Event Date
LOCATION: 53A
Second-language acquisition experts agree that increasing vocabulary size is a curricular priority, especially in non-cognate languages such as Arabic. The commercial market offers a host of solutions, but none of these programs addresses the crucial issue of long-term lexical retention. In this presentation, we will demonstrate the use and benefits of eyeVocab for Arabic language study with supporting outcome data from the UC Davis Arabic Program, the Berkeley City College Arabic program, and U.S. State Department´s Critical Language Program in Tunis. EyeVocab´s combined use of images, sound, anecdotes, and keyboarding makes it an ideal approach to foster vocabulary growth and retention.
Mr. Miles Becker began his pursuit of world languages studying Russian at Reed College. He travelled widely, spending a year in Spain. After a number of years working for Outward Bound he was hired at the Athenian School in Danville, and developed a model outdoor education program there. Returning to U.C. Berkeley, he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in Spanish. His interest in early medieval Spanish literature led him to study Arabic, in a first year intensive course at the University of California in Berkeley and a second year intensive course at the University of Texas, Austin, followed by a number seminars in Arabic literature. His language background includes a fellowship at the U.C. Berkeley Language Center. He taught Spanish at U.C. Berkeley and independent schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he produced the first version of eyeVocab, and since then has been dedicated to expanding the number of languages covered and improving the power of the method In 2012 he moved to Winters, California, and since then has been involved in various projects at U.C. Davis, implementing eyeVocab in Arabic, Latin, and Spanish.