DYNAMIC PRESENTATIONS OF SPOKEN SPANISH USING

POWERPOINT

María Mayberry

maria.mayberry@csus.edu

California State University, Sacramento

Pedagogical approach of this work

• Provides a dynamically visual account of the process of linking across word boundaries in Spanish using Power Point.

• Directs learner’s attention (consciousness raising) to how the segmentation of speech in Spanish relates to the written text word by word.

• Helps to emphasize the role of context in disambiguating homophonous phrases.

• Promotes the practice of linking contiguous sounds across word boundaries in the learners’ L2 production.

Language comprehension model Anderson (2000)

• It is a cognitive framework of language comprehension that consists of three phases of processing:- utilization

- parsing

- perception

• Perception is the lowest level.

• The processes are interrelated and recursive.

• During a single listening event the processes “may flow one into the other, recycle, and may be modified based on what occurred in prior or subsequent processes” (O’Malley et al., 1995, p. 140).

Language comprehension model Anderson (2000)

utilization:access prior knowledge

parsing:segmentation

ofinput into words

and phrases

perceptual:identification of

sounds

This model offers insights into why and at what level of processing the listening comprehension breaks down.

Language comprehension model Anderson (2000)

utilization:access prior knowledge

parsing:segmentation

ofinput into words

and phrases

perceptual:identification of

sounds

Current research on listening comprehension in L2 AND activities on L2 classroomconcentrate on high-levels of processing (O’Malley et al.,1995; Goh, 2000).

}However, most of the listening difficulties faced by novice learners are related to low-levels of processing (O’Malley et al.,1995; Goh, 2000; Mayberry 2006).

At the utilization level, learners are expected to access prior knowledge in order to form meaningful associations that are stored in long-term memory (listen for meaning).

Language comprehension model Anderson (2000)

utilization:access prior knowledge

parsing:segmentation

ofinput into words

and phrases

perceptual:identification of

sounds

This presentation focuseson difficulties at the parsing level.

Importance of context in parsing• The tendency of spoken speech is to link contiguous

sounds across word boundaries.• In order to recognize words in connected speech, we

need to use context. • Context (the underlined words in the examples below)

enables native and non-native speakers to distinguish between has ido, has sido, and ha sido in the following phrases:(1) ¿Has ido a Europa?

‘Have you gone to Europe?’

(2) ¿Tú has sido un buen estudiante?

‘Have you been a good student?’

(3) Pedro ha sido un buen estudiante.

‘Pedro has been a good student.’

Listening comprehension in a communicative classroom

• It is assumed that students will be able to use context to form meaningful associations.

• However, cognitive difficulties faced by listeners in the early stages of acquisition result in little to no mental capacity available for the use of context (Field, 2003; Goh, 2000; Mayberry, 2006; Vandergrift, 1992)

L2 learners’ dilemma

How to get to the point to start comprehending authentic oral input in order to use context to understand what they are hearing.

What evidence showsThe level of proficiency and the difficulty of the listening

passages affect how learners use contextual information or whether they use it at all:

- Learners rely more on syntactic than on semantic cues as the level of proficiency decreases or the level of difficulty increases. (Bacon,1992; Conrad 1981, 1985)

- Novice listeners tend to disregard the (semantic or syntactic) contextual information even in cloze tests, where context has been provided for them. (Mayberry, 2006)

Importance of this work

• Teachers should actively consider why students with lower proficiency levels have difficulty comprehending listening input, “instead of hoping that students will eventually develop their listening skills by themselves” (Renandya and Farrell, 2011, pp. 52-53).

• “Some modicum of perceptual information, even if only a few words, is clearly needed before contextual knowledge can be brought to bear” (Field, 2003, p. 325).

How to explain segmenting rules in elementary courses?

