File

2013
Meziadi Malika
by Malika Meziadi
www.tagul.fr
[LEARNING LOG]
[ This learning log deals with my language learning process and my English language learning strategy. Firsly I
shall speak about childhood and how I relate to my mother tongue. Secondly I am going to talk about my first
classes and the persons I have met in throughout my learning process. Then, I’m going to explain how I have
been improving my English level month after month. As a conclusion, I shall evaluate myself as a self directed
learner.]
MASTER 2 IPFA
Mes différentes lectures m’ont permis de comprendre qu’apprendre, c’est acquérir de nouvelles
conduites et de nouvelles représentations d'objets permettant d'agir sur notre milieu ambiant et de
s'y adapter toujours davantage. Mais finalement j’ai découvert qu’apprendre c’est aussi une
relation aux autres…
Ainsi j’aborde ce document sous la forme d’un récit de vie qui permettra de comprendre mon
rapport à l’apprentissage des langues. Je souhaiterais montrer comment j’ai pu transformer
progressivement mes représentations et développer une stratégie d’apprentissage.
J’aborderai mes premiers apprentissages et ma socialisation primaire, puis, je parlerai de ma
stratégie d’apprentissage de l’anglais en Master 2 et présenterai quelques travaux réalisés dans le
cadre de cette année. J’utilise le mot « quelques » car l’apprentissage de l’anglais s’est fait tout au
long de l’année et souvent, il a été un moyen de réaliser d’autres travaux ;
1/ LANGUAGE LEARNING HISTORY
1.1/ My childhood and how I relate to my mother tongue.
Pour comprendre mon parcours, je crois qu’il est important de présenter le contexte dans lequel j’ai
grandi. Ne dit-on pas que le passé explique le présent et le présent construit le futur ?
Née en France, je suis fille de parents immigrés. Mes parents sont tous deux nés et ont grandi en
Algérie. Aussi, ma langue maternelle est l’arabe ou plus précisément l’algérien.
Mon père est venu travailler en France en 1970. A cette époque, celle-ci faisait appel à de la main
d’œuvre étrangère pour travailler dans les usines et accroitre la production. Ce passage a été pour
lui difficile, bien qu’il était très motivé à venir travailler et rejoindre mon grand père maternel. Il
découvrait un nouveau pays, une nouvelle culture, une nouvelle langue, là où beaucoup de choses
lui étaient étrangères… Mon père savait lire et écrire en langue arabe uniquement, il parlait
quelques mots de français.
Ma mère, très douée à l’école et intéressée par les langues savait lire, écrire et parler le français ;
elle a obtenu son CFG à la fin de l’école primaire, en Algérie. Elle a fini par le rejoindre quelques
années plus tard, avec leur première fille, ma sœur d e 4ans. Mon père nourrissait beaucoup
d'espoir en ses enfants. Il souhaitait que nous réussissions à l'école. Et pour les instituteurs à
l’époque, parler arabe à la maison était un frein à l’apprentissage et à l’intégration des enfants. Il
était alors normal de parler français à la maison. Pourtant nos parents se parlaient en arabe, c'est
seulement avec elle qu'ils utilisaient la langue française.
Et puis nous sommes arrivés, les 4 autres, et il n'y avait aucune raison de changer les habitudes qui
s'étaient durablement installées, nous écoutions les parents parler arabe à la maison, et s'adressant
à nous en français, nous avons donc appris à parler en français et à comprendre l'arabe dialectale.
Je crois que le goût de l’apprentissage me vient de mes parents et de ma sœur aînée… Ma mère,
regrettant de n’avoir pas eu la possibilité de poursuivre des études secondaires a suivi avec
attention notre scolarité ; elle s’est investie en tant que parent délégué afin de veiller au bon
déroulement de nos études; Quant à mon père, il n’a pas cessé de progresser et d’apprendre la
langue française avec les cours d’alphabétisation dispensés à l’usine. Ma sœur aînée m’aidait dans
mes devoirs et m’apprenait chaque jour un nouveau mot en français parce que selon elle « plus on
a de vocabulaire et plus on est libre de penser » Nous avons également appris à lire écrire l’arabe à
l’école. Apprendre à l’école a été une affaire de famille. Aujourd’hui je suis curieuse de tout et
apprendre me nourrit […]
1.2/ My first English language classes and the persons I have met in throughout my
learning process.
