Greek

A final project presented to the faculty of the

Instructional Design Masters Degree Program
University of Massachusetts at Boston

GREEK FOR TRAVELERS

Submitted by

APOSTOLOS KOUTROPOULOS

B.A.,University of Massachusetts – Boston

M.B.A.,University of Massachusetts – Boston

M.S.I.T.,University of Massachusetts – Boston

in partial fulfillment for the requirement of the degree

MASTER OF EDUCATION

April 1, 2010

_______________________________________
Approved by Dianne Nerbosso

Faculty

Instructional Design M.Ed.

2010 Apostolos Koutropoulos
Koutropoulos, Apostolos

Greek for Travelers: A language course designed for the casual traveler / by Apostolos
Koutropoulos – Boston, MA : lulu.com

xii , 106 p. : col. ill. ; cm

Includes Appendices

1. Greek language -- Study and teaching, 2. Language, 3. Language acquisition,

4. Language and culture -- Greece, 5. Technology, 6. Educational Technology. I. Title

PA 231.A6.2010 - LC
489 – dc21
A Cheerful Start
Thinking back to my earliest recollections of school and learning, I always start with this cheerful
poem, τςιριτρό, from my second grade anthology. I thought it fitting to start a project on the instruction
of the Greek language with it since it’s cheerful and many people in Greece are familiar with it.

Τσιριτρό

Σε μια ρϊγα από ςταφφλι

ζπεςαν οχτϊ ςπουργίτεσ
και τρωγόπιναν οι φίλοι.
Τςίρι τίρι, τςιριτρό,
τςιριτρί
τςιριτρό!

Εχτυποφςανε τισ μφτεσ

και κουνοφςαν τισ ουρζσ,
κι είχαν γζλια και χαρζσ.
Τςίρι τίρι, τςιριτρό,
τςιριτρί
τςιριτρό!

Πϊπω, πϊπω, ςε μια ρϊγα

φαγοπότι και φωνι!
τθν αφικαν αδειανι.
Τςίρι τίρι, τςιριτρό,
τςιριτρί
τςιριτρό!

Και μεκφςαν κι όλθ μζρα

πάνε δϊκε, πάνε πζρα,
τραγουδϊντασ ςτον αζρα.
Τςίρι τίρι, τςιριτρό,
τςιριτρί
τςιριτρό!

- Zacharias Papantoniou

Papantoniou, Z. L. (1920) Chelidonia. Library of the Educational Group

Παπαντωνίου, Ζαχαρίασ, Λ. (1920). Χελιδόνια. Bιβλιοκικθ Eκπαιδευτικοφ Oμίλου

v
Abstract
Project Goals
The goal of this design document is to create a course equivalent to the sum of Modern Greek
101 and Modern Greek 102 that provides students with realistic learning that they can use in the most
common use case scenario: a vacation to Greece. Most 101 and 102 level language courses do not
adequately prepare students for everyday situations. This course on the other hand can help in making
the student’s vacation to Greece more memorable by allowing them to communicate with natives that
may not know English and allowing them access to things only accessible to a speaker of Greek.

This course will be rich in media, featuring traditional language learning materials familiar to
language learners such as text-based dialogues and their audio counterparts. This course will also
feature videos of the aforementioned dialogues and imagery from many of the places that travelers are
most likely to go while on vacation (the airport or train station for example). Finally, there will be flash-
based simulations of encounters at service points that travelers will have at places like hotels and
restaurants, as well as social encounters.

Target Audience
Audience

This course is aimed at two different types of students. The first type of student is the casual
traveler to Greece, a person who travels for leisure. While business travelers may also find the course
beneficial, the course will not specifically cover business related vocabulary and situations. The course is
also aimed at students who would be interested in taking a course in elementary Greek who for the
purpose of getting a solid introduction to Modern Greek so that they can continue onto intermediate
level Greek courses (200 level).

Audience Size

The ideal audience size is 15-to-20 students per class section. While 20-30 student class sections
could be accommodated, the amount of interaction between students and the instructors would be
diminished. Interaction and engagement is critical in language courses and as such increasing the
number of students would jeopardize the educational outcomes.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course. Module 1, available in advance on the Learning
Management System (LMS), acts as a primer to the Greek alphabet for people who’ve never
encountered it before. Knowledge of the Greek alphabet prior to joining the class would be highly
beneficial as it would allow the student to focus on the dialogues and other class materials, but it is not
necessary.

vi
Methodology
Overview

This course will be an instructor lead course. It is designed as a hybrid course, meeting both
online though an LMS and face-to-face. The LMS provides course materials and a way to begin and
continue discussions, and the face-to-face component ties all aspects together and providing live access
to subject matter experts. This class will meet three times a week (90 minute sessions), for fourteen
(14) weeks. Students will meet weekly in a face-to-face classroom where new materials will be
presented and practiced based on the lesson of the week. After each weekly live meeting, students will
be able to access class materials and additional practice materials in the online LMS.

Each module is designed to follow the module previous to it. In Module 2 for instance the
students will learn about the numbers zero through fifty. In Module 3, the students will learn the
number from fifty to ten thousand. Near the end of the curriculum the modules become more
interweaved and to some extent user-generated. Module 6 will be created based on student feedback,
and Module 7 will tie the whole course together. The media for these lessons will consist of:

 job aids for common vocabulary

 job aids for cultural notes
 videos and podcasts of dialogues with mainstream pronunciation
 authentic annotated photos of the various locations that travelers are apt to visit
 links to relevant external sites
 flash-based simulation and
 flash-based assessments (based on the aforementioned simulations)

Instructional materials

Instructional Materials will include, but not be limited to, original dialogues, travel oriented
books, web sites, audio-narrated presentations (podcasts), surveys, role-plays, and discussions hosted
on the LMS.

Conclusion
The course Greek for Travelers is intended to be a college level course that covers those same
grammar topics as a typical sequence of college level Modern Greek 101 and Modern Greek 102 courses.
The difference is that the thematic approach is more geared toward travelers, rather than the typical
subject matter covered in college level modern language courses; and the course will be an eight-credit,
one semester long, and hybrid course. At the end of the course, students should have the prerequisite
knowledge to navigate through different situations while traveling in Greece. In addition, students who
wish to continue their studies of the Greek language will have the prerequisite knowledge to begin
Intermediate Greek coursework.

vii
Table of Contents
A Cheerful Start ............................................................................................................................................. v
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ vi
Project Goals ............................................................................................................................................ vi
Target Audience ....................................................................................................................................... vi
Audience .............................................................................................................................................. vi
Audience Size ....................................................................................................................................... vi
Prerequisites ........................................................................................................................................ vi
Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... vii
Overview ............................................................................................................................................. vii
Instructional materials ........................................................................................................................ vii
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... vii
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Business Need ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Instructional Opportunity ......................................................................................................................... 3
Scope of Project ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Goals ............................................................................................................................................................. 5
Goal 1: Teach Students the Language needed for Travel ......................................................................... 5
Goal 2: Provide Opportunities to Practice Traveler’s Language ............................................................... 5
Goal 3: Prepare Students for Subsequent Courses in Greek .................................................................... 5
Needs Assessment Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 6
Data Collection .......................................................................................................................................... 6
Needs Assessment Findings ...................................................................................................................... 7
Conclusions Based on Analysis.................................................................................................................. 8
Instructional Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 9
Student & Context Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 12
Student Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 12
Learning Context ..................................................................................................................................... 12
Performance Context .............................................................................................................................. 13
Performance Objectives.............................................................................................................................. 14
Negotiate meaning and communicate in Greek within a travel context ................................................ 14
Demonstrate working knowledge of introductory Greek grammar ....................................................... 14

viii
 Demonstrate understanding of Greek culture........................................................................................ 14
Instructional Strategy .................................................................................................................................. 15
Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 15
Second Language Acquisition Theory Overview ..................................................................................... 15
Methodology Overview ...................................................................................................................... 15
Approach to Grammar Learning ......................................................................................................... 19
Logistics Overview................................................................................................................................... 23
Time Constraints ..................................................................................................................................... 24
Modules (Thematic Units)....................................................................................................................... 24
Module 1 ............................................................................................................................................. 26
Module 2 ............................................................................................................................................. 29
Module 3 ............................................................................................................................................. 32
Module 4 ............................................................................................................................................. 35
Module 5 ............................................................................................................................................. 38
Module 6 ............................................................................................................................................. 41
Module 7 ............................................................................................................................................. 44
Instructional Materials ................................................................................................................................ 46
Books ....................................................................................................................................................... 46
Handouts ................................................................................................................................................. 46
Slides ....................................................................................................................................................... 47
Emerging Technology (Web 2.0) ............................................................................................................. 47
Video Podcasts .................................................................................................................................... 48
Streaming Videos ................................................................................................................................ 49
Audio Podcasts .................................................................................................................................... 50
Flash-based Simulations...................................................................................................................... 50
Class Wiki ............................................................................................................................................ 50
Blogs (Weblogs) .................................................................................................................................. 51
Culturally Authentic Realia...................................................................................................................... 51
Learning Management System (LMS) ..................................................................................................... 52
Traditional LMS ................................................................................................................................... 52
Non-Traditional LMS ........................................................................................................................... 52
Evaluation ................................................................................................................................................... 54

ix
 Formative Evaluation .............................................................................................................................. 54
Level 1 Evaluations: ............................................................................................................................. 54
Summative Evaluation ............................................................................................................................ 54
Level 1 Evaluations: ............................................................................................................................. 54
Level 2 Evaluations: ............................................................................................................................. 55
Level 3 Evaluations:............................................................................................................................. 56
Level 4 Evaluations: ............................................................................................................................. 57
Materials Used ........................................................................................................................................ 57
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 59
Appendix A: Needs Analysis Survey ............................................................................................................ 69
Appendix B: Needs Analysis Data ............................................................................................................... 71
Appendix C: Example of Advertising for the Course ................................................................................... 80
Appendix D: Moodle Mockup – Teacher View ........................................................................................... 81
Appendix E: Moodle Mockup – Student View ............................................................................................ 82
Appendix F: Student & Context Analysis Worksheets ................................................................................ 83
Appendix G: Evaluation Worksheets .......................................................................................................... 87
Level 1 Evaluations .................................................................................................................................. 87
Level 2 Evaluations .................................................................................................................................. 90
Level 3 Evaluations .................................................................................................................................. 92
Evaluating Course Quality ....................................................................................................................... 93
Appendix H: Podcast Evaluation Ideas ........................................................................................................ 99
The Pronunciation Attitude Inventory .................................................................................................... 99
Podcasting and Blogs Assessment ........................................................................................................ 100
Pronunciation Assessment Rubric ........................................................................................................ 101
Appendix I: Copyright Information ........................................................................................................... 102
Curriculum Vitæ ........................................................................................................................................ 103

x
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Reception of course by intended audience ................................................................................... 7
Figure 2: Differences between Digital Native Students and Digital Immigrant Teachers (Dukes & Dosaj,
2003) as found in (Kárpáti, 2009) ............................................................................................................... 13
Figure 4: The dimensions of a listening situation (Lee & Van Patten, 1995, p. 66) .................................... 16
Figure 3: 5C's of language learning (NSFLEP, 1996) .................................................................................... 16
Figure 5: Common listening situations in a second language classroom (Lee & Van Patten, 1995, p. 67) 17
Figure 6: Sample listening situations in Greek for Travelers – adapted from (Lee & Van Patten, 1995, p.
66) ............................................................................................................................................................... 17
Figure 7: ACTFL Standards for Foreign Language Education ...................................................................... 18
Figure 8: Web 2.0 and School 2.0 - similarities in practice (Kárpáti, 2009) ................................................ 19
Figure 9: The Three Dimensions of Grammar (Larsen-Freeman, 1997) ..................................................... 21
Figure 10: Lesson Flow (Individual Student) ............................................................................................... 22
Figure 12: Legend for Figures 5 & 6 ............................................................................................................ 23
Figure 11: Student (Group) Participation Model ........................................................................................ 23
Figure 13: Web 1.0 and Web 2.0: Differences in philosophy and function (Kárpáti, 2009) ....................... 48
Figure 14: A space of Learning for the use of designed video (Schwartz & Hartman, 2007) ..................... 49
Figure 15: Athens Metro Ticket .................................................................................................................. 51

xi
xii
 April 1

Greek for
Travelers 2010
A language
course
Greek for Travelers is a design document for an introductory course to
the Modern Greek. designed for
the casual
traveler
Page 2
Introduction
Business Need
The Boston area does not have many college level Modern Greek courses. In the Boston area
one can find college level courses in Modern Greek at Boston University1, Boston College2, Harvard3 and
Hellenic College4. These schools either offer Modern Greek as part of the Classics department, or as is
the case with Harvard as part of a Greek Studies curriculum. The main problem with both scenarios is
that the course offerings in Modern Greek are not advertised and potential local students do not know
about them.

Another way that one can learn Modern Greek is at a private for-profit institution like the
Boston Language Institute5 or a private non-profit institute like the Greek Institute6. The Boston
Language Institute advertises on the “T” (Boston Subway) and this is where people would be more likely
to take a course in Greek, however it would not be transferable as a college level course.

It appears that there are enough college level students interested in learning Greek at UMass
Boston that it would warrant a college level offering in Modern Greek, as part of a Modern Languages
department, which can treat Modern Greek a separate entity from Classics and publicize the fact that it
is offering Modern Greek. To this effect, an introductory level course which encompasses the curriculum
of 101 and 102 level classes could pave the road for a complete set of courses for college level Modern
Greek in the Boston area.

Instructional Opportunity
Many language courses suffer from the same problem: they focus on grammar at the expense of
communication in real life situations. Grammar is important, but when someone walks out of a
traditional Modern Greek 101 course, or any language at the introductory level, they generally can’t
interact in everyday situations. A common reason why people go to Greece is leisure travel, and a typical
Modern Greek 101 student will generally have a hard time with communicating in Greek after a typical
introductory course.

While there are courses in conversational Greek, those still don’t guarantee that you will acquire
the language required for a vacation. Greek for Travelers aims to fill that gap by providing situational
language learning centered on people vacationing to Greece. Travelers to Greece will benefit by taking
this course in that they will be less reliant on flipping through Phrasebooks in order to communicate
with locals that may not speak English.

In addition, the thematic approach of a travel to Greece can draw in many college level students
interested in satisfying their language requirement through an interesting language learning experience.
The course can be used as a Trojan horse to not only teach the students travel related language, but also
teach them the vocabulary and grammar necessary to move on to an intermediate level Modern Greek
course should they choose to do so.

1
http://www.bu.edu/classics/undergraduate/courses.html
2
http://fmwww.bc.edu/CL/list.html
3
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~modgreek/
4
http://www.hchc.edu/assets/files/Catalogues/HellenicCollegeCatalog.pdf
5
http://www.bostonlanguage.com/
6
http://www.thegreekinstitute.org/

Page 3
Scope of Project
The scope of this project is to produce a design document; an overview of all materials, media,
methodologies, course module outlines and coursework that would be required to produce a course
called Greek for Travelers, given a project champion taking interest and providing adequate resources
for the production of course materials and multimedia from scratch. The full implementation of this
course is beyond the scope of this project due to a lack of resources. There is research that points to the
amount of time required to produce eLearning modules. Early estimates were provided by the eLearning
Guild (2002), followed by Kapp (2003) for the ASTD. In recent years we’ve had follow-up research by
Chapman (2007), and Kapp & DeFelice (2009).

The research indicates that that one hour of eLearning can cost between 33 to 946 hours to
produce, depending of course on the medium that is chosen for delivery. For instance, if we take the
research at face value, one hour of interactive simulations would cost up to 750 hours to produce
(Chapman, 2007). Each lesson aims to have at least one interactive simulation for the students to
practice the vocabulary and structures that they’ve learned and ability to decode what the virtual
interlocutor, in the simulation, is trying to communicate. If we were to scale back and provide less
interactivity, the estimate is about 220 hours. In addition, a lot of the multimedia, the videos and
podcasts of dialogues for the course, do require native Greek speakers and actual locations to record,
something that is not possible given time and resource constraints.

Page 4
Goals
Greek for travelers has three major goals. Two goals are aimed at the increasing the student’s
communicative competency in the Greek language, within the context of traveling to Greece; and the
final goal is aimed at increasing the student’s grammatical competence in the Greek language should
they want, or need to, move on to an intermediate Modern Greek course.

Goal 1: Teach Students the Language needed for Travel

The overarching goal for this course is to teach the students who are enrolled in the course the
language that they will need for vacationing in Greece. While there are opportunities for students to
learn language related to business and non-leisure activities, the theme of the course will be heavily
focused on culture exploration, sight-seeing, and leisure. The idea is to prepare students to get a handle
on common elements of the Greek language that they will be using during their travel, as well as
negotiate meaning for language that will be new to them.

