WELCOMEONCE YOU SIT DOWN, TAKE A MOMENT

TO FILL OUT A QUICK SURVEY

Quick Survey

For each set of statements, circle the letter before the statement that is more typical of you.

Example:

1. Thinking about events . . .

A. Faces and people’s appearance are easy for me to recall

B. Names, dates, and times are easy for me to recall

Episodic or Semantic? Activating ESL Learner’s Memory Potential

TESL-WW AGM, SPRING 2015Presented by Denise Redmond & Raveet Jacob

What teachers/students sayabout memory

T: We just studied this last week.

ST: I wish I could just draw everything I know about chemistry.

T: Do they remember that concept from last term at all?

ST: I study hard every night, but I can’t remember very much.

Why a Presentation on Memory?

To address needs of ESL students from a variety of cultural, educational, and experiential backgrounds – how they acquire language relates to memory use

To understand how the memory access process varies by individual

To increase memory access variety for language acquisition

To explore listening/speaking skills to activate/strengthen memory

Demonstrate different systems of long term memory

Find personal preference for Semantic or Episodic memory

Sort participants by memory style for teaching/learning tasks(workshop activities)

USING THE NEXT SLIDE, RECORD YOUR RESULTS.

Label each statement set S or E in the numbered boxes.

Why do the short survey?

Survey Results Numberedstatement

pairs

A. B.

1. Episodic Semantic

2. S E

3. S E

4. E S

5. S E

6. S E

7. S E

8. S E

9. E S

10. S E

11. E S

Do you think Episodic or Semantic memory use is more prevalent?

Results for Workshop 1:

Episodic preferred = 11

Semantic preferred = 5

Results for Workshop 2:

Episodic preferred = 7

Semantic preferred = 9

Episodic versus Semantic

Two primary systems are used in long term memory(defined by Psychologist Endel Tulving c. 1972)

The distinction:

“Whether the rememberer is aware of the learning episode…”(Kelley, Neath & Suprenant, 2013, p. 600)

Example:

When you think of Canada Day, you remember . . . - where you were and what you did on a specific Canada Day?- the date, general characteristics of the day, and its

importance?

From Episodic to Semantic

Repeated experiences typically become generic representations

This process of reducing connections is known as pruning

Pruning is necessary for speeding up memory retrieval by reducing the number of connections.

Steven Pinker on Use of Memory

“We humans place two very different demands on our memory system at the same time.”

“We have to remember individual episodes of who did what to whom, when, where, and why … that requires stamping each episode with a time, date and serial number.”

“But we also must extract generic knowledge about people, work, and how the world works.”

(Pinker, S., 1997, p. 124)

Features of the 2 Memory Systems

Raveet favoured inductive learning but developed a preference for deductive teaching when she studied

undergraduate math.

Memory system preference is both innate and acquired;it can be altered through experience.

EPISODICBig picture oriented – gets the gistAssociative – interrelation of partsChunks words – may miss syllablesDistinguishes – pattern separationImprovises – may skip rulesOften very visual – or hands onInquisitive & concrete – often present in STEM fields

SEMANTIC

Detail oriented – values precisionCategorizes – deductive reasoningPhonetically capable – spellingGeneralizes – pattern completionProcess oriented – follows the rulesEvaluative & abstract – in highly semantic fields, ie. communicationsEnjoys using abstract language

Memory preferences as Personas

Leonard Nimoy as Spock“…this unit is different; it is well-ordered”

(an alien commenting on Spock) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldezDyDDhRg

Lauryn Hill

Everything is Everything

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3_dOWYHS7I

How memory shapes input

NO HST

NOSHT

Denise’s son misread a sign in a store and started laughing. His reference point for interpretation was experience with peers versus taxation on goods.

How the input is interpreted (with memory) determines what the learner sees and how new information is stored.

What name do you actually see?

Poutine Pirouline

Auditory verification and contextual use of a wordwill help reinforce correct memory retention.

Extremes of Episodic v.s. Semantic Preferences and strengths for one memory system depend on the task

One system predominates in two extreme cases of brain organization.

Big picture orientedDetailed visual recall

Word chunking (omitting letters) Lateral associations

Expressive language use difficult,but handles metaphors well

Slower processing speeds

Procedural recall – processesPhonetic accuracy varies

Categorical, patterned thinkingLiteral use of precise terminology,but finds subtle meaning difficult

Rote memorization of factsRapid recall of factual info

(Williams & Casanova, 2010.)

