Carla Meskill
State University of New York at Albany
State University of New York at Albany
ABSTRACT
Active communication with others is key to human learning. This straightforward premise currently undergirds much theory and research in student learning in general, and in second language and literacy learning in particular. Both of these academic areas have long acknowledged communication's central role in successful learning with the exact intricacies of instructional conversations and the forms these take having been the focus of close analysis (Cazden, 1988; Gee, 2001; Nystrand, Gamoran, Kachur, & Prendergast, 1997; Tharp & Galimore, 1991; van Lier, 2000). In this examination of computer-supported classroom discourse, specific forms of instructional conversation employed by a veteran elementary teacher of beginning-level English language learners (ELLs) are examined. The focal teacher orchestrates instructional conversations around computers with children whose immediate needs are to learn the English language, specifically the "language of school" and the concomitant social complexities implied in order to participate in mainstream instructional activity. With these goals shaping language and literacy activity, their ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) teacher makes use of the computer to capture, motivate, and anchor learner attention to, and render comprehensible the target language they hear and see on and around the computer screen. The anatomy of the activity she orchestrates around the computer and the language she uses to support it -- labeled here as triadic scaffolds -- are the focus of analysis. Forms and functions of triadic discourse (teacher, learner, computer) are examined for their potential unique role in second language and literacy instruction.
INTRODUCTIONComputer technology is being widely used in classrooms as a means of supporting instruction. Concurrently, much attention in the education research community has focused on instructional technologies generally and more particularly on the critical role of contexts of use; that is, the situational features and verbal instructional dynamics that can accompany computer use (Garner & Gillingham, 1996; Kumpulainen, 1996; Lankshear & Snyder, 2000; Meskill, Mossop, & Bates, 1999; Wegerif & Mercer, 1996). This analysis examines the communicative dynamics of an experienced English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) teacher working with her students around computers. My interest here is to present particular patterns of instructional discourse that are at once (a) making distinct referential use of the physical features of the computer and (b) accomplishing second language and literacy activity in ways that make good pedagogical sense. In this case, the guiding notion of good pedagogical sense is rooted in what Gee (2000) points to as critical elements of effective literacy instruction: a "judicious mixture" of (a) learner involvement in their language and literacy learning ("immersion in a community of practice"); and (b) instructional language ("overt focusing and scaffolding…[to] focus learners on the most fruitful sorts of patterns in their experience") that supports learner acquisition of a community's practices (p. 5-6). This analysis of instructional conversations around computers is an attempt to closely detail and explicate such mixtures in action.
The Language of School
The number of children in U.S. schools for whom English is their second language is nearing five million and growing. While ELLs are expected to master the English language, they are also expected to learnacademic content in the very language they are in the process of learning. In short, their instructional needs are multiple and complex. Language is, after all, essential to virtually all aspects of daily life. It is key to improving one's lot and imagining different worlds. Likewise, schools are brimming with language: lectures, directions, advice, admonitions, facts, fantasies, and dissings. It would be difficult to disagree with the notion that something as critical and pervasive as language should be featured and so treated in schools. Yet the trend has traditionally been for language to be treated as a given, a prerequisite -- not as essential to all learning (Schleppegrell, 2001; Short & Sherris, 2004; Snow & Wong-Fillmore, 2002). Moreover, "organizational structures in schools give or deny students access to an apprenticeship to the discourses of academic success" (Gebhard, 1999, p. 551). Nonetheless, children need language that provides access to the practices of their various communities (Lankshear & Knobel, 2003).A characteristic of at-risk learners -- both native and non-native speakers of English -- is that they may not be communicatively equipped to engage the everyday scripts of school-based activities, activities for which most middle class, "mainstream" students have been prepared since birth (Delpit, 1995; Gee, 1990, 2000; Heath, 1983). Rather, children come to school versed in the experiences of their homes, their families, and their home culture -- cultures comprised of complex ways of knowing and communicating -- where what Bloom calls a "theory of mind" is firmly established as a foundation on which children's native communicative repertoire is formed at a young age through social interaction with others. This is accomplished through observing parents' and peers' ways of understanding, talking about, and being in the world (Bloom, 2001; Bruner, 1996). How a child's home and community understand and communicate about the world and how this is manifest in U.S. school culture can be quite dissimilar (Cazden, 1988; Heath, 1983; Michaels, 1981; Soto, 1997).Recent recognition that mastering language use is first and foremost a social process that involves humans relating to one another in effective and productive ways has taken precedence over older notions of language as a body of knowledge that can be broken down into discrete pieces and taught accordingly (Lantolf, 2001). When learning the first, or native language children actively learn the ways of knowing, talking about, and doing the world by working out the intentionalities of those around them. Learning a second language can be viewed as comprising similar processes. The human imperative to work out the intentionalities of others is central to a child's development of a theory of mind -- an essential understanding of the self in the world -- that accounts for the ways language connects with the immediate social context. With a foundational understanding of language learning as a social/contextual process that benefits from opportunities to interact with others (van Lier, 2000; Wilkinson & Silliman, 2000), language teaching professionals typically engage students in activities that make what learners see and hear in the target language salient, referenced, noticeable, and comprehensible, with understanding having relevant consequences: in short, an "authentic need to comprehend and act accordingly" (van Lier, 1996, p. 248) with immediately perceptible consequences (Asher, 1988).Correspondingly, instructional activity that has as its goal initiation into the world of school discourses -- those ways of talking that have become institutionally sanctioned or "normal" (Gee, 2000) -- must be crafted and guided in order to render what gets said and done salient and meaningful to learners. Consequently, the structure of a typical language learning activity might be as follows: A need to engage is established and a context is orchestrated that sets up a particular relationship between aspects of the physical or social environment and learners. The resulting activity -- where sight, touch, and speech unite -- becomes the locus of learning. Such structured activities make use of "enhanced input," language that has both clear visual referents and whose forms get noticed by students (Schmidt, 1995). Language teachers further enhance their aural input through salience-building intonation, prosody, and visual accompaniments of all kinds (gesture, object, facial expression). Such complexes of instructional elements have been variously referred to as "affordances" (van Lier, 2000), "optimal samples" (Cook, 2001), and "instructional conversations" (Tharp & Gallimore, 1991).Computers and Language Teaching/LearningAdding the computer into the instructional mix affords many opportunities for this sort of language learning activity. Learning what language sounds like, looks like, and means can be supported and enhanced through teacher and student talk about what they see on the computer screen (e.g., an instructor verbally directing a child's sizing and placement of an image). Thus, specific verbal instructional strategies known widely as teaching "scaffolds" can be facilitated by virtue of the physical properties of the computer. Wood, Bruner, & Ross's (1976) definition of scaffolding is instructive in this regard. Their four-component definition of instructional scaffolds can be readily applied to what the presence of the computer accomplishes in the instructional conversation: (a) what appears on the screen can be viewed as reducing the size of the task so the child can complete it; (b) what appears on the screen and what changes to it are possible can be viewed as keeping the child's attention in the moment; (c) what appears on the screen can facilitate making salient relevant features; and (d) what the teacher says and does in reaction to what appears on the screen can be viewed as modeling ways to accomplish. Each of these four key characteristics of scaffolding involves more than the language used per se. Each involves strategic instructional moves that, as a complex whole, are at the heart of the craft of teaching. The presence of the computer potentially amplifies such moves. Indeed, recent research on computer-supported learning contexts indicates that these interactional routines can provide the kinds of stimulation and anchoring of language so central to the language learning process (Cummins & Sayers, 1997; Esling, 1991; Meskill, Mossop, & Bates, 1999; Meskill & Mossop, 2000a; Newman, 1997).Second language and literacy learning contexts that promote and sustain the social construction and negotiation of meaning-making are widely considered as optimal (e.g., August & Hakuta, 1998; Snow, 1992). In light of such optimal contexts, Meskill, Mossop, and Bates (1999, 2000b) propose specific physical features of computers that are especially supportive of joint meaning-making and instructional conversations. Features such as publicness, instability, anchored referents, and the anarchic nature of computers can be viewed as enabling acquisition-oriented activity when skilled language professionals take instructional advantage of them.2 A language educator can make use of the visual representations of a word or picture on the computer screen (a public, anchored referent), to communicatively reinforce word, phrase, and sentence-level meaning. Further, she can direct learners to manipulate what they see on the screen (publicness, anchored referents, instability) thereby reinforcing the aural/visual aspects of the language she is teaching. If a student wishes to exercise her own volition by changing what is on the screen independent of the teacher's directives (anarchy), this also becomes a rich venue for immediate, referenced target language learning. From this perspective, computer screens can serve to anchor attention to forms and functions in immediate, highly tangible, and communicatively authentic ways.The following analysis focuses on the computer-supported instructional scaffolding of an ESOL teaching professional as she uses computers to teach beginning-level English language learners the language and literacy they need to participate in the everyday academic activities of their school. Special focus of these instructional sequences is given to the interplay between the teacher's utterances, the features of the machine, children's responses, and what these together accomplish instructionally.CONTEXT"Mrs. M" has taught English to non-native speakers in the same mid-size, post-industrial city school district for over 30 years; the majority of that tenure has been as the sole elementary ESOL specialist in the district. As such, she has traveled between the district's elementary schools to teach groups of mostly low socioeconomic status (SES) English language learners (ELLs). Over the years, this role has come to include serving as the main liaison between schools and ELL families as well as the wider immigrant community. She regularly sees that children receive the medical and social services support they need; this can mean "pounding on doors. Making sure kids get to the dentist even when I've got to drive them. That they've got a winter coat to wear to school" (interview with Mrs. M).Mrs. M's main objective during her 30 years as an ESOL professional has been to do everything in her power to ensure that her English language learners are equipped with the linguistic and cultural skills they need to actively participate and succeed in school. She sadly describes how the ELL children she has worked with over the years have been subjected to gross misunderstanding, racial abuses, and all out anger on the part of their classroom teachers and other school personnel. This is mainly due, she observes, to school personnel perceptions that ELLs' lack of responsiveness is "rude and disrespectful when these kids aren't understanding or that they don't know how to respond." To these ends, she works intensively with her students on basic oral and written literacy, content area language and accompanying concepts, and the appropriate verbal and non-verbal ways of "doing school" that will gain them access to the academic/school discourse that surrounds them. This is her stated way of combating the negative reactions her students tend to experience: She immediately teaches them comprehension and responsiveness techniques they need to appear cooperative, to fit in. She accomplishes her multiple instructional goals through modeling, guidance, and investment-building that are profoundly respectful and caring.Each elementary school in the district uses the ESOL "pullout" approach to ELL instruction. Children leave their regular classrooms to come to Mrs. M's room daily for 45-minutes of intensive ESOL instruction. The remainder of their day they spend in the mainstream classroom from which they are "pulled out" and where they receive little or no linguistic/instructional support. Mrs. M's class sessions are held in a small private room. The room is bright and cheerful with posters on the wall. There is a table where the teacher plus 4-8 students can work together. Two computers line the wall to the side of the worktable. As soon as the children enter the room, Mrs. M engages them in level-appropriate conversation about their clothes, the weather, their health, the class they just came from, their family, and the like. After these informal yet always instructional conversations, Mrs. M's sessions typically consist of group table work that focuses and prepares students to successfully engage in subsequent language and literacy activities that she orchestrates around the computers. Like most language instructors, Mrs. M makes use of software not designed specifically for ELLs. Instead, she uses native-speaker software that aligns with the theme of the class's current work and that can be used in ways that support learners practicing target language around the machines through interaction with their teacher and peers. She uses content-rich games, simulations, and productivity tools to complement her instruction. Sample themes of these activities are the alphabet, colors, animals, shapes, geography, and food. These topics steer focal academic vocabulary and each activity consistently integrates the five language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and pronunciation.Data Collection and AnalysisMrs. M's sessions with two groups of ELLs were audio recorded with field notes made of non-verbal components of the activity over the course of 3 months. In addition to a 1 1/2 hour culminating interview, all informal conversation with Mrs. M before, during, and after class sessions was also recorded. Transcripts of Mrs. M's classes and her comments about them were successively coded on a number of emerging dimensions. Through processes of review, revision of codes, and re-review, labels were assigned to verbal and non-verbal actions on Mrs. M's part that formed part of the triadic scaffolds seen as predominating her work with ELL children around the computers. The construct triadic scaffold grew out of observing a preponderance of similar verbal routines around the computer coupled with the fact that these routines appeared to most accurately characterize Mrs. M's approach to exploiting computers for their overall attention-getting and maintaining quality as well as the continuous opportunities they afford for language and literacy learning. Descriptions of these verbal strategies and what these were intended to accomplish were checked against interview data with Mrs. M as were the labels for the roles played by the computer. These data collection and analysis activities comprise an attempt to capture the special computer-supported techniques this one very experienced teacher employs to coax and support children's English language and literacy learning.Triadic ScaffoldsData consist of transcripts of classroom interaction and interviews with the participating teacher. Three coders, one of whom was the author and all of whom were language-teaching professionals, examined, discussed, and independently coded classroom and interview transcripts. Coders initially employed Meskill, Mossop, and Bates' (1999) unique features of electronic texts (publicness, anchored referents, instability, and anarchy) in their attempts to make sense of the role of the computer in these instructional conversations. In addition, commonly favored second language teaching strategies (modeling, echoing, recasting, and the like) also served to guide analysis. Through discussion and negotiation of, and ultimately agreement on, terminology, select classroom data came to be coded by a set of (a) teaching strategies (both verbal and nonverbal, global and local); (b) the role of the computer in the instructional scaffold; and (c) what these combined (teacher + computer features) strategies appear to accomplish and what the teacher reports them as accomplishing. Due to their tripartite nature, these verbal instructional strategies came to be characterized as triadic scaffolds -- three dimensions of an utterance that at once aims to teach language, is fashioned to be instructional, and references the computer in a sociolinguistically and instructional way.Triadic scaffolds are thus comprised of and were coded as follows:1) S - a teacher verbal strategy2) C - contribution of the computer3) A - what the strategy accomplishesThose instances of strategies reported effective by the teacher -- those that appeared to accomplish her aims -- are clusters of verbal routines (including gesture) that clearly connect with learner investment in language and literacy learning with the computer. Two excerpts containing triadic scaffolds -- one from each of the two pull-out classes observed -- are explicated below. The first involves two second graders and the use of an alphabet game to reinforce pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling, and listening. The second involves three fourth graders and the use of an animal game to reinforce vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling, and listening. In both cases, the aim is less what the design of the computer software might dictate, and more the thematic focus and conversational opportunities for language and literacy work that its use affords. Illustrative triadic scaffolds are in bold with their components explicated in boxed, bolded textFour second-graders are transitioning from table-work to computer-work. They have been preparing for the computer time by reviewing the English alphabet and sound-letter correspondence. They work in pairs with an application called Alphabet Express, software designed for beginning readers whose native language is English. In the following, the pair of boys, Joe and Sam, work under Mrs. M’s guidance. Mrs. M’s stated instructional aim here is to teach listening, speaking, vocabulary, reading, and pronunciation simultaneously through talk and activity around the computer screen.
Figure 1. Triadic scaffold: second gradersTwo trios (one girls, one boys) are working at the computers using The Animal Game, a colorful software application designed for native speakers of English to learn the names and families of animals. Cathy, Fiona, and Rachel work together under Mrs. M’s guidance.In this brief excerpt, Rachel is watching the others, waiting her turn. Learners had previously reviewed animal names and their pronunciation during table work. Again, Mrs. M’s stated aim is to work on listening, speaking, vocabulary, and reading simultaneously in an authentic context.The trios have been taking turns playing an identification game. The computer used by one trio is not playing sound.
Figure 2. Triadic scaffolds: six mixed ability, mixed (2 second, 4 first) grade ELLsHighlighted and labeled instances of triadic scaffolds in Figures 1 and 2 are typical of the routines Mrs. M uses to teach language and literacy skills to beginning-level ELLs as they are use the computer. In these two cases, children are newcomers and as such speak and understand very little English. It is important to note that as they advance, so too will the complexity of the language Mrs. M uses in these scaffolds. Typical teacher verbal strategies with these beginning-level learners such as directing, questioning, echoing, and focusing accomplish language learning goals; the computer serves to physically support and motivate attention while at the same time providing referents for the language in use. In all cases, talk and action are immediately perceived (public), situationally cued (anchored), and subject to both the machine's instability and to learners' individual or collective volition (anarchy). Children's responses to these scaffolds are continually evidenced in their attentiveness to the activity at hand, their continual non-verbal responses to the verbal scaffolds (pointing, moving the mouse, nodding, keying, smiling, etc.), as well as their verbal responses which, for beginning level language learners are both an accomplishment and a clear indication of successful progress in acquiring the language. Moreover, Mrs. M reports that she hears her students using the language that they learn while using the computer in other school contexts: "They use what they learn with me on the computers all the time. I hear them. Their teachers hear them. It's great."In the first sample triadic scaffold above (Figure 1), Mrs. M uses the verbal strategy of directing ("What's this? Do you remember? Ohh the what? Sam, what is it called?") with the accomplishments of getting the children situated to use the computers, the sociolinguistic accomplishment of learners responding to aural directives and questions in English that are representative of school talk, and focus on the sound /m/ in mouse. The computer serves to provide an immediate, visual, anchored referent and thereby anchors the children's attention on what the teacher is saying, what they ought to be doing, and the literacy material they see on the computer screen. In the second triadic scaffold, Mrs. M uses an echoing strategy to reinforce the language these children need to acquire ("It's his turn"). The children learn the basic language of turn taking, making requests, giving and responding to directives ("The train"), and, almost incidentally, the pronunciation and spelling rules of the words on the screen. In this instance, the computer motivates and anchors the children's attention to these interactions while guiding them to affect the right outcome on the computer screen. She comments, "They get so involved with what I say and what they're doing on the screen that their comprehending becomes really easy for even the most basic beginners. They get it so quickly so I see them saying the same things I say within a couple of days."With the older students in the second excerpt (Figure 2), the instability of the machine (it will not play sound, but may offer other options) focuses learners on attending to the language of problem solving being modeled by their teacher: "You really can't play without sound. You know what we'll play another game." This is high level language that Mrs. M is making accessible by virtue of the instability of the machine and their collective actions in response to that instability. Likewise, in the final triadic scaffold, Mrs. M provides the aural component for the learners' decision-making process while focusing the girls' attention on the information on the screen and the procedures required by the animal game. We can observe Mrs. M again using the language of directing to model and reinforce the language of school with the computer anchoring and motivating the children's language and literacy learning. The children consequently learn the language of goal setting and problem solving as modeled by Mrs. M and made possible by the instability and unpredictable nature of the machine and, again almost incidentally, the names and pronunciation of jungle animals.In spite of the often "directed" feel to this teacher's talk, these interactions are eminently social in nature with children fully involved and responsive. The children's careful attending to what gets said and done is clearly evident; their acquisition of the language that gets used and scaffolded is likewise apparent. This is in contrast to the rest of their day in the mainstream classroom where there is little support for comprehension nor opportunity to participate. In Mrs. M's class learners actively participate in the conversation by moving the cursor around the screen and clicking the mouse as a form of response while Mrs. M models and forces meaning out of language that is directly related to sight, action, and the immediate social milieu. Each bit of talk is anchored to what is seen on the screen and to the social process of manipulating it and moving forward. She reports, "I am amazed at what I, whatever vocabulary, whatever activity I do with them, how it could be reinforced so easily now."The forward movement evident in the activity requires collective collaboration in order to not stall. What is seen, said, and done to keep things moving along is, therefore, consistently relevant and salient -- precisely what the language acquisition process thrives on. The children moreover enjoy a certain degree of control over the interactions as they are the ones holding the mouse, controlling the keyboard, and thereby directing the action. Opportunities for action are inherent when learners have physical/decisional control over what appears and happens on computer screens. With the language routines they learn in order to participate successfully in this kind of cooperative work, moreover, they are equipped to access the academic discourse that makes up the bulk of their school day as well as participate where they may not have before.Skilled language teaching professionals consistently use what anchors they have available to exploit the aural-visual-action interface. This type of scaffolding -- scaffolding that is particular to second language and literacy instructional activity -- has characteristics that mark it as unique from the traditional sense of the term. Scaffolding in the Wood, Bruner, and Ross (1976) sense describes verbal moves on the part of an instructor that, while initially controlled by her, gradually guides responsibility over to the learner. In second language and literacy instruction, scaffolding has a three-fold purpose. Language teachers not only scaffold learning in the traditional sense of cueing, supporting, and sustaining thought, but employ the added dimension of tailoring learner attention to both the forms of talk and accompanying visual referents to which that language corresponds in the immediate physical and social environment. Such calculated instruction requires continual use of an internal syllabus for each individual learner so that scaffolds can be implemented to give "support to the edge of a child's competence" (Gaskins et al., 1997, p. 45). In the case of children who also need to learn the language of school, a dimension of scaffolding becomes the modeling of school discourse and how it enjoins the ways school gets done. As composites, then, the triadic scaffolds used by Mrs. M reflect Gee's judicious mixture in that (a) learners are directly mentored into a community of practice; (b) their learning is overtly scaffolded by a skilled mentor; and (c) learners' attention is deliberately focused on "fruitful patterns" (the English language they need to learn).DISCUSSIONWhile Lemke (1995) sees a monologic, controlling tendency in technology, he paradoxically also sees technology as a means of breaking old patterns of social reproduction. For, as new technologies become more widely available, the univocal transmission of voice through one teacher, or one school administration will become less sustainable. However much the presence of technology may imply equilibrium, the issue of traditional modes of social reproduction in schools that appears to be going on in these classroom conversations must also be addressed. If we turn to the broader context of these children's learning and the social/pedagogical imperatives expressed by the teacher, we can see that her aim is to strengthen her students' voices and participation and thereby avert what might otherwise end up being an "ESL ghetto" (Valdés, 2004). Her aims are continually informed by immediate practical matters of survival for these children in a context where understanding the language of school is socioacademically crucial. Mrs. M is consequently ever watchful of the tenuous relationship between children's development of school-based language and literacy and their development of a theory of mind in their second language so that they have less risk of joining the ranks labeled "left behind": "These kids need to feel like they can do school, that they can participate like everyone else. I try to help them with that, with the English they need."Some have suggested that having children use computers as tools for learning increases motivation in children who are less likely to be motivated by school (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999; Sharp, et al., 1995). Mrs. M's ELLs are no exception. Indeed, she reported several anecdotes where children who otherwise "removed" themselves from the school community by keeping their heads down on their desks, crying, acting out, and behaving in ways that revealed strong disconnections with school, became highly motivated and animated when the computer was turned on.I became most excited when we had this little boy John … John was unreachable. He was just, he was a first grader, very little bit of English. I couldn't get John to color. I couldn't get him to even get excited about using markers. Nothing turned John on. He had his head down on the desk most of the day -- in his regular classroom and with me. And I was surprised by that, because I had other first graders and we did lots of little fun projects and the other six year olds were joining in, but not John. Then finally we put him next to the computer and Well! He sat up! I couldn't believe it. He had a smile on his face, and he started, I mean his eyes were bright! And I thought my god look at this kid, he wanted to interact, he wanted to do something. That was a real turning point. John wanted to type his name, this is a kid I couldn't get a pencil in his hand, he was so lethargic, wouldn't hold a pencil. And here he's typing his name. It was amazing to me.Such incidents parallel those of Elliot & Hall (1997) who found that explicit modeling of self-regulating behaviors around computer tasks contributed to better performance of at-risk preschoolers. Indeed the kinds of ongoing scaffolding provided by Mrs. M and those explicitly modeled and encouraged in the Elliot and Hall study are quite similar; both make use of the special features of the computer to anchor and support such strategies. Through this kind of activity, children learn to respond appropriately to oral directives and suggestions, to understand the language and rules of turn taking, and to follow the steps of solving a problem. In both cases, the computer context served to capture and maintain learner attention in ways unlikely to occur offline. The kinds of verbal routines that are used to regulate and model regulation, what Wootton (1997) terms forms of "successive guidance," constitute the major material that initiates children into the discourse communities in which, if they are to be successful in school, they must fully participate (Gee, 1990). Technologies represent potential contexts where active participation of learners, in conjunction with caring teachers, can be orchestrated and orchestrated well (Heath, 1990; Johnson, 1991; Meskill, Mossop, & Bates, 1999, 2000a; Palumbo & Bermudez, 1994).Studies of learning with and around computers consistently point to a teacher's planning, orchestration, and moment-by-moment support of learning as being critical to successful instructional activity. Nowhere is this more the case than with non-native English speaking children from diverse backgrounds for whom the social norms and accompanying discourses of school are new and challenging. This experienced instructor exploits the machines in her classroom to stimulate children's enthusiasm for learning while exploiting the computers' special language and literacy affordances in ways that model, guide, and initiate learners into ways of doing school. Mrs. M's talk is dense with triadic scaffolds. Cross referencing what appears on the screen with her comments and directives is continual. On a moment-by-moment basis, we can observe her capitalizing on the physicality of the computer to orchestrate language and literacy learning. She exploits the computer for its capacity to draw and maintain learner focus, stimulate problem-solving, anchor discourse, and encourage learner-directed talk and action.CONCLUSIONOftentimes a lack of understanding on the part of educators concerning English language learners places their education in jeopardy. A key conceptual obstacle to understanding these students' needs is the folk assumptions that the language and complexities of "doing school" are inherently obvious. This folk model can spell disaster for those whose cultural/familial backgrounds do not mirror nor prepare children for these complexities. "The verbal abilities that children who fail in school lack are not just some general set of such abilities, but rather specific verbal abilities tied to specific school-based practices and school-based genres of oral and written language" (Gee, 2001, p. 724). Indeed, such cross-cultural situations can become exacerbated when unequal power relations are also at work (e.g., child-adult, parent-teacher; see Darder, 1991; Schleppegrell, 2001; Scollon & Scollon, 2001). In school, those in power, teachers, use talk that reflects an "implicit model of literate discourse" that too often neither considers nor accommodates learners who have yet to be initiated into this specific genre of communication (Cazden, 1988, p. 14). Deconstructing the obvious is the ESOL specialist's first line strategy: Undertaking careful analysis of what children need to know in a given context. Her second is to orchestrate instructional activity that apprentices her students to learning language that can help them navigate and participate.This seasoned teacher's instruction with computers and ELLs employs specific strategies that exploit the physical features of the medium to assist children in learning the language that will help them navigate these contexts. She uses the public feature to anchor language and attention to language. She makes use of the unstable feature to model problem solving and the language through which it can take place, and the anarchic feature to encourage learner volition and autonomy. For Mrs. M's ELLs, these instructional sequences are just the beginning of their guided immersion into the world of the cognitive academic language they must master to participate in the mainstream, a process that risks derailing if the foundational language of doing school is not first mastered and used to access institutional streams of meaning. At first blush, what Mrs. M does with her learners may look like social reproduction of mainstream discourse structures, and indeed to some extent it is. However, equipped with the language that gains them access to, and acceptance at school, these children may be better poised to claim their identities and participate in the (re)shaping of schools than were they not so equipped. As active participants they are positioned to construct their contexts of being and learning, a process that benefits from inclusion as opposed to exclusion.Technology represents no magic bullet for the problems of schooling. Indeed, empirical studies of programs of excellence for ELL children continue to point to excellent teachers as the prevailing influence on school success (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999) and that exemplary uses of technologies with elementary students are typically driven by constructivist models of teaching and learning (Becker, 2000; Berg, Benz, Lasley, & Raisch, 1998). This examination of Mrs. M's teaching reaffirms the critical role of caring, thoughtful educators in meeting the widely varying needs of ever-changing populations of school age children while illustrating ways that computers can be thoughtfully integrated into language and literacy instruction. Delineated strategies and routines for giving and guiding the voice of at-risk English Language Learners as they use computers can serve as a basis for future empirical work on computer-supported learning dynamics as well as points for modeling and discussion in professional development in computer-assisted language learning (CALL).NOTES1. This project was supported in part by the National Center on English Learning and Achievement (CELA). The Center is supported by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (Award #R305A60005). Partial support was also provided by The Language Advocacy Project, University at Albany, a language and literacy training project funded through the Office for English Language Acquisition (OELA), U.S. Department of Education (Award #T195A970024-99). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference 2001, Seattle, WA.2. The following is from Meskill, Mossop, & Bates, 1999:
a. PUBLICNESS: The feature of publicness is defined as public nature of electronic texts that prompts, supports, and facilitates rich discourse on the part of learners and their teachers.
b. INSTABILITY: Electronic texts are unstable. Information appears, disappears, and changes. Relational structures of information is often invisible. This lack of predictability provokes the kind of thinking and conjecture reflected in critical thinking and the literacy/acquisition oriented discourse that accompanies it.
c. ANCHORED REFERENTS: Electronic texts provide immediate concrete referents to which talk can be anchored. This is most frequently manifest in learners and teachers pointing with their fingers or with the cursor (mouse) to something on the screen that illustrates (anchors) their talk and thus both meshes aural and visual, and form-meaning correspondances.
d. ANARCHY: This feature directly contrasts with traditional linear/hierarchical forms of representation characteristic of the print medium, especially school-based print. This feature is defined as learners exercising volition and control over the order and direction of their interaction with electronic texts. Evidence is discourse and action that reveals learners interacting with information in an anarchic, rather than preset, linear fashion.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carla Meskill is Associate Professor, Department of Educational Theory and Practice. Her research interests include the communicative dynamics and consequent language and literacy learning that the uses of technologies can provoke and sustain.
E-mail: cmeskill@uamail.albany.edu
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Fortunately, the Internet later provided a perspective on foreign language and culture considerably more appealing than the one I received in ninth grade. Far from the German "She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain" we used to open each morning, sites like audioscrobbler connected me to modern commercial songs by analyzing youth in Germany with the same musical tastes. Rather than spending my free time on "find the conjugated form" word-search puzzles, I practiced contextualized conversation and grammar by loading learning materials found on the Internet into my cell phone and listening to them in my spare time while walking between classes. Surprised and encouraged by how much I learned from such a simple system, I enrolled in further German study and set about developing more complex ways of using technology to increase my foreign language exposure in practical and entertaining contexts.
The Sims is a game designed to simulate normal everyday life. Players control the daily routines of a virtual family, guiding them through tasks such as managing personal hygiene, cooking food, finding jobs, entertaining guests, and so forth. After assigning professions to their characters, players then manage the family finances, deciding how to best purchase furniture and appliances to develop their house based on analysis of the emotional states of their characters. In playing the English version of the game, I noticed the vocabulary for the tasks contained many of the same words as the German homework I should have been studying instead. Finding that the language of the game could be changed to German simply by switching a single registry setting, I placed a laptop with a translation tool beside my main computer and continued playing the game in German. When the vocabulary items then came up in class, I was already familiar with them and could recall the relevant associated contexts and animations used in the game.
While there have already been numerous suggestions for using commercial simulation games as language learning contexts (see, e.g., Coleman, 2002), most are based on designing external activities without modifying the games themselves. Traditionally, modifying a commercial game's interface or language data was an impossible task, as its programming was often locked away in compiled binary code. Today, however, most game designers separate game data into external files and actively encourage third-party customizations. For games like The Sims, this has led to an explosion of enhancements for the entertainment value of the game, though so far little has been done to take advantage of this customizability for educational extensions. One freely available customization tool provides users with direct access to the language data used in the game. By using macros, or scripts, educators can rapidly extract the parts of the first language (L1) game data they feel necessary for scaffolding learners and then integrate them as available translations within the second language (L2) version of the game (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. The Sims German Edition, annotated for English speaking students
In Figure 1 we can see an edit in which the main interface uses data from the German version of the game, yet includes tool tip data from the English dataset, so that if a player does not know a German word such as "Kochen," s/he can leave the cursor over the word and receive a pop-up explanation which includes an English translation. Also, enough keywords are glossed for the prompt "Do you wish to save before quitting" (literally: "Wants you save, before you the game quit?") to ensure a player would not get frustrated trying to understand, but makes it likely they will first read in the L2.
This method of modifying video games offers a powerful vehicle for further exploring recent work on incidental learning. Hulstijn (1992), suggests that vocabulary retention can be improved if new words are glossed with multiple choices in which the learner must then decide the most appropriate choice (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Players are presented two meanings for the word "Post," making them evaluate which most likely combines with the word "angestellter" and fits in the context of being their Sim's profession
Unfortunately, in a traditional reading environment this can have adverse effects for both reading comprehension and vocabulary retention if learners make the wrong choices (Watanabe, 1997). In a video game, however, some incorrect assumptions by learners can be recovered through the interactions present in a typical gaming environment. For example, one of the variables players must keep track of is their Sim's energy level -- represented in the German version by a bar labeled "energie." If a poor learner were to guess the meaning of this word incorrectly, her/his character would take steps to notify the player until the energy variable was addressed: First, the character would act sleepy and think about beds (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Sleepy Sim
If the learner still failed to recognize and improve the Sim's energy level, the game would take control and show the learner how by having the Sim fall asleep on the spot (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Asleep Sim
Besides interactivity and flexibility, video games provide content that is naturally rich in associations. Numerous studies report on how glossing reading passages with images and videos can enhance incidental vocabulary acquisition better than can text-only glosses (Al-Seghayer, 2001). Creating images for glosses, however, also requires more work than simply writing text -- and videos yet even more. By using video games as content platforms, images and animations become an automatic and effortless part of the environment. In The Sims, anytime a player clicks to receive elaboration on variables they need to monitor, it presents a window already containing images of all the game items relevant to that variable (see Figure 5).
Figure 5. Detailed view provides both textual and pictorial information
Another challenge in incidental learning is that materials should be personally relevant and useful to the learner (see Huckin & Coady, 1999). In a gaming environment, content is generally presented to the user because of its direct relevance to their task. Should a player in The Sims choose to ignore messages about the variable harndrang ("bladder") and any game cues (e.g., how their Sim starts running when by the bathroom), s/he would later be embarrassed when the Sim becomes unable to control him/herself (Figure 6). This would hopefully encourage the learner to take interest in and learn more about that variable.
Figure 6. Failure to respond to game cues can have embarrasing consequences
In their review of studies on incidental vocabulary learning, Laufer and Hulstijn (2001) conclude that "learner involvement" is the main factor influencing overall effectiveness. They highlight three core components comprising learner involvement: "need" -- ensuring a word is relevant to the learner; "search" -- providing a means by which a learner can work to discover the meaning of an unknown word; and "evaluation" -- assessment by the learner of how the meaning does or does not fit into the current context. An entertainment-focused video game such as The Sims can be modified to not only fulfill each of these criteria, but do so in a manner that minimizes extraneous effort and stress on part of the learner, provides repeated interactive exposures to words, and automatically generates rich contexts for associations. Additionally, by making direct changes to the game data files themselves, educational designers can make their modifications instantly deployable by teachers worldwide.
Perhaps the most successful innovation in game designs is the development of modern massively multiplayer online games -- MMOGs. In these games, rather than playing within a pre-programmed environment, players exist as characters in a virtual world formed through their interactions with other live players on the Internet. The unparalleled success of these games should be of interest to anyone trying to understand adolescent motivation and attention. In stark contrast to the high school language teacher sometimes struggling to receive 30 minutes worth of homework from students, the alarming success of MMOGs has prompted the establishment of government organizations to control their use and psychological addiction (Yee, 2002) after a set of players neglecting to break for food collapsed following up to 84 hours straight at their keyboards (Farrell, 2002; Gluck, 2002). Makers of the popular online game "Everquest" (commonly referred to as "Evercrack" for its addictive properties ) found the average player spends over 20 hours a week playing the game (Everquest or Evercrack?, 2002).
