A warning right from the outset: The following journal entry is rated NFE, or Not For Entertainment. After years as a frequent web browser, I’ve become familiar with sundry online acronyms, and one of the more popular, I guess, is NFW – Not For Work ( a label applied to web materials you wouldn’t want the boss to catch on your computer monitor.) Well, since I’m actually writing this entry at work and don’t anticipate that many others would find this particularly interesting, I’ve decided to stamp it with my own “neo-acronym” NFE.

After attending the (S)outh(E)astern (E)uropean (L)anguage (C)enter’s Summer Institute for 8 days from July 14-23, I came away with a number of foreign-language related project ideas as well as some presentation topics for future conferences. I’d simply like to detail some of those ideas here.

1. Develop a foreign language based Lesson Plan Database. My thinking is that this would be a good project to get grant money support for. I anticipate doing something like this would require some external funding to pay for a programmer who would design a database or series of dbs. The goal would be to create an online archive of sound, tested foreign language lesson plans along with any of the required supplementary materials, be it video, audio, translated songs, digital images, etc. My original inspiration for this was the Merlot.org website which is good, but isn’t particularly well-organized. It would be imperative to design this system so that it be searchable by keywords (i.e., subjunctive, dative prepositions, Berlin, etc.) across languages (German, Spanish, Chinese, etc.) Additionally, the archived materials – prior to acceptance – might go through a process of peer-review to ensure overall quality of the submitter’s work. The product, if it proved successful, could probably be extended to cover a larger number of campus departments.

2. Continue to research the use of Flash in foreign language instruction. I’ve always liked Flash’s potential, but unfortunately it’s not particularly easy for the beginner to learn. I’d like to continue investigating the possibility of creating easily modifiable “modules” for foreign language instruction. (Basically, create some sort of Flash template that an instructor unfamiliar with Flash could be taught to modify in little time.) One of my initial projects, a song offering original German lyrics along with English subtitles and “back-track-ability” works well, but it would be incredibly difficult to show someone how to create something like this on their own. (It also took me a while to put together, and I’m a competent Flash user.) I’d like to create a similar applet for short text passages – where students can read – say – a poem by Goethe, and for all the unfamiliar vocabulary they’d be able to “rollover” a particular word to get a pop up definition in English. This, I think, would be relatively easy to accomplish and perhaps simpler to create a reusable template for.

3. Prepare a presentation on designing websites specifically for foreign language courses and subject matter. I honestly can’t say exactly what I was thinking when I wrote this idea down during the SEELRC conference, but there was so much web-based stuff, there has got to be something to it. A lot of the folks at the conference were on the low end of technology use, so I probably could organize some talk that would be beneficial to them.

4. Create some “webliographies” for the Dey110 website or as a foreign language resource in general. This is a good example for Russian on the SEELRC.org website. Basic idea is to have an online storehouse of good language-related links.

5. Put together a do-it-yourself sound studio tip sheet. A lot of these institutions are contemplating or starting projects that require a great deal of sound recording. I can’t help thinking that there might be a few of those folks who would be interested in learning how to put together a fairly professional computer-based sound studio for doing high quality recording. Cover things like computer speed, hard drive space, software (Praat, Sound Forge), an audio mixer, microphones, etc. Also consider even lower cost solutions.

6. Reseach the idea of a mobile language lab. With UNC requiring all incoming students (grads excluded) to purchase a laptop, there’s been heightened pressure on campus IT organizations to find some way of maximizing the value of these purchases. Basically, there’s much more emphasis on getting student laptops into the classroom on a regular basis. While I don’t think the laptop is highly conducive to language learning during class (the idea of a laptop screen dividing students from the teacher and each other isn’t a particularly good one, in my opinion) I think one can make a good case for their use as a “mobile language lab” outside of official class hours. With a $5 microphone and the freeware software Praat (website) it would be inexpensive to move students out of crowded labs and into their own personal spaces for language recording and analysis.

7. Offer workshops for software like Praat and Hot Potatoes. Send out brief reviews of these apps and drum up interest.

8. Research the Communicative Method and Technology in the classroom. I need to spend a little more time looking into the Communicative Method and what it’s all about. Despite having taught German last semester using a slightly modified version of the CM, I’m still not as up on its nuances as I should be. Once I know more about it, I’ll be in a better position to determine how and if technology can enhance language pedagogy here at UNC.

9. At next year’s SEELRC, lead a discussion on laptop use in the classroom, covering pros/cons, best case scenarios, success stories, pitfalls, etc. etc. Again, I’m fairly critical of machinery getting in the way of instruction, and unless it’s nearly 99% transparent, then an instructor should seriously consider the benefits of its use before subjecting students to a potentially distracting and/or confusing technology-based lesson plan.

10. Set up a transcription lab. If possible, purchase the software and equipment necessary for professional transcription, and set up one station in the Dey 110 lab. I can’t help thinking this would be some very basic and “real life” technology that might get some students really enthused about language learning. Professional transcriptionists make anywhere from $40K to $100K (generally in government employ) and have to have a great deal of training to earn the job title. I think many language instructors would be intrigued with the idea of having students work with the stop/start foot pedal and software in order to complete a short listening assignment. This would be an interesting possibility to do some really innovative work outside the classroom, and I would look forward to assisting instructors with the creation of transcription assignments as well as training for the equipment.

11. Look deeper into the cryptic world of Unicode. This is one I still need to try and wrap my head around, and as a tech support person in the foreign languages, it’s imperative that I develop some strategies for dealing with problems arising when my “clients” need to communicate in scripts like Cyrillic, Urdu, etc., that are hard to render in a word processor or web browser...

12. Write letters to faculty/departmental listservs in order to introduce myself and OASIS’ services for the fall semester. Also get started writing up some reviews of the aforementioned products and opportunities that I want to make available over the course of the next year.