Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Pom's Story
Chinintorn (Pom) Nakhata was born in Bangkok, Thailand in 1978. She lived there for most of her life, until recently moving to the United States to earn a Doctoral degree in Business. Pom comes from a well educated family; her parents are both teachers who have high academic expectations for their children. Pom's mother is an English teacher who has been teaching her English since she was eight years old. Pom was already a college professor in Thailand, but wanted to experience American culture while earning a PhD in the states, where they're much more valuable. Pom also wanted to study in the U.S. so she could improve her English speaking skills. She admits in her interview that she feels her accent is one of her biggest problems with speaking English. She's not sure whether she wants to move back home to Thailand after she's finished with her program or stay here in Tampa, where she enjoys the American lifestyle and her new boyfriend. Pom notices many differences between her Thai culture and American culture. She made it clear that Americans have much more 'laid back' lifestyles and more opportunities to have fun. She talks about the restrictions and strict lifestyle that women experience in her culture, which is one reason why she might remain in the U.S. Pom also respects and appreciates American culture, which is fascinating to hear about from an ousider's perspective. She feels Americans have a good outlook on living, and she is drawn to the celebatory nature of American culture. She even appreciates our love for relaxation. After living in Bangkok for so many years, where everyone and everything is busy all the time, she recognizes that everyone deserves some time to relax at the beach--another reason she might stay behind in the states. Follow the blog to learn more about Pom and her view of American culture!
Distribution of Parts
- Jeffrey Zacharias interviewed Pom and provided the background and Cultural perspective.
- Jessica Morin transcribed both interviews and performed the SOLOM analysis.
- Michael Pedersen analyzed Pom's reading and writing samples and synthesized our work and uploaded it via Blogger.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
SOLOM Analysis
When analyzing Pom’s oral proficiency, our group chose to use the Student Oral Language Observation Matrix, or SOLOM. Because our interview was in a relaxed and friendly setting, we believed that the SOLOM would be a suitable observational tool as it helps to alleviate the anxiety associated with typical testing situations. It is important to note that results using the SOLOM are subjective and will ideally require “substantial linguistic sensitivity” to ensure accurate and meaningful results (Peregoy and Boyle, 2008, p. 138).
Pom was rated as a 5 because she was completely able to understand the English language and all of Jeff’s questioning. She was also able to communicate her thoughts and feelings well throughout both her initial interview and description of her American Culture photography.
Pom was rated as a 4 on her fluency. She mentions her insecurities regarding her English proficiency and at times had minor lapses in her speech while she looked for the correct term. Although she has spoken English for many years, she mentions that it was exclusively being taught by native Thai speakers. This is the main cause of her hesitancy with speaking English “correctly”.
Pom was rated as a 4 on her vocabulary as well. She at times misspoke when using a few words during her interview and reading sample, such as growed for growled and relaxful for relaxing.
Pronunciation
Pom was rated as a 4 on her pronunciation due to her thick Thai accent. Although she is able to construct and speak in complete sentences, she at times drops the plural form of words during her interview and reading sample.
Pom was rated as a 5 for her grammatical use. She did not make any grammatical or word order inaccuracies during the interview, American Culture photo description, or the reading sample. All in all, she has the grammatical knowledge of a native speaker.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Case Study 4 SOLOM Analysis
Comprehension 4
Pom scored a 4 on comprehension because she was able to understand nearly everything I said at normal speed, and she was able to elaborate on most of my questions. However, Pom was a little confused when I asked her "Does anything make you homesick?" Her response was "All the time," which implies that she thought I said "Do you ever get homesick?" Other than this small comprehension error, Pom had great comprehension ability.
Fluency 4
Pom scored a 4 on fluency because her speech was generally fluent with occasional lapses while she searched for the correct expression. When I asked her about her understanding of American music, she became excited, her voice grew louder, and she was briefly at a loss for words. She had a bit of a problem expressing that she has a difficult time understanding the lyrics in hip hop music. I think this was mainly due to her level of excitement, and she probably had too many thoughts to let out at once. Another instance was when I asked her about who she prefers speaking with-English speakers or Thai speakers. Her response was "I don't have much-many chance to choose..." She caught herself using the wrong word and was quickly able to correct herself. With a little more practice, I think Pom could be at a level 5 because she can elaborate on most questions she is asked.
Vocabulary 4.5
I gave Pom a score of 4.5 on vocabulary because she used a nice variety of words throughout our conversation. Some of the words she used were: individualistic, competition, especially, misunderstand, destroy, and prefer. She even used some American slang, like 'hey dude,' 'What's up man?,' and 'kicked-out.' Pom's vocabulary is probably just as good as most college students.
Pronunciation 4
Pom has already admitted she's self conscious about her accent. She isn't able to pronounce every word as well as a native English speaker, but her speech is intelligible most of the time. She has a difficult time pronouncing the 'th' sound in words like 'thirty' and 'three.' She says 'thirty' like 'turdy' and 'three' like 'tree.' She often leaves off the plural 's' on words as well. She said " When his sister come to visit" instead of "comes to visit" and "close to Hollywood movie" instead of "movies." This didn't impede my understanding of what she was saying, but it did affect her pronunciation of the words.