While it might be nice to get teens to spend 20 hours a week solely on their Spanish homework, we should consider the educational potential for leveraging the phenomenal ability of MMOGs to capture the attention of adolescent audiences and bring them into a manipulatable world with players from all over the planet. Some studies have reported success at integrating MOOs, the historical predecessor to modern MMOGs, into the language classroom (Von der Emde, Schneider, & K–tter, 2001), although the educational potential for MMOGs is only just beginning to be examined (Coleman, 2004; Squire & Jenkins, in press). Simply by having such an international population together in a virtual community based on communicative interaction, motivated players have access to countless native L2 speakers and tasks to discuss with them -- though much could be done to extend this possibility to encourage shy learners to find and interact with players speaking their L2. For example, in a game like The Sims Online --- the MMOG version of The Sims -- players begin by choosing a city to live in, finding a house, then chatting with and getting to know their roommates. Besides merging international editions to form bilingual versions, another almost effortless modification game designers could make to interest language learners would be to create incentives and ways in which players could find and partner with native speakers of their L2 trying to learn their L1. This would not only provide the above-mentioned benefits of playing a bilingual game, but also provide learners with an L2 native from whom to learn about culture and language while performing a series of entertaining tasks requiring communicative exchanges. Alternatively, teachers could collaborate with classes in other countries and assign their students L2 speaking roommates.
Besides multiplayer interaction via the Internet, speech recognition is another advancement often regarded as a promising candidate for making CALL truly interactive, though to date the number of successful applications has been limited due to its poor performance and high system demands. The Learning Company provides one of the better examples of speech recognition technology in their Learn-to-Speak product line and freely available VirtualTalk Web site. These programs allow learners to engage in a simulated conversation by presenting them with a list of possible responses to choose from whenever they have a turn to participate in the conversation. The program then simply has to match the learner's response to the closest of the available responses and provide corrective feedback.
While pre-programming each of the expected responses greatly improves functionality -- such that even foreign accents can be somewhat accommodated -- it significantly increases the design complexity. As a result, participatory conversation designers targeting the foreign language market often need to simplify interactions in ways that impair both the entertainment and educational value. For example, in response to a question such as "Would you like some coffee?" designers may need to force learners down a single prepared path ("Yes, please/I'd love some/Sure, thanks") rather than creating distinct paths a learner can meaningfully choose between ("Yes, please/No thanks/Do you have decaf?"; Hubbard, 2002).
While in the foreign language software market it may not be feasible to create lengthy and complex dialogs -- a typical VirtualTalk conversation generally lasts only a couple of minutes; games targeting the larger entertainment market should begin incorporating spoken interfaces in the near future. While U.S. releases have only just begun to do this, such games have been available in the Japanese market for some time: Seaman takes the old tomogachi virtual pet craze to a new level by presenting players with a virtual baby fish-creature, which they must nurture into adulthood by conversing with it about its life and conditions. Raising a creature from birth to adulthood is expected to take about a month, with about 10 minutes of interaction a day. For more advanced students a game such as Operator's Side (Lifeline in English) includes all the elements of a typical action/adventure game, though instead of directly controlling the main character, players are challenged to direct her entirely through vocal instructions based on over 100,000 phrases.
While there are numerous other commercial gaming innovations that could be discussed, the ability to easily edit international language files combined with advances like MMOGs and speech interfaces should be incentive enough for us to begin considering how entertainment focused games can be used for language learning, rather than needing to develop an edutainment title from scratch. For researchers, modifying commercial games offer a quick way to develop rich content for examining student motivation, task-based learning, context effects, incidental learning, and simulated immersion; additionally it could prove useful in rapidly creating content for less commonly taught languages (Figure 7). For commercial game designers, selling foreign language expansion packs provides a simple way to further capitalize on investments already made into creating versions for different languages and, in the case of MMOGs, the collection of a large multi-lingual community of players.
Figure 7. Games can be edited to support entirely new languages
Being the world's worst language learner, it always took me far longer to learn foreign vocabulary than any of my classmates. In asking some of my more successful classmates how they approached vocabulary, they mentioned that they studied flashcards during television commercials. Lacking either a television or index cards, I set about to instead make an equivalent system for browsing the Internet.
Much like the language data for The Sims, the user interface descriptions for the latest Mozilla and Netscape Web browsers are stored in editable files. This allows anybody with knowledge of XUL, a language similar to HTML/XML, to rapidly reconfigure the layout and design of the browser interface. In most browsers, the upper right hand corner includes a logo known as a "throbber" which animates while loading a Web page. During my German class, I replaced my throbber with a small frame pointing to a Web site containing a randomized vocabulary word from the current chapter of my textbook. Instead of displaying a corporate logo, the throbber in the top right corner displayed a German word and image while loading a Web site, followed by the English translation when loading was complete.In my case, this simply served to flash new vocabulary words while I was waiting for Web sites to load, although such a system could be extended in any number of ways (see Figure 8).
Figure 8. Top right corner is replaced with an online flashcard system for when pages are loading
Being part of the browser, the internal frame used in this example naturally inherits the ability to display HTML -- making the implementation of rich media annotations a simple process using commonly available authoring programs. Furthermore, this opens possibilities for direct authorship by students. Nikolova (2002) shows how vocabulary retention is best when students author their own personalized annotations, yet cautions that logistics and time-on-task can actually outweigh such advantages. With this in mind, an innovative textbook publisher could offer a Web gallery where students who enjoy authoring could share any multimedia annotations they develop (Figure 9) would then provide those students not inclined to authoring with a large point-and-click repository, allowing them to personalize their annotations in a time efficient manner.
Figure 9. Possible gallery for classrooms who choose to author their own annotations
Besides inheriting the rich media capabilities of an HTML renderer, an internal browser frame also has access to the same scripting environment and programming capabilities as the main browser frame. This allows it to interact with the user and other components of the browser. For example, it could adaptively adjust its content based on which site the user is currently visiting. Another script may be able to monitor language-learning exercises students perform online and then automatically update its content according to their mistakes. For users who consent, a script could additionally allow the browser to automatically transmit data about student's usage back to a researcher. As an example of the numerous possibilities available to creative educators, the Mozilla browser includes a feature that replaces advertisement banners with blank images; rather than blank images, advertisements could be replaced with vocabulary images.
Although learning vocabulary phrases while waiting for Web sites and programs to load fragments a student's studying into numerous quick flashes, it features many advantages over dedicating a set block of study time. For adolescent learners, the clearest advantage is that little else can compete for the learner's attention. While a 10-minute study block could also be redirected towards Friends™,1 flashes integrated into Web site loading have a more captive audience. Furthermore, a digital delivery system centralizes the logistics behind studying away from each individual student to the teacher or textbook publisher. By having content stored on a Web site, teachers can specify the current vocabulary words and deliver them directly to the student's browser interface -- such that even the least disciplined student is forcibly saturated with material of the teacher's choice.
Besides logistical advantages, a more fragmented vocabulary exposure system could also aid the long-term retention of words. Numerous studies show long-term advantages when items to be remembered are spaced out in their presentations (Bjork & Bjork, 1992; Forester, 2002). Other studies show the importance of a learner being in the same mood when trying to recall an item as when learning it (Forester, 2002). By distributing and repeating exposures of a target vocabulary phrase across the whole time a student is using a computer, the student is more likely to have seen a given word in a wider range of moods. In a dedicated study time, students are likely to stop studying as soon as they can successfully recall an item from memory. Researchers suggest, however, that if an item is to remain accessible in the long-term, students must continue studying a word even after it appears to be learned (Bjork, 1999). Keeping study content in the periphery of a student's browser interface encourages continued rehearsal.
Previously, the only access students had to foreign music was often their teacher's personal CD collection. Today, however, resources like MTV international, net radios and audioscrobbler allow learners to independently explore modern music worldwide -with services such as iTunes and Napster emerging to provide affordable and legal purchases. Now that most digital songs are using ID3v2 or higher, one feature useful for language learners is that synchronized lyrics can be embedded directly into MP3 files. Combined with an OCR-capable translator, this allows learners to follow along with a foreign song as it is playing (see Figure 10). For older songs, synchronized lyrics can easily be inserted or retrieved from online databases.
Figure 10. A listener follows a song through syncronized lyrics and uses an OCR translator to look up unfamiliar words
In an ideal world, rather than clicking each word for an electronic translation, we would simply have a bi-lingual friend or teacher always standing beside us whenever we wanted to listen to a foreign song -- ready to translate any unfamiliar words for us. While always using a friend may not be so realistic, it can be simulated practically using 3D spatialized sound technology. By delaying the timing at which a given sound is delivered to each ear, insertions can be made to songs that sound as though they are coming from a physical location different from the ambient song. This allows educators to embed instructional content directly into a song (or other audio content) while still maintaining a clearly audible distinction so as not to detract from the main song. (see Figures 11, 12, and 13).
Figure 11. Example of song with spatialized translation simulating a translator standing 4 meters to the right of the listener (please use headphones; creation details)
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. II, No. 6, June 1996
http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/
9.Technology-Enhanced Language Learning 1996 Volume in the Foreign Language Education Series of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
2.THE DESIGN OF EFFECTIVE ICT-SUPPORTED LEARNING ACTIVITIES: EXEMPLARY MODELS, CHANGING REQUIREMENTS, AND NEW POSSIBILITIES
Cameron Richards
Graduate School of Education, University of Western Australia
Graduate School of Education, University of Western Australia
ABSTRACT
Despite the imperatives of policy and rhetoric about their integration in formal education, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are often used as an "add-on" in many classrooms and in many lesson plans. Nevertheless, many teachers find that interesting and well-planned tasks, projects, and resources provide a key to harnessing the educational potential of digital resources, Internet communications, and interactive multimedia to engage the interest, interaction, and knowledge construction of young learners. To the extent that such approaches go beyond and transform traditional "transmission" models of teaching and formal lesson planning, this paper investigates the changing requirements and new possibilities represented by the challenge of integrating ICTs in education in a way which at the same time connects more effectively with both the specific contents of the curriculum and the various stages and elements of the learning process. Case studies from teacher education foundation courses provide an exemplary focus of inquiry in order to better link relevant new theories or models of learning with practice, to build upon related learner-centered strategies for integrating ICT resources and tools, and to incorporate interdependent functions of learning as information access, communication, and applied interactions. As one possible strategy in this direction, the concept of an "ICT-supported learning activity" suggests the need for teachers to approach this increasing challenge more as "designers" of effective and integrated learning rather than mere "transmitters" of skills or information through an add-on use of ICTs.
The Internet is an embarrassment of riches that is next to worthless without an educator to facilitate learning and integration in classrooms … what tends to be in shorter supply are specific learning activities that make use of this wealth. (March, 2001)
How do we understand persistence, but also the reasons for transformation -- decays of old lines of work and the emergence of really new ones? For this, we need an as yet unknown nonexistent theory of the structure and evolution of activities. (Disessa, 2000, p. 78)
INTRODUCTION: THE CHALLENGE OF "DESIGNING" LEARNING FOR ICT INTEGRATION
In general, ICTs are often used as an "add-on" in the classroom, demonstrations of cutting-edge programs and possibilities often intimidate rather than encourage educators, and teachers often resent the naïve rhetoric of ICT integration typically associated with top-down policy imperatives (Cuban, 2001; Healy, 1998). The challenge for teachers to more effectively harness the educational implications and possibilities of ICT learning resources and tools is not simply a problem of finding sufficient time to develop appropriate computer skills or even think about potential applications. Relevant contexts or frameworks for practical integration which link to both the curriculum and the learning process are also needed, as are specific methods and models. Despite an often instinctive skepticism, many teachers have a general awareness that the Internet offers a rich source of potential learning resources, that multimedia tools and design can make interesting, impressive, and interactive tools of learning, and that many of their colleagues are finding ways of harnessing the learning possibilities of ICTs in unique contexts. Even an ICT-resistant "traditional" teacher cannot deny that the World Wide Web (WWW) houses endless and ever-current information on all manner of topics, and that multimedia CD-ROMs are at the very least useful for skills-based tutorials or for making information links more attractive.
The inquiry represented by this paper began with an interest in developing transferable design principles for a teacher education context out of the many good ideas and examples of good practice available. This goal initially proved to be most elusive because of the difficulty of distinguishing between context-specific factors related to teaching and learning and any inherent principles of design that might be at work. Effective learning through an integrated use of ICTs often occurs despite, and not because of, the role of the teacher (Loveless, Devoogd, & Bohlin, 2001). Yet relevant designs for learning with ICTs can certainly enhance this possibility. An initial review suggested some inherent principles and strategies at work in effective examples and models of teaching with ICTs that emphasize an activity-based approach (e.g., Thomas & Knezek, 2002), hence the interest in alternative requirements needed to more effectively integrate ICTs in teaching and learning. This paper therefore investigates the idea that an emergent notion of "ICT-supported learning activity design" provides an antidote of sorts to an add-on use of ICT in education. This is insofar as the conventional generic structures of formal lesson-planning and syllabus design tend to reflect a view of learning as essentially a transmission of information or skills, as distinct from a dialogue between teacher and learner or an interaction between learners and the learning process (e.g., Laurillard, 2002)
One principle which suggested itself from the outset is that effective teachers tend to see ICT resources and tools as much more than an extension of "traditional" print resources, existing classroom practices, and "curriculum-as-content" transmission. The integration of ICTs in teaching and learning is more likely if the tools and resources of the Internet, multimedia, and related technologies are seen as being integrally connected with literacy learning in the wider sense of learning as a matter of accessing information, communicating, and applying knowledge (Kress, 2003; Lankshear & Snyder, 2000). In other words, to the extent that they represent new tools, media, and functions of learning in the digital age, ICTs complement, extend, and transform the role of language-across-the-curriculum in learning as the very basis of generic skills or competencies and applied knowledge as well as mere skill or content transmission. Thus, it might be argued that an across-the-curriculum approach does not just complement and extend a more skills-focused and specialized use of ICT in formal education, but is a key to ICT integration in teaching and learning (Richards, 1998; Roblyer & Edwards, 2000).
In addition to promoting the learning of generic skills and applied knowledge orientations instead of mere skill or content transmission, an across-the-curriculum approach is useful for recognizing and promoting the idea that to effectively integrate ICT in education teachers need to increasingly become designers rather than merely transmitters of learning (Kimber, 2003). Such an approach naturally also extends a "new literacies" perspective of how language and literacy learning as formal study is more effective and relevant in various ways if grounded in the functions and aspects of informal everyday discourses and interactions outside the classroom (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000). This is especially true in the digital age where young learners tend to be more confident and have greater familiarity with everyday (especially visual) literacy aspects and functions mediated by ICTs than older teachers and parents (Hird, 2000; Richards, 2000). The importance of every learner and teacher becoming designers of meaning through new ICT literacies has been well argued by Kress (1997), an influential critical literacy and language theorist. Kress's recent work has increasingly focused on how effective multimodal literacy learning needs to be grounded in (not merely imposed on) everyday practices and contexts. Kress's notion that design precedes yet is interdependent with evaluation in terms of the literacy (i.e., to the extent that writing and reading are aspects of design and evaluation) as well as learning aspects of education in the digital age, suggests the need for new approaches to learning design also.
As will be discussed further, many of the new learner-centred concepts and models point in a similar direction but are often either practiced or theorised in a way which inadvertently reinforces teacher-centred or transmission approach assumptions. Practical concepts such as problem-based learning, collaborative learning, project work, authentic assessment, and inquiry-based activities all represent alternatives to the linear and hierarchical assumptions of formal lesson-planning and course design, yet tend to be seen in either opposition to or as an add-on to traditional educational design. To the extent that they provide exemplary foci for discussing the learner-centred implications of ICT tools and resources (Jonassen, Howland, Moore, & Marra, 2003), such approaches emphasize how effective learning should rather be understood as a process, cycle and/or set of stages proceeding from initial skill or information acquisition to more applied and reflective understanding, knowledge and even innovation .
Kolb's (1984) influential model of the learning process usefully lends itself to the practical requirements of ICT integration in terms of how it outlines a practice-reflection cycle proceeding as distinct stages of concrete experience, observation, conceptual abstraction and testing. Likewise, Sandholtz, Ringstaff, and Dwyer (2000) have developed a well-known model of instructional "evolution" as a traversal of five stages (entry, adoption, adaptation, appropriation, and invention). However such models or theories tend to view learning processes, cycles, or stages independently of context and often fail to recognize the discontinuities or "missing links" between learner doing and thinking, educational practice and theory, and ICT skills or information and applied understanding or innovation (e.g., Beard & Wilson, 2002). The hands-on requirements of ICT integration suggest how such models need to be more effectively grounded in the very situational contexts of practice, application, and various related notions of activity which every teacher needs to negotiate. The challenge of ICT integration also represents a good opportunity for productive change and interesting innovations.
THE CONTEXT AND DESIGN OF THE INQUIRY
Context
This paper represents an inquiry which proceeded for several years in teacher education ICT foundation courses taught in Singapore, and more recently Hong Kong, based on earlier interests and experiences of coordinating similar courses at Queensland University of Technology in Australia. It also developed as an implicit focus of two related projects undertaken in Singapore and Hong Kong: (a) the design and development of a model of activity-reflection e-portfolios as a learning and assessment strategy for ICT integration, and (b) a practical and conceptual investigation into a convergent model of ICT-supported learning environments (Richards, 2002, 2003). Whilst undertaken in different cultural contexts where language education and issues were significant, the most relevant context of the inquiry was a global one related to how new learner-centered practical models and theoretical projections offer the promise of a more effective approach to integrating ICTs in teaching and learning than still often dominant teacher-centered, transmission and rote learning approaches and practices.
The teaching modules which were the focus of the inquiry involved foundational ICT courses with common objectives for both across-the-curriculum classes and also language education classes from both primary and secondary level teacher education programs. While the specific purposes and contexts of ICT integration in teaching and learning varied somewhat in different classes, the inquiry addressed and responded to the challenge of the common main aim of foundational ICT teacher education modules, namely, to prepare future teachers to respond more effectively to the challenge of integrating ICTs in their pupils' learning and also in their own specific teaching contexts. In short, the specific inquiry represented by this paper is one of how might teachers be prepared and encouraged at practical, concrete, and "micro" as well as reflective levels of pedagogical design to integrate ICTs more effectively in their pupils' learning and in their own teaching? In other words, how might we identify, represent, and make transferable the pedagogical principles of an alternative design strategy which seems to be implicit in both examples of good practices and influential practical design concepts such as project-based learning, problem-based learning, collaborative learning, authentic assessment, and so forth?
The challenge of ICT integration in education is intensified, and therefore exemplified, in contexts such as Singapore and Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Department of Education followed Singapore's example in developing an initial five-year plan in the late 1990s to increase access to computers and the Internet in school classrooms. Both Singapore and Hong Kong have ambitious and innovative policy projections which strongly link the challenge of ICT integration to new student-centered theories of learning as well as to strategies of educational reform relevant to an emerging global economy (Hong Kong Education Commission, 2002; Singapore MOE, 2002). However, despite increased access to ICTs, the schooling systems in both countries still remain largely dominated by an exam-driven curriculum and traditional teacher-centered methods of pedagogy (Pearson, 2001). Such contexts thus made it more difficult in some ways and easier in others to emphasize to students how the challenge of ICT integration exemplifies a larger challenge for teachers of the future to design contexts for more active and effective learning, that is, to go beyond related paradigms of teaching and formal education in both "traditional" and industrialized societies as primarily the transmission of information or skills in isolation or for its own sake.
The comparative context of the study thus emphasized that a generational gap between older teachers and younger students, who embrace a global "wired" culture at home, was as significant as the cross-cultural clash between traditional educational practices and the imperative of progressive new theories of learning (Richards, 2004). The challenge of ICT integration is as much at the centre of a conflict between old and new pedagogies as it is in terms of how educational values are alternately influenced by institutional imperatives for change and existing social contexts.
Design of Inquiry
The three case studies below also represent three stages of the action research inquiry outlined above, as well as examples of different approaches taken to prepare future teacher educators in terms of a pedagogical design approach which might more effectively facilitate integration of ICTs in teaching and learning and go beyond a mere add-on approach. Harris's (1995, cited in Grabe & Grabe, 1998) threefold typology of meaningful ICT learning activities (information exchanges,interpersonal exchanges, and problem-solving projects) provided a useful focus for linking different approaches to related concept of stages which increasingly emphasize more higher-order, applied, and innovative approaches to pedagogical design for ICT integration in learning. Such a model also seems to reflect how both pedagogical and technological perspectives involve three convergent principles of design and development: the organization or dissemination of information, the facility for communication (including modes of either presentation or publication which potentially go beyond the teacher as sole audience) and some aspect of user interactivity exemplified by the challenge of problem-solving, and also the participatory possibilities of role or game playing.
As performative action research, the inquiry represented stages of seeking to "change and improve" efforts to encourage participants to be more active designers of learning with ICTs (Richards, 2001). In other words, at each stage there was an ongoing action research cycle of design, implementation, and evaluation which linked up a focus on the generic structures of the models used with the larger interest or strategy in getting the student teacher cohorts involved to think more effectively about designing learning with ICT tools and media. Hence, this paper has further adapted a case study approach involving example artifacts by students from specific classes typifying the three different approaches and related stages trialled during the overall study. The names of students have been changed for reporting purposes.
The three studies described focus on how particular cohorts typically responded to the main approach taken at that stage. While the overall inquiry included cohorts of both primary and secondary student teachers, the examples for the discussion below mainly reflect a "middle school" focus. Sample activity designs were selected for their typicality as an example focus and a practical reference-point for discussing here the specific models reflecting these three different approaches and stages. These studies are all relatively autonomous although somewhat overlapping as a progression. They also reflect a progressive and comparative refinement of approach as well inquiry in terms of distinct stages. For instance, the specific models (i.e., webquests and microlessons) and general focus (i.e., ICT integration as a strategy for mainly harnessing information resources) adopted and trialed at the first stage were still being used as exemplary models in their own right as well as a foundation for the second and third stages where the activity focus was more on ICT communications and interactivity.
The first stage involved subjects taught at the Singapore National Institute of Education in the academic year 2000-2001. Likewise, stage 2 also corresponds to relevant subjects taught at the same institution in 2001-2002, and stage 3 similarly relates to a key focus taken in several subjects taught at the Hong Kong Institute of Education in 2002-2003. The main focus of the second stage was on the specific models of "Internet communication projects" and "multimedia project development" reflecting a general focus on ICT tools and media which encourage communication and collaboration in the process of knowledge construction. As will be discussed, the third stage trialed versions of a generic template conceived to encourage students to design and develop ICT-supported learning activities in interactive modes which might build on or even include aspects of both the specific models and approaches of the first two stages.
As a series of three stages, the studies represent both an interdependent progression of sorts on one hand, and a comparative progression of sorts on the other. Implicit to the kind of typology outlined by Harris and also the various models looked at is a sense that effective ICT supported learning activity models all reflect some aspect of information resourcing, communication (including publication or presentation), and learning interactivity. For instance, the seminal model of hypermedia learning projects outlined by Lehrer, Erickson, and Connell (1994) describes a general sequence where students (a) choose a topic or focus to research for information and resources, then (b) design a way of transforming this into a presentation or publication, and (c) finally refine this in terms of effects aimed at purposefully engaging an audience. Likewise, the comparative progression inherent in the study focused on how the models and approaches investigated all resisted being reduced to the constraints of formal lesson planning and linear/hierarchical syllabus design. Similarities and differences between these models suggested the outlines of alternative generic structures which could inform the design of an effective lesson plan or larger module, but not be reduced to this.
The models explored in the first two studies suggest the anatomy of an effective ICT-supported learning activity to the extent that they also seem to intrinsically "resist" merely linear and hierarchical approaches to educational design. This is might be better appreciated in terms of the kind of three-fold progression of knowledge inquiry and construction described in the methodology of dialogical hermeneutics; that is, an initial naive phase followed by a critical, or even procedural, phase and finally a dialogical, or applied phase. In this way our investigation sought to discern the design principles of how effectively designed "activity structures" involving ICT integration provide a context and focus for learning as a transformation in terms of bridging the gaps between learner doing and thinking, between practice and theory, and also between the literacy processes of design and evaluation.
Study #1: Webquests, Microlessons, and a "Learning Design" Focus on ICT Information Resources
In the initial year of the study when working at the Singapore National Institute of Education, the models used for getting students to design effective ICT-supported learning were webquests and the locally-developed microlessons. Typically the main focus of both these models is on providing contexts for students to collaboratively or individually engage with the use of ICT for information resourcing in either an actual classroom context or in distance education mode (McKenzie, 1999). Both are applicable to and provide many useful examples of across-the-curriculum applications.
Typical Learner Artifacts -- Class A, 2001
Because of the exam-driven curriculum (and despite official support for the introduction of project work), our Singapore students initially struggled to see the possibilities of webquests, and also found that many North American classroom examples did not translate well into a local learning context. However, many soon become enthusiastic about developing webquests on their own Web sites and how this model would help motivate learners to search and use Internet information resources. Hitendra's webquest provides a context on one page and useful links on a related "resource pag"' to explore information about the regional Pilcher plant. At the end of the module there was a presentation sharing session which, with the approval of his peers, inspired Hitendra to collect and post the class webquests on a shared Web page resource.
The microlesson model usefully outlines the importance of designing learner-centred contexts. Although students in many other classes simply adapted their ideas to existing design templates, my class was encouraged to develop their own design schemes in a relevant way to the activity idea, and also use the often ignored multimedia functions of Powerpoint such as customized animation. Brian and Kai Ming's microlesson has a simple but effective design which links a wishful plan to save up for a mini disc player to a mathematical activity of interest calculation. They use a hypertext function well to get learners to explore different examples and scenarios, and an accompanying worksheet (not linked here). This microlesson could be undertaken by an individual learner or a small group.
Webquests are usually presented in Web page format and aim at getting students to use information resources from the World Wide Web in terms of either provided URLs or tasks in which students need to find their own links. For instance, Hitendra's webquest on tropical pitcher plants provides the context of mayoral intervention in a debate between town residents. The term webquests1997) as a general strategy for learning with Internet resources: "a webquest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet." has become for many teachers almost a generic term for getting students to interact with information on the Internet. Indeed, it was originally conceived by Dodge (
Microlessons, in contrast, are typically conceived as Powerpoint templates with one or two basic objectives for student-centred learning which may link to either Internet resources or some kind of worksheet (e.g., as a word processing or spreadsheet document) as exemplified by Brian and Kai Ming's microlesson. While webquests are typically posted online, microlessons may alternatively be saved to CD-ROM as multimedia learning activities. In theory, both models encourage independent and collaborative learner-centered inquiry as well as higher-order thinking. In practice, webquests mainly promote active engagement with information resources on the Internet, while microlessons encourage teachers to use Powerpoint as a multimedia activity format rather than just for standard presentations. Both models seemed to be -- and to a significant extent are -- useful templates for encouraging more active learning on one hand, and teacher designs for such learning on the other. However in practice both are often used to inadvertently reinforce the very inherent assumptions of the traditional lesson which their originators seemed to be challenging.
This was evidenced by the typical use of microlessons in the Singapore foundation teacher education courses where I was first introduced to the concept. Students were generally not required to design their own variations of the multimedia templates but simply to add their own content. Also, the expectation of having lesson objectives at the outset (like a normal lesson plan) also seemed to me to contradict perhaps the most powerful implication of this model: the facility for allowing student teachers to design interesting and authentic contexts for engaging the learning process. Therefore the second semester we used this model students were required to design their own slide templates (especially in terms of customized animation and other multimedia functions) as well as a context of activity linked to one or more specific learning outcomes. As also exemplified by Brian and Kai Ming's microlesson, our students were expected to put their learning objectives at the end rather than the outset.
In these courses, webquests were found to be more useful for getting students away from the traditional lesson mindset for using ICT tools and resources, because they represented a more open-ended model. In other words, webquests provide typical examples and a basic design structure which is useful for promoting a design approach and also an appreciation of the power and possibilities of ICT-supported learning activities.
Discussion
Many educators still see the Internet as basically a reference or information resource. Dodge (1997) helped to promote and develop the idea of integrating Internet resources in terms of the teacher design of student-centered activities which mine the potential of the Internet to encourage more immediate, relevant, interactive, and authentic learning. His co-developer Tom March (1999) went on to develop a framework for Web-based learning activities which included webquest (alongside topic hotlist, multimedia scrapbook, treasure hunt, and subject sampler) as the one category which covered an integrated use of Internet resources. In contrast to conventional lesson planning designs, Dodge's model of a webquest incorporates the progressive structure of introduction, task, Internet resources, process, and outcomes. This is outlined in the online template he set up for teachers. Dodge also conceived it most typically as a collaborative activity where a group divides into different roles and perspectives for information searching in order to produce some kind of presentation report or publication outcome which addressed a particular topic or task in terms of focus questions.
However, some of the limitations of Dodge's model provided a focus for going beyond this as a design model. For a start, Dodge's initial definition of a webquest is somewhat of a catch-all and potentially covers all manner of uses of the Internet as an information resource for teaching and learning purposes. Even its use as a mere reference resource still involves some degree of inquiry where there is a need to search and evaluate quality information. Yet Dodge himself conceived webquests as a particular method which he developed into an example template with an associated assessment rubric. Thus the term webquest is often used interchangeably in confused fashion as alternately a general approach and a particular method associated with his personal authorization and online models. Put another way, should any classroom learning activity which makes use of Internet resources be referred to as webquests? If not (and clearly not), where do you draw the line and how do you distinguish an authentic webquest?
Although webquests were further defined by Dodge (1997) as "inquiry-orientated activities which include both specific or short-term and larger long-term projects," his examples have tended to be shorter activities. Dodge ended this his most definitive article about webquests with a plea for people to send him longer examples. It would seem that Dodge conceived his notion of webquests in the manner of a traditional self-contained lesson context and was thus confused about how this might be reconciled with a more general project-based learning approach. In short, the theoretical concept of webquests is ultimately a rather narrow and specific one, and is not able to contain extended and varied notions of learning activities which make use of Internet resources. As suggested by Dodge's own definition, the educational concept of project-based learning seemed to provide a more integrative context for not only different types and sizes of webquests, but also various types of ICT-supported learning activities.
Study #2: Project-Based Learning for Internet Communications and Multimedia Design
We continued to use webquests and microlessons as useful templates for getting my students to design learning contexts with ICT tools and media. However we found that project-based learning was an even more useful framework to get these students to link the design of learning contexts for ICT integration with a range of associated issues and challenges -- especially those to do with reconciling the quantitative emphasis of much formal assessment and qualitative aspects of the learning process on one hand, and an applied, problem-solving focus with the acquisition of multiple skills and knowledges on the other. So to extend the focus and possibilities of designing learning for ICT integration two other specific design models were used monster exchanges as an introductory example of Internet communication projects, and multimedia learning projects as a design cycle developed around a particular topic or idea (Lehrer, Erickson, & Connell, 1994). The latter uses Internet communications directly as a pretext for writing, drawing, and other learning activities, whilst the former provides a convergent, developmental, and often collaborative focus for seeking and transforming information into modes of indirect communication as presentations or publications designed to engage particular audiences.
Typical Learner Artifacts -- Class B, 2002
The monster exchange model was conceived for younger learners. Yet as an imaginative writing exercise (which may be done either individually or in groups) also involving both a drawing with a graphics program and some form of Internet communication for interacting and sharing files, it soon captures the enthusiasm of learners of all ages – including student teachers. Normally the monster idea is exchanged and drawn by the other party. Here Lena also drew her own monster and then exchanged that back to other party for comparison with their drawing. This model thus provides a useful prototype and exemplar of the possibilities of Internet communication projects.
Many of the multimedia projects undertaken in our classes, especially those involving more advanced authoring or extensive use of audio-visual files, would involve so much computer memory that they would need to be submitted on CD-ROM rather than as a Web page. Mei's project was saved to a file which took up little memory (one reason for being selected here) but is simple and effective. As a language lesson it focuses on skills learning, but does so in relation to an interesting and well-conceived context. Many of the student multimedia projects focused on setting interesting contexts for introducing topics of information or skills learning. Others used the connection between introductory animations and related hypertextual link options (requiring learner choices) to encourage more interaction and higher-order learning.
Monster exchanges exemplify the power of an interesting pretext for a range of ICT-supported learning activities within and between different classrooms, including international language exchanges. The basic idea of a monster exchange is that getting students to imagine in written and then also in graphic form their own unique monsters not only provides a powerful motivational focus for learning participation but also for interactive exchange in and between classrooms. A typical variation is students in two different classrooms send each other monster descriptions by e-mail to be drawn by the other as a focus for ongoing interactions. The originators of this particular model mainly conceived it terms of literacy learning, but other related models such as the Global Schoolhouse's "travel buddies" exemplify the power and across-the-curriculum possibilities of such exchanges and pretexts for learning. While we have used real-time chat programs such as ICQ as a means of conducting monster exchanges and organizing online dialogue (either with other classes running at the same time or groups within the same class), usually e-mail or even webforums are the ways in which students interact and send attached graphic or word files in their monster exchanges. Using this model we found that imaginative drawing and writing activities provided a powerful focus and example for even older learners such as Lena to get excited about using Internet communications and graphical tools on one hand, and linking of design activities with the learning process on the other.
The development model of hypermedia proejcts seminally conceived by Lehrer, Erickson, and Connell (1994) -- also developed and refined by others -- provides a useful focus for both developing and converging the learning design models of webquests and microlessons. Such models provide a context for connecting multimedia effects and some form of curriculum content in a common design process. Multimedia learning projects are similar in many ways to commercial models of multimedia project development, but much smaller, more manageable, and more flexible. The key learning design principle involved here is that the trajectory between an initial idea and a developed project or outcome at the end not only provides a framework for the learning process but also a convergent focus for acquiring, refining, and reflecting on a variety of multimedia design processes and project development skills along the way. This may be represented and evaluated effectively as an activity-reflection learning e-portfolio or some similar way of grounding assessment in the learning process. Multimedia learning projects provide an especially useful focus for reflecting on the interactions between individual and collaborative or team efforts and visions in relation to a specific idea or topics. Electronic concept-mapping programs provide the means to get learners to design and develop their work through mindmaps, concept maps, hypermedia flowcharts, and storyboards. Mei conveived and developed her multimedia project in this way and presented the final product as part of an activity-reflection e-portfolio assignment.
Discussion
A project-based learning (PBL) approach usefully goes beyond the notion of webquests because it represents a general integrative approach which can include as well be exemplified by, but not reduced to, specific learning activities, methods, and outcomes. A project may also include the collaborative emphasis of webquests, but ultimately encourages personal motivation for and ownership of the learning process. Any teacher who has used project-based learning strategies well should be able to attest to the power of a project topic (especially if negotiated) to capture a student's energies and enthusiasm for exploring knowledge. As an aspect and model of problem-based learning, project-based learning with the Web represents an exemplary focus and framework for the integration of ICT in education in terms of being a general approach which also embraces various types of Web-based learning activities or teaching methods.
