Kate Price
TIFLE
Dr. Lord
Mini Project 2: Vocabulary Blog
In preparation for this mini project, I was thinking about what CMC activity I might possibly incorporate into the beginning level II Spanish class that I teach (SPN 1131) and what areas are in dire need of attention. In a class like SPN 1130 or 1131 at UF, each chapter vocabulary receives one in-class day of instruction, and then of course it is incorporated into the grammar and lessons for the rest of the chapter. However, students have often expressed to me their dismay with the monotonous task of learning vocabulary at home and asked what they could do to better learn it on their own.
This CMC activity – a student vocabulary blog activity – is meant to help the students study and practice their chapter vocabulary after the in-class vocabulary lesson. Students will vocabulary blog in an asynchronous yet creative and communicative manner in the target language with classmates where meaning can be negotiated to some degree. It will also, hopefully, foster a greater interest in the vocabulary…or at least force the students to bond with their textbooks while blogging.
Assuming the mini project were to be carried out in my section of SPN 1131 at UF, the project would function as follows:
The vocabulary covered in this project would come from the chapters studied in the course textbook for the semester, Puntos de Partida.
The teacher would maintain an on-line blog such as www.blogger.com and students would be required to create their own personal blogs.
Students would be placed into groups of four and have to choose a group name collectively (based on vocabulary from the textbook), which would then be the main title of their blog plus their name i.e.: Las chuletas chulas – Blog de Jenny.
In-class chapter vocabulary lesson comes before any blogging. This is the introduction to the new vocabulary and first preparation for the blog assignment.
Students would then go to the teacher’s blog after the introduction of each new chapter and read a list of questions pertaining to the vocabulary i.e.: 1. ¿Qué haces para llevar una vida sana?. The students would then choose a question and elaborate a short response (3-5 sentences) in the target language on his/her personal blog. The focus is to create a personal response that incorporates the vocabulary.
The students are also responsible for creating one spin-off question in the target language for their group-mates. Each member of the group is then responsible for responding to one group member’s question and including chapter vocabulary in the response.
This vocabulary blog activity would take place with every new chapter throughout an entire semester and each activity must be completed before the start of a new chapter.
The goals of this project are to practice the vocabulary and individual writing skills in context while responding to the teacher/student’s questions, to creatively dialogue using the vocabulary and to negotiate meaning when necessary.
In addition to the semester long project tasks of vocabulary blogging, there would also be two follow up activity projects: a mid-semester vocabulary blog composition (i.e. covering chapters 8-11) and a final vocabulary blog composition (chapter 12-16). Several broad topics would be provided by the teacher for these compositions and the students would have to integrate a certain quantity of the covered vocabulary in context. These two compositions would be graded by the teacher on content, grammar and vocabulary under a different grading rubric than the vocabulary blogging rubric. These compositions should reinforce the importance of vocabulary acquisition and correct grammatical usage for communicative competence.
The grading of the vocabulary blogging would depend upon creativity and vocabulary content totaling 6% of the final grade and the blog compositions would be worth 2% each and graded similarly to an SPN 1131 composition but with a focus on the successful integration of Spanish vocabulary.
The ultimate goal of this CMC project is to provide the students with a unique and fairly autonomous outlet to practice vocabulary and negotiate meaning outside of class. The students will be required to complete an anonymous questionnaire at the end of the semester providing feedback regarding the project.