Goal 2: Provide Opportunities to Practice Traveler’s Language

The second goal of the course is to provide students with ample opportunities to practice the
language. For languages such as French and Spanish students do not need to go far to practice their
language skills, however there aren’t many opportunities outside of Greece to speak Greek, unless you
live close to a local Greek community. This course aims to provide as many communicative opportunities
as possible. This way students will become acclimated to the language and have opportunities for
authentic communication.

Goal 3: Prepare Students for Subsequent Courses in Greek

Finally, from our needs analysis demographics we see that there are enough students interested
in the Greek language, either because they like languages or because they are of Greek descent, that
would like to continue with their studies of the Greek language. This course aims to provide the
necessary background, including, but not limited to grammatical and lexical knowledge, to allow
students to continue onto an intermediate level Greek course at another institution that uses more
traditional methods of language teaching7.

7
If this course is successful, we could create an intermediate level Greek course called “Greek for Living in Greece”

Page 5
Needs Assessment Analysis
Data Collection
This type of project was conducive to using questionnaires, focus groups and interviews as
methods of data collection. The main impediment was the time of year. The data collection phase of
this project took place in the summer of 2009. During the summer most students are on school vacation
and the students who are taking summer classes may not be representative of student body that is on
campus in the fall and spring semesters. Thus using focus groups and interviews of students on campus
during the summer semester was not a viable method for data collection.

The main method of data collection was thus a questionnaire that was distributed in person to
new students who were going to be starting their studies at UMass Boston in the fall of 2009 and thus
had not yet fulfilled their language requirement. Some students who had completed their language
requirement8 but had shown an interest in learning languages were also part of the group that was
solicited to fill out a questionnaire. The undergraduate advising office at UMass Boston was contacted
in early summer and I was notified that there are two undergraduate orientation sessions. Both
orientations took place in July of 2009 and provided me with a wealth of information.

The questionnaire was crafted to not just provide me with information about whether or not
new students would be interested in taking a course in Modern Greek, this after all is a “simple” Yes/No
question. I had a feeling that there would be many students who fell into the maybe category; therefore
I also wanted to discover some of the other factors that go into their decision about which language
course to pick. For instance many students come to the university with preconceptions about what
language learning is. Many students also have personal reasons for taking, or not taking, a course in a
specific language. I wanted to find out what those were in order to determine if those maybes could be
swayed to take a course in Modern Greek.

When I administered the questionnaire I introduced myself as both a staff member of the
university and a current student working on a class project. The university advising employees had
prepared the students by talking about the language requirement for undergraduates and had listed off
languages available for credit at the university. Greek is not one of the languages offered and I explained
to the students that this questionnaire would be used to determine if there was an interest from the
students to take courses in Modern Greek. I also informed the students that the questionnaire was
optional, so if they did have to complete it if they did not want to.

Initially, the questionnaire was to have a section that students could complete if they wished to
be contacted so that they can provide me with additional information. This section however was
removed because I did not want to impose on the kindness of the UMB advising office considering that
this was not an official UMass Boston needs analysis. The additional information that I could have
gleaned from an in person, or group, interview would be additional attitudes toward learning Greek as a
foreign language. Fortunately, for this project, the additional data was not required.

8
Students can satisfy the language requirement by virtue of being bilingual and testing out of the requirement.

Page 6
Needs Assessment Findings
Would you take a course
The first orientation session
was on July 9, 2009 and there were called "Greek for Travelers"
twenty one (21) new students present.
Of this first group thirteen (13)
? (n = 29)
students responded (62%). The second
session was on July 23, 2009 and there
were twenty one (21) new students
present. From the second group 35% Yes
eighteen (18) students responded 48% No
(87%) giving us a total response rate of
73.8%. The results were quite Maybe
17%
interesting.

As I expected, the majority of

respondents (42%) said that they may
be interested in taking a course in
Figure 1: Reception of course by intended audience
Modern Greek. What did surprise me
was that nearly one-third of the
students (32%) said that they would indeed be interested in taking Modern Greek. I expected the results
to be split more or less evenly between the maybes and the nos. In Question 7, where the respondents
indicated whether or not they would be interested in a course called “Greek for Travelers”; the majority
(48%) said that they would be interested in such a course. A good portion of the respondents, over one-
third (35%), said that they may be interested in such a course as well. What surprised me was that some
individuals that had indicated that they would not be interested, or may be interested in a course of
Modern Greek said that they would definitely be interested in a course called Greek for Travelers.

The motivations of the students to learn, or not to learn, Greek are also of interest. Most of the
individuals (64%) who would be interested in learning Greek indicated that they would be interested in
Greek because it would be cool to know Greek. This is probably because it is perceived that Greek isn’t
spoken widely around the world, but this hypothesis needs to be tested further. Other common reasons
to want to learn Greek is that the students are of Greek ancestry (27%), they want to live in the country
(18%), and because learning Greek will help them with their English (18%).

A lot of the individuals (70%) who said that they would not be interested, or may be interested
in learning Greek indicated that the reason that they didn’t want to learn Greek is because they have
never thought about the question before. An interesting observation is that the assumed cool factor
that made one segment of the students want to learn Greek is the same factor that appears to be
turning another segment of students off.

The perceived utility of the language appears to be a significant factor in students’ decisions.
The perceived difficulty of the language doesn’t appear to be a major deciding factor. This attitude is
exemplified by the comment “other languages that I am interested in (Spanish and Chinese) is more
commonly spoken around the world.” We also see this prevailing attitude among all respondents in
Question 5. The answers given indicate that the students want to be able to apply the language both
toward day to day situations (like going to the market), and specific situations (like going on vacation).
What I found intriguing is the value that students place on vocabulary and grammar, staples of
traditional language instruction. In terms of vocabulary, most students either think it’s important or

Page 7
essential. In terms of grammar instruction, most students think that it’s important. The one caveat here
is that the sample size is rather small to make generalizations about the perceived importance of
grammar and vocabulary instruction, and any imbalance between the two biggest categories are
“important” and “essential” might be remedied with a survey of a much larger population.

Finally, when students were asked if they would prefer to complete their language requirement
in the period of one semester as opposed to two, the great majority (75%) responded that they
preferred one semester instead of two.

Conclusions Based on Analysis

Strictly speaking, based purely on numerical figures, the Modern Languages Department can
offer a course in Modern Greek. At UMass Boston the minimum number of students required is eight (8)
and in the first question, about whether students would sign up for a course in Modern Greek, ten (10)
responded in the affirmative. There are a few things that can be done to make the course more likely to
be offered.

1. Create a course named Greek for Travelers

The number of students that indicated they would be interested in a course called Greek for
Travelers is 14 (48%), and an additional 10 students (35%) said that they may be interested in such a
course. With 24 students in the class, chances are good that the course will not get cancelled.

2. Make the course a eight credit course

The great majority of students (75%) responded that they would like to get their language
requirement completed in one semester. This means that the course needs to combine the content
typically found in traditional 101 and 102 courses. An eight credit course would require a higher
commitment in terms of how many hours per week students spend in both the classroom and
outside of it to complete the coursework. This of course works toward the benefit of the students
because more exposure to the target language is preferable.

3. Make the course interactive, unique and relevant

Many students indicated that communicative skills in both specific and everyday situations are
something that they wish to take away at the end of the course. The instructor and instructional
designer need to not only keep this fact in mind both when designing the course, but also when
running the course. Making the course relevant and keeping the students in mind increased the
chances that good word of mouth will result in having the course offered again.

Another way of making the course relevant is to advertise. Many people think that Greek has
limited utility. A way to get more students into the classroom and make the course viable is to
advertise some of the benefits of learning Greek, and to dispel the myth that Greek is only spoken in
Greece. Of course to properly determine the preconceptions that students have about Greek a
proper analysis of the target student group needs to be conducted.

Finally, it appears that there are a number of students who are of Greek ancestry who would
like to learn the language. Perhaps in cooperation with student advising, the Modern Languages
Department can reach out to those students to see if they would be interested in taking a course in
Modern Greek.

Page 8
Instructional Analysis

Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Student & Context Analysis
Student Analysis
It would be impossible to attempt to determine specific characteristics of students without
having a group of students, who are taking the course, complete a learning strategies worksheet.
However, given our location and our student demographic there are some generalizations that we can
make. Our students are expected to have finished high school, and therefore have attained a level of
literacy in their native language that would aid them in learning a second language. Students will be of
college age, locals from Massachusetts as well as international and out-of-state students and they will
have interest in traveling and/or language learning.

Students will most likely have some previous exposure to Greek culture given that there have
been films that are loosely based on Greek mythology and Greek history9. In addition, given the
relationship of English to classical Greek and Latin, many students will already have exposure to many
Greek prefixes and suffixes that they may be familiar with; which will aid them in their studies of
Modern Greek.

It is believed that the students do have a positive attitude both toward the institution and the
course because attending the course is not compulsory. The course fulfills a World Language
requirement for undergraduates, and there are many languages from which to choose from at UMass
Boston10. The only hurdle might be the method of instruction. Most students are used to the Audio
Lingual Method (ALM) of language learning which is informed by behaviorism and contains a lot of
pattern drills as the main method of language teaching (Richards & Rodgers, 2001). Even if they haven’t
only experienced ALM teaching, chances are that the generation of teachers, that these students had,
taught using the many ALM methodologies. This previous experience might predispose the students to
expect the instructor to be the sage on the stage, providing them with all the information that they need
and they may not, initially, be as accepting of a communicative based approach.

Learning Context
The classes will take place on the UMass Boston campus, utilizing TEC II classrooms11 that will
enable the instructor, and the students, to utilize many instructional media in the classroom. In addition
these classrooms provide the ability to record the lecture so that students can access it at a later time
for review purposes. The secondary learning location will be the Learning Management System (LMS)
that students will be required to use to access course information, lectures, post assignments and
collaborate with one another.

The physical learning location should not pose a problem for the students. It is assumed that
since these students are undergraduates at UMass Boston, they chose the campus for accessibility,
among other factors. The LMS might pose an issue to some students if they are not familiar with how an
LMS works. Throughout the duration of Module 1, students will have an opportunity to learn the ins and
outs of the LMS to help them be successful in completing the course.

9
Examples would be Troy, 300, and Jason and the Argonauts to name a few.
10
At last count there are eleven languages to choose from at UMass Boston.
11
TEC II classrooms include: Computer with data projector, DVD player, Document camera, smart displays that you
can annotate slides with, and lecture recording software.

Page 12
 One hurdle that connects the learning context and the student context is the use of technology
beyond the LMS. Many of the technologies and methodologies used in this course will be collaborative.
The instructor in this context is a digital native12, while students may, or may not be digital natives
themselves. Dukes & Dosaj, in Kárpáti (2009), provide us with a good overview the characteristics of
digital immigrant teachers and digital native students. In our context the students may be the digital
immigrants while the instructor is a digital native. This divide may influence the day to day
implementation of the course and how the learning takes place.

Figure 2: Differences between Digital Native Students and Digital Immigrant Teachers (Dukes & Dosaj, 2003) as found in
(Kárpáti, 2009)

Performance Context
The true indication of whether a student has actually learned the content will come from the
ability to use the language in an authentic context (i.e. traveling to Greece). Once the course ends, that
is also the end of official organizational support for that particular group of students. If the course has
created a wiki with information, and the student has downloaded the materials and taken them with
him on his travel to Greece, the student would be able to access those materials and that could
constitute some sort of unofficial organizational support toward the student.

The one downside of learning a foreign language in the classroom is that you cannot get the
classroom to be a completely authentic representation of reality in that foreign country; therefore it
would be hard to bring completely realistic performance situations and evaluation in a classroom. If the
course were offered as an exchange student course in Greece, the curriculum could be modified to
include both realistic performance contexts and realistic evaluation contexts.

12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_native

Page 13
Performance Objectives
This course has three performance objectives. Two of the objectives will be crucial to the
student’s travels in Greece (Communication and Culture); while the third objective will be crucial should
students wish to continue their studies of Modern Greek. These are the overarching performance
objectives of the course. Each module of the course will contain specific objective for the module that
relate to these overarching course objectives. These specific objectives will be developed in
collaboration with subject matter experts in order to provide students with both required linguistic
knowledge and knowledge of current events, as it related to culture and language.

Negotiate meaning and communicate in Greek within a travel context

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to negotiate meaning and communicate
with basic Greek in the context of a vacation. This is the main goal of the course. It is a communicative
goal in which students will be able to negotiate the meaning of the Greek they are presented with in
order to accomplish their goals in a traveling situation.

Demonstrate working knowledge of introductory Greek grammar

Upon completion of the course, students will demonstrate working knowledge of elementary
Greek grammar. This goal enables students to pursue further language education in Modern Greek
should they choose to do so. Demonstrating mastery is not required as this is a communicative course
and studies, including studies cited in Lee & VanPatten (1995) have shown that mastery of grammar
does not necessarily equate to demonstrable communicative competency. However, demonstrating
working knowledge of grammar can help them in subsequent courses in Modern Greek that may have a
more grammatical focus.

Demonstrate understanding of Greek culture

Upon completion of the course, students will demonstrate an understanding of mainstream
Greek culture that they are likely to encounter on their trips to Greece. Having an understanding of
Greek culture will help students understand the hows and whys of the Greek language and the way of
life in Greece. This will aid students and possibly diminish the effects of culture shock when students are,
for instance, looking for an open pharmacy and they find most of them to be closed on August 15th13.

13
Second largest religious holiday in Greece after Easter.

Page 14
Instructional Strategy
This course is designed to blend the best features of teaching face to face, with the best features
of learning in a computer assisted, online, environment. This blended approach to teaching a foreign
language should provide for an engaging learning experience where the students are able to stay
connected with the language, their peers and the instructor, in-between the face-to-face class sessions.
There are two cycles for each module; the activities undertaken by individual students, and the cycle of
activities undertaken by the group as a whole (See Figures 10, 11, 12).

Overview
Each module is designed to follow the module previous to it. In Module 2 for instance the
students will learn about the numbers zero through fifty. In Module 3, the students will learn the
number from fifty to ten thousand. Near the end of the curriculum the modules become more
interweaved and to some extent user-generated. Module 6 will be created based on student feedback,
and Module 7 will tie the whole course together. The media for these lessons will consist of:

 job aids for common vocabulary

 job aids for cultural notes
 videos and podcasts of dialogues
 authentic annotated photos of the various locations that travelers are most apt to visit
 links to external sites
 flash-based simulations
 flash-based assessments (based on the previous simulations)
 culturally authentic realia14

Second Language Acquisition Theory Overview

Methodology Overview
The design of each module15 is predominantly based on the principles of Communicative
Language Teaching (CLT) where the principle is that “people learn a second language more successfully
when they use the language as a means of acquiring information, rather than as an end in itself”
(Richards & Rodgers, 2001). Some other basic “tenets” of CLT are that meaning is paramount, students
are encouraged to try to communicate in L216 from the beginning, and fluency and acceptable language
are the end goals (accuracy is not judged in the abstract but rather in context). (Richards & Rodgers,
2001)

Because one method does not cover all aspects of language learning, this course has also
appropriated philosophies from other methods that aim to help the student become comfortable with
the language. Specifically from the Content Based Instruction (CBI) method, which draws upon CLT, I’ve
appropriated “second language teaching in which teaching is organized around the content or
information that students will acquire, rather than around a linguistic or other type of syllabus.” One
goal of CBI is for students to become autonomous so that they come to understand their own learning
process and take charge of their own learning from the beginning. (Richards & Rodgers, 2001)

14
See materials section for more on realia
15
Module = Thematic Unit (in the terminology of Richard’s & Rodgers)
16
L1 = native language; L2 = foreign language

Page 15
 Competency Based Instruction "seeks to
teach language in relation to the social contexts in
which it is used." (Richards & Rodgers, 2001) From
this I’ve structured my modules around places,
actions and situations where students will need to
interact with others in order to accomplish real
goals, like they would in real life. Some of the
activities are designed revolving around the idea of
Total Physical Response (TPR) which involves game-
like movements, reduces stress and creates a
positive mood for students which facilitates
learning. (Richards & Rodgers, 2001) This fits into
Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis which states
that students with a low affective filter (low level of
stress) are more receptive to the input which they
are receiving. (Richards & Rodgers, 2001)

This methodology also couples with the Figure 3: 5C's of language learning (NSFLEP, 1996)
ACTFL standards for language teaching, because in
learning the language in this course students will also be exposed to a great deal of Greek culture (see
Figure 7 for a list of the ACTFL standards. With regard to ACTFL oral comprehension level, the goal of
this course is for students to reach a Novice-High level which is described as:

"Able to understand short, learned utterances and some sentence-length utterances,

particularly where context strongly supports understanding and speech is clearly
audible. Comprehends words and phrases from simple questions, statements, high-
frequency commands and courtesy formulae. May require repetition, rephrasing
and/or slowed rate of speech for comprehension." (Lee & Van Patten, 1995)

Modality
Aural-Only Aural + Visual
Telephone Interview
Collaboration

Collaborative
Radio News Television News
Non-Collaborative

Figure 4: The dimensions of a listening situation (Lee & Van Patten, 1995, p. 66)

Because methodology for this course is based on authentic language, real world contexts,
comprehension and competencies, the issue of modality comes into play much more than in language
learning methods that predated CLT. The language lab came into being with the Audiolingual method 17.
This method approached modality by using listening comprehension drills which are supported by
behaviorist theory18. The types of modality used in an Audiolingual-based language classroom are seen
in Figure 5. In this course design I’ve aimed for a multimodal approach to learning that takes into

17
Also known as the “army method” and the “Berlitz method”
18
See B.F. Skinner for more on Behaviorism

Page 16
account not just auditory and visual stimuli that have been part of the language curriculum until now,
but also using tactile feedback in in-class activities with the use of realia, as well as paralinguistic
feedback19 in TPR activities and flash-based activities. For an example of this course’s modality see
Figure 6.