As a transformational focus for learning multimedia skills and knowledges in a doable, applied context, multimedia learning projects contrast with workshop models which either focus on skill acquisition without much effective connection to the design of learning process, or rather tease with the distant promise of advanced cutting-edge possibilities which the average teacher has little hope of attaining. Multimedia learning projects may be further developed as learning contexts in themselves in terms of how hypermedia may be approached as either an animated sequence or as a set of multimedia links. Commercial programs are usually some sort of mix involving an opening animated context followed by the options of hypermedia links. For example, the Winnie-the-Pooh literacy skills programs sets the main character in a forest and children then need to decide which path to take from there to engage in learning activities. The typical design for teacher multimedia learning projects typically involves an animated sequence which introduces a topic or process of learning linked to a menu of further topics or processes. However, many of the more effective multimedia projects tend to be more mixed with ongoing animation linking with interactive options for engaging learners in the negotiation of choices or selections (Mayer, 2001).
As the Challenge 2000 Multimedia Project (1999) outlines, "project-based learning is a model for classroom activity that shifts away from the classroom practices of short, isolated, teacher-centered lessons and instead emphasizes learning activities that are long-term, interdisciplinary, student-centered, and integrated with real world issues and practices." As a context for discussing the integration of Internet resources in teaching and learning, PBL also goes beyond the webquest model in terms of emphasizing that problem-based and inquiry-based contexts for transforming information are ultimately part of a larger communication framework of learning, interaction, and presentation -- instead of vice versa -- by those who focus on the Internet as a gigantic database rather than primarily as a telecommunications media. While the student webquest report is typically produced for the teacher alone, influential models of Internet PBL emphasize the sharing and even wider publication or presentation of activity outcomes and products.
As a communication tool, the Internet extends the process of learning in terms of a range of "telecomputing activity structures" (Grabe & Grabe, 1998, p. 44). Particular types of activities ranging from key pals or electronic mentoringtele-fieldtrips and social action projects may be adapted to and extend the specific contents of different subjects. Whether or not a particular project makes use of e-mail, webforums or even chat and other conferencing Internet functions or programs, influential organizations such as the Global Schoolhouse-- which has pioneered telecollaboration projects since 1984 -- use the World Wide Web itself as a communication medium to advertise projects, to link classrooms across the world, and to develop online educational communities. Various communication options from e-mail lists through to Internet chat provide contexts of interaction on these sites for teachers to discuss possible projects and for students to undertake projects (e.g., Lerman, 1998). Likewise, within a communication framework of collaborative projects, student Web sites provide a focus for reporting and interaction as well as developing information resources -- as exemplified by the International Schools Cyberfairs organized by the Global Schoolhouse. through to
Although Internet communication projects typically involve more simple pretexts for learning and social interaction than the other models looked at, examples such as Monster Exchange and Travel Buddies illustrate how even simple pretexts can provide the focus for more varied and developed modes of ICT-supported learning activity. Project-based learning might productively be considered as one useful sub-category of problem-based learning in terms of not only designing a specific focus and context for student projects but in terms of getting students themselves to also (a) identify project constraints and feasibility; and (b), to plan and apply a "design" approach. Sternberg's (1997) "six A's of designing projects" provides a useful overview of relevant criteria for an effective PBL context: authenticity, academic rigor, applied learning, active exploration, adult/effective guidance,assessment practices. and
At this stage of the inquiry some of the convergent principles (or "anatomy") of an effective ICT-supported learning activity are clearer and more explicit. In particular, it is the function of learning activity "pretexts" to engage learner interest, participation, and their very process of learning and focus this in the direction of some kind of applied learning, explicit knowledge, and effective outcomes. This initial transformatory connection is a crucial not just accidental or add-on function of learning activity design. Such a learning design structure is significantly different to that associated with formal lesson planning although the latter may be used to develop the former. The whole more effectively informs the parts in a progression of learning focus from implicit to explicit knowledge, both in terms of individual lessons and larger modules. As indicated, for instance, by Blue N'Web's typology of ICT resources and learning designs, a specific learning task (i.e., a narrow conception of a learning activity) may organize the plan for up to several classroom lessons. In contrast, a project is an educational focus which is able to provide an organizing framework across and beyond a series of lessons and many quite distinct even if related activities (March, 2001).
Study #3: Interactive Learning with ICT and the Quest for Generic Alternatives to the Traditional Lesson Plan
In this third phase, we continued to use earlier models both as useful examples in their own right and also as ways of getting our students teachers to think about designing effective learning with ICTs. However in this phase we generated a template which would try to exemplify some of the structural resemblances of these other models to the extent that this was quite different to the traditional lesson plan. The use of this learning activity "generic structure" either in its own right as a design strategy or as a complement to the use of various models (such as webquests, multimedia projects, and various kinds of problem-based or inquiry-based learning using ICTs) might still be applied to formal lesson planning and module or subject design -- but not vice versa. Feedback from both student evaluation surveys and learning activity assignments indicated that this template was useful in getting student teachers away from merely replicating particular models or specific examples and to think about and apply the generic learning activity functions of (a) providing effective and interesting contexts for engaging learners and (b) linking this to organizing learning objectives ranging from skill and information acquisition to various higher-order understandings, syntheses, and applications.
Typical Learning Artifact -- Class C 2003
Section B is actually the activity template and generic structure (which was conceived out of the first two stages of inquiry) for generating and developing a range of ICT-supported learning ideas. In effect this represents an initial draft or stage which can be further developed in terms of various models or modes. Section A is a warming-up task where students are asked to come up with three innovative ideas for transforming a typically boring lesson plan objective into a much more interesting context. Kristina's responses are more typical than exemplary. A bit mixed in quality, her activity design nevertheless indicated some innovative context ideas and she started to develop this quite well as an activity sequence. Her idea could be adapted and refined in different ways.
The template used by Kristina includes a "warming up" activity as introduction to the exercise of conceiving, developing, and outlining an ICT-supported learning activity idea -- along the lines suggested in Figure 1. In the activity of this initial section, which is modeled in class, students are challenged to transform boring curriculum learning objectives into exciting pretexts or foci for interaction. In this way they should become ready to choose and develop one idea with promise.
Figure 1. Design aide for developing an ICT-spported learning activity
1. CONCEIVE OF AN AUTHENTIC OR IMAGINARY SITUATION/CONTEXT/PROBLEM 2. WHAT WILL LEARNERS NEED TO DO AS THE PURPOSE OF INITIAL INTERACTION (solve a problem, address some issue or challenge, etc.)? 3. HOW WILL THIS PROVIDE A PRETEXT FOR SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOMES IN A CHOSEN SUBJECT AND RE: MAIN LEARNING OBJECTIVE? 4. PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF KEY STAGES OR STEPS OF ACTIVITY. 5. WHAT IS THE MAIN ICT-SUPPORTED LEARNING FOCUS AND WHAT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES NEEDED FOR THIS ACTIVITY?
In terms of the structure indicated in Figure 1, an effective learning activity design will involve two transformations as the foundation for learning as an effective connection between learning activity and reflection or doing and thinking. Firstly, the authentic or imaginary context for an activity must somehow lead into an activity involving curriculum learning through some kind of use of ICTs for information resourcing, communication, or interactive engagement. Although ICTs may be used for a combination of purposes (e.g., initial access to digital information resources as the basis for a multimedia presentation or web publication), one mode should be primary. Kristina's nascent activity describes the imaginary context of leaners being asked to help an alien stranded on Earth get back to his own planet. This pretext for interaction is then linked with a curriculum learning activity focus on identifying distinct words in relation to supermarket items. The second transformation should represent a stage of applied learning which realizes an organizing learning objective which has been implicit from the beginning but emerges directly out of the curriculum focus of the learning activity. Kristina's lesson involves English as second language learning. Although her plan has yet to be developed in detail yet, there is indication that a communicative or conversational framework is being provided for learning new words in a second language context.
Whilst the curriculum focus of the learning activity is central, the initial context idea is crucial as both a stage and in terms of indirectly engaging learners in the learning process generally, and their own learning process in particular. In other words, designs for interactivity are a key to the learning process itself as a productive transformation of information and/or skills into actual knowledge (Salmon, 2002). The generic structure of an ICT-supported learning activity outlined in the template is also consistent with the kind of dialogical model of learning with ICTs advocated, for instance, by Laurillard (2002). This model, often associated with the Socratic model of teaching through questions which engage and challenge the learner, views the learning process as kind of a "conversation" between learner and teacher, other learners, and even the curriculum mediated as much by "technologies" of communication as language itself (Light & Cox, 2001). Thus, relevant focus questions are another way of setting up interesting and effective pretexts for engaged learning -- contexts to critically explore or developmentally engage with topics or issues, and to encourage active learning as a process of transforming knowledge in terms of understandings, applications and transferable principles.
The common stages and dialogical trajectory of effectively designed learning are depicted in Figure 2 in terms of effectively linking both content and process, and also leaner thinking and doing. In contrast to the linear and hierarchical assumptions of the traditional lesson, the two related transformations of learning outlined above are framed here in terms of the three phases of a dialogical methodology: naïve, critical, and applied modes of the learning process corresponding to introductory, explanatory/procedural, and synthesizing stages of knowledge construction. The diagram attempts to depict how the generic structure of an ICT-supported learning activity represents an activity-reflection cycle grounded in contexts of both individual performance and social knowledge (Richards, 2003). It can be visualized as either a threefold process or as open-ended design spiral. A naïve phase initially engages learner interaction and understanding as a basis for achieving a subsequent phase of "disciplined" performance, adequate explanation, or critical reflection. In turn, a dialogical phase represents the potentially innovative transformations implied by any effective grounding of reflective knowledge and the learning process generally in concrete contexts of application and interaction. Such a design strategy is as applicable to larger contexts of curriculum design as it is to specific activity design or lesson planning.
Figure 2. ICT integration and learning as an activity-reflection cycle (adapted from Richards, 2004)
The process of learning to use ICT tools and programs effectively and with confidence, especially across different contexts of application, can be most frustrating and often is not achieved without adequate support. In this way the hands-on requirements of ICT integration exemplifies the inherent dilemmas of the learning process generally. Thus, relevant and appropriate designs for learning are needed which provide contexts or frameworks for bridging the missing links between learner doing and thinking (and also content and process) so that confidence, application, and even innovation begin to be achieved. Practical ICT skills and even related new learning concepts are often taught in somewhat of a vacuum. ICT-supported learning activities provide an applied focus for learning which extends from a primary focus on ICT skills and knowledge acquisition through to ICT integration in various modes of and subjects of across-the-curriculum learning. In other words, it is an approach which suggests that technical competence in using ICT tools and programs can actually be enhanced when linked to either (a) applications which also encourage the design process at the same time or (b) any key or convergent learning objectives, even if this focused on the content of different subject or disciplinary areas of knowledge.
Discussion
The three stages of the inquiry represented in this paper have linked the challenge to get teachers to be more active and effective designers of learning with the tools and media of ICTs with a response to how formal lesson syllabus planning seems to involve an inherent tendency for add-on uses of ICTs in teaching and learning. In a way, the dialogical methodology and related constructivist learning approach that underlies the generic structure and alternative model of an ICT-supported learning activity represents a turning-on-its-head of the formal lesson plan format and associated assumptions about educational design and even the learning process.
The need for a better exemplary model or strategy for designing ICT-supported learning is given weight by a closer examination of the assumptions and limitations of two currently influential approaches or general theoretical perspectives -- instructional design and social constructivist learning theory. Both approaches represent a range of diverse interests and methods but also general assumptions about learning design. Also despite ostensibly opposing the linear and hierarchical tendencies of traditional formal education, it may be argued that both approaches are often used to reinforce such tendencies, likewise, oppositional views of the relation between pedagogy and technology.
Gagne's (1987) theory exemplifies this tendency in instructional design. Taking specific and typically lower-order learning outcomes or tasks as its reference point, this theory proceeds retrospectively in linear fashion to describe the required "learning hierarchy" of skills and processes. Gagne's associated theory of "instructional events" then proceeds in terms of the typical linear and hierarchical assumptions of formal lesson planning: gaining attention, lesson objectives, recall of prior learning, presentation, guidance, learner performance, reinforcement, retrieval, and generalization. Adaptations of instructional design as "instructional technology" thus tend to view the educational use use of ICTs (and any technology media) in terms of their add-on facility to this process. Gagne's collaborator David Merrill developed this approach further to outline a model of reusable ICT "learning objects" and metadata which barely recognize the role of teaching or learning performance in context.
Different versions of instructional design theory make use of constructivist learning theory as they do cognitivist and behaviourist models. However, social constructivist learning theory can be regarded as distinct for present purposes insofar as it represents an influential approach to how learning with ICTs lends itself to collaborative activities and the concept of bonded learning communities and "rich" learning environments (e.g., Barab, Kling, & Gray, 2004). Such an approach is most notably associated with the theoretical work of David Jonassen which has long explored the learner-centred and "cognitive tool" implications of ICTs. For instance, Jonassen's (2000) adaptation of cultural-historical activity theory tends to be more interested in the concept of activity as a systemic use or context of cognitive tools rather than specific and transferable designs for grounded hands-on use of ICTs as a form of media literacy. Such theories have a tendency to discuss in vague abstraction how ICT tools and media lend themselves to learning community development, collaborative interactions, and knowledge building, rather than specific and transferable ideas applicable by the average teacher. Thus, for instance, Scardamalia & Bereiter's (1994) well-known CSILE (Computer-Supported Intentional Learning Environments) model of knowledge building is really not so much about ICT integration in education as such, but functions of learning linked to one particular program which many teachers find difficult to use in average classrooms.
In sum, both models make useful gestures about how ICT might not only be integrated in learning but enhance the learning process. However, it may be argued that both models retain implicit linear, hierarchical, and oppositional assumptions about learning which represent tendencies for an add-on use of ICT in education and fail to most effectively overcome missing links between practice and theory and learner doing and thinking. Just as the cultural-historical model of activity theory derived from the work of Vygotsky and others represents a more systemic and abstract model of the technology-learning process connection, so too there are related instructional design models (e.g., concepts such as intelligent learning or tutoring systems, often associated with knowledge management principles) which see learning primarily in terms of networked information systems. The message from this short discussion of two particularly influential approaches is that the discussion about the challenge of ICT integration in terms of teacher designs for learning has largely remained at macro levels of theory as well as policy and rhetoric. The many good ideas and useful concepts associated with these general approaches might be even more relevant if related to a more bottom-up perspective on how effective practice presumes some kind of design strategy grounded in performance or dialogue.
Thus, in contrast to the more abstract cultural-historical notion of ICT-supported learning activity, the approach taken here focuses at the outset on simple practical design models which any teacher can soon begin to customize and apply ICT both as discrete tools and as a general media interface (i.e., both as physical and cognitive extensions of human activity) in relation to his/her own specific contexts of practice. In this way any teacher can soon become an innovative designer of learning contexts which encourage not only ICT integration in learning and the learner-centred implications of ICT generally, but also the learning process in relation to any specific pedagogical objectives or strategies. Such a bottom-up perspective is able to appreciate in practice how specific or situational contexts of individual performance both ground and open up for potential transformation any implicit or explicit (i.e., designed) structure of social knowledge -- and thus ultimately the kinds of cultural-historical structures or relevant macro objectives emphasized by activity theory and related models.
The effective design of an ICT-supported learning activity as some kind of doing-thinking or activity-reflection transformation relates to, complements and reinforces the kind of dialogical approach to learning outlined in Laurillard's (2002) conversational framework for the effective use of learning technologies -- the designed contexts of either actual or virtual learner interactions with (a) teachers, (b) other learners, and (c) mediated knowledge itself. The importance placed on designed pretexts recognizes the need for grounding learning in context, and the greater efficacy-- at least where ICT integration is concerned -- with emergent and developmental rather than arbitrary or fixed and imposed learning objectives and processes. As new modes of literacy and learning, the models, which provide a practical design focus for the inquiry, have exemplified alternative ways, structures, and strategies for harnessing, in formal contexts of education, the great interest and seemingly natural confidence that the young have for the kind of new digital media worlds and cultures similarly outlined, for instance, by the critical pedagogist Peter McLaren and the new media critic Douglas Rushkoff. Figure 3 provides a comparative breakdown of how the kind of generic activity design investigated represents an alternative generic structure to a top-down formal lesson plan format.
If the "generic activity design" structure were imagined visually, then it might be represented as three stages or even two interpenetrating spirals informing (a) an overall link, connection, or transformation between doing and thinking as well as skills or information and higher-order learning; and (b) the two specific links or transformation indicated earlier which engender effective participation and then potential achievement or realization of key or convergent learning objectives. Instead of designs for showing' being a mere add-on to telling, the link between designed or virtual and actual contexts is recognized as crucial for an emergent and developing learning process along the lines of the dialogical framework outlined above.
Figure 3. A contrast between formal lesson-planning and learning activity design
Generic activity design
- key learning objective/ outcomes explicitly outlined from outset (also tendency for confusion of implicit and explicit objectives)
- linear and often 'closed' or fixed sequence of topics or procedures
- hierarchical and oppositional view of relation between thinking and doing, theory/content and practice/examples
- introduction and conclusions gesture towards learners prior and developing knowledge
- initial activity context and focus encourages and frames convergent modes of participation and learning – implicit links between learner involvement and key learning objective/s
- more open-ended, transformational relation between (a) initial activity context and specific 'curriculum' context and (b) content and key learning objective/s
- spiral structure underlies learning design connections between doing and thinking, practice and theory/content
- introduction and conclusion frame the learning process as an activity-reflection cycle and as dialogical stages (naive/critical/applied)
The concept of an ICT-supported learning activity has some initial resemblance to the task-based pedagogy (and larger communicative) model in language education (e.g., Nunan, 1993). In the communicative language classroom, tasks serve the purpose of making sure that the learner's "attention is focused on meaning rather than linguistic structure" (Nunan, 1989, p. 10), that is, it is an initial and key requirement that learning activities engage interaction and understanding. Tasks thus provide pretexts for grounding various aspects of language study (grammar and vocabulary as well as conversation) in some everyday context of application or topic of interest. The term activity has been used here to refer to both a process and a generic structure which encompasses pretexts, tasks and specific activities. In both senses activities inform a larger convergent focus and design for learning in time. In this way, activity as a generic organising structure of learning complements an associated notion that effective learning often proceeds as an activity-reflection cycle grounded in context, and is a process by which learners both individually and collaboratively transform skills or information into applied knowledge.
The later work of Paul Ricoeur (e.g., 1994) has powerfully argued how the discursive and textual applications of language in context not only mediate but transform the connection between interpretative processes of thought and reflection and the world of human action; and, also, how the mind-body dualism in western and modern thought is transformed in practice as a dialogical interplay of understanding and explanation, innovation and structure, and individual performance and social knowledge. Activity in context as both individual performance and social process opens up structures of knowledge and thus learning to processes of innovation as well as habituation or discipline. Just as Hannah Arendt (1958) identified intrinsically meaningful action rather than labor or work as the key to her famous study of the human condition, other thinkers such as Huizanga have proposed that play is the characteristic human activity which precedes and transforms work. Not only does the generic structure of a learning activity represents a design framework for linking learner doing and thinking, but also play and work in ways we will need to understand better if we are to harness the extra-curricular ICT literacies of younger learners (e.g., Gee, 2003).
An important related aspect of pedagogical design for ICT integration which will be investigated further beyond the scope of this particular paper is the link between learning activity design and visual interface design as convergent aspects of the growing importance of interaction design principles. Educational interaction design has much to learn from the cultural and commercial contexts of how various popular and visual aspects of interaction with ICTs such as digital gaming represent transformations of old media as well as new possibilities, requirements, and innovations (Bolter & Grusin, 2000; Johnson, 1997; Murray, 1997; Manovich, 2001). A key to linking interface design with educational content and structures of learning thus lies in the convergent functions of visual metaphors and narrative structures for encouraging interactivity in a dialogical and applied fashion. Digital games in particular exemplify the importance and possibilities of designing engaging and structured participation or interaction which hook in, engage, and direct the attention of users through functions of virtual navigation and goal-directed interaction of some kind (Aldrich, 2003; Prensky, 2000). In contrast to the commercial purposes and various entertainment genres of many popular games -- especially open source games which exemplify the process of collaborative learning communities -- effective educational multimedia designs for learning face the additional challenge of needing to extend interaction design principles to include educational content or specific learning objectives.
As Norman (2002) has argued, any effective design process needs to be understood as an interactive communication with "users" in terms of functionality and flexibility as well as form. ICTs need to be integrated in teaching and learning to the extent that they represent a new or extended mode literacy in the digital age, and effective designs for ICT-supported learning need to be grounded in activity as both process and structure. As Kress (2003) has recognized, the design possibilities and literacy implications of multimodal learning with ICTs tools and media represent a convergent focus for language and technology in general, and verbal and non-verbal modes of interaction in particular. This is consistent with how any teacher who attempts to effectively integrate ICT in his/her teaching and the learning of their pupils or students is a curriculum as well as learning designer of sorts. The generic structure of an ICT-supported learning activity represents one strategy in this direction which many teachers are already finding useful in the guise of various models and practices, and which may be refined further to encourage even more effective designs for learning.
CONCLUSION
To more effectively harness the exciting educational implications and learner-centred possibilities of ICTs, teachers need (a) new design strategies for teaching and learning which promote the applied integration of ICTs, and (b) to avoid the kind of add-on tendencies associated with still dominant assumptions about formal lesson planning and syllabus design on one hand, and are often inadvertent in the use of top-down models such as instructional design and social constructivism learning theory. This inquiry has investigated how the exemplary use of practical design models (a) provide a useful focus in teacher education for encouraging teachers to become more active and innovative "designers" of ICT-supported learning in the digital age, and (b) indicate the generic structure or anatomy of an effective ICT-supported learning activity. Practical activity-based learning with ICTs that provides pretexts for more effective curriculum learning and reflective practice exemplify a dialogical approach to educational design. Such an approach to educational design goes beyond (rather than merely oppose) the linear, hierarchical and transmission assumptions still dominating formal education in a way which is able to ground critical and applied thinking in transferable contexts of practice and knowledge. The dialogical stages of naïve, critical, and applied learning represent a framework for not only linking educational content and process and also learner thinking and doing, but the very transformations which exemplify an ICT literacy transition from mere competency to applied understanding, knowledge and innovation.
The alternate challenges of integrating the Internet and related ICTs in education on one hand, and encouraging innovation and applied thinking in students on the other, are helping us to appreciate that the new 'literacy and learning' skills of the electronic age revolve around the complementary organizing concepts of designevaluation, and also learner doing and thinking. This paper has argued that there is a similar need to reconstruct the role of the teacher as a designer and evaluator of learning activities, contexts, and environments in a way which more effectively links the learning process to the curriculum, especially when using the Internet or ICT generally. In short, teachers need to consider overall design elements when outlining or setting up specific assignment contexts, criteria, and outcomes which exemplify effective ICT-supported learning. The emergent notion of an effective ICT-supported learning activity provides a useful focus for encouraging teachers to approach the challenge of ICT integration in education more as designers of interesting and applied learning rather than mere transmitters of skills or information through an add-on use of ICTs in teaching and learning. and
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Cameron Richards is a senior lecturer in the Graduate School of Education, University of Western Australia. His main research and scholarly interests currently revolve around the interdisciplinary and across-the-curriculum possibilities and challenges of effectively integrating ICT in new and changing contexts of education.
E-mail: Cameron.Richards@uwa.edu.au
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3. COMMENTARY: YOU'RE NOT STUDYING, YOU'RE JUST...
Ravi Purushotma
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
ABSTRACT
As often as language teachers lecture about the importance of continual practice to adolescent learners, the dullness of homework exercises designed primarily to be educational has difficulty competing with popular media designed solely to be entertaining. Recently, numerous attempts have been made to develop "edutainment" titles that seek to merge educational goals with entertainment content; oftentimes, however, they fail to achieve either goal and fall instead into niche markets.Rather than seeing entertainment-focused media forms as adversarial to educational content, educators should instead embrace them. This commentary examines how content originally designed for entertainment purposes can be modified to provide natural and context rich language learning environments, without sacrificing its entertainment value. First, I examine a modification to the number one selling video game The Simsthat intelligently combines game data from the English edition with data from editions of other languages to form a bilingual gaming environment. This exposes learners to abundant L2 vocabulary, yet still provides enough L1 support not to detract from the game. This principle is then extended to other applications such as music videos, typing tutors, and voice-navigated games. Finally, areas of otherwise wasted time are identified, such as waiting for Web pages to load or walking to class, with suggestions of how technology can facilitate language learning during these times.
In a single week, I met five people each claiming to be the world's worst language learner. Having legitimately claimed this title for myself long ago, it's obvious they were only exaggerating. Still, in listening to their various language learning histories, it seems we all reached this conclusion from similar experiences: Frustration with our old high school workbooks, a sense of helplessness when confronted with lists of isolated vocabulary to memorize, and little connection between assignments and our everyday life. While changes in classroom environments over the past century have allowed in-class learning to evolve considerably, the guidance students receive on how to continue learning a language outside of class has remained relatively the same. In general, beginning students are advised to set aside dedicated study time for completing practice exercises and to rehearse vocabulary items with techniques such as flashcards. However, as the current dot-com generation grows up submerged in captivating and dynamic media forms, educators will likely need to adapt their conceptions of homework to match if they wish to capture the interests of adolescent students. While recently numerous suggestions have been advanced for enlivening the language learning experience with interactive activities and online collaboration (e.g., LeLoup & Ponterio, 2003), much of the potential for the integration of entertainment media with mainstream language learning remains untapped -- something that would have been pivotal for my own early language learning experiences.
Finding my high school German homework assignments frustrating and dull, I rarely managed to complete assignments. Naturally, as the course progressed it became increasingly difficult for me to remain an active participant in class -- in turn, making homework assignments yet more frustrating. At the end of the year, I left the course with only two things: an ability to irritate my teacher enough never to be called upon in class and an "F" in German 1. It was at this time I dubbed myself "the world's worst language learner" and publicly declared that I was well satisfied with my monolingual status, with full intentions of keeping it throughout my life.Fortunately, the Internet later provided a perspective on foreign language and culture considerably more appealing than the one I received in ninth grade. Far from the German "She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain" we used to open each morning, sites like audioscrobbler connected me to modern commercial songs by analyzing youth in Germany with the same musical tastes. Rather than spending my free time on "find the conjugated form" word-search puzzles, I practiced contextualized conversation and grammar by loading learning materials found on the Internet into my cell phone and listening to them in my spare time while walking between classes. Surprised and encouraged by how much I learned from such a simple system, I enrolled in further German study and set about developing more complex ways of using technology to increase my foreign language exposure in practical and entertaining contexts.
YOU'RE NOT STUDYING, YOU'RE JUST PLAYING THAT SIMS™ GAME OF YOURS
For many adolescent language learners, the suggestion of playing an edutainment software title unfortunately conjures up images of simplistic space invader games, re-programmed to solicit foreign language vocabulary before being able to be able to shoot at a screen of sketchily drawn aliens. For students in a class only because of a mandated requirement, the temptation to forego all educational value for a modern software title instead designed solely to be entertaining is far too enticing. Upon a closer look, however, some of these same entertainment-focused titles possess much of the basic content desired in an educational title. For example, if we look at the number one selling game (Croal, 2003) The Sims, we see a lot of the same content one might find in an introductory language textbook.The Sims is a game designed to simulate normal everyday life. Players control the daily routines of a virtual family, guiding them through tasks such as managing personal hygiene, cooking food, finding jobs, entertaining guests, and so forth. After assigning professions to their characters, players then manage the family finances, deciding how to best purchase furniture and appliances to develop their house based on analysis of the emotional states of their characters. In playing the English version of the game, I noticed the vocabulary for the tasks contained many of the same words as the German homework I should have been studying instead. Finding that the language of the game could be changed to German simply by switching a single registry setting, I placed a laptop with a translation tool beside my main computer and continued playing the game in German. When the vocabulary items then came up in class, I was already familiar with them and could recall the relevant associated contexts and animations used in the game.
While there have already been numerous suggestions for using commercial simulation games as language learning contexts (see, e.g., Coleman, 2002), most are based on designing external activities without modifying the games themselves. Traditionally, modifying a commercial game's interface or language data was an impossible task, as its programming was often locked away in compiled binary code. Today, however, most game designers separate game data into external files and actively encourage third-party customizations. For games like The Sims, this has led to an explosion of enhancements for the entertainment value of the game, though so far little has been done to take advantage of this customizability for educational extensions. One freely available customization tool provides users with direct access to the language data used in the game. By using macros, or scripts, educators can rapidly extract the parts of the first language (L1) game data they feel necessary for scaffolding learners and then integrate them as available translations within the second language (L2) version of the game (see Figure 1).
In Figure 1 we can see an edit in which the main interface uses data from the German version of the game, yet includes tool tip data from the English dataset, so that if a player does not know a German word such as "Kochen," s/he can leave the cursor over the word and receive a pop-up explanation which includes an English translation. Also, enough keywords are glossed for the prompt "Do you wish to save before quitting" (literally: "Wants you save, before you the game quit?") to ensure a player would not get frustrated trying to understand, but makes it likely they will first read in the L2.
This method of modifying video games offers a powerful vehicle for further exploring recent work on incidental learning. Hulstijn (1992), suggests that vocabulary retention can be improved if new words are glossed with multiple choices in which the learner must then decide the most appropriate choice (Figure 2).
Unfortunately, in a traditional reading environment this can have adverse effects for both reading comprehension and vocabulary retention if learners make the wrong choices (Watanabe, 1997). In a video game, however, some incorrect assumptions by learners can be recovered through the interactions present in a typical gaming environment. For example, one of the variables players must keep track of is their Sim's energy level -- represented in the German version by a bar labeled "energie." If a poor learner were to guess the meaning of this word incorrectly, her/his character would take steps to notify the player until the energy variable was addressed: First, the character would act sleepy and think about beds (Figure 3).
If the learner still failed to recognize and improve the Sim's energy level, the game would take control and show the learner how by having the Sim fall asleep on the spot (Figure 4).
Besides interactivity and flexibility, video games provide content that is naturally rich in associations. Numerous studies report on how glossing reading passages with images and videos can enhance incidental vocabulary acquisition better than can text-only glosses (Al-Seghayer, 2001). Creating images for glosses, however, also requires more work than simply writing text -- and videos yet even more. By using video games as content platforms, images and animations become an automatic and effortless part of the environment. In The Sims, anytime a player clicks to receive elaboration on variables they need to monitor, it presents a window already containing images of all the game items relevant to that variable (see Figure 5).
Another challenge in incidental learning is that materials should be personally relevant and useful to the learner (see Huckin & Coady, 1999). In a gaming environment, content is generally presented to the user because of its direct relevance to their task. Should a player in The Sims choose to ignore messages about the variable harndrang ("bladder") and any game cues (e.g., how their Sim starts running when by the bathroom), s/he would later be embarrassed when the Sim becomes unable to control him/herself (Figure 6). This would hopefully encourage the learner to take interest in and learn more about that variable.
In their review of studies on incidental vocabulary learning, Laufer and Hulstijn (2001) conclude that "learner involvement" is the main factor influencing overall effectiveness. They highlight three core components comprising learner involvement: "need" -- ensuring a word is relevant to the learner; "search" -- providing a means by which a learner can work to discover the meaning of an unknown word; and "evaluation" -- assessment by the learner of how the meaning does or does not fit into the current context. An entertainment-focused video game such as The Sims can be modified to not only fulfill each of these criteria, but do so in a manner that minimizes extraneous effort and stress on part of the learner, provides repeated interactive exposures to words, and automatically generates rich contexts for associations. Additionally, by making direct changes to the game data files themselves, educational designers can make their modifications instantly deployable by teachers worldwide.
Looking Ahead
Besides game customization tools, today's educators enjoy a wide variety of other gaming innovations for building pedagogical solutions. Previously, a typical commercial game would consist only of a weapon and a target -- leaving educators little room for inserting educational enhancements. Fortunately, as designers are forced to come up with more creative game elements, technologies useful to educational designers will naturally make their way into entertainment media (Squire, 2003).Perhaps the most successful innovation in game designs is the development of modern massively multiplayer online games -- MMOGs. In these games, rather than playing within a pre-programmed environment, players exist as characters in a virtual world formed through their interactions with other live players on the Internet. The unparalleled success of these games should be of interest to anyone trying to understand adolescent motivation and attention. In stark contrast to the high school language teacher sometimes struggling to receive 30 minutes worth of homework from students, the alarming success of MMOGs has prompted the establishment of government organizations to control their use and psychological addiction (Yee, 2002) after a set of players neglecting to break for food collapsed following up to 84 hours straight at their keyboards (Farrell, 2002; Gluck, 2002). Makers of the popular online game "Everquest" (commonly referred to as "Evercrack" for its addictive properties ) found the average player spends over 20 hours a week playing the game (Everquest or Evercrack?, 2002).
While it might be nice to get teens to spend 20 hours a week solely on their Spanish homework, we should consider the educational potential for leveraging the phenomenal ability of MMOGs to capture the attention of adolescent audiences and bring them into a manipulatable world with players from all over the planet. Some studies have reported success at integrating MOOs, the historical predecessor to modern MMOGs, into the language classroom (Von der Emde, Schneider, & K–tter, 2001), although the educational potential for MMOGs is only just beginning to be examined (Coleman, 2004; Squire & Jenkins, in press). Simply by having such an international population together in a virtual community based on communicative interaction, motivated players have access to countless native L2 speakers and tasks to discuss with them -- though much could be done to extend this possibility to encourage shy learners to find and interact with players speaking their L2. For example, in a game like The Sims Online --- the MMOG version of The Sims -- players begin by choosing a city to live in, finding a house, then chatting with and getting to know their roommates. Besides merging international editions to form bilingual versions, another almost effortless modification game designers could make to interest language learners would be to create incentives and ways in which players could find and partner with native speakers of their L2 trying to learn their L1. This would not only provide the above-mentioned benefits of playing a bilingual game, but also provide learners with an L2 native from whom to learn about culture and language while performing a series of entertaining tasks requiring communicative exchanges. Alternatively, teachers could collaborate with classes in other countries and assign their students L2 speaking roommates.
Besides multiplayer interaction via the Internet, speech recognition is another advancement often regarded as a promising candidate for making CALL truly interactive, though to date the number of successful applications has been limited due to its poor performance and high system demands. The Learning Company provides one of the better examples of speech recognition technology in their Learn-to-Speak product line and freely available VirtualTalk Web site. These programs allow learners to engage in a simulated conversation by presenting them with a list of possible responses to choose from whenever they have a turn to participate in the conversation. The program then simply has to match the learner's response to the closest of the available responses and provide corrective feedback.
While pre-programming each of the expected responses greatly improves functionality -- such that even foreign accents can be somewhat accommodated -- it significantly increases the design complexity. As a result, participatory conversation designers targeting the foreign language market often need to simplify interactions in ways that impair both the entertainment and educational value. For example, in response to a question such as "Would you like some coffee?" designers may need to force learners down a single prepared path ("Yes, please/I'd love some/Sure, thanks") rather than creating distinct paths a learner can meaningfully choose between ("Yes, please/No thanks/Do you have decaf?"; Hubbard, 2002).
