CALICO 2000, University of Arizona
Core Technologies: Impact on the Future
May 29-June 3, 2000
Hosted by
University of Arizona
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Conference Presentations: Day One
June 1, 2000
9:00 – 9:45
Towards a Didactical Approach of the Web: Le Cyberbouquin
Fabienne Gérard
Le Cyberbouquin (Pour l’apprentissage du français langue étrangère) is a web-based French curriculum covering four levels of instruction from Novice through Intermediate High. The presentation will show how this (free) online French textbook uses the extensive variety of resources on the Internet to enhance learning by encouraging different types of learning processes. We will discuss the didactical approach of this learning/teaching material as well as general didactical issues of CALL.
Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication in the College Spanish Class: A Case Study
Mark Darhower
This study investigates the interactional and linguistic features of communication among intermediate-level Spanish learners and their teacher in a synchronous computer-mediated (chatroom) context. The study will evoke some fundamental constructs of Vygotskian sociocultural theory in order to describe and explain how learners and their teacher collaborate with each other to co-construct meaning in the chatroom. General patterns of learner-learner and learner-teacher interaction will be analyzed, as well as learner and teacher perceptions of the use of chat as a language learning tool, and, finally, changes in learner output over a nine week period of time.
Wedding Video Productions With CallVideo
John I. Liontas
Today’s unprecedented emphasis on multimedia technology has forced many language instructors to redefine the methodological role camcorders and microcomputers have as innovative instructional tools and diagnostic instruments for drilling, measuring, developing, and building students’ communicative competencies. Yet, the potential wedding of student video productions with authentic computer-assisted language learning and video applications has not received the attention it deserves. This presentation argues that such a “wedding” may offer a viable alternative to today’s learners and advances the argument that the judicious combination of the two is pedagogically justifiable, for it makes language learning authentic and immediate at all levels of instruction.
Integrating New Technologies in Language Learning and Teaching: A Cognitive-Communicative-Multimedia Approach
Marta Berdugo
This paper deals with the issue of integrating interactive technologies in language teaching. It presents the basis and methodological components of a cognitive-communicative-multimedia approach. A classroom research project involving two parallel groups tested the improvement of the communicative competence of university learners of French. Two tests (pretest, posttest), lesson planning diaries, and an (auto)evaluation survey provided date for analysis of learning/teaching activities and aids. The results showed a higher increase of the communicative skills for students in the experimental group, who seemed to have developed more cognitive, metacognitive, and communicative strategies through a great variety of activities integrating multimedia and Internet resources.
The Influence of a Graphically Enhanced Chatroom (Authentic Cultural Pictures, Role Play, and Props) on the Discourse of Learners of German
Olaf Böhlke
The purpose of this study is to describe how pictures, role-play tasks, and the availability of props influence the chatroom discourse of students of German. The first part of the study examines chatroom discourse without any guidance–displaying only culturally authentic pictures in a virtual environment; the second part includes pictures and guided role play situations in a sociocultural context; and the last part examines how students use clip art props in the chatroom.
10:00 – 10:45
Managing Multimedia CALL Development Projects
Ana Gimeno-Sanz
The presenter will describe ways of efficiently managing multimedia CALL development projects through collaboration between academic partners belonging to different institutions. She will focus on issues relating to the organisational and development phases of the projects such as needs analysis, courseware specifications, designing exercise templates, designing templates for reference materials, graphical user interface, etc. She will base her discussion on two EU funded projects–Airline Talk (Leonardo da Vinci Funding) and City Talk (Socrates-Lingua Funding). She will also illustrate the City Talk on-line foreign language learning tutoring system which integrates a reference library, an information centre, an exercise centre and an on-line student “magazine.”
Where Can We Fail?
Bev Garcia
Too often we tend to see only where we can succeed and not where we can fail. Seeing both sides of integrating technology planning and implementation of Web interactivity in the classroom helps to reduce frustration of both teachers and students. The presenter will discuss how to learn what to identify, demonstrate examples of success and failures on the Web, and detail how to analyze one’s own work for potential failure or success.
Special Languages, Special Students
Zev bar-Lev
Sheltered Initiation Language Learning (SILL) is a controversial but powerful method for teaching speaking and comprehension focusing on authentic, real-time language use, and including Less Commonly Taught Languages and special-needs students (learning disabled, phobic, or busy). SILL also happens to be uniquely suited to mechanical media (HyperCard, web site, CD-ROM, including distance learning), as will be shown here by a demonstration of the method (“talking dictionary” lessons and “skip-comprehension” lessons), a description of the programs using it (Hebrew distance learning for intercampus Judaics majors, the Language Bazaar, the LARC World Tour, Robo/Web-site), and a discussion of the training film.
Pros and Cons of Web-Based Instruction: Striking a Balance Between Virtual Environments and Conventional Classrooms
Lara Lomicka, Travis Bradley, and Lorraine Williams
Hara and Kling’s (1999) study on web-based instruction cited several sources of student frustration. This panel addresses these and other issues involved in integrating web-based instruction within conventional classroom-based instruction. The discussion follows from our recent experiences in teaching courses at two northeastern universities on the use of technology in language education. Specifically, we will discuss (a) course design and implementation, (b) integration of virtual learning environments (web-enhanced discussion and synchronous chat, with face-to-face discussion taking place in the classroom), and (c) challenges involved in trying to achieve a balance between the treatment of research/theoretical issues and the acquisition of hands-on technological skills.
Bringing English to Kids (K-6) through Multimedia
Orit Nahamias
The presentation will focus on the use of technology in teaching English to children through a demonstration of a new English learning program–English Adventures. We will show how various technologies (speech recognition, video clips, 3D animation, and graphics) and current language learning approaches have been combined to create an imaginary world where English is used in an authentic, meaningful, and enjoyable way. Special attention will be given to how multimedia can optimize the learning process, help improve attitudes, and increase children’s motivation.
On-Site Technology Training Workshops from Conception to Completion
Dennie Hoopingarner and Jane Ozanich
The presenters will discuss the On-site Technology Training Workshops they organize and develop and their findings on effective training techniques. These workshops give high school and college foreign language educators the necessary information and skills to use computers and Internet resources in their classrooms. These workshops are an outgrowth of the Summer Institutes which the Center for Language Education And Research (CLEAR) has offered for the past three years. The presenters will highlight the steps they take in designing the workshops as well as how they plan and carry out the programs. Presentation participants can expect to see samples from former workshop participants and take part in lesson demonstrations.
11:00 – 11:45
Creating a Communicative Language Environment Via Software
Minjie Xing and Ken Spencer
Having learned linguistic structures of a foreign language, students still frequently remain deficient in the ability to actually use the language in normal communication because the language is not taught as discourse or interaction in context. A Multimedia Mediated Language Learning (MMLL) software is therefore called for. The software is composed of background knowledge, linguistic explanation, information exploration and e-mail + oral discussion. Through a one semester pilot study, students benefited from the software and the cultural context in the WWW, and their writing skills improved significantly.
The Influence of E-Mail Use in Second Language Learning
Ines Milke
This review of research addresses the benefits and shortcomings of e-mail use in L2 learning identified in studies, conducted between 1991 and 1998, whose subjects were graduate and undergraduate college level students. Findings of nine studies are summarized, categorized, and presented in a narrative review.
