Projects: Overview

The principal purpose of TLTC is to develop instructional technology – especially multimedia course materials – to be used in language instruction on the UT campus and shared with other institutions and the public at large.

TLTC staff has deep experience in creation and management of technology projects at the University level and seeks to use that experience to help refine methods of teaching and learning through technology.  Projects include

• Aswaat Arabiyya
  Aswaat Arabiyya "Arabic Voices," is a web site designed for learners and teachers of Arabic seeking materials for listening comprehension. Aswaat Arabiyya provides listening materials and accompanying activities that are intended for the various levels of proficiency from Novice to Superior. These listening materials have been selected from television stations throughout the Arab world and they treat a wide variety of topics and listening genres. Faculty developer: Mahmoud M Al-Batal.
• Cantar de mio Cid
  The Cantar de mio Cid (Cid) web project is conceived as an educational tool that will allow students of the Spanish epic to understand and appreciate the oral essence of the genre and to recognize the enormous conceptual distance between an oral narrative poem and the modern textual editions used in the classroom.  The website presents the Spanish epic poem in various multimedia formats, in order to facilitiate alternate learning styles.  The Cid project won first place in the University's IITAP competition in 2002 and has been lauded by Medievalists and Hispanophiles across the globe.  Faculty developer: Matthew Bailey.
• Chansons françaises
  Chansons françaises is the integrated music component of Français interactif.  Chansons features a French or Francophone song, related to a chapter's cultural or pedagogical focus, presented via audio or video.  Accompanying pdfs provide additional information, as well as comprehension exercises.   Songs act as a portal to various Francophone cultures and musical genres.  Aural comprehension and study of lyrics afford students practice with culturally authentic text and expression.   Students discover yet another reason to be passionate about studying French!  Developers: Kelle Keating, Karen Kelton, s.palomino.
• Deutsch im Blick
  Deutsch im Blick (Focus on German) is a multimedia 1st-year German language program in development, based on videos of native speakers and the UT Summer Program in Würzburg, Germany.  The online textbook will include recorded vocabulary, phonetics lessons, online comparative polls, and Internet writing activities.  The grammar component, Grimm Grammar, will feature zany post-modern versions of Grimm fairy tale characters.  Faculty developer: Zsuzsanna Abrams.
• Français interactif
  Français interactif is a unique, award-winning 1st-year French curriculum designed to complement University of Texas 'smart' classrooms.  With digital video technology, students explore French language and culture by following the lives of real UT students who have participated in the UT Summer Program in Lyon, France.  Online curriculum includes over 320 videos, vocabulary and phonetics audio, online grammar reference with self-correcting exercises and audio dialogues, verb conjugation and practice tools, diagnostic grammar quizzes (testez-vous), a workbook of classroom activities and homework assignments, online polls, and Internet writing activities.  Français interactif was awarded 1st place in the University's 2004 IITAP competition and was given the National Endowment for the Humanities EDSITEment Best of Humanities on the Web award (2005).  Faculty developers: Carl Blyth, Karen Kelton, Nancy Guilloteau.
• Grimm Grammar
  Grimm Grammar is an online German grammar reference, featuring zany post-modern Grimm's fairy tale characters, authoritative grammar explanations, self-correcting exercises, online audio, and illustrations of the residents of Schloßallee 18 – the modern day fairy tale castle home.  Faculty developer: Zsuzsanna Abrams.
• Persian Online
  Persian Online is an online Persian grammar reference. Every topic draws cultural, historical, and linguistic references and includes audio and movie clips as well as a printable workbook with exercises. Faculty developer: M. R. Ghanoonparvar.
• Radio Arlecchino
  Radio Arlecchino is a selection of aural Italian grammar lessons (podcasts) in development.  Grammar examples and dialogs are built upon the escapades of Arlecchino, Pulcinella, and other masks of the Italian Commedia dell'arte.  Lessons feature topical grammar discussions, dramatic readings, pdf grammar notes ... and general audio zaniness.  Faculty developers: Eric Edwards and Antonella Olson.
• Rockin' Russian
  Students learning Russian will soon be able to perfect their grammar while rocking out to music videos from Russia's pop stars. Based on Russian music videos from MTV Russia, Rockin' Russian is supplemented with exercise materials focusing on pronunciation, vocabulary development, grammar and cultural features. Parts of the videos are embedded into exercises in each category that students can revisit, strengthening their language skills. Faculty developer: Thomas Garza.
• Spanish Proficiency Exercises
  Spanish Proficiency Exercises is a compilation of video clips in which native speakers of Spanish from various locations throughout Latin America and Spain demonstrate various language tasks.  The objective of the exercises is to provide students of Spanish with the necessary tools to be able to talk about the same topics in Spanish.  Videos are organized by language proficiency level and are accompanied by related vocabulary, phrases, and grammar.  Faculty developer: Orlando Kelm.
• Brazilpod
  In some ways all of the materials that we have created at TLTC for Brazilian Portuguese are independent from one another, but in other ways they are all related. Users may just want to use the video clips from the Portuguese Communication Exercises all by themselves, but users may also benefit from combining these exercises with, for example, the student projects found in the É isso aí blog, or with the interactive analysis found in the video clips from Conversa Brasileira. Brazilpod is the umbrella that covers and connects all of these materials. Since all of the materials are modular and independent from specific courses or textbooks, Brazilpod joins them together and allows users to mix and match as needed. Faculty developer: Orlando Kelm
• Tá Falado
  Tá Falado, as part of the Brazilpod project, provides learners of Brazilian Portuguese with podcast lessons showing pronunciation differences between Spanish and Portuguese.  Podcasts are built around dialogs that illustrate specific sound differences.  Users can download PDF transcripts and participate in weblog discussions for clarification of questions.  Additionally, all dialogs present cultural scenarios designed to show some of the differences between the U.S. and Brazil.  Faculty developer: Orlando Kelm.
• Conversa Brasileira
  Imagine video scenarios where people are interacting with each other. There are dialogs, questions, turn taking exchanges, clarifications, false starts, hugs, laughter, asides, just everything that makes up real conversations. Conversa Brasileira is a compilation of such scenarios, but enhanced by transcriptions, translations, and content analysis. Think of it like a sportscaster's analysis of a game or the director's commentary about a movie. The Conversa Brasileira lessons are built around the analysis of these videos, but they also include downloadable PDF files of the transcripts, translations, and notes and discussion blogs that allow the community of learners to help each other out with comments, questions, and suggestions. Conversa Brasileira fills a need for intermediate- to advanced-level learners of Portuguese. Faculty developer: Orlando Kelm
• Tex's French Grammar
  Tex's French Grammar (la grammaire de l'absurde) is a globally popular pedagogical reference grammar that combines explanations with surreal dialogues and cartoon images.  Originally built for students at the University of Texas at Austin as a user-friendly guide to French grammar, Tex's French Grammar may be profitably used by any learner of French, provided he or she possess a sense of humor.  The website's authoritative grammar content and humorous dialogs have been used (and appreciated) by thousands of students throughout the world; the project has succeeded beyond wildest expectations.  Faculty developers: Carl Blyth, Karen Kelton.
• User Comments
  Feedback from end users of TLTC instructional technology websites.