Welcome to Minglesh!

Okay, so I've been thinking over the past few days about what we can do to really enhance the learning process beyond our regular Monday afternoon meeting times. Consider this blog an experimental first step toward that goal.

My purpose in setting up this blog is to encourage further discussion outside the traditional, face-to-face encounters we have. Nothing can replace live interaction, of course! However, I've done a little digging, and here are some of the real advantages for online discussions I've found (kind of boring research-y stuff, so skip toward the bottom if you don't feel like reading it):

Researchers frequently cite the computer's usefulness as:

(a)  a text-based medium that amplifies students' attention to linguistic form

(b)  a stimulus for increased written L2 [second-language] production

(c)  a less stressful environment for L2 practice

(d)  a more equitable and nonthreatening forum for L2 discussions, especially for women, minorities, and nonassertive personalities

(e)  an expanded access channel with possibilities for creating global learning networks.

(Source: Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Language Learning by Robert J. Blake, 2008)

So, in sum, I'd like this to be a place, another place, that all of us can visit frequently and openly to interact with each other, as the word "minglesh" indicates (minglesh = mingle in English ^.^). And, no, it's not in the dictionary, since I just made it up. But I think it encapsulates where I'd like to see us go with this project. If it works, it works; if it doesn't, we'll fix it so it does!

Happy posting! I'll come back a bit later to provide further details about how we can use the blog, but for now, poke around and always feel free to send me suggestions. :)