Setting up your reflective audio journal

Speaking prompts and assignments

Reflective Audio-journal (RJ)

Assignment Description

Throughout our semester-long course, you will participate in a reflective dialog about teaching and learning with me and/or your classmates via audio recording. You will respond to a prompt or exercise by recording a brief message or commentary (see syllabus for schedule). In response to your journal entries, we will be doing a number of exercises related to pronunciation, structure, or vocabulary. Some weeks I will listen and respond to your journals, and, at other times, you or your peers will critique your commentary. Your responsibilities for this assignment include not only recording your own journal entries, but also listening to and responding to the feedback that you are given.

The duration of typical audio journal entries should be no longer than 5-7 minutes. The journal is meant as an informal means of communicating with me about questions, comments, and ideas that have arisen during our class meetings and also as a way to reflect upon your language learning and course content. You are welcome to comment on class material or discuss ideas you might have about a particular issue related to your field.

You will record your voice onto a digital computer file using an informal, conversational style. TRY NOT TO READ FROM A PREPARED SCRIPT! Don’t try to talk about all of the information you have learned, but be discriminatory about choosing a particular aspect or topic that is most important to you. Present a general overview of what you will discuss and then focus on the aspect or topic you have chosen. Some ideas for responding to prompts might include:

• Discuss your opinions about a class meeting, article, or topic
• Relate the topic to a personal experience or additional knowledge you have
• Compare what you have learned to a similar event/issue/situation in Estonia or at the University of Tartu
• Talk about how this information can help you in your future
• Mention other related areas that interest you

Objectives

Creating and responding to audio journals provides a variety of opportunities to improve your oral communication skills. Using audio journals as an integral part of our coursework will help us achieve a number of listening and speaking objectives. As a result of taking part in the audio journal activities and assignments, you will

• Dedicate additional time outside of class for academic speaking practice, and, thereby help better your fluency in English
• Reflect thoughtfully to course content and your language learning
• Listen critically to yourself and your peers and provide feedback on selected aspects of speaking accuracy, including elements such as content, style, pronunciation, and grammar
• Receive and respond to individualized feedback on your own speaking skills from both the instructor and your peers
• Be aware of your strengths and weaknesses as a speaker/listener and be able to identify resources to help you to continue to improve
• Feel confident about assessing your speaking ability
• Feel comfortable speaking about a variety of academic topics and communicating with an academic audience