The article mentions three digital rhetoric needs for students:
1) community
2) critical engagement
3) application
As for community, and the students' need to be a member of the community, I personally had a great experience in regards to the convergence of a virtual community and my personal life. As English Literature undergraduate students, we had to take 3 courses in French as a second/third language. The first sessions of the class were unbelievably intimidating, as the professor was to speak in French only, and we, the students, could understand literally nothing. After the 3rd session, in a private meeting, I told my professor about my failure in understanding him, but he encouraged me not to drop the course, as he believed I could learn it as I learned English as a second language. I did a lot of self-tutoring after each session by listening to our French audio CD, and using my best friend, the dictionary. Though after a while, I was less intimidated, I was not confident I would do satisfactorily on the exam as I have always aimed for the best. However, a week before the exam, it hit me, a brilliant idea - I decided to try a French chat room! Once in the chat room, I announced publicly that I needed to befriend someone who was fluent both in English and French, and that I needed help with my French course. Fortunately, instant message windows popped up, and shortly after, I found the best virtual French teacher in the whole world. We arranged to meet for 2 hours everyday for a week. Thanks to technology, the digital world, and humanity, the result was an A+! I could never have aced it without the digital world, digital writing, and digital rhetorics! Besides, it was not just a grade, but a wonderful friend, as well as learning a lot about a different language which always opens up new dimensions in one's life!
Dancing
14 years ago
I wish I had thought of that for my conversational Spanish courses that I took at Stony Brook. My professor spoke only Spanish and was very critical of proper accenting of words and pronunciation. My reading and writing vocabulary was great, but my ability to hear and understand spoken Spanish was (and still is) poor. Thanks for the idea - now I have more computer work to do. :)
ReplyDeleteEl, the thing that captivated me the most what how you described how intimidating it was for you be in classroom where the professor only spoke a language that you had no clue about. This is the approach I take in my dual language kindergarten class. I speak Spanish... all day and my students eventually begin picking up on it. They use their peers as translators and I use the whole body approach to get my students to understand me. However, sometimes I forgot how hard it is to learn a new language and your post reminded me of this. I am currently looking for a method in the digital world that I can refer my students to go to and help them with their Spanish. Of course, I cant refer them to chat room... they are only 5 years old! (Although by the way things are going now a days.... :D) I provide them with websites to go to at home but I wish their was some sort of interactive Spanish program they could use.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great story, El. Were you able to share your experience with the teacher?
ReplyDelete