Etwinning_Mooc

The place to collect all the information and activities done during the Etwinning_Mooc course

[superlinguo]

Linguistics and Language Podcasts

If you need more language or linguistics podcasts between episodes of Lingthusiasm, here’s a list (in no particular order). I’ve made note of where transcripts are available, if audio is not your thing.

Talk the Talk

A weekly show about linguistics, broadcast on RTR FM in Western Australia, and then made available online for us all to enjoy. Every week Daniel, Ben, and Kylie cover the news in linguistics and tackle a particular topic.

History of English

Kevin Stroud has created hours of meticulously researched, professionally produced and engaging content on the history of English, and we’re only just getting into Middle English. He’s even gone part time on his day job to keep up with the episodes. Transcripts of earlier episodes available for a small fee. I have already reviewed it three times (episodes 1-4, episodes 5-79, bonus episodes). 

Lexicon Valley

I was thrilled when John McWhorter became the regular host of Lexicon Valley a few months ago. John is a great entertainer, without ever dumbing down complex linguistic ideas. There’s lots on English, it’s history and current use, and of course an impressive backlog of old LV content there for you as well.

The Allusionist

Stories about language and the people who use it. Helen Zaltzman puts together a lovely and thoughtful show each episode. There are also transcripts available (hurrah!). (my review)

The World in Words

From PRI, The World in Words has been delivering wonderful interview-drive stories about language and life since 2008.

A Way With Worlds

It’s not AWWW’s fault that I’m not a fan of talkback radio. But then, maybe we need more talkback on the history of English words, cryptic crosswords and slang. Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett are research ninjas, drawing on dictionaries and databases to help answer people’s questions about language.

That’s What They Say

Every week linguist Anne Curzan joins Rebecca Kruth on Michigan public radio for a five minute piece on a quirk of English language. You can listen to these chats on iTunes. They’re always interesting.

Words for Granted

In each episode Ray Belli explores the history of a common English word in around fifteen minutes. Though specific words you also get the chance to learn about historical language chance process more generally.

Animology

Colleen Patrick Goudreau explores animal-related etymologies. If you’re the kind of person who gets a buzz discovering how aviation and inauguration share a birdy past, this show is full of great word stories.

Conlangery

While this show is made particularly for those with an interest in constructed languages, they also have episodes that focus on specific natural languages, or linguistic phenomena. Pop culture fans may even find the inside word on their favourite language from Game of Thrones or Defiance. 

Speculative Grammarian Podcast

It’s like SpecGram for those of us too lazy to read. Like it’s written counterpart, you’ll probably find this more enjoyable if you have at least an undergrad degree in linguistics under your belt, and a healthy love-hate approach to academia.

Grammar Girl

Episodes are rarely longer than 15 minutes, but they’re full of tips about English grammar and style for professional writing. But if copy editing isn’t your jam, there’s discussion of poetry styles, idioms, language memes and etymology. Transcripts for all episodes also available!

Given Names

This is a four part radio series from a few years ago, all about names. I still love it. (my review)

Odds and Ends

There are also a number of podcasts that have only a few episodes, are no longer being made, or are very academic in their focus.

Language Creation Society Podcast (8 episodes, 2009-2011)

Linguistics Podcast (on YouTube, around 20 episodes in 2013 introducing basic linguistic concepts)

The Endless Knot is not strictly a language podcast, but they often include word histories, fans of the Lingthusiasm colour episode may find their colour series particularly interesting

Silly Linguistics (ad hoc episode posting, but episode 7 is an interview with Kevin Stroud for History of English fans)

Very Bad Words (3 sweary episodes from 2013)

WACC Podcast (guest lectures at Warwick Applied Linguistics)

Sage Language and Linguistics

And of course, there’s new Lingthusiasm episodes every month!

Gretchen also has a list of linguistics podcasts. If there are any I’m missing please let me know!

Updates:

Below are some recommendations from other language/linguistics podcast fans:

Word of Mouth (BBC 4) is also available as a podcast. A series “exploring the world of words and the ways in which we use them”. There’s even an episode with Lynne Murphy on UK and US English! (via @GORN61 on Twitter)

My list sadly neglects translation and interpretation folk, but Alexander Drechsel recommends Speaking of Translation and his own Troublesome Terps

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Podcasts

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Educalab Mooc Reflection

What have you learnt from the course?

I’ve learnt lots of new ways to increase interaction between students and teachers and of course project partners.

What are the positive aspects of the MOOC?

The positive thing is the pace you can complete the units. No matter what chores or problems you face it’s possible to complete the challenges. The colleagues, especially Diego, Christina and Yolanda were very supportive.

What are the negative aspects of the MOOC? 

The Mooc platform is a bit tricky. Sometimes it was difficult to find the steps of the challenge to complete.

