Information Technology Applications in the
Business French/Spanish Classroom
By Juanita Villena-Alvarez
University of South Carolina Beaufort
As we embark on this new millennium, thousands of international websites are becoming easily accessible through Internet search engines that allow surfing the Net in foreign languages. These search engines and the websites they list can provide our students with a strong reinforcement of the lessons they are learning in class. Information Technology is growing so fast that soon it will seem foolish not to tap into its resources.
In the following activities, students will be able to demonstrate their ability to scan for words and expressions previously learned in class and view vocabularies as part of a whole context different from the context created in class. They can then (re)produce ideas in the foreign language that they themselves have (re)searched.
Surfing the Net in foreign languages not only reinforces the language learned in the classroom, it also demonstrates to our student body that the lesson being learned in class can be applied to their real world. Some of our students, particularly in French, often times feel that their efforts at learning a new language has little application outside the class.
Useful Options and Features for Class/Academic Searches
Some of these search engines have options that help delimit or widen the scope of a search. These options are noteworthy, particularly when one needs to scale down the research for a specific detail. Lycos, for example, gives us a choice between the Web français and the Web mondial. To further narrow down a search, one can click on the recherche approfondie and the entire screen is filled with options in refining the search.
Each search engine has a different way of refining their results and it is just a matter of playing around with the options. A nice option of particular engines is their ability to link you directly to another search engine with the results of your current search, or to give you an option of using a different engine. For example Acticiel provides an option to search other engines like Altavista, Voilà, Google or Linux. In Spanish, www.imk.es/netstudio/buscadores/multib.htm links 13 search engines, 8 meta search engines, 8 directories, 6 personal search engines and allows one search using a maximum of 6 search engines used simultaneously.
Search results are presented in different ways. Francité gives the document title, a summary, the date, the size of the document and the linkable Website address itself. Excite, on the other hand, ranks results with a percentage rating based on their pertinence to the actual search. One has to be careful because sometimes too many options and too many results make the search more complicated.
Use of the Internet in Language Courses:
The Internet can be used in every level of language being taught One must not forget, however, that an activity using the Net should not be an end on its own. It is a valuable and creative supplement for further use of the language. Once a lesson is first learned in class, these Internet activities can provide follow-up reinforcement to the lesson. Follow-up activities could enhance the language viewed/heard on the computer. Using the Net for reading and comprehension exercises will be more effective if they are followed by writing and speaking activities.
It is expected that the Internet text will contain a lot of premature vocabulary. Students have to be prepared to encounter these new and still unlearned terms. They should not be deterred from their given task.
Business students can surf the Net on topics such as shopping for clothing and food, looking for lodging in a particular city, or finding a nice vacation spot. Students will be exposed to words related by a certain context. Vocabulary words, grouped into clusters, make skimming for information more efficient. The following class practice and activities can improve the ability of the students to retain and use these words again (Foerster 70). The use of the Internet in foreign languages will allow students to re-view vocabulary and expressions (some of which are part of the lesson currently being learned in class) that are interrelated and contextualized by the website.
Surfing the Net will not only provide our students quick access to information in the target language; it also exposes them to "foreign" ways and systems of doing things. Colorful pictures, video clips, and even music and sound add so much life to this educational resource. No foreign langauge textbook in the market can compete with the resources available through the Net. It is just a matter of tapping into them.
The following activities can be done inside a networked classroom or as a homework. It is assumed that most students have access to the Internet in their school. Students at this level must completely avoid English websites.
a. Banking (Recognition Activity)
Day 1- Lesson on "Banking." As a reinforcement of the lesson learned in class, business language students are asked to search and print out homepages of French, Canadian and Swiss Banks or Mexican, Spanish and Argentine Banks using the list of Internet Search Engines in French. They are then asked to underline terminology learned in class on banking.
Day 2 - In class, they are divided into groups to make a comparison of the services offered by different banks. The group work starts with a discussion, followed by a preparation of a list of the similarities and differences on an overhead transparency. The class ends with each group presenting their overhead transparency results to the rest of the class (with the help of the professor).