While in the foreign language software market it may not be feasible to create lengthy and complex dialogs -- a typical VirtualTalk conversation generally lasts only a couple of minutes; games targeting the larger entertainment market should begin incorporating spoken interfaces in the near future. While U.S. releases have only just begun to do this, such games have been available in the Japanese market for some time: Seaman takes the old tomogachi virtual pet craze to a new level by presenting players with a virtual baby fish-creature, which they must nurture into adulthood by conversing with it about its life and conditions. Raising a creature from birth to adulthood is expected to take about a month, with about 10 minutes of interaction a day. For more advanced students a game such as Operator's Side (Lifeline in English) includes all the elements of a typical action/adventure game, though instead of directly controlling the main character, players are challenged to direct her entirely through vocal instructions based on over 100,000 phrases.
While there are numerous other commercial gaming innovations that could be discussed, the ability to easily edit international language files combined with advances like MMOGs and speech interfaces should be incentive enough for us to begin considering how entertainment focused games can be used for language learning, rather than needing to develop an edutainment title from scratch. For researchers, modifying commercial games offer a quick way to develop rich content for examining student motivation, task-based learning, context effects, incidental learning, and simulated immersion; additionally it could prove useful in rapidly creating content for less commonly taught languages (Figure 7). For commercial game designers, selling foreign language expansion packs provides a simple way to further capitalize on investments already made into creating versions for different languages and, in the case of MMOGs, the collection of a large multi-lingual community of players.
Figure 7. Games can be edited to support entirely new languages
YOU'RE NOT STUDYING, YOU'RE JUST BROWSING THE WEB
As game design develops further, even more opportunities for practicing foreign languages within entertaining contexts will become available; the main challenge for educators will be to fold the value added by games in with the structure provided by a traditional learning environment. A beginning classroom playing a bi-lingual The Sims needs a way of focusing student attention on learning the most relevant words and an intermediate Japanese class playing a bi-lingual Operator's Side needs a way of preparing students for all the vocal commands expected in the game. One possibility might simply be to assign exam words as vocabulary homework for students to memorize during independent study time. This, however, may lose some of the interest of the less motivated or less organized students. Being the world's worst language learner, it always took me far longer to learn foreign vocabulary than any of my classmates. In asking some of my more successful classmates how they approached vocabulary, they mentioned that they studied flashcards during television commercials. Lacking either a television or index cards, I set about to instead make an equivalent system for browsing the Internet.
Much like the language data for The Sims, the user interface descriptions for the latest Mozilla and Netscape Web browsers are stored in editable files. This allows anybody with knowledge of XUL, a language similar to HTML/XML, to rapidly reconfigure the layout and design of the browser interface. In most browsers, the upper right hand corner includes a logo known as a "throbber" which animates while loading a Web page. During my German class, I replaced my throbber with a small frame pointing to a Web site containing a randomized vocabulary word from the current chapter of my textbook. Instead of displaying a corporate logo, the throbber in the top right corner displayed a German word and image while loading a Web site, followed by the English translation when loading was complete.In my case, this simply served to flash new vocabulary words while I was waiting for Web sites to load, although such a system could be extended in any number of ways (see Figure 8).
Figure 8. Top right corner is replaced with an online flashcard system for when pages are loading
Being part of the browser, the internal frame used in this example naturally inherits the ability to display HTML -- making the implementation of rich media annotations a simple process using commonly available authoring programs. Furthermore, this opens possibilities for direct authorship by students. Nikolova (2002) shows how vocabulary retention is best when students author their own personalized annotations, yet cautions that logistics and time-on-task can actually outweigh such advantages. With this in mind, an innovative textbook publisher could offer a Web gallery where students who enjoy authoring could share any multimedia annotations they develop (Figure 9) would then provide those students not inclined to authoring with a large point-and-click repository, allowing them to personalize their annotations in a time efficient manner.
Figure 9. Possible gallery for classrooms who choose to author their own annotations
Besides inheriting the rich media capabilities of an HTML renderer, an internal browser frame also has access to the same scripting environment and programming capabilities as the main browser frame. This allows it to interact with the user and other components of the browser. For example, it could adaptively adjust its content based on which site the user is currently visiting. Another script may be able to monitor language-learning exercises students perform online and then automatically update its content according to their mistakes. For users who consent, a script could additionally allow the browser to automatically transmit data about student's usage back to a researcher. As an example of the numerous possibilities available to creative educators, the Mozilla browser includes a feature that replaces advertisement banners with blank images; rather than blank images, advertisements could be replaced with vocabulary images.
Although learning vocabulary phrases while waiting for Web sites and programs to load fragments a student's studying into numerous quick flashes, it features many advantages over dedicating a set block of study time. For adolescent learners, the clearest advantage is that little else can compete for the learner's attention. While a 10-minute study block could also be redirected towards Friends™,1 flashes integrated into Web site loading have a more captive audience. Furthermore, a digital delivery system centralizes the logistics behind studying away from each individual student to the teacher or textbook publisher. By having content stored on a Web site, teachers can specify the current vocabulary words and deliver them directly to the student's browser interface -- such that even the least disciplined student is forcibly saturated with material of the teacher's choice.
Besides logistical advantages, a more fragmented vocabulary exposure system could also aid the long-term retention of words. Numerous studies show long-term advantages when items to be remembered are spaced out in their presentations (Bjork & Bjork, 1992; Forester, 2002). Other studies show the importance of a learner being in the same mood when trying to recall an item as when learning it (Forester, 2002). By distributing and repeating exposures of a target vocabulary phrase across the whole time a student is using a computer, the student is more likely to have seen a given word in a wider range of moods. In a dedicated study time, students are likely to stop studying as soon as they can successfully recall an item from memory. Researchers suggest, however, that if an item is to remain accessible in the long-term, students must continue studying a word even after it appears to be learned (Bjork, 1999). Keeping study content in the periphery of a student's browser interface encourages continued rehearsal.
YOU'RE NOT STUDYING, YOU'RE IN TYPING CLASS
Another possibility for getting students to engage in more rote forms of practice without needing to compete for their free time is to piggyback foreign language practice on time spent working with a typing tutor. Many high schools already include classes where students practice with a typing tutor, though there is little value in repeatedly telling them about how the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. One simple modification could be to set a typing tutor to use sentences in the language the student is learning. The Online Spanish Tutorial and about.com German offer a series of model sentences students can memorize in order to learn grammatical concepts such as differentiating "por" and "para" or dative versus accusative prepositions; however, students may find memorizing so many sentences tedious and boring. Williams and Thorne (2000) report on how students learning foreign language subtitling acquired impressive language skills simply as a byproduct of their subtitling practice. By using the customize sentences feature available in most typing tutors to include key L2 sentences, students could likely gain similar language learning side effects from their keyboarding classes. For typing tutor programs that offer further customization, high school language teachers could work together with keyboarding teachers to supply sentences synchronized with the current course material, bi-lingual games, or pop-music lyrics.YOU'RE NOT STUDYING, YOU'RE JUST LISTENING TO MUSIC
In every language classroom I have attended or observed, there has been some attempt to use music as a medium of engaging students. While music has strong potential for sharing foreign culture with students, its use in classrooms has numerous challenges. Foremost, musical tastes are often very individualized, making it impossible for a teacher to find a single song that can similarly engage all students. Though I had numerous German teachers, each preparing lessons on songs ranging from traditional folk to punk-metal, it was not until I found artists for myself that I was able to appreciate German music enough to voluntarily listen to and study it regularly on my own free time. Another challenge is that song lyrics can often be difficult to recognize accurately -- even for native speakers. Also, it can be difficult for a teacher to provide instruction while a song is playing. Often this requires students instead to first exclusively listen to a song and then switch to studying a printout of the lyrics to try to understand what they just heard. Previously, the only access students had to foreign music was often their teacher's personal CD collection. Today, however, resources like MTV international, net radios and audioscrobbler allow learners to independently explore modern music worldwide -with services such as iTunes and Napster emerging to provide affordable and legal purchases. Now that most digital songs are using ID3v2 or higher, one feature useful for language learners is that synchronized lyrics can be embedded directly into MP3 files. Combined with an OCR-capable translator, this allows learners to follow along with a foreign song as it is playing (see Figure 10). For older songs, synchronized lyrics can easily be inserted or retrieved from online databases.
In an ideal world, rather than clicking each word for an electronic translation, we would simply have a bi-lingual friend or teacher always standing beside us whenever we wanted to listen to a foreign song -- ready to translate any unfamiliar words for us. While always using a friend may not be so realistic, it can be simulated practically using 3D spatialized sound technology. By delaying the timing at which a given sound is delivered to each ear, insertions can be made to songs that sound as though they are coming from a physical location different from the ambient song. This allows educators to embed instructional content directly into a song (or other audio content) while still maintaining a clearly audible distinction so as not to detract from the main song. (see Figures 11, 12, and 13).
 (mp3) |  (wav) |
| (mp3) | (wav) |
Figure 12. Example of song with spatialized translation simulating a nearby source to the left
Figure 13. Example of a music video combining both spatialized translations and captions in order to maximize comprehension (please use headphones)
In recent years Simon and Schuster Corporation has been developing a language learning solution known as the Pimsleur series, receiving widespread popular reviews throughout the Internet. Despite the $725 price tag, Amazon.com user surveys2 for their comprehensive Spanish series give 60 out of 72 perfect 5-star ratings and overall enthusiastic reviews (Amazon Reviews, 2003):I was a definite beginner with Spanish; now I speak more and better than my husband who took Spanish for years in school.If you enjoyed Spanish in high school, you probably won't like this course. This one is easy on your mind, fast, and doesn't require repetition of the same old stuff over and over ... and over. I used the course while commuting and was surprised at the amount of retention in just a short period of time.
The comprehension level is amazing. And the one thing that is so great about it is that you don't need to study a book œ even if you do prefer visual learning, you would benefit greatly from this system.
Most distinct about this series is the exclusive use of auditory materials on cassette or CD. Personally, I found listening to the comprehensive German series I had loaded onto my cell phone while walking between classes to be a stress-free way of incorporating an hour of practice into my daily routine. Following these 50 hours of instruction, I felt more than comfortable enrolling in UCLA's second level German -- despite my previous failed attempts at first level German. Unfortunately, unlike my prior listening while walking, completing assigned written exercises was always in competition with studying my other textbooks -- rarely allowing me time to do more than temporarily memorize the contents of the next quiz and ultimately requiring some of the other learning strategies discussed in this paper by the time I finished third level German.
In the past, written print has generally been the more practical medium for introductory level language homework; whereas a textbook could always be taken anywhere and studied at any time, auditory materials sometimes required a dedicated trip to the language lab. This partially encouraged written assignments to become the primary medium for practicing grammar and vocabulary -- with accompanying auditory material usually provided only to supplement listening practice where necessary. Today, however, an entire day worth of non-stop portable audio can fit on a common one inch flat memory chip. Furthermore, simply for entertainment purposes, portable audio players are rapidly becoming ubiquitous in the life of the average adolescent -- with predictions that by 2005 it will be possible to directly purchase, receive, and play music all by cell phone (Digital Media, 2003). As both the next generation grows up fully accustomed to portable media technologies and professional digital audio production tools become more widely available, researchers should work to find the best balance between auditory and written practice materials and examine the impact of providing students materials similar to Simon and Schuster's Pimsleur series that are synchronized with course topics and examinations.
Many of the more successful CBI paradigms have been those using academic content, perhaps because they manage to blend so naturally into a classroom environment. For adolescent learners, however, academic content may not even be able to capture their attention to begin with, let alone sustain it for an hour of instruction in an unknown language. In this case, rather than finding what is suitable for classroom use and then working to capture student attention with it, we should instead begin with the popular media forms that students would independently be interested in had they grown up in the country of their L2 and then find better ways of integrating them into the language learning process. Certainly, no teacher could be expected to independently design lessons that provide language instruction for all their students' different media preferences. Rather, by devising ways to embed language instruction directly into popular media, curriculum designers can offer students highly adaptable learning environments to explore and teachers cutting edge curriculum that can be implemented as simply as assigning textbook pages.
While this paper has provided examples of embedding language instruction into games, Web browsing, and music, the same potential is likely to be found in virtually any digital media form. Most media technologies include accessibility features for the blind or deaf. As demonstrated with music videos, using these extra modalities to include the L1 can be a powerful way to modify them for language learning. Advances in internationalization programming place most language data for software outside the main program so it can rapidly be translated to other languages. In fact, when Squaresoft entertainment announced their intention not to create an English translation of their popular Final Fantasy V, a group of volunteer fans was able to create one without assistance from Squaresoft. By understanding how to merge and take advantage of multilingual datasets, researchers can rapidly generate engaging learning content from any internationalized media. Finally, meta-description developments such as XML give us power and flexibility when annotating content with instructional extensions. By understanding how these and other upcoming innovations fit together, curriculum designers should have enough flexibility for embedding instructional extensions into authentic media to alleviate either extensive teacher preparation for using commercial media resources or the need for artificial edutainment materials.
Often as a follow-up to content based lessons, assigning at least some explicit study of linguistic features can be useful. Lankshear and Knobel (2002) suggest that assignments should be evaluated within an economic framework of how much attention a student must invest in completing it. Within this perspective, we can identify two areas for improvement when assigning explicit study to adolescent learners: First, explicit study tends to consume 100% of a learner's attention while performing it, making it costly for the learner to invest more than is necessary to receive a satisfactory grade. By embedding language instruction into learning to type or any daily routine, students are able to make a double return on any attention they invest. Second, students naturally consider their free time precious, making it difficult for educators to persuade them to direct it towards studying. Embedded language instruction allows us to capitalize on moments where attention is less scarce. Similar to how a roadside billboard manages to attract our attention to a product we might have ignored when busy, pushing materials at students while waiting around for a parent's car to arrive or waiting for a Web site to load allows us to engage them when their attention is less valuable.
In 1989, Brinton, Snow, & Wesche wrote, "CBI aims at eliminating the artificial separation between language instruction and subject matter which exist in most educational settings" (p. 5). In the past 15 years, technology has advanced into a new epoch, requiring every academic discipline to re-evaluate its possibilities. By fully understanding the convergence of language instruction and digital media, we should now be able to eliminate the artificial separation between language instruction and everyday life -- allowing even the world's worst language learner to enjoy learning a foreign language.
2. These are self-selected participants, see other amazon.com reviews for a comparison baseline.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ravi Purushotma recently entered the Comparative Media Studies masters program at MIT. He hopes to explore how emerging digital media forms can be harnessed to foster learning and help dispel global barriers.
E-mail: ravip@mit.edu
Click here for updates or to read/post comments about this commentary.
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EXCERPTS
Sims™ Screenshots excerpted from The Sims, Copyright 2000 Electronic Arts Inc.
Background song from "following synched lyrics" excerpted from Die Firma -- Kein Ende in Sicht, V2 2002
Background song from "creating synched lyrics" excerpted from Freundeskreis -- ANNA, Sony 1997
Spatialized sound audio excerpted from Xavier Naido -- Führ mich ans Licht, Sony 1998
Spatialized sound video background song excerpted from Nena -- Neun und Neunzig Luftbalons, Sony 1984
Spatialized sound video excerpted from Pioneer Laser Karaoke, Copyright 1993 Pioneer loce ltd
4. Language Learning & Technology Vol. 8, No. 3, September 2004, pp. 122-143 External links valid at time of publication. TESTING L2 VOCABULARY RECOGNITION AND RECALL USING PICTORIAL AND WRITTEN TEST ITEMS Paginated PDF version Linda Jones University of Arkansas
In the past, written print has generally been the more practical medium for introductory level language homework; whereas a textbook could always be taken anywhere and studied at any time, auditory materials sometimes required a dedicated trip to the language lab. This partially encouraged written assignments to become the primary medium for practicing grammar and vocabulary -- with accompanying auditory material usually provided only to supplement listening practice where necessary. Today, however, an entire day worth of non-stop portable audio can fit on a common one inch flat memory chip. Furthermore, simply for entertainment purposes, portable audio players are rapidly becoming ubiquitous in the life of the average adolescent -- with predictions that by 2005 it will be possible to directly purchase, receive, and play music all by cell phone (Digital Media, 2003). As both the next generation grows up fully accustomed to portable media technologies and professional digital audio production tools become more widely available, researchers should work to find the best balance between auditory and written practice materials and examine the impact of providing students materials similar to Simon and Schuster's Pimsleur series that are synchronized with course topics and examinations.
YOU'RE NOT STUDYING, YOU'RE JUST DOING WHAT YOU ENJOY -- WOW
Proponents of Content Based Instruction (CBI) have done a great service to students by bringing authentic and personally relevant materials into the classroom. Still, when we consider the enormous range of media forms and different literacies present in a digital society, we really have only begun to explore the possibilities for how authentic materials can be used. For each learner in a given country, there is literally a world of different popular media items they would be exposed to had they grown up in the country of their L2. For those aspects of popular culture with a technology component, accessing the corresponding L2 versions for the different media forms in one's daily life is often easier than might be thought. For example, simply by changing the location setting, users of the English version of the Yahoo mail service can optionally access mail and receive their advertisements in 12 different languages. Many of the more successful CBI paradigms have been those using academic content, perhaps because they manage to blend so naturally into a classroom environment. For adolescent learners, however, academic content may not even be able to capture their attention to begin with, let alone sustain it for an hour of instruction in an unknown language. In this case, rather than finding what is suitable for classroom use and then working to capture student attention with it, we should instead begin with the popular media forms that students would independently be interested in had they grown up in the country of their L2 and then find better ways of integrating them into the language learning process. Certainly, no teacher could be expected to independently design lessons that provide language instruction for all their students' different media preferences. Rather, by devising ways to embed language instruction directly into popular media, curriculum designers can offer students highly adaptable learning environments to explore and teachers cutting edge curriculum that can be implemented as simply as assigning textbook pages.
While this paper has provided examples of embedding language instruction into games, Web browsing, and music, the same potential is likely to be found in virtually any digital media form. Most media technologies include accessibility features for the blind or deaf. As demonstrated with music videos, using these extra modalities to include the L1 can be a powerful way to modify them for language learning. Advances in internationalization programming place most language data for software outside the main program so it can rapidly be translated to other languages. In fact, when Squaresoft entertainment announced their intention not to create an English translation of their popular Final Fantasy V, a group of volunteer fans was able to create one without assistance from Squaresoft. By understanding how to merge and take advantage of multilingual datasets, researchers can rapidly generate engaging learning content from any internationalized media. Finally, meta-description developments such as XML give us power and flexibility when annotating content with instructional extensions. By understanding how these and other upcoming innovations fit together, curriculum designers should have enough flexibility for embedding instructional extensions into authentic media to alleviate either extensive teacher preparation for using commercial media resources or the need for artificial edutainment materials.
Often as a follow-up to content based lessons, assigning at least some explicit study of linguistic features can be useful. Lankshear and Knobel (2002) suggest that assignments should be evaluated within an economic framework of how much attention a student must invest in completing it. Within this perspective, we can identify two areas for improvement when assigning explicit study to adolescent learners: First, explicit study tends to consume 100% of a learner's attention while performing it, making it costly for the learner to invest more than is necessary to receive a satisfactory grade. By embedding language instruction into learning to type or any daily routine, students are able to make a double return on any attention they invest. Second, students naturally consider their free time precious, making it difficult for educators to persuade them to direct it towards studying. Embedded language instruction allows us to capitalize on moments where attention is less scarce. Similar to how a roadside billboard manages to attract our attention to a product we might have ignored when busy, pushing materials at students while waiting around for a parent's car to arrive or waiting for a Web site to load allows us to engage them when their attention is less valuable.
In 1989, Brinton, Snow, & Wesche wrote, "CBI aims at eliminating the artificial separation between language instruction and subject matter which exist in most educational settings" (p. 5). In the past 15 years, technology has advanced into a new epoch, requiring every academic discipline to re-evaluate its possibilities. By fully understanding the convergence of language instruction and digital media, we should now be able to eliminate the artificial separation between language instruction and everyday life -- allowing even the world's worst language learner to enjoy learning a foreign language.
NOTES
1. Friends™ is a popular U.S. television show2. These are self-selected participants, see other amazon.com reviews for a comparison baseline.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ravi Purushotma recently entered the Comparative Media Studies masters program at MIT. He hopes to explore how emerging digital media forms can be harnessed to foster learning and help dispel global barriers.
E-mail: ravip@mit.edu
Click here for updates or to read/post comments about this commentary.
REFERENCES Al-Seghayer, K. (2001). The effect of multimedia annotation modes on L2 vocabulary acquisition: A comparative study. Language Learning & Technology, 5(1), 202-232. Retrieved October 8, 2003, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol5num1/alseghayer/
Amazon Reviews (2003). Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Spanish. Retrieved March 31, 2004, from http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671521527/ref=cm_rev_prev/103-3935052-7739849?v=glance&s=books&vi=customer-reviews&show=-submittime&start-at=1, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671315943/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/103-3935052-7739849?v=glance&s=books&vi=customer-reviews, and http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671315935/ref=cm_rev_all_1/103-3935052-7739849?v=glance&s=books&vi=customer-reviews
Bjork, R. A., & Bjork, E. L. (1992). A new theory of disuse and an old theory of stimulus fluctuation. In A. Healy, S. Kosslyn, & R. Shiffrin (Eds.), From learning processes to cognitive processes: Essays in honor of William K. Estes, Volume 2 (pp. 35-67). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Bjork, R. A. (1999). Assessing our own competence: Heuristics and illusions. In D. Gopher & A. Koriat (Eds.), Attention and performance XVII. Cognitive regulation of performance: Interaction of theory and application (pp. 435-459). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Brinton, D., Snow, M. A., & Wesche, M. (1989). Content-based second language instruction. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
Coleman, D. W. (2002). On foot in SIM CITY: Using SIM COPTER as the basis for an ESL writing assignment. Simulation and gaming, 33(2), 217-230.
Coleman, D. W. (2004). Langland home. Retrieved March 19, 2004, from http://coarts_faculty.utoledo.edu/dcoleman/Langland/
Croal, N. (2003, November 25). Sims family values. Newsweek. Retrieved October 3, 2003, from http://www.msnbc.com/news/835533.asp?cp1=1
Digital Media. (2003). Consumer Electronics Association. Retrieved October 4, 2003, from http://www.ce.org/publications/books_references/digital_america/audio/internet_digital_recording.asp
Everquest or Evercrack? (2002, May 28) CBS News. Retrieved October 4, 2003, from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/28/earlyshow/living/caught/main510302.shtml
Farrell, N. (2002, October 22). Second gamer dies after massive binge. Vnuet.com. Retrieved October 4, 2003, from http://www.vnunet.com/News/1136154
Forester, L. (2002). Implications of research on human memory for CALL design. Calico Journal, 20(1), 99-126.
Gluck, K. (2002, November 22). South Korea's gaming addicts. BBC News. Retrieved on October 4, 2003, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2499957.stm
Hubbard, P. (2002). Interactive participatory dramas for language learning.Simulation & Gaming, 33(2), 210-216.
Huckin, T., & Coady, J. (1999) Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21(2), 181-193.
Hulstijn, J. H. (1992). Retention of inferred and given meanings: Experiments in incidental vocabulary learning. In P. J. L. Arnaud & H. Béjoint (Eds.), Vocabulary and applied linguistics (pp. 113-125). London: Macmillan.
Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2002). Do we have your attention? New literacies, digital technologies and the education of adolescents. In D. Alvermann (Ed.), Adolescents and literacies in a digital world (pp. 20). New York: Peter Lang.
Laufer, B. & Hulstjn, J. (2001). Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition in a Second Language: The Construct of Task-Induced Involvement. Applied Linguistics, 22(1), 1-26.
LeLoup, J. W., & Ponterio, R. (2003). Tele-Collaborative Projects: Monsters.com? Language Learning & Technology, 7(2), 6-11. Retrieved October 3, 2003, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol7num2/net/
Nikolova, O. R. (2002). Effects of students' participation in authoring of multimedia materials on student acquisition of vocabulary. Language Learning & Technology, 6(1), 100-122. Retrieved October 4, 2003, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num1/NIKOLOVA/
Squire, K. (2003) Video games in education. International Journal of Intelligent Simulations and Gaming, (2)1. Retrieved October 4, 2003 from http://cms.mit.edu/games/education/pubs/IJIS.doc
Squire, K., & Jenkins, H. (in press). Harnessing the power of games in education. Insight. Retrieved March 19, 2004, from http://website.education.wisc.edu/kdsquire/manuscripts/insight.pdf
Von der Emde, S., Schneider, J., & Kotte, M. (2001). Technically speaking: Transforming language learning through virtual learning environments (MOOs). Modern Language Journal 85(ii), 210-225.
Watanabe, Y. (1997). Input, intake, and retention: Effects of increased processing on incidental learning of foreign language vocabulary. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19, 287-307.
Williams H., & Thorne D. (2000). The value of teletext subtitling as a medium for language learning. System, 28(2), 217-228.
Yee N., (2002). Ariadne -- Understanding MMORPG addiction. Unpublished manuscript. Retrieved March 31, 2004, from http://www.nickyee.com/hub/addiction/adiction.pdf
EXCERPTS
Sims™ Screenshots excerpted from The Sims, Copyright 2000 Electronic Arts Inc.
Background song from "following synched lyrics" excerpted from Die Firma -- Kein Ende in Sicht, V2 2002
Background song from "creating synched lyrics" excerpted from Freundeskreis -- ANNA, Sony 1997
Spatialized sound audio excerpted from Xavier Naido -- Führ mich ans Licht, Sony 1998
Spatialized sound video background song excerpted from Nena -- Neun und Neunzig Luftbalons, Sony 1984
Spatialized sound video excerpted from Pioneer Laser Karaoke, Copyright 1993 Pioneer loce ltd
4. Language Learning & Technology Vol. 8, No. 3, September 2004, pp. 122-143 External links valid at time of publication. TESTING L2 VOCABULARY RECOGNITION AND RECALL USING PICTORIAL AND WRITTEN TEST ITEMS Paginated PDF version Linda Jones University of Arkansas
ABSTRACT
This article describes two studies that examined the effects of pictorial and written annotations on second language (L2) vocabulary learning from a multimedia environment. In both studies, students were randomly assigned to one of four aural multimedia groups: a control group that received no annotations, and three treatment groups that provided written, pictorial, or both written and pictorial annotations while listening. In the first study, students in the three treatment groups recognized English translations or pictorial representations of French keywords better than the control group that received no annotations during listening. In the second study, students produced English translations of French keywords best when the mode of testing matched the treatment mode. These results add to the growing body of literature on the beneficial effects of annotations on L2 vocabulary recognition and recall.
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, media-based listening comprehension activities have evolved from a purely audio-only approach to one that is more holistic and multi-sensory. No longer are materials focused on nonsensical sentence structures. Instead, students now experience lengthier, authentic audio passages embedded in video, interactive CD-ROMs, or Web sites. Numerous computer-based and online packages have been developed by researchers, faculty, and publishing companies (Amon, Muyskens, & Omaggio Hadley, 2000; Chun & Plass, 1997; Larson & Bush, 1992; Otto & Pusack, 1992; Sabo, Restrepo, & Jones, 2000; University of Texas, 2001, 2004) to assist students' L2 aural and written development. Français Interactif (University of Texas, 2001, 2004) is one of the more innovative on-line French language learning programs produced in recent years. It provides multiple levels of semester-long instruction with a mixture of multi-sensory materials such as aural, pictorial, video, and written presentations that help students to learn the target language. Interactive self-checking exercises provide them with an opportunity to examine their output in terms of recall of the target language material. Cyberbuch (Chun & Plass, 1997), another innovative program on CD-ROM, provides advance organizer videos and annotated information to support students' reading of a German text. This highly focused program promotes interaction with multi-sensory annotated information in the form of text translations, images, short video clips, and audio to facilitate students' understanding of keywords and the literary texts.
As the development of L2 multimedia packages such as Français Interactif and Cyberbuch increases, researchers strive to better understand how the attributes of multimedia can enhance listening and reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition (Brett, 1995, 1997; Hoven, 1999; Jones & Plass, 2002; Lynch 1998; Salaberry, 2001). For example, Chun and Plass (1996) examined the influence of written and pictorial annotations on students' vocabulary learning from a written text whereas Jones and Plass (2002) examined their influence on vocabulary learning from an aural text. Other researchers, for example Doughty (1991) and Pica, Doughty, and Young (1986) studied the effects of student control over the L2 multimedia environment, while researchers such as Herron (1994) and Herron, York, Cole, and Linden (1998) have closely examined the influence of advance organizers on L2 learning. Despite these advances, many questions remain concerning the effects of multimedia components on students' L2 development.
As the development of L2 multimedia packages such as Français Interactif and Cyberbuch increases, researchers strive to better understand how the attributes of multimedia can enhance listening and reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition (Brett, 1995, 1997; Hoven, 1999; Jones & Plass, 2002; Lynch 1998; Salaberry, 2001). For example, Chun and Plass (1996) examined the influence of written and pictorial annotations on students' vocabulary learning from a written text whereas Jones and Plass (2002) examined their influence on vocabulary learning from an aural text. Other researchers, for example Doughty (1991) and Pica, Doughty, and Young (1986) studied the effects of student control over the L2 multimedia environment, while researchers such as Herron (1994) and Herron, York, Cole, and Linden (1998) have closely examined the influence of advance organizers on L2 learning. Despite these advances, many questions remain concerning the effects of multimedia components on students' L2 development.
This article expands upon previous research (Jones, 2003; Jones & Plass, 2002) by describing two studies that used three separate vocabulary tests (written recognition, pictorial recognition, and written recall) to examine how pictorial and written test items might demonstrate how well written and pictorial annotations assist in the learning of new vocabulary when students listen to an aural L2 passage in a multimedia environment. The present article examines this topic. It begins with a review of the role of written and pictorial annotations in L2 reading and listening comprehension, of the process of incidental vocabulary learning, and of the different methods and tests used to examine students' vocabulary recognition and recall. The article concludes with a discussion of the findings, the implications and limitations of this study, and suggestions for future research.
VOCABULARY LEARNING FROM ANNOTATIONS
Information is cognitively processed through visual or verbal channels (Mayer, 1997, 2001, 2002; Paivio, 1986). A dual processing strategy assumes that individuals develop mental pictorial representations of graphic input and mental verbal representations of linguistic input. The presence of both pictorial and verbal cues can facilitate learning, in particular when the corresponding visual and verbal representations are contiguously present in working memory (Mayer, 1997, 2001, 2002; Wittrock, 1989). Mayer's generative theory of multimedia learning (1997, 2001) states that in order to meaningfully comprehend a text in a multimedia format, learners must select relevant pictorial and/or linguistic information from it, organize the input into coherent visual and verbal mental representations, and then integrate the latter by constructing referential connections between the two.
Researchers have long been interested in examining the effects of pictorial and verbal cues on L2 vocabulary learning, and have found that processing supportive information such as pictures or translations enhances language learning. With regard to high-imagery concrete vocabulary learning, Kellogg and Howe (1971) found that foreign words associated with images or actual objects are learned more easily than those without such additional information. Terrell (1986) found that combining an unknown L2 word with a visual representation bypasses a direct translation and facilitates vocabulary learning. Underwood (1989) suggested that we "remember images better than words, hence we remember words better if they are strongly associated with images" (p. 19). Other research suggests that foreign words associated with aural or written translations and images are learned more easily than are those accompanied by pictures or text alone (Baltova, 1999; Guillory, 1998; Jones & Plass, 2002; Oxford & Crookall, 1990; Plass, Chun, Mayer, & Leutner, 1998). For example, Oxford and Crookall (1990) suggest that the combination of pictures and text accesses more parts of the brain, thereby leading to greater depth of processing than when text is processed alone. Baltova (1999) examined the effects of viewing a French video with either French audio and French subtitles (bimodal format), or English audio and French subtitles (reversed format) on students' vocabulary learning. She found that students learned significantly more vocabulary when they viewed the audio-visual material with both French subtitles and French audio present than in the reversed format where they viewed the video with English audio and French subtitles.
Incidental vocabulary learning is the process of acquiring vocabulary while reading or listening for comprehension rather than focusing solely on memorizing lists of words (Hulstijn, 1989; Hulstijn, Hollander, & Greidanus, 1996; Yoshii & Flaitz, 2002). Any incidental vocabulary learning that occurs in a multimedia environment may depend upon the type of annotations processed, and the depth of experience with them. For example, Hulstijn, Hollander, and Greidanus (1996) examined how the presence of glosses for targeted words, or dictionary lookup of words in a written text, might affect incidental vocabulary learning. They found that incidental learning of words frequently occurring in the text was more likely when learners were provided with access to word meanings through marginal glosses or dictionaries than when no helpful information was made available to them. Hulstijn (1992) determined that deep elaboration of the meaning of an unknown word also led to incidental vocabulary learning. Jones (2003) found that students believed that pictures demanded deeper processing than did verbal translations because they had to "figure out" the meaning which they did not have to do if they saw the translation immediately. Quantitative results confirmed her beliefs: Students who accessed pictorial annotations demonstrated greater incidental vocabulary learning than those who did not access this annotation type. Other researchers found that if the context of a written or spoken passage was not clear from the onset, deeper processing might fail to support incidental vocabulary learning, and students who do not have access to annotated information would run the risk of learning words incorrectly (Chun & Plass, 1996; Hulstijn, 1992; Jones, 2003; Jones & Plass, 2002).
Recognition and recall tests are often used to examine students' vocabulary knowledge. However, test and measurement studies indicate that these two forms of testing are quite different and demand separate processing strategies (Cariana & Lee, 2001; Jonassen & Tessmer, 1996). For example, recognition tests usually involve multiple choice activities whereby learners select or guess the correct response from the alternatives given. Such tests may strengthen any existing memory traces (McDaniel & Mason, 1985). Recall, on the other hand, demands the production of responses from memory. It is more difficult than recognition because learners must search for the correct response within their mental representation of the newly experienced information (Cariana & Lee, 2001; Glover, 1989; McDaniel & Mason, 1985).
Several studies have investigated the use of pictorial and written annotations in L2 multimedia reading and listening comprehension using different testing formats (Chun & Plass, 1996; Jones & Plass, 2002; Plass et al., 1998). Plass et al. found that when students accessed both pictorial and written annotations as they read a multimedia-based German text, they scored higher on a written vocabulary production test than when only one annotation type was accessed. The combination of both annotation types allowed for more than one retrieval route to the information in long term memory. These researchers also found that written annotations had a stronger impact on vocabulary production than did pictorial annotations. Jones and Plass (2002) reported that those students who accessed both pictorial and written annotations as they listened to a multimedia-based aural French text performed better on a written vocabulary recognition test than those who accessed single annotations, or no annotations at all. However, unlike subjects in the Plass et al. study, those who accessed pictorial annotations alone or combined with written annotations outperformed those who did not access pictorial annotations on a written vocabulary recognition test. Chun and Plass (1996) further examined the effects of multimedia annotations on L2 vocabulary learning from a reading passage using a written production and a recognition test with a balance of pictorial and written test items that paralleled the modality in which the information was presented. They, too, found that students performed best on both types of tests when both pictorial and written annotations were viewed than when single or no annotations were accessed during reading. They also observed that when the method of testing more closely paralleled the way in which information was presented, student performance improved considerably, resulting in 77% of correct responses on immediate and delayed vocabulary tests, a percentage much higher than the 23%-55% typically expected in select-definition tests (Knight, 1994).
All of the above studies suggest incidental vocabulary learning can be increased if learners are given opportunities to look up word meanings, visually or verbally, while listening or reading. However, none of these studies specifically examined students' incidental vocabulary learning from a listening comprehension activity using vocabulary tests that complemented or ignored the annotation type accessed.