Challenges Learningwith Episodic memory

Movement towards semantic abstraction in …

higher education

conceptual-technological fields

in English language generally

For instance, in the March 2015 quarterly update to the Oxford English Dictionary, 500 new words were added and include terms such as XLand white stuff.

(Oxford English Dictionary, 2015)

One advantage:Employers in progressive fields prefer employees who are creative, tangential thinkers (e.g. software, engineering, technology & research)

Williams & Casanova:Organization of Memory

Semantic MemoriesStacked, closely linked,

cortical connections Episodic MemoriesScattered data, reassembled

like jumbled puzzle piecesWilliams & Casanova, 2010

Challenges for Learningwith Episodic memory

Recollection of events can change over time.

For instance:

NBC newscaster Brian Williams recalled being in a helicopter over Iraq that was struck by rocket fire when, in fact, he was in a helicopter following the struck aircraft.

Psychologist Christopher Chabris on the Current (CBC Radio, Feb. 11, 2015) noted that episodes can easily be unintentionally reformulated.

Memory degradation occurs more often in Episodic versus Semantic memory systems – e.g. onset of memory loss with aging (Eide & Eide, 2012).

However, the Episodic system works best when the learner creates the context – not through memories/contexts of others.

Learning a random context can be a distraction (Eide & Eide, 2012).

The systems work best together

Semantic memory is activated during memory retrieval

Recall with episodic cuing helps learners assimilate past with present experience – more episodic cues aid retrieval

Recalling of episodes allows updating (pruning and elaboration)

New information is built with past information

Based on Research Report by Lehman, Smith and Karpicke, 2014.

Storedinformation

cue

cue

cue

Challenges for Today’sESL Instructors

Providing learning contexts that address both Semantic and Episodic memory activation

Encouraging learners to stretch their limits in applying less favoured approaches to remembering

Creating materials that are multimodal, authentic and engaging for topic salience

Reflecting with learners on what memory aids were applied in learning and why they failed or succeeded

Designing an Activity for both Semantic and Episodic learners

In your groups, brainstorm an activity you could use to teach your given teaching point to a class of semantic and episodic learners. You will have 15 minutes to discuss and record notes.

Consider:

(1) How does your activity address the needs of both a semantic and/or episodic learner?

See handout on Semantic/Episodic

(2) What instructions would you give your learners to guide them through the activity?

Possible activities for semantic/episodic learners:

(1) Presentation Skills: Teaching students the introduction portion of a presentation

Ss recount previous presentations/speeches they have given previously

Ss brainstorm good English-speaking speakers

OR show a few short clips of different presenters (Obama, TED Talk presenters, etc.)

Ss find out about a speaker’s background/career

_________________________________________________________________

Ss observe and categorize positive speaking features:

Teacher highlights organizational features of a speech/presentation give structure/procedure

Ss choose a familiar topic and practice preparing and delivering introductions in pairs.

Delivery Organization

What questions do you have?

Denise and Raveet thank you forparticipating in the memory workshop!

Please leave us your e-mail if you’d like a copyof the presentation sent to you.

References:Eide, B., & Eide, F. (2012). The Dyslexic Advantage. New York, NY: The Penguin Group.

Kelley, M., Neath, I., & Suprenant, A. (2013). Three more sematic serial position functions and a SIMPLE explanation. Memory Cognition, 41, 600-610. doi: 10.3758/s13421-012-0286-1

Lehman, M., Smith, M., & Karpicke, J. (2014). Toward an Episodic Context Account of Retrieval-Based Learning: Dissociating Retrieval Practice and Elaboration. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Learning, Memory and Cognition, 40(6), 1787-1794. doi: 10.1037/xlm0000012

Oxford English Dictionary. (2015) Retrieved April 7, 2015 from http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/march-2015-update/

Pinker, S. (1997). How the Mind Works. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.

The Current. (Feb. 11, 2015) (program host) Tremonte, A. M. Memories are malleable': Looking for truth behind false memory, CBC Radio.

Williams, N. E. & Casanova, M.(2010), Autism and dyslexia: A spectrum of cognitive styles as defined by minicolumnar morphometry. Medical Hypotheses, 74 (2010): 59-62.

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