The population enrolled in Oral Communication for the Non-Native Speaker can vary greatly. Some students in the course speak English fluently and some don't. Working with this particular mix of students in an oral communication class can be quite challenging because the non-fluent speakers are often intimidated by the skills of the more fluent ones. They don't feel comfortable speaking up in class when that's exactly the sort of practice they need to help improve fluency and gain confidence in a second language. Trying to avoid this particular situation is the reason I decided to base my syllabus and lesson plans on a class project that would be both engaging and challenging for all students regardless of their fluency or comfort level using spoken English to communicate.
For this course, I designed my syllabus around the creation of an audio web project. The class created a radio show, called WHUL Radio 100. We weren't actually able to broadcast our project to a live radio audience, but the results of our 10-week project are posted on my web page (http://faculty.lagcc.cuny.edu/eheppner), complete with audio files of individual student stories along with the audio files of group projects which became the focus of the radio show. My objective in creating such a class project was to find a way to involve all students regardless of their speaking abilities. I felt that a project based on radio production could increase the odds that we'd experience a classroom atmosphere of cooperation, negotiation and collaboration. Producing an audio web project with my students turned out to be the perfect solution.
Without the computer technology we would have recorded the radio show on tape recorders. The advantage of putting the radio show and the students' stories in audio files on the web is that anyone has access to them. I wanted students to be able to share their projects with their friends and family around the world. They can do this by sending out the URL. With this technology, I've also been able to use the HUL Stories and HUL Radio site in subsequent semesters. The project has become a sort of oral textbook.
Since another focus of this course is accurate pronunciation, students can listen to other students and talk about what they do and don't understand. When they don't understand a particular student, we can talk about why. I think this sort of analysis has helped them think about their own pronunciation and how others may or may not understand them. Websites are an excellent way to archive material, and this is especially true in the case of audio files. In the spirit of the college's ePortfolio project, we'll be able to listen to the progress a student makes in his or her spoken language. Since many students who are new to LaGuardia speak English as a second or third language or speak a nonstandard variety of English, this change, this development in their oral language, will be important to document.
I believe that creating audio files of student voices, of students' stories, is an important first step in this process. In this sense, the technology can help us know who students really are. They can tell us with their spoken words, and we have the opportunity to listen very carefully. Archiving audio files of student voices allows us to do this.
From this experience, I confirmed what I already knew: students are more motivated to learn when they are involved in a creative project that results in a product they can share with their classmates and with friends and family. I would definitely do this project again, but I would teach it in a computer classroom once a week. I would also introduce oral interpretation skills at the beginning of the semester when I introduce the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Ideally, I would love to teach this course in a cluster along with a composition and reading instructor. Working together around a common theme, we could better motivate students with strong speaking skills to make the transition to writing by helping them understand the differences in language usage in various contexts. Doing a radio show is a great motivation to read and to research. This sort of project can be a tremendous amount of work for one instructor since there are so many skills involved in producing radio. A production project is an excellent way to integrate all the skills - reading, writing, speaking, listening and critical thinking - that our students need to ensure academic success.
Activity Overview
This ten-week in-class project involved creating a radio show, WHUL Radio 100, that was published on a student-based website using text, images and audio. Turgut Tezir, an Instructional Design Assistant (IDA) who worked with the Center for Teaching and Learning, LaGuardia students enrolled in HUL 100.1339, and Robert Monegro, IT/Multimedia Manager, collaborated on this project and helped bring it to fruition. I have prior experience in video web production but not radio or audio production.
Students were evaluated on the quality of the radio scripts they created, their group and individual class presentations of their project abstracts, and the clarity and accuracy of their pronunciation in their audio recordings.
The following is a chronological description of our classroom activities:
1. I introduced the students to the idea of a radio show and we discussed various types of radio presentations they were familiar with.
2. Students brainstormed various topics they were interested in while I wrote these topics on the chalkboard.
3. We discussed which of these topics would make an interesting show and organized these topics into five main categories: health, business, marriage and relationships, pop culture and communication.
4. After some discussion, students decided that marriage and relationships should be two separate groups.
5. Students divided themselves into six groups based on their particular interests. The groups selected special names to identify themselves: Ying Yang (Cohabitation); Latin Power (Marriage); Working Class (Business); X-Plane (Pop-Culture); Messengers (Communication); and New Life (Health). Each group selected a group leader and created a contact list with each student's email.
6. Outside of class, each student researched particular aspects of their group's selected topic. This research helped them develop a radio script.
7. I presented information on the basics of writing for radio and the importance of making their presentation conversational and personal. I emphasized that their writing had to sound like it was "talked" and not read. At this point, some students decided to base their contribution on a personal experience rather than formal research.
8. Once most of the research was complete and students had a clear idea of what they wanted to talk about, I met with each group during class and we discussed various ways they could present their information to create interesting scripts. For example, the Ying Yang group wanted to have a debate about cohabitation, but decided instead to write and perform a radio play because it would be more interesting to listen to. This piece turned out to be one of the more creative and entertaining group projects.
9. Once each group had an idea for a script, they presented their idea to the class. Each individual group member presented an abstract of the contents of his or her script.
10. Students practiced performing their scripts in preparation for recording. Students practiced producing clear sounds and adding rhythm and intonation to their presentations.
11. Our Instructional Design Assistant took individual and group pictures with a digital camera. We used these pictures on the website.
12. Students recorded the radio scripts.
13. Our Instructional Design Assistant and I created the webpage, and posted the pictures and audio files.
Here are some suggestions for faculty trying to use this kind of student activity:
1. Schedule time throughout the semester to work with someone who knows how to design and create websites;
2. Develop and create the content for the website before finalizing an idea for the design;
3. Work with your students in a computer classroom at least once a week for the duration of the project;
4. Allow students time to listen to and look at other radio websites. My favorite is Radio Diaries at: http://www.radiodiaries.org;
5. Encourage students to talk about what they like and don't like about particular radio diaries;
6. Show examples of other student projects;
7. Use audio software for creating and editing sound files;
8. Require that students use a word processing program when creating their radio scripts and work on writing scripts in class;
9. First encourage students to create original scripts based on their own experiences. Once they have mastered that process, assign projects based on formal research. Be sure to discuss plagiarism and how to use the Internet to find information;
10. Encourage a variety of projects. Find a way to add music and sound effects to projects;
11. Discourage students from reading scripts. Emphasize the fact that radio is conversational. Work on ways to improve vocal variety;
12. Get release forms from students before beginning any project;
13. Keep the project simple. Stay focused. Remember course objectives and why you are doing what you're doing. Be realistic about what you can accomplish in ten weeks; and,
14. Have fun and enjoy the process of creating and learning with your students!
Materials and Resources
Listen and have a look at http: //faculty.lagcc.cuny.edu/eheppner. Click on: HUL Radio and HUL Stories.