Inducing Communication: Strategies and Assessment The Use of Voki in The Chinese Classroom 李麗君 Caroline Lee-Thompson, Ph.D. Park Tudor School (K-12 Independent School)

Overview  What is Voki?  How to use Voki  Student productions

What is Voki?  A Voki is a talking voice character, a computer-generated version of oneself.  The more generic term for a Voki is a speaking avatar, a digital representation of a person or being.  These animated characters or avatars enable users to express themselves on the web with a voice but as a talking character.

How to Use Voki in My Classes Chinese I class – Self introduction Chinese III class – Food

Chinese I Oral Project: self introduction Lesson 1: countries, nationalities Lesson 2: self introduction (names, students); languages * Practice in the lab the day or two days before doing the project in the lab

1. Hi, ______________ (your pen pal’s Chinese name). 2.My last name is ________ (English last name), is called ______________(English first name). 3.My Chinese name is called __________________ (Chinese full name). 4.I am not _________, also is not ____________. I am ________________. [nationality] 5.______________ (Chinese name of a classmate from our class) is my good friend. 6.My Chinese language teacher is surnamed Lǐ, is called Lìjǖn. 7.Teacher Lǐ is from Taiwan. 8.What is your English language teacher’s name? 9.Thank you. Good bye.

Instructions for the oral Project You will create a Voki message in the language lab this Friday. Then you will send it to your pen pal, your parents and me. You will be graded based on the tones, pronunciation, the use of the vocabulary, the accuracy of your sentences and speed. You will have a handout (next page) as a guide to create a Voki message.

中文一 Oral Project: Creating a Voki Message (a short self introduction) Greeting to your pen pal You English name (family name & first name) Your Chinese name Your nationality Your good friend Your Chinese language teacher’s name and nationality Ask your pen pal a question about her English language teacher’s name Thank you. Good bye.

Grading Criteria (Voki Message: self-intro) I. Tones15 points II. Pronunciation15 points III. Use of the vocabulary30 points IV. Accuracy of sentences30 points V. Speed10 points Total 100 points

Chinese III Oral Project: Food Lesson 10: *Chinese food/dishes *American food *utensils *desserts *drinks *common expressions used in restaurants

Instructions: Oral Project -- Food Topic: Food Requirements: * You will use Voki to create an avatar and record your talk about food next Tuesday. Then you need to the Voki message to your pen pal and me. * You need to incorporate at least 35 words (51 words in L10) in your talk. Five sentence patterns (L9 and L10) need to be incorporated. All of the sentences must be coherent, NOT random sentences.

* You can record up to 90 seconds. * On the day of recording, you can only have the outline of your talk in English or the list of the words and sentence patterns in Pinyin. No drafts are allowed. * You need to turn in the list of the words and sentence patterns you use in your talk. They must be listed based on the sequence of their appearance in your talk. If you fail to do, 30 points will be taken off.

Preparation: Step 1: You will create an outline and type the draft in Pinyin at home and save it as a Word document (Tuesday) Step 2: You and one of your classmates will edit/ proofread each other’s draft in the language lab. Then you will practice recording your talk. (Thursday)

Preparation Step 3 (Optional): You may me your final draft to me by this Friday afternoon. Step 4: You will create your Voki message about your talk on food in the language lab next Tuesday.

Grading Criteria: I.Pronunciation10 points II.Tones10 points III.Vocabulary (at least 35 words)20 points IV.Grammar (i.e., accuracy of the word order, sentence structures, and sentence patterns) 25 points V.Content & Organization25 points VI.Fluency (i.e., speed)10 points Total100 points