This week we discussed the implications of Covid on learning and the traditional classroom set-up. I think the biggest take away from this discussion is that the role of teachers has changed and continues to change significantly and rapidly. Likewise, students’ interactions with content is changing. In the context of Core French and second language learning I think this shift is not happening fast enough. So far in our observations, the second language classroom are still very similar to when I went to school almost a decade ago now. The only real “modern” technology the teacher is using is Kahoot/Quizlet and the students are over-utilizing Google Translate.
As part of the discussion regarding planning online courses, the questioned posed was who are your learners and what do they value? In this sense, we know students love quick answers and of course they are going to use Google Translate especially when at home. What we should be doing is teaching them that this is only a starting point (similar to how humanities and science teachers approach Wikipedia) but here are endless other resources that are more accurate and cultural and contextually nuanced. For example:
Linguee – comprehensive, contextual dictionary.
Wordreference – dictionary translation, including phrases.
BonPatron – Grammar and spelling check machine that allows students to focus on simply writing and then checking their grammar afterwards.
And in my opinion, I think it is an extreme shame that we are not encouraging these students to use popular apps like TikTok and Youtube as a means of informal social learning. These apps are where second language learners can connect to the language in its most current/colloquial form and in contexts that the students are actually interested in, such as a beauty videos, news clips, memes, or sports. These apps are where I learned about vocabulary like mec/meuf, which I never would have known otherwise and turns out are regularly used amongst French young adults. One of my future goals in my Core French classes is to incorporate French TikTok and Youtube into the classroom so that students are interacting with parts of the language that interest them.