How Do Highlighted Hyperlinks Affect Reading On Screen?
Isabelle De Ridder
This paper reports on an experiment that examined the impact of highlighted hyperlinks on overall text comprehension. A first experiment showed that highlighted links to dictionary definitions had a positive effect on incidental vocabulary learning. This study, however, left several questions about text comprehension unanswered. The current research project attempts to fill this void and looks in great detail at how highlighted hyperlinks affect the entire language learning process. At the moment of writing this abstract, results are being analysed. This includes the processing of a vocabulary and comprehension test and the handling of data from interviews and tracking mechanisms.
Implications of Research on Human Memory and Perception for CALL Design
Lee Forester
This session will outline aspects of the current understanding of human memory and perception (primarily visual and aural), as represented in recent research, and will address their ramifications for CALL design. Examples from the Auf Geht’s! interactive program, a first-year German language program based both on print and multimedia, will be used to illustrate some possible implementations that exploit these research findings.
Pasaporte a España: An Interactive Journey Before You Study Abroad
Melissa Stewart and Inma Pertusa
As study abroad programs become increasingly popular, there is a growing need to provide students with adequate preparation for this experience. Although the Internet is full of useful sites of a touristic nature, there are no resources specifically geared toward students preparing to study abroad in Spain. Our web site is designed to provide an introduction to many practical aspects of the experience. Through contextualized activities, students can familiarize themselves with daily situations in Spain. The web site includes QuickTime movies that offer images of Spain with interactive exercises and simultaneous feedback. Audio files accustom students to peninsular Spanish.
Repurposing Machine Translation for Language Learning
Melissa Holland, Clare Voss, and Lisa Decrozant
Sentence-aligned bilingual corpora, the core resources used to build machine translation systems, can be repurposed for language learning. These corpora contain verified human translations of real-world text. They can be organized into concordances, presenting for any word in one language all the instances of that word in the data together with its sentence context and paired with a translation of each sentence in the other language. We present a prototype tool, CONDOR, that structures and displays concordances from bilingual data, allowing language learners to explore words of interest in a range of authentic contexts. We demonstrate the program with French and Haitian Creole.
2:30 – 3:15
On-Line Concordancing: Teaching Materials Derived from Authentic Text
Yu-Chih Sun
The presentation will first illustrate various features of web-based concordance and then how these features can be used in the preparation of teaching materials for classroom use. This preparation includes grammar, vocabulary, prefixes, word choice, punctuation, and source books. Sample lesson plans based on different levels of learners’ language proficiency will also be provided. By using web-based concordance, ESL/EFL teachers can gather material for creating exercises and explore the possibilities for better use of this new learning tool.
Using WebCT for On-Line Quizzes and Exercises with Feedback
Maria Morrell and Lily Zhang
In this session we propose to demonstrate how to use the WebCT course management software to incorporate on-line quizzes and exercises with feedback for language course web sites. We will offer an overview of the variety of exercises available when one incorporates audio files, images, and video files, as well as how to insert Hot Potatoes quizzes in WebCT. For those instructors who are interested in using more sophisticated exercises with additional variables and more specific feedback, we will discuss the process of shocking AuthorWare Attain-created files to the Web and present the benefits and drawbacks that this technology offers. In addition, we will present results from pilot Spanish conversation and intensive grammar courses that heavily incorporated these on-line exercises and tutorials and consider the pedagogical implications of these new, easy-to-use teaching resources.
Sociocollaborative CALL
Chia-Huan Ho
An increasing number of research studies in CALL focus on how learners construct their language knowledge and skills sociocollaboratively (e.g., Kern, 1996; Meskill, Mossop, & Bates, 1999; Vilmi, 1995; Warschauer, 1999). This paper first summarizes critical components in language instruction processes as identified in this literature and at the same time reviews projects aligned with sociocollaborative learning theory. To further understand how technologies can assist language learning, a sociocollaboratively designed distance learning project between English students in Bulgaria and TESOL graduate students in the US is presented. Achievement and affective outcomes of the year-long project are reviewed and discussed.
Creating a Critical Mass Using Technology: The California State University Strategic Language Initiative
Walter Oliver and Ronald Bergmann
The California State University (CSU) Chancellor’s Office created the CSU Strategic Language Initiative to promote the preservation and development of less-commonly-taught foreign language programs. This initiative works with individual campus language departments and CSU-wide councils to achieve the following overall goals: (a) preserve and expand student access to the study of several less-commonly taught, but strategically important, foreign languages currently in danger of disappearing from the system, (b) promote more effective second language programs through consortial arrangements and distributed learning, (c) provide the knowledge necessary to enable campuses to make informed purchases of language learning laboratories, associated technology, and software to better match needs and reduce collective CSU long-term costs, and (d) establish collaboration between CSU and other organizations, including other public and private academic institutions, which are integrating technology into language teaching and learning and/or are engaged in language acquisition, maintenance, assessment, and policy development.
Mellon-Funded Projects and Initiatives at Haverford, Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore Colleges
Lisa Frumkes, Daniel Beeby, Maria-Luisa Guardiola, Jeanette Owen, Christine DeGrado, and Nicholas Patruno
In 1997, Haverford, Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore Colleges in Pennsylvania received funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to incorporate technology into language teaching and learning. This presentation will provide an overview of this grant’s initiatives as well as showcase several of the projects that faculty have created with the assistance of college and Mellon staff. All of the projects are Web-based for cross platform compatibility and run the gamut from syllabi to materials developed for language, literature, and culture courses. These projects were constructed during workshops and other grant-funded support time, and most are available for use by other institutions.
Multimedia Courseware Development of the Future: A Team Approach
Robert C. Davis, Maria Estella Harretche, Ellen W. Kaplan, Gabriele Wittig Davis, Joanne Cannon Carlson, and Frank Citino
In this presentation, faculty and multimedia specialists describe their roles within courseware development teams. The members of the panel analyze the development of applications in Spanish and German, Literature, Theatre, and Film. They discuss curricular needs, project development, navigation and screen design, materials organization, functionality, and integration of student input. Using examples such as “Juan Rulfo: Dentro y fuera,” “Geschichte/n eines Findlings: Kaspar Hauser multimedial,” and “Vision oder Wirklichkeit?” we document the creation of applications for new content within time restrictions, using a modified template approach. Finally, we consider the role of students on development teams and other models where staff resources are limited.
3:30 – 4:15
Computer-Mediated Feedback in Composition Correction
Jack Burston
The purpose of this presentation is to describe theoretical and practical considerations in the use of a computer-based composition annotation program, MARKIN32, with advanced level students of French. Correction and positive reinforcement are critical in foreign language learning. However, when applied to the acquisition of writing skills, especially at more advanced levels, the provision of such feedback is problematical for both instructor and learner alike. The paper reports on the results of a two-semester pilot project which was intended to reduce correction loads for instructors and improve the quality and usefulness of composition feedback for students.
