Listening to many voices: Social Justice Themes and Technology in Developing Hindi Listening Proficiency

Abstract

This paper examines the use of authentic materials related to social justice topics through two technology platforms—VoiceThread and PlayPosit—in developing listening proficiency for Hindi in flipped/asynchronous and traditional classes. Examples of different types of activities and assessments will be demonstrated for each platform. These examples will be considered in light of current research in effective strategies for listening activities and assessment. This paper will also consider how to select relevant content and tasks based on ILR/ACTFL proficiency-based standards. Suggestions and examples will be offered for various levels and their use in a standard university Hindi curriculum. These considerations will be drawn from the author’s experience as a team member in a project to develop Hindi proficiency guidelines for a listening assessment tool that is being developed as a companion to the OPI assessment.

Keywords

• listening assessment
• technology
• hindi pedagogy
• flipped class
• online class
• remote learning
• asynchronous class
• voicethread
• playposit
• social issues