Aps and Composing

From the WPA list . . .

I met with the Korean student I wrote about last week, the one who used a translation app to write his essay in English comp. A lot of you talked about the issues—thank you!--and so I thought you might like to hear what I found out.

He has an I-Pod Touch and downloaded the app “Google Translation” for free. He chose Korean as his native language and English as the target language. He showed me how it works—easy. To test it, I asked him to say the Korean equivalent of the English sentence, “Many people believe the economy is recovering.” He tried the entire sentence (in Korean) but the app stopped once and “didn’t work” (I didn’t see how) a second time. He then broke the sentence into phrases and got for the first phrase “Most people in Korea believe that . . .” and then for the second phrase “believe the economic recovery will work to. . . .” The result would be “Most people in Korea believe the economic recovery will work to . . .” He understood he’d have to finish that sentence—and of course, he could have by speaking Korean into the phone. He told me that the translation was pretty close—of course, he translated my sentence into Korean in his head first, so
I don’t know what the input was originally (since I don’t speak Korean). He then did something a bit simpler and said into the phone what came out as “Students in South Korea must study hard.” So at this point, Google Translation can handle relatively short phrases and simple sentences input orally but not, apparently, complex sentences.

He said he used the app in writing the essay he turned in for class in this way. He input the Korean sentence, using the keyboard, into the app and when the English translation came up, he typed it into his laptop. (He thinks that he could probably have emailed himself the translation and cut and paste but he wasn’t sure.) I didn’t have the chance to check whether the app can translate a more complex sentence that is typed in rather than spoken—I’ll need to follow up but my sense is that it can.

I noted earlier that the essay he wrote seemed disjointed but when I look at it again, it seems more uneven than disjointed—there are perfectly good English sentences followed by one that is oddly phrased as in “this was informative enough about X so that I know much more about it.” But I note that even the “good” English sentences seem, now that I think of it, “disjointed.” That is, a native speaker of English likely would not string those sentences together, even though they make sense. They lack the “music” of a native speaker’s fluency. Still, they are very good sentences for an ELL student writer.

I'm going to be bringing this issue up at our department meeting this week; I'm wondering if a broader campus-wide discussion needs to take place. I can imagine a lot of faculty having trouble with this--though I think at this point I'd argue that what he's doing is acceptable: his ESL course grades and TOEFL test scores were good enough to get into the college and to pursue his goal of a bachelor's degree in business (I think). So long as he can demonstrate competence with the course goals, I don't see why he can't use the translation app for all those that aren't standards of English language fluency.

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts.
j

Jeffrey Klausman, DA, MFA
Whatcom Community College
Bellingham, Washington
jklausma@whatcom.ctc.edu
http://www.faculty.whatcom.ctc.edu/jklausma
"Some of the miners returned to settle in Whatcom, or to farm
on the sunny islands beyond it, for having seen a summer full
of the million-dollar, slow sunsets in which the region specialized,
men of a certain disposition tended to return and drop anchor."
Annie Dillard, The Living

Tweeting the Future

Potential Scoring Guide: What Do You Think?

Scoring Guide for Comp Theory Digital Portfolio

Off Track Emergent On Track Outstanding

∞ Developing Knowledge of Composition History

∞ Developing Knowledge of Composition Theory

∞ Ability to Identify Major Issues

∞ Ability to Synthesize Issues

∞ Ability to Raise Questions

∞ Ability to Contribute to Class Activities

∞ Ability to Revise Conceptual Understandings

∞ Individual Goals

Beyond the classroom

and a bit outside the lines ;)

Casting backward

Rohrman, Emig and more . . .

Portfolio Possibilities

Thanks to Logan for his summary.

Angela’s Group

I. Archive – texts from in class (comp 1, 2, PTT, visual SRR)

II. Reflections

1. Outside reflections (not due for class)

2. Composition that hasn’t been made (comp three)

3. Reflection on the assembly of the portfolio

4. And reflection on the course

III. Composition

1. Design reflect back on the expressed understanding composition

2. Does reflect growth/development of a theory of composition

IV. Four categories – force people to go above or below

Katie’s Group

I. Content

1. Narrative of concept of composition (start to end/development)

2. Relationship to outside sources (courses we’ve taken or taught)

3. SRRs, informal work, maps, remnants of collaboration, steps in collaborative processes, explanations of those processes

4. Reflection, articulation of professional concepts or development of key terms

5. Including something from outside the class (making connections across classes, time, and space)benefit: Dr. Yancey learns in the process

II. Criteria

1. Definition of composition – development, clear definition for the SELF

2. Outside research – demonstrating that we’ve thought about an application of the course to other areas of life

3. Variety and breadth to the samples (not all the same)

4. Demonstrate connections

5. Seeing connections across terms and across work that we’ve done for this class and other courses

Emani’s Group

I. Content

1. Reflection

2. Three Key SRRs

3. Comp Theories 1 and 2 (reflections for both)

4. Abstract to the project representing the project

5. Design – utilizing the technology effectively

II. Criteria

1. Demonstrating synthesis

2. Seeing something that you hadn’t seen before by looking at all the pieces

3. Reflection comes in different flavors (narrative of progress, self-assessment, synthesis, response to a set of questions [the most powerful concept you’ve encountered in the class])

Logan’s Group

a. Items in the portfolio

i) Range of work for different audiences and purposes

ii) Used at a place to think in

iii) Comp theory one, reflection, question and response

iv) Invention work that goes along with the final project

v) Project Thinking Text

vi) Invention activities for the final project

b. Yancey’s Questions

i) SRRs are informal – do you wish to include informal work?

ii) Multiple pieces of reflection vs one big piece?

iii) What are the questions you’ll still be wrestling with as you walk out the door? [Describe the writer who walked in, describe the writer you are now, describe the writer you will be a year from now]

iv) How much of your research project would you like to include?

c. Criteria/Guidelines

i) Reflection – course, projects ,future

ii) Content – level of reflection on that content

iii) Design – making the design work for YOU and you technological abilities

iv) Connections/Cohesiveness

v) Utility – in the sense that this might be a public showcase; something that you could return to and adapt as things change

vi) Accuracy of the portfolio as it reflects the goals of the class

vii) Reflection – open implications for the future – acknowledge that it isn’t final and can’t be

viii) Yancey’s could do – ask one question that you would like to be answered/responded to/considered (gets the reader to think in with you, exchange value)

Situating Literacies and Attending to Technology

I'm taking the liberty of starting our SRR this week. What is the role of circulation in composition?