Instructional Design of Classroom Strategies for Web-Based Cross Cultural Communication
Sabine Levet, Katherine Maillet, and Shoggy Waryn
This session examines how CULTURA–a collaborative Web-based project where learners in France and in the US analyze a shared set of materials in a cross cultural perspective–enables teachers to develop a diversity of modes for interaction in the classroom. Grounding the presentation on concrete examples collected over three years of experimentation, we analyze the pedagogical framework and classroom environment: strategies to help students decode information about the other culture, practical approaches and guidelines for designing student tasks, the proper balance between activities inside and outside the classroom, and the changing role of the teacher.
Raising the Target Language Index with the Internet
Gyonggu Shin
This paper proposes a device called Target Language Index based on the distance between the L1 and the L2 context. It is divided into Target Language Environment Index (TLEI) and Target Language Utilization Index (TLUI). TLEI shows how much language learners are exposed to in the target language. Located in target language context, their TLEI is considered near 100%. TLUI measures how effectively teachers make their students utilize the target language. TLUI is considered near zero if the target language is not used in classrooms. TLUI is controllable, and language teachers’ role is to raise it. I use the Internet to raise TLUI in my college English classes.
Soothing the Naysayers, Naying the Soothsayers
Claire Bradin Siskin and Nina Garrett
Skeptics demand to be convinced that CALL really “works” and is worthwhile. Rapid changes in the technology may seem to represent progress in the field. But promises of a rosy future for CALL should be tempered by the realization that technological developments have not been accompanied by comparable advances in pedagogy. In an attempt to steer a course between the negative and the positive, specific strategies for dealing with the critics will first be offered. Then, lest we become too complacent, a challenge to exploit the technology more effectively will be extended.
Exploiting the GLobal Language Authoring System (GLAS) for Assessing Oral Proficiency
Johannes W. Vazulik, MAJ David Wilson, and CPT(P) Kelly Carrigg
The Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (SOPI) has been successfully implemented in GLAS. The next step is to incorporate higher levels of technology, including the use of branched, situational tasks while investigating the use of automated assessment of speaking and listening skills. In partnership with the JFK Language School at Fort Bragg, presenters will tailor the SOPI for the target audience, also adding feedback and record-keeping functions. Ordinate’s Phonepass tests will be reviewed and their assessment procedures considered for future implementation. Practice tests will be designed in German and French, moving toward versions for all languages in the Fort Bragg curriculum.
Relationships Among Prosodic Features of Foreign Accents
Garry Molholt
Through acoustic analysis of patterns of intonation, stress, duration, addition, and reduction, we are able to see how prosodic features combine to create the prosodic portion of foreign accents. Thus we are able to create acoustic accent profiles. This presentation looks at accent profiles of Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin speakers of English in a university setting. Their accents are differentiated according to patterns in intonation, stress, duration, addition, and reduction. This type of analysis is useful for a general understanding of relationships among prosodic features, for work in accent enhancement, teacher training, and for advancing computer analysis of speech.
The Critical Languages Series: CD-ROM Courseware for Less Commonly Taught Languages
Scott Brill and Alexander Dunkel
The Critical Languages Series of CD-ROM courseware for Brazilian Portuguese, Cantonese, Chinese, Kazakh, Korean, and Turkish was completed over a three year period at the University of Arizona (UA) in conjunction with the UA/Critical Languages Program, National Association of Self-Instructional Language Programs, National Security Education Program, UA/Computer Aided Language Instruction Group, and the UA/Press. Each classroom tested, double CD-ROM package contains 20 lessons for beginning learners comprised of video dialogues and readings by native speakers, thousands of audio recordings, exercises, graphics, and extensive cultural and grammatical notes. The courseware was created by authors nationwide with our MaxAuthor software system.
4:30 – 5:15
VICTORY: A Video Interaction in the Laboratory
Maria Cooks
The objective of this paper is to present a Video Interaction in a Computer Laboratory (VICTORY) that will not only enhance the quality of instruction but also accelerate the process of acquiring a second language. This objective is achieved by designing a Video Interaction which takes into consideration not only the technology and the particular medium of delivery used for the interaction but also knowledge of the process of language acquisition and the classroom dynamics which help students learn. VICTORY Video Authoring System offers six modes of interactions that guide students gradually from video browsing or first-viewing activities to final reconstruction of the video production. These interactions are designed to familiarize learners in a gradual manner with the culture of a foreign language as well as the governing conventions.
Better Speech Recognition for CALL
Steve LaRocca, John Morgan, and Sherri Bellinger
Speech recognition (SR) is a technology of primary importance to the future of CALL. Progress in the development of useful SR for Western languages belies the widespread ignorance surrounding the linguistic phenomenon of tone, which is particularly unfortunate given that half of the world’s languages are tonal. Tools are currently available that will track the fundamental frequency, an acoustic correlate of tone. Presenters will report on their effort to model tone itself using fundamental frequency information, as well as a parallel effort to extend the Chinese phone model set to a state where it is sensitive to tone.
Programming Microsoft Word for Language Learning Exercises
Jim Bauman
The Visual Basic programming language was used to extend the capabilities of Microsoft Word to build a menu of language learning tools. These include clozing, dialog restructuring, sentence component reordering, and inflectional derivation exercises, as well as tools to search for word forms and construct electronic flashcards. The development was aimed initially at creating a toolkit for adults learning Dutch in both formal and self-instructional programs. Important considerations were to make the toolkit extensible in handling different instructional materials, user-friendly for those familiar with a word processor, available at low-cost, and capable of easily being adapted for other languages.
CALL or CHLL? Computers in Saudi High School English as a Foreign Language Classes: Description and Evaluation
Khalid Abalhassan
This paper describes and evaluates the integration of CALL tools into the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curricula in selected Saudi high schools. These CALL tools include Ellis, Galaxy, and Knowlodgy packages. The study investigates the contribution of those technologies to the improvement or hindrance of EFL learning.
Conference Presentations: Day Two
June 2, 2000
8:00 – 8:45
Communicating from a Distance
Wen-chiu Tu, Youngsook Kim, Tsengtseng Chang, and Lewis Schnake
This session links proficiency-oriented teaching with Web-delivered instruction. Examples of collaborative activities among peers, application of Harmer’s teaching model to CALL tasks and ways of enhancing speaking via synchronous on-line conferencing will be presented. Major features to be demonstrated include multilingual input method editors of Internet Explorer 5.0, interactive Shockwave movies with staggered feedback, and streaming video/audio. Participants will leave the session with links to freeware and HTML/JavaScript templates applicable to their web pages.
Student-Teacher Collaboration in Courseware Production: Promoting Student Professionalism–The Tangible Goals of Foreign Language Education
Yumiko Guajardo
In order to make students responsible for their own learning, teachers seek to design their courses for a day-to-day student-centered classroom learning environment and to make course assignments that require student initiative and involvement. This presentation shows how to encourage students in their own learning, make their work/projects more accountable, and prepare them to become life-long learners of foreign language and culture. The HTML-based courseware materials were made through student-teacher collaboration to achieve learning goals while maintaining a high level of student enthusiasm and interest. The tangible results are a production/publication experience for the students and better course materials for learners.
Project-Based Spanish Cybertravel: The Closest to the Real Thing!
