Question about Phrases cds

[Susan Penfield]

Hi all,

Sounds like lots of good work going on---In terms of acquiring language,
Dale's advice is very good -- begin simple and build on what you have to
increasing complexity. The key to learning is repetition and providing a
context for use. The number of phrases won't matter as much as their ability
to be put to use---in really practical, everyday language.  Organizing them
by topic is useful, but within a topic, structure still matters and should
be a consideration for how the phrases are ordered for language learners.

That's just my take....Thanks to all for sharing these grassroots efforts.

Susan

On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 2:55 PM, Dale McCreery <mccreery at uvic.ca> wrote:

> Taanshi!
> Dale McCreery here, I think that there isn't a real worry about including
> too many phrases on a single CD, the important thing is to make sure that
> the phrases are structured.  A large amount of unrelated phrases is
> overwhelming, but the more ways the phrases are related to each other the
> more readily a learner can absorb them.  Most CDs like this are arranged
> by topic, and that is one way of making connections, but I think that
> including a lot of phrases that are very similar to each other
> structurally (such as differing in only a single word or a tense) would
> make it easier for those who listen to the CD to retain the phrases.  Even
> on a CD of phrases, unless there is some sort of a progression of
> complexity, people can listen to the CD a hundred times and retain only a
> couple phrases.
>
> So, my basic suggestions are:
> 1. include as much as possible
> 2. make it as structured as possible (as many connections between phrases
> as possible)
> 3. make a progression of complexity, or at least include a repetition of
> similar types of structures frequently.
>
> -dale-
>



-- 
**********************************************************************************************
Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D.
(Currently on leave to the National Science Foundation.
E-mail: spenfiel at nsf.gov
Phone at NSF: 703-292-4535)


Department of English (Primary)
Faculty affiliate in Linguistics, Language, Reading and Culture,
Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT),
American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI)
The Southwest Center
University of Arizona,
Tucson, Arizona 85721
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