Connected Blog

Connected 21 is now online with articles and features on literacy, Gaelic, PE and computer games.

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/connected/articles/21/index.asp

How good is your ear for accents? How different do you think one word could sound in a variety of accents? A new interactive site entitled Sound Comparisons by Edinburgh University in conjunction with the Arts & Humanities Research Council allows you to hear the same word uttered in dozens of accents. I tried out the word “brother” and was amazed at the differences.

I’d say it’s impossible to cultivate a musical ear without being sensitive to the subtle changes in pitch and timbre which distinguish accents. Perhaps that’s why so many impressionists are musical.

Some of the pages are slow to load and using Firefox over Internet Explorer is recommended – but not as highly as downloading the entire site – which I’ve just done.

Caroline Gibson is sharing her preparations before departing in three weeks for a summer of teaching in Malawi, from how to communicate in the native tongue to working out the kind of classroom equipment you need to play Scottish music cassettes when there is very little or no electricity.

Living with a host family, Caroline is one of several teachers who will continue to bind strong links between Malawi and Scotland. See her educator’s kit list and follow her blog over the coming months to see how things go. You can find out more about International Education possibilities through Learning and Teaching Scotland’s site.

I was reminded of this quote today:

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826); 3rd president of US.

The reason it came to mind was that while thinking about apparent serendipity, an alternative perception occurred to me which might best be summed up by a paraphrasing of the above quote as follows:

“I’m a great believer in serendipity, and I find the more connected I become the more frequently it occurs.”

While reading one of my favourite language blogs I was referred to a site entitled The Mnemosyne Project which aims, not only to provide a sophisticated free flash-card tool, but also to research into the nature of long-term memory. A few seconds earlier, I had been referred by Ewan McIntosh to Quizlet – another free vocabulary training tool. Both seem very impressive.

However, something about the url of The Mnemosyne Project rang a bell, and it soon came to me that it appears to be the work of the same talented, open-handed people who offer the free audio editing & recording program, Audacity.

Audacity is loaded on many PCs in East Lothian schools. It was that program which I used to extract, amplify, bass boost and eventually fade out the short mp3 sample in this post. It sounds like a lot, but it was the work of seconds really.

I would imagine that any organisation offering this much to learning communities of whatever kind should be eligible for an award of some kind, at some point. Any ideas?

Here is the full transcript of the interview with Kay Livingston, Head of International Education at LTS, as part of the Broaden Your Horizons story in Issue 20 of Connected magazine. There are also plenty of Chinese culture and language links on the MFLE website:

• Chinese language special
• Teaching Chinese at St George’s School for Girls
• What it’s like being a Chinese teacher in Scotland (video diaries)
  
• Some advice on setting up a link with a Chinese school
• Some advice on curricular projects with Chinese schools
• Some advice on visiting partner Chinese schools
• A story of one school’s Chinese adventure

What’s the latest update on launching the Confucius Classrooms?
Learning and Teaching Scotland is in communication with schools and local authorities in order to develop Confucius Classrooms that will serve as hubs across Scotland. The aim is that every school in Scotland will have an opportunity to access these classrooms and their valuable resources. Our aim is that by June 2008 three of the classrooms will be open and that a further three will be up and running by the end of the year. This might seem quite ambitious but we are optimistic that we can deliver this, as many schools are already doing a lot of work on teaching Chinese language and culture and are very keen to host a Confucius Classroom.

How has The Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) offered assistance with setting up the classrooms?
Hanban has offered to provide a package of resources and teaching materials for children across a wide age range to help with teaching the Chinese language and Chinese culture. The classrooms will also become a hub for twilight and in-service events.

How do you envisage the classrooms being set up?
We’re still at very early stages of defining how exactly the classrooms will be set up, but they will become a focus for teachers and somewhere to set up events to promote Chinese language and culture and forge links with Chinese communities in the area. Each classroom will be able to operate in a way that’s suitable for its particular context.

What will be the main advantages of the classrooms?
The classrooms will stimulate the provision of services for teachers, pupils and the community. The introduction of SQA qualifications at intermediate level 1 and 2 in Mandarin will be part of the initiative. Lots of pupils are already learning the language so this will act as a great way to advance and spread its teaching.