The following two studies, therefore, investigated how pictorial and/or written annotations affect students' performance on incidental vocabulary learning tests that required them to either recognize or recall vocabulary incidentally learned from an aural text, using pictorial or written test items. Three hypotheses are thus proposed that coincide with the three dependent measures used in this study and introduced in the next section:
VOCABULARY LEARNING FROM ANNOTATIONS
Information is cognitively processed through visual or verbal channels (Mayer, 1997, 2001, 2002; Paivio, 1986). A dual processing strategy assumes that individuals develop mental pictorial representations of graphic input and mental verbal representations of linguistic input. The presence of both pictorial and verbal cues can facilitate learning, in particular when the corresponding visual and verbal representations are contiguously present in working memory (Mayer, 1997, 2001, 2002; Wittrock, 1989). Mayer's generative theory of multimedia learning (1997, 2001) states that in order to meaningfully comprehend a text in a multimedia format, learners must select relevant pictorial and/or linguistic information from it, organize the input into coherent visual and verbal mental representations, and then integrate the latter by constructing referential connections between the two.
Researchers have long been interested in examining the effects of pictorial and verbal cues on L2 vocabulary learning, and have found that processing supportive information such as pictures or translations enhances language learning. With regard to high-imagery concrete vocabulary learning, Kellogg and Howe (1971) found that foreign words associated with images or actual objects are learned more easily than those without such additional information. Terrell (1986) found that combining an unknown L2 word with a visual representation bypasses a direct translation and facilitates vocabulary learning. Underwood (1989) suggested that we "remember images better than words, hence we remember words better if they are strongly associated with images" (p. 19). Other research suggests that foreign words associated with aural or written translations and images are learned more easily than are those accompanied by pictures or text alone (Baltova, 1999; Guillory, 1998; Jones & Plass, 2002; Oxford & Crookall, 1990; Plass, Chun, Mayer, & Leutner, 1998). For example, Oxford and Crookall (1990) suggest that the combination of pictures and text accesses more parts of the brain, thereby leading to greater depth of processing than when text is processed alone. Baltova (1999) examined the effects of viewing a French video with either French audio and French subtitles (bimodal format), or English audio and French subtitles (reversed format) on students' vocabulary learning. She found that students learned significantly more vocabulary when they viewed the audio-visual material with both French subtitles and French audio present than in the reversed format where they viewed the video with English audio and French subtitles.
Incidental vocabulary learning is the process of acquiring vocabulary while reading or listening for comprehension rather than focusing solely on memorizing lists of words (Hulstijn, 1989; Hulstijn, Hollander, & Greidanus, 1996; Yoshii & Flaitz, 2002). Any incidental vocabulary learning that occurs in a multimedia environment may depend upon the type of annotations processed, and the depth of experience with them. For example, Hulstijn, Hollander, and Greidanus (1996) examined how the presence of glosses for targeted words, or dictionary lookup of words in a written text, might affect incidental vocabulary learning. They found that incidental learning of words frequently occurring in the text was more likely when learners were provided with access to word meanings through marginal glosses or dictionaries than when no helpful information was made available to them. Hulstijn (1992) determined that deep elaboration of the meaning of an unknown word also led to incidental vocabulary learning. Jones (2003) found that students believed that pictures demanded deeper processing than did verbal translations because they had to "figure out" the meaning which they did not have to do if they saw the translation immediately. Quantitative results confirmed her beliefs: Students who accessed pictorial annotations demonstrated greater incidental vocabulary learning than those who did not access this annotation type. Other researchers found that if the context of a written or spoken passage was not clear from the onset, deeper processing might fail to support incidental vocabulary learning, and students who do not have access to annotated information would run the risk of learning words incorrectly (Chun & Plass, 1996; Hulstijn, 1992; Jones, 2003; Jones & Plass, 2002).
Recognition and recall tests are often used to examine students' vocabulary knowledge. However, test and measurement studies indicate that these two forms of testing are quite different and demand separate processing strategies (Cariana & Lee, 2001; Jonassen & Tessmer, 1996). For example, recognition tests usually involve multiple choice activities whereby learners select or guess the correct response from the alternatives given. Such tests may strengthen any existing memory traces (McDaniel & Mason, 1985). Recall, on the other hand, demands the production of responses from memory. It is more difficult than recognition because learners must search for the correct response within their mental representation of the newly experienced information (Cariana & Lee, 2001; Glover, 1989; McDaniel & Mason, 1985).
Several studies have investigated the use of pictorial and written annotations in L2 multimedia reading and listening comprehension using different testing formats (Chun & Plass, 1996; Jones & Plass, 2002; Plass et al., 1998). Plass et al. found that when students accessed both pictorial and written annotations as they read a multimedia-based German text, they scored higher on a written vocabulary production test than when only one annotation type was accessed. The combination of both annotation types allowed for more than one retrieval route to the information in long term memory. These researchers also found that written annotations had a stronger impact on vocabulary production than did pictorial annotations. Jones and Plass (2002) reported that those students who accessed both pictorial and written annotations as they listened to a multimedia-based aural French text performed better on a written vocabulary recognition test than those who accessed single annotations, or no annotations at all. However, unlike subjects in the Plass et al. study, those who accessed pictorial annotations alone or combined with written annotations outperformed those who did not access pictorial annotations on a written vocabulary recognition test. Chun and Plass (1996) further examined the effects of multimedia annotations on L2 vocabulary learning from a reading passage using a written production and a recognition test with a balance of pictorial and written test items that paralleled the modality in which the information was presented. They, too, found that students performed best on both types of tests when both pictorial and written annotations were viewed than when single or no annotations were accessed during reading. They also observed that when the method of testing more closely paralleled the way in which information was presented, student performance improved considerably, resulting in 77% of correct responses on immediate and delayed vocabulary tests, a percentage much higher than the 23%-55% typically expected in select-definition tests (Knight, 1994).
All of the above studies suggest incidental vocabulary learning can be increased if learners are given opportunities to look up word meanings, visually or verbally, while listening or reading. However, none of these studies specifically examined students' incidental vocabulary learning from a listening comprehension activity using vocabulary tests that complemented or ignored the annotation type accessed.
The following two studies, therefore, investigated how pictorial and/or written annotations affect students' performance on incidental vocabulary learning tests that required them to either recognize or recall vocabulary incidentally learned from an aural text, using pictorial or written test items. Three hypotheses are thus proposed that coincide with the three dependent measures used in this study and introduced in the next section:
- Students with access to pictorial and written annotations during a L2 listening comprehension activity will recognize more written translations of keywords on a written vocabulary recognition posttest than those with access to one type of annotation, or no annotations at all. In addition, students who access written annotations will outperform those without such access on a written vocabulary recognition posttest.
- Students with access to pictorial and written annotations during a L2 listening comprehension activity will recognize more pictorial representations of keywords on a pictorial vocabulary recognition posttest than those with access to one type of annotation, or no annotations. In addition, students who access pictorial annotations will outperform those without such access on a pictorial vocabulary recognition posttest.
- Students with access to pictorial and written annotations during a L2 listening comprehension activity will recall more keyword translations on a written vocabulary production posttest than students with access to only one type of annotation or no annotations. In addition, students who access written annotations will outperform those without access to such annotations on a written vocabulary production posttest.
THE PRESENT STUDIES
Method
Participants, Study 1
Eighty second-semester English-speaking beginning students of French, enrolled at the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2001, voluntarily participated in the study during their regular class time. The students completed a 25-item vocabulary recognition pre-test to determine their prior knowledge of the vocabulary in this study. All students demonstrated low prior knowledge of the vocabulary with an average score of 4 out of a maximum score of 25 (M = 4.04, SD = 3.60; Table 1). A Tukey HSD (honestly significant difference) multiple comparison test showed no significant differences among the four groups.
Table 1. Vocabulary Pretest Results Based on Random Assignments to Four Treatments, Study 1
Participants, Study 2
Sixty seven second-semester English-speaking beginning students of French, enrolled at the University of Arkansas in the spring of 2002, voluntarily participated in the study during their regular class time. They completed a 25-item pre-treatment vocabulary recognition test based on the words used in this study and demonstrated low prior knowledge of the vocabulary with an average score of 1.5 out of 25 (M = 1.57, SD = 1.23; Table 2). A Tukey HSD multiple comparison test showed no significant differences among the four groups.
Table 2. Vocabulary pretest results based on random assignments to four treatments, Study 2
Materials and Apparatus for Studies 1 and 2
Four aural multimedia treatments, developed using Adobe Premiere 4.2 (Adobe, 1994) and Authorware 4.0 (Macromedia, 1997), were presented to students using a 24-station Macintosh computer lab, arranged so that the students could view only their own computer screens.
All groups first saw an opening screen that instructed them how to use the program and provided an advance organizer in the form of a brief written paragraph that placed the aural passage about an important event in its historical context (Figure 1). This screen provided additional instructions to assist students with the annotations available in their respective treatments.
Figure 1. Example of the opening screen which provides instructions and advance organizer information, based on the treatment, prior to listening to the aural passage
The opening screen was followed by five separate listening comprehension screens tailored to each treatment. Within each screen, students could click on audio buttons to listen to a 2 minute and 20 second aural passage (Buzhardt & Hawthorne, 1993; see Appendix A). Twenty-seven French keywords, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbial phrases, were chosen by two experienced French professors for their importance to understanding the story. They were placed in order of appearance on the left side of each screen. To hear their pronunciation, listeners dragged the keywords to a speaker icon in the upper right section of the screen.
In the control group, students could only listen to the pronunciation of French keywords (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Example of control group treatment (no annotations available)
In the pictorial annotations group, students could drag the keywords to a camera icon to view their pictorial representations (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Example of treatment for the pictorial annotations group (only pictorial annotations available)
In the written annotations group, students could drag the keywords to a book icon to view their English translations (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Example of treatment for the written annotations group (only written annotations available)
In the pictorial and written annotations group, students could drag the keywords to the camera and/or book icon to view the picture and/or an English translation (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Example of treatment for the written and pictorial annotations group
Students could select any annotation available in their treatment at any time before, during, or after each aural segment. A login script tracked the number of annotations accessed and the amount of time spent on each.
The written English translations of the French keywords were presented in a bold, 14-point Helvetica font. The color drawings and photos were pictorial representations of the same French keywords (Appendix B). The pictures were selected based on a pilot study conducted in the summer of 1999 and were used in two subsequent studies (Jones, 2003; Jones & Plass, 2002). While all written annotations provided exact English translations of the French keywords, pictorial annotations may not have precisely represented the meaning of some low-imagery French keywords such as étouffé (smother).
Dependent Measures and Scoring
Not all posttests were conducted in both studies since they were originally meant to study unrelated issues. However, the results of these two studies warranted a combined analysis, albeit not a full one.
In Study 1, two dependent variables examined the effects of the four treatments on students' L2 incidental vocabulary learning. The multiple choice written vocabulary recognition and pictorial recognition tests were administered immediately after the treatment and again three weeks later (Appendix C). They consisted of 25 of the 27 French keywords described above. The maximum score for each test was 25 with each correct response worth one point. The written vocabulary recognition pre- and posttests were identical. In these multiple choice tests, students had six English translations to select from for each test item. The pictorial vocabulary recognition posttest provided five pictorial representations to select from for each test item.
In Study 2, a written vocabulary production posttest (Appendix D) was used to examine the effects of the four treatments on students' vocabulary learning both immediately after the treatment and 3 weeks later. It consisted of 25 of the 27 French keywords used in each treatment, and required students to provide their English translations from memory. The maximum score for this test was 25, with each correct response worth one point.
Procedures for Studies 1 and 2
A pre/posttest control group design was used to observe the effects of the absence or presence of written and pictorial annotations on students' L2 vocabulary learning from the aural passage. All activities took place during three separate class periods of a normally scheduled French class. During the first class period, students had 8 minutes to complete the written vocabulary recognition pretest. Two days later, each participant was randomly assigned to one of four treatments: (1) no annotations (2) pictorial annotations, (3) written annotations, and (4) pictorial and written annotations. Students were given 14 minutes to listen to the passage and to access the annotations. Students in Study 1 then had 8 minutes each to complete the written and the pictorial recognition posttests. Students in Study 2 had 8 minutes to complete the immediate written vocabulary production posttest. Three weeks later, without any additional experience with the aural passage and without prior warning, students in both studies completed the delayed vocabulary tests that were identical to the tests given immediately after treatment.
RESULTS
Immediate Written Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was computed with the number of correct answers on the immediate written vocabulary recognition posttest as the dependent measure, and the presence or absence of pictorial and written annotations as the between subjects factor (Table 3).
Table 3. ANOVA for Immediate Written Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
There was a significant main effect for written annotations and for pictorial annotations, and a significant interaction effect between the two. The pictorial and written annotations group, and the written annotations group performed best while the control group performed the poorest (Table 4).
Table 4. Mean Group Scores on the Immediate Written Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
Tukey HSD showed that all annotation groups performed significantly better than the control group (p<0.001), but did not differ significantly from each other.
Delayed Written Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was computed with the number of correct answers on the delayed written vocabulary recognition posttest as the dependent measure and the presence or absence of pictorial and written annotations as the between subjects factor (Table 5).
Table 5. ANOVA for Delayed Written Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
There was a significant main effect for written and for pictorial annotations, and a significant interaction effect between pictorial and written annotations. Mean group scores showed that the pictorial and written annotations group performed the best, while the control group performed the poorest (Table 6).
Table 6. Mean Group Scores on the Delayed Written Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
A Tukey HSD test showed that the annotation groups had significantly higher scores than the control group (p<0.001). There were no statistically significant differences between the treatment groups.
Immediate Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was computed with the number of correct answers on the immediate pictorial vocabulary recognition posttest as the dependent measure and the presence or absence of pictorial and written annotations as the between subjects factor (Table 7).
Table 7. ANOVA for the Immediate Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
There was a significant main effect for pictorial and for written annotations, and a significant interaction effect between the two. The pictorial and written annotations group and the pictorial annotations group performed the best while the control group performed the poorest (Table 8).
Table 8. Mean Scores of the Four Groups on the Immediate Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
Post hoc comparisons (Tukey HSD) of the posttest scores showed that all annotation groups had significantly higher scores than the control group (p<0.001), but that there were no statistically significant differences between the annotation groups.
Delayed Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was computed with the number of correct answers on the delayed pictorial vocabulary recognition posttest as the dependent measure and the presence or absence of pictorial and written annotations as the between subjects factor (Table 9).
Table 9. ANOVA for the Delayed Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
There was a significant main effect for pictorial and for written annotations, and a significant interaction effect between the two. Mean scores showed that the pictorial annotations group performed the best while the control group performed the poorest (Table 10).
Table 10. Mean Scores for the Four Treatment Groups on the Delayed Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
Post hoc comparisons (Tukey HSD) showed that all annotation groups outperformed the control group (p<0.01), but did not differ significantly from each other.
Students in the pictorial and written annotations group accessed the two annotation types with comparable frequency: 53% of the time with an average of 7.60 seconds per annotation for pictorial, and; 47% of the time with an average of 8.1 seconds per annotation for written annotations. The single annotation groups viewed their respective annotations for equal amounts of time: 11.35 seconds for pictorial, and 11.51 seconds for written annotations.
In summary, all annotation groups performed significantly better than the control group on all tests. No other significant differences were found.
Immediate Written Vocabulary Production Posttest, Study 2
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was computed with the number of correct answers on the immediate written vocabulary production posttest as the dependent measure, and the presence or absence of pictorial and written annotations as the between subjects factor (Table 11).
Table 11. ANOVA for the Immediate Written Vocabulary Production Posttest, Study 2
There was a significant main effect for written and pictorial annotations and a significant interaction between the two types of annotations. The pictorial and written annotations and the written annotations groups performed the best while the control group performed the poorest (Table 12).
Table 12. Mean Scores of the Four Groups on the Immediate Written Vocabulary Production Posttest, Study 2
Post hoc comparisons (Tukey HSD) showed that the written annotations group did not differ significantly from those with access to both annotations, but that the written annotations and the pictorial and written annotations groups performed significantly better than did the pictorial annotations group, (p<0.001). All annotation groups performed significantly better than the control group.
Delayed Written Vocabulary Production Posttest, Study 2
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was computed with the number of correct answers on the delayed written vocabulary production posttest as the dependent measure and the presence or absence of pictorial and written annotations as the between subjects factor (Table 13).
Table 13. ANOVA for the Delayed Written Vocabulary Production Posttest, Study 2
There was a significant main effect for written annotations and significant interaction effect between pictorial and written annotations. The written annotations group performed the best while the control group performed the poorest (Table 14).
Table 14. Mean Group Scores on the Delayed Written Vocabulary Production Posttest, Study 2
Post hoc comparisons (Tukey HSD) showed that the written annotations group did not differ significantly from those with access to both annotation types. The written annotations group and the pictorial and written annotations group had significantly higher scores than the control group (p<0.001). There was no significant difference between the pictorial annotations group and the written and pictorial annotations group. The difference between the pictorial annotations group and the control group was also not significant.
In terms of time on task, students in the pictorial and written annotations group did not access both annotation types with equal frequency: Pictorial annotations were accessed 37% of the time with an average of 7.01 seconds per annotation; written annotations were accessed 63% of the time with an average of 8.23 seconds per annotation. However, both annotation types were viewed for almost equal amounts of time by the single annotation groups: 10.98 seconds for pictorial and 11.21 seconds for written annotations.
In summary, the control group performed the poorest on both posttests. On the immediate written vocabulary production posttest, subjects who accessed both annotation types or written annotations alone outperformed those without access to written annotations. On the delayed test, the written annotations group retained more vocabulary than all other groups, while the pictorial annotations group did not differ significantly from the control group. Those who had access to written annotations alone or combined with pictorial annotations significantly outperformed those who did not have access to any written annotations.
DISCUSSION
Hypotheses 1 and 2 predicted that students with access to pictorial and written annotations during a L2 listening comprehension activity would recognize more written translations and pictorial representations of keywords on written vocabulary and pictorial vocabulary recognition posttests. These two hypotheses further predicted that students who accessed written annotations would outperform those without access to such annotations on the written vocabulary recognition posttest, while students who accessed pictorial annotations would outperform those without access to such annotations on the pictorial vocabulary recognition posttest.
The results of the immediate vocabulary recognition tests did not support these hypotheses because students recognized vocabulary equally well, regardless of test mode. Within recognition tests, there is an inherent ability to guess built into the testing format. Thus, previous exposure to the translation, either visually or verbally, makes selecting the correct response much easier than if one is asked to produce a response from memory (Cariana & Lee, 2001; Glover, 1989; McDaniel & Mason, 1985).
Hypothesis 3 predicted that students with access to pictorial and written annotations during a L2 listening comprehension activity would recall more vocabulary on a written vocabulary posttest than those without access to both annotation types, and also that students who accessed written annotations would outperform those without access to such annotations. Results of the immediate vocabulary production test show that the pictorial and written annotations group and the written annotations group recalled more vocabulary than did those without access to written annotations. This is in line with the third hypothesis and demonstrates that students learned more vocabulary when the testing mode employed matched the mode accessed, either alone or combined with an additional annotation mode.
With regards to all three hypotheses, the control group performed the poorest because the difficulty of the aural text prevented students from building contextual knowledge, thus lessening their ability to learn vocabulary incidentally (Hulstijn, 1992; Jones, 2003; Jones & Plass, 2002). On the other hand, vocabulary acquisition was consistently strong when students had access to pictorial and written annotations, thus supporting a multimedia effect proposed by Mayer (2001). The ability to look up words more than once in different modalities supported inferencing and verification strategies (Grace, 1998) and, reinforced learning (Chun & Plass, 1996), so that students were able to perform well on immediate tests regardless of testing mode. Additionally, students could establish direct connections between the L1 and L2 vocabulary and the corresponding images and thereby have two instead of just one retrieval route (Plass et al., 1998). However, with regard to the third hypothesis, students in the pictorial and written annotations group may have had too much information to look up and may have foregone examining both annotation types (Jones, 1995). Tracking logs showed that the pictorial and written annotations group did not examine the two types of annotations in a balanced manner, and this group subsequently performed poorer on the delayed written production test compared to the written annotations group. Though this group initially obtained a richer and redundant amount of information that was immediately helpful for producing written translations, with time, the retained information may have become "cluttered" and inhibited the students' ability to focus directly on the needed responses due to cognitive overload (Sweller, 1994).
Some researchers have argued that images carry a structural message that complements the language presented (Baggett, 1989; Kozma, 1991) and that the pictorial mode facilitates vocabulary learning (Kellogg & Howe, 1971; Oxford & Crookall, 1990; Underwood, 1989). This was the case in the study conducted by Jones and Plass (2002) in which students who accessed pictorial annotations alone or combined with written annotations outperformed those without access to any pictorial annotations on a written vocabulary recognition posttest. In the present study, students performed well no matter which annotation type was accessed. However, the pictorial annotations group could not produce vocabulary from memory as well as those groups that had access to written annotations, a result counter to findings that the pictorial mode of information increases the efficiency of learning (Kost, Foss & Lenzini, 1999; Oxford & Crookall, 1990; Terrell, 1986). Instead, images may have provided too much information (Sweller, 1994) rather than the more precise information provided by direct translations.
There are more connections in the memory representation when the input is visual. "Brown leaf" presented verbally creates the instance of "leaf" connected with the concept "brown." But showing a picture of a brown leaf causes one to create the concept of leaf connected with concepts of brown, olive, rust, burgundy, etc., not to mention its shape, size, environment, etc. In the verbal presentation there is one sure connection: leaf with brown. (Baggett, 1989, p. 119)
The richness of images may have affected students' ability to accurately translate L2 words into L1, while written annotations provided precise definitions of the L2 words.
CONCLUSION
One limitation of this research is that it included two different studies with two different groups. Originally, these studies explored unrelated questions but once analyzed, the findings in terms of the influence of annotation types and testing modes on students' incidental vocabulary learning warranted a joint report. Further comparative analyses to determine the impact of pictorial and written annotations on pictorial and written testing modes was not possible since the two studies involved different subjects. An additional limitation is that both studies focused on a between-subjects design. A within-subjects examination may show how choice of annotation types affects students' performance on different vocabulary tests. Additional research should also consider the ordering of the tests. In Study 1, the pictorial recognition test was always administered before the written recognition test. Future examination using these two tests could be strengthened by counterbalancing their order.
These studies offer several implications for language teaching and multimedia design. They add to the growing body of literature on the beneficial effects of annotations on L2 vocabulary recognition and recall. The ability to review information more than once reinforces learning (Chun & Plass, 1996), and since students rely on different modalities to learn efficiently in different ways (Ehrman, Leaver, & Oxford, 2003; Oxford & Ehrman, 1995; Plass et al., 1998; Reinert, 1976), providing them with an opportunity to choose the mode of information they prefer may help them better learn the vocabulary presented. Multimedia environments that provide both pictorial and written modes of keyword information may be most effective for learning because the students can choose the mode that best suits their needs and learning preferences (Plass et al., 1998).
Future research is needed to examine issues related to the outcomes of these studies. For example, a more comparative approach to examining the connection between testing mode and annotation mode seems warranted. Further study is also needed to address the issues of cognitive load and the role it may play in long term memory for vocabulary when students access both pictorial and written annotations. Future study should also examine the recall of vocabulary in an aural mode rather than a written mode to determine how well aural L2 vocabulary comprehension is developed in an aural multimedia environment. And finally, to address vocabulary acquisition, researchers should examine students' ability to produce newly acquired vocabulary in a more challenging communicative context.
APPENDIX A
Text of Listening Comprehension Passage
LaSalle Meets the Quapaws (1682)
On fit traverser les canots sur la gauche à une pointe de sable. On se retranche le mieux que l'on peut avec des petits bois de tremble, qu'on coupa, dont on fit des palissades. La brume se cessa, et l'on vit un canot de Sauvages venir à nous …. Mais voyant qu'on ne leur en tirait point, ils s'en retournèrent chercher dire que c'étaient des gens de paix. Ils revinrent 6 sans armes avec le calumet de paix faisant signe qu'on vienne à leurs habitations. Ils présentèrent à fumer à M. de LaSalle et à tous ceux qui étaient autour de lui disant toujours qu'on s'embarque …. Le lendemain les guerriers et la jeunesse dansèrent le calumet. C'est de s'assembler tous sur la place. Les guerriers mettent leur présents sur des perches comme quand on veut faire sécher du linge. Ils apportent deux grands calumets enjolivés de plumes de toutes couleurs et pleins de cheveux de leurs ennemis. Ils mettent tout cela entre les mains de leurs chefs qui sont assis sur leurs culs et arrangés autour de la place. Ils ont tous des gourdes pleines de cailloux et des tambours qui sont des pots de terre. Ils commencent une chanson qu'ils accompagnent du bruit de leurs instruments. Les guerriers qui ont fait de belles actions vont danser et frapper un poteau avec leurs casse-tête et disent les belles actions qu'ils ont faites …. cependant les chefs fument, l'un après l'autre dans les calumets, et chacun le présentait à M. de LaSalle et à tous ceux dans la compagnie. Après, ils le prirent et le placèrent au milieu de la place, dansant tous autour de lui au son des instruments et chansons, chacun lui mettant sur le corps son présent qui étaient des peaux de boeufs qui ont de la laine comme nos moutons d'Europe. Si les Français ne l'avaient pas déchargé à mesure de ses peaux, ils l'auraient étouffé sous leurs présents. Il leur fit à son tour présents de haches, couteaux, et rassades.
APPENDIX B
Examples of 10 Images Used in the Pictorially-Based Treatments of Both Study 1 and Study 2
APPENDIX C
Dependent Measures for Study 1 (Pictorial and Written Vocabulary Recognition Tests)
In this activity, please select the English translation for the word given in French. If you do not know the correct response, leave it blank. You have 8 minutes to complete this exercise.
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In this activity, please select the image that represents the word given in French. Write the letter that represents your answer on the answer sheet provided. If you do not know a word at all, leave it blank. You have 8 minutes to complete this test.
[Sample of three questions.]
APPENDIX D
Dependent Measures for Study 2 (Written Vocabulary Production Test)
In this activity, please provide the English translation for the word given in French. If you do not know the response at all, leave it blank. You have 8 minutes to complete this test.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Linda Jones is Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology and Director of the Language Learning Center at the University of Arkansas. Her principal interests include multimedia design theory and L2 learning, and instructing graduate students in the appropriate use of instructional system design strategies when developing L2 video and Web-based materials.
E-mail: lcjones@uark.edu
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It is likely that negative experiences with language labs has led teachers to be skeptical of new technologies in the classroom. Many Taiwan schools have installed language lab equipment that allows a class of students to listen to recorded conversations through headphones, equipped with microphones, while a teacher can send instructions, listen into and monitor students through a central control panel.
Often, the engineers who installed such equipment did not understand all the features and installation requirements and certainly had little grasp of the pedagogical applications. The result was that at many locations, these language labs simply have became glorified, and expensive, tape players. The equipment actually served to separate the students from the teacher and encouraged less motivated students to daydream through the class period. Such experience is not unique to Taiwan, nor is it new, but may be endemic to language labs (Kirpal 1979). Teachers are often placed in these labs with no training, not even a manual on the lab's features and use, while a class of fifty students wait for the teacher to assimilate. With teachers struggling to find use of the technology they already have, it is unrealistic to expect them to quickly swallow another "technology solution" pill.
However, such attitudes and results may simply reflect the "normal" outlook of most people who live in the Computer Age. Academics such as Pennington (1991) and Thiesmeyer (1989) warn of rushing into CALL without solid evidence of its benefits. Such caution is justified since all of the cultural signals being sent every day, support the believe that technology is good, and that specifically computers are helpful in nearly every human endeavor. Even expressing the slightest doubts about the usefulness of computers is likely to result in one being labeled as a Luddite. Classroom research of CAI must avoid such dogmatism and not make any apriori conclusions.
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. II, No. 7, July 1996
http://iteslj.org/
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Chen-CALL.html
Method
Participants, Study 1
Eighty second-semester English-speaking beginning students of French, enrolled at the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2001, voluntarily participated in the study during their regular class time. The students completed a 25-item vocabulary recognition pre-test to determine their prior knowledge of the vocabulary in this study. All students demonstrated low prior knowledge of the vocabulary with an average score of 4 out of a maximum score of 25 (M = 4.04, SD = 3.60; Table 1). A Tukey HSD (honestly significant difference) multiple comparison test showed no significant differences among the four groups.
Table 1. Vocabulary Pretest Results Based on Random Assignments to Four Treatments, Study 1
| Groups | N | M | SD |
| Control | 20 | 4.15 | 3.50 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 20 | 4.15 | 2.94 |
| Written Annotations | 20 | 4.75 | 4.38 |
| Pictorial and Written Annotations | 20 | 3.10 | 3.51 |
Sixty seven second-semester English-speaking beginning students of French, enrolled at the University of Arkansas in the spring of 2002, voluntarily participated in the study during their regular class time. They completed a 25-item pre-treatment vocabulary recognition test based on the words used in this study and demonstrated low prior knowledge of the vocabulary with an average score of 1.5 out of 25 (M = 1.57, SD = 1.23; Table 2). A Tukey HSD multiple comparison test showed no significant differences among the four groups.
Table 2. Vocabulary pretest results based on random assignments to four treatments, Study 2
| Groups | N | M | SD |
| Control | 16 | 1.69 | 1.45 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 17 | 1.24 | 1.03 |
| Written Annotations | 18 | 1.67 | 1.41 |
| Pictorial and Written Annotations | 16 | 1.69 | 1.01 |
Four aural multimedia treatments, developed using Adobe Premiere 4.2 (Adobe, 1994) and Authorware 4.0 (Macromedia, 1997), were presented to students using a 24-station Macintosh computer lab, arranged so that the students could view only their own computer screens.
All groups first saw an opening screen that instructed them how to use the program and provided an advance organizer in the form of a brief written paragraph that placed the aural passage about an important event in its historical context (Figure 1). This screen provided additional instructions to assist students with the annotations available in their respective treatments.
The opening screen was followed by five separate listening comprehension screens tailored to each treatment. Within each screen, students could click on audio buttons to listen to a 2 minute and 20 second aural passage (Buzhardt & Hawthorne, 1993; see Appendix A). Twenty-seven French keywords, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbial phrases, were chosen by two experienced French professors for their importance to understanding the story. They were placed in order of appearance on the left side of each screen. To hear their pronunciation, listeners dragged the keywords to a speaker icon in the upper right section of the screen.
In the control group, students could only listen to the pronunciation of French keywords (Figure 2).
In the pictorial annotations group, students could drag the keywords to a camera icon to view their pictorial representations (Figure 3).
In the written annotations group, students could drag the keywords to a book icon to view their English translations (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Example of treatment for the written annotations group (only written annotations available)
In the pictorial and written annotations group, students could drag the keywords to the camera and/or book icon to view the picture and/or an English translation (Figure 5).
Students could select any annotation available in their treatment at any time before, during, or after each aural segment. A login script tracked the number of annotations accessed and the amount of time spent on each.
The written English translations of the French keywords were presented in a bold, 14-point Helvetica font. The color drawings and photos were pictorial representations of the same French keywords (Appendix B). The pictures were selected based on a pilot study conducted in the summer of 1999 and were used in two subsequent studies (Jones, 2003; Jones & Plass, 2002). While all written annotations provided exact English translations of the French keywords, pictorial annotations may not have precisely represented the meaning of some low-imagery French keywords such as étouffé (smother).
Dependent Measures and Scoring
Not all posttests were conducted in both studies since they were originally meant to study unrelated issues. However, the results of these two studies warranted a combined analysis, albeit not a full one.
In Study 1, two dependent variables examined the effects of the four treatments on students' L2 incidental vocabulary learning. The multiple choice written vocabulary recognition and pictorial recognition tests were administered immediately after the treatment and again three weeks later (Appendix C). They consisted of 25 of the 27 French keywords described above. The maximum score for each test was 25 with each correct response worth one point. The written vocabulary recognition pre- and posttests were identical. In these multiple choice tests, students had six English translations to select from for each test item. The pictorial vocabulary recognition posttest provided five pictorial representations to select from for each test item.
In Study 2, a written vocabulary production posttest (Appendix D) was used to examine the effects of the four treatments on students' vocabulary learning both immediately after the treatment and 3 weeks later. It consisted of 25 of the 27 French keywords used in each treatment, and required students to provide their English translations from memory. The maximum score for this test was 25, with each correct response worth one point.
Procedures for Studies 1 and 2
A pre/posttest control group design was used to observe the effects of the absence or presence of written and pictorial annotations on students' L2 vocabulary learning from the aural passage. All activities took place during three separate class periods of a normally scheduled French class. During the first class period, students had 8 minutes to complete the written vocabulary recognition pretest. Two days later, each participant was randomly assigned to one of four treatments: (1) no annotations (2) pictorial annotations, (3) written annotations, and (4) pictorial and written annotations. Students were given 14 minutes to listen to the passage and to access the annotations. Students in Study 1 then had 8 minutes each to complete the written and the pictorial recognition posttests. Students in Study 2 had 8 minutes to complete the immediate written vocabulary production posttest. Three weeks later, without any additional experience with the aural passage and without prior warning, students in both studies completed the delayed vocabulary tests that were identical to the tests given immediately after treatment.
RESULTS
Immediate Written Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was computed with the number of correct answers on the immediate written vocabulary recognition posttest as the dependent measure, and the presence or absence of pictorial and written annotations as the between subjects factor (Table 3).
Table 3. ANOVA for Immediate Written Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
| Factors | F | MSE | p | n2 |
| Written Annotations | 51.0 (1,76) | 931.60 | <0.001 | 0.401 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 22.91 (1,76) | 418.61 | <0.001 | 0.232 |
| Written and Pictorial Annotations | 22.41 (1,76) | 409.51 | <0.001 | 0.228 |
Table 4. Mean Group Scores on the Immediate Written Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
| Groups | N | M | SD |
| Control | 20 | 7.80 | 3.85 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 20 | 16.90 | 3.91 |
| Written Annotations | 20 | 19.15 | 4.51 |
| Pictorial and Written Annotations | 20 | 19.20 | 4.76 |
Delayed Written Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was computed with the number of correct answers on the delayed written vocabulary recognition posttest as the dependent measure and the presence or absence of pictorial and written annotations as the between subjects factor (Table 5).
Table 5. ANOVA for Delayed Written Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
| Factors | F | MSE | p | n2 |
| Written Annotations | 12.3 (1,64) | 271.82 | <0.05 | 0.161 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 6.03 (1,64) | 133.70 | <0.05 | 0.086 |
| Written and Pictorial Annotations | 4.17 (1,64) | 92.47 | <0.05 | 0.061 |
Table 6. Mean Group Scores on the Delayed Written Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
| Groups | N | M | SD |
| Control | 17 | 8.06 | 2.93 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 19 | 13.42 | 4.48 |
| Written Annotations | 18 | 14.33 | 4.51 |
| Pictorial and Written Annotations | 14 | 15.00 | 6.64 |
Immediate Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was computed with the number of correct answers on the immediate pictorial vocabulary recognition posttest as the dependent measure and the presence or absence of pictorial and written annotations as the between subjects factor (Table 7).
