AI may solve problems we face when doing extensive listening. The cloud service Amazon Polly “converts text into life-like speech.” We show how teachers can use Amazon Polly, and we summarize a pilot research project that compares student responses to a human voice and Amazon Polly’s AI voice.
A Paper Presented at The Fifth World Congress on Extensive Reading, Feng Chia University August 9-12, 2019. By Joseph Poulshock, Senshu University; Douglas Forster, Japan Women’s University
We gave a brief panel talk about ReadOasis at the The Sixth Annual Conference on Global Higher Education at Lakeland University, Japan. It’s a great conference! We enjoyed the presentations by the other panel members: Mark Feeley, from Lakeland University, gave a talk entitled “Improving Academic Literacy.” And Christopher Tempest, from Sojo University, talked about: “Implementing Quizlet in a Japanese EFL University.” We also enjoyed the atmosphere at Lakeland — very friendly and pleasant!
We wish to thank everyone who attended our talk. — Joseph Poulshock & Douglas Forster
Thank you Charles Browne and your Zemi students for inviting me to your Summer Zemi this year. It was an honor and a pleasure to participate and to witness your joy and enthusiasm for life and learning!
After my presentation, I made some changes based on our interactions. This is includes a reference list for relevant academic works and an algorithmic gamification of the Find Someone Who activity, which is now “Bingo Talk.”
All the best to you and “carpe diem!”
By Doug Forster and Joseph Poulshock
We present a simple framework for our students to think about motivation. Students (n = 249) responded to a questionnaire based on this framework regarding their aspirations to learn English. Students showed a much greater level of aspiration to learn English than teachers might generally expect.
For example, students responded on a scale of 1-10 to the statement “I want to learn English.” One equaled disagree, and 10 equaled agree. When asked about this question, teachers often predicted that 30-40% of students would rate their desire to learn at 8 or more. But the result was much higher. Eighty-one percent of the students rated their desire to learn at 8 or above, and 88% of the students rated their desire to learn at 7 or higher.
Other questions also revealed that students seem to have a higher motivation than teachers might expect. In the PDF, we summarize the results of each question in the questionnaire, and we draw some general conclusions regarding the results.
Abstract
Why should our students learn English? What motivates them to do so? How can we get them to become ASPIRERS who truly want to improve their English skills? The presenters will share an effective motivational lesson to help students reach their language goals more effectively based on seven good reasons for learning English using the acronym, ASPIRER.
Appeal: English stories and songs intrinsically appeal to you. Social: You want to socialize in English.
Professional: You need English professionally for work.
Individual: You want to improve your life and mind with English.
Required: You have to study English at work or school.
Educational: You want English for education or study abroad.
Results: Success (good results) with English motivates you.
Click here to download the PDF.
In April, I launched a new site, which introduces topics in general and applied linguistics. Though there are many sites and books that introduce these general topics, I wanted to present the material in the clearest possible language that would be easy to understand for students and teachers whose first language is not English. In addition, the site also introduces potentially new ideas in the sections dealing with message algorithms and unified theories. Elemental Linguistics is a work in progress, so comments and critiques are welcome.
Joseph Poulshock, May 2018.
