a multilingual and multimodal exchange project between japanese and taiwanese university students...
TRANSCRIPT
A multilingual and multimodal exchange project between Japanese and Taiwanese university students
Toshihiko SUZUKI(Waseda Univ., Japan)[email protected]
I-Chung KE(Yuan Ze Univ., Taiwan)[email protected]
Purpose of this presentation
• Share a multilingual and multimodal exchange project that mostly involves using online interface to communicate.
• Discuss some research methodological issues in using the data collected from the project.
Multilingual exchange project• YZU , TaiwanWaseda Uni., Japan • English as a lingua franca (ELF)• Japanese/Mandarin as a foreign
language • Using English, Japanese, and Mandarin
Both of us are English teachers
Multimodal project
• Online exchange using three media: – [A] asynchronous BBS – [B] LiveOn real-time chatting: Voice, text,
and screen (Software developed by Waseda U. distance learning center)
LiveOn real-time chatting• 6-week Live chatting, 50 mins per week• 2-3 students from each side as a group
Multimodal project
• Online exchange using three media: – [A] asynchronous BBS – [B] LiveOn real-time chatting: Voice, text,
and screen (Developed by Waseda U. distance learning center)
– [C] Video Conference in class• Mutual Face-to-Face visits in January/July
History of our exchange project• Exchange based on BBS (from 2009)
– Add-on in language courses/ voluntary• Exchange based on LiveOn (from 2011)
– Part of language practice/mandatory• Exchange based on Video Conference (2011~)
– Part of language practice/mandatory• Face-to-face exchange (2010~)
– Voluntary/ $$
• Elective course devoted to exchange (2013~)
Pedagogical purpose of the project
• Develop a sustainable curriculum model for foreign language teaching in the East Asia context
• Students develop (discursive) competence in L2/L3 use through multilingual (ELF) multimodal exchange communication
Multi-modality / Multi-literacy
• Communicate with more than one interface simultaneously
• More complicated, but could be more effective than mono-modal communication (face to face, telephone, email)
• Common in ELF communication in current digitalized world
Multilingualism
• English as a lingua franca (globalization)• Regional language (regionalization)• Second foreign language (competitive
advantage)• Beyond the boundary of ‘language’ =>
Translingualism: Communication as the ultimate goal
Researching Multilingual & Multimodal communication
Data preparation
• Interaction data: Videos, images, voices, and texts– For research on actual interactions– Transcribe voices and synchronize with images and
text-typing data =>meticulous!• Elicited data: questionnaires and interviews
– For research on self/peer perceptions– Multilingual questionnaires; interviews in
students’ L1 & translation into English
Issues
• Writing systems in transcribing voice data• Boundaries between different languages
and modalities• Research topics investigated so far
Written systems
• Multilingual speech data transcription• The same sound could be represented by
several writing systems. <Voice mode>– E.g. Sakura /さくら / 桜 , sushi/ すし / 寿司
• The same Mandarin character/Kanji has different meaning in Mandarin and Japanese. <Text mode>– E.g. 今 (today in M, now in J)、結構 (structure in
Mandarin, fine/good in Japanese)
Headache for transcribers & code-
mixing/switching research!
• Categorizing languages for what purposes?• Why differentiating modalities?• Transcription = data analysis?! =>Creates
language and modality categories from data• Translingual & transmodal interpretation of
holistic data?
Boundaries between different languages and modalities Quantitative
analysis
Multilingual researchers/ assistants needed!
Research topics investigated so far
• Pedagogical topics: how to teach/learn multilingual competence in multimodal contexts; curriculum and materials
• Communication strategies• Learner/user attitude, ideology, identity• Language use in such contexts, for example,
discourse markers and speech acts
Multilingual ELF interactions may transcend the NS-NNS
boundary, liberating language learners/users.
Look forward to connecting with teachers around the world to develop our students’ linguistic and modal competence!