(…)
1.3/ When I enrolled in university for the Master in engineering design for adult
learners : my English language strategy.
J’ai souhaité poursuivre ma formation dans le domaine des sciences de l'éducation pour développer
savoirs et savoir-faire dans le domaine et élargir mes débouchés professionnels.
Lorsque je me suis orientée vers le Master 2 IPFA, en mai 2012, j’ai découvert qu’il y avait dans le
programme des cours d’anglais. Une partie de moi était ravie de pouvoir apprendre une langue qui
m’intéresse beaucoup, une autre partie appréhendait beaucoup le retour en classe, la peur de me
tromper, le manque de confiance qui me freinent dans la spontanéité.
Je continue à avoir une activité professionnelle cette année, d’une part parce que j’adore mon
travail et d’autre part pour financer mes études et pouvoir subvenir à mes besoins. Ainsi, je prends
la casquette de prof du lundi au jeudi et celle d’apprenant du vendredi au samedi. Là encore
j’apprends beaucoup, et au-delà même des contenus. J’ai beaucoup changé ma pédagogie depuis
que je suis à la place de l’apprenant.
Il y a bien des avantages à cette double casquette :
J’ai développé l’accompagnement entre les cours et la présence à distance. Proposé des liens (vers
des vidéos, documentaires, articles…) avec lesquels les élèves peuvent consulter pour enrichir leurs
connaissances entre les cours. J’ai privilégié les échanges pendant les cours et me suis placée en
accompagnatrice en favorisant les travaux de groupes et les feedbacks individuels.
La limite étant qu’à quelques moments les emplois du temps se chevauchent. C’est ainsi que je n’ai
pas pu participer à deux cours d’anglais.
2/ MY LEARNING LOG
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER :
 Philippe Carré gave us a text which dealt with an engeineering designer’s issue. The questions
were : how can an engeineering designer propose a good training device which suits all the pilots.
Where could we propose training to these airlines pilots who want to improve their skills but who
are always on the move? When could we propose training and take into account their break?
We had few minutes to read the text and think about these questions. At the first reading, I didn’t
understand the meaning of the word, the sentences, the text. Indeed the technical vocabulary was
so difficult for me and that frightened me…Honestly, I thought I was stupid and I called my skills into
question. Rebecca, who is fluent in English, explained to me the meaning of this text. Then we were
able to go into depth and answer the issue raised. But I told myself that the English courses would
be awfully difficult for me.
 My friends are movie fans, so I took this opportunity to improve my knowledge of cinema and
of course my oral comprehension skills.
I started to watch English version movies on TV with him. I discovered “the dictator” with Charlie
Chaplin. Normally, I watch movies in French because it is easy for me to work or do something else
at the same time. This is why at the beginning I was not really happy to stay in front of TV and had
to be concentrated for a long time. But afterall, I relished taking time to watch this original version.
From now on, I will always watch movies in original version…
 I had to do a presentation about Malcolm Knowles, his life and his theories. I came across an
interesting site which deals with Malcolm Knowles’s biography. We can see it at the following
address :
http://infed.org/mobi/malcolm-knowles-informal-adult-education-self-direction-and-andragogy/
So, in my first reading I was surprised because I was able to understand a few words in this text. I
tried to understand the meaning of the text using my dictionary and It was a long process. That took
me a lot of time. But at the end of the day I finally managed to translate it and wrote thirteen pages.
JANUARY :
 I was not able to go to my first English course at Nanterre university because on saturday 26 th,
January, I was in charge of organising a “career counselling” forum at my school whose date had
been set in June 2012. The forum aims at making pupils meet former pupils and discuss about their
student experiences.
I sent an e-mail to Solveig Oudet to contact my English teacher and ask for the homework to do to
be able to follow the course. My classmate gave me a text to read and many links to discover
different English learning methods
I printed the « English vocabulary organizer» document to make some exercises at home for the
following weeks. I’m disappointed, I didn’t do these exercises regularly. But now I have the book
and I woud like to do some more exercises for fun.