Modality
Aural-Only Aural + Visual
??? Classroom
Collaboration

"Discussion"
Collaborative
Lab Materials ???
Non-Collaborative
Figure 5: Common listening situations in a second language classroom (Lee & Van Patten, 1995, p. 67)

Modality
Aural-Only Aural + Visual
Dialogues TPR
Collaboration

Video Podcast
Simulations
Collaborative Game Shows
Audio Podcast Video Podcast
Radio Clips YouTube Clips
Non-Collaborative
Figure 6: Sample listening situations in Greek for Travelers – adapted from (Lee & Van Patten, 1995, p. 66)

19
"In most cases, listeners see the [other] interlocutor and receive information on how to interpret messages via
facial expressions, body posture, gestures, signs, and other visual features." (Lee & Van Patten)

Page 17
 Finally, this course utilizes the
principles of schema theory (Carell &
Eisterhold, 1988) to help students relate
new knowledge to information that they
already have either from their C120 or
previous interactions with C2. When it
comes to grammar teaching it utilizes
the principles of structured-input and
structured-output (Lee & Van Patten,
1995). To some extent principles of
critical literacy (McLaughlin & DeVoogt,
2004) will be used to explore Greek
Culture (C2) and compare and contrast
elements of Greek Culture to the
student’s C1. A small part of the course
design is devoted to getting students
from BICS to CALP in their C1 (Cummins,
1980 in (Peregoy & Boyle, 2005)) in that
we want students to go to the library,
do research and write small research
blog posts on cultural topics based on
things, places, people and activities that
they are likely to encounter in Greece as
tourists.

This course is meant to have

communication flow from many
directions to many directions – from
instructor to students, from students to
instructor and from student to student.
This is a way of avoiding a situation
where the instructor is an “Atlas” (Lee &
Van Patten, 1995) that is all knowing
and just broadcasts information to the
students. Since language is meant to be
used for communicative, meaning Figure 7: ACTFL Standards for Foreign Language Education
bearing, purposes, we want to avoid the
lecture. As mentioned earlier, students may have some issues with this methodology because most
language learning in the US, as well as in other countries, has been based on the Audiolingual method
with the instructor as the “sage on the stage” broadcasting information to students, explicitly giving
them all the information they need and correcting them every step of the way. Students may be
expecting that the instructor behave in this way and as such expectations may not be met.

CLT departs from this broadcast paradigm and "teachers have to act as insightful mentors *…+ to
this new collaborative *…+ type of meaning making." (Kárpáti, 2009) In addition, in accordance to CLT,
"the choice of themes and related ideas [will be in part] determined by student interests" and the

20
C1 = Native Culture; C2 = Culture of the language you are learning

Page 18
"activities in thematic units are task-based, relevant, personalized and accomplished in cooperative
settings." (Lee & Van Patten, 1995) This type of instruction closely parallels Web 2.0 developments
where "web 2.0 is characterized by personal learning spaces designed and maintained by students."
(Kárpáti, 2009) As Kárpáti goes on to further state "The most important feature of Web 2.0 for language
education is the change of direction in communication on the internet: while 1.0 was the "readable
web", where the dominant activity was reception of texts, sounds and images21, Web 2.0 is the "writable
web", where creation of new content is dominant.” (Kárpáti, 2009) See Figure 8 for comparisons
between School 2.0 and Web 2.0

When all is said and done, it is important to note that the instructor of the course is responsible
to set the expectations for the students in his classroom and to let them know about the format of the
course, and how and why it works. This way student’s expectations will be in-line with the methodology
of language learning employed by the course and the instructor.

Figure 8: Web 2.0 and School 2.0 - similarities in practice (Kárpáti, 2009)

Approach to Grammar Learning

Early on, as a language student, if I were presented with Krashen’s notion that providing
students with grammar instruction does very little to help students comprehend the input that comes
from the instructor; I would have found myself in agreement with Krashen (1995). I based this opinion
on personal experiences learning foreign languages. When I was an undergraduate I studied German22
and our instructor, based on what I know now, appeared to be following an Audiolingual Method “drill
and kill” model of instruction (Richards & Rodgers, 2001). We did go through a lot of grammar, and a lot

21
Web 1.0 is the internet equivalent of the “sage on the stage” equivalent in Instructor Lead Training (ILT)
22
Among other languages

Page 19
of grammatical drills that had no communicative goal. I did great on all my exams, however I found
myself without the ability to communicate with others using German!

In addition, I would have agreed with Krashen in that grammar is more of psychological comfort
value more than of linguistic value (1995). I came to this conclusion early on in my studies as a linguistics
student having read a few studies on Data Driven Learning (DDL) in which students in a German School
were learning the structure of English grammar using DDL. Despite tests proving that the DDL group of
students had learned at least as much grammar as the traditional approach, students giving feedback to
the instructor said that they felt like they hadn’t learned any grammar because they did not learn rules.
This was my reasoning early on for discounting explicit grammar instruction. Based on this I would have
not included explicit grammar instruction in the design of this course. Now, however, things are a bit
different.

Recently, having read more theory I am now inclined to disagree with Krashen when it comes to
explicit grammar instruction. If you take the narrow view of grammar teaching which is traditionally
viewed as mechanical practice  meaningful practice  communicative practice (Lee & Van Patten,
1995) then I would agree that explicit grammar instruction does not work well because students spend a
lot of time in mechanical drills, where they can tune out any meaning in the sentence, instead of
spending time in communicative drills, where they are asked to not only attend to the information in the
input given, but provide new information.

If however we take Ellis’ view of teaching grammar as “involv*ing+ any instructional technique
that draws students' attention to some specific grammatical form in such a way that it helps them either
to understand it metalinguistically and/or process it in comprehension and/or production so that they
can internalize it;” (2006) there are other models for teaching grammar and as researchers have shown
there are tangible benefits for studying grammar. In Ellis for instance we see that researchers have
shown that instructed students achieved higher levels of grammatical competence than naturalistic
students (Lightbrown, Spada and Ranta, 1991 in (Ellis, 2006)). Other research (Noris & Ortega, 2000 in
(Ellis, 2006)), contrary to Krashen’s claims, seems to indicate that instruction contributes to both
acquired knowledge and learned knowledge.

While there is debate on whether grammatical competence aids in comprehending input and
producing output23, grammatical competence is a part of the monitoring system (Krashen, 1995) that
allows students to have the ability to monitor what they are producing to make sure that it is correct.
We see that research such as the one Lightbrown (1991, in (Ellis, 2006)) conducted also indicates that
grammar instruction facilitates learning by providing students with hooks that they can grab onto, thus
helping students with the acquisition process.

One thing that I wanted to avoid in the design and implementation of this course is the
traditional way of teaching grammar. Traditionally foreign languages have been taught by first having
students analyze grammar rules and vocabulary and then after lots of practice with these two elements
using them to communicate (Lee & Van Patten, 1995). Traditional grammar focuses on grammatical
form while paying little attention to the context that forms are found in. Thus traditional grammar
instruction fails to adequately address when and why a grammatical for is used in a given context.

23
after all, I was grammatically competent in my German class!

Page 20
 One part of Krashen’s hypothesis that I do agree with is that within this traditional context
“grammatical focus invariably distorts any attempts to communicate” (1995). I think that this is true
when you make grammar the focus of language learning, however if we look at it from a communicative
perspective “structured input activities can be used to promote growth of grammatical competence”
(Lee & Van Patten, 1995) while at the same time promoting the development of the student’s
communicative competence.

If grammar is taught in the traditional way then students can tune out and go into autopilot.
They are not attending for meaning in the writing or the utterance, but they are just producing a
predetermined form using a cookie cutter approach to language production. If exams follow the
traditional format of asking for known information in a cookie cutter approach, students will still go into
autopilot. As we see in Larsen-Freeman (1997) grammar has three dimensions: form, meaning, and use
and students need to master all three dimensions. Traditional grammar teaching tends to only focus on
form.

The key to successfully integrating grammar into the communicative language curriculum is to
make the grammar instruction serve a communicative task. By using communicative language
curriculum we are also attending to the need for students to learn the other two dimensions of
grammar: meaning and use, in other words how to use the
grammatical structures meaningfully and appropriately.

For example, as Lee & VanPatten (1995) point out, you can
have exercises in which the students are asked to attend for
meaning in the input while they produce utterances that have new
information in them so that the speaker can work at creating a
genuine communicate utterance and the interlocutor can attend to
the speaker’s message.

As Lee & Van Patten point out, Terrell theorizes that access
to what you’ve learned does not follow automatically from
acquisition (1995). Just because a student has incorporated a
particular form or structure it does not mean that it can be accessed
easily and thus produced automatically. This was one of the issues Figure 9: The Three Dimensions of
Grammar (Larsen-Freeman, 1997)
that I had with my German class, not just with grammar, but also with
vocabulary. An integrated approach to communicative language
teaching could help students both with acquisition of structures and the access to that information so
that they can reproduce it.

My final argument against Krashen is a sociolinguistic one. In Ellis (2006) we see that there is
ample evidence to show that students can and do learn a good deal of grammar without being taught it,
and this is something that Krashen would point to. While you may learn a lot of grammar without
explicit grammar instruction, I believe that students are getting the short end of this stick. If we don’t
provide students with grammatical instruction we are limiting them to the grammar that they will hear
or read in everyday life. This means that by the end of class they may have Basic Interpersonal
Communication Skills (BICS) when in fact they may need to be at the level of Cognitive Academic
Language Proficiency (CALP) for school or work purposes (Cummins, 1980 in (Peregoy & Boyle, 2005)).
This isn’t normally an issue for travelers; however one of the goals of this course is to prepare students
for higher levels of language learning in Greek.

Page 21
 There are many genres and registers of writing and speaking that students need to be familiar
with in order to be successful in an L2 society and grammar instruction is one element of that. Granted,
given enough time, students would figure things out on their own, however most L2 students do not
spend as much time learning their L2 as they did with their L1, therefore they would need a jumpstart
somewhere in the learning process.

Given all this evidence I am now in the same camp as many language teachers, I think that
students should be explicitly taught grammar; the methodology of course will be a little different since I
don’t want to use a predefined textbook because most textbooks lack meaningful and communicative
work. The foundations for the creation of such exercises will be laid out in this design document,
however specific exercises will need to be devised as the course is implemented and taught.

Review
vocabulary

Practice
with flash- View videos
based of dialogues
simulators

Cultural
Read &
insights of
Listen to
for selected
dialogues
dialogues

In class
practice of
dialogues
w/ ad lib

Figure 10: Lesson Flow (Individual Student)

Page 22
 Read
provided
cultural
material

Further
Connect
explore
culture into
material
the language
interesting to
curriculum
you

Participate in
forum to Share what
discuss you’ve found
cultural with others
interests

Figure 11: Student (Group) Participation Model

Figure 12: Legend for Figures 5 & 6

Logistics Overview
This course is a blended, instructor lead, course. The course will meet three times per week (90
minute sessions), for fourteen (14) weeks. Students will meet weekly in a face-to-face classroom where
new materials will be presented and practiced based on the lesson of the week. After each face-to-face
meeting, students will be able to access class materials and additional practice materials on the online
LMS. Since this is an eight-credit course, students are expected to spend 100 hours during the semester
working both in class (63 hours) and taking part in online activities and research (37 hours). This breaks
down to about six and a half hours per week.

Practice materials will consist of additional vocabulary, audio podcasts with dialogues and
pronunciation help, and discussion boards allowing students interact, share knowledge and have access
to the instructor throughout the week. Additional activities will consist of scavenger hunts and testing
materials using multimodal tests.

Page 23
The intended instructional outline is as follows:

On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before the class students will:

i. Read through the Lonely Planet (LP) assigned reading sections

ii. View the videos of the dialogues provided
iii. Try reading (without audio aid) the dialogues to see if they can decipher and pronounce them
on their own
iv. Read and listen to the podcast dialogues
v. Participate in the online forum discussions

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we will meet in class (90 minute sessions). In class we will:

i. Go over the dialogues and practice. Instructor will ad-lib some of the dialogues to give students
a more authentic variation on the dialogues
ii. Go over questions students may have
iii. Go over cultural and procedural issues that may come up
iv. Use realia and participation activities
v. View any in-class videos
vi. Try practicing their skills using the Flash-based simulations

On Thursday, Friday, Saturday students will:

i. Continue the online discussions

ii. Continue practicing their skills using the Flash-based simulations
iii. Take the unit tests by Saturday 11:59pm
iv. Submit any scavenger hunt assignment

The only exception to this format will be Module 1 where students will have a chance to get to
know each other, and the instructor, as well as get familiarized with the Greek alphabet and its sound
system.

Time Constraints
The class is planned to be fourteen (14) weeks long, which is a regular semester at the UMass
Boston campus.

Modules (Thematic Units)

Usually language lessons do not end neatly at the end of each language lesson class period, thus
the instructional approach to lessons is to use modules that have the flexibility to span longer, or shorter
periods than prescribed weekly lessons. The modules are designed to take up between a week and a
half and two weeks. Each module is a thematic unit which, in typical foreign language situations, follows
a set of protagonists through their trip to Greece, from the moment they arrive at the airport, to the
moment they get back on the plane.

Each module will contain new vocabulary, new grammar points, new dialogues and multimedia
associated with those dialogues. Each module will also contain a culture section that contains cultural
information that is related to the theme of the module. Each student will then have an opportunity to

Page 24
explore websites and other resources that relate to cultural phenomena that relate to those thematic
units and they will be able to share with their classmates. This cultural information will then be tied back
into the other course material such as grammar, dialogues and vocabulary that the students have used
to get introduced to the thematic unit.

Each module is not an island of information. Each module connects to subsequent modules. By
chunking new information students will be able to learn, without being overwhelmed, and build upon
prior knowledge. Examples of this type of chunking are learning numbers, learning grammar, and to
some extent the learning of new vocabulary. Given that English has borrowed vocabulary from Greek,
students can, for example, use their knowledge of English vocabulary to build up their knowledge of
Greek vocabulary.

Page 25
Module 1

Module 1 will serve as an introduction to concepts that students will need to be familiar with in
order to study and interact with the Greek language and in order to start interacting with people in
Greece. In this module for instance students will learn the phonology of Greek letters and letter
combinations. Since Greek does not use the Latin alphabet, as English does, students will need to
familiarize themselves with how the letters look and how they sound. Students will learn how letters are
written so that they can start mastering written communication as well.

Some introductory grammar topics need to be covered as well. Elements that are in common
with English (such as personal pronouns) will be covered, as well as elements of Grammar that are not
the same, such as an explanation of grammatical gender, cases and agreement. A full breakdown of
what will be covered is as follows:

Life/Culture Topics:
 The Euro
 Basic Greetings
Grammar Topics:
 The Greek Alphabet
 Greek Phonetics
 Greek Punctuation
 Personal Pronouns
 The verb to be (είμαι)
 Greek Word Order
 Grammar Basics: Gender, Case & Agreement
 Omission of pronominal subject

Module Goals:

 To introduce the class to the format of the class

 To introduce students to the form and sound of the letters of the Greek alphabet
 To introduce students to the resources that will be used in the class

Module Objectives:

Upon completion, students will be able to:

 Visually identify the letters of the Greek alphabet
 Identify the sounds of the letters of the Greek alphabet
 Identify the sound of various letter combinations
 Read words in Greek
 Explain the difference between English and Greek with regard to Case, Gender and Agreement
of Nouns

Upon completion of the module students are not expected to be experts in the phonology of Greek,
or comprehend the words they are reading. The objective here is to come familiar and comfortable with
speaking, as well as connecting what they see with what they hear.