Caterina Reitano
This presentation will highlight a project-based approach to learning that took place in an advanced Spanish conversation course. The presenter will demonstrate how cyber trips lend themselves to increasing foreign language learners’ knowledge about the target culture according to their interests. Through the use of the WWW, learners made use of numerous authentic resources (e.g., RealAudio, QuickTime, Virtual Museums, and transportation schedules) during the various stages of this project to help them plan their travel abroad. Moreover, the virtual postcard was one of the components that was used by the learners as a vehicle to communicate their travel experiences. (Examples will be provided.)
Virtual Misadventures: Using the Internet in a Second Language Comprehension Course
Hélène Knoerr and Alysse Weinberg
The advanced French comprehension course at the Second Language Institute of the University of Ottawa normally presents only video and radio material to students. Starting this year, the course will also include multimedia material from the Internet. How will students react and learn from this material? How effective is comprehension learning from Internet material compared to the other multimedia resources? What are the advantages and problems related to using Internet material in the classroom? A survey of the students and their reactions to this new media will be presented.
The MLA’s Draft Guidelines for Evaluating Work with Digital Media in the Modern Languages
Donna C. Van Handle, Nina Garrett, Kathryn Murphy-Judy, and Robert Fischer
The Modern Language Association’s (MLA) “Guidelines for Evaluating Work with Digital Media in the Modern Languages” and “Guidelines for Institutional Support and Access to Information Technology for Faculty and Students in the Modern Languages” are the revised versions of the MLA’s “Statement on Computer Support” (1993) and “Guidelines for Evaluation of Computer-Related Work in the Modern Languages” (1996). These short presentations seek to highlight the most significant changes and improvements made to the two previous documents. Audience participation in a discussion of the new documents is especially encouraged.
The ICT4LT Project: An On-Line Course in Information and Communications Technology for Language Teachers
Graham Davies
Phase 1 of the ICT4LT project aims to design a syllabus and to deliver a WWW-based course on the implementation of new language teaching methodologies in four languages: English, Italian, Swedish, and Finnish. Phase 2 will be devoted to reversioning the materials in French, German, and Spanish. The main target group is language teachers already in service, although parts of the syllabus will also be suitable for teachers undergoing initial training and for teachers following short intensive courses. It is anticipated that the syllabus and the delivery mode developed and piloted in this project will lead in the longer term to a recognised international qualification (e.g., a Diploma or MA Degree). The project is being funded by the European Commission and is coordinated by Thames Valley University, London, UK.
9:00 – 9:45
New Options for Cost Effective Language Oral Proficiency Testing: The D(Digital)-VOCI
Mary Ann Lyman-Hager
The VOCI (Video Oral Communication Instrument) test was first designed at the National Language Resource Center at San Diego State University by Theodore Higgs in 1994-95. Its purpose was to create a low-cost, practical means of eliciting a “rateable sample” of speech which could be evaluated by a certified ACTFL OPI tester. The new digital, on-line version of the test has an item-by-item grid to assist evaluators who may not be ACTFL certified in making estimates of learner proficiency. Examples in Japanese and Spanish will be shown. The d-VOCIS are just one of LARC’s products available to the public at cost through one of the nation’s nine national centers.
DVD for Language Learning
Michael Bush and Harold H. Hendricks
DVD is the most successful consumer product in history and seems to have the potential to provide a universal platform for the delivery of interactive video and audio on a scale heretofore impossible for educational technology. This presentation will detail the development of a DVD version of the Italian classic film, C’eravamo tanto amati ‘We all loved each other so much.’ Demonstrations will be provided of the versatile format that DVD represents as a single medium for use in multiple settings: on conventional DVD players for home, professional DVD players with barcode readers for classrooms, and interactive multimedia via DVD-ROM on computers.
Using Distance Learning Software to Enhance Communicative Language Teaching: A Task-Based Approach
Gail Riley and Katherine Sharnoff
One of the most exciting benefits of integrating technology into language learning comes from exploiting its inherent interactivity, providing endless opportunities for a truly learner-centered approach. We explore a language-learning model which uses distance learning software to extend the language learning community beyond the classroom. Learners engage in a collaborative decision-making process resulting in a group project in which negotiation and use of the target language are necessary to accomplish specific tasks. Distance learning software allows direct student-to-student communication plus instructor guidance and feedback. This task-oriented approach combines communicative principles, educational technology, and the National Standards.
Interactive Reading with BlueGLAS Authorware
Irene Thompson
The presenter will demonstrate a reading lesson in Russian developed with GLAS (Global Language Authoring System). Particular emphasis will be placed on the application of reading theory to the design of CALL reading materials, ease of authoring with predesigned templates, customized feedback to learners, and multimedia integration.
Learning Effects of Collaboration During Foreign Language Process Writing with Computer-Supported Writing Environments: An Investigation
Isabel Borras and Anne Cappiello
Research is needed to understand the effectiveness of technology for handling the problems related to the implementation of process writing strategies within collaborative learning structures. This presentation reports the design, implementation, and results of a six-week study that sought to address such a need. Using a 1 X 3 factorial design and drawing on nine sources of data, the study examined the effects of three levels of collaboration afforded by a computer-supported writing environment on the writing performance of 60 college students in intermediate Spanish classes. The study also examined the effects of the environment on attitudes, distributed learning, and peer and channel-redundant feedback.
Implementation of Electronic Bulletin Boards for Optimal Second Language Acquisition
Nathalie Grant and Stephen Cary
Raising second language academic literacy has been a continuous challenge for foreign language departments as students in the traditional classroom lack the sustained intensity to develop a high mastery of the target language. To increase intensity, asynchronous bulletin boards have been added to French language classes as studies have revealed their potential value for second language acquisition (Carey, 1999, 2000) in a constructivist model. A formal study consisting of pretests and posttests, extensive questionnaires, and interviews shows that bulletin boards act as a scaffolding tool for qualitative and quantitative improvement of oral and written proficiency measured in terms of fluency, accuracy, and complexity.
10:00 – 10:45
Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication: An E-turn Taxonomy of Communicative Activity
Steve Thorne
Based on log file data and interviews, this paper proposes a two-level (genotype-phenotype) theoretical framework for the study of foreign language uses of synchronous CACD (Computer-Assisted Classroom Discussion). Additionally, the presenter proposes a unit of analysis that is sensitive to the production and reception of digital messages–the e-turn. Using the e-turn as a unit of analysis, this paper details a taxonomy of the features of foreign language uses of CACD and then concludes with a discussion of the influence of exogenous digital speech communities on foreign language CACD discourse.
Integrating Pedagogy and Technology: A Paradigm for Graduate Foreign Language Teacher Training
Sharon Fechter and Robert H. Smitheram
As part of the Mellon-funded initiative, Project 2001, the Center for Educational Technology at Middlebury College has designed a training program for graduate students who plan to engage in undergraduate language teaching. This curriculum is designed to meet the growing need for language faculty who are proficient both in pedagogy and technology. This presentation will describe the curriculum of this three-week intensive certificate program as it integrates foreign language pedagogy and technology. The presenters will share curricular materials and will include technology demonstrations of student projects.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Teacher-Made Software: A Case Study
Luba Iskold and John T. Pearce
The presenters will discuss student and faculty perceptions of the effectiveness of teacher-developed interactive multimedia software for the enhancement of language learning. Our project involved five major phases over a period of six years: (a) faculty training in technology; (b) production of software by faculty-student teams; (c) integration of the software into syllabi; (d) design of assessment instruments, and (e) project evaluation. In the study, five assessment instruments (questionnaires and surveys) were used. The presenters will discuss and interpret the data obtained over a period of three years. The presentation will be illustrated by a multimedia demonstration.
