Year 7/8 E- Learning in Languages (ELL) How will incorporating e-learning tools, such as using a digital camera and movie maker to create digital stories, in conjunction with teacher input around learning methodologies enhance student achievement in speaking Spanish. (Ellis 2005 Principles One, Six and Seven.)

About the School St Joseph’s Catholic School, Fairfield 88 Clarkin Road Fairfield Hamilton Classroom Teacher - Miriam Burgess GST Number

Demographic Information of the school: St Joseph’s Catholic School is a decile 8, integrated full primary. The school is made up of 362 students from 26 ethnic backgrounds – see our flags below which fly in our quad…

Ethnicity of Students

Information about me I am a fully registered teacher, new to teaching Year 7/8. I have returned to teaching at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School after spending 2 years working in London and travelling through Europe. This is my first year teaching Spanish. It is also my first year teaching a language with the aid of a Language Kit. I have basic knowledge of ICT and have limited experience in using e-learning tools in the classroom.

Information about my target group: My target group is a mix of 6 Year 7/8 students. All are Native English speakers only. Student B is unable to speak another language, though his parents speak Filipino at home. Student ANZ European Student BFilipino Student CNZ Maori Student DNZ European Student ENZ Maori Student FNZ European Maori children were deliberately chosen to be part of the target group – Ka Hikitia (2007): iCLT (2009)

Policies and Procedures Aim: To provide all children with the experiences of Second Language Learning, to enable them to acquire languages and be accepting of people from different cultures. A Lead teacher of Learning Languages liaises with the school support services Learning Languages advisor to develop the teaching programmes and best practise within St Joseph’s School.

Policies and Procedures Year LevelLanguage 1Language 2 Year 0-4Maori Year 5-6MaoriChinese Year 7-8MaoriSpanish Japanese French German Years 5-8 students lock into an intensive language programme for one year. Languages are taught for 90 minutes per week and are integrated into the classroom programme as much as possible. Lessons are planned using the Language Learning Media kits as a guide.

Inquiry topic I choose to use a range of e-tools in my languages teaching including a digital camera, movie maker software. I also used a data projector to use digital material derived from Sí resources eg DVD of video, CD containing scanned resources from Sí. These tools were chosen because of availability of hardware and software within the school.

A school survey was conducted earlier in the year and was used to identify which ITC tools students had used and were able to use proficiently “to cue prior learning” (TImperley, BES, TPL & D. 07)

I found that while many of my students felt comfortable with using software such as PowerPoint, none had used Movie Maker before, so this influenced my decision in using this as a tool also as it created another challenge for my students.

Prensky (2001) highlighted the need to incorporate e-learning tools into learning. Our students are digital natives, therefore, there is a need to maximize digital learning in our classrooms. Teacher tube tutorial – Are you paying attention? ?video_id=448

Communication Language knowledge Students will: Recognise that the target language is organised in particular ways Make connections with their own target language Cultural Knowledge Students will: Recognise that the target culture(s) is (are) organised in particular ways Make connections with known culture(s) Teaching and learning should incorporate the 3 strands of language learning as outlined in The New Zealand Curriculum (2008, pp ). Learning Languages in the New Zealand Curriculum The generic framework for teaching and learning languages in English-medium schools (NZC, 2007) Key Competencies

I wanted to Enhance student achievement in speaking Spanish. I used video evidence in collecting student prior knowledge, and found that building vocabulary knowledge and developing student ability to speak Spanish was a need for my students. Prior knowledge of the target language was practically nil for all students apart from Student A, who had some previous learning in Year 4 at another school.

Prior Knowledge of Language

Focus Question How will incorporating e-learning tools, such as using a digital camera and movie maker to create digital stories, in conjunction with teacher input around learning methodologies enhance student achievement in speaking Spanish. (Ellis 2005 Principles One, Six and Seven.)

Answering the Question I began by introducing the S í Kit to my class. Within the S í kit are DVD’s and Audio CD’s. I integrated the digitalized resources of the S í kit to facilitate seamless teaching, that is, all resources were set up on menu bar so that I was able to flick from one to the other.

