PAGE 6 // WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 9, 2009
NEWS
the pendulum
J'■Owhistoriich.Ort
PHOTO SUBMITTED
An Elon study abroad group got to experience first hand what the "Digibahn” game attempts to
give, which is a real life experience of Germany. The group walks along the remaining longest
piece of the Berlin wall during a 2009 Winter Term trip.
Professors push foreign
language to the next level
Myers set to visit campus as Isabella Cannon
Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership
Alexa Sykes
Reporter
Imagine having the luxury of
traveling to another country and
experiencing the language and culture
without the hassle of purchasing a
plane ticket or checking luggage.
This ideal situation is now possible
with Digital Game-Based Learning and
is helping foreign language students
at Elon University experience the
countries of the languages they are
studying without
ever leaving their
computer chairs.
According to
David Neville,
assistant professor
of German and
director of
language learning
technologies,
Elon is the only
university in the
entire country
that has begun
to integrate
DGBL into its
foreign language
curriculum.
Neville has been
working on enhancing the experience
of his German students through the
“Digibahn Project,” a game that takes
place in an environment similar
to what students would see if they
actually traveled to Germany.
The goal of the game is not only
to entertain students, but also to
help them transform their abstract
knowledge of the language into tools
to help them in the real world, he
said.
Neville said this is especially
helpful when students are planning to
study abroad.
“Even though (students) are playing
in an imaginary environment, if they
were dropped in a real environment,
they would know what to do," he said.
Although this approach to teaching
may seem taboo, especially to older
generations who relied heavily
on textbook learning, Neville has
no intentions of abandoning the
traditional practice.
“The idea is not replacing textbooks,
but it is an extra tool to enhance
learning, synthesize knowledge,
apply what we learn in the classroom
and figure out how foreign language
applies to the real world," Neville
said.
Spanish professor Ernest Lunsford,
who incorporates a dramatic series
similar to a soap opera into the
curriculum for his Spanish for Health
Professionals class, is also exploring
this new balance between technology
and textbooks.
According to Lunsford, the
DVD introduces vocabulary and
key concepts for the chapter
while following the fortunes and
misfortunes of a Hispanic family in
a fictional North Carolina town. He
has spent three years working with an
interdisciplinary team from University
of North Carolina to develop this
program.
Lunsford said the DVD requires
students to answer questions in
Spanish throughout the story. At the
end, real health care professionals
speak about experiences they have
had with Hispanic patients and how
the language barriers have affected
their professional relationships.
Lunsford said health professionals
who do not have time to take a Spanish
course also use the DVD.
“It is designed to be used in the
classroom, for distance learning or
for people who want to study Spanish
on their own, (such as) doctors and
nurses who don’t have time to take a
class,” Lunsford said.
Like many others, senior Sara Riek,
an education major, aspires to learn a
foreign language but simply does not
have the time. Riek has been using a
program called Rosetta Stone to assist
her in learning Latin American Spanish
because she plans to do volunteer work
in South America after graduating.
Reik said a friend of hers had
used the software before and had no
prior knowledge of Spanish, but felt
completely comfortable speaking it
once in the country.
Riek’s response to this method of
learning a foreign language is similar
to what Neville and Lunsford aim to
achieve with their own students.
“It is a neat way to learn a language
because you are completely immersed
in the language,” Riek said. “There is
no English and you have to use context
clues to figure out what is going on.”
She said the program also checks
for pronunciation, and the user may
set the level of difficulty at which
Rosetta Stone should evaluate.
Although Riek said she does not
think she will be fluent by the time
she completes all of the discs, she does
believe the program has its benefits.
“You definitely learn a lot and I
think that makes it worth it. Also, it’s
nice to do it on your own time versus
taking a class at a specific time,” Riek
said.
Lunsford agrees with Neville
and said technology-based methods
of learning a foreign language are
particularly effective in providing
real-life examples of how students
may use the language in the future.
