Online Discussion

The use of online discussion tools, while practical in some settings, is a good way to exchange ideas and information, but I’m not sure a real-time discussion is the best way to facilitate an academic conversation. One of my classes uses threads on blackboard as a way to clarify the issues behind student presentations, and it’s remarkably valuable, but I don’t think a mandatory real-time discussion will necessarily elicit valuable output—I have experience in that environment too and it always felt really forced.

Project Proposal

Twitterface


Aja Gorham
Jay Grahovac
Jesse Ackles



CALL Project Proposal: Making Simple Requests



Set up:



· You are going to dinner with your boss or the father of your significant other. How would you pass them the butter?

· You are going for coffee with a friend you have not seen in a while. How would you ask the barista for your drink?

· Making a request in English can have gradations of politeness that speakers use depending on who they are talking to. Your job is to go out and collect data! Find out how native speakers use different polite markers to make a request.


CALL Activity: Using Twitter.com, record native speakers making requests in public spaces, such as:



· Starbucks - "Can I have a grande mocha no whip?"

· The cafeteria - "May I have a diet coke?"

· The movie theater - "Two tickets for Avatar, please."



Text a request you hear to twitter via a pre-established account or record the request you hear and post no less than 6 tweets; one request per tweet. The tweets will be displayed in front of the class and discussed as a group. The discussion will revolve around common usage and ask students to make guesses as to the context of the situation. With guesses regarding the context of the situations students will be assigned a situation:



· Dinner with the in-laws

· Asking for directions from a stranger

· Asking a good friend for a loan

· Etc.


The students will then be asked to write a series of requests, including in their list a tweeted request. These results will be posted on the class blog for student references and an online catalog of phrases.



CALL Activity: Podcast. In the theme of Mission: Impossible



· A daily podcast modeled after the famous TV show, Mission: Impossible will be used to inform the students of their “mission” for that day.

· "Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to go lurk around some strangers and tweet what they say but don't look like a terrorist. This message will self-destruct in 10 seconds."



Call Activity: Blog

· The class blog will be used to tie the two above activities together and report on the success of the students’ progress.