Table 7. ANOVA for the Immediate Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
| Factors | F | MSE | p | n2 |
| Written Annotations | 14.12 (1,76) | 270.11 | <0.001 | .157 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 39.22 (1,76) | 750.31 | <0.001 | .340 |
| Written and Pictorial Annotations | 10.21 (1,76) | 195.31 | <0.001 | .118 |
Table 8. Mean Scores of the Four Groups on the Immediate Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
| Groups | N | M | SD |
| Control | 20 | 11.80 | 3.65 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 20 | 21.05 | 4.38 |
| Written Annotations | 20 | 18.60 | 5.15 |
| Pictorial and Written Annotations | 20 | 21.60 | 4.17 |
Delayed Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was computed with the number of correct answers on the delayed pictorial vocabulary recognition posttest as the dependent measure and the presence or absence of pictorial and written annotations as the between subjects factor (Table 9).
Table 9. ANOVA for the Delayed Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
| Factors | F | MSE | p | n2 |
| Written Annotations | 6.55 (1,64) | 200.02 | <0.05 | .093 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 12.16 (1,64) | 371.28 | <0.01 | .160 |
| Written and Pictorial Annotations | 7.15 (1,64) | 218.40 | <0.05 | .100 |
Table 10. Mean Scores for the Four Treatment Groups on the Delayed Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Posttest, Study 1
| Groups | N | M | SD |
| Control | 17 | 10.59 | 4.36 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 19 | 18.95 | 4.71 |
| Written Annotations | 18 | 17.50 | 5.59 |
| Pictorial and Written Annotations | 14 | 18.64 | 6.40 |
Students in the pictorial and written annotations group accessed the two annotation types with comparable frequency: 53% of the time with an average of 7.60 seconds per annotation for pictorial, and; 47% of the time with an average of 8.1 seconds per annotation for written annotations. The single annotation groups viewed their respective annotations for equal amounts of time: 11.35 seconds for pictorial, and 11.51 seconds for written annotations.
In summary, all annotation groups performed significantly better than the control group on all tests. No other significant differences were found.
Immediate Written Vocabulary Production Posttest, Study 2
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was computed with the number of correct answers on the immediate written vocabulary production posttest as the dependent measure, and the presence or absence of pictorial and written annotations as the between subjects factor (Table 11).
Table 11. ANOVA for the Immediate Written Vocabulary Production Posttest, Study 2
| Factors | F | MSE | p | n2 |
| Written Annotations | 93.6 (1,63) | 1874.34 | <0.001 | .598 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 4.00 (1,63) | 80.17 | <0.05 | .06 |
| Written and Pictorial Annotations | 5.07 (1,63) | 101.49 | <0.05 | .074 |
Table 12. Mean Scores of the Four Groups on the Immediate Written Vocabulary Production Posttest, Study 2
| Groups | N | M | SD |
| Control | 16 | 3.31 | 1.66 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 17 | 8.47 | 3.48 |
| Written Annotations | 18 | 16.33 | 5.29 |
| Pictorial and Written Annotations | 16 | 16.56 | 6.05 |
Delayed Written Vocabulary Production Posttest, Study 2
A 2 x 2 ANOVA was computed with the number of correct answers on the delayed written vocabulary production posttest as the dependent measure and the presence or absence of pictorial and written annotations as the between subjects factor (Table 13).
Table 13. ANOVA for the Delayed Written Vocabulary Production Posttest, Study 2
| Factors | F | MSE | p | n2 |
| Written Annotations | 40.42 (1,47) | 367.4 | <0.001 | .462 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 0.096 (1,47) | 0.872 | <0.758 | .002 |
| Written and Pictorial Annotations | 6.8 (1,47) | 61.83 | <0.050 | .126 |
Table 14. Mean Group Scores on the Delayed Written Vocabulary Production Posttest, Study 2
| Groups | N | M | SD |
| Control | 13 | 2.77 | 1.09 |
| Pictorial Annotations | 14 | 5.43 | 2.17 |
| Written Annotations | 13 | 10.31 | 4.03 |
| Pictorial and Written Annotations | 11 | 8.55 | 3.96 |
In terms of time on task, students in the pictorial and written annotations group did not access both annotation types with equal frequency: Pictorial annotations were accessed 37% of the time with an average of 7.01 seconds per annotation; written annotations were accessed 63% of the time with an average of 8.23 seconds per annotation. However, both annotation types were viewed for almost equal amounts of time by the single annotation groups: 10.98 seconds for pictorial and 11.21 seconds for written annotations.
In summary, the control group performed the poorest on both posttests. On the immediate written vocabulary production posttest, subjects who accessed both annotation types or written annotations alone outperformed those without access to written annotations. On the delayed test, the written annotations group retained more vocabulary than all other groups, while the pictorial annotations group did not differ significantly from the control group. Those who had access to written annotations alone or combined with pictorial annotations significantly outperformed those who did not have access to any written annotations.
DISCUSSION
Hypotheses 1 and 2 predicted that students with access to pictorial and written annotations during a L2 listening comprehension activity would recognize more written translations and pictorial representations of keywords on written vocabulary and pictorial vocabulary recognition posttests. These two hypotheses further predicted that students who accessed written annotations would outperform those without access to such annotations on the written vocabulary recognition posttest, while students who accessed pictorial annotations would outperform those without access to such annotations on the pictorial vocabulary recognition posttest.
The results of the immediate vocabulary recognition tests did not support these hypotheses because students recognized vocabulary equally well, regardless of test mode. Within recognition tests, there is an inherent ability to guess built into the testing format. Thus, previous exposure to the translation, either visually or verbally, makes selecting the correct response much easier than if one is asked to produce a response from memory (Cariana & Lee, 2001; Glover, 1989; McDaniel & Mason, 1985).
Hypothesis 3 predicted that students with access to pictorial and written annotations during a L2 listening comprehension activity would recall more vocabulary on a written vocabulary posttest than those without access to both annotation types, and also that students who accessed written annotations would outperform those without access to such annotations. Results of the immediate vocabulary production test show that the pictorial and written annotations group and the written annotations group recalled more vocabulary than did those without access to written annotations. This is in line with the third hypothesis and demonstrates that students learned more vocabulary when the testing mode employed matched the mode accessed, either alone or combined with an additional annotation mode.
With regards to all three hypotheses, the control group performed the poorest because the difficulty of the aural text prevented students from building contextual knowledge, thus lessening their ability to learn vocabulary incidentally (Hulstijn, 1992; Jones, 2003; Jones & Plass, 2002). On the other hand, vocabulary acquisition was consistently strong when students had access to pictorial and written annotations, thus supporting a multimedia effect proposed by Mayer (2001). The ability to look up words more than once in different modalities supported inferencing and verification strategies (Grace, 1998) and, reinforced learning (Chun & Plass, 1996), so that students were able to perform well on immediate tests regardless of testing mode. Additionally, students could establish direct connections between the L1 and L2 vocabulary and the corresponding images and thereby have two instead of just one retrieval route (Plass et al., 1998). However, with regard to the third hypothesis, students in the pictorial and written annotations group may have had too much information to look up and may have foregone examining both annotation types (Jones, 1995). Tracking logs showed that the pictorial and written annotations group did not examine the two types of annotations in a balanced manner, and this group subsequently performed poorer on the delayed written production test compared to the written annotations group. Though this group initially obtained a richer and redundant amount of information that was immediately helpful for producing written translations, with time, the retained information may have become "cluttered" and inhibited the students' ability to focus directly on the needed responses due to cognitive overload (Sweller, 1994).
Some researchers have argued that images carry a structural message that complements the language presented (Baggett, 1989; Kozma, 1991) and that the pictorial mode facilitates vocabulary learning (Kellogg & Howe, 1971; Oxford & Crookall, 1990; Underwood, 1989). This was the case in the study conducted by Jones and Plass (2002) in which students who accessed pictorial annotations alone or combined with written annotations outperformed those without access to any pictorial annotations on a written vocabulary recognition posttest. In the present study, students performed well no matter which annotation type was accessed. However, the pictorial annotations group could not produce vocabulary from memory as well as those groups that had access to written annotations, a result counter to findings that the pictorial mode of information increases the efficiency of learning (Kost, Foss & Lenzini, 1999; Oxford & Crookall, 1990; Terrell, 1986). Instead, images may have provided too much information (Sweller, 1994) rather than the more precise information provided by direct translations.
There are more connections in the memory representation when the input is visual. "Brown leaf" presented verbally creates the instance of "leaf" connected with the concept "brown." But showing a picture of a brown leaf causes one to create the concept of leaf connected with concepts of brown, olive, rust, burgundy, etc., not to mention its shape, size, environment, etc. In the verbal presentation there is one sure connection: leaf with brown. (Baggett, 1989, p. 119)
The richness of images may have affected students' ability to accurately translate L2 words into L1, while written annotations provided precise definitions of the L2 words.
CONCLUSION
One limitation of this research is that it included two different studies with two different groups. Originally, these studies explored unrelated questions but once analyzed, the findings in terms of the influence of annotation types and testing modes on students' incidental vocabulary learning warranted a joint report. Further comparative analyses to determine the impact of pictorial and written annotations on pictorial and written testing modes was not possible since the two studies involved different subjects. An additional limitation is that both studies focused on a between-subjects design. A within-subjects examination may show how choice of annotation types affects students' performance on different vocabulary tests. Additional research should also consider the ordering of the tests. In Study 1, the pictorial recognition test was always administered before the written recognition test. Future examination using these two tests could be strengthened by counterbalancing their order.
These studies offer several implications for language teaching and multimedia design. They add to the growing body of literature on the beneficial effects of annotations on L2 vocabulary recognition and recall. The ability to review information more than once reinforces learning (Chun & Plass, 1996), and since students rely on different modalities to learn efficiently in different ways (Ehrman, Leaver, & Oxford, 2003; Oxford & Ehrman, 1995; Plass et al., 1998; Reinert, 1976), providing them with an opportunity to choose the mode of information they prefer may help them better learn the vocabulary presented. Multimedia environments that provide both pictorial and written modes of keyword information may be most effective for learning because the students can choose the mode that best suits their needs and learning preferences (Plass et al., 1998).
Future research is needed to examine issues related to the outcomes of these studies. For example, a more comparative approach to examining the connection between testing mode and annotation mode seems warranted. Further study is also needed to address the issues of cognitive load and the role it may play in long term memory for vocabulary when students access both pictorial and written annotations. Future study should also examine the recall of vocabulary in an aural mode rather than a written mode to determine how well aural L2 vocabulary comprehension is developed in an aural multimedia environment. And finally, to address vocabulary acquisition, researchers should examine students' ability to produce newly acquired vocabulary in a more challenging communicative context.
APPENDIX A
Text of Listening Comprehension Passage
LaSalle Meets the Quapaws (1682)
On fit traverser les canots sur la gauche à une pointe de sable. On se retranche le mieux que l'on peut avec des petits bois de tremble, qu'on coupa, dont on fit des palissades. La brume se cessa, et l'on vit un canot de Sauvages venir à nous …. Mais voyant qu'on ne leur en tirait point, ils s'en retournèrent chercher dire que c'étaient des gens de paix. Ils revinrent 6 sans armes avec le calumet de paix faisant signe qu'on vienne à leurs habitations. Ils présentèrent à fumer à M. de LaSalle et à tous ceux qui étaient autour de lui disant toujours qu'on s'embarque …. Le lendemain les guerriers et la jeunesse dansèrent le calumet. C'est de s'assembler tous sur la place. Les guerriers mettent leur présents sur des perches comme quand on veut faire sécher du linge. Ils apportent deux grands calumets enjolivés de plumes de toutes couleurs et pleins de cheveux de leurs ennemis. Ils mettent tout cela entre les mains de leurs chefs qui sont assis sur leurs culs et arrangés autour de la place. Ils ont tous des gourdes pleines de cailloux et des tambours qui sont des pots de terre. Ils commencent une chanson qu'ils accompagnent du bruit de leurs instruments. Les guerriers qui ont fait de belles actions vont danser et frapper un poteau avec leurs casse-tête et disent les belles actions qu'ils ont faites …. cependant les chefs fument, l'un après l'autre dans les calumets, et chacun le présentait à M. de LaSalle et à tous ceux dans la compagnie. Après, ils le prirent et le placèrent au milieu de la place, dansant tous autour de lui au son des instruments et chansons, chacun lui mettant sur le corps son présent qui étaient des peaux de boeufs qui ont de la laine comme nos moutons d'Europe. Si les Français ne l'avaient pas déchargé à mesure de ses peaux, ils l'auraient étouffé sous leurs présents. Il leur fit à son tour présents de haches, couteaux, et rassades.
APPENDIX B
Examples of 10 Images Used in the Pictorially-Based Treatments of Both Study 1 and Study 2
déchargé | enjolivés | étouffé | sans armes | bois |
le calumet | la brume | paix | des rassades | des cailloux |
APPENDIX C
Dependent Measures for Study 1 (Pictorial and Written Vocabulary Recognition Tests)
| Name: ______________________ | Written Vocabulary Recognition Test |
In this activity, please select the English translation for the word given in French. If you do not know the correct response, leave it blank. You have 8 minutes to complete this exercise.
| 1. des rassades | 6. la brume | 11. casse-tête | 16. enjolivés | 21. des bois |
| a. poles b. cards c. arrows d. beads e. shells f. nails | a. fog b. clouds c. rain d. shells e. water f. greeting | a. hair b. club c. arrow d. pole e. pipe f. hatchet | a. decorated b. ugly c. plain d. loud e. noisy f. rich | a. trees b. bodies c. beads d. chiefs e. pipes f. gourds |
| 2. des canots | 7. des perches | 12. des cailloux | 17. peaux de boeufs | 22. culs |
| a. arrows b. canoes c. pipes d. swords e. canons f. shells | a. fish b. pipes c. plazas d. presents e. poles f. cards | a. poles b. cards c. pebbles d. backsides e. shells f. sheep | a. pears b. skins c. sheep d. pigs e. paddles f. canoes | a. poles b. arrows c. hatchets d. chiefs e. backsides f. sheep |
| 3. des haches | 8. la laine | 13. sans armes | 18. le calumet | 23. s'assembler |
| a. knives b. poles c. beads d. helmets e. hatchets f. gourds | a. pole b. card c. arrow d. bead e. shell f. wool | a. unarmed b. angry c. tired d. helpful e. worried f. artful | a. pole b. post c. pipe d. hatchet e. knife f. bead | a. smoke b. assemble c. sit d. dance e. share f. smoke |
| 4. sable | 9. paix | 14. les guerriers | 19. un poteau | 24. se retranche |
| a. sabers b. sand c. swords d. sheep e. beads f. knives | a. peace b. power c. armed d. pipe e. canoe f. pole | a. warriors b. chiefs c. pipes d. arrows e. canoes f. turkeys | a. post b. card c. bead d. pot e. drum f. pipe | a. surround b. retrain c. share d. provide e. offer f. smoke |
| 5. étouffé | 10. les moutons | 15. des gourdes | 20. fument | 25. déchargé |
| a. discarded b. suffocated c. waved d. helped e. greeted f. offered | a. bullets b. tables c. arrows d. beef e. shells f. sheep | a. backsides b. drums c. gourds d. grapes e. pipes f. knives | a. anger b. smear c. shoot d. smoke e. trade f. give | a. weakened b. offered c. smoked d. removed e. danced f. played |
Name: ______________________ | Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Test Answer Sheet |
2. ____
3. ____
4. ____
5. ____
6. ____
7. ____
8. ____
9. ____
10. ____
11. ____
12. ____
13. ____
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25. ____
| Name: ______________________ | Pictorial Vocabulary Recognition Test |
[Sample of three questions.]
| 1. déchargé | A. | B. | C. | D. | E. |
| 2. étouffé | A. | B. | C. | D. | E. |
| 3. sans armes | A. | B. | C. | D. | E. |
APPENDIX D
Dependent Measures for Study 2 (Written Vocabulary Production Test)
| Name: ______________________ | Written Vocabulary Production Test |
| 1. des rassades ____________________ 2. des canots ____________________ 3. des haches ____________________ 4. sable ____________________ 5. étouffé ____________________ 6. la brume ____________________ 7. des perches ____________________ 8. la laine ____________________ 9. paix ____________________ 10. les moutons ____________________ 11. casse-t�te ____________________ 12. des cailloux ____________________ | 13. sans armes ____________________ 14. les guerriers ___________________ 15. des gourdes ____________________ 16. enjolivés ____________________ 17. peaux de boeufs ________________ 18. le calumet ____________________ 19. un poteau ____________________ 20. fument ____________________ 21. des bois ____________________ 22. culs ____________________ 23. s'assembler ____________________ 24. se retranche ___________________ 25. déchargé _____________________ |
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Linda Jones is Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology and Director of the Language Learning Center at the University of Arkansas. Her principal interests include multimedia design theory and L2 learning, and instructing graduate students in the appropriate use of instructional system design strategies when developing L2 video and Web-based materials.
E-mail: lcjones@uark.edu
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Knight, S. (1994). Dictionary: The tool of last resort in foreign language reading? A new perspective. The Modern Language Journal, 78(3), 285-299.
Kost, C. R., Foss, P., & Lenzini, J. J. (1999). Textual and pictorial glosses: Effectiveness on incidental vocabulary growth when reading in a foreign language. Foreign Language Annals, 32(1), 89-113.
Kozma, R. B. (1991). Learning with media. Review of Educational Research, 61(2), 179-211.
Larson, J., & Bush, C. (1992). Montevidisco [Computer software]. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University.
Lynch, T. (1998). Theoretical perspectives on listening. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 18, 3-19.
Macromedia. (1997). Authorware 4.0 [Computer software]. San Francisco, CA: Macromedia, Inc.
Mayer, R. E. (1997). Multimedia learning: Are we asking the right questions? Educational Psychologist, 32(1), 1-19.
Mayer, R. E. (2001). Multimedia learning. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Mayer, R. E. (2002). Cognitive theory and the design of multimedia instruction: An example of the two-way street between cognition and instruction. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 89, 55-71.
McDaniel, M. A., & Mason, M. E. J. (1985). Altering memory representations through retrieval. Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, Memory and Cognition, 11, 371-385.
Otto, S., & Pusack, J. (1992). Listening Tool [Computer software]. Iowa City, IA: PICS.
Oxford, R., & Crookall, D. (1990). Vocabulary learning: A critical analysis of techniques. TESL Canada Journal, 7(2), 9-30.
Oxford, R. L., & Ehrman, M. E. (1995). Adults' language learning strategies in an intensive foreign language program in the United States. System, 23(3), 359-386.
Paivio, A. (1986). Mental representations: A dual coding approach. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Pica, T., Doughty, C., & Young, R. (1986). Making input comprehensible: Do interactional modifications help? International Review of Applied Linguistics, 72, 1-25.
Plass, J. L., Chun, D. M., Mayer, R. E., & Leutner, D. (1998). Supporting visual and verbal learning preferences in a second language multimedia learning environment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(1), 25-36.
Reinert, H. (1976). One picture is worth a thousand words? Not necessarily. The Modern Language Journal, 60(4), 160-168.
Sabo, G., Restropo, L. F., & Jones, L. (2000). First encounters: Native Americans and Europeans in the Mississippi Valley [Computer software: CD-ROM]. Fayetteville, AR: Arkansas Archeological Society.
Salaberry, M. R. (2001). The use of technology for second language learning and teaching: A retrospective. The Modern Language Journal, 85(1), 39-56.
Sweller, J. (1994). Cognitive load theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design. Learning and Instruction, 4, 295-312.
Terrell, T. (1986). Acquisition in the natural approach: The binding/access framework. The Modern Language Journal, 70(3), 213-227.
Underwood, J. (1989). HyperCard and interactive video. CALICO, 6(3), 7-20.
University of Texas (2001). Français Interactif [Web Site].
University of Texas (2004). Français Interactif [Web Site]. http://www.laits.utexas.edu/fi
Wittrock, M. C. (1989). Educational psychology and the future of research in learning, instruction and teaching. In M.C. Wittrock & F. Farley (Eds.), The future of educational psychology (pp. 75-89). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Yoshii, M., & Flaitz, J. (2002). Second language incidental vocabulary retention: The effect of text and picture annotation types. CALICO, 20(1), 33-58.
5 .CALL is not a Hammer and not Every Teaching Problem is a Nail! Changing Expectations of Computers in the Classroom Judy F. Chen jfc [at] rs1.occc.edu.tw http://www.occc.edu.tw/~jfc/ The Overseas Chinese College of Commerce (Taichung, Taiwan, ROC) CAI and CALL Application in Taiwan
Past
When looking at CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) and CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) in Taiwan (R.O.C.), it is clear that application of these technologies, in the classroom, is in its embryonic stage. Through a combination of factors, computers have generally not entered the R.O.C. language scene. These factors include, but are not limited to:- General lack of computerization of schools in the R.O.C.
- Lack of access to mainframes and minis, on which many CAI and CALL software was originally developed
- Needed technology only recently commercialized, i.e., powerful computer packages: 80486 CPUs, sound cards and CD-ROMs
- Expenditures of time and money for non-computer based "language labs" that are not perceived as successful teaching tools
It is likely that negative experiences with language labs has led teachers to be skeptical of new technologies in the classroom. Many Taiwan schools have installed language lab equipment that allows a class of students to listen to recorded conversations through headphones, equipped with microphones, while a teacher can send instructions, listen into and monitor students through a central control panel.
Often, the engineers who installed such equipment did not understand all the features and installation requirements and certainly had little grasp of the pedagogical applications. The result was that at many locations, these language labs simply have became glorified, and expensive, tape players. The equipment actually served to separate the students from the teacher and encouraged less motivated students to daydream through the class period. Such experience is not unique to Taiwan, nor is it new, but may be endemic to language labs (Kirpal 1979). Teachers are often placed in these labs with no training, not even a manual on the lab's features and use, while a class of fifty students wait for the teacher to assimilate. With teachers struggling to find use of the technology they already have, it is unrealistic to expect them to quickly swallow another "technology solution" pill.
Present
In the past decade, numerous academics have examined the application of CAI in Taiwan classrooms. From the very start, teachers have realized that computers have enormous potential. Of special interest is the realization that CAI may be especially useful in the Taiwan situation where writing students are often at a low level of skill attainment and class size is large (Chen, 1988).Many teachers, domestic and foreign have observed that students generally have a positive attitude toward technology in the classroom. Studies have consistently shown that students have positive attitudes about computer technology being used in the classroom and that such technology does have a positive impact (Warden, 1995; Chen, 1988; Nash et al., 1989; Brady, 1990; Herrmann, 1987; Johnson, 1988; Phinney & Mathis, 1988).However, such attitudes and results may simply reflect the "normal" outlook of most people who live in the Computer Age. Academics such as Pennington (1991) and Thiesmeyer (1989) warn of rushing into CALL without solid evidence of its benefits. Such caution is justified since all of the cultural signals being sent every day, support the believe that technology is good, and that specifically computers are helpful in nearly every human endeavor. Even expressing the slightest doubts about the usefulness of computers is likely to result in one being labeled as a Luddite. Classroom research of CAI must avoid such dogmatism and not make any apriori conclusions.
Future
Clearly, adoption of CAI and CALL approaches will not, and should not, spread until measurable benefits can be seen not only for students but also for teachers. More research into actual results of CAI application results must be performed. All too often, CAI is becoming confused with multimedia and the Information Superhighway. These are useful tools, but are they germane to CAI? I would assert that they are not CAI simply when they are used in the classroom. Although many apriori conclusions can be reached about their effectiveness, it is only after careful research into results that a tool can be justified as having CAI application.Researchers must make a determination about the pedagogical outcomes of new, and old, CAI software. Some points important to any CAI investigation include:Avoiding Hawthorne effects that are common in this area
It is quite obvious to any group of students that they are being observed when said group is allowed access to computer equipment and software while others are not. Even the use of class time to introduce computer language labs and/or software rips away the mask of the researcher. Rather than creating research situations that invite the Hawthorne effect, researchers should look into applying some type of technology to all groups being studied. Some groups are actually using the teaching technology in question, while others are receiving a placebo.Not questioning attitudes about technology
Direct questioning of subjects about the technology in question is certain to illicit inaccurate and irrelevant information. First of all, societal pressures encourage positive responses towards technology. Anyone, especially young people, who does not like technology often is of the opinion that such an attitude is a reflection of his/her own deficiencies. Secondly, direct attitude questions about the material being tested is simply not accurate. If we were to show Mickey Mouse cartoons to one group of students and then had a different group of students read Shakespeare, the results from a direct question about material is obvious. Although details about comprehensible input could be argued ad infinitum, language researchers must understand that it is results that matter and not intermediate attitudes, which are shifting and vacillating at best.Not judging the software interface but looking for real language improvement results
Somewhat related to the above point, this problem stems from interfaces that today can include animation, actual video clips, dialogue and music. The multimedia revolution has arrived and anyone who looks at some well produced, slick multimedia titles cannot help but to be impressed. However, it is not uncommon that the newness factor wears off quickly and a multimedia title that looked so slick the first few viewings is later found to be empty of real content. The computer screen that shows moving colorful pictures is interesting to the teacher who buys the title, but we must consider the students who will use the software many times over in their attempts to improve their language skills. Will such moving pictures and sound look good after the tenth time around, or will they simply become an annoyance? Content must be paramount in our investigations.References
- Brady, L. (1990). Overcoming resistance: Computer in the writing classroom. _Computers and Composition_, 7(2), 21-33.
- Chen, H. (1988). Computer assisted writing in Taiwan: Methods and perspectives. In: C. Chen, C. Chen, H. Fu, Y. Chang, & Y Hsiao (Eds.), _Papers from The Fifth Conference on English Teaching and Learning In the Republic of China_ (pp. 173-191). Taipei, Taiwan: The Crane.
- Herrmann, A. (1987). An ethnographic study of a high school writing class using computers: Marginal, technically proficient, and productive learners. In: L. Gerrard (Ed.), _Writing at Century's End: Essays on Computer-Assisted Composition_ (pp. 79-97). New York, NY: Random House.
- Johnson, M. A. (1988). Word processing in the English as a second language classroom. In: J. L. Hoot & S. B. Silvern (Eds.), _Writing With Computers in the Early Grades_ (pp. 107-121). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
- Kirpal, V. (1979). The language laboratory and the remedial English learner. _English Teaching Forum_, 17(4), 13-18.
- Nash, T., Hsieh, T. & Chen, S. (1989). An evaluation of computer-aided composition. In: S. Chang, D. Tseng & B. Hwang (Eds.), A Collection of _Papers Presented in The Sixth Conference on English Teaching and Learning In the Republic of China_ (pp. 313-323). Taipei, Taiwan: The Crane.
- Pennington, M. C. (1991). _An assessment of the use and effectiveness of computer-based text analysis of non proficient writers_. Research Report No. 4. Department of English. City University of Hong Kong (formerly: City Polytechnic of Hong Kong).
- Phinney, M., & Mathis, C. (1990). ESL student responses to writing with computers. _TESOL Newsletter_, 24(2), 30-31.
- Sarna, D. & Febish, G. J. (1993). _Windows Rapid Application Development_, Emeryville, California: Ziff-Davis Press.
- Strei, G. (1979). New pedagogy for old technology: Reviving the language laboratory. _English Teaching Forum_, January, 17(1), 7-11.
- Thiesmeyer, J. (1989). Should we do what we can? In: Wawisher, G.E. & Selfe, C.L. (Eds), _Critical Perspectives on Computers and Composition Instruction_ (pp. 75-93). New York: Teachers College Press.
- Warden, C. (1995). Coping with 500 EFL writing students in Taiwan. _TESOL Matters_, 5(2), 11.
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. II, No. 7, July 1996
http://iteslj.org/
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Chen-CALL.html
6.CALL: Its Scope and Limits A speech by Frank Berberich at the Toyohashi JALT chapter meeting April 21, 1996 Reported by Lawrence Hunter President/program chair, Kochi JALT lawrie@gol.com
The setting
Frank Berberich stood large over the console of the wonderful CALL lab put together by Kaz Nozawa at Toyohashi Gikadai as he led a curiosity-filled group through his current thinking about CALL software. The setting for the chapter meeting of Toyohashi JALT was well-chosen: the lab is designed for teaching both language and CALL software construction.Berberich's projected scenarios for CALL
Frank's work at Tsukuba's University of Library and Information Science has led him to some grounded and broad attempts to characterize what is being done and what might optimally be done in CALL in general and in Japan in particular. First Frank laid out his three imagined scenarios for CALL, the Star Trek scenario, where the target language is instantly integrated into one's mind; the 2001 scenario, where the machine is a fully human conversationalist and tutor; and the Now scenario, the current state of the art (in in the non- ideal sense of the term) scenario, where interaction is via keyboard/screen and audio/visual multimedia are basic.Berberich's dimensions of CALL
Reaching far beyond other researchers' difficult-to-use qualitative lists of CALL activity types, Frank has created a proposed list of dimensions of CALL, a set of continua which make characterizing individual CALL objects (e.g. software) simple and revealing. A couple of examples of these continua: User Memory Load, the degree to which the user's memory is exercised; Data Access, the extent of the system's database; System Layering, the complexity of the system in terms of how much it is doing with the user data. These terms were demystified as Frank led the audience through a series of demonstrations of the design of a number of pieces of CALL software, both programs and CDROMS, and showed how each would rate on his dimensions.The current state of CALL software
Some basic views underlying Frank's talk: current CALL software is limited, perhaps disappointing, since most items are either slick programmer productions which miss much of the wisdom that educators have to offer, or are educator produced and lack the stimulating interface that a programmer could provide.Computer Adaptive Testing
All this suggests a need for "layered systems that can deal with flexible input and output, freely branch within and access a large base of tasks and data, depending onuser inputs, and can collect and process multiple user inputs for ongoing refinement of the system." For a hint of such a system, readers are directed to Frank's article, Berberich, F. (1995). Computer Adaptive Testing and its extension to a teaching model in CALL. "CAELL Journal" 6 (2), 11-18.Nozawa home page
So much information, so many sources, all laid out in a brief meeting. And there were distractions: the audience sat at computers linked to the web, and many had a good browse of Kaz Nozawa's home page, an excellent springboard for those seeking some map of what, where and how in CALL. The wise observer would merely note Kaz' URL http://www.lc.tut.ac.jp/nozawa/nozawa.html and browse it later, but warm and generous environment proved irresistible for many of us. Toyohashi JALT are to be commended for putting together an event worthy of giving up a beautiful sunny Sunday.The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. II, No. 6, June 1996
http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/
7.COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (CALL) IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF INTERACTIVE APPROACH: ADVANTAGES AND APPREHENSIONS by T. Ravichandran, M.A., M.Phil., P.G.C.T.E., (Ph.D.) Lecturer, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere - 402 103. (Paper presented and published in the Proceedings: National Seminar on CALL, Anna University, Chennai, 10-12 Feb. 2000, pp. 82-89.)
INTRODUCTION
To begin with the question whether computers really assist second language learning, many teachers who have never touched a computer tend to respond with an emphatic no; whereas, the overwhelming number of teachers who give computers a try find that they are indeed useful in second language learning. No doubt, computers make excellent teaching tools, especially in teaching languages in any aspect, be it vocabulary, grammar, composition, pronunciation, or other linguistic and pragmatic-communicative skills. And the major benefits offered by computer in enhancing language acquisition apparently outweigh its limitations.
ADVANTAGES
Interest and Motivation
It is often necessary, in a language learning classroom, to provide repeated practice to meet important objectives. Because this can be boring, painful, and frustrating, many students lose interest and motivation to learn foreign languages. CALL programmes present the learner with a novelty. They teach the language in different and more interesting, attractive ways and present language through games, animated graphics and problem-solving techniques. As a result even tedious drills become more interesting. In fact, CALL motivates the students to go beyond the point of initial mastery and practice activity until they become automatic.
Individualisation
Many students need additional time and individualised practice to meet learning objectives. The computer offers students self-instructional tasks that let them master prerequisite skills and course objectives at a speed and level dictated by their own needs. Besides, additional programmes can be made available for students who master objectives quickly. These additional programmes can provide more intense study of the same objectives, proceed to higher objectives, or integrate the objectives covered in the unit with other objectives. In this manner, a computer gives individual attention to the learner and replies immediately to questions or commands. It acts as a tutor and guides the learner towards the correct answer while adapting the material to his performance.
A Compatible Learning Style
Students differ in their preferred styles of learning. Many students seem to learn much more effectively when they are able to use a compatible learning style than when they are forced to employ an incompatible one. Serious conflicts may arise when a teacher employs a style that is incompatible with a student's. In this regard, the computer can be used for adapting instruction to the unique styles of individual students. To cite an instance, the computer can provide an exciting rapid-fire drill for one student and a calm, slow-paced mode of presentation for another.
Optimal Use of Learning Time
By using the computer, students are often able to use their Academic Learning Time (ALT) more fruitfully. Academic Learning Time (ALT) is the amount of time a student spends attending to relevant academic tasks while performing those tasks with a high rate of success. For example, not all the time officially scheduled for studying a foreign language is likely to be allocated to it. If an hour is assigned to working on a topic, but the teacher devotes five minutes at the beginning of the session to returning papers and five minutes at the end to reading announcements, then only fifty minutes have been allocated to working on the topic. Scheduled time merely sets an upper limit on allocated time. Likewise, allocated time merely sets the upper limit to engaged time, which refers to the amount of time students actively attend to the subject matter under consideration. Even though fifty minutes may be allocated to studying a topic in French class, students may stare out the window or talk to their neighbours instead of pursuing the assigned activity. Therefore, even when they are actively engaged in studying the foreign language, students learn effectively only when they are performing at a high rate of success. This smaller amount of time is the factor that is most strongly related to the amount of learning that takes place (Lareau 1985:65-67). Computers enhance second/foreign language academic learning time by permitting learners to acquire specific information and practice specific skills and by helping students develop basic tools of learning which they can apply in a wide variety of settings. This also subverts the relationship between time and traditional instruction. Traditional instruction holds time constant and allows achievement to vary within a group. Computer-assisted learning reverses this relationship by holding achievement constant and letting the time students spend in pursuit of the objectives vary.
Immediate Feedback
Learners receive maximum benefit from feedback only when it is supplied immediately. Their interest and receptivity declines when the information on their performance is delayed. Yet, for various reasons, classroom feedback is often delayed and at times denied. A deferment of positive feedback, though important to act as encouragement and reinforcement, may not harm the progress of the learners. Nonetheless, any delay in offering negative feedback, the knowledge that one is wrong, will become crucial. A blissfully ignorant student may continue mispronouncing a word or applying a misconception before discovering the nature of this error. In such case, the computer can give instantaneous feedback and help the learner ward off his misconception at the initial stage itself. In addition to this, the computer can look for certain types of errors and give specific feedback, such as, "It looks as if you forgot the article."
Error Analysis
Computer database can be used by the instructor to classify and differentiate the type of general errors as well as errors committed by learners on account of the influence of the first language. And thus determine the most common errors cross-linguistically and more specifically, the particular form of a particular error type within a particular language group. One such study conducted reveals interesting findings, for example, that in subject-verb agreement errors the base form of verb was over generalised incorrectly more often than the -s form by all speakers. Also, Chinese writers typically omitted the articles a/an more often than the (Dalgish 1987:81-82). A computer can thus analyse the specific mistakes the student has made and can react in a different way from the usual teacher--this leads the student not only to self-correction, but also to understanding the principles behind the correct solution.