Page 26
Readings24:

The readings for this section are meant to familiarize students with the topics of the module: the
Greek alphabet, basic greetings and the grammar topics. In addition, the readings are meant to
familiarize student with different resources that they will be using the in the course to retrieve the
information of each module.

Media
 YouTube videos of Greek alphabet:
o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AwfeLakC7I
o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBjAsT_nlNY
o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhog0YBFi8o
 Podcast of Greek Alphabet
 Athens News RSS feed - http://www.athensnews.gr/
 Kathimerini Newspaper (English Version) - http://www.ekathimerini.com/

Textual Readings
 Lonely Planet pg. 13-19
 “A is for Αρχιςαμε!” job-aid (Alphabet Job Aid)

Activities:

The activities for this, and subsequent, modules are broken down into Absorb, Connect and Do
activities. In Horton (2006, p. 41) we see that Absorb activities are activities where students read, listen
or watch content. Connect activities are those where students exercise, experiment and discover, and
Do activities are activities where the students link what they have learned to prior knowledge.

Absorb Activities
 Read the Lonely Planet Phrases text and familiarize yourselves with the lesson topics
 View the Greek Alphabet Podcast and read supporting materials
 Listen to the Greek Alphabet Podcast
 Read “A is for Αρχιςαμε!” job-aid (Alphabet Job Aid)

Connect Activities
 “Name that Sound” activity (identifying Greek letters)
 “Name that Word!” activity (matching aural to the written word)
 Identify the grammatical gender activity
 Log-onto Kathimerini (newspaper), pick an article and identify the gender of unknown words
 Introductions
 Verb Conjugations activity: to be

Do Activities
 Explore the English version of the Greek newspapers
 Introductions across cultures: comparing Greek introductions to your own

24
Readings here does not necessarily mean just text. Readings will encompass textual information, as well as
multimedia information that the students will have access to.

Page 27
Assessment:

Assessment activities for this, and subsequent, lessons will draw heavily on the content that
students used to practice in the Connect Activities section of the lesson. Each lesson will have two
assessment components: an online component and a face to face component. Specific rubrics for each
assessment activity in this and subsequent modules will be developed in collaboration with the course
instructor once all multimedia has been developed for the course. In this module students will be
evaluated 10% on creativity, and 90% on what they can remember about the language (vocabulary,
grammar, etc.)

Online Assessments
 “Name that Sound” assessment (identifying Greek letters)
 “Name that Word!” assessment (identifying aural with the visual word)
 Identify the grammatical gender assessment
 Conjugating the verb to be

Face to Face Assessments

 Introductions with classmates and the instructor

Page 28
Module 2

In Module two students will be exposed to language that they are likely to encounter at airports
in Greece, both regional airports and the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in Athens. Such
language will include topics such as getting through customs, claiming baggage, and obtaining public
transportation. In many cases individuals who work at airports in Greece have some level of command
of the English language, therefore if students don’t speak perfect Greek they will be able to get by with a
combination of English and the Greek that they learn in this lesson. The following is a full breakdown of
topics covered in the module:

Life/Culture Topics:
 Getting through customs
 Mobile Telephones
 Public Transportation
 Public Restrooms
 Stores
 Origin (Where you come from)

Grammar Topics
 Negative forms
 Interrogative forms (WH-questions) with an emphasis on who (ποιόσ/ποιά/ποιό)
 Structures of independent sentences (SVO)
 Subject/Predicate nominative
 Present Tense of Paroxytone verbs (ζχω, μζνω, κάνω, κτλ. – Conjugation A) in the active voice
 Possessive Pronouns
 Basic prepositions (από, με, ςε, για)
 Πάω, λζω, τρϊω, ακοφω in the Present tense, perfective future and simple past
 Present tense of Oxytone verbs (αγαπάω, μιλάω, κτλϋ. – conjugation B)
 Demonstrative Pronouns (αυτόσ, αυτι, αυτό, εκείνοσ, εκείνθ, εκείνο)
 Nominate Case: Noun inflection (masc: in-οσ, -ασ, -οσ; fem: in –α, -θ; neut: in –ο, -ι, -μα)

Module Goals:

 Learn the language necessary to negotiate the airport

Module Objectives:

Upon completion, students will be able to speak and understand the Greek necessary to:
 Navigate from the terminal to the taxi stand
 Find several types of facilities in the airport including:
o The restroom/WC
o The electronics store
o The convenience store
o The exchange bureau/ the ATM
 Make payments for relatively cheap items (less than $50)
 To count from one to fifty

As mentioned in the overview for this module, many employees at Greek airports speak English,
therefore students will not be penalized for not being perfect with their command of the Greek

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language in these early lessons. The overall objective is effective communication and understanding, at
some level, the exchange between airport agents and travelers.

Readings:

The readings for this week focus on three broad areas: Language used specifically within an
airport setting (e.g.: customs, bureau de change), language that is used more broadly (e.g.: numbers,
directional language, continuation of Greetings) and grammar topics.

Media
 URL to Hellenic Organization for Travel - http://www.eot.gr
 URL of Kathimerini newspaper (English edition) – http://www.ekathimerini.com/
 URL of Eleftherotypia newspaper: http://www.enet.gr/
 Podcast of numbers 0-50
 Podcast of dialogues
 ATM flash simulator
 YouTube videos:
o Basic Greetings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyURBpYflLo
o Basic Greetings 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKzdSepIo5k

Textual Readings

Dialogues
 Getting through customs
 Where’s the WC?
 At the electronics store
 At the convenience store
 At the Bureau de change
 Where’s the taxi stand?
 Can you please take me to…

Other
 Lonely Planet pg. 229-234, 60-61, 64, 71

Activities:

In this module the students will have additional connect activities that utilize flash-based
simulations to help students get acclimated to the type of language that they can expect to hear, and
produce, in an airport setting.

Absorb activities:
 Students will view videos of travelers interacting at the airport engaged in typical airport
dialogues based on the lesson objectives (7 dialogues)
 Students will listen to podcasts of dialogues
 Students will be presented with authentic Greek airport imagery

Connect activities:
 Discussions about
o Vocabulary
o Culture

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 o Procedures at the airport
 Dialogues
o Fill in the blank
o Interactive Q&A with instructor
 Web-site exploration (EOT)
 Job Aid with common airport vocabulary

Do activities:
 Listen & Repeat dialogues
 Mock dialogues in class
 ATM simulator
 Customs simulator
 Store Clerk simulator

Assessment:

Starting in this module, assessments will be enhanced by the use of flash-based simulators that
will act as virtual role playing agents for students. In these simulations students will play the role of
travelers and the simulators will take them through the different situations that they may encounter at
the airport. Online assessments and quizzes will be administered on the class LMS. Since this course
aims to help people communicate, students will get greater points if they can demonstrate in class that
they can effectively communicate. In this module students will be evaluated 30% on creativity, and 70%
on what they can remember about the language (vocabulary, grammar, etc.)

Online Assessments
 Working with the ATM simulator to get Euros
 Working with a store clerk simulator to purchase an item assigned by the instructor
 Verbally asking where something is, listening to an answer, repeating the answer in English
 Posting on the discussion forum (scavenger hunt of notable Greek news items)
 Vocabulary quiz of Vocabulary covered in Lonely Planet & Job Aid readings
 Grammar-points quiz
 Written Comprehension quiz

Face to Face Assessments

 Simulation of working with a store clerk (Instructor) to purchase an item of interest to the
student
 Oral Comprehension Excersise
 “Identify the object” game – A game show type of exercise where groups of students work
together to identify the object that the instructor is looking for, phrased in the form of an
authentic question

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Module 3

This module focuses on what students might encounter in a typical Greek hotel. This module will
cover the language used in typical hotel situations, illustrations of grammar used in such circumstances
and cultural information about typical Greek vacation and who you might encounter during your trip.
Students at this point should start to think about what they would like to explore in Module 6, as well as
language that they would like to explore that is alternative to staying at a hotel (i.e. going camping).

Life/Culture Topics:
 Places to stay while in Greece
 Where do Greeks stay?
 Typical Greek Breakfast

Grammar Topics:
 Structure of independent sentences (cont. from previous module)
 The Direct Object
 Present Tense of Oxytone verbs (μπορϊ, ηω – conjugation B)
 Accusative Case: Noun Inflection (masc: in-οσ, -ασ, -οσ; fem: in –α, -θ; neut: in –ο, -ι, -μα)
 Passive Voice
 Perfective Subjunctive
 Verbs followed by subjunctive (κζλω, μπορϊ, προςπακϊ να, πρζπει, κτλ.)
 Active Imperative of basic verbs (ζλα-ελάτε, πάρε-πάρτε, κάκιςε-κακίςτε, κτλ.)

Module Goals:

 To learn the language necessary to communicate with hotel staff

Module Objectives:

Upon completion, students will be able to speak and understand the Greek language necessary to:
 Identify and say Greek numbers zero through fifty
 Tell someone the day and date
 Understand the spoken date 50% of the time
 Greet other people
 Register a complaint with the hotel
 Pay for their hotel room
 Use common imperative verbs in Greek
 Use basic verbs in the subjunctive in Greek

Readings:

The readings for this module will include dialogues that are typical in a hotel environment, as
well as accompanying videos and audio related to those dialogues. In addition, students will explore
websites with authentic language from hotels around Greece. Students will also have the opportunity to
explore readings with additional vocabulary and language that is used in hotel contexts, but is also used
in day to day life, such as telling time and the date.

Media
 Hotel check-in simulator

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  Audio and Video Podcasts of dialogues and job aids
 Images of hotel signs
 Images of Greek hotel rooms
 Website: Aegialis Hotel: http://www.amorgos-aegialis.com/
 Website: Laki Village http://www.lakkivillage.gr/

Textual Readings

Dialogues:
 Asking for your reservation
 Do you have a spare room?
 Hello? Room Service?
 I have no towels?!
 It’s here! (food and other item deliveries to your room)
 Can I have my key?

Other
 The numbers 51-500
 The days of the week
 The months of the year
 Lonely Planet pg. 77-84, 48-60
 Grammatical explanations

Activities:

Starting in this module, activities will have two components. The first component will contain
dialogues and associated media as we’ve had in previous modules. In addition we will use flash-based
simulations that we’ve used in previous lessons. Starting with this module is that we will ask the
students to increase their participation both in class and online with language and objects that interest
them. For the online component students will perform scavenger hunts and have discussions on the
LMS. For the face to face meetings, in addition to the realia that the instructor brings to class, students
will also bring realia that are significant to them during travel so we want use them to explore cultural
bridges between Greek culture and the student’s native culture, as well as build the students vocabulary
and speaking/listening skills.

Absorb activities
 Students will view videos of typical hotel dialogues
 Students will listen to audio of typical hotel dialogues
 Students will be presented with Greek websites of hotels in Greece
 Students will be presented with authentic hotel signage

Connect activities
 Cheat-sheets with common hotel vocabulary
 Discussions about
o Vocabulary
o Culture
o Hotel Procedures
 Dialogues
o Fill in the blank

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 o Interactive Q&A with instructor
 Hotel related, in-class, gameshow

Do activities
 Listen & Repeat dialogues
 Mock dialogues in class
 Check-in simulator
 Virtual room navigator
 Web site scavenger hunt and posting on blog (topic TDB based on student interests)
 Group work: creation of an original dialogue

Assessments:

In this lesson student assessments will test how students are able to apply what they’ve learned
in a simulated hotel environment. The assessments that are more mechanical in nature will take place
online, while the aural/oral assessment will take place in class. Another level of assessment will be to
see how creative students are with the language they have acquired, therefore the activity that students
performed to create an original dialogue can be used as an assessment instrument as well. In this
module students will be evaluated 40% on creativity, and 60% on what they can remember about the
language (vocabulary, grammar, etc.)

Online Assessments
 Hotel concierge simulator – asking for a room
 Hotel concierge simulator – paying your bill
 Room service (audio) simulation – I have no towels!
 Posting on discussion forum
 Scavenger hunt blog post: Find a hotel room. How much did it cost? What’s included? Where is
it near? Use as much Greek as possible. Any new words that you’ve come across?
 Vocabulary quiz of Vocabulary covered in Lonely Planet & Job Aid readings
 Grammar-points quiz
 Written Comprehension quiz

Face to Face Assessments

 In class dialogues.
 Scavenger hunt: Find a hotel room. How much did it cost? What’s included? Where is it near?
Use as much Greek as possible. Any new words that you’ve come across?
 Performing the original dialogue created for the assignment
 Hotel room service simulator
 Hotel concierge simulation
 The Hotel-game show

Page 34
Module 4

Food and drink is something that many travelers seek, and when traveling to a foreign country
you may want to experiment and sample of that country’s signature dishes, or you may want to seek
comfort in food. In this module students will have an opportunity to explore both language and culture
associated with food and eating establishments in Greece. In exploring this topic we will cover both
Greek cuisine, as well as getting food that students may be more familiar with. During the time that we
are working on this module students will be asked to start submitting ideas for the lessons in Module 6.

Life/Culture Topics:
 Food
 Expressing likes and dislikes
 Ordering
 Where do Greeks eat?
 Typical Greek foods
 Drinks

Grammar Topics
 Inflection of adjectives in –οσ-θ-ο, -οσ-α-ο; -οσ-ια-ο; ισ-ιά-ι
 Many: the adjectives πολφσ, πολλι, πολφ and the adverb πολφ
 Imperfective Future Tense (all conjugations: κα γράφω, κα μιλάω, κα ηϊ)
 Comparisons: Positives, Comparatives and Superlatives
 Imperfective Past Tense (all conjugations)
 Prepositions followed by the Accusative: με, ςε, για, από, κτλ.
 Temporal definitions

Module Goals:

 To acclimate the students to the different types of eating establishments typically found in
Greece and the language required to make use of them

Module Objectives:

Upon completion, students will be able to:

 Accurately Pronounce Greek words 50% of the time
 To decipher at least 50% of the items on a Greek menu
 To place an order for a meal
 To ask for the check
 To count from 501 to 10,000
 Use the grammar of this lesson to accomplish tasks within a setting that involves food. The
following are some examples:
o Comparing food taste
o Comparing eating establishments
o Telling waiters which dish belongs to which guest
o Talking about future dining
o Describing food and cuisine that you like

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Readings:

Readings in this module will include the standard dialogues found in previous modules however
in this module we will rely heavily on authentic menus from various eating establishments in Greece, as
well as current websites that showcase these eating establishments. These use of these realia aims to
bring students even closer to Greek culture.

Media
 Taverna menu
 Goody’s menu
 Souvlatzidiko menu
 Pizzeria/Sandwich shop menu
 Upscale menu
 Waiter simulator
 Video and Audio Podcasts of dialogues and job-aids
 Images of varies eating establishments
 Website: Cretan Cuisine: http://www.kapnismenotsikali.gr/
 Website: Ellinogeusis: http://www.ellinongeuseis.gr/
 Website: Megistos: http://www.megistos.gr/
 Website: McDonalds: http://www.mcdonalds.gr/
 Website: Roma Pizza: http://www.romapizza.gr/
 Website: Pita Pan: http://www.pitapan.gr/images/delivery_JAN08Fin.pdf
 Website: Lunch-Box: http://www.lunch-box.gr

Textual Readings

Dialogues:
 At the tavern
 At Goody’s
 At the souvlatzidiko
 At the pizzeria
 At the bar
 Do you have any vegetarian meals?
 Asking for the check

Other:
 List of common foods and descriptions
 The numbers 501-10,000
 Lonely Planet Pg 145-168, 229-234

Activities:

Activities in this module will focus around both the mechanics of ordering food (language,
vocabulary, grammatical points), and the relationship that people have with food and eating out.
Students will be able to pick from different types of establishments and explore the food and culture
behind them.

