Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures college logo

| FL dept home | Majors & Minors | Faculty | Courses | SILP | Lang.Lab. | College Home |

LANGUAGE LAB SCHEDULE FALL 2006

The lab is frequently reserved during posted walk-in hours, for classes to do special projects-- Please check with the Department Secretary, 436-3409, to be sure the lab is free when you plan to come in.

(last modified 1 July 2008)

The Language Laboratory contains computers and multimedia facilities for the use of foreign language classes and students doing work for their foreign language classes. Students may request copies of required listening materials from the lab assistants or the department secretary, or may sit and use the materials in the lab itself.

See below for guidelines on using the lab and lab equipment

The Language Laboratory is located in room 302 of Schumacher Hall-- Come visit us!

time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
8:00
-9:00		 WALK-IN

 

 

 

image of lab

 WALK-IN WALK-IN

 

 

 

image of lab

 WALK-IN WALK-IN

 

 

 

image of lab
9:00
-10:00
10:00
-11:00
11:00
-12:00
12:00
-1:00
1:00
-2:00
2:00
-3:00
3:00
-4:00

GUIDELINES FOR USE OF LANGUAGE LABORATORY

* Walk-in use is not permitted when a class is using the lab. Please refer to the schedule posted above, and check in with the department secretary on arriving at the lab.

* No food or drink of any kind are permitted in the lab at any time; these must be left in the photocopy room until you leave.

* Downloading and/or accessing of copyrighted files without proper permission is illegal-- don't do it on our machines! This means no file sharing and no MP3 loading of copyrighted material. How do you know it's copyrighted? If it's for sale elsewhere, you should not be downloading it here for free!

TO RECORD ONTO AN AUDIOCASSETTE:
1. Check with the department secretary that the central command console is turned on. You do not need the computer: move the keyboard and mouse out of your way.

2. If your individual station is not on, press the "ATTENDANCE" button on the cassette console. If the console does not come on, alert the lab assistant or the department secretary.

3. Press down hard on the "EJECT" button to open the cassette player, and insert your audiocassette. Be sure you have wound the tape past the white leader tape-- otherwise your first few words will not record.

4. Put on the headset and make sure the microphone is in front of your mouth. Press the red "DRILL" button and say a test sentence. Press "STOP" when you are done. Do not press "record"-- that only records from the central command console, not from your microphone.

5. Rewind and listen to your test. Alert the lab assistant or secretary of any problems. Otherwise, proceed with your full assignment. Always listen to your recording to check for problems before handing it in. It's also good to cue your tape up to where your assignment begins, so your instructor won't have to search for it on the tape.

TO RECORD DIGITALLY TO A .wav FILE:
1. Check with the department secretary that the central command console is turned on, and log into the computer.

2. Open the "Sound Recorder" program by following these menu options: Start >> Programs >> Accessories >> Entertainment >> Sound Recorder.

3. Check the set-up of the program by following these menu options: Edit >> Audio Properties. In the dialog box, click on the Volume button in the section labelled Sound Recording to get a dialog box with three volume sliders. In this dialog box, "Line In" must be selected and the volume at full. Click OK on the dialog box to return to the program. Then check the set-up of the computer's sound system: there should be a yellow speaker-icon in the lower-right-hand corner of the screen, double-click on that to get a dialog box with five vertical volume sliders. In this dialog box, "Line In" must be muted. Then close the dialog box and return to the Sound Recorder program.

4. Put on the headset and make sure the microphone is in front of your mouth. Click on the round red Record button to start. Click on the rectangular black Stop button to stop recording. Click on the black triangle to play your recording back. Always listen to your recording to check for problems before handing it in. Alert the lab assistant or secretary of any problems. If you're unhappy with your recording and want to start over from scratch, follow these menu options: FILE >> NEW and choose to not save your old recording.

5. Save your recording by following these menu options: File >> Save As. In the dialog box, be sure to specify where you will Save In (to your floppy disk, to your 'P' drive, or to the Desktop as long as you delete the file before you log off).

6. Once you have saved your recording you can then send it as an email attachment like any other (to your professor, and/or to yourself if you saved it to the Desktop).

TO USE THE AUDIOPORTFOLIOS WEBSITE:
The Language Department subscribes to the Audioportfolios website, audioportfolios.com, in order to facilitate the submission of recorded assignments. To work with it in the language lab, follow these steps (your personal computer will probably have a different audio setup):

1. Check with the department secretary that the central command console is turned on, and log into a computer.

2. Check the set-up of the microphone (menus may vary slightly with versions of Windows):
NEW: There is a document on the desktop that shows the proper settings, as described here. First open the Volume Control icon on the desktop to check the 6-slider volume control (microphone should be muted here); and then open the Audio Devices icon on the desktop and follow menus >> Audio >> Sound Recording Volume to check the 3-slider controls (microphone should be selected but volume at 2 to avoid distortion).

3. Start Internet Explorer and go to the following URL: http://www.audioportfolios.com

4. Your instructor must give you the information you need to log into the program: your username, your password, and the Class ID number. On your first use of the program, you should read the "Documentation" file for an explanation of the program, by clicking the link below the login area.

5. When you have logged in, you will see a box to the left which will list your recordings when you have made them, a button beneath that box for creating new clips (i.e. making new recordings), and a button beneath that for updating your profile (i.e. changing your username and password).

6. When you click "New Clip", the boxes to the right activate. You can type in the top box to give your new clip a more descriptive title (best to title it with the assignment page or due date; clips are automatically time-stamped with the time and date of recording). In the box below the title you can write comments or explanations, or add a written part of the assignment.

7. To record, put on the headset and make sure the microphone is in front of your mouth. Click on the Record button (the round record symbol in the button will change to a rectangle) to begin recording; click again on the same button to stop the recording. Click on the Play button to listen to your recording. If you hear nothing, check the volume setup again, and/or the power on the console in the control room. YOU CANNOT RE-RECORD ONLY PART OF A CLIP-- if your clip is not the way you want your instructor to hear it, you must click Record again to re-record the whole thing (erasing the original version). If you want to keep the original version, just in case, then click New Clip and start a new one from the beginning.

8. Once you have completed your recording to your satisfaction, first click "Lock", which prevents any changes or accidental deletions of that clip. Then click the "Share" button-- that's how you give your instructor permission to listen to the clip, in effect that's how you turn your work in.

9. Don't forget to log off the site, and log off the computer when you're done.