ITAIS Newsletter - February 2021 (Plain Text Version)
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ARTICLES TOWARDS AN ITA VIDEO CLIP REPOSITORY: INSPIRATION FROM A WEBSITE FOR ARABIC LEARNING Dr. Roger W. Anderson, Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio, USA
As an instructor of French, Arabic, and ITA (international teaching assistants) education, instructing these languages concurrently has shed light on the similarities and differences between them and their acquisition. Methods have arisen to cross-pollinate each type of classroom. In this spirit, I believe that one fantastic tool for Arabic learners could provide a model for ITA educators to emulate. What follows is a brief description of the unique challenges for non-native learners in learning Arabic, which may resonate with ITA educators. Afterwards, I overview the ways that one website provides resources to overcome these challenges. Challenges to Arabic learners, Challenges to ITAs Mastering a new script is the most obvious challenge for a native English-reading learner of Arabic. This challenge may be shared by many ITAs whose home/ native language is not based on the Latin script. Beyond this, one of the biggest challenges to Arabic language learners is rooted in Arabic’s diglossic nature. Two distinct registers coexist within the language: a formal register (Modern Standard Arabic/ Educated Spoken Arabic) and an informal register for daily use (Dialect). Within the latter, there is significant phonemic and lexical differences between the primary Arabic dialects, of which there are arguably five: Egyptian, Syro-Lebanese, Mesopotamian, Maghreb [North African], and Arabian-Peninsular (Versteeg, 2001, p. 145). A second, related challenge comes from the vast array of colloquialisms and unique collocations and their associated cultural implications. As pointed out in one video clip (to be discussed), a Syrian newscaster reflects on his interactions with Egyptians- in Arabic but across dialectal difference, in which several misunderstandings ensued (Playaling.com, 2020b) These latter two challenges, dialectal difference and trouble with idiomatic language, in many ways parallel ITA’s challenges in understanding informal (reduced) speech and American English expressions used both in daily living and in academic contexts. Playaling.com, a repository of subtitled video-clips To overcome these obstacles, Arabic learners can use a tool that is currently free of charge, Playaling (www.Playaling.com). It contains approximately 750 video clips, amassed over three years, originally posted on YouTube by native Arabic speakers for purposes unrelated to second language acquisition. In other words, the content is not simulated. This provides a richness of the content for learners to explore. See image 1. Photo caption: Image 1. Clips taken from real YouTube videos in Arabic What’s more, Playaling boasts several features that empower Arabic learners. First, learners can select from a variety of dialects, difficulty levels, and content. Learners can choose content ranging from the serious to the comical, from the practical to the theoretical. See Image 2. Photo Caption: Image 2. Clips sorting options for Arabic learners Finally, each video clip avails features that afford crucial learning opportunities. Once learners select a clip to watch, a summary of the clip appears. The website suggests that learners first watch without the clip subtitling or transcription. See Image 3 which shows a clip featuring a cartoon that satirizes Egyptian youth’s use of French and English loanwords mixed within their Egyptian Arabic (Playaling.com, 2020a). Photo caption: Image 3. Summary of Clip Appears When watching a clip, learners can select the playback speed. Also, each clip has been segmented so learners can easily jump back to review a specific segment. Most crucially, each clip has been meticulously transcribed and translated. Learners can turn them on and off at their liking. Also, learners can mouse over every word (yes, every word), and every idiomatic collocations, which are thoroughly unpacked. A bubble appears in which a verbatim explanation is offered as well as a cultural explanation of the sociocultural significance of the selection. See Image 4 in which a boy orders food from a vendor. As is customary in Egypt, he addressed an older, unknown man with the word “uncle,” a fact that is here explicated when learners mouse over the word. Arabic letters of the selected word are written in isolation (unconnected) so learners can recognize their spelling and roots, which are crucial elements of formal Arabic. This way, learners can see words’ original (formal) form and compare it to how words become reduced in speech -through both aural and visual representation. Moreover, learners can gain cultural insight into the use of the selected words/ expressions. . Users can click on the word to see other examples of it used in this and other clips, if available. See Image 5. Photo Caption: Image 4. Each video clip is translated, transcribed, and glossed for