In her article on keyboarding and the acquisition of diacritical marks in the foreign language classroom¹, Carolyn Gascoigne points out that "major events in the language teaching profession's past such as the communicative competence revolution, the ACTFL [Oral] Proficiency Guidelines, functional-notionalism, and the Standards for Foreign Language Learning, have encouraged writing teachers to pay attention to a student's thoughts, as well as his/her words" (899).  However, Gascoigne goes on to remind us that in the introductory language classroom, "...activities focusing on linguistic competence still constitute the majority of second language writing instruction and practice" (899).  

In my teaching, I find that one of the most difficult things for my students to master (and indeed it has been one of the most difficult things for ME to master), is the proper use of foreign language characters, i.e.: accents.  Gascoigne's article recounts her formal study of how, for a variety of reasons, learning to produce these accents properly "in a computerized environment" helped her students remember when to use them.  More importantly, she found that creating these characters correctly in the computerized environment was more effective than doing so with pencil and paper in facilitating this recall.

The purpose of this exercise, therefore, is twofold.  First, students of French, Spanish, and for that matter, other languages, can use it to improve their composition skills as Gascoigne would have them do.  The purpose I have added to the exercise, however, is to learn how to produce the accents in multiple computer applications, thus multiplying the recall effect Gascoigne examines.

This is a tutorial-style assignment designed for individual use, but it can also be administered as a supervised, group activity in a computer lab.  It should take 20 to 40 minutes.  To take full advantage of the assignment, the student or the instructor will need to provide or have the following made available: 

• A regular, Windows-based desktop computer (or a notebook computer with a regular 101-key keyboard attached). ²
• Some form of removable media (3-1/2" or 5-1/4" floppy, Zip disk, etc.).

I have designed this exercise to use three standard applications: "Notepad," whatever version of "Word" you have on the computer, and then whatever e-mail client is available to you where you are (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.).  You will also need to open my keystroke reference in a separate browser window, which I have designed this link to do for you.

NOTE: For maximum convenience and efficiency, you can print this exercise and the keystroke reference guide. This will allow you to work without having to manipulate so many application windows on the computer.

Exercise 1:

1. Open "Notepad" and, using the guide for Spanish characters under "Method 1" of my keystroke reference, compose one or more of the following Spanish words & expressions in the open document: "¡Qué será será!"  "Hablo Español"  "Escucho Radio Martí"  "¿Hay mucho bambú en Japón?" and "Soy bilingüe." Be sure you use the number pad on the right side of the keyboard. If it doesn't work, try turning on the "Num Lock" key.
2. Save the file to your removable media under the filename "Notas," but leave the file (and the program) open.

Exercise 2:

1. Open "Word" and, using the guide for French characters under "Method 2" of my keystroke reference, compose some or all of the following paragraph in French in the open document:  "Bonjour. Je m'appelle André.  Je suis français.  J'adore le théâtre, et ma pièce favorite est « Petit Papa Noël ».  Voilà Joëlle, une amie sénégalaise, et son ami Frédéric.  Frédéric habite sur la Côte d'Azur."³
2. Using the keystroke combination you just learned for the character "é" in Method 1, save the file to your removable media under the filename "Identités," but leave the file (and the program) open.

Exercise 3:

1. Open your e-mail application, and then address a new message to yourself.  Again, using the keystroke combinations you learned in "Method 1", in the "Subject" window, type "Hélène célèbre Pâques."
2. Cut and paste the contents of the two files "Notas" and Identités" into the message, and send it.
3. Close the open programs and remove your media from the machine.

Congratulations! You are now an expert at producing foreign language characters in a computerized environment!

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Notes:
¹Gascoigne Lally, Carolyn. "The Effect of Keyboarding on the Acquisition of Diacritical Marks in the Foreign Language Classroom."  The French Review 73.5 (2000): 899-907.

³Adapted from the "Passage Copied by Students," Appendix B (p. 904) of the Gascoigne article.