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Dr Laura McLoughlin and Dr Francesca Magnoni National University of Ireland, Galway

The Moveme project: language MOOCs for academic purposes. Design, structure and pedagogical implementation. Dr Laura McLoughlin and Dr Francesca Magnoni National University of Ireland, Galway Project conference Siena, 19 th January 2018. Our presentation:.

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Dr Laura McLoughlin and Dr Francesca Magnoni National University of Ireland, Galway

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  1. The Moveme project: language MOOCs for academic purposes. Design, structure and pedagogical implementation Dr Laura McLoughlin and Dr Francesca Magnoni National University of Ireland, Galway Project conference Siena, 19th January 2018

  2. Our presentation: • Rationale for design and creation of: MOOC for English for Academic Purposes / MOOC for Italian for Academic Purposes; • Main learning objectives; • Structure of the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) MOOC; • Relevance of Metacognitive Skills & Strategies for our learning outcomes; • Expected future developments; • Conclusion. Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  3. Moveme Moocs • compromise between xMOOCs and a cMOOCs - leaning more towards the x-type, feeling that this is the most appropriate when participants are approaching material in a foreign or second language. • well-defined structure, symmetrical weekly development, “controlled” textual environment in the sense that most texts were sourced and provided by us. • The two MOVEME MOOCs deal with specific-purpose language in academic environments but they are not LMOOCs. Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  4. XMOOC vsCMOOC

  5. AIMS of the EAP MOOC • Develop an understanding of academic discourse; • Raise and develop awareness of the strategies involved in approaching academic discourse; • Raise and develop awareness of the metacognitive processes activated while working with and through the target language; • Utilise a loose social-connectivist approach to define and discuss the concept of academic text, arrive at an analysis, practice and peer-evaluation of academic texts, integrate and compare knowledge among peers. Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  6. MACRO learning objective → help learners to develop cognitive ‘tools’ for a better comprehension and USE of academic language in English speaking countries BY leading them to: • Recognise linguistic structures relevant to academic written and oral texts; • Analyse peculiarities of academic discourse; • Appraise own learning strategies and apply them in this specific context. Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  7. English MOOC: MACRO-STRUCTURE • Six weeks in total: Week 1 and 6 are the introductory and the conclusive units of the course; Week 2: LISTENING skills Week 3: READING skills Week 4: WRITING skills Week 5: SPEAKING skills. • Weeks 2- 5: focus on one main ability, but always connected to the other abilities and strategies, as well as intercultural references. Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  8. Week 1 and week 6 • Week 1 explains the aims of our MOOC, its structure and expected outcomes; • Week 6 contains wrap-up activities and opportunities for participants to evaluate their own learning path. Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  9. MICRO learning objectives in each core week • Recognise OWN READING/LISTENING/WRITING/SPEAKING SKILLS • Practice OWN READING/LISTENING/WRITING/SPEAKING SKILLS focusing on academic discourse specific to several study subjects • Appraise the most common READING/LISTENING/WRITING/SPEAKING skills and of the more specific ones • Usemetacognitive skills to refine READING/LISTENING/WRITING/SPEAKING strategies • Integrate and re-apply (inputs such as: “What did you learn in this unit and how would you apply it to your studies? Write one sentence of what you learnt and how you are going to take it further” will be given). Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  10. Interconnection of strategies… • Global and selective reading strategies (skimming and scanning) can be related to some Bottom-up/Top-down listening strategies: Reading and Listening: inferring and predicting - happen in both cognitive processes; • Writing and Speaking: organisation and sequencing of ideas, pre-writing and pre-speaking activities such as brainstorming, organisation of thoughts in schemes, conceptual maps, analysing and synthesizing information, making lists; Writing and Reading are also connected by a visual impact on learners: writing or reading words or sentences might facilitate memorization of words that, consequently, can be reused when speaking Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  11. English MOOC: MICRO-STRUCTURE designed following Perifanou and Economides’ list of 6 core course elements for the evaluation of a Massive Open Online Interactive Language Learning Environment (MOILLE). Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  12. English MOOC: MiCRO-STRUCTURE -1http://www.academia.edu/7070053/MOOCS_FOR_FOREIGN_LANGUAGE_LEARNING_AN_EFFORT_TO_EXPLORE_AND_EVALUATE_THE_FIRST_PRACTICES designed following Perifanou and Economides’ list of 6 core course elements for the evaluation of a Massive Open Online Interactive Language Learning Environment (MOILLE). Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  13. English MOOC: MiCRO-STRUCTURE -2http://www.academia.edu/7070053/MOOCS_FOR_FOREIGN_LANGUAGE_LEARNING_AN_EFFORT_TO_EXPLORE_AND_EVALUATE_THE_FIRST_PRACTICES Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  14. Activities in WeekS 2 – 5:focus on metacognitive skills & strategies • They encourage significant and highly contextualised interaction among learners mainly based on their own reflections on their approach to the study of the chosen subject in the target FL. • Each Week (or unit) contains links or cross-references to the other Weeks especially on inputs connected to metacognitive strategies that can be used when working on the different abilities. • Intertextuality through the MOOC aims to enhance learners’ awareness of the learning strategies they activate in specific learning contexts. Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  15. DEVELOPING awarness of own learning strategies • What did you learn today? How will you use what we are learning outside the class? • When you are about to try something new, how do you feel? When you are doing something and you get stuck, what do you do? • Do you carry on normal daily activities (e.g. study, cook, relax, drive) the same way in every situation? Why do you think we shift how we do things? And more targeted questions for our purpose: • Why are we practicing the four main abilities? • Which is the most important ability for you? Why? • Can we consider the four main abilities linked or separated one from the other? • How will they help you in your year abroad studying in a foreign university? Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  16. More in details: entries in the forum & learning journals INPUT to help learners to understand and develop listening or reading skills: • READING: When you read a paper, according to the definitions given, do you use global or selective reading? Do you use a Scanning or a skimming strategy? In which situations do you use one and when the other? • LISTENING: in a given situation, which strategies do you use more? Bottom-up or Top-down? Why the strategy you use more is good for you… Learners are provided with specific terminology relating to metacognitive skills & strategies each Week in order to facilitate the reflection on their learning styles and strategies. Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  17. Feedback and self-assessment • Feedback through self-assessed quizzes and tests (e.g.: answers given once the quiz/test is completed or in “Reveal Comments – Feedback” links or short Talking Heads. • Task-based approach activities devised: our aims are not purely linguistic. Learners use (and work on) the target Foreign Language when reflecting on their own learning strategies and skills. Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  18. Visual & AURAL input and background knowledge Each Week contains brief extracts from videos: • The topic is deliberately never too specific; • Importance of background knowledge: ability to predict and infer meaning even when not 100% familiar with the topic; • Background knowledge activates expectations to facilitate comprehension of what is heard or what will come next. Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

