Setting: A 3 hour Custom Language Services class for the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Middlebury Institute.

Learner Background: Three female adult L1 speakers of Chinese all of whom have at least Bachelor’s degrees and Advanced High levels of english. The students are currently in training to join the Taiwanese diplomatic services.

Previous Class: This is one of the final evolutions for the students, and over the course of their training they have been working on multiple competencies to include writing official communiqués, white papers, briefing skills, and using diplomatic and hedging language of certainty.

SWBATs:  Students will be able to:

1) Follow a series of written and verbal directives made by senior staff via a mobile platform

2) Use appropriate politeness formulas in official diplomatic electronic correspondence and in-person interactions with partner nation representatives

3) Summarize inter-departmental/agency situational reports using the “Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) technique of briefing

4) Use the appropriate hedging language of certainty (possible, probable, will likely, may, might, etc.) during briefings on developing situations of interest

Lesson background: In this lesson, the students will be responding to a simulated crisis as members of the Defense Liaison Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) in Honolulu, Hawaii. Students will use the mobile gaming platform “ARIS” to conduct the simulation via smartphone and tablet. In the days prior to the simulation, the Ss will all sign up for accounts on the ARIS website and download the application from the application store of their respective mobile devices’ operating systems. T also walks through all the functionality of the application to ensure all Ss know how to conduct each task required of them during the simulation.

Student’s receive the context of the scenario a day before the simulation (appendix A). Ss have been assigned to a Combined Emergency Response Task Force after a US warplane crash landed in the Strait of Taiwan. They have been sent to the headquarters US Naval Forces 7th Fleet in Pearl Harbor to be the liaison between local rescue efforts by the Taiwanese Coast Guard, and Commander Naval Forces 7th Fleet. The teacher plays the role of the Sr. US representative.

Phase/Time	Procedures	Materials (M) /Equipment (E)
Scenario begins	Ss receive first “plaque” from game based on location where players start. Plaque is a “text message”/“voicemail” from their American counterpart directing them to come into work because of new developments in the rescue operation (SWBAT 1). T can create a voicemail option and text message option depending on learner proficiency. Ss must physically relocate to their designated “Office” on campus.	Appendix B
At the Task Force Office	Ss arrive at the office where they meet with their US counter part who tells them the Sr. US rep wants an briefing on the situation in an hour. Sr. Rep wants a one slide overview of the situation to include incident location, rescue efforts, and status of the crew. T instructs Ss to check their email to see if they have any information. T says they must compile information on the rescue efforts (SWBAT 1). Ss check email. Email “plaque” is triggered based on their location in the office. Three separate email plaques show up: Cable from Counter parts explaining that Coast guard vessel suffered an engine casualty. Cause of the problem unknown, but the coast guard is sending out another vessel to assist. Vessel should be on station in 2 hours  Taiwanese Maritime Patrol Aircraft launched and reached crash site before turning around because it was low on fuel. Could not determine if there were any survivors. Weather report: rough seas, up to 3m swells. Will likely slow rescue operations. Delays from 1-2 hours expected. Teacher can drop 3 different emails to each different player or allow all of them to see each one. Sr. Rep tells Ss to call C7F to update the watch officer (SWBAT 1). Ss use “VTC” (Facetime/Skype) with C7F to provide updates to their watch officer (SWBAT 2, 3, 4). Watch officer is played by another CLS teacher or staff member, located in another area of the building. Watch officer instructs Ss to put all updates in “email” addressed to him and keep them informed of any updates (SWBAT 1,2).	Appendix C
Conflict	New plaque is triggered when Ss send update email to C7F. New plaque is email from Taipei asking Ss for more information about aircraft and crew. Rescue forces need as much information as possible. Ss contact T to ask about information on crew and aircraft. (SWBAT 2) T tells them to call Combined Task Force 72 Watch Officer for that information. (SWBAT 1) Ss must use “audio note” function on ARIS to leave a voicemail requesting that information. (SWBAT 2) Receipt of voicemail triggers new email from CTF-72 saying that they cannot release that information because they have not been authorized by C7F. Email directs them to contact C7F for authorization. Ss must call C7F watch officer again on the VTC and request information (SWBAT 1,2) Watch officer tells Ss that he wants to talk about it in person and to please send someone by the office so they can talk in person (SWBAT 1). T tells S to go talk to C7F but expect some push-back about the information. T tells Ss to make sure they communicate how important this information is for the rescue efforts and call T with an update from the office and leave a voicemail (SWBAT 1). Ss send representative to “C7F” located in the CLS offices or wherever the CLS staff member playing the C7F watch officer is on campus. Other students stay to work on slide.	Appendix D, Appendix E
C7F office	S arrives at C7F and meets with watch officer. Watch officer says that the information about the aircraft type and the number of crew is classified and can’t be released. S uses diplomatic language and politeness formulas to communicates how important the information is (SWBAT 2). The diplomatic language used and strategies for finding a work around will depend on how long it takes the CLS staff to agree. Watch Officer eventually agrees to send classified version. He tells S to return to the office and send an email to the Foreign Disclosure office requesting the information (SWBAT 1) Watch officer will make sure FDO approves request. S leaves voicemail for T.
Task Force Office	T tells S he didn’t have time to listen to his/her voicemail and to give him update about meeting at C7F (SWBAT 1, 3). T tells S to send email to FDO requesting authorization for information. Email triggers response with authorization and information. Response from FDO triggers email forwarded from US counterpart with all the information needed for the brief (location, time of crash, and that several emergency beacons have been activated) Ss finish compiling slide using information available	Appendix E
Briefing	Ss brief slide to Sr US Rep (SWBAT 2, 3, 4) Sr Rep is played by other CLS Staff member