Spoken Language Testing Using Speech Recognition
Jared Berstein, Ognjen Todic, Brent Townshend, and Eryk Warren
Spoken language skills can be measured by an automatic system that engages a person in a series of short-turn voice interactions. The PhonePass spoken language testing system implements a 10-minute voice-voice interaction that elicits 56 spoken responses from a candidate. An augmented speech recognizer (tuned for nonnative speech) then analyzes the linguistic content, latency, fluency, and pronunciation of the responses to estimate the person’s level of speaking and listening skills. The paper describes the PhonePass system and an English test that has been taken by over 10,000 candidates. Evidence is presented to support test validity.
Language On-line
Christopher M. Jones, N. Ann Chenoweth, Kimmaree Murday, and Therese Tardio
This presentation will detail progress in the Mellon-funded project at Carnegie Mellon University to offer the first two years of French and Spanish on line. The first-semester French and Spanish courses will be demonstrated and the design process described, including pedagogical framing and technical decisions to develop both WebCT and standalone CD-ROM components. Course assessment instruments in use will be discussed in the context of preliminary results from the Spring 2000 pilot offering of Elementary French 1 On-line.
Web Technology as a Catalyst for Curriculum Development
Maria Victoria Gonzalez Pagani
The presenter will discuss her experience of working with a selected group of high school Spanish teachers in California’s MUHS district who, within a year, moved from having no technology component in their program to a topic-oriented curriculum anchored on Web technology. She will discuss how web technology promoted the reexamination of approaches, methodologies, techniques, and content and led to better articulation, dialogue, and team building among language teachers and teachers of other disciplines in the district. She will also discuss how technology is the ideal medium for integrating the foreign language National Standards and building bridges to other disciplines in the Humanities and how using the best vpn for torrenting can help you to maintain privacy online and also hide any uploads or downloads.
Self-Paced Language Instruction: Using WebPractest as a Tool for Grammar Instruction and Review
Mary Morrisard-Larkin and Gary Smith
This presentation will describe a technology-based Spanish curriculum, developed at the College of the Holy Cross, which allows students to work independently and personalize their language learning experience. The courses, which are delivered to students on the World Wide Web, use video and computer technology as the primary sources of language input. Furthermore, practice activities, which are primarily computer-based, are self-correcting so that students receive immediate feedback about their linguistic abilities. In particular, WebPractest, a free JavaScript program which facilitates the delivery of Web-based exercises and tests, has proved to be a useful tool for grammar instruction and review.
1:30 – 2:15
Multimedia Mode Switching: Teething Problems and Reflections
Debra Hoven
This paper describes the process of transferring a standalone or LAN-delivered multimedia software package to delivery over the World Wide Web (WWW). After a period of extended evaluation of learners’ uses of the software and perceptions of it in standalone mode, the software design and components were modified and rewritten to suit WWW delivery. Findings of positive perceptions and changes in learners’ language learning strategies during the evaluation of the standalone software has necessitated rigorous attempts to reproduce a similar level of interactivity in the WWW version. While the Indonesian implementation is described here, the software is designed to be used by other languages.
Better Web Development: Designing for User Customization
Robert Godwin-Jones
The promise of the Web: a richly enabling learning environment using hypertext and networked interactivity to accommodate the needs and abilities of individual language learners. The current reality: mostly static pages difficult to read, stale drill and kill, one-size-fits-all resource presentation, linear organization. This session will discuss and demonstrate an approach to Web development for language learning which accommodates user choice to the goal of enabling students to tailor resources to individual preferences and learning styles. Examples will include on-line readings with multiple layout options, user-customizable glossary functionality, and varied comprehension exercises. Technologies used consist of JavaScript, Perl-based CGI, DHTML.
Web-Based Advanced Grammar Instruction through RealPlayer: Connecting Form and Meaning Further with Explicit Instruction and Meaning-Bearing Multimedia-Based Illustrations
Fenfang Hwu
While some researchers claim that input is essential in second language acquisition and question the effectiveness of explicit instruction, others recognize the shortcomings of such a monolithic approach. Nonetheless, it is commonly recognized that successful foreign language acquisition requires exposure to meaningful input. This paper posits that the overly simplistic, vague, and technically written grammar rules are the barriers to grammar acquisition, not the explicit manner of their presentation to learners. Consequently, through an abundance of illustrative and meaningful examples and input in various media formats, language functions can be more effectively exemplified and conceptualized by learners. Streaming media through RealPlayer is ideal for attaining such an objective.
Design Issues and Design Decisions in Implementing CALL Labs in Tertiary Level Institutions
Elif Demirel
This research study focuses on the critical design issues to be considered when establishing a CALL lab in order to assist academic decision makers in Turkey. The particular audience is the administrators of the Preparatory School of English for Post Graduate Students at Karadeniz Technical University. The study sought to answer a number of research questions regarding critical design issues. The first question was to determine the design issues themselves. The second question was to determine how various national and international CALL labs dealt with the design decisions and how users have reacted to these design decisions. Student reactions were examined and a total of 75 intermediate and upper intermediate level students from Ko University and Bilkent University were given questionnaires. Interviews with Turkish and foreign administrators of CALL labs and CALL lab staff were done to examine how design decisions were made in various institutions.
Compiling Language Tests through the Internet
José Noijons
Language testers increasingly ask for tailor-made language tests of the productive skills of speaking and writing. Rather than having to rely on standard tests, teachers would like to compile their own tests. However, constructing such tests is a time-consuming activity with no guarantee of a reliable outcome. CITO, the Dutch National Exam Board, is now developing an internet-based system in which teachers can compile their own tests by selecting relevant learning objectives and accompanying assignments. The system will produce tailor-made tests, drawing from item pools, inclusive of rating scales and procedures, to be downloaded through the internet.
An Easy-To-Use Template for Multimedia Exercises
De Bao Xu and Hong Gang Jin
De Bao Xu and Hong Gang Jin will present an easy-to-use Template which is designed for language teachers to create multimedia exercises for their own language courses. With this template, language teachers can easily create their own multimedia teaching materials independently. The built-in functions of the template cover the basic exercises in a language course including vocabulary exercises, listening and reading exercises, grammar and culture notes, and video closed captioning. Using the built-in functions can also create similar exercises such as multiple choice, fill in blank, and listening comprehension questions. The template is now coded for Chinese, a two-byte language. All the built-in functions have two versions: a traditional Chinese version and a simplified Chinese version. Teachers can choose either one (or both) of them.
A Virtual Language Lab: Part I
Andrzej Styrcz
This paper describes Teleste Educational’s (mother company of Tandberg Educational) digital learning lab system which allows extra-campus and inter-campus connectivity to language resources. Language learning resources in a campus-wide network environment can easily be accessed by students through a Library Pilot resource and management software application. This powerful database provides media storage facilities for secure intranet and Internet access. Another significant component of such a virtual language classroom is an interactive multimedia recorder, Divace, which allows students to learn with digital resources in any file format. Teacher-led instruction is enhanced by means of the IMPERATA application and control system for computer classrooms.
