Can a kitchen teach languages? : Linking theory and practice in the design of context-aware language learning environments

Abstract Smart learning environments offer rich opportunities for language learners. In particular, context-aware systems which allow learners’ progress to be sensed within and across an activity, enable instructed language learning to move beyond the traditional confines of the classroom walls. In this paper we present the European Kitchen, a real-world task-based environment for cooking and language learning. In doing so, we demonstrate how specific design decisions, in the development of this longer-term iterative design project, conjoin Human Computer Interaction practice and learning theory for situated language learning. We also show how this approach is combined with Conversation Analysis, which is used as a tool to measure the impact of these decisions on the interactions taking place in and with the kitchen. Our work reveals that in order to design for and evaluate effective and meaningful language learning, there should be more balance between technologically-driven theory and theory driven research which has a strong pedagogical foundation. Our work has implications for a transferable, interdisciplinary model of task-based, situated learning which can be applied and adapted to different skill and knowledge sets

Vocabulary learning through a daily task of cooking in the Digital Kitchen

Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching (TBLT) has been integrated with Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), contributing to pedagogical developments in the field of SLA. While the majority of studies have used the integrated pedagogy inside the classroom context, little attention has been paid to the area outside of the classroom. Drawing on a recently developed learning environment called ‘Digital Kitchen’, this study examines how learning in a technology-enhanced real-world environment benefits foreign vocabulary acquisition. In particular, the multimodal effect of physicality is investigated using a mixed methods and quasi-experimental research design. Forty-eight adult participants performed two cooking sessions: one in a kitchen using real objects and the other in a classroom looking at photos. Statistical data demonstrated that the digital kitchen users registered significantly higher scores on vocabulary learning compared to classroom participants. The findings show that engaging all senses in a technology-enhanced environment is more powerful for vocabulary learning than using only a few senses. These findings have implications for those planning to design and implement a similar real-world learning environment

Orientation to language learning over time : A case analysis on the repertoire addition of a lexical item

This article explores language learning as the speakers' microlongitudinal project in interaction. Using conversation analysis (CA) as a method, we present a single-case analysis on how a change occurs in the linguistic repertoire of 2 learners of Finnish. We discuss the challenges that the temporal aspect in learning poses within CA, such as the difficulty in documenting a change on the one hand, and on the other hand, the risk of losing the emic perspective of the participants if they do not orient to the change. By illustrating a complete learning project, which begins when the participants encounter a need to use a certain (for them, unknown) word and ends when they use the word independently in interaction, we will demonstrate how a change in the linguistic repertoire of the participants occurs, as a result of their own actions and orientations, without compromising CA's emic perspective. It will be argued that the unique capacity of CA to recover the participants' sense-making practices in interaction gives us a lens to not only document change but also to understand its internal dynamics.Peer reviewe

<em>Doing language testing</em>: learner-initiated side sequences in a technology-mediated language learning environment

\ua9 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor &amp; Francis Group. We present doing language testing sequences; L2 learners decide for themselves to test themselves or each other explicitly on new linguistic items, outside the official task cycle with no professional present, investing extra time and energy. We examine how and why pairs of learners do this, and its impact on their learning. They use an App to learn Chinese language and culture whilst cooking in their university dormitory kitchens, receiving multimedia instructions and help from a tablet. Using a mixed-methods research design, we asked: How is the practice of doing language testing organised in interactional terms? Using multimodal CA we found: learners organised the interaction themselves and introduced their own learning interests. Some self-tested and some peer-tested; some consulted the system and some did not. To ascertain the reasons why the learners decided to do language testing, we used post-hoc interviews and found their major motivation was to have an improved learning experience. We then compared their vocabulary post-test score gains with those who did not do language testing and found they made significantly higher gains with a learning advantage. The study shows that some students are motivated to do language testing in order to enhance their task performance and learning experience, in which they succeed

Culture learning in a daily space of kitchen: the case of Korean digital kitchen

The rapid advancement of technology has allowed computer-assisted language learning (CALL) to have made inroads in the area of pedagogy for language and culture learning. While the majority of studies have used online and virtual environments for culture learning, very little attention has been paid to a real world environment. This study is based on a digital kitchen where students can learn foreign language, culture and cuisine at the same time through cooking tasks. Learning cultural aspects can be properly realised via cooking because the daily activity provides a window into culture, and the digital kitchen provides users with opportunities to directly encounter the target culture themselves via cooking and tasting. 48 international participants conducted two cooking sessions, one in a digital kitchen using real objects and the other in a classroom by looking at typical pictures/photos in a textbook. A range of data sources were employed, such as questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and video-observations to answer the research question. It was found that students learned foreign cultural aspects better when in direct engagement in a digital kitchen by handling actual items than when in a classroom by simply using photos. This study contributes to the development of the real world learning environment for culture learning via innovative technology

Depictive Hand Gestures as Candidate Understandings

This article uses multimodal CA to analyze depictive hand gestures that are used to check understanding of the co-participant’s preceding action. Drawing on data from cooking and farming interactions, the analysis scrutinizes how depictive gestures come to be treated as other-initiations of repair. The analysis shows that relevant factors in this are: (a) the gesture’s design, i.e., its form and movement in relation to the material ecology of the interaction, including relevant objects; (b) the gesture’s position and timing in the unfolding sequence; (c) the embodied participation framework, including the body positions and gaze patterns of all participants; and (d) the participants’ shared knowledge and understanding of the broader activity context, including their familiarity with the ingredients and dishes in-the-making. The analysis contributes to research on gestural depiction in human meaning making and to the study of embodiment in repair organization. The data are in Finnish with English translations.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Perceptions of a community-based cooking skills and nutrition education class