Appendix A: Simulation Scenario

            You and your team are members of the Defense Liaison Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) in Honolulu, Hawaii. You have been assigned to a Combined Emergency Response Task Force after a US warplane crashed landed in the Strait of Taiwan.  You have been sent to the headquarters US Naval Forces 7th Fleet in Pearl Harbor to be the liaison between local rescue efforts by the Taiwanese Coast Guard, and the Commander of Naval Forces 7th Fleet. Your job is the provide support to American military commanders, as well as respond to requirements from your home office as needed

Appendix B: Text to Students to come into work

Hey Guys, I need you to come into the office as soon as possible. Boss wants an update on the crash.

Appendix C: E-mails from home Taipei

MESSAGE 1:

R 201050ZMAY15

FM ROC CGA

TO TERCO HONOLULU HI

INFO COMPACTFLT HONOLULU HI

C7F

COMPATWING 2

BT

UNCLAS //

SUBJ/ROC CG-126 ENGINE CASUALTY/ /

RMKS / 1. ROC COAST GUARD CUTTER CG-126 TIANAN HAS SUFFERED AN ENGINE CASUALTY 67NM SW OF KAOHSIUNG CITY, TAIWAN. CASUALTY ORIGIN IS UNKNOWN AND TAIWANESE COAST GUARD CUTTER CG-127 XINBEI HAS BEEN SENT TO ASSIST AND CONTINUE RESCUE EFFORTS OF DOWNED US PLANE. //

BT

#0001

NNNN

MESSAGE 2

R 201038ZMAY15

FM ROC CGA

TO TERCO HONOLULU HI

INFO COMPACTFLT HONOLULU HI

C7F

COMPATWING 2

BT

UNCLAS //

SUBJ/MARITIME PATROL SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSION FAILURE/ /

RMKS / 1. THE TAIWANESE MARITIME PATROL CRAFT SIKORSKY S-76 SENT TO PROVIDE SEARCH AND RESCUE SUPPORT TO THE DOWNED US PLANE HAS RETURNED TO BASE AFTER 4MIN ON STATION TIME DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.  SEARCH AND RESCUE CREW WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE STATUS OF AMERICAN CREW MEMBERS. STATUS OF FUTURE SAR ATTEMPTS UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME.//