Day 1- Students pretend that they are organizing a 4 day business conference at the place picked. Using the future tense, they describe the up-coming event in a 150-200 word mini composition (reading and writing practice). This may include topics such as:
transportation
food
lodging
extra-curricular activities
Some verbs and expressions may already be provided to the students.
Day 2 – For class discussion, the instructor uses the 3 and 3 method (Richard Curry) based on their reading while listing items on the board (speaking).
Day 1 – Before assigning this Internet reading, the class discusses the difference between the 40-hour workweek in the U.S. versus France’s 35-hour workweek. After doing the assigned reading, students are asked to make a list of the advantages and disadvantages of a 35-hour workweek. Students should come to class prepared for a discussion.
Day 2 – First half of class time – The class is divided into four groups (more groups for greater individual student participation), 2 groups will brainstorm for a list of ideas on the 40 hour workweek, while the other 2 groups brainstorm the 35 hour workweek. Like groups are merged and an informal debate/discussion takes place, while the teacher notes important items on 2 columns on the board.
Day 2 – Second half of class time- after the discussion, students are asked to write a short paragraph (75-100 words) on the 35-hour workweek in France.
d. Moving to a different city like Montreal or Mexico City as a student intern
Day 1. Give students a list of information to be researched before the move:
lodging
banks
telephone company
utilities
furniture shopping, yard sales, etc.
(reading/skimming for information/cultural exposure). The teacher may either assign a specific city for everyone ofr each student can have a different city. They prepare a step-by-step list of their plan of action before their move.
Day 2 – First half- Students are grouped in pairs to discuss/compare their (speaking/listening activity).
Day 2 – Second half – Students are asked to write a paragraph or 2 discussing the difficulties they encountered while preparing for the move and the differences between the American way and the foreign way of doing things (writing practice).
Some tips to avoid plagiarism:
a. Shopping for a trip to Paris/Madrid/Buenos Aires etc.
Day 1 – Students learn vocabulary on clothing, colors and numbers till 1000. Then they are given a list of 5 to 10 items of clothing and $700 worth of pretend money. They are asked to window shop (without overspending their $700) in the Net using any of the foreign language search engines. They then provide a list of the items with the prices, the colors and if possible, the names of the stores and the city/country where they are located (reading/skimming for comprehension/cultural exposure).
Day 2 – Using cued questions in the target language, students share and compare answers among themselves (speaking activity). (Les robes bleues à (store) _____ coûtent ____ …)
Day 2 or 3 or 4 – Students work in pairs to come up with a short paragraph in the target language describing what they have and don’t have in their suitcase (valise) or what they plan to buy for the trip based on their Net search (writing practice). (Pour le voyage nous avons …. Nous achetons le (item and color)____ à (store)______, les …)
The Web is rapidly changing the world we live in, making almost everything close-knit and accessible. The world. whether Francophone or Hispanic, becomes one through the Internet. It is for all of us. Our curriculum and our syllabi as well, have to respond to globalization. The Internet facilitates the globalization of French and Spanish classrooms – why settle for 2 or 3 foreign language newspapers or magazines in print from the library when the world is just a few keystrokes in the computer? As Cornell University professor Nelly Furman recommends, "our course offerings as well as our pedagogical emphasis need to adjust to and exploit this new technology" (70). I agree with her concluding statement that the challenge for us teachers is "to create a (foreign language) studies program that is attractive to students with pluridisciplinary interests, across national borders and historical time zones, answering the needs of today’s society" (79).
If any participant here knows of other Internet search engines that might facilitate our research and our teaching in foreign languages, please share the information with me at [email protected]. A full text version of this article can be downloaded at my university website at ____________.
View a copy of this presentation at
www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/forlang.htmlWorks Cited
Curry, Richard K. "Working with Readings." Puntos de partida: Instructor’s Manual and
Resource Kit. Marty Knorre et al. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997. 73-75.
Foerster, Sharon. "Vocabulary Cluster Cards." Puntos de partida: Instructor’s Manual and
Resource Kit. Marty Knorre et al. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997. 70-71.
Furman, Nelly. "French Studies: Back to the Future." Professions (1998): 68-80.
Muyskens, Judith A. and Alice C. Omaggio Hadley. Rendez-vous: An Invitation to
French. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998.