Language Learning Center Facilities
Turlington 1341 lab
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Turlington 1317 (open use)
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Little Hall 215 & 225 (class use only)
For reservations or information, call 392-2112.
Turlington 1341 lab
- The Turlington 1341 lab seats up to 30 students at computer stations.
- Students face the instructor in sound-dampening booths.
- The digital version of a traditional language lab, with software that emulates the "teacher console" and "student cassette player," allows the use of a wide variety of materials.
- All the headsets are linked to each other and can be set to allow various types of paired or grouped communication.
- Software includes Tell Me More Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic, as well as MS Office, browsers, and the Sanako lab system.
- There is no printer.
- All computers see the Crossroads directory, and can open files from or save files to selected folders.
- Instructors listen in on what students are doing and can intervene to correct or help with pronunciation, etc.
- The instructor can play for the students recordings on cassette tape, VHS (foreign as well as US standard) or DVD or CD. (Many, though not all, websites with audio or video can also be accessed in the lab.) There is no way to project an interactive CD-ROM, however.
- Any audio, video, or text that needs to be manipulated by the students should be digitized or otherwise prepared for class use (allow 24-48 hours if you need the lab to digitize or create webpages from your materials).
- Digitized audio or video can be altered for viewing in the lab by the addition of textual "subtitles" (for example, with blanks to be filled in by the students). Students can also be assigned to subtitle video clips.
- Instructors can also pair students for role-playing or information gap "telephone" activities or for collaborations. A system allows the instructor to distribute complementary materials to half the students at a time.
- Instructors can create folders on the Crossroads directory and use them to distribute powerpoints or documents for viewing on individual screens. A digital camera also allows projection of documents to student screens.
- Students can record their voices while listening to a "master" recording, or simply by pressing the Speak button on the Sanako interface. They can work on transcribing digitized audio or video. The software allows the recording of dialogues between students sitting anywhere in the lab.
- Students or teachers will need to request copies of the recordings if they wish to keep the recording.
- Testing: a speaking/listening test can be administered either from a pre-recorded audiocassette or from the instructor's own reading of instructions or questions. The examinee recordings will be automatically collected and can be rated in the lab or taken away on a USB drive for rating at the instructor's leisure.
- Instructors using the lab may request to have a course home page linked to the lab home page. The lab home page also links to sub-pages with language-specific links, and recommendations for additions and changes on these pages will be given immediate attention.
Turlington 1317
- Turlington 1317 now has 13 computers for walk-in use.
- The software available is similar to that in the Little Hall labs, and the computers are linked to the Crossroads Directory. Therefore, students can use these computers for homework or other assignments based on classes in Little, in Turlington 1341, or in a conventional classroom. There is a printer available for FL compositions only.
Little Hall 215 & 225
Policies and Procedures in Little Hall
- The Little Hall labs were designed by CLAS in 1996 to provide special support for language instruction, including networked language-specific software, wordprocessing and netsurfing using non-Western fonts, and strong multimedia support. The hardware and software was updated in 2006-7.
- Little 225 & 215 each seat 30 students at computers, with stations set up so that students face the walls when computing. Students may also sit at tables, which instructors may rearrange as they wish. The instructor station is equipped with a projector, with a visualizer (electronic camera/overhead), VCR and DVD player.
- All the student computers have headsets with microphones.
- The labs are equipped with printers.
- All computers see the Crossroads directory, and can open files from or save files to selected folders. Students and instructors can also access these files from the Turlington labs.
- The lab build includes Sanako Media Assistant, Yoruba textbook CD, MS Office, and various audio recording/playback programs such as Praat and Audacity..
- Little 215 has a videoconferencing unit.
- These rooms are used only by classes, that is, students accompanied by an instructor. The rooms are locked and protected by a security alarm when no class is in session.
- Instructors using the lab should request to have the course home page linked to the lab home page. The lab home page also links to sub-pages with language-specific links, and recommendations for additions and changes on these pages will be given immediate attention.
- Instructors who wish to add new software or other capabilities, even free ones, should alert the Language Learning Center staff at least 6 weeks before the beginning of the new term.