FEBRUARY
 On the first of February, I met a Sherbrooke university student at Nanterre university, she is
called Stephanie Laflamme. We talked about our university experience in French and we exchanged
our facebook addresses. So I now follow her publications in English.
 Friday, February 15th : I attended my first English class and discovered a new way of learning.
The teacher was so dynamic, generous and motivated to share his experience and skills. He was so
caring and willing the best to us. This course was entirely in English. I was surprised because I was
able to understand him easily. However, I wasn’t able to speak and express my ideas in front of the
class and I was amazed to notice how the other students felt comfortable.
That day I learned a lot as a student but also as a teacher in training…
The teacher suggested we speak about our last week-end. For this exercise we were a team of
three. I really appreciated this activity as we exchanged with one another. I felt the need to write
my sentences before speaking : “we went to Honfleur and Deauville two weeks ago. Honfleur is a
nice town and you can see in the street different paintings. In Deauville, we went to the casino and
we lost 2 euros. It was near an old woman who won a lot of money. The slot machin had been
ringing for a long time. But we assume that she had been playing for a while…” The others helped
me to find my words and I did the same for them.
After this first part of the course, the teacher made us debate pedagogy. I had many ideas as it is my
favorite topic…And finally I didn’t dare to say a word…I would like to be more self confident…
 Then I began to watch movies on theater district which distributed original version movies. For
example this year, I watched some very interesting films especially from an inspirated young movie
maker Michael Shannon. Its two films, “Take Shelter” and “Mud”, take place in the South of the
United States (in the Mississipi area) and describe very well the atmosphere of this area. During the
movie, the accent was pretty difficult to understand but the expression was quit simply. So I
realized in the middle of the movie I was able to translate expression without looking at subtitles. I
think my ears became accustomed to the accent and of course the story made me improve my
understanding.
 But later, another experience was more difficult with the new Tarantino’s movie : Django
Unchained. There were a lot of very fast dialogues in this film, which is typical of Tarantino’s style.
So here I need to read the subscripts to understand all the storie. But doing that during two hours
and a half, I realized that I learnt some American expression which can be very useful in another
discussions. The best way to improve our oral comprehension is to always be in an English
environnement even if we have difficulties understanding. I learned that the first step is to adapt
our brain and ears to another language, the second one is to translate each expression with a
dictionary (in real time if it’s possible) to increase our vocabulary. Watching movies in English is a
very perfect situation to experience the second step with pleasure. If we wanted to ignore shyness
we have to speak a lot even if we have a poor vocabulary. This obviously developps the English
learning.
 I began to translate my favourite songs. For example “unfaithful” or “Stupid in love” of Rihanna,
« Bang Bang » of Nancy Sinatra. I used to listen to these tunes but I never did take time to pay
attention to the lyrics. Afterall, regarding some songs, it would be better for me not to translate the
lyrics to keep listening to them, and simply enjoy the rhythm...
MARCH
 Saturday, March 23rd : I was unable to attend my English courses. Indeed, I had to be at work in
my School this time again. I was really disappointed because I was so interested in seeing my
classmates’ presentations. there dealt with current facts like « gay and lesbian marriages » .
Claudine told me that it was very interesting and made them learn a lot.
During this month, I made several English exercises and I kept watching movies in original version.
APRIL
 Saturday, April 6th : I discovered that I had to choose an article related to pedagogy and a book
to read in English… I hadn’t choosen any article for the English teacher yet and I felt uneasy about
it. I wasn’t conscious I had already read some articles for me to get information in engeineering
design and to develop my skills in computer technology such as Lime survey or several serious
games. Today I realize I learned without awarness and it also matters.
During this course, the teacher made us debate pedagogy and the famous “learning by doing” by
John Dewey and also on the “self efficacity” of Bandura. I had many ideas …And one more time I
didn’t dare to express them…I would really like to be more self confident and speak fluently.