Why has China become such an important focus for international education?
Within international education we are developing links with other countries, not just China but also countries in Africa and Europe for example. It’s all about widening the horizons for our children. Chinese is already offered at many schools but often as an optional subject. The classrooms also recognise that China is a strong economic force. The initiatives of Scotland-China Education Network (SCEN) convened by Judith McClure of St George’s High School have developed a lot of interest in China. SCEN hosted a conference in October 2007 and it was a really interesting day involving lots of young people. It was great to see the creativity used in the teaching of Chinese language – the pupils were all so enthusiastic and really enjoyed it.

What’s the main aim of the classrooms?
The focus of the Confucius Classrooms will be teaching Chinese language and culture, developed as part of international education in Scottish schools. The aim is to enable young people to live and work in a global society with other cultures who have similar and different views, religious beliefs, symbols, ways of working etc. It’s so important that our pupils have knowledge that’s based on reality and not myth. Responsible citizenship for a global society is a key part of what international education is all about.

Are there plans to extend the programme beyond creating Confucius Classrooms?
Once the Confucius Classrooms are up and running the next stage will be to arrange visits to China for pupils. Our discussions with Hanban are the first step in developing closer relationships with China and we hope to set up summer schools in China so Scottish pupils have an immersion course in Chinese language and culture and get to meet fellow Chinese pupils who they may have already worked with over the internet. Some schools have already managed to arrange trips to China.

How does international education tie in with the Curriculum for Excellence?
If we don’t educate pupils about a global society, then we are not preparing them for life in the 21st century. If you look at the four capacities of the Curriculum for Excellence then you can see that international education is essential. You can’t be a successful learner in the 21st century without an international dimension, nor can you become a responsible citizen or an effective contributor to society. It’s essential in order to fully understand sustainable development and climate change. It’s also linked to communication skills – how do we communicate with someone whose mother tongue is not English? International education is not an add-on that we are asking teachers to do. It’s an integral part of education and must be delivered through the curriculum.

What’s the future for international education?
Links with schools and other countries will become an integral part of education. Pupils will be presenting their work to schools across the world, doing joint projects, working alongside each other to collect data, blogging etc. Much of this is already happening but it’s a matter of spreading and developing existing initiatives. Links with schools abroad are an excellent opportunity for pupils and teachers to discover how schools in various countries are tackling different subjects – an opportunity to swap and share practices.

“Of course there is child protection issues involved in this but provided that thorough risk assessments are conducted in advance, then child protection shouldn’t stop young people being able to go out and experience new cultures and a different way of life.”

What are the benefits of teachers taking part in international exchanges and courses?
Any teacher who has taken part in these projects returns saying that they are re-motivated and re-energised. It challenges their way of thinking and working. Working with colleagues in other countries and seeing their practice at first hand is invaluable. By understanding the education systems in other countries we can help benchmark the delivery of education here.

In an attempt to refresh mind and body between school and a twilight Parents’ Evening, I recently spent an hour in the pool and health suite of North Berwick Sports Centre. In the steam room I found myself, inexplicably whistling*. Apart from the fantastic acoustic and the apparent contribution of the steam to the quality of sound, I wondered, “why is this so easy?” I’ve never been inclined to whistle and have probably whistled fewer than 40 seconds worth of music in as many years.

Intrigued, I decided to push the envelope and put myself through a mock Grade 8 Whistling exam. I tested myself on ascending and descending scales (major, harmonic minor, melodic minor, whole tone & chromatic both forms of diminished & augmented) and then the remaining modes (dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, aeolian, & locrian). Then came the turn of arpeggios (major, minor, dominant 7^th, minor 7^th, major 7^th, minor with major 7^th, diminished 7^th, major 6^th, minor 6^th). There were some tricky moments – notably the descending form of the augmented scale – but the vast majority seemed simply to be lying in wait, pret a siffler.

