Discovery and collaborative learning through the development of a multilingual and multipurpose resource pool

Abstract

Our previous TDG project (6000445) on fostering discovery of fun sociolinguistics has been successfully implemented in GE and core courses, which were all large classes with more than 80 students in each. A substantial outcome is a small-scaled multimedia database containing over 40 annotated video clips collected by students in two semesters. The collection containing sociolinguistic implications are variated in language and genre. This multilingual and multicultural nature offers promising potentials of turning the database into a multi-purpose pedagogical tool by and for a much wider student population. We propose to extend the database to a resource pool to include audio, visual, and printed media. The co-construction of the pool with students will provide opportunities for collaborative learning and discovery. With different types of teaching and learning activities, we will develop and refine our edutainment approach to teaching more diversified student population in large classes. More specifically, learning tasks under this approach will be customized to accommodate students' interests and majors: students studying translation and interpretation to draft multilingual subtitles for the ever-growing number of multimedia items collected, students from language technology to process subtitles and audios in the resource pool, and students from information technology to design software and apps for searching and retrieval in the student-constructed collection. The multilingual and multimedia resource pool will be an outcome of collaboration and discovery by students from various backgrounds. The pool if shared online will also offer research potentials involving big data generated from tracking browsing and learning progresses.