J’aurais voulu dire que l’expérience est importante à l’apprentissage et qu’il ne peut être que
complémentaire. Qu’à mon avis, l’expérience peut être une base pour initier un questionnement ou
une démarche mais que la réflexivité est très importante pour conceptualiser puis transposer une
notion. Ce qui me fait penser à « l’apprentissage expérientiel » de Kolb.
Nous avons également parlé du sentiment d’efficacité personnel et du rapport que nous
entretenons avec nos compétences et nos capacités. J’ai l’intime conviction que le pédagogue n’est
pas celui qui nous apporte un savoir mais nous apprends à nous servir de nos ressources et à nous
développer…et quelques fois, cela peut passer par une aide dans la confiance en soi.
 I also read an extract from “Mindsets” written by Carol Dweth (chapter 1 and 2) and even if the
reading wasn’t easy for me, I tried to understand the general meaning of these extracts and had
bought this book to go into depth…
MAY
 I have more and more work to do and when my boyfriend is watching English movies, I don’t
even have the time to read the subtitles. And amazingly I understand…
I have to build a website for the IPFAsso organization. Murielle advised me to choose Wordpress. I
had no idea about it, but I trust her and I think it will be useful so I thought it could be easy for me
to learn how to do it by myself even if the website is all in English (the pluggins and widgets
description). It took me a lot of time to understand the process and how to build this website. This
website can be visited on : www.ipfasso.org
I decided to read “the little prince” which was advised by Fabrice and his wife Wafâa. According to
him, Katherine Woods respected the whole thinking of Antoine de Saint Exupery with her English
translation. I was surprised because I always thought that English and French belonged to different
worlds. Today I can say that No matter the language in which you express your ideas, you
understand them because they are universal.
 I had to make a part of training device which deals with"teatching perspectives" and adult
education. I needed some information about an article written by my English teacher. Here is an
opportunity for improving my English language. So I sent him an email in English but now I realize
that I made few mistakes in this text :
“Hello Stephen,
I had to make a part of training system which talk about deals with"teatching perspectives" and adult
education.
I need some informations some pieces of information about an article you wrote and I send you an email in
English to develop my practice improve my English (or practice my English). I read "articuler dispositifs de
formation et dispositions des apprenants " which was written with by Genevieve Lameul, and on page
eighteen, you talk about four strategies "stratégies discursives dominantes". Overall, I can understand what is
the meaning of these strategies is: "transmission" , " questions", " transaction", "transformation" but I want
go into depth of to learn more about this theory and would like to understand the theoretical context, to take
these strategies into account in (order to achieve finish correctly) my module ( if I may pick these an
examples of course).”
I took a lot of time to write this email ( One hour) and I was very proud. Now I notice that, at that
time I had to learn more…
 During my training, I went to the international “colloque e-education”. A seminar in which many
experts in engeniering design participate. I met Terry Anderson who created the MOOC (Massive
Open Online Courses). I had a great pleasure to discuss and exchange a little with him and his wife.
As usual, I had lost my words but I was proud to dare to speak in English with a native English
speaker and amazing expert even if I was unable to deeply debate pedagogy.
He did a conference about the MOOCs. We could use an audio translator and I chose to listen to his
presentation in original version and read his powerpoint document. I Wrote few words in my
notebook to search for their definitions later in my dictionary : assignments , disruption (rupture,
changement de paradigme), scale (graduation), pace (rythme)… It was very instructive to read and
listen at the same time.
From now on, I will definitively choose to watch movies in their original versions and read English
subtitles.
During this seminar, I created an twitter account to follow his news and I came accross an
interesting article that he twitted : an open letter to Daphne Koller, co-founder and co president of
Coursera and professor of computer science at stanford University by Robert Meister…It deals with
his opinion about the real aim of the “free” MOOCs for the student, and the way some American
universities use this solution. He called into questions the equality of chances to access to
knowledge with MOOCs. This text was difficult to understand because the sentences were complex.
That’s why I asked Wafâa to help me to understand this article. She also read it several times before
understanding the meaning of the text. We exchanged and shared some understandings related to
the article. And it was a great learning moment.