“Wait a minute,” I hear you cry, “you know the sound of these through your musical explorations over the years and have the benefit of a practised ear.” This is true but what is also true is that I’d have struggled to sing them.

What intrigues me is that the entire musculature of whistling seemed in place, benefiting from neither interest nor training and must therefore be hard wired. Was there a time when it was commonly used for communication than today? Many will already have come across Silbo-Gomero, the whistling language used mainly by shepherds communicating with one another across the valleys of La Gomera Silbo. Does anyone out there know if this practice was once more widespread?

There’s an interesting article on studies of brain patterns decoding whistling here suggesting that those who perceive music as a language process it using different brain regions.

Why not test your aural recognition of scales and modes here?

* I was the only person using the steam room at this point.

It’s not often you get a glimpse into – far less a listen to – pre-history. Michael Wood’s The Story of India (BBC4 last night – sadly not available on iPlayer) visited Brahmin priests in Kerala taking young trainees through vocal preparations for a 12-day celebration of Agni – the god of fire.

The prayers being passed on pre-date language and possibly music, as experts could find no matching analogue. The nearest comparison was with birdsong. It was certainly very interesting to see and hear a few moments of these normally secret teaching sessions.

It is claimed that what is being notated cannot be notated. I found this difficult to understand, feeling that a mix of pitch, duration and phonetics must be able to be transcribed – after all Janacek notated the melodies of the Czech language and Messiaen notated birdsong. However, weighing in with the heavy hand of invasive research, however tempting, is scarcely a sensitive response to the privileged invitation.

More on this topic in paragraph 11 of this link.

It’s always nice to have your intuitions nudged in the general direction of scientific fact by reputable specialists. That’s why I was delighted to read on Simon Ager’s excellent blog Omniglot about a new book by Oliver Sacks called Musicophilia.

I’ve long been persuaded by the parallels between music and language so I’ll be very interested to read about this, and the many other aspects of music, mind & brain from the neurological point of view.

Many guitarists involved in tuition at school become experienced over the years in reading both traditional musical notation and TAB. Occasionally you can sense a drift in focus, during which errors and omissions begin to occur.

The best fix for this, whether in notation or TAB, is to ask pupils to recite the note names or fret numbers aloud while playing – although this is clearly not an option for those blowing into their instrument. Nobody likes doing this and many pupils will claim that it puts them off. Some will say this immediately following a much improved rendition.

As the improvement seem undeniable whether reciting (alpha) note names or (numeric) fret numbers, I can only imagine that it is more to with enforcing a decision than actually raising attainment in either field in such a short time. Why this should be I’ve no idea – especially when considering that speed and quality for most people reduces when reading aloud as opposed to silently. Reflecting on this leaves me with the feeling that we (or, at any rate, I) in the music game are quite vague about the fundamentals of literacy.

Could there be any useful exchange between specialists in numeracy, literacy and music which might shed some light on this? Does anyone know of any interesting, accessible research on the subject?

If you would like to compare the appearance of notation and TAB of the same part, there are several samples on the Guitar Group Support (additional parts) Page.

As the working week ends at MGS, I found myself present at the Teach-Meet Roadshow featuring digital video, online publishing, digital photography, animation & podcasting. I sampled the podcasting workshop.

An interesting site which David flagged up was find sounds from where little snippets of music and sound can be downloaded to spice up your podcast. Although many of these are very short, Audacity features a Repeat function (in the Effects menu) where you can loop any highlighted sections simply by specifying the desired number of repetitions.

While experimenting with the change tempo* function, it occurred to me that this could be a great way to digest a recorded radio program in less than the required time. It may be that I am simply more hyper than I appear, but I often find the pace of much documentary broadcasting to be a little on the slow side. Pondering this, it struck me that reversing the effect, could be a great asset to Learning Support departments. Alternatively, could a single recording be quickly edited for three different levels in a foreign language class? The following audio files should illustrate the possibilities – the percentage change is a little extreme but is, at least, unmistakable:

Original tempo: Original tempo

20% faster 20% faster

20% slower 20% slower

* The important point here is that the apparently correct option to change speed also changes the pitch – resulting in, at best, distracting comedy.