02/15 Stage 2: Exploratory Research
Presentation & Feedback
For stage 2, we thought it was most critical to recap our territory definition, briefly discuss our research methods, delve into our synthesized research findings and corresponding design implications, and talk through how we arrived at our chosen target context and opportunity spaces.
Recap of Territory Definition
Our territory map shows different levels of transformation in the stages of language and culture acquisition: from close-to-home limited immersion, to a social context with full immersion, and finally to cultural identity. We also reiterated our key research questions:
- How can mixed reality help language learners gain confidence?
- How do cultural factors affect the language acquisition process?
- How might mixed reality act as a multisensory platform that increases empathy?
Research Methods
We had six main things we did for our exploratory research: language acquisition expert interviews, language and cultural teacher interviews, language and cultural learner interviews, observation and participation, secondary research, and diary studies (that are still ongoing).
Research Findings & Design Implications
We found it helpful to write down major takeaways and quotes as we went. Putting them up in Post-it form allowed us to sort them throughout the process.
Almost all of our participants mentioned the intertwined nature of language and culture. We heard from multiple professors that at the beginning and intermediate levels, it was sometimes hard to integrate the two — because of the textbooks and curricula or simply because students didn’t yet have the language and critical thinking skills to merge the two as naturally as would be beneficial in a classroom situation. However, they each acknowledged that understanding the language and culture together would be motivating and allow them to not only take a critical look at this second culture but also take a critical look at their own.
The most memorable and meaningful moments in language and cultural learning always have to do with relationships: friendships, family, community. We hope to use meaningful social interactions to build lasting relationships that can help sustain motivation through the learning process.
Immersion can bring linguistic, intellectual, and personal benefits. It’s much harder for learners to escape using the language. Being in a new environment allows them to benefit from the linguistic landscape and absorb language and culture through their surroundings. Learners can also attain more independence and apply their learning to a real context. Our solution should embody both language and culture.
On the other hand, however, cultural bias and culture shock can produce feelings of discomfort, fear, loneliness, and stress. Embodying language and culture before they go abroad or during those early stages can help learners feel more comfortable in their new environments and more willing to engage in conversations in their new language.
Across the board, our participants told us that success is determined by being able to express your ideas confidently and comfortably, not by being perfect. While some classroom students may want to perfect their grammar or their language before speaking, we heard from students in new cultures as well as from teachers and second language acquisition experts that things like verb tenses and accents don’t need to be perfect. What’s important is comprehensible communication and the confidence to make that happen. We want to help learners express, not translate. Conversational fluency is not about thinking in one’s native tongue and translating it into another language as much as it is about building thoughts from the ground up in this new language.
From our expert and learner interviews, as well as our own experiences observing and participating in learning environments, we learned that what you learn needs to be relevant and used in context for it to stick. From people learning languages in a new cultural environment, it was essential that they learned vocabulary that would serve them in their everyday contexts, for example in taxis or restaurants or with new friends. Professors might have their students create a short story or skit that leverages some of the grammar structures and vocabulary but puts it into a context that the students can relate to — they could write a short story about their experience on campus or a skit about traveling through airports. Applying language and culture skills to a real, relevant context will help learners remember those skills as well as build their confidence in using them in the real world.
For the last of our seven findings, we found that learners and teachers of all kinds saw potential in technology’s ability to foster interactions over space and time and bring immersive environments closer to home. However, two of the professors we spoke to had experience creating online learning courses — and saw how the technology was sometimes being used just for technology’s sake. Candace and Bonnie, both of whom teach second language acquisition Master’s courses, both noted the importance of supporting the technology with a pedagogical theory — and as long as the theory was there, it didn’t necessarily matter which they chose.
In speaking with our experts and from our secondary research, we learned about the importance of critical thinking in all these pedagogical structures. Being able to actively draw connections and understand both a new culture and your own from a different point of view is key to successfully engaging with and integrating into a new lived-in language and culture.
Journey Maps
For our own understanding, we mapped out the learning experiences of each of our interviewed learners and information from educators. We then synthesized those findings into two main journey maps: one for a typical student’s classroom experience and one for a self-motivated learner with plans to go abroad.
The people we spoke to who had experience in the classroom spoke of the low motivation levels there. Whether the class was required or they were interested, motivation drops off quickly as semesters go on. Excitement peaks early on in the semester, when the teacher/classmates/content is new, but if a teacher isn’t careful to keep motivation high, motivation drops as busyness and stress increase. Also built into this experience is a lack of relevant contextualizing; learning basic vocabulary and grammar without regular practice with people who speak at a higher level can be boring or simply irrelevant.
We found that learners in immersive environments have less fluctuation. Motivation stays pretty constant because of their need to use the language in context. However, because this situation is more closely tied to their everyday lives, there’s a lot more emotional weight. Oftentimes, when learners first enter immersive environments, fear or shyness can keep them from engaging with people right away. Once they are able to build relationships and integrate into a community, though, they are much more comfortable. It’s at this personal level where we believe true language and cultural learning can peak.
Going Forward
We used our research findings and journey maps to narrow down to a target context and pinpoint some opportunity spaces.
We chose to focus on intermediate to advanced learners who plan to go abroad or already are there. While technologies like Duolingo can support basic language learning, it becomes key to contextualize what you’ve learned in relevant applications as soon as you can form basic sentences and thoughts on your own. Putting those skills to work, especially for those who are already self-motivated, is what will help learners retain the language.
We heard time and time again that social interactions are where the language and cultural learning becomes rewarding. It’s also through conversation that grammar and expression becomes natural.
Supporting everyday conversations in real-time can create a safe space for providing feedback and can help build confidence in order to lower the emotional barrier to engaging in a new culture.
FEEDBACK
Our Microsoft liaisons have both had experience living between and across cultures and languages, so this project is relevant to them both. Some points of feedback from them, from Peter & Bruce, and from the class:
- Can our project help people remember and retain languages, not just acquire them?
- Think about monolingual and multilingual countries. For some people in monolingual countries, it can be really hard to visualize themselves speaking other languages
- Bilingual vs. bicultural: it’s possible to speak multiple languages but reside solidly in only one culture
- Help a listener understand when speakers switch languages (Peter’s example: his family speaks multiple languages and sometimes intersperse words from various languages. Sometimes guests don’t understand.)
- AR labels with vocabulary can put language learning into context in daily life
- How can you make people feel more like themselves when speaking new languages and/or entering new cultures?
