For this update, I would like to share a concrete example from my practice of teaching English as a foreign language in Cambodia, both in the capital city and in more remote rural areas.

While intrinsic motivation in learning a foreign language is crucial, adult learners of English as a foreign language in Cambodia often show a marked tendency for extrinsic motivation. Indeed, their motivation for learning the language is primarily utilitarian. Institutional rewards, such an increase in their job prospects if they are looking for a job, or a promotion with a raise in salary if they are active in the workplace, are their sole motivation factors. In addition, due to its traumatic past, building learning capacity is still a work in progress in the country, and the education sector has yet to fully recover.

That being said, by using the most popular social media that is readily available in the country, namely Facebook, and by tapping in its potential for online collaboration, we argue that it is possible even in a deprived educational context, both in terms of resources and learning capacity, to create learning environments that not only foster ubiquitous learning, but also nurture intrinsic motivation and collaborative intelligence.

In foreign language learning collaborative intelligence is crucial, and this aligns with what Dr. Bill Cope in the video on Social Learning gives as an explanation, taking a class project on volcanoes as an example. He says:

“[Collaborative intelligence] is intelligence which is collective in two important senses. The first is I couldn’t write it [the volcano report], if I hadn’t sourced a whole lot of stuff. I’ve found videos, I’ve read articles, I’ve searched the web, I’ve collected stuff. And don’t pretend that everything about volcano is stuff that’s in my head, it’s a social inheritance and what’s it about is demonstrating my capacity to use that social inheritance.” (Information in brackets was added for reading clarity).

Translated in the context of learning a foreign language, a parallel of social inheritance would be the so-called emergent language, which thrives on collaborative intelligence. Emergent language is what happens when learners use the foreign language purposefully when collaborating on a task, most often in pairs or in groups in a typical classrom setting. The focus is not as much on the retrieval of items stored in the long-term memory (the correct retrieval of words, the correct use of grammar rules, etc.) as it is on the exchange of useful and relevant artifacts of the language “in use” with a particular communicative goal in mind. Rather than focusing on what student A has to say to student B and vice versa in terms of correct linguistic “usage”, it is the “in-between”, characterized and filled by a linguistic “exchange” with a communicative objective, that takes precedence.

In addition, when taking into consideration the preferred learning styles of learners as defined by Howard Gardner in his theory of multiple intelligences (1983), we can break down each style and associate specific sets of activities for each of them, as outlined below:
1) Linguistic type with a preference to say, hear and see words. Example of activities: telling stories, etc.
2) Logical/Mathematical type with a preference to arrange and organize items. Example of activities: problem solving, etc.
3) Visual/Spatial type with a preference to use the mind’s eye. Activities such as drawing, taking pictures, etc.
4) Musical type with a preference to use rhythm. Activities like singing, etc.
5) Bodily/Kinesthetic type with a preference to move, touch and do. Activities such as role-playing, etc.
6) Interpersonal type with a preference to share. Activities such as discussing, debating, etc.
7) Intrapersonal type with a preference to work alone. Activities like personalizing, etc.
8) Naturalistic type with a preference to observe nature. Activities like reflecting on nature, etc.

Taking stock of these considerations, we argue that foreign language teachers, even those working in very low teaching resource and capacity environments, can be motivated to create learning spaces that provide not only for ubiquitous learning, but also for intrinsic motivation and collective learning while taking into consideration their learners’ preferred learning style(s).

Here below is a concrete example directly taken from my practice of teaching English as a foreign language in Cambodia.

To take a parallel of Dr. Bill Cope’s example of the project on volcanoes, learners are asked to work on a collaborative project on Khmer traditions, starting with the traditions of Khmer weddings, which traditionally last three days and follow several distinct “smaller” ceremonies, usually seven in total.

Ubiquitous learning is achieved by learners being able to work on, research, etc. the topic and use their real-life experiences about it outside the classroom. The only access to online platforms that most students are susceptible to use willingly are Facebook, Facebook groups and Messenger chats. These are used as a conduit, though not perfect, for collaboration and feedback from peers and the teacher.

Intrinsic motivation is achieved by learners being able to share their pride of their culture, and more specifically that of wedding traditions, with their foreign English teacher, who is often a native speaker from the so-called Western hemisphere. What also happens is that the native-speaking teacher, especially in remote rural areas, is often invited to experience Khmer weddings first hand, in line with Cambodia’s sense of hospitality.

Collective learning is achieved by learners collaborating on the project through the aforementioned social media, but even more so by demonstrating their skills in creating a unique artifact on the topic, based on each other’s input and feedback. Indeed, many variations exist in Khmer traditions, especially when it comes to wedding traditions, depending on one’s region of origin, one’s socio-economic background, one’s age, etc.

Last but not least, learners’ preferred learning styles are used to improve success in fostering the emergence of language “in use”. For each learning style, specific sets of activities are given, which include the following:
1) Linguistic Learners work on a narrative, present the ceremonies, etc.
2) Logical/Mathematical Learners sequence and organize the different ceremonies, organize seating and the guest tables, etc.
3) Visual/Spatial Learners create, use, etc. drawing or pictures for the traditional clothes, organize the different wedding spaces, etc.
4) Musical Learners choose, use, etc. traditional wedding music, instruments, etc.
5) Bodily/Kinesthetic Learners re-enact the different traditional ceremonies in the classroom, etc.
6) Interpersonal Learners share their feelings, opinions, etc. about traditional wedding ceremonies, etc.
7) Intrapersonal Learners share their own opinion on wedding traditions, etc.
8) Naturalistic Learners explain the “wedding season”, the role of nature and the weather in the meaning of some of the ceremonies, etc.

All this work culminates in the creation of a unique artifact of the language “in use” (presentations, videos, music, etc.) about the topic, in this case wedding traditions, made possible by learners’ intrinsic motivation and collaborative learning.

REFERENCES:
Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple intelligences, Howard Gardner, 1983.
The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the Classroom, Stephen D. Krashen, Tracy D. Terrell, 1983.
Teaching Unplugged: Dogme in English Language Teaching, Scott Thornbury, Luke Meddings, 2009.