I underwent Professional Development in Language Learning to develop my understanding of Methodologies for Teaching (Pedagogical Content Knowledge, PCK). As a first year LL teacher, I felt that acquiring PCK was vital in order to acquire best practice in second language teaching. This knowledge was underpinned by Ellis’ Principles in particular 1 Affirmations etc on wall, 6 Focus on Input methodologies eg IRDPX Oral, Choral Including ping-ponging and looping, 7 Task based (Ellis) focus for the digi stories, 8. Small groups involved in digi stories (KC relating to others Social interaction, using language symbols and texts, moving from single to multiple utterances = linguistic interaction.

As my own confidence and knowledge of both the Language and PCK grew, I was then able to introduce more e-learning tools such as a digital camera, movie maker, Learning Caves and Quizlet.

Student Voice How did the ICT tools help with your learning today? “Visualisation helps eg movie and cards” “We were shown a video and we listened to the tape” “Seeing someone say it in the video helps”

Student Voice Continued… How has making a digital story helped you in your language learning? “I learnt more words” “It was fun making a digital story” “Miss Burgess helped us to learn the language. She used DVD’s, CD’s, buddy work and worksheets. The digital story helped a little bit.”

Findings – Graph showing learning

Findings / Conclusion All students showed an improvement in their language learning. Where initially only single word utterances could be made, all students are now able to interact using full sentences. Students can ask questions and respond appropriately when meeting someone for the first time. The graph shows the language used in the student’s digital stories. The use of the S í kit enabled students to listen to Spanish being spoken correctly. Using the DVD’s and audio CD’s provided a model for students which they identified as being helpful in their learning. Using a digital camera and Movie Maker software allowed for consolidation of student learning.

What is the significance of what you found? I have found that there is a need to incorporate a range of ICT tools in the teaching programme which will provide students with the opportunity to see, listen to and use the target language to improve second language speaking.

What shifts have you observed in your own learning? Through using the S í Kit and Movie Maker I have become more confident in using ICT as a tool for language learning. I will endeavour to use more ICT tools in my future languages teaching, such as Glogster and Quizlet. I have learnt more about the pedagogy of teaching a second language (Ellis Principles with IRDPX as example of principle 6), with more of a focus on student output rather than teacher input. ICT can be used as an Assessment tool

What shifts have you observed in your own learning? There is a need for regular school wide teaching of languages. “In Learning Languages, students learn to communicate in an additional language, develop their capacity to learn further languages, and explore different world views in relation to their own” (The New Zealand Curriculum, 2007, p. 17).

Reporting How might you share your findings with a larger audience? I will present my findings as a PowerPoint presentation to the other languages teachers at St Joseph’s Catholic School. Findings will also be presented to the Principal and the Learning Languages Advisor.

Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each. Plato

References Ellis, R. (2005) Instructed Second Language Acquisition – a Literature Review. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media for the Ministry of Education. Available on Intercultural Communicative Teaching and Learning (iCLT) From Section A, 2008 draft report Intercultural Language Learning: Implications for Effective Teaching, Newton et al. available on: Timperley, H., Wilson, A., Barrar, H. & Fung, I. (2007) Teacher Professional Learning and Development: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration [BES]. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education. Available at The New Zealand Curriculum, 2007, Prensky, M. Digital Native Digital Immigrants. (2001) From on the Horizon NBC Uni Press Vol 9(5) Meskill et al, Expert and novice teachers talking technology: precepts, concepts and misconcepts. Language Learning and Technology (6(3) 46 – ) Ministry of Education (2007b).The New Zealand Curriculum for English-medium Teaching and Learning in Years Teaching as inquiry, p 36. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education. Available at Ministry of Education (2007a). Ka Hikitia - Managing for Success: The Māori Education Strategy 2008 – Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education. Available at

Use of this report Would you be willing for this report to be published on TKI? No Signature: M T Burgess