Grammar 4
Although Pom's grammar is not perfect, I was able to understand what she was trying to say. She makes little mistakes in her speech that don't necessarily affect one's understanding of what she's trying to say, but also isn't how a native English speaker would speak. Pom even admits that it isn't very often when someone will correct her mistakes; only her boyfriend will on occasion. Instead of saying "It's the same as here", Pom says "It's same here." Another frequent mistake was she would'nt use the past tense form of verbs. She said "Greg post something" instead of "posted." She also needs to practice contractions. When she was telling me about living at home she said, "Even you married you still live in their house" instead of "Even if you're married..."
Pom's total score was 20.5, which would place her as "limited English proficient."
Pom scored a 4 on comprehension because she was able to understand nearly everything I said at normal speed, and she was able to elaborate on most of my questions. However, Pom was a little confused when I asked her "Does anything make you homesick?" Her response was "All the time," which implies that she thought I said "Do you ever get homesick?" Other than this small comprehension error, Pom had great comprehension ability.
Fluency 4
Pom scored a 4 on fluency because her speech was generally fluent with occasional lapses while she searched for the correct expression. When I asked her about her understanding of American music, she became excited, her voice grew louder, and she was briefly at a loss for words. She had a bit of a problem expressing that she has a difficult time understanding the lyrics in hip hop music. I think this was mainly due to her level of excitement, and she probably had too many thoughts to let out at once. Another instance was when I asked her about who she prefers speaking with-English speakers or Thai speakers. Her response was "I don't have much-many chance to choose..." She caught herself using the wrong word and was quickly able to correct herself. With a little more practice, I think Pom could be at a level 5 because she can elaborate on most questions she is asked.
Vocabulary 4.5
I gave Pom a score of 4.5 on vocabulary because she used a nice variety of words throughout our conversation. Some of the words she used were: individualistic, competition, especially, misunderstand, destroy, and prefer. She even used some American slang, like 'hey dude,' 'What's up man?,' and 'kicked-out.' Pom's vocabulary is probably just as good as most college students.
Pronunciation 4
Pom has already admitted she's self conscious about her accent. She isn't able to pronounce every word as well as a native English speaker, but her speech is intelligible most of the time. She has a difficult time pronouncing the 'th' sound in words like 'thirty' and 'three.' She says 'thirty' like 'turdy' and 'three' like 'tree.' She often leaves off the plural 's' on words as well. She said " When his sister come to visit" instead of "comes to visit" and "close to Hollywood movie" instead of "movies." This didn't impede my understanding of what she was saying, but it did affect her pronunciation of the words.
Grammar 4
Although Pom's grammar is not perfect, I was able to understand what she was trying to say. She makes little mistakes in her speech that don't necessarily affect one's understanding of what she's trying to say, but also isn't how a native English speaker would speak. Pom even admits that it isn't very often when someone will correct her mistakes; only her boyfriend will on occasion. Instead of saying "It's the same as here", Pom says "It's same here." Another frequent mistake was she would'nt use the past tense form of verbs. She said "Greg post something" instead of "posted." She also needs to practice contractions. When she was telling me about living at home she said, "Even you married you still live in their house" instead of "Even if you're married..."
Pom's total score was 20.5, which would place her as "limited English proficient."
Monday, April 4, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Useful Tech Tips
How to create and embed a podcast on your blog
Create an account with podomatic.com
To Upload an Audio File:
Publish-podcast-create
Create a Title then save and continue
Select and upload the file
To Embed a Podcast on your Blog:
Publish-podcast-manage
Locate file and select "view" file
Select "share" and then select Blogger icon (sign into Blogger and then post file)
How to format a document on DocStoc in order to post docs on your Blog
Create and sign into Docstoc.com
Select Upload-select file-save and publish
Select Embed (can change width and height) then copy and paste to blogger
Publish DocStoc doc on Blogger
Create and sign into Blogger.com
View blog-new post-create title-paste code -publish post
Create an account with podomatic.com
To Upload an Audio File:
Publish-podcast-create
Create a Title then save and continue
Select and upload the file
To Embed a Podcast on your Blog:
Publish-podcast-manage
Locate file and select "view" file
Select "share" and then select Blogger icon (sign into Blogger and then post file)
How to format a document on DocStoc in order to post docs on your Blog
Create and sign into Docstoc.com
Select Upload-select file-save and publish
Select Embed (can change width and height) then copy and paste to blogger
Publish DocStoc doc on Blogger
Create and sign into Blogger.com
View blog-new post-create title-paste code -publish post
References
1. Peregoy,S. Boyle, O. (2008) Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL. Boston, MA:Pearson Education Inc.
2. English Pronunciation Practice for Thai Speakers. Retrieved April 6, 2011 from Website: http:www.Btinternet.com/~ted.power/11thai.html
3. Student Oral Language Observation Matrix. Retrieved April 6, 2011 From Website: http://www.cal.org\twi\evaltoolkit\appendixsolom.pdf
2. English Pronunciation Practice for Thai Speakers. Retrieved April 6, 2011 from Website: http:www.Btinternet.com/~ted.power/11thai.html
3. Student Oral Language Observation Matrix. Retrieved April 6, 2011 From Website: http://www.cal.org\twi\evaltoolkit\appendixsolom.pdf
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