Plug into the "Tech" Era of Language Learning and Language Teaching

The general realm of education is reaching a new level of cool. Learning to read, write, and improve spoken fluency has never been more fun than using smart technology and interactive games, instead of being limited to "rote memorization" techniques. Reports of elementary schools giving iPads to the students as a learning tool makes me ponder how my primary school years with somewhat lacking technological variety may have affected my outlook on learning styles. With the lightning-fast pace of digital advancements in our daily lives, I have noticed an upswing in the use of technology to supplement language learning and language teaching. As part of a Multilingual Writing group, I have come across many excellent resources that you can use to implement into your own learning or teaching process/curriculum. I will explore, analyze, and share some thoughts of useful websites, products, etc. in the coming weeks.

Dreaming in Cursive: The Art of Curls and Loops

If you reflect on the many years spent in grade school and beyond, you have probably come across a few close encounters of the illegible kind... that is, at least one situation where you unwillingly held a piece of paper literally millimeters from your nose, with furrowed eyebrows, trying to decipher a particular word from the mass of pen ink flowing across the paper. With the upswing of using technology as a means to communicate with dear ones across the globe (via typing on the keyboard and voice/video chats on Skype), the almost seemingly obsolete form of writing letters to penpals – the kind where you might buy some fancy stationary paper, use glittery ink, and mail the letter first-class – is quickly becoming a form of lost art.

Maybe all those years of having to rewrite words one by one due to unreadable penmanship, repeating sentence after sentence with a hand cramp until the lines eventually float into your most fantastic dreams, really was a lost cause. Do we need to worry so much about how legible our writing is, or that of the children in grade school? As usual, the debate pendulum swings to both sides. In recent news, it was suggested that cursive writing will soon be removed from some states' educational curriculum. While some may argue that written legibility is not as important as content, there are two main reasons why penmanship lessons should stick around:

Improve critical thinking. When you physically pick up a pen or pencil and write your thoughts on paper, you are training your mind and body to formulate ideas in a logical sequence when you are writing. This is often termed freewriting or brainstorming, to get past the common phenomenon of writer's block. If you focus and concentrate on writing words down slowly and neatly, it is more likely you will remember what you write. Conversely, you can type your thoughts a mile a minute, but your mind is more likely focused on correct spelling rather than the written content.

Essential Art Form. What is in an autograph? Hollywood is a prime example of artistic writing. Everyone has a different way of symbolizing their name when asked to sign a document, check, or in the case of celebrities, anything tangible offered by the fans. A signature is unique and extremely important to represent personal identity. Cursive is the basis not only for signatures, but also for creative writing that is often observed on greeting cards.

You can call writing with a pen and paper old-school, but it brings back memories of the simple times in life. As busy professionals and students in the digital age, we are often bombarded with emails and other tasks requiring a quick typed-up response. Training the fingers to type out logical thoughts is one thing, training the mind to effectively understand and remember is another. Following the dotted lines for both regular print and cursive not only fosters appreciation for different writing styles, but sets a strong foundation for developing essential critical reading, thinking, and writing skills to accomplish our daily tasks.