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Real talk: Authentic Texts without the Copyright Headache
- 1. REAL TALK Authentic Texts without the CopyrightHeadaches John Shelton Curriculum Developer DLIELC john.shelton.12@us.af.mil Picture: “Talk” / Moiggi Interactive / CC BY-NC 2.0
- 2. AMERICAN LANGUAGE COURSE •General English language training for non- native English speaking military partners • 34 Books over 6 Levels • Taught at DLIELC and partner nations around the world • In first two quarters of FY16, shipped over 20.5 tons of ALC curriculum valued at over $468K to 26 partner nations
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- 5. FISHING FOR TEXTS Picture:“Casting Net – Fisherman” / Clem.C / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
- 6. PUBLIC DOMAIN Picture: “Museumof Antiquity (1881) / Jeff / CC BY-NC-ND 2.
- 7. Photo by LanceCpl. Jesus McCloud
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- 12. FIELD VISIT Tiny TexasHouses
- 13. BARBECUE Picture: “Brisket” /Photo Harvest / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
- 14. THANKS! QUESTIONS? John Shelton Curriculum Developer DLIEnglish Language Center john.shelton.12@us.af.mil
Editor's Notes
- #2 Defense Language Institute English Language Section located at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio TX 3 sections: General English, Specialized English (Military ESP), Advanced English (teacher training) Typically have between 600 and 1,200 IMS (International Military Students) from over 100 countries Also provide English training for non-native English speaking Army Soldiers
- #3 ALC Currently in planning phase for 3rd edition Beginners (~0+) to High Intermediate (2/2+ threshold) ALC is a commercial product – sold to partner nations around the world – which creates copyright implications for the materials we use.
- #4 Levels I-V of the ALC relied heavily on constructed texts based around lists of new vocabulary words. All reading texts – no audio/video recordings For each lesson curriculum writers would get a list of 20-30 vocab words and phrases (taken from the 1st edition, as all objectives were) and find a way to write two or three presentations that used these words in context. Sometimes the words formed a cohesive lexical set, sometimes not. (Colleague had lesson on “Expressing Thanks”, with words like “compliment”, “praise”, “reciprocate” but also “duct”, “compressor” and “furnace”. She wrote dialogue where someone was very appreciative for help on HVAC system) Some of the only authentic (or semi-authentic) texts were timed readings in appendix Intensive reading approach. Almost all non-objective vocabulary had been taught in previous books. Only a handful of new words in each lesson (“receptive vocabulary”) were not explicitly taught and tested.
- #5 Level VI planning team decided to take a different approach – all authentic texts. Tried to minimize adaptations to the text – usually trimmed, occasionally reworded to mitigate difficulty Each book needed 8 lessons (~6 instructional hours/lesson) worth of inputs – text, audio and video (Book 34 had 3-4 inputs per lesson – mix of reading and listening) Books were arranged around a topic (American History, American Culture, Communication, the Environment) Teams of 4 for each book – Project Officer, Curriculum Developer, 2 teachers on loan (who had to go back to classroom mid-way through development)
- #6 Had a short training about selecting texts (appropriateness, ILR level, copyright status) and then began scouring the net No budget allocated to license material, tasked to find 100% free or public domain material Since ALC is sold, couldn’t use most Creative Commons materials (like in picture) My team (Book 34 – The Environment) did three rounds of material gathering. Discussed potential lesson topics (although topics had to be driven by type and quality of materials we found). Interpreted “the environment” to mean “the world around you” rather than just “green” topics. Home>Neighborhood>Military>Future (i.e. Virtual/Space Environments). Met, sorted through our findings, refined our topics, did another round of searches, rinse, repeat. Teachers were used to being able to claim fair use exemptions – not valid for a commercial curriculum like ALC.
- #7 Traditional idea about public domain – old stuff. “Tom Sawyer”, “Camptown Races”. Other books on US History/Culture used some of this (pictures, documents, etc.). Book 34’s topic (the Environment) didn’t lend itself to this type of PD material.
- #8 Even in Levels I-V, the ALC used a lot of material (mostly photos) from DVIDS (Defense Video Imagery Distribution System http://dvidshub.net). Produced by military = public domain DVIDS is a public relations operation run by the Army that supports all branches of the US military. Public affairs, combat camera content – hi-res images, video, news reports, audio recordings (podcasts, radio news), group publications Photos: Some great military themed pictures. With creative searching you can find pictures that are less obviously military – families, children, Toby Keith. Written news stories tend to be press releases – possibly useful, but often not terribly interesting. Lots about exercises, events, PSAs (which we did use). Video: speeches, briefings, B-roll, commercials/promos, newscasts, holiday greetings Audio: short (< 2 minute) radio reports, even the audio tour for national museum of the US Air Force Publications: newspapers from different organizations and bases. Everything from Army Corps of Engineers paper to the Tobyhanna Reporter (Tobyhanna Army Depot, Tobyhanna PA). Biggest problem is digging through them for interesting articles.
- #9 One great thing about DVIDs: public domain (or not) status is clearly marked so there are no doubts about the rights. PROTIP: If you find something you like that is of exceptional quality (photo, video, news report) -> Follow the creator. They’ve probably got lots more good work in DVIDS.
- #10 Another great source of PD material was government publications. Photos, blogs, youtube channels, pamphlets, podcasts, news reports, press releases Visited websites and looked for appropriate material Be careful – just being on a (dot)gov website doesn’t mean material is PD. Look for copyright info on page, in metadata
- #11 Example: in a previous book, found an official White House picture from whitehouse.gov for a caption reading exercise. From 2012 G8 conference: President, David Cameron, Angela Merkel and other world leaders watching Chelsea beat Bayern Munich in overtime during the Champions League final Since it was an official photo from WH, assumed it was PD, wrote an exercise around it. When finalizing the book, graphics department found out official White House photos claim a unique license. Not quite public domain – no commercial use. Had to find new picture and rewrite exercise at last minute. Always double check for copyright on web page (look in places like “about us”, “policies”, “for the media”). Some photos have embedded metadata (Right Click>Properties>Details tab).
- #12 One of the best sources we found for high quality, well-written articles of interest: military magazines. Soldiers (Army), Airman (AF), All Hands (Navy), Marines (Marines) Bonus – many of the articles had companion videos. Students could watch a video as an intro to topic, or read an article then see and hear the people they just read about. Also became a source of test items. In addition to these general magazines, some subgroups have their own magazines, e.g. Air Education and Training Command (AETC) publishes The Torch – promotes safety awareness. Lots of articles about safety mishaps – Aviation instructors in SE use these sometimes to generate discussions – “What should the pilot have done?”
- #13 Surefire way to be absolutely certain of no copyright issues is to create your own material. GE Curriculum had done photo shoots and written created texts, but Level VI was the first time we identified a source of content and did a field visit for an interview and photos. Brad Kittel, owner of Tiny Texas Houses. Buys old houses and barns scheduled for demolition. Negotiates to keep salvage which he uses to build tiny houses. Spent a morning there, took photos and videos, did hour long interview. Got enough material for most of a lesson and a few test questions. For photos or interviews, get a signed release.
- #14 One of the best parts of visiting Tiny Texas Houses – it’s located in Lulling, TX – home of City Market. Some of the best BBQ in Texas. Lunch.