Absorb Activities
 Students will view videos of typical food establishment encounters

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  Students will listen to audio of typical food establishment encounters
 Students will be presented with Greek websites of food establishments in Greece
 Students will be presented with authentic menus

Connect Activities
 Discussions about
o Vocabulary
o Greek food Culture and cultural comparisons
 Interactive Q&A with instructor
 Listen & Repeat dialogues
 Mock dialogues in class
 Food related in-class game shows

Do Activities
 Waiter Simulator
 Web site scavenger hunt and posting on discussion board (topics TDB based on student
interests)
 Group work: creation of an original dialogue dealing with food

Assessments:

In this module, compared to previous modules, assessment of students will be based more on
creativity, and less on rote memorization. The ratio at this stage of the course should be 50% on how
you use language, and 50% on things you can remember.

Online Assessments
 The “menu deciphering game” (flash-based matching game)
 Taverna waiter simulator – ordering from the menu
 The numbers game (audio recognition game)
 Posting on discussion forum about Greek food (scavenger hunt): new words you’ve learned
 Blog Post – Short, 1 paragraph, blog post about what type of food you would like to try (or not
like to try) and why
 Vocabulary quiz of Vocabulary covered in Lonely Planet & Job Aid readings
 Grammar-points quiz
 Written Comprehension quiz

Face to Face Assessments

 The numbers game (audio recognition game)
 Use as much Greek as possible
 What are your likes and dislikes?
 “Name that food” game show
 “Where did I buy this (food)?” game show

Page 37
Module 5

In this module students will have an opportunity to learn about different modes of
transportation while in Greece. They have already learned how to get a taxi from the airport, and it is
assumed that they’ve spent a few days in Athens and are now looking for methods of transportation to
get to other locations in Mainland Greece and to get to the Greek Islands.

Life/Culture Topics:
 Asking directions
 Means of transportation
 Making arrangements

Grammar Topics
 Plural of Parisyllabic and imparisyllabic nouns
 Indefinite Pronouns: κανείσ, κανζνασ, καμία, καμιά, κανζνα
 Basic adverbs in –α (Καλά, ωραία, όμορφα, άςχθμα, γριγορα, ακριβά, φτθνά, ιςυχα, κτλ.)
 Syntax of the adverbs of place (μπροςτά, πίςω, πάνω, κάτω, δίπλα, απζναντι, γφρω, μζςα, κτλ.)

Module Goals:

 To acclimate the students to the different modes of transportation available to travelers in

Greece and the language required to make use of them.

Module Objectives:

Upon completion, students will be able to:

 Tell the time in Greek
 Request and receive schedule information
 Request ticketing information
 Purchase tickets
 Describe a location by using adverbs of place

Readings:

In addition to the readings that we’ve seen thus far in the course, and there will be increasing
use of culturally authentic realia and information.

Media
 Video and Audio Podcasts of dialogues and job aids
 Photos of KTEL stations
 Photos of Port of Pireas
 Photos of a typical train station
 Photos of the Metro
 Virtual ticket agent simulator
 Tickets – Metro, KTEL, Ship, Plane (realia)
 Map of the metro system
 Maps of Greece
 Form for car rental
 Photos of typical trains and busses

Page 38
  Website: Attiko Metro: http://www.ametro.gr
 Website: OSE: http://www.ose.gr

Textual Readings

Dialogues:
 Where’s the travel office?
 Getting Metro/Bus tickets
 Getting a plane ticket to Crete
 Getting a boat ticket to Amorgos
 Getting a train ticket to Thesaloniki
 Renting a car

Other
 Lonely Planet Pg 60, 63, 65-70, 72-76, 223-228

Activities:

In this module students will have a chance to exercise their creativity by charting their own
course through Greece. The first week of this module will also be the last opportunity for students to
submit ideas for Module 6.

Absorb Activities
 Students will view videos that relate to travel
 Students will listen to audio that relates to travel
 Students will be presented with Greek websites of transportation providers
 Students will be presented with authentic itineraries and tickets

Connect Activities
 Discussions about
o Vocabulary
o Greek transportation and comparisons to L1 culture
 Interactive Q&A with instructor
 Listen & Repeat dialogues
 Mock dialogues in class
 Travel related in-class game shows
 Train ticket agent simulator
 Travel agent simulator

Do Activities
 Scavenger hunt on transportation websites (preparatory work for group work)
 “How do I get to….” activity (group work to determine best ways to get around in Athens)
 “Getting from here to there” activity (group work to determine route to get from Athens to a
location of interest)

Assessments:

In this module students will be evaluated 60% on creativity with language and comprehension,
and 40% on what they can remember by rote about the language (vocabulary, grammar, etc.)

Page 39
Online Assessments
 Train station ticket agent simulator
 Paying for your ticket – numbers practice
 Posting on forum (scavenger hunt to find policies, pricing, and information about various modes
of transportation)
 Short blog post: “How would you get from your hotel (fixed location) to ______” (location of
interested determined in consultation with instructor). Students will give directions to fellow
students in Greek
 Vocabulary quiz of Vocabulary covered in Lonely Planet & Job Aid readings
 Grammar-points quiz
 Written Comprehension quiz

Face to Face Assessments

 Buying Metro tickets – dialogue
 Paying for your ticket – numbers practice
 Scavenger Hunt Recap
 Around Athens – group game
 Giving directions to major landmarks

Page 40
Module 6

The goal of this module is to give students greater opportunities to influence what is taught in
the class. This module is all about hobbies, sports, and recreational habits of students. The instructional
material will be made on-demand once student interests are gauged. There are some topics that fit into
this module that will have prepared instructional materials. For example no matter what your
recreational activity, you will always have a kiosk nearby to supply you with many small everyday things
like water, soda, iced cream, newspapers, magazines and so on.

Life/Culture Topics:
 Family Relations
 Jobs
 Studies
 The Kiosk

Grammar Topics
 Simple past of the active voice (ζγραψα, μίλθςα, ζηθςα, κτλ.)
 Dependent Sentences
 Indirect Objects
 Future and Past tenses of to be (είμαι)
 Genitive of Possession
 Perfective Future of the active voice (all conjugations – κα ηιςω, κα μιλιςω, κα γράψω, κτλ.)

Module Goals:

 To enable to student to talk about what their favorite pastimes in a social environment.

Module Objectives:

Upon completion, students will be able to:

 Converse with others about what they like to do on their free time
 Converse, to some degree, about what one does for work
 Utilize kiosks to obtain information and to purchase products

Additional and more specific objectives for this lesson will be developed once specific student interests
are determined.

Readings:

The readings for this module consist of some vocabulary learning materials in order to pave the
way and allow students to express themselves. In addition, we will have some prepared dialogues that
deal with the types of interactions one sees at a kiosk operator. The remainder of the readings and
media will be developed between the time that Module 3 starts and the time Module 625 starts
(approximately six weeks).

Media
 Podcasts of dialogues

25
Of course Module 6 materials will lack the authentic location feature of previous modules since they will be
created on site, at and around the university.

Page 41
  Videos of Kiosk related dialogues
 Greek music
 Images of Kiosks in Greece
 Images of products found in Kiosks
 Images TBD based on student interests
 Films TBD based on student interests
 Realia TBD based on student interests

Textual Readings

Dialogues:
 Asking for directions at the Kiosk
 Buying a ticket at the kiosk
 Buying a newspaper/magazine at the kiosk
 Asking for product availability at the kiosk
 Additional dialogues to be produced based on student interests

Other
 Meet & Greet: LP 48-60, 100-108
 Interests: LP 115-135, 187-195
 Shopping: LP 145-159

Activities:

Activities this week will depend more heavily on student-student interactions in class and on
individual research related activities. Students can do the research on their own online and interact
with fellow students via blog format.

Absorb Activities
 Students will view videos that relate to kiosks
 Students will listen to audio that relates to kiosks
 Students will listen to audio that relates to recreational activities
 Students will listen to audio that relates to jobs
 Students will be presented with Greek websites of places of recreation
 Students will read dialogues based on topics that student requested

Connect Activities
 Discussions about
o Vocabulary
o Recreation and comparisons to L1 culture
 Interactive Q&A with instructor
 Listen & Repeat dialogues
 Mock dialogues in class
 Kiosk related in-class game shows
 Recreation related in-class game shows
 Kiosk simulator

Do Activities
 Kiosk related scavenger hunt TDB

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  Recreational activities related scavenger hunt TDB

Assessments:

In this module students will be evaluated 70% on creativity with the language, and 30% on what
they can remember by rote about the language (vocabulary, grammar, etc.). In this context creativity
also includes research about a topic that interests the students, writing about it and commenting on
other’s posts.

Online Assessments
 Kiosk scavenger hunt – identifying objects that one may obtain at a kiosk
 The price is right – review of numbers and products; students can match kiosk objects with how
much they cost
 Blog-post and comments on research topic TDB
 Vocabulary quiz of Vocabulary covered in Lonely Planet & Job Aid readings
 Grammar-points quiz
 Written Comprehension quiz
 Additional online assessments to be created once student interests are determined

Face to Face Assessments

 The price is right game – face to face version
 Additional face to face assessments to be created once student interests are determined

Page 43
Module 7

Module 7 is the wrap-up module for this course. New material will be covered in Module 7,
however the main purpose for Module 7 is to review and integrate all the materials that students have
learned throughout the semester. The new material in Module 7 will be material that one can integrate
with previous modules, such as reporting theft, or telling someone to buzz off, as well as material
requested by students to cover any gaps from previous modules.

Module Goals:

 To recap the material from all other classes

 To cover any remaining cultural or linguistic issues that travelers should be aware of that we
may not have covered officially up to this point.

Module Objectives:

Upon completion, students will be able to:

 Pronounce Greek words accurately 80% of the time
 Ask and receive contact information
 Ask for help in case of emergency

Readings:

Readings and media for this lesson will consist of some general dialogues that can be used in
many of the previous modules, as well as many materials possible that the students wished to have
covered in previous modules but did not have an opportunity to cover. Additional dialogues and media
will be determined after Level 1 evaluations for each module have been taken into consideration.

Media
 Podcasts of dialogues
 URL of Tourist police website
 Additional media TBD

Textual Readings

Dialogues
 Theft!
 Leave me alone!
 Help!
 I’ve fallen!

Other:
 Lonely Planet 235-238

Activities:

The activities in this chapter will be mostly do activities (Horton, 2006) which will asks students
in to integrate everything they have learned throughout the semester. Examples of do activities are:

 Student generated dialogues around a topic of interest (text creation)

 Student generated audio podcasts of those aforementioned dialogues

Page 44
  Student generated video of aforementioned dialogues
 In-class skits of dialogues created by students
 Ad-libbed situational dialogues
 Simulations from previous lessons
 Game-show like activities to review previous lessons
 Blog post on a topic of interest (mini-research paper in Greek, maximum 2 pages double spaced)
 Watching an episode of a Greek sit-com or other show to pick up accents, and see how much
they can recognize based on what they’ve learned in the semester.

Specific activities will be assigned based on student familiarity and comfort with the technologies at
hand and based on their interests for this final module. Some of the end products of these activities can
be used for assessments purposes as well since they represent the cumulative knowledge that students
have gained in this course.

Assessments:

Since this module is a wrap-up module, the assessments for this module will include some
original assessments for the few new dialogues and situations in this module, but they will also include
cumulative assessments which will encompass assessments from previous lessons as well. As mentioned
in the Activities section, deliverables for the activities can act as an assessment instrument as well
considering that the deliverables represent the cumulative knowledge that students gained throughout
the semester. Rubrics for evaluation of these assessment products will be developed collaboratively
with the instructor teaching the course as well as the students.

Online Assessments
 Grammar-points quiz
 Written Comprehension quiz
 Vocabulary quiz of Vocabulary covered in Lonely Planet & Job Aid readings
 Simulators from previous lessons

Face to Face Assessments

 Greek Pronunciation/Dialogues
 Face to face interviews with course instructor

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Instructional Materials
Greek for Travelers will be utilizing many different types of instructional materials. Some
materials will be, what is thought of as, standard instructional material such as books, PowerPoint slides
and handouts, however a lot of material will rely on Web 2.0 technologies such as podcasts, wikis, blogs
and discussion boards to help students not only contextualize what they are learning, but also, as
discussed in the Second Language Acquisition Theory section, help in facilitating a different,
communicative, methodology of language teaching.

Books
The main textbook chosen for this course is the Lonely Planet Greek Phrasebook26. A number of
Greek textbooks were consulted as potential textbooks for this course, however there were two issues.
One issue is alluded to by Lee and VanPatten (1995) when they write that textbooks, even though
appearing to embrace a communicate approach to language teaching, still utilize many drill and kill
types of exercises common to the audiolingual method. They only appear to be communicative in their
approach.

The second issue with mainstream textbooks that I examined is that they have a very clear
structure and methodology and this structure is not compatible with the theme of the course which is
traveling. Finally, one of our goals for the course is to provide cultural background for the country that
the students will be using the language in (i.e. Greek). Theorists such as Kramsch (1988), and pragmatic
knowledge, tell us that course books tend to pick topics that are generally mainstream and are not going
to cause any discomfort to potential large clients (like school districts), and they thus may not provide
authentic cultural information and cultural context. These factors would make existing, and rather
expensive, textbooks not suited for this course.

The lack of a course text might make some students uncomfortable. For this reason I picked a
fairly good Greek Phrasebook, with two-way dictionary as the textbook for the course. The text
provides psychological comfort to those students that feel the need for a textbook, it provides a place
for student to find vocabulary on a thematic basis, and it provides a way for students to look up words
that they might not know. In addition, once the course is over, students will be able to take this text
with them on their travel, so the usefulness of the text outlives the duration of the course.

An optional book for the course is the Lonely Planet Greece guide27 which provides students
with real information about locations in Greece. Students would be able to use this information to
complete assignments where they have to be content creators themselves. This book is optional
because information can be found other ways, including websites and mobile phone and PDA28
applications.

Handouts
Since there is a dearth of relevant textbooks, and because textbooks are rarely authentic, the
main method of distributing information to the students will be handouts. All of the course material will
be developed collaboratively between instructional designers, Greek language experts and native Greek
language speakers. These materials will include:

26
By Athanasions Spilias, ISBN: 1740591402
27
By Paul Hellander and Kate Armstrong, ISBN: 1740597508
28
Personal Digital Assistant

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  Dialogues in each lesson
 Written comprehension exercises
 Grammatical explanations
 Grammar worksheets
 Realia
 Job aids to help students with vocabulary and grammar
 Alphabet sheets to help with writing and acquitting writing competency
 Vocabulary of interest to the students that isn’t available in the text
 Cultural explanations
 Instructions for exercises

Slides
Slides have been used in many courses to provide both content and structure for the course. In
this course slides will be used for a variety of purposes. The main academic use of slides is going to be
providing context for the various activities that will be done in class. If a scene needs to be analyzed, it
would be better for students to have a culturally authentic images projected on a screen so that they
can all point to elements of the same image while performing activities such as TPR activities,
simulations, and dialogues. Instructors will also have the option of using slides to present lecture
information and record an audio presentation with the slide information that will be accessible by the
students after the class is over. These slides can also act as a job aide and lesson review. To add to the
educational experience, instructional designers and SMEs can process the class slides with programs
such as Articulate and Adobe Presenter that enable them to embed interactive quizzes.

Emerging Technology (Web 2.0)

It’s a little odd to call the Web 2.0 category emerging technologies because they have been in
use for close to a decade now. However we as instructional designers and educators are still
experimenting to determine where they fit into the teaching and learning process. As such, these
technologies can still be considered emerging. Web 2.0 is a term that defines technologies which allow
for information sharing and collaboration among users, and a design and classification that is user
centered.

Web 2.0 is in contrast to Web 1.0 where communication was generally one-way. The content
provider (website owner) would place some information on the website they managed and people
would go view it. In a Web 2.0 environment individuals are not only creators of their own content, but
are also contributors to other people’s content. Some key differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0
are summarized in Figure 13.

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 Figure 13: Web 1.0 and Web 2.0: Differences in philosophy and function (Kárpáti, 2009)

Video Podcasts

Video podcasts are downloadable video files that students can download and play on their own
computer or portable media player, like the iPod or Zune. In this course video podcasts will be used to
distribute videos of the dialogues of each module.

The videos will be recorded in authentic locations in Greece - if, for example, the dialogue takes
place at the Eleftherios Venizelos Athens International Airport that is what the video will depict. The
benefit of filming at an authentic location is that students can see what the location looks like, therefore
allowing the student to observe and learn the visual cues that they themselves are likely to encounter at
those locations. In addition to being able to observe the surrounding environment by using video,
students will be able to observe various paralinguistic queues that they would not be able observe in an
audio-only context. Students would be able to observe, among other things, things like proxemics, how
close the speakers are, and the use of body language.

