DYNAMIC PRESENTATIONS OF
SPOKEN SPANISH USING
POWERPOINT
María Mayberry
maria.mayberry@csus.edu
California State University, Sacramento
Pedagogical approach of this work
• Provides a dynamically visual account of the process of
linking across word boundaries in Spanish using Power
Point.
• Directs learner’s attention (consciousness raising) to
how the segmentation of speech in Spanish relates to
the written text word by word.
• Helps to emphasize the role of context in disambiguating
homophonous phrases.
• Promotes the practice of linking contiguous sounds
across word boundaries in the learners’ L2 production.
Language comprehension model
Anderson (2000)
• It is a cognitive framework of language comprehension
that consists of three phases of processing:
- utilization
- parsing
- perception
• Perception is the lowest level.
• The processes are interrelated and recursive.
• During a single listening event the processes “may flow
one into the other, recycle, and may be modified based
on what occurred in prior or subsequent processes”
(O’Malley et al., 1995, p. 140).
Language comprehension model
Anderson (2000)
utilization:
access prior
knowledge
parsing:
segmentation
of
input into words
and phrases
perceptual:
identification of
sounds
This model offers insights into why and
at what level of processing the listening
comprehension breaks down.
Language comprehension model
Anderson (2000)
Current research on listening comprehension in
L2 AND activities on L2 classroom
concentrate on high-levels of processing
(O’Malley et al.,1995; Goh, 2000).
utilization:
access prior
knowledge
At the utilization level, learners are expected to
access prior knowledge in order to form meaningful
associations that are stored in long-term memory
(listen for meaning).
parsing:
segmentation
of
input into words
and phrases
perceptual:
identification of
sounds
}
However, most of the listening difficulties
faced by novice learners are related
to low-levels of processing (O’Malley et al.,1995;
Goh, 2000; Mayberry 2006).
Language comprehension model
Anderson (2000)
utilization:
access prior
knowledge
parsing:
segmentation
of
input into words
and phrases
perceptual:
identification of
sounds
This presentation focuses
on difficulties at the parsing level.
Importance of context in parsing
• The tendency of spoken speech is to link contiguous
sounds across word boundaries.
• In order to recognize words in connected speech, we
need to use context.
• Context (the underlined words in the examples below)
enables native and non-native speakers to distinguish
between has ido, has sido, and ha sido in the following
phrases:
(1) ¿Has ido a Europa?
‘Have you gone to Europe?’
(2) ¿Tú has sido un buen estudiante?
‘Have you been a good student?’
(3) Pedro ha sido un buen estudiante.
‘Pedro has been a good student.’
Listening comprehension in a
communicative classroom
• It is assumed that students will be able to use context to
form meaningful associations.
• However, cognitive difficulties faced by listeners in the
early stages of acquisition result in little to no mental
capacity available for the use of context (Field, 2003;
Goh, 2000; Mayberry, 2006; Vandergrift, 1992)
L2 learners’ dilemma
How to get to the point to start comprehending authentic
oral input in order to use context to understand what they
are hearing.
What evidence shows
The level of proficiency and the difficulty of the listening
passages affect how learners use contextual information
or whether they use it at all:
- Learners rely more on syntactic than on semantic cues as the level
of proficiency decreases or the level of difficulty increases.
(Bacon,1992; Conrad 1981, 1985)
- Novice listeners tend to disregard the (semantic or syntactic)
contextual information even in cloze tests, where context has been
provided for them. (Mayberry, 2006)
Importance of this work
• Teachers should actively consider why students with
lower proficiency levels have difficulty comprehending
listening input, “instead of hoping that students will
eventually develop their listening skills by themselves”
(Renandya and Farrell, 2011, pp. 52-53).
• “Some modicum of perceptual information, even if only a
few words, is clearly needed before contextual
knowledge can be brought to bear” (Field, 2003, p. 325).
How to explain segmenting rules in
elementary courses?
Instruction:
Syllabification at the word level
C = consonant
V = vowel
Rule 1.
Rule 2.
CV:
ca-ra ‘face’
pa-ra-da ‘stop’
C-C:
es-tu-dian-te ‘student’
im-po-si-ble ‘impossible’
except when the second consonant is an ‘r’ or ‘l’:
C+r
tres ‘three’
a-pri-sa ‘hurry’
C+l
clase 'class‘
i-gle-sia ‘church
Rule 3.
