Newcastle U-HKU Joint Webinar on Cultural Artifact Creation (14 November, 2024)

Abstract

Talk 1: A Universal Infrastructure for Learning Languages through Cultural Activities: The ENACT Web App

ENACT is a free web app https://enacteuropa.com/ developed at Newcastle University UK, co-funded by the European Union. The app enables people to learn aspects of foreign languages while performing a meaningful real-world task which enables them to experience the culture of the target language. In this presentation, we will introduce the principles underlying the app design, and briefly demonstrate the key features of the ENACT app: the interactive player, the author, and the community. We will then present our research on vocabulary development outcomes and processes, and locate the findings in a universal infrastructure for language development (SCIERRA) and make recommendations for designers of digital environments and language learners. We will end with an update on the latest materials we have produced for learning Chinese https://enacteuropa.com/?q=node/437, on the impact of the project and our in-press Bloomsbury book.

Speaker

About the Speaker

Paul Seedhouse is Professor of Educational and Applied Linguistics at Newcastle University. He researches what is universal about human spoken interaction, arguing that all human populations use the same basic interaction engine, with diverse overlaid languages. The ENACT web app aims to provide a universal infrastructure to help people around the world appreciate their commonality and diversity. He has published 11 books and over 70 articles and book chapters in the areas of spoken interaction, applied linguistics and digital technology.

Müge Satar is Reader in Applied Linguistics at Newcastle University. She is interested in communicative and pedagogical aspects of multimodal interaction for online language learning and teaching, focusing on social presence, meaning-making, instruction-giving, task design, and translanguaging. She is the co-editor of the Journal of Virtual Exchange and publishes in leading journals in the field such as Language Learning and Technology, ReCALL, and System.

 

 

 

Abstract

Talk 2: Investment in Ethnocultural Maintenance: Multimodal Cultural Artifact Creation as a pedagogical tool

Ethnocultural maintenance is important to both the cultural diversity of society and to the well-being of marginalized ethnics. In this presentation, we will present a research study on a group of university marginalized ethnic students’ experience of creating multimodal cultural artifacts, and how this experience shaped their investment in ethnocultural maintenance. Following that, we will also present a study on the impact of multimodal cultural artifact creation on secondary ethnic minority students’ linguistic and cultural collaboration. We argue for multimodal cultural artifact composing as a culturally sustaining pedagogy to enhance ethnocultural maintenance.

Speaker

Date

2024.11.14

Time

17:00-18:40

Location

ZOOM

Chair

Prof. Lianjiang Jiang