These paralinguistic queues “assure the transmission of meaning even when complete
grammatical and lexical decoding is not likely to be achieved.” (Ciccone, 1995) Studies have shown that
when providing students with audio-visual material, without textual transcription, students show
characteristics of integration and creativity in their responses drawing from their own life experiences
(Absalom & Rizzi, 2008), in other words students use their pre-existing schemata29.

Another use of video podcasts would be to distribute non-copyrighted videos, which include
those dialogue situational videos, to the class ahead of the class lecture so that they have time to
prepare. Some studies (Shawback & Terhune, 2002) have shown that videos coupled with pre-class

29
For more on schema theory see (Carell & Eisterhold, 1988)

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comprehension exercises allow students to build their confidence before coming to class which enables
the instructor and the students to engage in rich discussions about the cultural underpinnings of the
video, or the specific hows and whys of the language used in the video, rather than just confirming
comprehension.

Streaming Videos

In addition to downloadable podcasts, there are many videos that can be used in this class that
are streaming videos. Streaming videos are not downloaded to the student’s device, but rather are
available on demand via services like YouTube. There are both pros and cons to using streaming videos.
By using streaming videos you are requiring the student to either be in front of a computer, or own a
device such as an Apple iPhone that has mobile access to the internet to view these videos. The benefits
though can overcome the shortcomings of the technology.

Many videos are available on YouTube that are provided by people in Greece. These videos are
either personal videos, or rebroadcasts of videos that were available on Greek television. They make it
possible to explore and find videos that fall into many different categories and provide a variety of
educational opportunities (see Figure 14). These videos fall under culturally authentic documents which
further provide the student with authentic context for the language elements that they are learning in
class. By using a shared video service like YouTube we can find a lot of material without being (as)
concerned about copyrights.

Figure 14: A space of Learning for the use of designed video (Schwartz & Hartman, 2007)

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Audio Podcasts

Audio podcasts can be used in a variety of ways in this course. Audio podcasts allow the
students to listen, and re-listen, to content when they are not in front of a computer in situations when
the optimal method for delivering information is by auditory means, such an example would be when
the student is at the gym or commuting to work. The content that would be included in audio podcasts
is audio-only versions of the dialogues of the module, audio vocabulary to help students with
pronunciation, cultural notes and additional information that came up in the class lectures. Podcasts
have the ability of embedding text transcription in the digital audio file, therefore allowing students to
follow along if they so wish. In addition, through the use of Enhanced Podcasts, podcasts that can
display images simultaneously with the audio (Wikipedia, 2009), students can have access to images of
what is being spoken about in the dialogues or the lecture notes.

Research indicates that using listening exercises, without textual transcription, triggers higher
anxiety for students. While this may not be great for lowering the affective filter30, it does simulate what
the students are likely to encounter while on their travels to Greece, and it was shown that despite the
higher level of anxiety students do work at deconstructing the text to obtain meaning, something that
does not always occur with students working on written texts (Absalom & Rizzi, 2008).

One additional use for podcasts is as a replacement for the traditional language lab activities. In
traditional language labs, one of the activities is to repeat dialogues, or take part in mock recorded
dialogues, in order for students to check their pronunciation and to have the instructor help them with
developing a native-like accent. Some research has been done on the subject (Absalom & Rizzi, 2008),
however recording yourself on tape is easier compared to recording yourself for a podcast. The use of
podcasts for this purpose would be up to the instructor if students are interested in improving their
accent31 and if they are technologically savvy to produce their own podcasts.

Flash-based Simulations

Greek for travelers will have many flash-based simulations in order to provide interactivity
outside the classroom. Flash-based simulations are the second best thing to interacting with a live native
speaker. Flash-based simulations will take the leaner and place him in an authentic context where the
student will have to complete a certain action, such as get directions for the nearest metro station. In
this context, flash-based simulations can be used both as practice instruments for students to hone their
language skills, and one of many assessment instruments to see if students have learned the language
required to negotiate that particular scenario.

Class Wiki

One of the technology options that the instructor will have available is a class based wiki. The
students can use the class based wiki to work collaboratively on dialogues that students need to create
later on in the semester. In addition, students can use the wiki to create content pages that explain
grammar and vocabulary, store dialogues used in the course and a place to access course knowledge
once the course has been completed. The one concern I have about including a wiki, on top of
everything else, is that it may result in cognitive overload on the part of the students. For this reason,
the use of a wiki will be left up to the instructor once the results of a student learning style inventory
have been gathered and once the technology level of students has been assessed.

30
For more on affective filters, please see Krashen (1995)
31
This will be evaluated using a PAI – see Appendix H for a sample PAI evaluation

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Blogs (Weblogs)

Blogs have been a part of the internet for more than a decade now. While blogs tend to be
thought of as personal diaries, or as a way of getting news out on the web, they do have many practical
educational applications. Recent research (Murray & Hourigan, 2008) has looked at blogs as a medium
for both gathering feedback, and encouraging students to write more fluidly in the foreign language that
they are learning. For our course it would be too much to ask our students to blog in L2; however we
can still use blogs.

One way that we will be using blogs in this course will be as a way of gathering feedback from
the students. Students will be using blogs once a week (on average twice per module) to let the
instructor and their fellow students know what they think of the methods, materials, and facilities used
in the execution of this course. In addition students can provide feedback as to what could be done to
improve what they might not like, or how to implement more of what they do like.

Another way that the blog will be used is as a way for the students to reflect on their language
learning experience in this course, and in the past. For the purposes of reflection, students will be
blogging at least once per week (at least twice per module), reflecting on grammar acquisition, cultural
information, and lexical knowledge that they receive in class. Students will tie what they’ve learned to
knowledge they already have and how they find different aspects of L2 and C2 learned, and what
comparisons with L1 and C1 they find interesting, or perhaps not interesting.

Culturally Authentic Realia

As Little et al. (1989), in Mishan (2005), write, culturally authentic realia are objects that are
created to fulfill some social purpose within a social context of the language community that they are
found in. They are not meant to be created specifically for instructional purposes. Realia can encompass
many different things from everyday items such as newspapers, websites, metro tickers, chocolate bars,
to things that you don’t encounter as often such as an insurance policy application, or an airplane ticket.
As we saw, streaming videos found on YouTube are an example of authentic realia that we can use in
this course.

As we see in research though (Silber, 1991), we need to be careful in

our implementation because the use of culturally authentic realia is not an
end in and of itself. It is a means to an end. As Silber writes, it is also not a
panacea. The idea is that culturally authentic realia will provide context for
the students, but there is also the danger that these objects will be
presented in a decontextualized manner. Therefore there is a danger that
they might lose their educational value and potentially confuse the student. Figure 15: Athens Metro Ticket
In addition, in using realia we must provide substantial pedagogical support to
our students so that the realia is used toward an educational outcome rather than use them as a
classroom decoration.

Some examples of realia that will be used in this course are:

 Tickets for transportation services like the bus, train, metro, boats and ferries
 Newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals
 Websites of Greek agencies and businesses
 Greek Music
 Videos of broadcasts, films, and user generated content (amateur video on YouTube)

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  Audio from broadcasts and amateur podcasts
 Products such as drinks, food, personal and electronic items like batteries and matches
 Informational brochures and pamphlets from museums, menus from restaurants, bus
and metro routes and maps
 Nature objects like sand, shells, and pine cones

Learning Management System (LMS)

One of the major factors to consider when implementing this course is the selection of the
Learning Management System (LMS). As we’ve seen in research (Lane, 2009), the choice of the LMS can
impact teaching and learning. An LMS is not a pedagogically neutral technology. Each product is built
with a particular end-user in mind, and thus the product is tailor made for that particular user segment.
The instructors of the course have two general options: a traditional LMS, and something less-traditional
like a private social network or online group32.

The instructors will have to work with instructional designers to implement the course on their
LMS of choice because the LMS is a central platform for this course. The course is worth eight credits;
four of those credits are earned in class through weekly face-to-face sessions and remainder is going to
be earned thorough online activities which will be facilitated by the LMS. Thus, no matter which
technology is chosen, it is crucial that this part of the course is polished before the course starts.

Traditional LMS

The UMass Boston campus has access to both Blackboard and Moodle. As we see in Lane (2009)
Moodle is an Opt-In system, which means that instructors and instructional designers need to turn on
each feature that they plan to use, while Blackboard is an Opt-Out system in which the instructors need
to actively turn off features that they do not wish to use. For novice faculty turning features off that
they aren’t familiar with can be a daunting task, and it can lead to both instructor and student confusion
down the road. For this reason it would be crucial to have an instructional designer active in the
implementation of the course, and available for help and consultation during the time that the course is
offered.

There are some benefits to choosing a traditional LMS over a non-traditional LMS. A traditional
LMS allows you to only accept authenticated students into your course right from the start, it can
provide structure for the course, and it can act as a way to distribute copyrighted materials. A campus
sponsored LMS can also comply with state and federal regulations such as FERPA33 which aim to protect
student privacy. The down-side of the traditional LMS is that for novice it may seem daunting to the
novice instructor, where as they may have used non-traditional LMS in other facets of their professional
and personal lives.

Non-Traditional LMS

Non-traditional LMS are not provided by the campus. These are services, like Ning34 and
SocialGo35 that provide you with a White Label social network. This technology can be leveraged to
provide an interface might be easier to navigate for both the students and the instructor. Instructors can

32
The use of an LMS is not a requirement for UMass Boston courses
33
For more on FERPA regulations see: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html
34
http://www.ning.com
35
http://www.socialgo.com

Page 52
use the Group functionality of sites like these to create a separate area for each instructional module,
provide an area for students to have access to information, and provide them with the ability to contact
each other either through their profiles, or through the email system.

Just like the traditional LMS, the non-traditional LMS have pros and cons. The benefit of a non-
traditional LMS is that it incorporates successfully many Web 2.0 technologies that will be used in this
course; whereas the traditional LMS still have not implemented features like blogs very well. The
second benefit is that non-traditional LMS look like social networks that students will probably be
familiar with, but provide more functionality that can be used for educational purposes than those
networks that exists for purely for social reasons (like facebook). The down-side of a non-traditional
LMS is that it may not comply with state and federal regulations, like FERPA, and it’s up to the instructor
to make certain that the information posted on this platform complies with regulations.

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Evaluation
Formative Evaluation36
During the implementation period for this project it would be wise to reach out to other SMEs of
the Greek language to evaluate how well each module is implemented, how well the instructional
materials fit within the context of the module, and how well each the various pieces of instructional
media fit within the practices of communicative language teaching, our underlying language theory. To
implement this evaluation we will use a level 1 evaluation.

Level 1 Evaluations:

Our formative level 1 evaluation will be conducted once each module has been created. We will
ask our SMEs to imagine themselves as students, knowing what they know about the Greek language
and about second language acquisition. We will describe, and demonstrate, our instructional materials,
and describe and demonstrate how the classroom and LMS activities will work. In addition, we will make
available summative L2 and L3 instruments that students will use so that they can get a holistic view of
the course.

Once we’ve demonstrated each module in its entirety, SMEs will fill out questionnaires with
questions that will be answered using LIKERT scales. In addition SMEs will be given opportunities to
provide general and specific feedback in the form of short answers to help the designers improve the
quality of each module. In these L1 evaluations37 we would like to know how authentic our materials
sound, how well have we matched up our module objectives with our activities and assessments, and
how engaging they think that our module will be for the students.

Summative Evaluation
Summative evaluations will take place during the running period of the course. Students will
complete level 1 evaluations during each module, at the end of each module, and at the end of the
semester to provide the instructor and the university with a sense of how they rate the course, the
materials and the instructor. Level 2 evaluations will be conducted during each module and at the end of
each module. These evaluations are meant to measure the learning that has taken place and how much
students have retained and put to use. Finally, we will conduct level 3 evaluations, again during and at
the end of each module. The only caveat is that we will not be able to observe students on-the-job (i.e.
on vacation), so our level 3 evaluations will be conducted using simulations.

Level 1 Evaluations:

In terms of level 1 evaluations, this course will utilize three types of levels 1 evaluations which
are both aimed at measuring different aspects of the course:

Blog Posting:
Blogging will be used in this course as a way of evaluating how the course is progressing, in
addition to being a method of completing assignments. As mentioned in the Instructional Materials

36
In this design document I am using formative as a process that occurs during the creation of the course, while
summative is a process that occurs while the course is running. In an actual training situation, formative would
occur while the course is running and summative would occur at the end of the course.
37
Please see appendix G for specific type of questions to be asked in formative L1 evaluations.

Page 54
section, students will be asked to blog about their educational experience while they are going through
the course. Student’s blog posts can indicate areas that students feel uncomforable in, or that they have
not yet mastered. Their blog posts can also help instructors to determine which instructional methods
really resonate with the group of students in the course, and which ones are not as successful.

Post-Module Questionnaires:
These questionnaires will be administered online after each module. The main objective for
these questionnaires is to evaluate the overall attitudes and beliefs that students have having just
finished a module. We want to see if students were engaged by the content, what stuck out for them,
and if there are any questions that have been left un-answered, or if there is a particular area that
caused throuble. We can use this information both for the improvement of the module for future
students, and also to try and cover the information in subsequent modules. For examples of the types of
questions asked of students in these questionnaires.38

Post-Course Questionnaires:
These questionnaires are mandated by the College of Arts through which the course is offered.
At the end of each semester the college gives students both a quantitative and qualitative L1 evaluation
to rate the interest in the course prior to taking it, the interest in the course after taking it, the
effectiveness of the instructor and a wide variety of other areas that are of interest to the College. The
format is generally 12 quantitative questions, on a LIKERT scale of 1 to 5 (Strongly Disagree – to –
Strongly Agree) and five qualitative questions.

Level 2 Evaluations:

Most of the evaluations performed in this course fall under the category of level 2 evaluations.
We want to use this opportunity to evaluate the learning that took place both in each module, and
cumulatively throughout the duration of the course. Our evaluation strategy is multimodal. We want to
evaluate the student’s reading and writing skills, but since this course has a theme relating to travel, we
also want to evaluate how students can understand aural information and how they respond verbally to
that their interlocutors.

Quizzes:
When one thinks of traditional language learning classes, one thing that comes to mind is
grammar and vocabulary quizzes. While our focus is communicative language, our class will incorporate
some traditional assessment methods. Theorists, like Stephen Krashen (1995), have hypothesized that
providing communicative activities, along with traditional explicit grammar instruction, helps some
types of students39. While I do not agree with most of Krashen’s hypotheses, I do think that it is a good
idea to provide students with an instrument that is familiar to them. In addition to assessments for
lexical and grammatical knowledge, we will use these traditional types of quizzes to test for
comprehension of texts and cultural knowledge. The instruments that we will use are:

38
See Appendix G for general examples of questions for L1 evaluations, and Appedix H for a sample of the blogs
and podcast L1 evaluation used in (Kárpáti, 2009) that could be adapted for our use.
39
Namely those that feel uneasy when they are not explicit told the rules and feel that there is a lack activities that
they associate with language learning (i.e. rote reproduction quizzes)

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  Multiple Choice
 Matching
 Fill-in-the-blank
 Short Answers

Short Research Essays:

Another aspect that we will evaluate is how students have assimilated the information that is
presented in each module (lexical, grammatical and cultural), how they’ve assimilated that information
and how they’ve personalized it. To test this out we will use blogs for each student to post a short blog
post on different topics such as comparing and contrasting certain cultural elements in C2 to their C1.
This type of activity will be done in their native language (English). Another example would be for them
to use what they’ve learned in each module to write up a small itinerary, discussion, short story using
simple language in Greek.

Scripted Role Playing:

Another way we can assess how students have assimilated the information from the module,
and how they’ve personalized, is to role play. In this evaluation method we will ask students, in groups
of two or three, to get together outside of class and create dialogues that they can then reenact in class.
Each student will be given a persona that they have to be, such as “college student studying philosophy”
or “professor of computer science,” and the dialogues they create have to reflect the role that they’ve
been placed into within the context that has been specified (airport, restaurant, train station, ski slopes,
etc.). Alternatively, students can play themselves as travelers meeting fellow travelers. Some students
may have higher stress if they portray themselves, so it is good to keep the option of portraying
someone else available.

Game Shows:
One method of level 2 evalations is the implementation of game show type of activities in class
where students take part in a mock game show as participants. This type of assessment can gauge how
well students have assimilated the information in the module that the activity takes place in. A benefit
of using this is that we can use multimodal testing such as playing videos and audio clips, working with
text, realia, and photos. This way, assessments become fun and engaging leading to the lowering of the
affective filter and getting students more eager to participate without fearing the evaluation.

