Embedded Files
Here I feature three of my corpus-informed material design units for novice to advanced level older learners.
By using the authentic register or genre, my goal for the data driven learning (DDL) is to introduce target linguistic features in context as well as to deploy learner's linguistic awareness through pattern grammar which they will apply through guided practice.
LANGUAGE AWARENESS DESIGN UNIT #1 - TEACHING VIDEO
This short tutorial video focuses on "ある" (there is/are), the fifth most commonly used word in 1.1 billion word corpus, and guide leaners to analyze the three most useful ways to use this very versatile verb through hands-on DDL, followed by guided practice activities. The lesson is intended for novice-low/mid adult/university Japanese language learners.
LANGUAGE AWARENESS DESIGN UNIT #2 -
ANALYZING MOST LISTENED J-POP LANGUAGE
This unit lesson was created for novice-low/mid university students who have learned particles as well as verb conjugations. The purpose of this corpus-based design material is to teach vocabulary and grammar in context based on pattern grammar and DDL principles. I chose this genre due to strong popularity of J-pop among university students who study the Japanese language. The unit activities include both hands-on and hands-off approaches to DDL.
This lesson was created to reinforce students’ knowledge of the most frequently appearing word "の" in the corpus and has the following language and communicative objectives.
Language Awareness Objectives -- SWBAT (Student will be able to):
confirm the prominent role of particles in ‘real’ usage of Japanese language through frequency analysis and identify the most frequent appearing particle (の)
examine the grammar pattern of the most frequent appearing particle “の” and compare that of their understanding from the classroom learning
identify the five most frequently used nouns and verbs in the current top 30 J-pop music through their own search
Communicative Objectives -- SWBAT:
infer the common trend/theme in these texts group, and discuss what might be driving the language choice they identified through the corpus analysis
YamamotoBorder_FLT845_LanguageAwarenessUnit_TeacherHandout_FinalDraft.docxGENRE-BASED WRITING INSTRUCTIONAL UNIT
This genre-based writing unit was designed for university students who are at the end of 3rd year of Japanese language study (approximately advanced-low proficiency). Because many of my students at the time were juniors and seniors, I chose self-statement (in a Japanese resume) as a target genre and aimed to teach students the skills to effectively convey strengths grounded on concrete examples to persuade their candidacy for a given position in a culturally appropriate manner.
Designing this unit was preceded by an in-depth genre-analysis. The investigation included both the observation and the usage of corpus tool to highlight the rhetorical natures and its moves as well as the prominent linguistic features of this genre -- all of which became the basis for my teaching decisions. Activities move learners from pre-/reading-task to writing task through scaffolding which conclude with peer review with grading rubric.
FLT841_YamamotoBorder_UGP_Unit_FinalDraft.docxReport abuse