching/analyzing videos (even though wearing               headphones)

                -teacher walks around while groups do this

                -teacher has a prolonged discussion with one group (goes through some of the questions               on the handout with them)

1:06:00 – teacher brings the whole group back together

                -asks students if they can research the PSU student they’ll interview beforehand

                -shows them the PSU directory (teacher searches her last name as example)

1:08:50 – teacher asks each group to decide on one thing to share from their analysis

                -as first group gives their idea, other groups still talking

1:09:40 – teacher gets everyone’s attention and asks the first group to repeat their idea

1:12:00 – teacher projects a slide with the homework on it, then asks students to put the desks   back

 

Handout Used in this class - Interview Analysis Handout

Instructions: Watch about 5 minutes of each of these interviews as a group and complete the questions below.

Interview of a Graduate Coordinator at PSU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf1nRKV6YTE

1.  Purpose
  1. What did the purpose of the interview seem to be?
  2. Who do you think the intended audience was?

 

2.  Register How formal/informal do you think the interview was? Why do you think that?

 

3.  Body Language What are three examples of body language that you noticed? (and what time in the video did they occur?)

 

4.  Listener Feedback What are three examples of listener feedback (mm hmm, yeah, I see, etc.) that you noticed? (and what time in the video did they occur?)

 

5.  Question 1 What is the first question that the interviewer asked? What do you think the purpose of the question was?

 

6.  Question 2 What is the second question that the interviewer asked? What do you think the purpose of the question was?

 

7.  Question 3 What is the third question that the interviewer asked? What do you think the purpose of the question was?

 

8.  Reflection What do you think the interviewer did to prepare for this interview?

 

9. Reflection How successful do you think this interview was? Why?

 

10. Other Do you have any other interesting comments or questions about the video?

 

2.  Interview with former PSU President:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlu3x8fYwjk

1.  Purpose
  1. What did the purpose of the interview seem to be?
  2. Who do you think the intended audience was?

 

2.  Register How formal/informal do you think the interview was? Why do you think that?

 

3.  Body Language What are three examples of body language that you noticed? (and what time in the video did they occur?)

 

 

4.  Listener Feedback What are three examples of listener feedback (mm hmm, yeah, I see, etc.) that you noticed? (and what time in the video did they occur?)

 

5.  Question 1 What is the first question that the interviewer asked? What do you think the purpose of the question was?

 

6.  Question 2 What is the second question that the interviewer asked? What do you think the purpose of the question was?

 

7.  Question 3 What is the third question that the interviewer asked? What do you think the purpose of the question was?

 

8.  Reflection What do you think the interviewer did to prepare for this interview?

 

9. Reflection How successful do you think this interview was? Why?

 

10. Other Do you have any other interesting comments or questions about the video?

 

3.  Interview with a Harvard Student: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjZ5D4OniB4

1.  Purpose
  1. What did the purpose of the interview seem to be?
  2. Who do you think the intended audience was?

 

2.  Register How formal/informal do you think the interview was? Why do you think that?

 

3.  Body Language What are three examples of body language that you noticed? (and what time in the video did they occur?)

 

4.  Listener Feedback What are three examples of listener feedback (mm hmm, yeah, I see, etc.) that you noticed? (and what time in the video did they occur?)

 

5.  Question 1 What is the first question that the interviewer asked? What do you think the purpose of the question was?

 

 

 

 

6.  Question 2 What is the second question that the interviewer asked? What do you think the purpose of the question was?

 

7.  Question 3 What is the third question that the interviewer asked? What do you think the purpose of the question was?

 

8.  Reflection What do you think the interviewer did to prepare for this interview?

 

9. Reflection How successful do you think this interview was? Why?

 

10. Other Do you have any other interesting comments or questions about the video?

 

4.  Interview with a Career Center employee at the University of Wisconsin - Parkside

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7vxdKNfq4o

1.  Purpose
  1. What did the purpose of the interview seem to be?
  2. Who do you think the intended audience was?

 

2.  Register How formal/informal do you think the interview was? Why do you think that?

 

3.  Body Language What are three examples of body language that you noticed? (and what time in the video did they occur?)

 

4.  Listener Feedback What are three examples of listener feedback (mm hmm, yeah, I see, etc.) that you noticed? (and what time in the video did they occur?)

 

5.  Question 1 What is the first question that the interviewer asked? What do you think the purpose of the question was?

 

6.  Question 2 What is the second question that the interviewer asked? What do you think the purpose of the question was?

 

7.  Question 3 What is the third question that the interviewer asked? What do you think the purpose of the question was?

 

8.  Reflection What do you think the interviewer did to prepare for this interview?

 

9. Reflection How successful do you think this interview was? Why?

 

10. Other Do you have any other interesting comments or questions about the video?

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