  19. LEARNING STRATEGIES: A DEFINITION • Learning strategies are complex cognitive processes described as «declarative knowledge which may become procedural knowledge through practice. […] As with other complex cognitive skills, the strategies are acquired only with extensive opportunities for application» (Chamot, O’Malley, 1987:233). • Declarative and procedural knowledge concepts date back to Anderson: «declarative knowledge, or what we know about a given topic, and procedural knowledge, or what we know how to do». (Ibidem:231)

  20. LEARNING STRATEGIES INSTRUCTION

  21. Our THEORETICAL APPROACH & IMPLEMENTATION Starting from learners’ prior knowledge we try to build new knowledge through Teaching Units (Weeks) whose content facilitates formulation of hypotheses and their subsequent confirmation (inductive approach and pragmatic use of English). Participants reflect on the input, discuss it and explain their interpretation to their peers using the target language: They become part of the content They become multipliers of knowledge.

  22. “We need to consider learners not only as the subjects of learning, entities to whom we deliver learning content, but also the sources of learning, functioning as the perceptualinput for the wider network”.(DOWNES:2010)

  23. LEARNING STRATEGIES in secondo language acquitistion Primary classification (Chamot, O’Malley1990) • MONITORING • MEMORIZATION • GUESSING / INDUCTIVE INFERENCING • DEDUCTIVE REASONING • PRACTICE

  24. Reflectingon linguisticstructuresrelevant to academicwritten & oraltexts

  25. REFERENCES • Chamot, Uhl,Anna. O'Malley, J. Michael. (1987).The Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach: A Bridge to the Mainstream TESOL QUARTERLY, Vol. 21, No. 2, June 1987 • Chamot, Uhl,Anna. O'Malley, J. Michael (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition. Cambridge: CUP. • Downes, S. (2010). New Technology Supporting Informal Learning. Journal of Emerging Technologies in Web Intelligence, 2(1), 27–33. • Ellis, Rod (2009). Task-based language teaching: sorting out the misunderstandings in International Journal of Applied Linguistics, Vol. 19 n. 3 (221 – 246). • Mackness, J. (2013). https://jennymackness.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/cmoocs-and-xmoocs-key-differences/

  26. Thank you for your attention Dr. Laura McLoughlin & Dr. Francesca Magnoni

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