Wednesday, November 7, 2007

My Interview with language teachers and learners

The three interviews are related to Chinese and English language teaching and learning.

1. Ms. Kelton at Texas Language Technology Center (clip1)
2. Mr. Villarreal, FLE PhD student, Chinese leaner (clip2) (clip3)
3. Mr. Ball, ESL Service Center (clip4)

4 comments:

Junyou (John) said...

I agree with Ms. Kelton's statements about Web 2.0 will help language teachers in teaching cultures and communication in different settings. In my opinion, instructional teachnology especially will benefit adult eduction because adult learners need concrete assistance such as clips, practice or actions to help them memorize things, learn things and apply things. I would say web 2.0 will be a trend for now and for the near future.

Kyle Huang said...

Hi John, According to Lieb (1991), there are at least six factors that serve as sources of motivation for adult learning: 1) social relationships: to make new friends, to meet a need for associations and friendships; 2) external expectations: to comply with instructions from someone else; to fulfill the expectations or recommendations of someone with formal authority; 3) social welfare: to improve ability to serve mankind, prepare for service to the community, and improve ability to participate in community work; 4) personal advancement: to achieve higher status in a job, secure professional advancement, and stay abreast of competitors; 5) escape/stimulation: to relieve boredom, provide a break in the routine of home or work, and provide a contrast to other exacting details of life; 6) cognitive interest: to learn for the sake of learning, seek knowledge for its own sake, and to satisfy an inquiring mind. I am sure Web 2.0 does have good features that promote the aforementioned factors. Maybe you can tell us more in terms of the HRD's perspective.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Dan Villarreal here, one of the interviewees (Mandarin Chinese language learner & Ph.D. student in Foreign Language Education at UT-Austin). I'll add a comment about my own motivation. I'm seeeing Mandarin as a very important language, and I believe that knowing it will open some doors when I have my doctorate. Other than the possibility of someday teaching and working in Taiwan, I'm not sure what those doors are yet. However, I would rather graduate with a PhD and SOME Mandarin knowledge than with none. I'm in the Student Mode now. It will be easier to build on my language than to learn from scratch while I'm in the working world.

Kyle Huang said...

Hi, Dan, to learn Chinese well will help you a lot for your future academic career in Taiwan. Just let me know if you need any help with tones and translation~