Teaching and Transcribing

I discovered an amazing source today about the use of transcribing techniques to teach English to non-native speakers.  The article, entitled "Learning from the Transcripts of an Oral Communication Task" by T. Lynch,  talked about the practicality and effectiveness of using transcribing activities in classrooms.  The reason I am dedicating a whole post to this article is because of how it answers so many questions I have recently asked (and should have asked) about my project.

The article analyzes a study completed concerning the effectiveness of using recorded oral practice in classrooms and having the students later transcribe the recorded conversations.  This is exciting for me because the study showed that having students transcribe their own conversations greatly increased the attention that they gave to the language and how it works.  In other words, transcribing is a wonderfully effective strategy for language acquisition.

This is splendid news!  That means that the thing that I was dreading as taking up the most time (transcribing) will actually help me to achieve the thing that I wanted most out of my trip to Mexico (that is, bettering my Spanish skills).  Not only that, but the two methods that were tested gave me some great ideas about how I can be more accurate, and get the most language learning, out of my transcribing time.

The study was conducted to measure (in part) the difference in effectiveness between two methods of transcribing.  For both of the methods the students will complete a first-time transcript of the oral practice, but for the first method the students will come back to their transcript and edit it along with their peers, paying special attention to words and sections that were problematic during the first attempt.  This methods is intended to greatly increase the attention that the students will give to the language and require them to look more closely at words at familiar to them.  The second methods requires more teacher involvement, meaning that the teachers would provide their version of the transcripts for the students to learn from.

The study showed that the first, peer-review method, provided more long-term learning for the students.  Which is great, because it gave me the great idea to find a friend that I can have help work with me through the tricky sections of the audio recordings.  This article has taught me things that will help me to not only improve my Spanish, but the methods therein will provide assistance during my transcribing periods, granting relief during some of the most challenging portions of my project.

Transcription and Translation

I have been trying to discover some Spanish music that I like, and luckily I have found some to help me get in the mood-- artists like Gaby Moreno and Reik.  I'm still searching and finding new things, but listening to Spanish music has got me thinking recently about a few of the most challenging aspects that will come with my project-- transcribing and translation.

As I think about what lies ahead, those are the two things that scare me most about my project.  I mean, I believe that I have the gumption and the moxie to get out and start talking with people and improve my speaking skills, but what if I can't understand the interviews on the audio recordings? What if I don't know any of the words that are used in the interviews? How am I going to even hope to translate these stories into English? And what about translating my own words into Spanish?

 I will, of course, need some supplies such as a great dictionary (both an English/Spanish dictionary, as well as just an amazing Spanish dictionary), I will need some of the best audio recording supplies, something that picks up great sound, is portable, and has an easily manageable playback capability. But besides supplies, I will need a definite skill set to take with me to the field, for without that experience I will come to a complete standstill.

I have therefore determined that I need to be doing a few activities that will help me practice my transcribing and translation.  I have a book about Spanish translation that I will be reading, but I want to get some actual practice in.  I'm sure there are many ways to do this, and I am open to suggestions, but I think I have had one great idea... with a little help from Gaby and Reik, I have all the material I need!

Listening closely to the songs that I have recently discovered, and trying to transcribe "la letra" [the lyrics] will be a great way to help me practice, and give me some practical ideas and tips that can only come from experience.  I'm sure it will be hard to understand all of the lyrics over the music, but that's why I'm practicing right?  Then I will try to create my own rough translation of the lyrics.

The best part about this, is it means listening to more music that I like... :)

Benjamin

Interview Method Practice and Language Acquisition

This morning I interviewed my roommate, Gordy, about his mission.  I wasn't going to find anybody to interview about the history of the church in Irapuato, Mexico, so I figured that because he served in Samara, Russia, that was the next best thing... right?

Luckily I did find some correlation to my project.  While I was learning about missionary work in Russia, Gordy brought up language study, which is something that I didn't have to do on my mission.  In response to my questions he explained the difference between a good language study plan and a bad one.

A bad language study plan errs very close to not having a language study plan at all.  For a little while on his mission he said he would just read the scriptures in Russian and, though it helped a little, there is only so much you can learn from this approach.  It is important to try lots of different approaches.  As he taught me, "you are going to speak the language about 5,000 more times than you will read or write it," so it is very important to incorporate that usage of speech into your language study plan.

Some of the things that he found effective, that I want to try not only while in the field but as I study the language before hand, include activities that he would do throughout the day.  For instance, if he was talking with someone and he heard a word he didn't understand, he would write it down to look up later.  Also, if he was trying to communicate something but didn't have the right vocabulary or grammar structure in the moment, then he would be sure to make note of that and learn how to correctly say that at a later time.

As language acquisition is one of the main focuses of my field study, I am very grateful for these methodological insights into language study plans.  I feel that this interview/methods practice proved more helpful than I originally thought it would be.

¡Chido!

Modismos and Sayings

On class on Wednesday we had a really interesting discussion about some idioms used in the Spanish language. You can tell a lot about a culture from the idioms that they use. Our idioms in America are very centered around time (such as "time is money"). Where as Spanish idioms seem to deal a lot with food (such as "me vale queso" which means I don't care, but literally means something like: that matters to me as much as cheese).

Last night I was watching Ocean's 13 and there is one part where one of the "mormon twins" is working in a factory in Mexico. One of his co-workers warns him "algo es peligroso" (something is dangerous), to which he responds "Peligroso es mi nombre medio" (literally: Dangerous is my middle name). I thought this was funny because the subtitle read "danger is my middle name." It's interesting how we try to get our idioms to fit in another language and sometimes it doesn't work, especially when we translate wrong.

I wonder sometimes what impression my use of the Spanish language is going to give the native people there; I still have a lot of Spanish to learn. Every time that I mess up my grammar or use the personal tú instead of the formal usted I am labeling myself as a outsider. Of course, with my pale skin and 6'8" I will stick out like a sore thumb, but language is something else.

The nice part is that I will be able to use my lack of language proficiency to my advantage sometimes. If I admit my mistakes and inadequacies but express a real desire to learn, that should open up the hearts of the people of Irapuato. Who doesn't like someone who is struggling hard to learn your language and culture? They should be happy to help, and as I seek to learn in friendship, I am sure they will respond in like kind.

And I will be feliz como una lombriz (happy as a worm).

When in Rome, Haga Como Roman

(do as Roman does)

Today I met again with my friend Roman and we helped each other practice our languages. I like studying with Roman because he is in a similar situation to the one I will be in in a few months. He is the one from a different country, el extranjero, trying to learn to speak the language, and so I can relate to him. And though none of us has ever been to Rome, we both realized that sometimes it's hard to do as the Romans, especially when it comes to something as "simple" as conversation.

Roman explained to me about the vocab tests that he has to take to learn English, and the difficulty he had when asking some Americans what some of the words meant. They knew what the words were and what they meant, but they had difficulty trying to explain them, even in their own language. Our conversation has become so much of a second nature to us, that we can't even explain it, and so when someone wants to learn why things are done or said that we, even if we are willing we have to be able to explain it.

There is so much to learn when you visit another country, and, try as you might, you can't learn without proper communication. Without you having the ability to ask, and they having the ability to explain. I was trying to explain to Roman today about how I wore a beanie today because I had hat hair. From this I learned that a "sombrero" is only a Mexican or cowboy hat, but that a "gorro" is most other types of hats and the "gorra" is the baseball cap. I was trying to help pronounce some words and as I looked at them on the screen I couldn't believe that that was how we pronounced that random sampling of letters. I mean how come "accepted" and "accused" don't rhyme?

Sometimes we learn the most about our culture while trying to explain it to others.