Level 3 Evaluations:

Traditional level 3 evaluations are on-the-job observations; however it’s not possible to really
evaluate students once the course is over. Some may arrange a trip to Greece immediately after the
semester is over, and some may wait for a long time before going on vacation to Greece. Of course
there is the logistics issue of being around each and every student when they do go to Greece (and
whether they want you spying on them if you are around!). These factors make a traditional level 3
evaluation impossible. However, we do have some tools that allow us to simulate the environment,
namely simulations.

Flash-Based Simulations:
Flash-based simulations used for evaluation purposes are very similar to the flash-based
simulations that students will use in each module to practice their language skills. By using flash-based
simulations students will be able to use language in a controlled environment, thus providing the
instructor with some information on how well the student has learned to use the language within a

Page 56
specific set of constraints (dialogue trees have a finite set of possibilities). The activities will be
undertaken online, and students will be evaluated at the end of each module.

In-Class Unscripted Role Play:

Another type of controlled environment is an in-class role play. In this environment students
will be able to use the language they’ve learned with a real human being. This means that there are
more possibilities for authentic interaction since human communication is generally potentially infinite.
Students will have access to native speakers (guest speakers in class) that they will be able to converse
with, within the specific context of the module. These guest speakers will not be constrained by the
knowledge of what we have and haven’t covered in class, which will give the students access to
additional authentic interactions. These evaluations will take place both at the end of each module, and
as a cumulative evaluation of the course during the final exam period.

Level 4 Evaluations:

As part of this project there is no plan to conduct level 4 evaluations. Once students have
completed the course, it is not feasable to track them down to determine the ROI of this course on the
student’s life. It is conceivable that the organization as a whole can conduct level 4 evaluations of this
course to see how it has impacted their bottom line. For example the University of Massachusetts can
do evaluations to determine how many students have requested to sign up for the course and how
many are wait-listed. They can examine whether or not offering this course has increased enrollment
and/or interest in related areas such as Modern Languages, Classics and History. Finally, based on all
these factors, it is possible that they can determine what the ROI of this course is for the University
based on how many students are enrolled or want to enroll in the course.

Materials Used
The materials that we will use for evaluating student performance closely resemble the
materials that we will be using for conducting our class. This will be helpful to students because they will
already be familiar with the materials used in class, so it can potentially lower the stress levels of
students and help avert performance anxiety that is generally associated with evaluations.

Survey Monkey:
For our Questionnaires (L1, post-module surveys) we will use the online survey provider survey
monkey40. Survey monkey allows us to create surveys and provides with both a general analysis
of the data (for quantitative data) in the form of charts, and it also provides us with the ability to
download this data and further analyze it using tools like Microsoft Excel and SPSS.

LMS:
If we use a traditional LMS, we will use the LMS functionality to create and grade multiple-
choice, true/false, matching, fill-in-the-blank and short answer quizzes. If we do not use a
traditional LMS, we can use tools such as hot potatoes41 to create web-based quizzes for our
students. The benefit of using an LMS is that the LMS also takes care of the scoring and grade
reporting, while a tool like hot potatoes does not tie into a grade book.

40
http://www.surveymonkey.com
41
http://hotpot.uvic.ca/

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 Flash:
Adobe Flash will be one key component to our testing. Our L3 simulations, which provide a
controlled environment for language comprehension and production evaluation, will be based
on Flash technology. Our students will need to have flash installed on their computers and our
development team will need access to a flash production environment. In addition, Flash is
used for streaming video sites like YouTube, which we will also use as elements in our
evaluation. If students already have access to YouTube, it follows that playback of our
simulations should not be a problem.

WordPress:
WordPress42 is one of the major free blogging platforms available on the internet. For our
evaluation of blogging exercises we will use a course blog hosted on WordPress because
WordPress allows us to have one blog where many students can contribute content. This way all
of the coursework is consolidated and it lowers the technological and time barriers for students,
and the instructor. Students and the instructor will only need to check one blog for all updated
content, and they can use their one log-in to provide feedback and comments to their
classmates. In addition, the blog can be made private which means that students can feel
secure that the materials they contribute as they explore the language are private.

Realia:
In our game show type of evaluations we will use culturally authentic realia. This gives students
something concrete that they can interact with while they are engaged in the game. In addition
to physical realia, we will also use culturally authentic videos on YouTube as part of our L2
assessments (Comprehension exercises).

Pencil & Paper:

For our mandated L1 evaluations we will use tried and true materials such as paper based forms
for qualitative data, and number 2 pencils and scantron (bubble) sheets for quantitative data.

42
http://www.wordpress.com

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Retrieved May 30, 2009, from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring81/yang81.htm

Page 68
Appendix A: Needs Analysis Survey
1. Would you be interested in taking a language course in MODERN GREEK as a way to satisfy
the language requirement? (Circle your answer)

Yes | No | Maybe

2. If you answered YES to Question 1: Why do you want to learn Greek?

(Check off as many as apply)

It will help me with my English vocabulary

I am going on vacation to Greece and want to learn the language

I would like to live in Greece

I am of Greek Ancestry

I think it would be cool to know Greek

Other (Please Specify)

3. If you answered NO or MAYBE on Question 1: Why are you not very interested in
studying Greek? (Check off as many answers as apply)

I think that Greek is too hard to learn

I think that Greek is boring

I think that Greek isn't spoken by a lot of people

I don't think that Greek will be that useful

I have never thought about learning Greek

Other (Please Specify)

4. If you answered NO or MAYBE on Question 1: What would convince you to consider

taking GREEK as a foreign language?

Page 69
5. How would you rate the importance of the following with regard to learning a foreign
language?

Least Somewhat Important Very Essential

Important Important Important

Learning a language's Grammar

Learning new Vocabulary

Learning about how to interact in Everyday

Situations

Learning about how to interact in Specific

Situations (ex: going to the grocery store)

Learning about that country's Culture

Learning about that country's Entertainment

(Cinema, Music, Television)

Learning about that country's Customs

6. You would prefer to satisfy my language requirement in one semester instead of two.
(Circle your answer)

AGREE | DISAGREE

7. If a course were offered called "GREEK FOR TRAVELERS", where you would learn the
language you needed to know to travel in order to Greece, would you sign up for this course?
(Circle your answer)

Yes | No | Maybe

Page 70
Appendix B: Needs Analysis Data
1. Would you be interested in taking a language course in MODERN GREEK as a way to satisfy the
language requirement?

Would you be interested in taking a language

course in MODERN GREEK as a way to satisfy the
language requirement? (n = 31)

32%
42% Yes
No
Maybe

26%

Response Percentage
Yes 10 32%
No 8 26%
Maybe 13 42%

Page 71
2. If you answered YES to Question 1: Why do you want to learn Greek?

Why do you want to learn Greek?

(n = 11)

70% 64%

60%

50%

40%
27%
30%
18% 18%
20%

10%
0%
0%
It will help me I am going on I would like to I am of Greek I think it would
with my English vacation to live in Greece Ancestry be cool to know
vocabulary Greece and want Greek
to learn the
language

Response Percentage
It will help me with my English vocabulary 2 18%
I am going on vacation to Greece and want to learn the language 0 0%
I would like to live in Greece 2 18%
I am of Greek Ancestry 3 27%
I think it would be cool to know Greek 7 64%

OTHER responses:

 If I ever go to Greece it would be nice to be knowledgeable somewhat

 Family in Greece
 I might visit Greece
 It's difference43, not everyone knows it
 I want to learn as many languages as possible
 Interested in Greek Society - Ancient Greece
 I want to travel to different countries in the future. Knowing Greece wouldn't hurt

43
Note: Responses have been entered verbatim. No correction for grammar and spelling has been made

Page 72
3. If you answered NO or MAYBE on Question 1: Why are you not very interested in studying Greek?

Why are you not very interested studying Greek?

(n = 20)

80%
70%
70%

60%

50%
40%
40% 35%

30%

20%
10%
10% 5%

0%
I think that I think that I think that I don't think that I have never
Greek is too Greek is boring Greek isn't Greek will be thought about
hard to learn spoken by a lot that useful learning Greek
of people

Response Percentage
I think that Greek is too hard to learn 2 10%
I think that Greek is boring 1 5%
I think that Greek isn't spoken by a lot of people 7 35%
I don't think that Greek will be that useful 8 40%
I have never thought about learning Greek 14 70%

OTHER responses:

 I already have 2 concentrations and do not know if I would be able to handle the workload /
languages aren’t my strength
 I am more interested in other languages
 I don't know when I'll be able to use it in my everyday life
 I have interest in learning other languages first

Page 73
4. If you answered NO or MAYBE on Question 1: What would convince you to consider taking GREEK
as a foreign language?

1. Couldnt tell ya.... I dont really know

2. field trip/study abroad to Greece
3. Not much because the other languages that I am interested in (Spanish and Chinese) is more
commonly spoken around the world
4. Nothing
5. Getting a guaranteed A
6. If I was planning a trip to go to Greece
7. If you take me to the country
8. N/A
9. If I knew I was going to use it
10. Nothing
11. if it was more commonly used, or was given as a class in high school and could be continued
12. It is not that I won't want to. I have just never thought much about it.
13. Someone who has taken Greek would have to convince me to take it. I'd want to hear their
opinion on it
14. If it was free!
15. going to Greece...
16. If it helps me with anything else that has to do with my college carreer
17. If it was demonstrated to be relevant in the global community, specifically as it applied to future
career options

Page 74
5. How would you rate the importance of the following with regard to learning a foreign language?

How would you rate the importance of the

following with regard to learning a foreign
language?
Customs 6.9% 27.6% 44.8% 20.7%

Entertainment 50.0% 14.3% 32.1% 3.6%

Culture 14.8% 48.1% 22.2% 11.1%

Specific Situations 3.4% 17.2% 37.9% 41.4%

Everyday Situations0.0% 20.7% 17.2% 62.1%

Vocabulary 3.4% 34.5% 27.6% 34.5%

Grammar 17.2% 34.5% 17.2% 27.6%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Least Important Somewhat Important Important Very Important Essential

Page 75
Number of Responses:

Least Somewhat Important Very Essential

Important Important Important
n

Learning a 1 5 10 5 8 29
language's
Grammar
Learning new 0 1 10 8 10 29
Vocabulary
Learning about how 0 0 6 5 18 29
to interact in
Everyday Situations

Learning about how 0 1 5 11 12 29

to interact in
Specific Situations
(ex: going to the
grocery store)
Learning about that 1 4 13 6 3 27
country's Culture

Learning about that 0 14 4 9 1 28

country's
Entertainment
(Cinema, Music,
Television)
Learning about that 0 2 8 13 6 29
country's Customs

Page 76
Percentage Breakdown:

Least Somewhat Important Very Important Essential

Important Important

Learning a language's 3.4% 17.2% 34.5% 17.2% 27.6%

Grammar

Learning new 0.0% 3.4% 34.5% 27.6% 34.5%

Vocabulary
Learning about how 0.0% 0.0% 20.7% 17.2% 62.1%
to interact in
Everyday Situations

Learning about how 0.0% 3.4% 17.2% 37.9% 41.4%

to interact in Specific
Situations (ex: going
to the grocery store)

Learning about that 3.7% 14.8% 48.1% 22.2% 11.1%

country's Culture

Learning about that 0.0% 50.0% 14.3% 32.1% 3.6%

country's
Entertainment
(Cinema, Music,
Television)
Learning about that 0.0% 6.9% 27.6% 44.8% 20.7%
country's Customs

Page 77
6. You would prefer to satisfy my language requirement in one semester instead of two

I would prefer one semester of language instead

of two (n = 28)

25%

Agree
Disagree

75%

Response Percentage
Agree 21 75%
Disagree 7 25%

Page 78
7. If a course were offered called "GREEK FOR TRAVELERS", where you would learn the language you
needed to know to travel in order to Greece, would you sign up for this course?

Would you take a course called "Greek for

Travelers" ? (n = 29)

35%
Yes
48% No
Maybe

17%

Response Percentage
Yes 14 48%
No 5 17%
Maybe 10 34%

Page 79
Appendix C: Example of Advertising for the Course

Example of a great Modern Greek Language advertising poster from the University of Illinois:
http://www.moderngreek.illinois.edu/flyers/mgflyer.pdf

Page 80
Appendix D: Moodle Mockup – Teacher View

Page 81
Appendix E: Moodle Mockup – Student View

Page 82
Appendix F: Student & Context Analysis Worksheets
Instructional Design Project Student & Context Analysis Worksheet, Step 1: Student Analysis44
1 What are the general characteristics of your
target population? Examples include age, grade
level, topic area, etc.
2 Are there any entry behaviors that are not
specific to your goal, and yet you feel are
required for your intended students to possess?
(Entry Behaviors)
3 Do the students already know something about
the topic? (Prior Knowledge)
4 Do they have a positive attitude towards the
content and the delivery system? (Attitudes
Toward Content and Potential Delivery System)
5 Is it reasonable to expect them to want to learn
what needs to be learned? Is the topic likely to
interest them? (Academic Motivation)
6 Is it reasonable to expect that they can learn
what needs to be learned? (Educational and
Ability Levels)
7 Do they have any general learning preferences?
(General Learning Preferences)
8 Do they have a positive attitude regarding the
organization providing the instruction? (Attitudes
44
Adapted from Mary Hopper’s INSDSG 601 Student & context analysis worksheet.
Characteristics of the target audience include:
 college age,
 non-native speakers of Greek
 have interest in languages
 have interest in travel
 local to the Boston area
 may be descendants of Greeks
Entry level behaviors would include:
 literacy in native language
 ability to communicate in native
language
 problem solving skills
Students have most likely heard of some
elements of Greek history (such as King
Leonidas of Sparta), elements of Greek
mythology (12 Gods of Olympus, Hercules,
Medusa, etc.) and they probably know a lot of
words with Greek roots, such as “autocracy”
The class is an elective course. Even though it
satisfies a language requirement, it is not the
only class. Therefore it is assumed that the
attitudes toward the subject matter are positive.
The potential delivery system may have some
negative attitudes considering that most people
tend to think of the ALM as the way to teach
languages.
Yes, it is reasonable to expect them to learn
what needs to be learned. The topic should be of
interest to them since they are not forced to sign
up for this course, and it would be something
that comes in handy in their personal lives.
It is reasonable to expect them what needs to be
learned. The course materials will be plenty,
however this is an introductory communicative
course, so they do not need to master every
nuance of the language.
I would say that the students do indeed have
general learning preferences. If they‟ve ever
learned a language in school before, they
probably expect to be taught in the same
method. Additionally some students do better
with visual versus aural stimuli. A complete
student inventory would need to be undertaken
to know the specifics.
I believe that they do indeed have a positive
attitude toward the university, otherwise they
Page 83
 Toward Training Organization)
9 Are there any important group characteristics?
How similar or diverse are they? (Group
Characteristics)
10 How did you obtain this information regarding the
student characteristics?
would be somewhere else.
I believe that the group of students that takes
this course are quite diverse which will make the
course quite interesting in both interaction
between themselves and the instructor, and they
can provide for authentic learning that is relevant
to the students
Deduced information from the needs analysis
data
Page 84
Instructional Design Project Student & Context Analysis Worksheet, Step 2: Performance Context
1 What type of organizational support can
students expect to receive when they use their
new skills? (Managerial Support)
2 Will the use of their new skills depend on certain
equipment, facilities, tools, or other resources?
(Physical Aspects of the Site)
3 Will they work alone or in a team? Will they
work independently in the field or as a
supervisor? (Social Aspects of the Site)
4 How relevant are the new skills to the actual
workplace? Will the new skills actually be used
in the performance setting? Are there any
physical, social, or motivational constraints to
the use of the new skills? (Relevance of Skills to
Workplace)
5 How did you obtain this information regarding
the performance context?
Once the students have completed their course,
I don‟t think that there will be organizational
support on site (in Greece) when they use their
skills.
They will use their new skills with individuals in
the host country.
It depends on how they are going to be
traveling. If traveling alone, they will most likely
use their skills alone, however if they are
traveling as part of a group, team work is most
likely to come into play. Since a lot of language
production is collaborative, I would say that the
skills would be used in a team context more
often than not.
While traveling to Greece, the student will
encounter many that speak English (to some
degree). In that sense the new skills may not be
as relevant; however the new skills will allow
students to interact more fluidly with the natives
if there are words that the student knows in
Greek, but the locals do not know in English.
Personal experience as a traveler
Page 85
Instructional Design Project Student & Context Analysis Worksheet, Step 3: Learning Context
1 How many sites are there, and what are the
characteristics of the sites? What equipment
and resources are available? (Number and
Nature of Sites)
2 Does the site include any tools or other items
that are necessary for the learning of the goal?
Are there any personnel or time constraints
that you can identify? (Compatibility of the Site
With the Instructional Requirements)
3 Are the sites convenient to the students, are
there necessary conveniences available, and is
there adequate space and equipment for the
expected number of students? (Compatibility of
the Site With the Student Needs)
4 Does the learning environment adequately
simulate the eventual work environment? Is
there anything that can be done to make it
more like the work environment? (Feasibility for
Simulating the Workplace)
5 How did you obtain this information regarding
the learning context?
There are many classrooms on campus. The
ideal classroom would be a TEC level II
classroom that includes:
 Computer + digital projector
 Video playback unit
 Document camera
 Lecture recording ability
There are no personnel constraints, however
there are timing constraints. In recent years
classes have been scheduled back to back at the
university, so there would be little room for slack
at the end of each lecture to meet with students
in the classroom or to expand the meeting time
of the lecture if students wanted to do so.
The site is on campus; therefore it is assumed
that it is convenient for students. The online
„facilities‟ (learning management system), may
present a problem in terms of convenience for
students since it is now yet known how computer
savvy they are.
No, it does not. The classroom is a bit deficient
for simulating traveling through Greece. If the
course were an exchange student course,
offered in Greece, perhaps the resemblance
would be much closer.
Personal knowledge
Page 86
Appendix G: Evaluation Worksheets45
Level 1 Evaluations
SMEs (Formative)

Worksheet 3-1. Choosing the right question to get the right information.