Guided and Free Writing
A word-processor in the computer can be very effective in teaching guided/free writing activities. The ability to create and manipulate text easily is the principle on which the word-processor programmes are founded. In this manner, the word-processor encourages practice in guided or free writing activities together with a number of sub-skills which comprise the writing process. Aspects of paragraphing, register, style, cohesion, rhetorical structure, lexical choice and expression can all receive attention without requiring the user to learn different programmes. The advantage is that the teacher can direct the student's writing without exerting total and rigid control, allowing for freedom of expression within certain bounds. Insights into grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, can also be developed.
Pre-determined to Process Syllabus
One major advantage in using a microprocessor is that it can enhance the learning process from a pre-determined syllabus to an emerging/process syllabus. Even the ordinary 'fill-in-the-blanks' type of monotonous exercise on paper can be made an exciting task on the screen in the self-access mode, where the students themselves choose their own material. CALL thus facilitates the synthesis of the pre-planned syllabus and learner syllabuses "through a decision making process undertaken by teacher and learners together" (Breen 1986:51).
Other Prospects
As students and teachers become more sophisticated in their use of such CALL software, more complicated use of these packages become possible. For instance, the ability of the computer to handle data, and allow the students to become computational linguists, is very powerful (Hardistry 1988:42-43). The experiential use of Wide Area Network (WAN) and Local Area Network (LAN) can reveal unexplored teaching materials and untouched learning methods. By effective use of linking computer with internet, authentic material can be brought directly into the classroom. A reading text can be done using that day's news item or weather forecast than using a news clipping of the previous year. The topicality of the issue can generate lot of interest and create authenticity of purpose. Correspondingly, the facility of LAN can be very useful for the practising of writing pithy telegraphic and telex messages. Of course, the joy and the excitement involved in the online communication process, both local and international, is an additional increment one gets from screen-based learning!
APPREHENSIONS
Man versus Machine
In spite of its glaring merits, the prospect of computer-assisted language learning has troubled teachers more. Perhaps, the major cause of their worry might have developed from the basic problem of accessibility. Often the computers have been kept in Science or Maths department causing a real and psychological distance in the minds of the Arts faculty. Nevertheless, many see computer as a threat not only in terms of its power to replace the traditional skills, which the language teachers promote, but also its eventual replacement of the teacher himself. Furthermore, shifting the control centre from the authoritarian teacher to the need-based learner and accepting the humble role of a facilitator/moderator instead of being a veritable dictator does not come easy for the traditionally clad chalk-talk teacher. In addition, the computer-student interactive learning not only allows the possibility of role changes, but also the potential for role-reversal, endangered by physical reversal by students. That is, the students literally turn their back to the teachers, and silence is now on the part of the teacher until called for assistance. Yet this role reversal can be exploited, since, it allows the classroom to become far more "learning centred" (Hardistry 1988:39). This term rather than learner-centred, has been used, to indicate that the central aim of the language lesson is to enable students to learn.
The Language Lab versus Computer
Another reason why teachers and sanctioning authorities alike are uncertain about the use of computers in language learning is that computers too, like language lab and other technological innovations, despite large investments, may remain unused and stored in some dark and abandoned room. After all, language laboratories in many countries fell into disuse, as they were too tied to one particular form of methodology, which limited the awareness of the potential. One real danger is that the computer could be used, like the language lab, as an instrument of Skinnerian behaviourism to facilitate the structuralist approach with an emphasis on "correctness," negating its flexibility and potential as a teaching aid to liberate the imaginations of the learners (Moore 1986:18-19). In this perspective, often CALL courseware has been restricted to drill and practice, with the screen equivalent to the textbook. Much software, like a textbook, is static both in presentation and in content. Another major criticism of CALL software is the lock-step design of the lessons. This, in turn, means that CALL software is missing a chance to exploit the computer's potential, with the result that computer power is not released to the student adequately.
CALL versus TALL
Computer-Assisted Language Learning(CALL) contrasted with Textbook-Assisted Language Learning(TALL), demands certain extra-skills such as typography, graphic design, or paper making and the lack of which panics the teacher and the taught alike. For instance, an inadvertent typographical error on the part of the student input may be classified wrong although the grammar of the student's answer is correct. Further, in terms of communication of ideas, a book is a means of communication between the author and the reader. In the same way, the computer is a means of communication between the programmer and the user. However, in this analogy, the author and the programmer do not mostly share similar concerns. While the author is bound to be a subject expert, the programmer is mostly a technician combined with the likely motives of a businessman. This gap between the author and the programmer is responsible for inappropriate lesson content, poor documentation, errors in format and content, improper feedback, etc. Likewise, in most software, there is little chance for the teacher to add to or modify the existing programmes, even if he wishes too, since most of it is locked to prevent pirating. And for the few of those who develop their own material, the time spent on programming and typing in the lessons can be quite lengthy.
PROBLEMS OR CHALLENGES?
Yet, these apprehensions should be seen in the backdrop of a developmental stage of computerisation of individuals and institutions and as a temporary phenomenon. The next generation of teachers and learners will be part of a computer generation. They will take for granted the skills demanded by computer technology and handle it as coolly as switching on a taperecorder or watching a television. Similarly, the pupils will need no readjustment of attitude when faced with a computer in a classroom and their familiarity and frequent association with the machine would replace the sense of awe and alienation felt by older people. Then planning pre-, actual and post-computer activities would be easily possible. The teachers would ensure that they are the ones in control of educational software by becoming involved in the development process and rejecting those programmes which do not serve their needs. For that reason, the onus is on the present CALL-disposed teachers that in order to convince the CALL-deposed teachers about the potentiality of CALL courseware, they must prove that it is not only perfect in every way, but that it is far better than any other existing teaching aid.
CONCLUSION
An ideal CALL courseware remains not an alternative but a complementary tool in reinforcing classroom activities. Apart from relying on the ability of educators to create suitable CALL courseware, the effectiveness of CALL depends on the teacher's readiness to adopt new attitudes and approaches toward language teaching. The teacher should avoid being skeptical about the use of computer in language teaching and begin to re-evaluate his methods in the light of computer's tremendous teaching potential and boldly address to the challenges offered. The computer can best assist teachers if it is seen not as a replacement for their work but as a supplement to it. By the way, the computer, will not replace the language teachers, but, used creatively, it will relieve them of tedious tasks and will enable students to receive individualised attention from both teachers and machines to a degree that has hitherto been impossible.
8.Computer Use in the ESL ClassroomTo begin with the question whether computers really assist second language learning, many teachers who have never touched a computer tend to respond with an emphatic no; whereas, the overwhelming number of teachers who give computers a try find that they are indeed useful in second language learning. No doubt, computers make excellent teaching tools, especially in teaching languages in any aspect, be it vocabulary, grammar, composition, pronunciation, or other linguistic and pragmatic-communicative skills. And the major benefits offered by computer in enhancing language acquisition apparently outweigh its limitations.
ADVANTAGES
Interest and Motivation
It is often necessary, in a language learning classroom, to provide repeated practice to meet important objectives. Because this can be boring, painful, and frustrating, many students lose interest and motivation to learn foreign languages. CALL programmes present the learner with a novelty. They teach the language in different and more interesting, attractive ways and present language through games, animated graphics and problem-solving techniques. As a result even tedious drills become more interesting. In fact, CALL motivates the students to go beyond the point of initial mastery and practice activity until they become automatic.
Individualisation
Many students need additional time and individualised practice to meet learning objectives. The computer offers students self-instructional tasks that let them master prerequisite skills and course objectives at a speed and level dictated by their own needs. Besides, additional programmes can be made available for students who master objectives quickly. These additional programmes can provide more intense study of the same objectives, proceed to higher objectives, or integrate the objectives covered in the unit with other objectives. In this manner, a computer gives individual attention to the learner and replies immediately to questions or commands. It acts as a tutor and guides the learner towards the correct answer while adapting the material to his performance.
A Compatible Learning Style
Students differ in their preferred styles of learning. Many students seem to learn much more effectively when they are able to use a compatible learning style than when they are forced to employ an incompatible one. Serious conflicts may arise when a teacher employs a style that is incompatible with a student's. In this regard, the computer can be used for adapting instruction to the unique styles of individual students. To cite an instance, the computer can provide an exciting rapid-fire drill for one student and a calm, slow-paced mode of presentation for another.
Optimal Use of Learning Time
By using the computer, students are often able to use their Academic Learning Time (ALT) more fruitfully. Academic Learning Time (ALT) is the amount of time a student spends attending to relevant academic tasks while performing those tasks with a high rate of success. For example, not all the time officially scheduled for studying a foreign language is likely to be allocated to it. If an hour is assigned to working on a topic, but the teacher devotes five minutes at the beginning of the session to returning papers and five minutes at the end to reading announcements, then only fifty minutes have been allocated to working on the topic. Scheduled time merely sets an upper limit on allocated time. Likewise, allocated time merely sets the upper limit to engaged time, which refers to the amount of time students actively attend to the subject matter under consideration. Even though fifty minutes may be allocated to studying a topic in French class, students may stare out the window or talk to their neighbours instead of pursuing the assigned activity. Therefore, even when they are actively engaged in studying the foreign language, students learn effectively only when they are performing at a high rate of success. This smaller amount of time is the factor that is most strongly related to the amount of learning that takes place (Lareau 1985:65-67). Computers enhance second/foreign language academic learning time by permitting learners to acquire specific information and practice specific skills and by helping students develop basic tools of learning which they can apply in a wide variety of settings. This also subverts the relationship between time and traditional instruction. Traditional instruction holds time constant and allows achievement to vary within a group. Computer-assisted learning reverses this relationship by holding achievement constant and letting the time students spend in pursuit of the objectives vary.
Immediate Feedback
Learners receive maximum benefit from feedback only when it is supplied immediately. Their interest and receptivity declines when the information on their performance is delayed. Yet, for various reasons, classroom feedback is often delayed and at times denied. A deferment of positive feedback, though important to act as encouragement and reinforcement, may not harm the progress of the learners. Nonetheless, any delay in offering negative feedback, the knowledge that one is wrong, will become crucial. A blissfully ignorant student may continue mispronouncing a word or applying a misconception before discovering the nature of this error. In such case, the computer can give instantaneous feedback and help the learner ward off his misconception at the initial stage itself. In addition to this, the computer can look for certain types of errors and give specific feedback, such as, "It looks as if you forgot the article."
Error Analysis
Computer database can be used by the instructor to classify and differentiate the type of general errors as well as errors committed by learners on account of the influence of the first language. And thus determine the most common errors cross-linguistically and more specifically, the particular form of a particular error type within a particular language group. One such study conducted reveals interesting findings, for example, that in subject-verb agreement errors the base form of verb was over generalised incorrectly more often than the -s form by all speakers. Also, Chinese writers typically omitted the articles a/an more often than the (Dalgish 1987:81-82). A computer can thus analyse the specific mistakes the student has made and can react in a different way from the usual teacher--this leads the student not only to self-correction, but also to understanding the principles behind the correct solution.
Guided and Free Writing
A word-processor in the computer can be very effective in teaching guided/free writing activities. The ability to create and manipulate text easily is the principle on which the word-processor programmes are founded. In this manner, the word-processor encourages practice in guided or free writing activities together with a number of sub-skills which comprise the writing process. Aspects of paragraphing, register, style, cohesion, rhetorical structure, lexical choice and expression can all receive attention without requiring the user to learn different programmes. The advantage is that the teacher can direct the student's writing without exerting total and rigid control, allowing for freedom of expression within certain bounds. Insights into grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, can also be developed.
Pre-determined to Process Syllabus
One major advantage in using a microprocessor is that it can enhance the learning process from a pre-determined syllabus to an emerging/process syllabus. Even the ordinary 'fill-in-the-blanks' type of monotonous exercise on paper can be made an exciting task on the screen in the self-access mode, where the students themselves choose their own material. CALL thus facilitates the synthesis of the pre-planned syllabus and learner syllabuses "through a decision making process undertaken by teacher and learners together" (Breen 1986:51).
Other Prospects
As students and teachers become more sophisticated in their use of such CALL software, more complicated use of these packages become possible. For instance, the ability of the computer to handle data, and allow the students to become computational linguists, is very powerful (Hardistry 1988:42-43). The experiential use of Wide Area Network (WAN) and Local Area Network (LAN) can reveal unexplored teaching materials and untouched learning methods. By effective use of linking computer with internet, authentic material can be brought directly into the classroom. A reading text can be done using that day's news item or weather forecast than using a news clipping of the previous year. The topicality of the issue can generate lot of interest and create authenticity of purpose. Correspondingly, the facility of LAN can be very useful for the practising of writing pithy telegraphic and telex messages. Of course, the joy and the excitement involved in the online communication process, both local and international, is an additional increment one gets from screen-based learning!
APPREHENSIONS
Man versus Machine
In spite of its glaring merits, the prospect of computer-assisted language learning has troubled teachers more. Perhaps, the major cause of their worry might have developed from the basic problem of accessibility. Often the computers have been kept in Science or Maths department causing a real and psychological distance in the minds of the Arts faculty. Nevertheless, many see computer as a threat not only in terms of its power to replace the traditional skills, which the language teachers promote, but also its eventual replacement of the teacher himself. Furthermore, shifting the control centre from the authoritarian teacher to the need-based learner and accepting the humble role of a facilitator/moderator instead of being a veritable dictator does not come easy for the traditionally clad chalk-talk teacher. In addition, the computer-student interactive learning not only allows the possibility of role changes, but also the potential for role-reversal, endangered by physical reversal by students. That is, the students literally turn their back to the teachers, and silence is now on the part of the teacher until called for assistance. Yet this role reversal can be exploited, since, it allows the classroom to become far more "learning centred" (Hardistry 1988:39). This term rather than learner-centred, has been used, to indicate that the central aim of the language lesson is to enable students to learn.
The Language Lab versus Computer
Another reason why teachers and sanctioning authorities alike are uncertain about the use of computers in language learning is that computers too, like language lab and other technological innovations, despite large investments, may remain unused and stored in some dark and abandoned room. After all, language laboratories in many countries fell into disuse, as they were too tied to one particular form of methodology, which limited the awareness of the potential. One real danger is that the computer could be used, like the language lab, as an instrument of Skinnerian behaviourism to facilitate the structuralist approach with an emphasis on "correctness," negating its flexibility and potential as a teaching aid to liberate the imaginations of the learners (Moore 1986:18-19). In this perspective, often CALL courseware has been restricted to drill and practice, with the screen equivalent to the textbook. Much software, like a textbook, is static both in presentation and in content. Another major criticism of CALL software is the lock-step design of the lessons. This, in turn, means that CALL software is missing a chance to exploit the computer's potential, with the result that computer power is not released to the student adequately.
CALL versus TALL
Computer-Assisted Language Learning(CALL) contrasted with Textbook-Assisted Language Learning(TALL), demands certain extra-skills such as typography, graphic design, or paper making and the lack of which panics the teacher and the taught alike. For instance, an inadvertent typographical error on the part of the student input may be classified wrong although the grammar of the student's answer is correct. Further, in terms of communication of ideas, a book is a means of communication between the author and the reader. In the same way, the computer is a means of communication between the programmer and the user. However, in this analogy, the author and the programmer do not mostly share similar concerns. While the author is bound to be a subject expert, the programmer is mostly a technician combined with the likely motives of a businessman. This gap between the author and the programmer is responsible for inappropriate lesson content, poor documentation, errors in format and content, improper feedback, etc. Likewise, in most software, there is little chance for the teacher to add to or modify the existing programmes, even if he wishes too, since most of it is locked to prevent pirating. And for the few of those who develop their own material, the time spent on programming and typing in the lessons can be quite lengthy.
PROBLEMS OR CHALLENGES?
Yet, these apprehensions should be seen in the backdrop of a developmental stage of computerisation of individuals and institutions and as a temporary phenomenon. The next generation of teachers and learners will be part of a computer generation. They will take for granted the skills demanded by computer technology and handle it as coolly as switching on a taperecorder or watching a television. Similarly, the pupils will need no readjustment of attitude when faced with a computer in a classroom and their familiarity and frequent association with the machine would replace the sense of awe and alienation felt by older people. Then planning pre-, actual and post-computer activities would be easily possible. The teachers would ensure that they are the ones in control of educational software by becoming involved in the development process and rejecting those programmes which do not serve their needs. For that reason, the onus is on the present CALL-disposed teachers that in order to convince the CALL-deposed teachers about the potentiality of CALL courseware, they must prove that it is not only perfect in every way, but that it is far better than any other existing teaching aid.
CONCLUSION
An ideal CALL courseware remains not an alternative but a complementary tool in reinforcing classroom activities. Apart from relying on the ability of educators to create suitable CALL courseware, the effectiveness of CALL depends on the teacher's readiness to adopt new attitudes and approaches toward language teaching. The teacher should avoid being skeptical about the use of computer in language teaching and begin to re-evaluate his methods in the light of computer's tremendous teaching potential and boldly address to the challenges offered. The computer can best assist teachers if it is seen not as a replacement for their work but as a supplement to it. By the way, the computer, will not replace the language teachers, but, used creatively, it will relieve them of tedious tasks and will enable students to receive individualised attention from both teachers and machines to a degree that has hitherto been impossible.
Computers should be used as a language learning tool - just as any other piece of equipment (i.e., tape recorder, VCR, blackboard, etc.). It is important the computer NOT become the center of attention of the lesson. There are situations when activities at the computer can become the center of attention, however these situations should be avoided and left to students to decide when, and if, they want to utilize such activities (in self-access).
Computers as a Language Learning Tool
For some tasks, computers can provide distinct advantages over more traditional approaches. The use of a computer for listening exercises often provides not only sound, but also visual input providing students with more contextual clues. Students interacting with a computer are also using motor skills as well, which can have a strong reinforcing effect on the learning process by connecting physical actions (clicking, typing) with desired results. Students are also allowed more control over their own learning process as they make the decisions when to repeat questions, exercises and sequences based on their own progress.
Probably the strongest argument for the use of the computer in the classroom environment is that of student self-pacing. Especially in the field of pronunciation, students can employ a computer to record themselves to compare their pronunciation to a target pronunciation. This can be repeated endlessly until a student is satisfied with his/her result. These pronunciation exercises are often combined with visual aids (such as intonation graphs) to help the student recognise how his/her pronunciation compares to the target pronunciation. Common tools such as spell checking can also provide the student with valuable self-analysis instruction.
Finally, with the aid of the Internet and CD-Rom based materials, teachers can quickly access documents addressing individual student needs. This is especially effective when teaching English for Specific Purposes such as Business English. An example would be white papers put up on a company web-site discussing certain technologies in English that students are currently employing. Another example is glossaries provided for specific business sectors (port, banking, insurance, etc.). Using these materials, the teacher can often provide content addressing specific student needs, thereby improving motivation and effectiveness.
Making the student comfortable with the technology
Admittedly, the computer can be an overwhelming and imposing instrument to students and teachers. The complexity of the computer - not to mention the overwhelming choice of possibilities - can put students and teachers off as they lose time grappling with how to use the computer. There are a few basic principles that should be followed in order to help the student (and teacher) feel more at home using the computer.
- The computer should always be turned on, booted, and the program loaded (preferably the exercise chosen) before the class begins. In this manner, students focus on doing the task at hand rather than getting to the point where they can do the task.
- Students who are not comfortable using computers should be placed with students who are. These students should not be forced to use the mouse or type at the keyboard. As they become more familiar with the technology, they will often begin to play a more active role - even if they don't, the ability to use the computer is not the issue.
- Students more comfortable with the computer should be strongly discouraged from using other resources available in the program itself, or in other programs. These students should be encouraged to explore these resources on their own by taking advantage of self-access programs.
- Use of the computer should be phased in; instead of introducing a complex series of exercises to be done for a lesson, teachers should begin by doing a limited amount of work with the computer (i.e. one listening exercise followed by an interactive quiz).
Example Lesson
Programme: Accent Coach by Language Connect
Level: Intermediate to Upper Intermediate
The purpose of the lesson is to focus on how intonation affects understanding and production. A typical lesson could begin by asking students various questions using different intonations to receive various responses based on a sentence written on the board.
Example:
- When did Tom drink five cups of coffee?
Tom drank five cups of coffee this morning. - Who drank five cups of coffee this morning?
Tom drank five cups of coffee this morning. - How many cups of coffee did Tom drink this morning?
Tom drank five cups of coffee this morning.
Students inductively learn the importance of intonation in this exercise. This can be followed by a discussion of the importance of intonation and the difference it can make in understanding.
At this point the computers (which have been turned on, program loaded and starting point chosen) can be employed to practice this by using the any one of a number of intonation lessons provided by Accent Coach by Language Connect.
As a follow up to this exercise, students can be given a standard response and a variety of questions to be asked for that response. Students can practice responding with the correct intonation. The teacher can walk about the room controlling the students' responses.
This exercise can be further improved by adding the recording element provided by the computer. By recording the voice students can compare their pronunciation with a target pronunciation.
Anyone who has access to any form of media has heard some or all of these terms. No matter where we turn, we are barraged with evidence that digital technology is affecting virtually every aspect of our lives. For example, 1994 saw a computer market that surpassed television sales for the first time ever. Not even the wildest dreamers of the early days of the computer industry would have predicted that such a possibility could become reality as quickly as it did. It is clear that some sectors of our society have experienced phenomenal growth in the implementation of digital technologies.
Yet, what has been the impact of technology on teaching and learning in the language classroom? It seems clear that there are significant numbers of classrooms around the country where technology has had no impact at all. Is there potential waiting to be fulfilled? And let's consider the developers who have been striving to put these technologies to work for language learners. Are they "technology nuts," eager to adopt any new thing that comes along, but who have missed the mark concerning what is important to the profession? Or are they pioneers who have blazed trails that others will follow? Is the foreign language learning profession poised on an exciting threshold of tremendous development, or will it continue to go slow in finding interesting and exciting ways that technology can help solve the language learning problem?
To understand the state of technology in language learning today, one needs to consider the historical setting of the past fifteen or so years. In 1980 Solveig Olsen published an article in the Modern Language Journal that provided a foreshadowing of an answer to the first question above on technology's impact. Moreover, it is quite interesting to consider the findings of her survey as a prediction of what seems to have in fact happened.
In 1978 and 1979, Olsen surveyed foreign language departments in 1,810 four-year colleges. Of the 602 that returned the survey, 527 indicated that computer-assisted instruction was not in use and would not be considered in the near future. When asked about the potential for using computers in language learning, many were suspicious:
- "My advice is to stay out. Computers can now teach computer language, not a living language."
To the question of whether their department would introduce computer-assisted instruction by 1980 department chairs responded with comments such as
- "I hope not."
- "Forget it!"
- "... CAI is a waste of time, energy, and money that should be used to buy library books."
- "Don't do it. It is a very stupid idea. Language is a living thing. You must really be desperate to think of anything so dumb."
- "Somehow it does not fit into our concept of a liberal arts college where human communication is paramount."
- "A waste of time; you are dehumanizing language instruction. It will be held against you when you argue the humanistic nature of language studies."
- "Time's Man of the Year for 1982, the greatest influence for good or evil, is not a man at all. It is a machine: the computer" (Friedrich 1983).
Consider for example the fact that in 1994 there were 48.5 million PCs sold, representing startling growth in the number of machines installed during the period since the survey was conducted. Although quite impressive by the sheer numbers, the increases are overwhelming when considering the computing power that was sold in 1994. Although there were about 67 times more computers sold that year than 14 years previously, most of those units were roughly 128 times more powerful than the computers of 1980. This means that there was 8,576 times more computing power sold in 1994 than in 1980!
In addition, the advances show no sign of slowing. Moore's Law says that computing power doubles roughly every two years, and there is no end in sight. These advances are making possible some very interesting technological capabilities, putting us on the threshold of another significant development that will perhaps eclipse developments to date. We are witnessing the convergence of computers, communications technologies, and media into a totally new, synergistic something that promises to be infinitely more important than any of the technologies by themselves. The visions of the most visionary of the computer pioneers of the 1970s doubtless did not include the things that in fact are becoming possible.
To place the potential impact of these technologies in perspective for education in general, consider the following recommendations made in a recently completed study by the RAND Corporation for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Office of Technology of the U.S. Department of Education (Glennan and Melmed 1996). This study took an in-depth look at the role that technology is playing and probably should be playing in public schools today and concluded:
- Educational technology has significant potential for improving students' learning.
- Extensive use of technology in schools has the potential to promote significant school restructuring and expand the time and motivation for student learning.
- The growth in use of technology by schools is strong; schools are adding equipment and developing connections to the national information infrastructure at a high rate. However, many schools still lack significant access to technology.
- Data from a study by the IEA in 1992 suggested the availability of technology in schools serving poor, minority, and special needs populations did not appear to lag substantially behind the averages of schools taken as a whole. However, to the extent that technology enables learning outside the school, large disparities in the access of students of different classes and ethnicity to technology is a matter of concern.
- Some schools and school districts have moved rapidly to a fairly ubiquitous use of technology, and their experiences should provide guidance to others that are following.
- The costs of ubiquitous use of technology are modest in the context of overall budgets for public elementary education but moving to such use requires significant and potentially painful restructuring of budgets.
- When technology is deeply infused in a school's operations, teachers tend to assume new roles and require new skills. There is a strong consensus among the experts we consulted that neither the initial preparation of teachers nor the current strategies for continued professional development have been effective in developing these skills.
- While there has been a rapid expansion in home education software, the market for school-based content software has been modest and comparatively stagnant. Quality content software for middle and secondary schools is not broadly available. However, this market is likely to evolve rapidly. [See <http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR682/ed_ch5.html# RTFToC1>.]
Returning to our second question above, where are we today with respect to the implementation of technology for language learning? In 1987 and 1989 ACTFL published two volumes in the Foreign Language Education Series as a result of its commission to Flint Smith (Smith 1989; Smith 1987). Covering the impact of technology on foreign language education at that time, these volumes became two of the best sellers ever in the ACTFL Foreign Language Education Series. But as illustrated above, seven years is a very long time, given the speed with which technology is developing. Things that were interesting but too expensive for wide-spread implementation at that time are now becoming commonplace today. Things that were only marginally imaginable are now becoming possible.
Given the incredible changes that have taken place and that will continue to unfold in our classrooms, it is necessary to once again address how technology can benefit language learners.
Volume Overview
So how do we make sense of imminent technological change and the status of technology implementation in foreign language learning? The main purpose of this volume is to explore new technologies from the perspective of the foreign language teaching professional. Gunther Mueller, a member of the Volume Advisory Committee, proposed the following graphic to help define the specific topics that authors needed to cover. As illustrated, the areas to be addressed fall within the intersection of issues related to the Learner, the Teacher, the Technology, and the Curriculum and converge at educational and learning Outcomes.
It was not possible to present every specific issue implied by this diagram, nevertheless, volume authors were challenged to address areas such as
- electronic technologies and ways their impact can benefit each of the four language skills;
- appropriate pedagogical strategies for technology in language learning;
- specific, noteworthy, technology-based applications for language learning;
- teacher education issues;
- technology implementation strategies to maximize positive impact on language learning outcomes; and
- the potential for using technology to learn about the language learning process itself.
Chapter Overviews
In Chapter 1, "Taking Control of Multimedia," Pusack and Otto provide an excellent introduction to interactive technologies. After demonstrating how pedagogy must govern the ways new media are used, they go on to discuss how specific attributes can help both teachers and learners. They provide several excellent examples of actual applications and how they have been used to support sound language teaching pedagogy.
Chiquito, Meskill, and Renjilian-Burgy, in Chapter 2, "Multiple, Mixed, Malleable Media," contrast the dynamic nature of language with the static media that have traditionally been used in its teaching. They discuss specific projects and products and show how these can enrich the language learning experiences of students. The authors have done extensive surveys of existing applications and provide this excellent overview of developments in the application of technology to individual language learning - from interactive videodisc to newer digital interactive multimedia technologies and network-based applications.
In Chapters 3 and 4, "Teaching Listening: How Technology Can Help" and "Hypermedia Technology for Teaching Reading," Joiner and Martínez-Lage each provide excellent theoretical underpinnings for how technology can support receptive skill learning. In Chapter 3 Joiner moves from more conventional approaches for teaching listening to multimedia technologies and provides an overview of how various technologies can be brought to bear on this particular skill, supporting her affirmations with actual research. In addition to the excellent overview in Chapter 4 of the reading process itself, Martínez-Lage also shows how she was able to create a hypermedia application from Laura Esquivel's bestselling novel, Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate). She provides an overview of the development process as well as a glimpse at student results from using the application.
Teaching the productive skills with technology presents much more of a challenge than does teaching the receptive skills. In Chapter 5, "Computer-Mediated Communication: Technology for Improving Speaking and Writing," Beauvois reports on actual experiences using the computer in this mode. She thus provides empirical evidence for the efficacy of new approaches that combine technology-based communication and teacher-based instruction to address many important objectives for teaching speaking and writing.
Scinicariello, in Chapter 6, "Uniting Teachers, Learners, and Machines: Language Laboratories and Other Choices," provides an excellent overview of where the language laboratory is today and where it needs to go in the future. She points out that although language laboratories have experienced change in previous years, those of the past are almost insignificant with respect to the changes that are now taking place. Her discussion provides valuable insights into the restructuring that she says will need to take place. Not leaving things there, her advice pertaining to possible steps and potential pitfalls will be valuable to anyone involved with establishing, directing, or using language laboratories now or in the future.
As illustrated in Chapter 7, "Learning Language and Culture with Internet Technologies," Internet technologies such as E-mail and the World Wide Web are making an incredible entrée onto the education scene. In this chapter, Lafford and Lafford discuss activities using online technologies that students at various proficiency levels can perform as individuals or in small groups. They provide numerous examples of applications and show how these can be used with students.
Although there might be a great deal of interest among teachers for the use of technology in their language classes, unless teachers know how to use technology in the instructional programs they devise, it seems obvious to conclude that students will not benefit. In Chapter 8, "Meeting the Technology Challenge: Introducing Teachers to Language Learning Technology," Kassen and Higgins point out how new technologies, more than ever before, dictate a serious need for teacher education. They also provide a specific example of a training program they have devised to address this problem.
Chapter 9, the final chapter of the volume, is entitled "Implementing Technology for Language Learning." With the goal of outlining reasonable expectations, Bush puts technology for foreign language education in the much broader contexts of technology in society and technology in education in general. Pointing out how foreign language students are not benefiting from the new learning tools becoming available, he illustrates how, without the profession's devising a coherent model for implementation, students will continue to miss out on the potential that technology has to offer for addressing language learning problems. He also gives examples of how the situation can be turned around and places the potential for change within an overall societal context for technology in learning.
Conclusion
As illustrated by each of the chapters within this volume, technology for language learning can be an effective force for improving foreign language instruction. Furthermore, it is much more powerful and affordable today than ever before, and there is evidence that this situation will only continue to improve. Unfortunately, despite the incredible advances of recent years, not very many students benefit from its potential today. It is hoped that this volume will help change that.
References
Friedrich, Otto 1983. "The Computer Moves In." Time, January 3, pp. 14-24
10. Language Learning & Technology
http:/llt.msu.edu/vol13num2/review1.pdf
June 2009, Volume 13, Number 2
pp. 15-21
Copyright © 2009. ISSN 1094-3501 15
REVIEW OF TIPS FOR TEACHING WITH CALL: PRACTICAL APPROACHES TO COMPUTER-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING
Tips for Teaching with CALL: Practical Approaches to Computer-Assisted Language Learning [with CD]
Carol A. Chapelle and Joan Jamieson
2008
ISBN 0132404281
US $52.00 (paperback)
240 pp.
Pearson-Longman
White Plains, NY, USA
Review by Jesús García Laborda, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
Tips for Teaching with CALL: Practical Approaches to Computer-Assisted Language Learning [with CD] is one of the latest additions to Pearson-Longman’s professional development series. Since the mid-1980s, a number of publications have tried to introduce, teach, support, and provide ideas to foreign language instructors on the use of computers in the classroom (Hardisty & Windeatt, 1989). Some of these volumes are intended to encourage language teachers to use computers (Axtell, 2007; Gooden, 1996; Szendeffy, 2005) while others suggest specific ways of implementing Internet-based language teaching (e.g., Clarke, 2000; Griffin, 2006; Lee, Jor, & Lai, 2005; Sperling, 1998; Windeatt, Hardisty, & Eastment, 2000). In contrast to these titles, Tips for Teaching with CALL largely deals with Web sites that could be valuable for ESL/EFL teachers who are either beginning to implement CALL in their classes or who want to improve their teaching skills through computer based practice. In this sense, the book bears a certain resemblance to Sperling’s (1998) volume on Internet-based CALL, but, in contrast, Chapelle and Jamieson’s book also includes screenshots of the Web sites mentioned by the authors, and the authors relate the use of these Web sites to current language acquisition theory. Overall, the book will mostly benefit general practitioners, teachers who may be familiar with computers but are just beginning to use CALL in their classes, and expert teachers who may be looking for new materials.
For Chapelle and Jamieson, teachers play a decisive role in providing opportunities for learning and balancing online, in-class, and out-of-class activities. The authors also believe in the value of Internet-based resources, such as dictionaries, tutorials, and online libraries (Loucky, 2005). In their opinion, Web sites and technology “perform functions similar to what many teachers do in class and through textbooks” (p. 6) in serving as teaching tools and providing opportunities for language learning, and multimedia software is an excellent source of input at each student’s proficiency level.
Chapelle and Jamieson place special emphasis on the following ideas: (1) language learners should proceed steadily by learning structures and vocabulary that is just a little above their current knowledge (cf. Krashen, 1982); (2) language needs to be noticed in order to be learned (Hegelheimer & Chapelle, 2000); (3) interaction with peers is essential to developing learners’ communicative competence; and (4) learning strategies are necessary for language learning (Vinther, 2005). Besides, according to the authors, “teachers can guide students to be more autonomous” (p. 207).
Tips for Teaching with CALL consists of a book and an interactive CD-ROM. While the book presents
Jesús García Laborda Review of Tips For Teaching With Call
the content, “tips and their rationale and examples” (p. 9), the CD provides examples of what is presented in the book. The book is divided into eight chapters with corresponding units on the CD, plus a preface, an introduction titled “What is CALL?” and a conclusion called “After Class.” The topics addressed in the chapters focus on the following language skills and content areas: vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing, listening, speaking, communication skills, and Content-Based Language. Each chapter follows exactly the same structure: an introduction, between five and six teaching tips to develop the activities suggested in each section of the chapter, a description of the intended outcomes of the chapter called “What It Means,” a research review that links practical cases to research literature called “What the Literature Says,” and suggestions for the utilization of the content in the classroom “What Teachers Can Do.” The chapters are illustrated with color screenshots of existing CALL software programs, along with descriptions, the minimum proficiency level of the students for whom each activity is designed, and notes for implementing the activity, with a total of more than 100 examples of Web sites and software programs across the eight chapters. The authors also mention how students will need to interact with the computer and other students in each activity, how teachers should proceed with the ELT/ESL pedagogical assessment and feedback provision, and finally, how they can teach and reinforce both language learning and strategic computer competence.
The CD-ROM uses images and video clips to illustrate the contents of the book through demonstrations of learners using CALL software and simulations that guide them through authentic CALL materials. According to the authors, the demonstration “is a real-time video that shows how a learner might perform an activity” (p. 9), while the simulation “guides teachers through an activity as if they were students” (p. 9). Both demonstrations and simulations are divided into the same units (or chapters) as presented in the book (Figure 1).