CC-C: ins-tan-te
im-po-si-ble ‘impossible’
except when the third consonant is an ‘r’ or ‘l’:
C-Cr
im-pri-mir ‘to print’
in-fra-es-truc-tu-ra ‘infrastructure’
C-Cl
en-claustrado 'class‘ con-glo-me-ra-do ‘conglomerate
Use of PowerPoint
In order to provide a dynamically visual account of
the process of linking across word boundaries:
- Insert each syllable using text box
- Add dynamicity using the Animation ribbon
Insert each syllable of a word using
text box
Add dynamicity to the process of
syllabification
Use the animation capabilities of PowerPoint to
present each syllable sequentially. In
PowerPoint 2007, do the following:
1. Click the Animation tab to display the Animation ribbon
as seen in the following slide.
2. Click Custom Animation to bring a pane to the right.
3. From the Custom Animation pane, choose Add Effect.
4. Apply the Fly In effect under Entrance to each individual
text box.
5. Check the AutoPreview on the Animation tab and click
Play to watch how it all works together.
Custom Animation pane
Examples of dynamic syllabification
-CV-:
C-C:
CC-C
cara 'face';
ca- ra
estudiante
es- tu- dian- te
instante
ins- tan- te
parada
'bus stop'
pa- ra- da
except Cr as tres ‘three’
or
Cl as cla-se ‘class’
except CCr as im-pri-mir ‘print’
or CCl as in-glés ‘English’
Syllabification is carried
across word boundaries
los estudiantes están allá
→
lo- ses- tu- dian- te- ses- ta- na- llá
Parsing difficulties result in ‘chunks’
• Parsing: Ability to distinguish between homophonous
phrases or chunks.
• Chunks: Phonologically similar, but semantically different
phrases. Therefore, context is important to disambiguate.
Example of chunk 1
¿Has ido...?
¿a- si- do...?
or ¿Has sido...? or
or
¿a- ssi- do...?
a-
si-
?
do
or
¿Ha sido...?
¿a- si- do?
Context is needed to disambiguate
has ido
1. ¿(Tú) ________
a Europa?
have been or have gone?
has sido
2. ¿(Tú) ________
un buen estudiante?
have been or have gone?
ha sido
3. Pedro ________
un buen estudiante.
has been or has gone?
Example of chunk 2
Note: In Latin America, the ‘c’ in ‘hacer’ in the
following examples is pronounced as an ‘s’:
¿Vas a hacer...?
or ¿Vas a ser ...?
¿va- sa+a- cer...?
or ¿va- sa- ser...?
ba- sa- ser
?
Context is needed to disambiguate
Vas a hacer
1. ¿________
la tarea?
Are you going to do or going to be?
Vas a ser un buen estudiante?
2. ¿ ________
Are you going to do or going to be?
L2 production
Pronunciation– Example 1
Encourage learners to link words across
boundaries in their pronunciation:
¿Has ido...?
¿a- si- do...?
Production of complete sentences
The use of extended discourse addresses two of the
challenges faced by learners during the initial stages of
L2 acquisition:
1. Fear of speaking. Students gain confidence in speaking by
producing longer discourse.
2. Uncertainty as to how to structure discourse. Learners are guided
in the production of longer discourse without the need for
grammatical or syntactic explanations. Use the backwards strategy
for open questions.
Backwards strategy
• Each constituent is separated by a forward slash.
• Students are encouraged to construct larger units of
discourse to open questions by starting with the last
constituent in the question and working backwards to
use other constituents in the question.
• In the following examples, la blusa de la profesora ‘the
professor’s blouse’ is the last constituent in question 1.
• The last constituent in the answer would be the actual
answer to the interrogative.
Open Questions
Backwards strategy
Question 1:
¿De qué color /
es /
la blusa de la profesora?
Answer:
La blusa de la profesora
es
blancA y café.
Question 2:
¿Cuándo / es / tu cumpleaños?
Answer:
Mi cumpleaños
es
el 10 de noviembre.
Conclusions
• This work has used PowerPoint to illustrate the dynamic
nature of language with visual and oral instruction.
• This method introduces L2 listeners to the speech
segmenting rules in Spanish without taking too much
class time.
• This visual presentation emphasizes the role of context
in the disambiguation of homophonous phrases that
result from linking.
• These activities also promote the practice of linking in
the learners’ language production in the L2.
• These activities also help learners to move from oneword utterances to larger units of discourse.
Thank you!
• María Mayberry
• maria.mayberry@csus.edu