“Technology makes the language
come alive,” Lunsford said. “Being
able to see and hear a doctor telling
a patient about his broken ankle and
what the treatment is going to be
like is much more compelling than
simply learning that vocabulary in a
traditional textbook."
Neville said it is not about moving
away from textbook learning, but
expounding upon it.
“There are different approaches to
learning, and one is not better than
the other. Technology is simply a tool.
You have to play with it to figure it
out,” he said.
Whether learning involves sitting
at a computer desk playing a game set
in the town of Stuttgart, Germany, or
the fictional town of Laurelville, N.C.,
the ultimate goal remains the same —
instilling the most useful techniques
of learning a new language in the most
comprehensive and functional way.
Then, upon leaving Elon, students
will have what it takes to thrive
linguistically in a foreign country.
“It’s fun, it’s immersive, you play it,
and even though you don’t think you’re
learning, you actually are," Neville
said. “Elon is heads and shoulders
above other universities.”
Hannah Williams
Senior Reporter
Dee Dee Myers will visit Elon
University as the 2009-10 Isabella
Cannon Distinguished Visiting
Professor of Leadership Jan. 7-8 and
19-20. Myers was the White House
Press Secretary during the first two
years of the Clinton administration,
becoming the first
woman and the
second-youngest
person to hold
the position.
Since leaving
the White
House, Myers
has worked as a
political analyst,
commentator
and writer. In
addition to being
a contributing
editor to Vanity Fair magazine, a
frequent political commentator
on NBC and MSNBC and a former
consultant for the series “The West
Wing,” Myers is also a New York
Times best-selling author.
In 2008, Myers published her
book, “Why Women Should Rule
the World,” in which she considers
what the world might look like
under female leadership. She said
the different qualities women bring
to the table as leaders, including
communicating, listening and
encouraging consensus, are vital In
today’s world.
“Dr. Isabella Cannon’s vision was
to have someone who thinks globally
and acts locally in their leadership
capacity engage with students,"
said Rex Waters, associate dean of
students, regarding the selection
criteria for the visiting professor
of leadership. “We’re looking for
someone not to just give a public
appearance, but also to attend a
couple of classes and meet with
students more intimately.”
Myers is scheduled to give
tw'o public lectures while at Elon:
“Leadership in Challenging Times"
at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 7 in McCrary
Theatre and “Why Women Should
Rule the World” at 6 p.m. Jan. 19 in
Whitley Auditorium. She will also
hold a public question and answer
session, attend two or three Winter
Term classes, have multiple lunches
with Elon students and faculty and
visit Elon’s School of Law on Jan
20.
Elon students who are Isabella
Cannon Leadership Fellows
and members of the leadership
program are reading Myers’ book
in preparation for her campus
visits, during which they will have
the opportunity to engage Myers
in discussion during lunch, in the
classroom and walking across
campus, Waters said. Copies of
Myers’ book are on reserve at Belk
Library.
Waters said Myers’ visit provides
an opportunity for all Elon students,
not only the 60 percent of whom
are women, to meet and interact
with someone who has been a very
successful leader and to learn about
tapping into their full potential as
leaders.
“I have a unique perspective
because I’m able to observe and
enjoy the interaction of the students
with someone of this stature and to
be able to hear and see during other
times of the year how much of an
Impact and impression this person
has had," Waters said.
Myers is Elon’s sixth Isabella
Cannon Distinguished Visiting
Professor of Leadership. The
former visiting professors brought
to campus through Cannon’s
endowment were John Alexander,
William W. “Bill” Georger, Ben
Bradlee, Christine Todd Whitman
and David Gergen.
Light Up the Holidays
with a Gift Card From
Sidetrack Grill
Available in any amount, a
^idetrack Grill gift card makes
perfect gift for anyone this
holiday season
get yours today!
584-1769
iioWe^tJ^b^onAve. Elon,NC^
David Neville
Assistant professor
of German
and Director of
Language Learning
Technologies
Dee Dee Myers
Isabella Cannon
Distinguished
Visiting Professor of
Leadership