BT

#0002

NNNN

MESSAGE 3

R 201059ZMAY15

FM ROC CGA

TO TERCO HONOLULU HI

INFO COMPACTFLT HONOLULU HI

C7F

COMPATWING 2

BT

UNCLAS //

SUBJ/METEOROLOGY REPORT STRAIT OF TAIWAN/

RMKS / 1. WEATHER CONDITIONS IN STRAIT OF TAIWAN LIKELY TO IMPACT RESCUE OPERATIONS OF DOWNED US PLANE. CURRENT SEA STATE: 3 METER SEA SWELLS AND NORTH EAST WINDS OF 18 MPH. CURRENT SAR MISSION BY ROC COAST GUARD CUTTER CG-127 XINBEI LIKELY DELAYED 2-4 HOURS.//

BT

#0003

NNNN

Appendix D: Email from ROC CG Liaison

You just received an email from the ROC Coast Guard HQ asking if you can provide the exact type of plane and number crew members on board during the flight. They need exact information so they can plan the rescue efforts appropriately.

Appendix D: Chat Message from CTF-72 Battle Watch Captain

CTF72_BWC: We just received your voicemail about the information you requested regarding the number of crew and type of aircraft involved in the crash. Unfortunately we do not have authorization to release that information to you at this time. Please contact C7F for approval

Appendix E: Email from C7F Foreign Disclosure Officer

R 201123ZMAY15

FM C7F FDO

TO TERCO HONOLULU HI

INFO COMPACTFLT HONOLULU HI

C7F

COMPATWING 2

BT

UNCLAS //

SUBJ/MARITIME PATROL SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSION FAILURE/ /

RMKS / 1. AIRCRAFT INVOLVED IN CRASH IN STRAIT OF TAIWAN IS A US-EP3 FROM KADENA AIRBASE IN OKINAWA, JAPAN WITH 24 CREW MEMBERS ON BOARD.//

BT

#0004

NNNN

R 201059ZMAY15

FM C7F

TO TERCO HONOLULU HI

INFO COMPACTFLT HONOLULU HI

COMPATWING 2

BT

UNCLAS //

SUBJ/MARITIME PATROL SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSION FAILURE/ /

RMKS / 1. AT 0700Z A US AIRCRAFT HAS CRASHED INTO THE STRAIT OF TAIWAN, 100NM SW OF OF KAOHSIUNG CITY, TAIWAN. AT LEAST 5 EMERGENCY BEACONS FROM THE CREW HAVE BEEN ACTIVATED. THE FULL STATUS OF THE CREW IS UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME.//

BT

#0003

NNNN

Lesson Rationale

            When designing lesson plans in other classes, my classmates and I have often been given the option to make up an imagined context or perfect world scenario. For this assignment, I wanted to break from that practice and design a lesson for students in a real-world context. Furthermore, after reading about the Mentira project in Pegrum (2014), I was inspired to create this lesson using the ArisGames software. The project reminded me of the simulations I went through as an intelligence officer in training, and I wanted to try and replicate those scenarios since I believed they engendered numerous opportunities for real-world, authentic language use.

            I chose to create a lesson for the local context of MIIS’ diplomatic English classes for the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs; their future profession as diplomats shares many elements of my former work as an intelligence officer. I met with the students to discuss how they envisioned using English professionally as I wanted to ensure that the lesson I created reflected the types of speech events the students would actually use (Graves, 2000).