2:30 – 3:15
The Electronic Markerboard in the Classroom
Charles E. Long
The electronic markerboard enables the teacher to more dynamically create classroom visuals that are archivable for later retrieval. This session will demonstrate the use of the Smartboard in the foreign language classroom. Classroom blackboard annotations are stored on the computer for later retrieval by the teacher or student. Internet pages can be marked up with electronic ink. Compositions can be “corrected” by the class as a group. These activities are just some that can be done with an electronic markerboard and a personal computer. The activities and some of the pertinent technical considerations will be demonstrated and discussed.
Developing Reading Comprehension through Video
Franziska Lys
Many traditional computer programs have been used to aid and develop reading comprehension by linking text to an on-line dictionary or by simply providing textual explanations. Such assistance, however, is often not sufficient. This presentation will discuss a new reading program that uses interactive exercises based on video clips and still pictures for previewing activities to prepare students for the reading activity. The prereading exercises are designed to further independent reading by activating and using background information and reviewing and acquiring thematic vocabulary items through short video clips. The reading examples in this software are a collection of texts relevant to the history, culture, and background of Berne, Switzerland.
Multimedia Approach to French Poetry
Françoise Denis and Thomas Browne
This presentation will demonstrate a multimedia program devoted to the literary analysis of French poetry for intermediate or advanced students. The program takes into account the basic tenets of Lozanov’s method while adjusting them to the particular demands of literary analysis and to the peculiarities of computer technology. The program uses the target language exclusively. It guides students through the maze of French poetry rules, helps them in the discovery of the poem’s main themes, and fosters their potential for interpretation. This multimedia approach also seeks to lower students’ affective filter about poetry and provide some enjoyment in the work process.
Lessons Learned from a Three-Year Pilot Project in CALL
Lathrop P. Johnson
This presentation is the final report on a three-year grant-supported project using technology to enhance language learning. It will describe the conception of the project, the gathering of support from faculty and administrators, negotiations with the textbook publisher, the products delivered, student reactions, and the overall assessment of the success of the project. Participants will receive a checklist of do’s and don’t’s for anyone planning a large-scale emphasis on using technology.
Developing Theory-Based Foreign Language Culture Instruction in CALL: “Salvador Virtual”
Paul Sundberg
Foreign language cultural instruction is too often a curricular afterthought with no systematic rationale for how the cultural content is selected or presented. Good instruction, however, including computer-based instruction, requires theoretical justification for such instructional choices. This paper presents an instructional rationale for selecting and presenting foreign language cultural content based on principles in Cognitive Flexibility Theory (Ill-Structured Domain Theory) and models of cultural knowledge from cognitive anthropology. As an example of one such theoretically based system, the presenter will demonstrate “Salvador Virtual,” a multimedia CD-ROM project being developed to teach Brazilian culture to US students of Portuguese.
Improving a Specialized German Course through Distance Learning Components
Antje Bettin
The goal of this project was to find a solution to the mismatch between the training needs of undergraduate music students and the delivery format of a German course for singers. Reduction of class contact hours, Web-based self-learning components, and individualized tutorials were chosen to strike a balance among the training needs of the program, student needs and availability, and the viability of a language course for specific purposes through increased cost effectiveness. Technology infusion was part of a plan to adapt several other specialized language courses to the specific needs of undergraduate programs and an increasingly diverse adult student population.
3:30 – 4:15
Creating Electronic Portfolios in the Language Classroom
Zena T. Moore
This paper describes the creation and implementation of electronic portfolios in a graduate language evaluation class. It presents a step-by-step outline for implementation that may facilitate similar projects. The project which extended over three semesters underscores the value and worth of collaborative learning. Guided by the Vygotskian principle that all knowledge is socially constructed, the study reported here provides rich data that supports the use of technology to promote a “better” learning environment.
Using Electronic Corpora in the Language Classroom
Randall Jones
The use of language corpora in teaching and research has increased significantly during the past several years, as evidenced by the numerous conferences and publications devoted to this topic. A corpus can be defined as a representative collection of authentic samples of a language, either written, spoken, or both. A language corpus can be useful to the teacher for finding examples of language usage and can be useful to the student for direct observation of the language. This paper will demonstrate how a corpus can be constructed and will provide information on existing language corpora.
Interface Interactivity and Its Effects on Language Production in Computer-Mediated Communication
Maria Jose Alvarez-Torres, Yong Zhao, Sophie Tan, Bryan Smith, William Divers, and Marcie Pyper
Synchronous computer-mediated communication has evolved from a single, unique environment into dynamic applications, from programs that rely on a purely text-based format (ChatNet) to graphics-based chat interfaces that incorporate text-to-sound and “virtual physical space” (The Palace). This presentation reports on a quasi-experimental study that examines the effects of these interfaces on the language production and lexical acquisition of learners of Spanish and ESL during task-based, computer-mediated nonnative speaker-nonnative speaker interaction. The amount, distribution, and quality of the learners’ interactions will be explored as will learner attitudes and perceptions of these programs in terms of their suitability for fostering communication and language learning.
Taming Teaching Agents, Meaning Technologies, and Participatory Dramas
Philip Hubbard
It is argued that the use of teaching agents, meaning technologies, and participatory dramas in CALL will grow dramatically in the near future due to both technological advances and their increasing acceptance in non-CALL domains. Teaching agents are software characters that act as a teacher. Meaning technologies include hyperlinked dictionaries, automatic translation modules, speech to text encoders, etc. Computer-based participatory dramas provide a direct language experience for the learner as a character in a developing story. This presentation discusses the obvious promises and less obvious pitfalls of all three and proposes directions for short- and long-term research and development.
WebCAPE: Language Placement Testing Over the Web
Charles Bush
WebCAPE is a web-based implementation of Brigham Young University’s Computer-Adaptive Placement Exam (CAPE) series. These exams use adaptive procedures to assess language ability, drawing from a large bank of calibrated test items. Tests are administered from a Web server computer through the internet to a browser application on students’ computers. French, German, and Spanish exams are currently available, with Russian and ESL under development. This presentation introduces the program and then discusses issues of Web delivery, security, and alternative implementations for different audiences.
The Implementation of DISSEMINATE: A New Point of Departure for the Year 01
Philippe Delcloque
In 1998, the author proposed a new hypercollaborative architecture for authoring of Web-delivered language learning materials. The acronym DISSEMINATE is seen as a suitable mnemonic vehicle to carry the concept of a Distributed, Integrated, Stable, Superimposed Mediaware for Interactive, Networked, Authorable, Tracking Education. The presenter will outline the proposed initial construction structure and suggest methods of dissemination. The approach merits discussion for two essential reasons: (a) it combines effectively the paradigmatic and toolbox axes of creation, and (b) it counteracts the natural restrictions of Web-based language exercises and offers real hope for the future.
4:30 – 5:15
On-Line Language Learning: (How) Can We Obtain Sufficient Linguistic-Pedagogical Functionality?