JUNE
 I finished reading the little prince. I often used the dictionary to understand the first pages, but
step by step the reading became easier…
I have already found my next books : The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time written by
Mark Haddon and mindsets by Carol Dweck.
 I also sent a new e-mail, with fewer mistakes…
“Hello Stephen,
Firstly I would like to thank you for your answer. The link you sent to me was so interesting.
Secondly I would like to tell you that we'll make a short movie on Friday, june 14th between 12H:30 and
13h:30.
So if you are interested to participate in this project you are welcome and we would be happy.
You can see the "storyboard" on this link :
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vgMAbIak3fABpP4s2l3a9vrLR2SWKZToktF9t2F0yvU/edit?usp=sharing
And if you want to have a vision overview of the kind of short movie , you could see have a look at another
else one made with my colleagues last year :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZf59NdDo54”
but I have to learn more and more…
I realized that I learned without being instinctively aware and this learning log gave me the
opportinity to understand my way of learning and my English learning strategy.
3/ SELF-ASSESSMENT
Souvent j’ai appris l’anglais parce que c’était un moyen pour moi d’apprendre de nouvelles choses,
de réaliser une activité qui nécessité des lectures en anglais, ou encore d’aller vers les autres. Ceci
semble s’apparenter à la théorie de la directionnalité et de l’autodéveloppement de Nuttin (1991).
En étudiant les processus motivationnels, Nuttin conclut qu’individu commence avec un besoin qui
génère une motivation qui cherche à s’incarner dans un moyen/fin devenant un but qui peut faire
partie d’un plan plus vaste, autrement dit, d’un projet et amène la notion de volition. Fabien
fenouillet présentera, sur son site www.lesmotivatons.net une représentation intégrée de la théorie
de la motivation selon Nuttin :
Représentation intégrée de la théorie de la motivation humaine (d’après Nuttin, 1991)
Fabien Fenouillet http://www.lesmotivations.net/spip.php?article60
P=Prédiction
D=Décision
S=stratégie
Motif primaire = besoins
Motif secondaire= Buts/projet
Discrépance= non congruence
(correspondance non exacte entre
l'expérience et la prise de conscience,
motivation implicite et explicite, le standard
psy inné et acquis )
Il expliquera que « Lorsqu’un sujet, en état de besoin, éprouve ce besoin sous la forme concrétisée
d’un acte précis à exécuter à l’égard de tel objet, la voie qui mène à cet objet est quelque chose de
plus qu’une information ou un lien associatif. Elle concrétise le besoin même (…) l’acte en question
n’est plus un simple moyen parmi beaucoup d’autres pour atteindre une catégorie d’objets/buts ; il
est devenu le besoin même » (Nuttin, 1991, p. 232-233). Je me retrouve très bien dans ce
processus.
Aujourd’hui je trouve très agréable de regarder des films en anglais et de pouvoir lire cette langue.
Je trouve que cela ouvre l’esprit et me rend plus ouverte à d’autres logiques.
Cette année, j’ai appris plus qu’une langue ou un contenu... J’ai beaucoup appris sur moi et sur mes
essentiels. J’ai compris que pour avancer, j’avais besoin qu’on me fasse confiance, et d’être dans un
environnement bienveillant. J’ai aussi appris que le sentiment d’auto-efficacité personnelle était
une composante essentielle de l’apprentissage. J’en ressors grandie pour mon apprentissage de
l’enseignement. Je pense aux facteurs de conversion étudiés par Solveig Oudet et la notion de
capabilité. Ceux là même qui permettent à l’individu d’utiliser ses ressources internes et/ou
externes et développer ses capabilités en vue d’un accomplissement. A terme les facteurs de
conversion peuvent devenir des ressources pour l’individu...
La confiance, la tolérance, mes représentations des langues, mon sentiment d’auto-efficacité, ma
motivation et mon agentivité ont joué un grand rôle dans mon apprentissage des langues. Les
rencontres l’ont également beaucoup influencé. Elles ont fini par me réconcilier avec les elles.
There is still a long way to go and I have much more to learn. But my will to discover the world,
the others and my curiosity make me move forward. This is why I may define myself as a self
directed learner.