Instruction:Syllabification at the word level

C = consonant

V = vowel

Rule 1. CV: ca-ra ‘face’ pa-ra-da ‘stop’

Rule 2. C-C: es-tu-dian-te ‘student’ im-po-si-ble ‘impossible’

except when the second consonant is an ‘r’ or ‘l’:

C+r tres ‘three’ a-pri-sa ‘hurry’

C+l clase 'class‘ i-gle-sia ‘church

Rule 3. CC-C: ins-tan-te im-po-si-ble ‘impossible’

except when the third consonant is an ‘r’ or ‘l’:

C-Cr im-pri-mir ‘to print’ in-fra-es-truc-tu-ra ‘infrastructure’

C-Cl en-claustrado 'class‘ con-glo-me-ra-do ‘conglomerate

Use of PowerPoint

In order to provide a dynamically visual account of the process of linking across word boundaries:

- Insert each syllable using text box

- Add dynamicity using the Animation ribbon

Insert each syllable of a word using text box

Add dynamicity to the process of syllabification

Use the animation capabilities of PowerPoint to present each syllable sequentially. In PowerPoint 2007, do the following:

1. Click the Animation tab to display the Animation ribbon as seen in the following slide.

2. Click Custom Animation to bring a pane to the right.

3. From the Custom Animation pane, choose Add Effect.

4. Apply the Fly In effect under Entrance to each individual text box.

5. Check the AutoPreview on the Animation tab and click Play to watch how it all works together.

Custom Animation pane

Examples of dynamic syllabification

ca- ra

'face';

pa- ra- da

'bus stop'

es- tu- dian- te

ins- tan- te

cara parada

estudiante

except Cr as tres ‘three’or Cl as cla-se ‘class’

instante

-CV-:

C-C:

CC-C

except CCr as im-pri-mir ‘print’

or CCl as in-glés ‘English’

Syllabification is carriedacross word boundaries

los estudiantes están allá

→ lo- ses- tu- dian- lláses-te- ta- na-

Parsing difficulties result in ‘chunks’

• Parsing: Ability to distinguish between homophonous phrases or chunks.

• Chunks: Phonologically similar, but semantically different phrases. Therefore, context is important to disambiguate.

Example of chunk 1

¿Has ido...? or ¿Has sido...? or ¿Ha sido...?

a- si- do

¿a- si- do...? ¿a- ssi- do...?or

?

¿a- si- do?or

Context is needed to disambiguate

1. ¿(Tú) ________ a Europa? have been or have gone?

2. ¿(Tú) ________ un buen estudiante? have been or have gone?

3. Pedro ________ un buen estudiante.has been or has gone?

has ido

has sido

ha sido

Example of chunk 2

Note: In Latin America, the ‘c’ in ‘hacer’ in the following examples is pronounced as an ‘s’:

¿Vas a hacer...? or ¿Vas a ser ...?

ba- sa- ser

¿va- sa+a-cer...? ¿va- sa- ser...?or

?

Context is needed to disambiguate

1. ¿________ la tarea? Are you going to do or going to be?

2. ¿ ________ un buen estudiante? Are you going to do or going to be?

Vas a hacer

Vas a ser

L2 production

Pronunciation– Example 1

Encourage learners to link words across boundaries in their pronunciation:

¿Has ido...?

¿a- si- do...?

Production of complete sentences

The use of extended discourse addresses two of the challenges faced by learners during the initial stages of L2 acquisition:

1. Fear of speaking. Students gain confidence in speaking by producing longer discourse.

2. Uncertainty as to how to structure discourse. Learners are guided in the production of longer discourse without the need for grammatical or syntactic explanations. Use the backwards strategy for open questions.

Backwards strategy• Each constituent is separated by a forward slash. • Students are encouraged to construct larger units of

discourse to open questions by starting with the last constituent in the question and working backwards to use other constituents in the question.

• In the following examples, la blusa de la profesora ‘the professor’s blouse’ is the last constituent in question 1.

• The last constituent in the answer would be the actual answer to the interrogative.

Open Questions Backwards strategy

Question 1:

Answer:

Question 2:

Answer:

¿De qué color / es / la blusa de la profesora?

La blusa de la profesora es blancA y café.

¿Cuándo / es / tu cumpleaños?

Mi cumpleaños es el 10 de noviembre.

Conclusions• This work has used PowerPoint to illustrate the dynamic

nature of language with visual and oral instruction. • This method introduces L2 listeners to the speech

segmenting rules in Spanish without taking too much class time.

• This visual presentation emphasizes the role of context in the disambiguation of homophonous phrases that result from linking.

• These activities also promote the practice of linking in the learners’ language production in the L2.

• These activities also help learners to move from one-word utterances to larger units of discourse.

Thank you!

• María Mayberry

• maria.mayberry@csus.edu