The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/1035089
20 The Linguist Vol/57 No/5 2018 ciol.org.uk/tl STUDENT MOTIVATION established 'explore', 'learning' and 'play' modes, each including various activities (or 'interactions'), which had to work technically, visually and linguistically. Among the interactions at our disposal were 'fill the gap', 'match word to image' and 'match word to sound' exercises. Another key aspect of the app is that it includes the music video accompanied by the lyrics in both Spanish and english, integrating the use of english as a language of instruction, and translation exercises to contrast Spanish and english grammar and test vocabulary (in a gamified way). This idea is anathema to many teachers trained in the communicative method, as our teaching is almost exclusively conducted in the taught language (Spanish), and this was one of the first hurdles we had to overcome. We researched language learning apps such as busuu, duolingo and Memrise, and found that they are localised so that users can select the language of instruction. This goes against communicative methodologies and is still a contentious issue for many (if not the majority of) teachers, although a shift in perception is undeniably taking place. in the last few decades, the role of the learner's first (or even second or third) language has been undervalued when learning a new language, but work by guy Cook, 6 who defends the value of translation as a pedagogical tool, and others before him 7 informed our research. Keeping things fresh in the uk he setting, songs are a rare occurrence. They can be seen as 'not serious' and rarely figure in the textbooks we use. however, students frequently ask for artists' recommendations and/or want to listen to songs in class. Teachers tend to select songs for their historical or sociocultural importance, because they illustrate the use of a given verb tense, or because they deal with a particularly useful semantic field. A 'good' song is a great resource to use in class, as pre- and post-listening activities are carefully created around the main event (the song). For Lirica, we use a similar approach but the creative process is more complex because there are more constraints. After a song is allocated to one of the linguists working on the project, an initial analysis is conducted to assess its level ('beginner', 'intermediate' or 'expert') and identify the grammar and lexical elements to be explored. A flexible template is followed consisting of three or four lessons using a variety of interactions (we currently have 13 basic interactions) and a game using a new set of interactions, such as 'tap when you hear', 'spot the error' or 'translate'. The work is then shared via google docs so that the other members of the team can comment and provide feedback. A junior member of the team (a recent translation graduate) liaises with the programmers to incorporate changes into the app as they arise. unlike in a regular language course, where the content can be created or manipulated at will, Lirica uses real songs, adding new music as it is released or becomes popular. So it is impossible to organise the corpus as a whole or design the content and learning progression from the start. Lirica does not present itself as a language course per se, but as a fun learning complement to students of Spanish. Potential users are also heritage speakers and lovers of Spanish music. The journey has been exhilarating and, at times, frustrating. Financial and technical constraints have affected some linguistic decisions, for instance when interactions we proposed were considered undoable or too expensive from a technical point of view. Being engaged with a start-up has been a learning process, exposing us to initiatives such as eduCATe, an edTech training programme based at the uCL institute of education, whose ambition is "to revolutionise how teachers teach, and students learn". Lirica is available via the app store; lirica.io Notes 1 Bartle, g (1962) 'Music in the Language Classroom'. in Canadian Modern Language Journal, 62(4), 167-175 2 jolly, Y (1975) 'The use of Songs in Teaching Foreign Languages'. in The Modern Language Journal, 59(1,2), 11-14 3 krashen, S (1982) Principles and Practices in Second Language Acquisition, oxford: Pergamon 4 Richards, j (1990) The Language Teaching Matrix, CuP 5 engh, d (2013) 'Why use Music in english Language Learning? A survey of the literature'. in English Language Teaching Journal, 6(2), 113-127 6 Cook, g (2010) Translation in Language Teaching, oxford: ouP 7 See, e.g. Atkinson, d (1987) 'The Mother Tongue in the Classroom: A neglected resource?' in ELT Journal, 41(4), 241-7 FOUND IN MUSIC Learning through song can be fun, increase motivation and aid memory (above); and (below) Julieta Venegas and Enrique Iglesias are among the artists featured on Lirica © ShuTTeRSToCk © ShuTTeRSToCk ALdogo23 CC BY 3.0