Response Question You Will What the Response Can Tell You
Ask

Were the dialogues chosen written We want to measure whether or not the dialogues sound like
to sound authentic in context? something that a native Greek would say, or whether the
dialogue language sounds contrived. We are aiming for
authenticity.

Were the visuals (in the video) and Just like the dialogue, we want our visuals (location, actor’s
the acting authentic for the context responses and paralanguage) to reflect an authentic situation,
they were in? and not a cheesy television drama (unless of course we are
making fun of these types of dramas in our dialogues)

Did the quizzes measure the We want to make sure that our quizzes (L2 evaluation of
learning of the subject matter in the students) measure real communicative learning rather than rote
unit? memorization.

What did you think of the research Generally introductory courses in language don’t involve any
assignments? research. We want to see if our SMEs think that we are providing
an acceptable level of challenge to our students, or if we are
overwhelming them.

Do you think that students will find Our SMEs have experience teaching Greek; therefore we want to
something confusing in this lesson? tap into their knowledge to see if any elements of the module
could potentially cause problems for the students. If so, we want
to try and fix it before we offer the course.

Does this lesson connect with No lesson (module) is an island. The knowledge has to connect
previous lessons? to previous knowledge, and with things to come. We want to
know if our SMEs think that lessons flow smoothly from one
lesson to the other, or not, so that we can rectify this.

If you had to choose one word to We want a general overview of what our SMEs think of the
describe this week’s lesson, what module. This way if negative words come up, we can see what
would it be? we can do to rectify the issues.

45
Adapted from Horton (Horton, Evaluating e-Learning, 2001)

Page 87
Students (Summative)
Worksheet 3-1. Choosing the right question to get the right information.
Response Question You Will
Ask
What did you think of the
dialogues? What did you like? What
did you not like?
Were the visuals (in the video) and
the acting authentic for the context
they were in? What did you like?
What did you not like?
What did you think of the Quizzes?
What did you like? What did you
not like?
What did you think of the Flash
simulation? What did you like?
What did you not like?
What did you think of the blog
exercise? What did you like? What
did you not like?
Were there any confusing elements
in this week’s lesson?
If you had to choose one word to
describe this week’s lesson, what
would it be?
What the Response Can Tell You
We want to ask our students for an honest opinion of the
dialogues. Did they think they were authentic or did they think
that it was inauthentic and therefore not as appropriate for our
communicate objectives.
Same as the dialogues, did the student think that the videos
were an accurate representation of reality? Or were they like bad
telenovelas?
We want to get feedback from the students with regard to the
more traditional grammar and vocabulary quizzes to see how
students respond to them. Some students prefer them, while
others do not. We want to know why.
We want to know if the flash simulations were helpful to the
students. These flash simulations, while cartoony in nature, can
be realistic enough when they are programmed with dialogue
trees. We want to see how useful and engaging they were to
the students.
We want to know if the students felt positive or negative about
the blog assignments, and see if they picked up any fun facts
that they may not have picked up had they not done the
research. We also want to know what would make this exercise
more engaging and meaningful to the students.
We want to know what confused students so that we can have
an opportunity in a subsequent lesson to rectify this.
We want to see how our students felt, in general, about this
lesson.
Page 88
 Worksheet 3-3. Identify ways to use automated evaluation methods for level 1 evaluation.

Electronic Suitable for How Will You Use This Technique?

Technique GR4T
(Yes/No)

Track access and Yes We can use our LMS features to determine how often
navigation students are logging on. If there are certain features
that don’t get as much traffic from students, we need
to explore why.

Online surveys and Yes We will use online surveys and questionnaires for L1
questionnaires evaluations (See previous section), as well as L2 quizzes.

Email address for No While the instructor’s email will be available to the
feedback students, and students are free to submit ideas,
comments and feedback to the instructor if they wish, it
will not be an advertized method of feedback

On-screen feedback No
forms

Discussion forum for Yes We will have a course discussion forum called “Online
course quality Café” where students will be free to talk to each other,
and with the instructor, to share concerns, likes and
dislikes about the course.

Online focus groups No

Page 89
Level 2 Evaluations
Students (Summative)

Worksheet 4-2. What kinds of test questions will you use to measure learning from GR4T?

Question Format What These Kinds of Questions Will Measure

True/False True/False questions will measure basic understanding of elements in the

module, such as the overall idea of a story or dialogue used in a module

Pick One This type of question will be used for testing elements like lexical knowledge
exercises (e.g.: completing sentences); grammatical knowledge exercises (e.g.:
picking the right verb form); and used in comprehension exercises, like the
flash exercises, as part of a dialogue tree.

Pick Multiple This type of question will be used to pick out relevant themes in the stories
used in modules, and to pick out correct responses in response to an
interlocutor’s query.

Text Input Text input will be used to provide short, free form, answers to elements such as
story comprehension questions, and in response to verbal queues.

Fill-in-the-Blanks Fill in the blanks will be used for similar situations as “Pick one”, except that
students will not have a list to choose from. They will have to discern from
context what they need to input. This may be used near the tail end of the
course as students are getting more familiar with the methodology of the
course.

Matching Lists Matching lists can be used for exercises such as matching vocabulary with its
definitions, matching elements of C2 to C1, and matching actions (from the
story) to outcomes (again from the story)

Click-in Picture Click-in picture measures can be used to measure elements such as knowledge
of vocabulary (i.e. naming an object and the student clicks on it), and
understanding directions (i.e. directing the user to open the door). This second
part would be like an electronic TPR exercise.

Page 90
 Worksheet 4-3. What other Level 2 evaluation techniques will you use?
Technique What It Will
Measure
Observing students’ It will measure the level
behavior of the ability of students
to negotiate meaning
with their interlocutors,
and with the text that
they are negotiating.
Hands-on activities It will measure the ability
of students to navigate
information sources, in a
foreign language,
negotiate meaning and
accomplish a goal (such
as getting information
for a ticket to a nearby
island)
Simulated work It will measure the ability
activities of students to use
language to accomplish
a goal (i.e. ordering food
or getting directions)
Role-playing activities Role playing activities
will measure the
student’s ability to
deviate from known
texts and negotiate
meaning when they
don’t fully know the
vocabulary or
grammatical structures
used.
Learning games Learning games can be
used to measure if
students understand
directions given to them
and have knowledge of
the module vocabulary
How Will You Use It?
Observation of student’s behavior will take place
in the face to face component of class. The
instructor will observe how students negotiate
meaning of texts that they are provided, and how
they interact with the instructor in role playing
exercises.
Hands on exercises will take place predominantly
online. Students will be given a list of websites
each week that correspond to the topic of the
module. Students will then use these websites to
retrieve information that relates to more critical
work, such as writing a blog post or creating a
new dialogue to be practiced in class.
Simulated work activities and role-playing
activities serve the same function, however they
will be used in different contexts. Simulated work
activities will be used online, using flash-based
simulations. In these activities students will
interact with a simulated interlocutor to
accomplish a certain goal, such as getting
directions to the Acropolis Museum.
Role-playing activities on the other hand will take
place in the face to face component of class, and
students will interact with each other and the
instructor to accomplish some goal. The benefit of
RPA over SWA is that the instructor can be more
ad libed to provide students with a more realistic
language negotiation activity.
Learning games will be used both in online and
face to face contexts, and they will most likely be
based around TPR methodology. Some examples
of learning games are game-show types of
activities in class.
Page 91
Level 3 Evaluations
Students (Summative)

Worksheet 5-2. How will you measure e-learning performance?

Technique for Suitable for How Will You Use It?

Measuring Job Evaluating
Performance GR4T
(Yes/No)

Observing OTJ behavior Yes (tentative) Observing of interaction of learners with native
speakers (guest of the class) attempting to
communicate and negotiate meaning based on certain
contexts. The guest speakers will have a general idea of
what we covered in class, but since they won’t know
specifics, their language use won’t be constrained.

Opinions of those who No

can rate worker’s
performance

Job performance No
records

Controlled tests of work Yes (tentative) In class, face to face, students interacting with the
output instructor in a role-playing situation. The instructor can
use realistic language, in specific contexts, that the
student may not be fully familiar with, but the student
will have enough knowledge to negotiate meaning and
interact in that specific situation. Since the instructor
knows what the class has covered, his input can be
more controlled, and the output of the students can be
more controlled compared to guest native speakers.

Analysis of performance No
trends

Monitoring action plans No

Simulations of work Yes Same idea as the above two examples.

activities

Page 92
Evaluating Course Quality
Worksheet 10-1: Criteria for evaluating an e-learning project.

Business Issues Weight Rating Score

Do the course’s learning objectives match

your learning objectives? 5 x ____ = _____

Are the total costs of the course low

enough so that you can meet your
financial goals? 2 x ____ = _____

Can the course be implemented in time to

meet your schedule? 2 x ____ = _____

Subtotal = _____

Technical Issues Weight Rating Score

Will the course run on computers

students already have? 4 x ____ = _____

Will pages and other components

download quickly over students’ network
connections? 4 x ____ = _____

Can students take the course without

having to obtain and install additional
software? 2 x ____ = _____

Can the course work under your learning

management system? 3 x ____ = _____

Does the course comply with applicable

technical standards (AICC, IMS, SCORM,
etc.)? Standards: ACTFL 4 x ____ = _____

Subtotal = _____

Page 93
 Content Weight Rating Score

Is material in the course accurate and

current? 4 x ____ = _____

Does the course cover the subject in

sufficient breadth and depth to meet your
objectives? 4 x ____ = _____

Is the course free of production errors,

such as broken links, missing graphics,
and typographical errors? 3 x ____ = _____

Subtotal = _____

Instructional Design Weight Rating Score

Is the type of course (tutorial, simulation,

online seminar, email correspondence) the
best choice to meet your objectives? 3 x ____ = _____

Is material presented in a logical

sequence that helps students understand
and master the material? If the student
can control the sequence, is the default or
suggested sequence appropriate? 5 x ____ = _____

Are abstract concepts (principles,

formulas, rules, etc.) illustrated with
concrete, specific examples? 4 x ____ = _____

Do post-tests and other assessments

adequately measure accomplishment of
your learning objectives? 5 x ____ = _____

Are diagnostic pretests available to help

students custom tailor learning to their
individual needs? 3 x ____ = _____

Is the course certified by ASTD’s eCC

program? 0 x ____ = _____

Subtotal = _____

Page 94
 Practice and Feedback Weight Rating Score

Are students given the opportunity to

practice ideas and skills immediately after
they are presented? 4 x ____ = _____

Do practice activities exercise knowledge

and skills in a way that prepares students
to apply what they learn to their jobs? 5 x ____ = _____

Are practice activities provided to help

students integrate separate bits of
knowledge and low-level skills? 4 x ____ = _____

Is feedback in practice activities and tests

sufficient to help students recognize and
correct misconceptions? 5 x ____ = _____

Subtotal = _____

Usability Weight Rating Score

Can students get started taking the

course (locate it, install plug-ins, register,
and access the starting page) using only
online assistance? 3 x ____ = _____

Is the combination of on-screen

instructions and online help sufficient for
students to successfully navigate and
operate the course? 4 x ____ = _____

Is it clear what students should do if they

get stuck or have questions? 4 x ____ = _____

Can students predict the general result of

clicking on each button or link? 4 x ____ = _____

Can students take the course without fear

of more software crashes, server outages,
and misformatted pages than are
common with general Web surfing? 4 x ____ = _____

Subtotal = _____

Page 95
 Media Weight Rating Score

Is the text in the course written at a level

that students can fully understand? 4 x ____ = _____

Is text legible as displayed using default

browser settings and only default fonts? 5 x ____ = _____

Are graphics (illustrations, photographs,

graphs, diagrams, etc) used appropriately,
for example, to communicate visual and
spatial concepts? 4 x ____ = _____

Are multimedia content modules used

where simple words and pictures are not
adequate? 3 x ____ = _____

Do graphics and multimedia assist in

noticing and learning critical content
rather than merely entertaining or
possibly distracting students? 5 x ____ = _____

Will the course be accessible to those with

visual and hearing impairments? 4 x ____ = _____

Subtotal = _____

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 Navigation and Control Weight Rating Score

Can students decide which parts of the

course to take, in which order, and at
what pace? 2 x ____ = _____

Can students control whether and when

large media components are downloaded
and played? 3 x ____ = _____

Are navigation and access mechanisms

(menus, browsing trails, maps, indexes)
sufficient for students to find specific
items of content? 4 x ____ = _____

Are units self-contained enough that

students can take them out of sequence
without becoming confused? 0 x ____ = _____

Do students always know where they are?

By examining page titles, constantly
displayed menus, or other location
indicators, can students deduce their
current location in the course? 5 x ____ = _____

Subtotal = _____

Motivation Weight Rating Score

Does the course initially make clear to

students what they gain by taking the
course? 5 x ____ = _____

Does each lesson or other sizable unit

make clear to students what they gain by
taking it? 5 x ____ = _____

Will the difficulty of the course

appropriately challenge your students—
not too hard or too easy? 4 x ____ = _____

Is the visual design (layout, color choices,

emblems, icons, etc.) one that will appeal
to students initially as well as over the
entire period of training? 3 x ____ = _____

Subtotal = _____

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 Additional Criteria Weight Rating Score

Reusability: Is this course a course that

any SME on the Greek language could
teach, or do instructors need special
training/guidance? 3 x ____ = _____

Reusability: Are the materials going to be

out-dated rapidly and therefore need to
be updated often? 4 x ____ = _____

Subtotal
= _____

Summary

Total Score
_____

Average of Ratings
for criteria with nonzero weighting) _____

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Appendix H: Podcast Evaluation Ideas

The Pronunciation Attitude Inventory

(PAI) (Adapted from Elliott, 1995)46

Please read the following statements and choose the response that best corresponds to your
beliefs and attitudes.

Please answer all items using the following response categories:

5 = Always or almost always true of me
4 = Usually true of me
3 = Somewhat true of me
2 = Usually not true of me

1 = Never or almost never true of me

1. I'd like to sound as native as possible when speaking a foreign language.

2. Acquiring proper pronunciation in a foreign language is important to me.

3. I will never be able to speak a foreign language with a good accent.

4. I believe I can improve my pronunciation skills in my foreign language.

5. I believe more emphasis should be given to proper pronunciation in class.

6. One of my personal goals is to acquire proper pronunciation skills and preferably be able to
pass as a near-native speaker of the language.

7. I try to imitate foreign language speakers as much as possible.

8. Communicating is much more important than sounding like a native speaker of my foreign
language.

9. Good pronunciation skills in my foreign language are not as important as learning vocabulary
and grammar.

10. I want to improve my accent when speaking my foreign language.

11. I'm concerned with my progress in my pronunciation of my foreign language.

12. Sounding like a native speaker is very important to me.

46
PAI adaptation in Ducate & Lomicka (Podcasting: An effective tool for honing language students' pronunciation?,
2009)

Page 99
Podcasting and Blogs Assessment47

47
In Ducate & Lamicka (Podcasting: An effective tool for honing language students' pronunciation?, 2009)

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Pronunciation Assessment Rubric48

48
In Ducate & Lamicka (Podcasting: An effective tool for honing language students' pronunciation?, 2009)

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Appendix I: Copyright Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons “BY-SA” license49.

49
See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ for more information

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Curriculum Vitæ

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