PROMOTING ORAL PROFICIENCY IN ONLINE

LANGUAGE CLASSES

Susan Yoder-KregerTeaching Professor of SpanishDepartment of Anthropology, Sociology, and LanguagesUniversity of Missouri – St. Louis

TOOLS

MailVU.comSkype

glogsterVoice Board

VoiceThreadBlackboard IM

Blackboard CollaborateETC.

Clear Objectives

Specific instructions

PreparationVoice Board: VoiceThread: ExampleDiscussion Board:

ACTFL Definition

What can students do with language

in real-world situations

in a spontaneous and

non-rehearsed context.

Conversation

BlackBoard Collaborate:

EXAMPLEVOICE BOARD:

Using the information from the interview, tell me about your partner. Include as much

information as you can using only the expressions and vocabulary we have

learned so far.

Individual presentations

Introductions VoiceThread

Spanish 2 Spanish 3

Pros and cons

Presentation of Material

La familia de Amanda

La niñez

¡Qué desastre!

Student Comments They are interesting. I have never before

seen them and in a way help me to feel more connected to the class as a whole.

I love the VT presentations.  It's as close as this course comes to actually learning in a classroom, and it really helps to fill in the blanks on some of the tougher concepts.  Additionally, I think the VT website is easier to navigate and use than some of our other tools.  It would be great to have more material presented/worked through on VT!

Student Comments (con’t)

I like the voicethread presentations. The voicethread site allows you to add many different kinds of media to the voicethread. I like the doodling option, which makes it easier to highlight exactly what you are presenting in each slide.

Partner Activities

Tools: Skype + Jing¿Cómo es la familia?

Tools: Blackboard Collaborate¿Qué te gusta comer?

Student Comments on Collaborate

Now that I understand how to use it properly, I think the collaborate conversations are a good way to practice the material in an actual conversation. This practice helps us to speak the language more effectively and highlights where we have gaps in our knowledge regarding our conversational skills.

I understand that conversational skills are important, and that video chats offer the best way to gauge them in a truly online course.  I honestly don't have a better solution.  With that said...   I've often sat waiting while my partner is late coming online or

getting ready for the conversation.  On one occasion they didn't get online at all, so I missed out on an evening with friends and received a 0 on the assignment.  

As I said before, I know conversation is a necessary aspect of a language class... It's just frustrating to have my grades be dependent on the reliability and punctuality of others!

STUDENT PRESENTATIONS

SPANISH 1: EXAMPLE

SPANISH 3: EXAMPLE

QUESTIONS?