Download The Verb Train: Teaching Ancient Greek Verbs at Secondary

The Verb Train:
Teaching Ancient Greek Verbs at
Secondary School Level
via Interactive Multimedia
M. Xesternou
lecturer in the
Philology Department
of the University of the
Peloponnese –
[email protected]
In contemporary teaching, the
traditional model of learning based on
the Education-Educator-Learner
approach is gradually being
abandoned in favour of more flexible
pedagogical practices that are
personalized and open to a wide
range of innovations
Verb Train deals with the
specialized field of teaching Ancient
Greek verbs.
The rationale of this particular software
stems from the need to codify verb
conjugations in alternative ways
Information was drawn from the work of
Bergeron (1990) in order to construct a
learning environment based on the
following principles: definition of the object
of study; structuring of the activities and the
related material; unification; creation of
models; and, of course, the potential of
experimentation.
The locomotive engine and freight cars
(see Fig. 2) are the kits to be assembled
(Bertrand 1999), which provide the final
data that will be constructive in the overall
learning experience.
Using the simple device of successive
projections of the verb development
stages, the data is gradually conveyed.
On the home page of the program, Sophocles the
Parrot makes his appearance. He is the wise
helper who guides the user through the program.
Three (3) main options will appear that will admit
the learners to their corresponding class: the 1st,
2nd or 3rd year of secondary school. By clicking
on any of these button/portals, the users are taken
to the screen with the entries to the train station,
which correspond to the teaching units, according
to the grammar curriculum for each class.
the user can see six (6) options, which are
activated by pointing the mouse to the
icons of the corresponding students. In this
way, the user can choose the Voice of the
verb in combination with the level of the
task (learning or practice) and move to the
corresponding platform. By selecting Active
Voice, for example, at the PRACTISE &
APPLY 1 level, the user moves to the
central platform, where he/she has access
to various categories of verbs (e.g. ones
with vowel stems or dental stems).
Here the user can click on one of the
available categories on the wall of the
corresponding platform, such as
verbs with vowel stems or consonant
(velar, labial or dental) stems.
Following this route, the user ends up
at the final station.
Following this route, the user ends up at
the final station. He/she selects the verb of
choice from the platform. Then, the user
will see the six (or fewer) train engineer
buttons (Fig. 1), by which to choose the
mood, infinitive or participle. The user
selects the verb, then the engineer (mood),
at which point the train arrives, and finally
he/she selects the tense of the verb he/she
wants to conjugate to start loading the
train.
There are additional
buttons in the form of
train parts (e.g.
foglights, headlights
and hooks) which
correspond to suffixes,
augments,
reduplications, verb
stem endings and
infixes, helping the
user to form the
various verbs.
When the user selects a verb and tense in
the LEARN & GRASP function, then the
verb is automatically ‘loaded’ onto the train
car and a voice is heard reading out the
verb. In the PRACTISE & APPLY function,
the difference is that the user must
construct the verb form. The verb is
conjugated as the user loads and unloads
the proper affixes by clicking on the
auxiliary buttons. The cars are loaded by
dragging and dropping the correct parts in
the correct car.
When the user clicks on the
“Information” button, Sophocles the
Parrot appears on the screen and
gives instructions and information
about the auxiliary buttons.
The following tool/buttons are on
every screen of the program:
“Information”, which calls up the parrot with the corresponding
instruction;
“Back”, which allows the user to return to the previous screen;
“Exit”, which allows the user to exit the program;
“Eraser”, which allows the user to delete mistakes in the PRACTISE &
APPLY function;
“Print”;
“Save”;
“Connect to the Internet”;
“Paper & Pencil”, which calls up the grammar rules corresponding to
the conjugation of the specific verb;
“Volume”;
“Analyse”, which activates the grammatical analysis of a verb. The
user may key in a verb using the polytonic system of orthography, and
the verb is automatically analysed as to its voice, mood, tense, number
and person, loading it onto the corresponding cars of the train.
The learner of Ancient Greek
grammar initially has to deal with a
range of mental functions
The learner is called upon to memorize a large
number of affixes corresponding to moods, tenses
and noun verbs (infinitives and participles) and
apply the corresponding rule in order to form them
correctly;
Apart from memorization, the learner must also
have a firm command of the rules of spelling and
of the diacritics (accents and breathings) used in
the polytonic orthography system;
At the practice stage, the learner must instantly
recall a range of information that he or she must
codify in order to give the correct answer.
Pedagogical principles
This software was designed to help
learners learn to conjugate Ancient Greek
verbs and facilitate the above-mentioned
mental functions. This is an interactive
teaching method that compares the
conjugation of verbs to loading the cars of
a train. At the train station, the user is
called upon to select the software functions
that correspond either to learning verb
conjugations or to applying the knowledge
he or she has gained. There are two levels
of difficulty: A and B.
The software obviously makes use of the
train and cargo metaphor to achieve the
visualization of the mental functions that
the human brain must carry out in order to
form the verb. At the same time, in a single
screen it presents all the knowledge
needed to complete the complex task of
finding the verb form, so that the learner
can become familiar with it. The verb
database is particularly broad, containing
all the regular verbs found in Attic prose.
This interactive teaching method,
based on the train metaphor, is
capable of explaining the formation of
the verb in terms of voice, mood,
tense, number and person. Though
the focus is on the learner in terms of
choosing, loading and unloading the
affixes, the teacher’s role is definitive
in coordinating and guiding the
learners.
Sounds…
The sounds used in the program are limited
so that the learner is not distracted,
especially in the computer lab. Yet the
complete absence of music and sounds
would be dissatisfying and would impede the
comprehension of the message. There are
analogue sounds that are a direct reference
to the real world (the hubbub of the train
station and music heard on the platforms).
The sounds allow for a greater dramatic
effect, and activate and sensitize the
learners’ unconscious, encouraging them to
identify with the role of the porter or traveler.
The cars are the sign in semiotic terms;
they are a strictly codified form of
communication. For example, the users
understand that the empty cars must be
filled in (or loaded) with affixes in order for
their train to be able to start off. There are
two main aims:
the information should be clear and brief;
the visuals should be legible, that is, they
should present the highest degree of
imagery and representation (Koroneou
2002, p. 48).
The learning process can develop
as Karakiza (1999) illustrates so
that:
The learners do not focus on the teacher, but on
the computer screen in groups. The teacher
only guides.
Low-achieving learners develop a much higher
level of communicative interaction with the
teacher and their classmates, thus finding
opportunities for a more substantial and equal
standing in the classroom.
The learners do not focus as a class on the
teacher, but work in small groups focusing on
the computer screen. In this way a localized
form of communication is developed.
There is shift in the teacher’s role from the
source of all information to the guide or
facilitator.
the computer screen presents the
information in a better structured
way
The multi-sensory organization of the verb
conjugations through the train model also
offers something of vital importance to
dyslexic learners: the combination of
movement and sound (Bradley 1981).
This method creates conditions for a
“visual overview” (Stasinos 2001), where
the learners have the opportunity to do the
following: a) look at the words; b) repeat
the words; c) check their knowledge.