Figure 1: CD ROM main menu
The CD can be motivating and helpful for teachers who may want to see applications of what has been presented in the book. Each activity on the CD is connected with the tips presented in the book (either
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Jesús García Laborda Review of Tips For Teaching With Call
through a demonstration or simulation) and has three main parts: goals and instructions for an activity, the activity itself, and a summary and description of the purpose of the activity.
The book begins with a nine-page introduction that provides a definition of CALL, a basic notion of language learning theory emphasizing the importance of the communicative approach in CALL, and the role of computers in ELT/ESL pedagogy. In addition, the authors introduce three basic principles of language that guide their selection of activities in the book:
a)
Learners need guidance in learning English.
b)
There are many styles of English used for many different purposes.
c)
Teachers should provide guidance by selecting appropriate language and structuring learning activities. (p. 3)
A fourth principle, although not explicitly mentioned is that computers trigger communication between teachers and students and among students by providing appropriate input, especially in listening, reading, and vocabulary, and by facilitating oral communication.
Chapter one focuses on vocabulary, which, in the authors’ words, “is the most important aspect of language for students to learn” (p. 11), and that it is worth “spend[ing] time and effort studying vocabulary” (p. 11). According to Chapelle and Jamieson, the Internet gives “sufficient exposure to words in English that [students] hear or read” (p. 11). In the section “Tips for teaching vocabulary with CALL,” Chapelle and Jamieson stress that vocabulary is best taught when words have the appropriate level of difficulty, which can be identified by examining a word’s frequency, but missing for the reader are other criteria to support this condition. The authors remind readers of “including vocabulary illustration, explanation and practice…in [a] meaningful context” (p. 17), “looking at sentences from a corpus that contains key words” (p. 24), and using Web sites that can promote autonomous learning. Additionally, the CD ROM demonstrates how to foster communication among learners while building vocabulary skills. For instance, in the demonstration, two learners help each other to solve a puzzle. The CD reproduces the conversation between two students and shows how they solve the vocabulary task. The simulation section shows how the learners implement Tip Number Six (“Help students to develop strategies for explicit online vocabulary learning through the use of online dictionaries and concordancers” by using Compleat Lexical Tutor (http://www.lextutor.ca/). This chapter offers some motivating activities to approach vocabulary learning. While some of these interesting activities (such as crosswords or image identification) rarely take place in the classroom, students may do them individually through the Web sites presented in this chapter. This chapter clearly supports the importance of lexis in language learning. The authors even mention that “vocabulary is the most important aspect of language for students to learn” (p. 11) but they do not clearly establish whether computer based vocabulary learning is an explicit or implicit process or just even why they consider such importance. Readers will see that although Chapelle and Jamieson believe that “most students believe that they need to study vocabulary” (p. 11), little support is given to demonstrate this idea or even the implications of learning vocabulary through CALL. Nevertheless, this chapter is potentially key for understanding the rest of the book because the authors go on to emphasize the importance of vocabulary teaching in the following chapters.
Chapter two deals with grammar and follows the same structure as Chapter One. Although many teachers and students consider grammar important, the authors recommend “not to plan a syllabus around grammatical points” (p. 39). When presenting their tips, Chapelle and Jamieson assert that grammar activities presented on many Web sites are numerous, but many “are rather limited, as context is often at sentence level and practice is often in the form of recognition [instead of meaningful production]” (p. 41). They recommend CALL software with discourse-level activities, such as listening “to a part of a dialogue and then producing the target form orally” (p. 43). Chapter Two also includes suggestions for using
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Jesús García Laborda Review of Tips For Teaching With Call
cartoons or movies for grammar learning which are available online. For example, a very attractive exercise suggested in the CD Rom is completing sentences with Understanding and Using Grammar-Interactive (http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/multimedia/programs/uuegi.htm), but the program offers a larger variety of grammar exercises. Additionally, the authors give examples of Web-based activities that provide “grammar assessment and feedback about correctness both before and after instruction” (p. 53), as well as ideas for developing students’ learning strategies. The CD-Rom demonstrates Tip Four, “Include evaluation of students’ regular responses and regular summaries of their responses,” by using Understanding and Using English Grammar – Interactive software (http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/multimedia/programs/uuegi.htm). In this demonstration, a learner completes a grammar test, looks at the scores, and accesses a tutorial with grammar explanations. In the simulation of Tip Five, “Help learners to develop strategies for learning grammar from texts on the Web through explicit grammar and inductive learning,” students can learn how to search for a structure in an online corpus, compare its distribution across genres, and see example sentences in the View Web site (http://view.byu.edu/).
Chapter three, focusing on reading, begins by stating that reading is difficult for “unskilled” (p. 63) learners, so it is important to familiarize students with the different contexts, genres, and texts that they are likely to read on the Internet. One of the most obvious, yet important, tips is for teachers to choose appropriate Web sites and reading texts (a few examples are provided), emphasize the vocabulary, and help students to understand the salient lexical and grammatical forms in online texts. Chapelle and Jamieson also stress the importance of using online support resources, such as glossaries, corpora, tutorials, and dictionaries. Finally, the authors add that “explicit teaching is better than simply letting the students sink or swim in their own reading” (p. 79), a criticism of those approaches that emphasize textual input alone may be sufficient to learn a language (e.g., Krashen, 2006). The CD-ROM demonstrates Tip Six, “Include evaluation of learners’ comprehension and language knowledge,” with Longman English Interactive 3 (www.esl.net/englishinteractive_34.html) by showing how a learner completes a reading quiz, submits responses, and checks the score. In the simulation of Tip One, “Select CALL materials with appropriate reading texts,” with Adult Learning Activities (www.cdlponline.org/), the user chooses a reading topic and a story, looks at two versions of the story, and tries a variety of grammar learning activities, games, writing short answers and so on. One of the positive aspects of this chapter is that many of the described activities might have been difficult for teachers to design on their own. One of the aspects that Chapelle and Jamieson fail to give the relevant importance in this chapter is to the use of real materials. Certainly, it is not difficult to understand the importance of free reading in language learning—and the Internet is an abundant source of reading input that usually may or may not require direct instruction, which appears to be the key aspect of teaching and learning in this chapter. As the authors say: “Call activities make it easy to find texts that are at the appropriate level of difficulty” (p. 65). Perhaps it is the texts that make the CALL activities valid and valuable for learning.
Chapter four deals with writing. It emphasizes how important writing has become in our daily lives for professional and non-professional communication, for example, through e-mail. The chapter presents a list of software and online programs that help students write and contextualize their work according to genre, purpose, and audience. The CD-ROM demonstration addresses Tip Six, “Help learners to develop their writing strategies,” using the Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment (DIWE 7) (www.daedalus.com), in which a learner chooses a topic to write about, answers questions about the topic, and begins an essay with a pre-writing activity. The simulation on the CD-Rom of Tip One asks a student to “select appropriate writing texts as models” with WriteFix (www.writefix.com/), explores arguments for an essay, examines organization and paragraphing, and “look[s] at a complete model essay for transition words or phrases”(CD-ROM). A positive aspect of this chapter is the presentation of Web sites that can assist learners in the process of editing and monitoring their writing. Overall, this may be one of the most useful chapters in the book because these Web sites can make students more aware of the
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Jesús García Laborda Review of Tips For Teaching With Call
importance of editing and monitoring their own language production.
Chapter five deals with listening. The authors see listening as a constructive process that “involves decoding, comprehension and interpretation” (p. 125) and requires the speaker’s attention and knowledge to achieve understanding in real time. According to the authors, to select appropriate listening materials, teachers should look for those that have “already been categorized by level [and that have] relevance to the ESL learner, and that [have] pre-listening activities intended to activate [the] student’s background knowledge” (p. 127), as well as top-down and bottom-up activities. Teachers should also help students to develop autonomy in choosing materials themselves. The authors recommend using videos to enrich listening activities and provide examples to help improve the quality of teaching listening. On the CD-Rom, Tip Three suggests teachers “[p]rovide learners with opportunities for selective listening activities based on what they are hearing,” and offers a demonstration of Planet English (http://www.planetenglish.com/ in which a student reads the instructions for a listening activity while paying attention to a specific piece of information, and then writes a personal note using that information. The simulation shows a cultural activity from Longman English Interactive 3 (http://www.esl.net/englishinteractive_34.html) video and writing a personal note. In this chapter, Chapelle and Jamieson present resources, most of them free that can be accessed by teachers worldwide making this chapter an excellent resource for teachers in multinational environments. This chapter is valuable for many teachers who may struggle to find listening materials, although podcasts are increasingly becoming a common source of different recordings with different accents and registers. In this sense the section “help learners develop their strategies for listening online” (p. 145) gives some ideas that teachers should emphasize in their classes.
Chapter six deals with speaking and pronunciation. Chapelle and Jamieson state that the Internet is a convenient tool for obtaining speaking and pronunciation input because language learners can use it autonomously. The authors also suggest that the Internet makes students more confident about their speaking skills because practice is not subject to in-classroom anxiety from which some less confident students may suffer. Computers can also be used to complete dialogues, thereby possibly increasing fluency because “automaticity of oral language [will develop] through oral practice” (p. 159) and interaction with the computer. In the evaluation section, Chapelle and Jamieson recommend “software that provides visual feedback that plots the learner’s speech signal on the screen” (p. 162). Using Tell Me More (www.tellmemore.com/) for the demonstration of Tip 3, “Provide opportunities for oral practice through interaction with the computer,” a student simulates a chat with a computer program (with answer recognition). More interesting practice is presented in Tip Four, “Evaluate learners’ performance and provide feedback” (Connected Speech, http://www.masterspokenenglish.com/index.html); in this software program for phonology development, the user listens to a video monologue, segments the pauses in a text, checks the answers, records his/her voice, and obtains feedback from the computer. In short, teachers who want to place special emphasis on pronunciation, or those non-native speakers who feel that that their speech is not a good source of accurate pronunciation input, may find excellent ideas on the teaching of pronunciation, which often tends to be neglected. The main problem with pronunciation, which is not mentioned by the authors, is that the current software tends to adopt one accent at the time (say, British, American, or Australian). Certainly pronunciation can be improved through listening, but this was not addressed by the authors at all. A key concern is that the authors fail to recognize that there is still some empirical work necessary to be done in the area of pronunciation before we can make assumptions regarding the productive potential of CALL applications to improve pronunciation. On the other hand, the authors propose the interesting idea that using CALL to obtain “formulaic sequences” (p. 159) can become a valuable drive to memorize chains of words that eventually become a part of the learner’s speaking repertoire. In this sense, it is relevant to mention their support of using computers to trigger the speaker’s “automaticity” (p. 159), which is relevant to speaking as it is to the communication skills referred to in the following chapter.
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Jesús García Laborda Review of Tips For Teaching With Call
Chapter seven, focusing on communication skills, conveys that “technology is an important part of normal communication for students” today (p. 171), and those students learn to communicate through communicating. Among the pros of Internet communication, the authors consider the ability to speak to people in distant locations, which can give students extra motivation. The authors see the challenge for teachers to design activities that promote both synchronous and asynchronous communication and reflective conversations that go beyond mere social interaction. Chapelle and Jamieson suggest that pen pal Web sites, messenger forums, or chat spaces can fulfill this goal, supported by online tutorials, dictionaries, and other resources. The CD-Rom demonstration presents online chat (using Microsoft Windows Live Player) while the practice-yourself section deals with how to contact and work with e-pals (online pen pals) through Web sites like Linguistic Funland TESL Pen Pal Center (www.linguistic-funland.com). This chapter provides good examples of effective use of synchronous and asynchronous communication devices and software to develop the students’ communication abilities in controlled classroom environments.
The final chapter addresses expected learning outcomes when CALL is used as an additional component to enhance language teaching. According to Chapelle and Jamieson “students who have experienced the CALL activities described […] while studying English are likely to develop the types of strategies and habits […] demonstrated [in this book]” (p. 212). Chapter Eight also addresses possible risks of using the Internet, such as plagiarism, criminal uses of the Web, technical problems with equipment and software, and varying levels of teacher familiarity with computers. In addition, this chapter also reviews the benefits of using the Internet as a source of readings, podcasts, and contextualized materials to obtain specific information for teaching languages for the professions, as well as English for Specific Purposes (ESP). This approach to online materials can be seen on the CD-ROM. The CD-ROM demonstration for Chapter Eight provides an example of an activity “that explicitly teach[es] field-specific language [in this case, medicine]” (Tip Two): a cartoon of a doctor-patient interaction at Englishmed.com (www.englishmed.com/). In the CD simulation, the user listens to a conversation between two business people, fills in a sales chart, and consults the conversation transcript and a glossary, followed by a cloze test activity using Talking Business Intermediate (http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/multimedia/programs/TB.htm).
Chapelle and Jamieson have written a reader-friendly volume that is free of technical jargon that is accessible to most teachers. The book is a well planned source of teaching ideas,with a well defined structure and plan for class implementation. The best aspect of the book is the variety of activities for teachers to choose from. Although the book has numerous valuable attributes, it also suffers from some shortcomings. For instance, the authors might have included a section on language assessment and free language tests, such as TOEFL (http://toeflpractice.ets.org/) or some others (e.g., http://www.examenglish.com). It would also have been useful to refer readers to free online journals, such as TESL EJ (http://tesl-ej.org/), The Internet TESL Journal (http://iteslj.org/), CALL EJ (http://www.tell. is.ritsumei.ac.jp/callejonline/), or Language Learning & Technology (http://llt.msu.edu/) for additional teaching ideas. Another potential weak point is that 65% of the websites referred to charge a user fee. Consequently, although the book is a great source of ideas, many teachers may have to browse free websites like Isabel’s ESL Site (http://www.isabelperez.com/) or About.com (http://esl.about.com) to find similar sources. However, although the emphasis on commercial websites is a flaw, the authors do emphasize that it is important for teachers to find, select, and adapt appropriate materials for their students (Doering, 2006). Finally, it is important to note that all the materials mentioned in the book are designed for teaching ESL. There is no mention of materials for the teaching of any other languages. All in all, Chapelle and Jamieson’s volume combines SLA and teaching with Internet activities. The book is an valuable contribution to the field and will be a useful resource for both novice and expert teachers.
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Jesús García Laborda Review of Tips For Teaching With Call
Language Learning & Technology 21
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Jesús García Laborda received his Ph.D. in English Linguistics from Complutense University (Madrid, Spain), an M.A. in TESOL from the University of Georgia, and an M.A.F.L.L. from the University of Wisconsin. His research interests include low-stakes computer based language testing. He has reviewed materials for TESOL Quarterly, Educational Technology and Society, Language Teaching Research, ELT Journal, and ESP Journal.
E-mail: jgarcial@upvnet.upv.es
REFERENCES
Axtell, K. (2007). Teaching teachers to use technology. New York: Routledge.
Clarke, S. (2000). Using the Internet: Modern languages. New York: Pearson Publishing.
Doering, A. (2006). Adventure learning: Transformative hybrid online education. Distance Education, 27(2), 197-215. Retrieved April 14, 2009 from http://www.polarhusky.com/ceu/transformative.pdf.
Gooden, A. R. (1996). Computers in the classroom: How teachers and students are using technology to transform learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Griffin, R. (2006). The Net works for language learners: Exploring the Internet for high-beginning ESL. Dubuque, IA: Kendal / Hunt Publishing Company.
Hardisty, D., & Windeatt, S. (1989). CALL: Resource books for teachers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hegelheimer, V., & Chapelle, C. A (2000). Methodological issues in research on learner-computer interactions in CALL. Language Learning & Technology, 4(1), 41-59. Retrieved April 14, 2009 from http://llt.msu.edu/vol4num1/hegchap/default.html.
Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon.
Krashen, S. (2006). Free reading: Is it the only way to make kids more literate? School Library Journal, 52(9), 42-46. Retrieved April 14, 2009 from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article /ca6367048.html?q=krashen.
Lee, C., Jor, J., & Lai, E. (2005). Web based teaching and English language teaching: A Hong-Kong experience. Beijing: The Chinese University Press.
Loucky, J. P. (2005). Combining the benefits of electronic and online dictionaries with CALL websites to produce effective and enjoyable vocabulary and language learning lessons. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 18(5), 389-416.
Sperling, D. (1998). Dave Sperling’s Internet guide. New York: Pearson Education.
Szendeffy, J. de (2005). A practical guide to using computers in language teaching. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press
Vinther, J. (2005). Cognitive processes at work in CALL. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 18(4), 251-271.
Windeatt, S., Hardisty, D., & Eastment, D. (2000). The Internet: Resource books for teachers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
10. Language Learning & Technology
http:/llt.msu.edu/vol13num2/review1.pdf
June 2009, Volume 13, Number 2
pp. 15-21
Copyright © 2009. ISSN 1094-3501 15
REVIEW OF TIPS FOR TEACHING WITH CALL: PRACTICAL APPROACHES TO COMPUTER-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING
Tips for Teaching with CALL: Practical Approaches to Computer-Assisted Language Learning [with CD]
Carol A. Chapelle and Joan Jamieson
2008
ISBN 0132404281
US $52.00 (paperback)
240 pp.
Pearson-Longman
White Plains, NY, USA
Review by Jesús García Laborda, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
Tips for Teaching with CALL: Practical Approaches to Computer-Assisted Language Learning [with CD] is one of the latest additions to Pearson-Longman’s professional development series. Since the mid-1980s, a number of publications have tried to introduce, teach, support, and provide ideas to foreign language instructors on the use of computers in the classroom (Hardisty & Windeatt, 1989). Some of these volumes are intended to encourage language teachers to use computers (Axtell, 2007; Gooden, 1996; Szendeffy, 2005) while others suggest specific ways of implementing Internet-based language teaching (e.g., Clarke, 2000; Griffin, 2006; Lee, Jor, & Lai, 2005; Sperling, 1998; Windeatt, Hardisty, & Eastment, 2000). In contrast to these titles, Tips for Teaching with CALL largely deals with Web sites that could be valuable for ESL/EFL teachers who are either beginning to implement CALL in their classes or who want to improve their teaching skills through computer based practice. In this sense, the book bears a certain resemblance to Sperling’s (1998) volume on Internet-based CALL, but, in contrast, Chapelle and Jamieson’s book also includes screenshots of the Web sites mentioned by the authors, and the authors relate the use of these Web sites to current language acquisition theory. Overall, the book will mostly benefit general practitioners, teachers who may be familiar with computers but are just beginning to use CALL in their classes, and expert teachers who may be looking for new materials.
For Chapelle and Jamieson, teachers play a decisive role in providing opportunities for learning and balancing online, in-class, and out-of-class activities. The authors also believe in the value of Internet-based resources, such as dictionaries, tutorials, and online libraries (Loucky, 2005). In their opinion, Web sites and technology “perform functions similar to what many teachers do in class and through textbooks” (p. 6) in serving as teaching tools and providing opportunities for language learning, and multimedia software is an excellent source of input at each student’s proficiency level.
Chapelle and Jamieson place special emphasis on the following ideas: (1) language learners should proceed steadily by learning structures and vocabulary that is just a little above their current knowledge (cf. Krashen, 1982); (2) language needs to be noticed in order to be learned (Hegelheimer & Chapelle, 2000); (3) interaction with peers is essential to developing learners’ communicative competence; and (4) learning strategies are necessary for language learning (Vinther, 2005). Besides, according to the authors, “teachers can guide students to be more autonomous” (p. 207).
Tips for Teaching with CALL consists of a book and an interactive CD-ROM. While the book presents
Jesús García Laborda Review of Tips For Teaching With Call
the content, “tips and their rationale and examples” (p. 9), the CD provides examples of what is presented in the book. The book is divided into eight chapters with corresponding units on the CD, plus a preface, an introduction titled “What is CALL?” and a conclusion called “After Class.” The topics addressed in the chapters focus on the following language skills and content areas: vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing, listening, speaking, communication skills, and Content-Based Language. Each chapter follows exactly the same structure: an introduction, between five and six teaching tips to develop the activities suggested in each section of the chapter, a description of the intended outcomes of the chapter called “What It Means,” a research review that links practical cases to research literature called “What the Literature Says,” and suggestions for the utilization of the content in the classroom “What Teachers Can Do.” The chapters are illustrated with color screenshots of existing CALL software programs, along with descriptions, the minimum proficiency level of the students for whom each activity is designed, and notes for implementing the activity, with a total of more than 100 examples of Web sites and software programs across the eight chapters. The authors also mention how students will need to interact with the computer and other students in each activity, how teachers should proceed with the ELT/ESL pedagogical assessment and feedback provision, and finally, how they can teach and reinforce both language learning and strategic computer competence.
The CD-ROM uses images and video clips to illustrate the contents of the book through demonstrations of learners using CALL software and simulations that guide them through authentic CALL materials. According to the authors, the demonstration “is a real-time video that shows how a learner might perform an activity” (p. 9), while the simulation “guides teachers through an activity as if they were students” (p. 9). Both demonstrations and simulations are divided into the same units (or chapters) as presented in the book (Figure 1).
Figure 1: CD ROM main menu
The CD can be motivating and helpful for teachers who may want to see applications of what has been presented in the book. Each activity on the CD is connected with the tips presented in the book (either
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Jesús García Laborda Review of Tips For Teaching With Call
through a demonstration or simulation) and has three main parts: goals and instructions for an activity, the activity itself, and a summary and description of the purpose of the activity.
The book begins with a nine-page introduction that provides a definition of CALL, a basic notion of language learning theory emphasizing the importance of the communicative approach in CALL, and the role of computers in ELT/ESL pedagogy. In addition, the authors introduce three basic principles of language that guide their selection of activities in the book:
a)
Learners need guidance in learning English.
b)
There are many styles of English used for many different purposes.
c)
Teachers should provide guidance by selecting appropriate language and structuring learning activities. (p. 3)
A fourth principle, although not explicitly mentioned is that computers trigger communication between teachers and students and among students by providing appropriate input, especially in listening, reading, and vocabulary, and by facilitating oral communication.
Chapter one focuses on vocabulary, which, in the authors’ words, “is the most important aspect of language for students to learn” (p. 11), and that it is worth “spend[ing] time and effort studying vocabulary” (p. 11). According to Chapelle and Jamieson, the Internet gives “sufficient exposure to words in English that [students] hear or read” (p. 11). In the section “Tips for teaching vocabulary with CALL,” Chapelle and Jamieson stress that vocabulary is best taught when words have the appropriate level of difficulty, which can be identified by examining a word’s frequency, but missing for the reader are other criteria to support this condition. The authors remind readers of “including vocabulary illustration, explanation and practice…in [a] meaningful context” (p. 17), “looking at sentences from a corpus that contains key words” (p. 24), and using Web sites that can promote autonomous learning. Additionally, the CD ROM demonstrates how to foster communication among learners while building vocabulary skills. For instance, in the demonstration, two learners help each other to solve a puzzle. The CD reproduces the conversation between two students and shows how they solve the vocabulary task. The simulation section shows how the learners implement Tip Number Six (“Help students to develop strategies for explicit online vocabulary learning through the use of online dictionaries and concordancers” by using Compleat Lexical Tutor (http://www.lextutor.ca/). This chapter offers some motivating activities to approach vocabulary learning. While some of these interesting activities (such as crosswords or image identification) rarely take place in the classroom, students may do them individually through the Web sites presented in this chapter. This chapter clearly supports the importance of lexis in language learning. The authors even mention that “vocabulary is the most important aspect of language for students to learn” (p. 11) but they do not clearly establish whether computer based vocabulary learning is an explicit or implicit process or just even why they consider such importance. Readers will see that although Chapelle and Jamieson believe that “most students believe that they need to study vocabulary” (p. 11), little support is given to demonstrate this idea or even the implications of learning vocabulary through CALL. Nevertheless, this chapter is potentially key for understanding the rest of the book because the authors go on to emphasize the importance of vocabulary teaching in the following chapters.
Chapter two deals with grammar and follows the same structure as Chapter One. Although many teachers and students consider grammar important, the authors recommend “not to plan a syllabus around grammatical points” (p. 39). When presenting their tips, Chapelle and Jamieson assert that grammar activities presented on many Web sites are numerous, but many “are rather limited, as context is often at sentence level and practice is often in the form of recognition [instead of meaningful production]” (p. 41). They recommend CALL software with discourse-level activities, such as listening “to a part of a dialogue and then producing the target form orally” (p. 43). Chapter Two also includes suggestions for using
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Jesús García Laborda Review of Tips For Teaching With Call
cartoons or movies for grammar learning which are available online. For example, a very attractive exercise suggested in the CD Rom is completing sentences with Understanding and Using Grammar-Interactive (http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/multimedia/programs/uuegi.htm), but the program offers a larger variety of grammar exercises. Additionally, the authors give examples of Web-based activities that provide “grammar assessment and feedback about correctness both before and after instruction” (p. 53), as well as ideas for developing students’ learning strategies. The CD-Rom demonstrates Tip Four, “Include evaluation of students’ regular responses and regular summaries of their responses,” by using Understanding and Using English Grammar – Interactive software (http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/multimedia/programs/uuegi.htm). In this demonstration, a learner completes a grammar test, looks at the scores, and accesses a tutorial with grammar explanations. In the simulation of Tip Five, “Help learners to develop strategies for learning grammar from texts on the Web through explicit grammar and inductive learning,” students can learn how to search for a structure in an online corpus, compare its distribution across genres, and see example sentences in the View Web site (http://view.byu.edu/).
Chapter three, focusing on reading, begins by stating that reading is difficult for “unskilled” (p. 63) learners, so it is important to familiarize students with the different contexts, genres, and texts that they are likely to read on the Internet. One of the most obvious, yet important, tips is for teachers to choose appropriate Web sites and reading texts (a few examples are provided), emphasize the vocabulary, and help students to understand the salient lexical and grammatical forms in online texts. Chapelle and Jamieson also stress the importance of using online support resources, such as glossaries, corpora, tutorials, and dictionaries. Finally, the authors add that “explicit teaching is better than simply letting the students sink or swim in their own reading” (p. 79), a criticism of those approaches that emphasize textual input alone may be sufficient to learn a language (e.g., Krashen, 2006). The CD-ROM demonstrates Tip Six, “Include evaluation of learners’ comprehension and language knowledge,” with Longman English Interactive 3 (www.esl.net/englishinteractive_34.html) by showing how a learner completes a reading quiz, submits responses, and checks the score. In the simulation of Tip One, “Select CALL materials with appropriate reading texts,” with Adult Learning Activities (www.cdlponline.org/), the user chooses a reading topic and a story, looks at two versions of the story, and tries a variety of grammar learning activities, games, writing short answers and so on. One of the positive aspects of this chapter is that many of the described activities might have been difficult for teachers to design on their own. One of the aspects that Chapelle and Jamieson fail to give the relevant importance in this chapter is to the use of real materials. Certainly, it is not difficult to understand the importance of free reading in language learning—and the Internet is an abundant source of reading input that usually may or may not require direct instruction, which appears to be the key aspect of teaching and learning in this chapter. As the authors say: “Call activities make it easy to find texts that are at the appropriate level of difficulty” (p. 65). Perhaps it is the texts that make the CALL activities valid and valuable for learning.
Chapter four deals with writing. It emphasizes how important writing has become in our daily lives for professional and non-professional communication, for example, through e-mail. The chapter presents a list of software and online programs that help students write and contextualize their work according to genre, purpose, and audience. The CD-ROM demonstration addresses Tip Six, “Help learners to develop their writing strategies,” using the Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment (DIWE 7) (www.daedalus.com), in which a learner chooses a topic to write about, answers questions about the topic, and begins an essay with a pre-writing activity. The simulation on the CD-Rom of Tip One asks a student to “select appropriate writing texts as models” with WriteFix (www.writefix.com/), explores arguments for an essay, examines organization and paragraphing, and “look[s] at a complete model essay for transition words or phrases”(CD-ROM). A positive aspect of this chapter is the presentation of Web sites that can assist learners in the process of editing and monitoring their writing. Overall, this may be one of the most useful chapters in the book because these Web sites can make students more aware of the
Language Learning & Technology 18
Jesús García Laborda Review of Tips For Teaching With Call
importance of editing and monitoring their own language production.
Chapter five deals with listening. The authors see listening as a constructive process that “involves decoding, comprehension and interpretation” (p. 125) and requires the speaker’s attention and knowledge to achieve understanding in real time. According to the authors, to select appropriate listening materials, teachers should look for those that have “already been categorized by level [and that have] relevance to the ESL learner, and that [have] pre-listening activities intended to activate [the] student’s background knowledge” (p. 127), as well as top-down and bottom-up activities. Teachers should also help students to develop autonomy in choosing materials themselves. The authors recommend using videos to enrich listening activities and provide examples to help improve the quality of teaching listening. On the CD-Rom, Tip Three suggests teachers “[p]rovide learners with opportunities for selective listening activities based on what they are hearing,” and offers a demonstration of Planet English (http://www.planetenglish.com/ in which a student reads the instructions for a listening activity while paying attention to a specific piece of information, and then writes a personal note using that information. The simulation shows a cultural activity from Longman English Interactive 3 (http://www.esl.net/englishinteractive_34.html) video and writing a personal note. In this chapter, Chapelle and Jamieson present resources, most of them free that can be accessed by teachers worldwide making this chapter an excellent resource for teachers in multinational environments. This chapter is valuable for many teachers who may struggle to find listening materials, although podcasts are increasingly becoming a common source of different recordings with different accents and registers. In this sense the section “help learners develop their strategies for listening online” (p. 145) gives some ideas that teachers should emphasize in their classes.
Chapter six deals with speaking and pronunciation. Chapelle and Jamieson state that the Internet is a convenient tool for obtaining speaking and pronunciation input because language learners can use it autonomously. The authors also suggest that the Internet makes students more confident about their speaking skills because practice is not subject to in-classroom anxiety from which some less confident students may suffer. Computers can also be used to complete dialogues, thereby possibly increasing fluency because “automaticity of oral language [will develop] through oral practice” (p. 159) and interaction with the computer. In the evaluation section, Chapelle and Jamieson recommend “software that provides visual feedback that plots the learner’s speech signal on the screen” (p. 162). Using Tell Me More (www.tellmemore.com/) for the demonstration of Tip 3, “Provide opportunities for oral practice through interaction with the computer,” a student simulates a chat with a computer program (with answer recognition). More interesting practice is presented in Tip Four, “Evaluate learners’ performance and provide feedback” (Connected Speech, http://www.masterspokenenglish.com/index.html); in this software program for phonology development, the user listens to a video monologue, segments the pauses in a text, checks the answers, records his/her voice, and obtains feedback from the computer. In short, teachers who want to place special emphasis on pronunciation, or those non-native speakers who feel that that their speech is not a good source of accurate pronunciation input, may find excellent ideas on the teaching of pronunciation, which often tends to be neglected. The main problem with pronunciation, which is not mentioned by the authors, is that the current software tends to adopt one accent at the time (say, British, American, or Australian). Certainly pronunciation can be improved through listening, but this was not addressed by the authors at all. A key concern is that the authors fail to recognize that there is still some empirical work necessary to be done in the area of pronunciation before we can make assumptions regarding the productive potential of CALL applications to improve pronunciation. On the other hand, the authors propose the interesting idea that using CALL to obtain “formulaic sequences” (p. 159) can become a valuable drive to memorize chains of words that eventually become a part of the learner’s speaking repertoire. In this sense, it is relevant to mention their support of using computers to trigger the speaker’s “automaticity” (p. 159), which is relevant to speaking as it is to the communication skills referred to in the following chapter.
Language Learning & Technology 19
Jesús García Laborda Review of Tips For Teaching With Call
Chapter seven, focusing on communication skills, conveys that “technology is an important part of normal communication for students” today (p. 171), and those students learn to communicate through communicating. Among the pros of Internet communication, the authors consider the ability to speak to people in distant locations, which can give students extra motivation. The authors see the challenge for teachers to design activities that promote both synchronous and asynchronous communication and reflective conversations that go beyond mere social interaction. Chapelle and Jamieson suggest that pen pal Web sites, messenger forums, or chat spaces can fulfill this goal, supported by online tutorials, dictionaries, and other resources. The CD-Rom demonstration presents online chat (using Microsoft Windows Live Player) while the practice-yourself section deals with how to contact and work with e-pals (online pen pals) through Web sites like Linguistic Funland TESL Pen Pal Center (www.linguistic-funland.com). This chapter provides good examples of effective use of synchronous and asynchronous communication devices and software to develop the students’ communication abilities in controlled classroom environments.
The final chapter addresses expected learning outcomes when CALL is used as an additional component to enhance language teaching. According to Chapelle and Jamieson “students who have experienced the CALL activities described […] while studying English are likely to develop the types of strategies and habits […] demonstrated [in this book]” (p. 212). Chapter Eight also addresses possible risks of using the Internet, such as plagiarism, criminal uses of the Web, technical problems with equipment and software, and varying levels of teacher familiarity with computers. In addition, this chapter also reviews the benefits of using the Internet as a source of readings, podcasts, and contextualized materials to obtain specific information for teaching languages for the professions, as well as English for Specific Purposes (ESP). This approach to online materials can be seen on the CD-ROM. The CD-ROM demonstration for Chapter Eight provides an example of an activity “that explicitly teach[es] field-specific language [in this case, medicine]” (Tip Two): a cartoon of a doctor-patient interaction at Englishmed.com (www.englishmed.com/). In the CD simulation, the user listens to a conversation between two business people, fills in a sales chart, and consults the conversation transcript and a glossary, followed by a cloze test activity using Talking Business Intermediate (http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/multimedia/programs/TB.htm).
Chapelle and Jamieson have written a reader-friendly volume that is free of technical jargon that is accessible to most teachers. The book is a well planned source of teaching ideas,with a well defined structure and plan for class implementation. The best aspect of the book is the variety of activities for teachers to choose from. Although the book has numerous valuable attributes, it also suffers from some shortcomings. For instance, the authors might have included a section on language assessment and free language tests, such as TOEFL (http://toeflpractice.ets.org/) or some others (e.g., http://www.examenglish.com). It would also have been useful to refer readers to free online journals, such as TESL EJ (http://tesl-ej.org/), The Internet TESL Journal (http://iteslj.org/), CALL EJ (http://www.tell. is.ritsumei.ac.jp/callejonline/), or Language Learning & Technology (http://llt.msu.edu/) for additional teaching ideas. Another potential weak point is that 65% of the websites referred to charge a user fee. Consequently, although the book is a great source of ideas, many teachers may have to browse free websites like Isabel’s ESL Site (http://www.isabelperez.com/) or About.com (http://esl.about.com) to find similar sources. However, although the emphasis on commercial websites is a flaw, the authors do emphasize that it is important for teachers to find, select, and adapt appropriate materials for their students (Doering, 2006). Finally, it is important to note that all the materials mentioned in the book are designed for teaching ESL. There is no mention of materials for the teaching of any other languages. All in all, Chapelle and Jamieson’s volume combines SLA and teaching with Internet activities. The book is an valuable contribution to the field and will be a useful resource for both novice and expert teachers.
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Jesús García Laborda Review of Tips For Teaching With Call
Language Learning & Technology 21
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Jesús García Laborda received his Ph.D. in English Linguistics from Complutense University (Madrid, Spain), an M.A. in TESOL from the University of Georgia, and an M.A.F.L.L. from the University of Wisconsin. His research interests include low-stakes computer based language testing. He has reviewed materials for TESOL Quarterly, Educational Technology and Society, Language Teaching Research, ELT Journal, and ESP Journal.
E-mail: jgarcial@upvnet.upv.es
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