This dissertation examined the perceptions of a community-based cooking skills and nutrition education class that included an availability sample of adult learners who attended monthly classes offered from 2017-2018. The study was a mixed-methods research design using extant data. Participants completed a nine-question post survey. Two newly developed Likert type scales measured nutrition related self-efficacy and food resource management. Four survey questions were summed as Nutrition Empowerment Score (NES), four survey questions were summed as Food Resource Management Score (FRMS), and one open-ended question provided qualitative data. A total of 12 months of data were used for analysis. The new NES scale showed good reliability, while the FRMS scale did not meet the threshold for reliability. The relationship between NES and FRMS was statistically significant with a moderately positive relationship between the variables. The relationship between NES and the Good and Cheap, Eating Well on $4 a Day curriculum was statistically significant, however, the relationship between the teaching kitchen environment and the class instructor were not statistically significant. Qualitative analysis revealed positive perceptions from participants related to the research variables. The curriculum and teaching kitchen used suggested knowledge gained and application to the home environment. Participants also reported social benefits from the class and a positive view of the various instructors. This study suggests that community-based organizations have a variety of low-cost options related to the teaching kitchen environment and instructor when implementing hands-on nutrition education (HONE) programs using the Good and Cheap curriculum

Multimodal language learning environment of the Korean digital kitchen : a study on the impact of physicality and technological affordances on Korean vocabulary learning

PhD ThesisTask Based Language Learning and Teaching (TBLT) has been integrated with computer-assisted language learning (CALL), contributing to pedagogical developments in the field of foreign/second language teaching and learning (Thomas and Reinders, 2010). While the majority of studies have used the integrated pedagogy inside the classroom context, little attention has been paid to the area outside the classroom (Seedhouse et al., 2013; Seedhouse et al., 2014; Preston et al., 2015). This issue has recently been addressed by the European Digital Kitchen (EDK) project team (Seedhouse, 2017), which has successfully investigated the efficacy of digital technology on foreign language learning out of the classroom. However, as the EDK was designed as a holistic learning environment in which many different environmental factors would contribute to learning, there was a need to disaggregate some of these factors and discover which factors were more or less significant. In order to determine one of the environmental factors to learning, this study attempted to use the technological components of a previous project to create Korean pedagogical materials. This formed the Korean Digital Kitchen (KDK), a real-world environment of a kitchen where students can simultaneously learn Korean language and culture by carrying out the real-world task of cooking. Korean is one of the important global languages to be taught, according to an Ethnologue report (Lewis et al., 2016). Based on the literature on vocabulary learning, especially Nattinger’s (1988) claim that touching and manipulating real objects, as opposed to seeing them, increases learnability, this study explored whether kinesthetic mode adds extra value to foreign language learning processes. Would there be any significant difference between vocabulary learning which involves seeing the learning items only in a classroom and learning which also involves touching the items in the KDK? Thus, this study examined the power of physicality. Furthermore, the salience of real-world and pedagogical tasks has been investigated as factors to different level of vocabulary learning. To this end, a quasi-experimental design was employed for users to conduct two cooking sessions, one in a digital kitchen by using real objects and the other in a classroom by looking at pictures/photos in the textbook. Participants were 48 adults of both British and international origins, living in Newcastle, UK, coming from 20 different countries. To determine which environment between a digital kitchen and a classroom is more conducive to vocabulary learning, users needed to carry out two ii different recipes in the two locations in order to control a practice effect. Subjects went through the real-life cooking activities in three stages of TBLT in both settings using two different recipes with two different set of vocabularies. There were tests before and after cooking to compare their scores to examine the results of learning. Ten vocabulary noun items were targeted in this research. In addition to test score data, three more data sources were employed, namely questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and video-observations for triangulation, revealing the outcomes and processes of learning in two different learning environments. A series of data sets clearly demonstrated which of the two learning settings was more effective to learn foreign language vocabulary and culture in and what their attitudes towards a digitalized learning environment were. Findings suggest that physicality in the KDK makes students link the word and cultural aspects to their memory better than simply looking at photos of objects in the classroom. The learning differences reached statistical significance. Other environmental factors such as technology and its affordances may have contributed to different learning outcomes, playing a role in learners taking positive attitudes (Stricker et al., 2004). In contrast, users in the conventional setting demonstrated relatively less learning, due to fewer senses and its typical features such as the relationship with a teacher, less interaction with peers (Shen et al., 2008) and boredom. It is these differences that contributed to the different results and processes of learning in two settings. From these findings, it could be concluded that the digital kitchen can provide a motivating learning environment which is multi-modal, multi-sensory, multi-interactional, multi-experiential and multi-layered. It is physicality, meaningful tasks and computer technology that foster learning in vocabulary and cultural aspects. This project contributes to building up one more dimension of psycholinguistic factor in language learning, and supports the development of innovative ICT for foreign language learning across the world

Reflexiones y conversaciones sobre el futuro de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de lenguas mediados por la tecnología

Libro blanco para el análisis del impacto de la tecnología en el ámbito de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de lenguas. Además de un capítulo introductorio y un epílogo, cada autor escribe un capítulo y es entrevistado para conocer su punto de vista sobre la relación entre tecnología y aprendizaje y enseñanza de lenguas. Whitepaper on the analysis of the impact of technology on language learning and teaching. Apart from a foreword and an epilogue, each author writes a chapter and is interviewed so as to get to know their points of view about the relationship between technology and language learning and teaching