Acquisition vs. Learning

4 thoughts on “Acquisition vs. Learning”

1. Sean Lawler

   August 9, 2015 at 9:23 am

   I am curious to hear from Yvonne who was writing a couple months ago about teaching Igbo via online. I gathered that she wanted to channel the subconscious through her online learning (unlike what Duolingo does). Yvonne, what have you put together since our last conversation, if anything?
   This coming year I will have a Novice Low/Mid student, Sharaunda, in a native Spanish speakers class. I know; a reversal of what we usually see in regular versus native speakers classes. I will continue to do all I can to get in her a regular class but I don’t think that’s going to happen since it’s a kind of honors cohort she has to travel with. So, I’ve been thinking I should put an independent study program together for her. Maybe it will have to be Duolingo. Has anyone here had a similar situation?
   Thanks!

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   1. Yvonne Mbanefo

      August 10, 2015 at 7:25 am

      Hi Sean,
      Thanks for remembering me. Indeed I have – I am doing a mixture of 1 structure and 1 verb videos (circling) , short stories as well as what I call vocab videos ( 1 word, with 15 possible sentences that one could use with it). All the words are still colour coded and are not more than 5 minutes in length. I’m not doing any exercises at the moment – just taking it slow , and inserting humour whenever possible using the story scripts, images from Haiku deck and other places. I think unconscious acquisition is key for distance learning – with the videos they are encouraged to repeat but at the same time seeing the colour coded words will help their reading as well.
      I just get images from Haiku Deck – then adjust it with powerpoint.
      Because my students have different levels of needs , I have to give them different types of videos. Down the line, I plan to introduce videos /worksheets that will tackle Igbo movies and music – maybe 5 minutes of an Igbo movie – and then highlight the words used there and circle them as usual.
      Its still a work in progress and I am using my kids as guinea pigs .
      That thread helped me so much – Thank you everyone .
      More suggestions welcome .

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2. Ben Slavic

   August 10, 2015 at 9:50 am

   Love this report. Keep them coming. I don’t know of ANY distance learning that works. So this is wonderful to read. When you said:
   … I’m not doing any exercises at the moment….
   I immediately said, “Good! Don’t!”
   Because anything that causes them to THINK about the language is sure to fail. The stuff you are doing sounds fully directed at the deeper mind so that the student is 100% focused on the meaning and 0% on the language. Yes, 0% in my krashenista-inspired view. That is what will make this Igbo model work- the delivery of comprehensible input to students that gets them focused in a pleasant and relaxed way on what the images mean.
   Keep at it and keep the reports coming Yvonne. Thanks for asking that question Sean.

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3. Michael Coxon

   August 27, 2015 at 8:16 pm

   I am curious to know what other say about Duolingo. I am in a new school this year and many students have shared their enthusiasm about DL. It surprises me but I respect this enthusiasm even though DL has never been in my CI toolbox.
   I do realize that these students have more explicit language knowledge rather than our preferred implicit language knowledge.
   This conversation is currently on the morelist. I think DL is bad for beginners BUT more advanced learners seem to benefit from DL.
   If you have used DL…what can you tell me about it?
   I am also open to opinions for and against but in the context of year 3 and 4 students. Students interacting with input is eventually essential IMO.
   Thanks for any feedback 🙂

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