Unveiling quality language education insights: LEA Newsletter Jul 2023 Edition

Greetings on the LEA Newsletter Jul 2023!

I hope this edition of our monthly newsletter finds you in the most splendid of spirits, brimming with enthusiasm to invigorate many of us this summer! It’s an absolute delight to connect with each and every one of you, my fellow changemakers, and share little nuggets of research insights that have the power to elevate our collective knowledge and teaching prowess. I hope you also look forward to these updates of inspiration!

A couple of days ago, my eldest daughter came back from her choir practice and started singing to tunes of “Sakura Sakura” (さくら さくら), is a Japanese song that celebrates the beauty of cherry blossoms, which are a cherished symbol of Japan. She was very excited, not because she loves the song per se, but because she could appreciate the song a little bit more in terms of the phonological patterns within the lyrics – thanks to the short trip we had in Japan in June.

Indeed, language immersion trips offer our learners a unique and immersive learning experience with the potential to accelerate language acquisition, enhance cultural understanding, and cultivate global competence. Even in cases like my own trip, which primarily focused on leisure (“holidaying”), language learning benefits emerge through authentic communication opportunities in the target language and heightened linguistic awareness.

However, strategic trip design and implementation are critical to achieving these benefits. Thus, we must establish comprehensive structures before, during, and after the trip to ensure the enduring impact of these language learning benefits. If we possess the necessary resources, let us endeavor to offer such transformative language learning experiences to our students, igniting their passion for continued language learning long after they depart from our classrooms.

Next, are you a fervent online gamer that actively engage your peers through online communities? Do you also use a lot of digital tools and is very involved in keeping tabs with updates and sharing of use cases for those tools? If yes, you probably might have heard of the platform called Discord. Notwithstanding such, have you ever used Discord for language education?

I do feel that Discord has a lot of untapped potential for language education. Its servers and channels offer numerous affordances that can facilitate specialised engagement within a class or course. Moreover, the availability of bots allows for automating mundane tasks to some extent. However, it is essential to acknowledge the drawbacks of using Discord, including cybersecurity and privacy concerns, as well as potential resistance from colleagues and students. I invite you all to share your experiences with Discord, whether you have successfully implemented use cases or encountered challenges in previous attempts.

Now, shifting our focus to an innovative concept that has been revolutionising various industries. Let’s explore the fascinating world of Digital Twin technology. The Digital Twin is a cutting-edge approach that involves creating virtual replicas of physical assets, processes, or systems, enabling real-time monitoring, analysis, and simulation. This cutting-edge approach entails creating virtual replicas of physical assets, processes, or systems, facilitating real-time monitoring, analysis, and simulation.

Despite the plethora of opportunities Digital Twins offer for education, their potential in language education remains largely unexplored. Our question is: can we identify potential use cases to harness this technology effectively in language learning endeavors? Nevertheless, we mustn’t overlook the complexities, including associated costs.

Last but not least, have your ever wonder if language teachers can manipulate language input characteristics to support our language learners? Are we able to mix and meld the elements of language input to create potent elixirs for accelerated language learning; or combine the magic of audio, visual, and interactive resources to create an enchanting blend that captivates our learners’ minds and trigger language acquisition?

We can all become language alchemists by creatively presenting language input, considering crucial characteristics like quantity, quality, variability, and frequency. Through this approach, our learners can respond and process the language input more effectively, leading to the acquisition of the targeted linguistic properties. With the aid of this framework and additional tips and strategies to manipulate these characteristics, we can all significantly enhance our ability to craft the most optimal input for our students.

Before I wrap up, I’m curious to know how each and every one of you is doing this summer. Given the diverse academic calendars around the world, some of us may be enjoying a well-deserved break, while some of us still battling on with our learners. As for me, July has proven to be both challenging and productive. Dealing with illness for over a week presented its challenges, yet I find it gratifying that I accomplished a considerable amount of content creation during this time. Regardless of where we are, let’s always take care of ourselves.

As we approach the next month, I have plans to dedicate some time to updating our previously published articles with fresh insights and information. Till then, take care!

Warm Regards,
Chin Yew KIEU
Founder, Language Educators Assemble