What would you suggest to improve it?

Have no particular suggestions for improvement just the platform as said earlier.

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The use of P2P assessments

Unit#3 The peer to peer assessment is a great way to analyze the project drafts of the colleagues and to get useful insights about your own draft. I’ve tried to include the majority of my peers suggestions to my project.

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Challenge week#5

This is the final version of my project.

Title: Our Family Jobs Tree

Students age: 12-13

Countries: 3-4

Language: English

Subjects: English, IT

Duration: 4 months

Goals: 1. To increase the communication between different generations

2. To develop ESL skills: grammar (present simple), vocabulary (Jobs, personal info, adverbs of frequency)

An e-activity: to introduce each other students will use Biteable

Products: presentations of the students; An Interactive Family Job Tree Story

Abstract: This project is intended to represent the variety of jobs of our students’ family members. The first step is to represent themselves and their families using an interactive tool (Biteable, Voki). The second step is to represent the jobs of their family members which may include the daily routines or the qualities needed for a specific work. For this aim we will use Storybird. Students alongside with their parents will create the story of their Family Jobs Tree.  The main aim of the project is to involve parents and grandparents into the implementation of the project. The teachers and students will collaborate using Facebook, Twitter, Twinspace and emails.

Evaluation: the progress of the project will be presented in Padlet. Each team will note their progress there. The other type of evaluation would be a questionnaire using Google forms.

Dissemination: the product of the project will be used in English classes or by class supervising instructors to represent the variety of jobs in different

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Challenge week#4

The challenge of week#4 is to emphasize the collaboration between partners’ students and to present the ICT tools which are going to be used in the process.

Title: Our Family Jobs Tree

Students age: 12-13

Countries: 3-4

Language: English

Subjects: English, IT

Duration: 4 months

Goals: 1. To increase the communication between different generations

2. To develop ESL skills: grammar (present simple), vocabulary (Jobs, personal info, adverbs of frequency)

An e-activity: to introduce each other students will use Biteable

Products: presentations of the students; An Interactive Family Job Tree Story

Abstract: This project is intended to represent the variety of jobs of our students’ family members. The first step is to represent themselves and their families using an interactive tool (Biteable, Voki). The second step is to represent the jobs of their family members which may include the daily routines or the qualities needed for a specific work. For this aim we will use Storybird. Students alongside with their parents will create the story of their Family Jobs Tree.  The main aim of the project is to involve parents and grandparents into the implementation of the project. The teachers and students will collaborate using Facebook, Twitter, Twinspace and emails.

Evaluation: the progress of the project will be presented in Padlet. Each team will note their progress there. The other type of evaluation would be a questionnaire using Google forms.

Dissemination: the product of the project will be used in English classes or by class supervising instructors to represent the variety of jobs in different countries.

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The challenge of #week3

Project draft.

Name: Our Family Jobs Tree

Students age: 12-13

Countries: 3-4

Language: English

Subjects: English, IT

Goals: 1. to increase the communication between different generations

2. To develop ESL skills

Products: presentations of the students; An Interactive Family Job Tree

Abstract: This project is intended to represent the variety of jobs of our students’ family members. The first step is to represent themselves and their families using an interactive tool. The second step is to represent the jobs of their family members which may include the daily routines or the qualities needed for a specific work. The main aim of the project is to involve parents and grandparents into the implementation of the project.

Dissemination: the product of the project will be used in English classes or by class supervising instructors to represent the variety of jobs in different countries.

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The challenge of week_2

What needs of areas of improvement and learning have I detected in my teaching?

After examining the Listly list and the posts of other participants I’ve understood being stuck with the ppt presentations. Yes, it’s my sin. I’m so used to this program, I can do presentations within 5 minutes. But oh dear, there are so much more possibilities and fun to present, motivate and encourage students in a lesson.

What would I like to try?

I can step forward and familiarize the new apps, websites etc. to change a little bit. “The rolling stone gets no moss”, the proverb says and it’s time for me to apply at least 5 new tools in my classroom.

What am I not happy with? I

Technology and innovation make the lives easier. However, they steal a lot of time from our personal lives. That’s what I’m not very happy with.

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Twinmooc

Let me introduce myself. I’m Simona and I’m from Lithuania.

Being at the age of 30 I’ve realized that to make a difference at school you have to work hard, you must search for or generate new ideas, you must be eager to change yourself and adapt to the new generations of children who come to school.

I’m sure this course will bring some fresh air into my everyday teaching life. During the first days of the course I’ve seen how powerful the nowadays media is. Glad I’ve joined it. It’s a pleasure to be a part of the motivated teachers and educators. Love it !

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The first blog ever #twinmooc hope it will run smooth :)

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Checking :)