Jozef Colpaert, Wilfried Decoo, and Mathea Simons
Web-based language learning offers attractive advantages, but researchers point at the fact that it is still less interactive and therefore less functional than traditional CD-ROM applications. This presentation starts with an operational definition of interactivity and describes the specifications of linguistic-pedagogical functionality within a goal oriented design, which should lead to more user satisfaction (for teachers and learners). It then argues for a development where first a software architecture is drawn as a platform-independent structure, and only next the appropriate development environments and tools are chosen and concludes by presenting other distributed and hybrid architectures.
L2 Reading Strategies for Hypertext Environment
Zeynep Kocoglu
The process of reading in foreign language (L2) is very complex because of variables such as age or inefficient use of reading strategies. Therefore, determining effective reading strategies for L2 learners has long been investigated in the language teaching field. However, even though a significant amount of research has been done on the use of specific strategies for printed text, very few studies deal with the reading strategies L2 learners employ while reading hypertext through the Internet. This study seeks to identify reading strategies that L2 learners use while reading hypertext documents in English on the Internet.
Web-Based Reading Lessons
Lea Christiansen and Nimet Soysalan
Lessons are for intermediate learners of Finnish and Turkish who wish to acquire a variety of strategies to facilitate reading all kinds of texts in Finnish and Turkish. The lessons may be used on their own or as a supplement to classroom instruction. First, various reading strategies are introduced and modeled in English followed by practice exercises. The objective is for students to acquire an intuitive feel for when, where, and how to use a strategy. Second, a three-stage reading process of prereading, reading, and postreading activities is presented for texts on different topics. Third, limited help in terms of glossing of words and grammar explanations is provided, and useful links are listed on morphology, vocabulary, and cultural aspects. Fourth, students can assess their own performance and develop an ability to self-monitor their comprehension.
TIME Machine Versus LEARNING Machine
Jean-Claude Bertin
Sociologists and psychologists agree on the fact that use has a direct influence on the form of technical artifacts as well as on their users’ mental representations. Educational psychology is also subject to such interaction since it involves two users of a very different nature: the teacher/designer and the learner/user. This entails a number of observable impacts on several levels. First, teachers are not computer engineers; their lack of technical competence influences the design of authoring systems which are offering more and more user friendly environments. Oversimplification may however mean forgetting educational follow up and objectives (CALL “gadgets”). Second, learners’ and designers’ representations of the machine are influenced by their respective perception of traditional computer uses (i.e., saving TIME for efficiency – office work). The author suggests that if unheeded, this latter point will lead to a number of misrepresentations of the actual learning process which may in turn entail severe disillusionment in CALL efficiency. He will then outline the actual place of the computer in the language learning field and suggest a number of guidelines in order to strike a balance between time savings and learning efficiency.
Funding Faculty Projects: An Innovative Grant and the Resulting Projects
Chris Higgins, Xueying Wang, and Kelley Piper
This session will highlight the software and faculty generated materials developed with innovative funding from a FIPSE grant received by Johns Hopkins University, The Catholic University of America, Georgetown University, and the University of Maryland. The panel will discuss the innovative strategies used for funding the faculty projects while exploring and testing previously developed software and authoring tools. The panelists will discuss the grant proposal, the collaboration between the four schools with regard to faculty training, the dissemination of materials, and the evaluation process.
PageBinder: JAVA Applets for Interacting with Authentic Text and Video on the Web
Sue Otto and James Pusack
Next-generation Web courseware will overcome current limitations to interactivity. Progress toward this goal has already been achieved via PageBinder, a set of JAVA applets including the following: Categories, Sequencer, Checklist, Opinions, and Text Mover. These templates produce comprehension-building activities needed to help students deal with authentic documents in both text and video and allow authors to engage in WYSIWIG materials development. An accompanying record keeping system supports tracking of student performance. This session will demonstrate typical student interactions in Spanish and German, show how authoring works, and encourage speculation about possible future forms of collaboration.
Conference Presentations: Day Three
June 3, 2000
8:00 – 8:45
Using a Computerized Dictation Program to Enhance Listening Comprehension
Juei-ching Chung
This presentation describes a dictation program and discusses its effects on general second language proficiency, as measured in an experiment with large samples. In a research project with smaller samples, qualitative data were analyzed to assess common types of listening errors and to determine the effects of computer monitoring on students’ progress. Students in the experimental group were given a dictation program correlated with the target material and were assigned to report their progress, while those in the control group were given a different drill–cloze. Results of the experiment showed a significant difference between the two groups either on qualitative or quantitative analysis.
The Computerized Oral Proficiency Instrument (COPI)
Dorry Kenyon and Valerie Malabonga
The COPI is a multimedia, computer-administered adaptation of the tape-mediated Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (SOPI). Both are oral proficiency tests based on ACTFL’s Speaking Proficiency Guidelines. Oral proficiency tests like the SOPI and COPI use real-life tasks to elicit ratable speech. We will demonstrate the administration and scoring programs of the COPI and describe the computer specifications required to run the programs. We will also present the results of our research which compared examinees’ performance on and attitudes toward the COPI, SOPI, and the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI).
TESOROS CD-ROM: A Multimedia Introductory Spanish Course
Robert Blake
This presentation will demonstrate a new CD-ROM for learning Spanish: TESOROS, a multimedia introductory Spanish course produced by BeM (Spain) and McGraw-Hill, Inc. The CD-ROM is supplemented by its print materials (not the reverse). TESOROS CD-ROM is a story-driven CD-ROM course in which students play an active role in solving a detective investigation, a type of treasure hunt. In the course of solving the mysteries of an ancient treasure map, students learn about Hispanic countries, complete a series of story-related tasks, and receive grammar and vocabulary instruction. The presentation will also discuss how TESOROS is currently being implemented as a distance learning Spanish course at the university level.
Distance Teaching: The Creation, Implementation, and Assessment of a Model for Distance Teaching
Iris Bork-Goldfield and Joan Keck Campbell
The authors of the distance learning module, GOING THE DISTANCE: Teaching Writing in the Foreign Language Classroom, will describe their experiences in which authors, located at two different institutions, collaborated with computarians and administrators at yet another institution to create this distance learning module. The presenters would like to share what worked, what did not work, and what they learned from this collaborative experience. They will offer some tips for effective communication between collaborators and for helping them to “think together” even though they reside far apart. This is a useful topic as interinstitutional collaboration increasingly becomes the norm in academia.
TeLL me More Pro©: Our Experience with This Commercial Program
Finley M. Taylor
Auralog’s TeLL me More Pro© software has dialogues, exercises, and games for beginning to advanced levels for several languages including French, German, Italian, Spanish, and ESL. The unique speech analyzer grades student responses, and tracking software logs students’ actions. We used the software in some German and Spanish classes to explore students’ reactions and see what if any evidence we could collect to determine improvement in pronunciation. We present the result of our efforts and will demonstrate the software.
Extending Discourse with TalkMaster: A Template for Developing Extended Speaking Activities
Dan Soneson
This session presents TalkMaster, a template which allows instructors to create speaking activities in any language on the computer. Instructors can generate an aural prompt and provide up to three alternative model responses as well as determine the length of time for recording student responses to each prompt. Students record their responses and can play them for comparison with the models. Student responses are stored on a central server and can be accessed by the instructor. Designed for producing extended discourse, the template can be used at any level.