            This conversation served as an informal needs analysis, and the students reported they would need English to 1) read, synthesize, and brief multiple and various types of texts to host-nation counterparts, 2) conduct senior staff level briefings on developing political situations, and 3) engage with host-nation counterparts regarding policy issues. Based on the results of this conversation, I used my previous professional knowledge and experience to determine an appropriate real-world context that would require students to perform these functions. Based on personal experience, I concluded  that a real-world crisis response scenario would enable the students to practice all three of these speech events across the three modes of communication as defined by ACTFL – interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational (ACTFL Performance Descriptors, 2012).

The crisis response scenario is also conducive to a task-based language teaching approach to instruction. Each of the speech events the students mentioned in the needs analysis is inherently task-like according to the definition of Ellis and Shintani (2014):

1. The primary focus should be on meaning.
2. There should be some kind of ‘gap’ (i.e. a need to convey information, to express an opinion or to infer meaning).
3. Learners should largely rely on their own resources (linguistic and non-linguistic) in order to complete the activity.
4. There is a clearly defined outcome other than the use of language (i.e. the language serves as the means for achieving the outcome, not as an end in its own right). (p. 135)

            Once I determined the context of the scenario and the types of speech events to include, I focused on how to implement the MALL component. The context of a crisis response scenario naturally led to a focus on MALL for creation (briefs, emails, slides) and MALL for communication (briefings, phone calls, emails) (Pegrum, 2014). Furthermore, according to Pegrum, these two MALL categories foster agency which will be essential to the student’s future work as diplomats.

            My lesson plan incorporated three of the MALL ecosystems: Acquisitional, Linguistic, and Sociocultural. However, these ecosystems naturally emerged as a result of the context I chose; I did not choose to design my lesson around them prior to choosing the context. With respect to the acquisitional ecosystem, the amount of interaction required for the simulation necessitates a large amount of language production. These exchanges will likely produce opportunities for noticing and negotiation of meaning which could potentially lead to the acquisition of targeted language forms (Ellis & Shintani, 2014). With respect to the linguistic ecosystem, students must mobilize their pragmatic knowledge when interacting with simulation participants in order to achieve certain communicative goals. Lastly, with respect to the sociocultural ecosystem, students must recognize and use the appropriate register when communicating with peers, subordinates, and superiors.

            I chose to use the ArisGames software because it enabled my lesson to truly be a MALL lesson and not merely a CALL lesson done on a mobile device. There are certain elements of the lesson that could be done via a computer, but the mobile nature of the geolocating software requires that the students use their cell phones to physically move about a space. Additionally, the ArisSoftware is only available on mobile devices, truly making it a MALL platform.

            However, if not planned carefully, the students risk performing all the tasks within the same space and ultimately turning the MALL lesson in one that requires no mobility at all. If my lesson were to fail in execution, I anticipate it would be in this regard. I will therefore ensure that I have created enough need for the students to move about the learning environment (building, campus, city etc.) and communicate remotely using their mobile devices. Certain tasks I have included in the lesson (e.g. leaving a voicemail) can be done within the same space as other students without issue as the interaction is with an absent agent – the computer system. But other tasks, like checking email, only require that the students use different devices in the same room. If students assign only one person to check email, the others miss out on a chance to communicate. I will mitigate this by ensuring that each student receives a separate email with different information, thereby forcing collaboration.

            In conclusion, I first designed my lesson and created appropriate lesson objectives using sound pedagogical theory, and then I incorporated the MALL component as as supplement. While there are certainly many moving parts to the lesson and many opportunities for the execution to fail, I believe that the benefits of a real-world context and numerous occasions to use language in authentic speech events makes this a lesson worth execution.

References

• American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. (2012). ACTFL performance descriptors for language learners. Retrieved from https://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/PerformanceDescriptorsLanguageLearners.pdf
• Graves, K. (2000). Designing language courses: A guide for teachers. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
• Ellis, R., & Shintani, N. (2014). Exploring language pedagogy through second language acquisition research [Kindle DX version]. Retrieved from amazon.com
• Pegrum, M. (2014). Mobile learning: Languages, literacies and cultures [Kindle DX version]. Retrieved from amazon.com