sociocultural content Photo Caption: Image 5. Each transcribed word is clickable, bringing up other examples of the word spoken in this and other clips Photo Caption: Image 6. The website was developed with behind-the-scenes dictionary, to which every transcribed word is added, meaning that transcribers’ need not transcribe/ annotate the same word repeatedly. Challenges for ITAs In many ways, the challenges facing both ITAs and Arabic language learners are not dissimilar. Like the latter, the former needs an awareness of variations in one’s speech, while not ignoring issues of culture (Looney, S. D., & Bhalla, S., 2019). Playaling could be emulated for use with ITAs and would be of pedagogical value to ITA educators. Such a repository of ITA-related video clips could include moments captured within university lectures, interactions between instructors and students, reported speech, and other communication contexts. Included could also be informal communication that occurred outside of teaching contexts, which are also important for ITAs to be successful in North American universities. One category could be for microteaching lessons given by ITAs themselves, enabling ITAs to be exposed to fellow ITAs teaching styles and lessons. Another category could parse different regional/ sociocultural accents of the U.S., so ITAs could benefit from hearing Americans’ diverse speech. Yet another category could focus on asking questions during conference presentations’ Q/A sessions or ordering food at fast-food restaurants, both of which my ITA learners reported to me as challenging. Such clips could facilitate ITA’s awareness of prosody, reductions, and alterations of segments. Culturally, it could provide insights into variations in register of language. For instance, learners could read a glossary explaining the cultural contexts and implications of using common American English expressions such as, “yo!” as a greeting, “ax a question” as a variation of “ask a question,” and of “what’s up,” an informal greeting with growing popularity, just to name a few. ITA Educators Collaborating on a Shared Repository? A skype interview with Playaling.com’s designer/ manager yielded many insights for emulating their clip repository. Playaling.com was designed and maintained by a hired developer, a team of approximately 4-5 freelance translators/ transcribers, and one content/project manager. It is the latter who volunteers time and personal finances for the website, for which he deserves the first ever Nobel Prize in SLA Tech. Users of the website are currently unencumbered by any advertising, but may be required to pay for access as the website develops into a more sustainable model. Playaling.com embeds YouTube videos, and so no single website is needed to “store” the videos -besides YouTube. Behind the scenes, the developer designed a dictionary of words, to which transcribers are continually adding when transcribing videos. See Image 6. A tool would be incredibly valuable to ITAs and ITA Educators. Some ITA programs may already be assembling such repositories of clips that are of value to ITAs, while other programs may be relying on YouGlish.com to provide authentic usages of American English (Wallace, 2018). Were institutions to collaborate, a fantastic website could be produced. After agreeing upon a definition of a final product, such a platform would first require that a website be developed. This would require funding and/ or expertise. Next, videos would be needed, which would need transcribing, annotating, and segmenting. The team at Playaling.com uses Yabla.com, FluentU.com, and Aegisub for this purpose. A project manager would need to coordinate with collaborators, track the workflow, review the transcription, and upload the finalized material. I suspect that many tech-savvy colleagues in our networks across North American institutions to whom we could turn for help launching such an initiative. These preliminary suggestions could be refined by colleagues more familiar with website design, embedding, etc. I invite you to play around with Playaling.com, and refine this vision of an ITA Clip Repository. References Looney, S. D., & Bhalla, S. (2019). A transdisciplinary approach to international teaching assistants: Perspectives from applied linguistics. Multilingual Matters. Playaling.com. (2020a). The boy who couldn't pronounce طعمية. Retrieved from https://playaling.com/preview/530 Playaling.com. (2020b). My experience with Egyptians and their dialect. Retrieved from https://playaling.com/preview/670 Versteeg, K. (2001). The Arabic Language. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Wallace, L. (2018). Using YOUGLISH with ITAs to increase input and speaking opportunities. ITAIS Newsletter, March
Dr. Roger Anderson is in his first semester at Central State University, a historically-black public university in Ohio. Teaching French and Arabic, he aims to internationalize American students, et remains committed to helping international friends thrive in the U.S. |
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