Matt Absalom | University of Melbourne (original) (raw)

Papers by Matt Absalom

Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 2002

Global Learn, 2012

F1 - Full Written Papers Referee

Phonetica: international journal of phonetic science, 2000

Journal of Linguistics, 2004

One of the thorniest aspects of teaching languages is developing students' vocabulary, yet it... more One of the thorniest aspects of teaching languages is developing students' vocabulary, yet it is impossible to be 'an accurate and highly communicative language user with a very small vocabulary' (Milton, 2009, p. 3). Nation (2006) indicates that more vocabulary than previously thought is required to function well both at spoken and written discourse levels. With the recent spread and uptake of Language Perfect--'used by more than 1,000 schools around the world' (EducationPerfect, 2014), this paper reports on a trial study to explore how different approaches to vocabulary learning might affect vocabulary acquisition. KEY WORDS vocabulary acquisition, Italian, French, computer assisted language learning BACKGROUND Almost 20 years ago, Long and Richards (1997, p. ix) bemoaned the fact that '[t]he relative neglect of studies of vocabulary acquisition and related areas of lexical research in second language acquisition has often been commented on within the field...

The 19th biennial AFMLTA National Languages Conference was held in Canberra in July 2013. The con... more The 19th biennial AFMLTA National Languages Conference was held in Canberra in July 2013. The conference, along with other professional learning activities conduced at a local level and for individual languages, aims to provide teachers of languages with the opportunity to work toward the professional learning outcomes outlined in the AITSL Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, and its Charter for professional learning of teachers and school leaders. These documents highlight three characteristics of professional learning: being relevant, collaborative and future focussed. This paper reports on the evaluation conducted after the Canberra conference and compares the findings for that conference with the previous conference In Darwin In 2011. It reviews the contemporary research on the value of conference attendance for professional learning, and the ongoing work of the AFMLTA in supporting the professional learning of language teachers nationally, and across languages. The ...

Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 2002

Global Learn, 2012

F1 - Full Written Papers Referee

Phonetica: international journal of phonetic science, 2000

Journal of Linguistics, 2004

Proceedings of the 2002 Conference of the Australian Linguistics Society, 2002

Proceedings of the 9th Australian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology, pp. 154-159 , 2002

L'Italiano in Australia. Prospettive e tendenze nell'insegnamento della lingua e della cultura, 2021

In this chapter I discuss a project which involves the staging of a single act farce by Dario Fo ... more In this chapter I discuss a project which involves the staging of a single act farce by Dario Fo entitled Non tutti i ladri vengono per nuocere as a key activity in a uni- versity level Italian language subject for students with high school Italian language and culture competency (roughly B1 in the CEFR). I describe the origins of using theatre in the teaching of Italian and discuss the desire to create an assessment task which goes beyond the classic two-dimensional read-research-write model of essays common to many English- speaking university language subjects. The resulting task both encompasses language and culture and also the development of real-world skills and competencies. Growing out of the recognition of the importance of comprehensible input and reading for language learning as well as a desire to move from traditional pedagogical models toward heutagogy or self- determined learning, the theatre project represents a curricular innovation which has now been successful in the Italian Studies program at The University of Melbourne for over 10 years. I detail a range of aspects of the project and conclude that integrating theatre into a languages program at university level can lead to the sorts of outcomes long touted by communicative language teaching approaches.

Arts & Humanities in Higher Education, 2011

The use of reflective tasks, such as journals, as a means to enhance learning is not uncommon in ... more The use of reflective tasks, such as journals, as a means to enhance learning is not uncommon in higher education. However, the formative value of reflective tasks is not easily reconciled in tertiary settings where assessment requirements tradi- tionally favour product over process. While learner perception and resolution of this tension have rarely been investigated, research confirms that learners’ level of engagement with the task is a salient parameter for learning to take place (Platt and Brooks, 2002). In other words, if the task is to serve its formative purpose, learners’ perception of and engagement with the task are paramount. The present case study compares learner perceptions of two types of reflective tasks: an online blog and a traditional pen-and-paper learning journal. Findings suggest that reflec- tive tasks can facilitate regular working habits and offer a space for use of the language, and that regular teacher monitoring strongly affects learners’ perceptions of the usefulness of the task.

M. Pettorino (ed) Il Parlato Italiano., 2004

This chapter argues for the place of food studies in tertiary language studies programs. With a m... more This chapter argues for the place of food studies in tertiary language studies programs. With a myriad of changes to education throughout the twentieth century, language study lost its eminent position as a gateway to higher learning, which means we are required to articulate our relevance to students and university governance. Food and food culture have great appeal amongst students and carving out a place for food studies in our language curricula allows us to generate a new interest amongst a changed student cohort. As well as providing students with an enriching way of learning about other cultures, the non-canonical and universal phenomenon of food or food discourse has the advantage of being immediately accessible to our students who all have their own experiences of food. The study of food also provides us with an opportunity to enhance students’ intercultural skills, which have increasing value in the global workplace. Understanding the multiple layers of meaning attached to food and food culture helps students to develop a sensitivity to the importance of the everyday in their interactions with other cultures. We will discuss this synergy between languages and food studies in the context of tertiary language studies in Spanish and Italian, detailing some of the initiatives in this area.

One of the recurring debates in relation to languages and cultures education in Australia concern... more One of the recurring debates in relation to languages and cultures education in Australia concerns the issue of retention and attrition. The clarion call seems to have been continuous for the last 30 years or so. I want to offer three provocations around this issue: 1. We think it’s our fault but maybe it isn’t — research shows us that at each point of transition students will choose to change languages, regardless of their experience. A concomitant issue is that at university level some students have already decided how much of a language they are prepared to study (often due to administrative/structural constraints of their degree or for other personal reasons — cf. the phenomenon of the language tourist). 2. The curriculum wars — my recent experience of working with the Australian Curriculum: Languages has highlighted a fundamental philosophical divergence between how curriculum is conceptualized in schools education and at tertiary level. My question is whether this difference (which I will outline) is leading to attrition (or retention). 3. Gender and identity — while languages classes at all levels of schooling are typically dominated by females, and females make up a larger proportion of the language teaching corps in schools, at university level things can be somewhat different. I would suggest that there are some intriguing questions waiting to be teased out in relation to how students identify with staff in terms of gender and identity at tertiary level and whether this has an impact on retention (or attrition). For each of these provocations, I will present some initial research and discussion.