9:00 – 9:45
Teaching German Business Correspondence: Computerized Approaches
Tom Leech
This presentation examines the use of the Internet to teach German business correspondence, not only as an authentic source of information but also and primarily as a medium for distance learning. The complementary use of Web-based CALIS exercises and those utilizing HTML forms will be examined and compared to the benefits provided by more traditional computer applications, including text-based and Windows-based CALIS scripts. A comprehensive survey of computer applications in this area will be provided.
WebCT and Foreign Language Learning: Design and Evaluation of Collaborative Activities
Esperanza Roman-Mendoza
WebCT, one of the most popular Web-based instructional tools at the higher education level, facilitates the development of learning environments for foreign language instruction. This session will present different strategies (a) to create interactive activities, (b) to encourage student participation, (c) to develop technical skills in the student body, (d) to monitor collaborative projects, (e) to assess student performance, and (f) to analyze students’ attitudes toward technology. Examples from three upper-level courses offered at George Mason University–a Spanish culture course and two conversation courses at intermediate and advanced level–will be provided for discussion.
Exploring the Occupation of France 1940-44 through Web-Based and Multimedia Applications: Teacher-Directed and Student-Produced Projects
Nancy Mellerski and Michael Kline
The student project is a collaborative program produced by a senior seminar in French. Using Louis Malle’s Au revoir, les enfants as a basic “text,” students researched aspects of the occupation (e.g., Jewish resistance, Catholic resistance, and the black market) and created a contextual, multimedia guide to topics referenced by the film. The teacher-directed project articulates the complex cultural framework surrounding the trial of Maurice Papon, honored French civil servant and war criminal. The trial narrative is made accessible to students of French civilization through a directed Web site in a French studies course on introduction to cultural analysis.
Changing Times or How to Rethink Teaching Schedules
Kathryn Murphy-Judy
All around us, institutions and infrastructures are changing radically in concert with the Information Society and Postindustrial economies and globalization. Yet, language departments tend to perpetuate modern, assembly-line educational configurations that arose to suit the needs of smokestack industry. The presenter considers ways in which new technologies can be applied to restructuring professorial time and learning spaces in what might be called an ‘object-oriented’ vision of language education. Types of learning that were once professor-centered but which can be delivered better through technological mediation are demonstrated, as are ways to reconceptualize teaching loads.
Delivering an Oral/Aural Course at a Distance
Greg Kessler and Lia Plakans
The presenters will share their experience developing and delivering an oral communication skills course on-line. They will discuss the variety of technologies incorporated into this course as well as the rationale for employing on-line delivery in such a seemingly challenging context. Methods for overcoming the difficulties of exchanging audio and video will be discussed. The presenters will also provide an overview of the course, including a preparatory meeting, on-line interactions, the role of audio and video recording, evaluation and feedback, and a final conclusive meeting. Participants will be walked through the digital “text” that was designed for this course.
Putting It All Together: A Web Site for First Year Spanish
Karl Fisher
The World Wide Web provides a rich learning environment for students of foreign languages and is a much better way to include CALL in the curriculum than traditional “Wrong, try again!” software. The speaker will demonstrate how Web pages can be organized to take advantage of current technologies. JavaScript has been used to create text specific vocabulary and grammar exercises. RealAudio has been used to add the language laboratory program and music to the Web pages. Finally, JavaScript has been used in order to record and report by e-mail which sites students have visited.
10:00 – 10:45
Story Mazes: Flow in Immersive Language Environments
Shamus Johnson and Andrew Brusletten
This demonstration will introduce a program being developed at the University of Washington to be used as a curriculum supplement in a self-access lab setting. The program combines the added value of computing technology with pedagogical principles to produce an optimal learning experience. The learner enters imaginary worlds based on real-life contexts and must solve language-relevant tasks. These worlds draw on the inherent appeal of multimedia games to enhance learning potential and motivation, which is especially important in self-access language learning settings.
How to Implement Technology as an Integral Part of a Foreign Language Methods Course: A Mixed-Design Curriculum
Christel Broady-Ortmann
Given the impact of technology on foreign language instruction and global education, foreign language methods instruction requires new and innovative approaches. Moreover, teachers must possess abilities to continuously infuse technology as part of instruction and to assist students in their development of technological competencies. This presentation is designed to bring together both distance learning and conventional instruction. The components addressed will include World Wide Web discussions, interactive PowerPoint presentations, links to professional organizations, weekly meetings, and resource materials. In this session, participants will learn about a new course design, various assessment tools, and the concept of an electronic portfolio.
Spanish at a Distance: Streaming a Virtual Reality
Scott Despain
The presenter will discuss the process he has followed to produce a relatively inexpensive Internet course which is virtually identical to the traditional classroom course. He kept nearly all components of the course the same as the traditional course but streamed each class live (and archived each class session) using RealMedia video streaming. Student attrition and performance will be discussed, as well as the technology, class management policies, and tools used in the project with special focus on those found to be most useful over the last two years.
Establishing A Virtual Language Resource Centre
David Barnwell
The presenter describes setting up of a virtual Language Resource Centre. The principal goal of the project was to decentralize access to foreign language education and expertise in Ireland. Traditionally people in outlying areas had difficulty in accessing materials, information and ideas on language study. By availing of the Virtual language Centre, they can now find the latest information on line. Further, the Centre has been useful in creating networks of teachers, especially of the lesser-taught languages, since such teachers often suffer from professional isolation and miss the opportunity to interact with colleagues teaching the same language.
Macro and Track Changes in Foreign Language Writing: The Case of Arabic as a Foreign Language
Saad AlKahtani
Macro and Track Changes are two useful features in Microsoft Word 2000 that can be handily used by writing teachers. This session will demonstrate how Arabic teachers can use Macro and Track Changes for feedback and comments on their students’ papers. The session will: highlight the use of CALL in Arabic as a foreign language (AFL), discuss the advantages of using Macro and Track Changes in AFL classrooms, and demonstrate how these two tools can be used in teaching AFL writing. Teachers will learn about the different uses of Macro and Track Changes for peer and teacher feedback.
ExTemplate: A Model for Web-Based Assessment and Interactive Teaching
Claire Bartlett and Inge DiBella
Developed at Rice University, ExTemplate allows users to create Web interactive exercises and tests in a variety of formats with full multimedia integration. This user-friendly program supports all languages and, due to its database functionality, allows both instructors and students to access cumulative records on the Web. The presenters will discuss the design, development, and implementation of modules created with ExTemplate, as well as with other Web authoring programs. Sample exercises and tests will be shown in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.
11:00 – 11:45
GOLDEN: German On-Line Distance Education Network–A Pedagogically Driven Approach to Distance Education
Aleidine Moeller, Eleonore Sylla, and Stephen Panarelli
This session will examine a model distance learning project that illustrates how pedagogy drives technology to enhance learning. GOLDEN is an on-line professional development project for teachers of German funded by the Goethe Institute and the American Association of Teachers of German in cooperation with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. These courses can lead to graduate degrees and professional development for teachers of German. Highlighted will be an examination of how technology can enhance the level of deep learning among the participants and the impact of the distance instruction on teaching practices.
Learning English as a Second Language: A Proposal for the Classification and Evaluation of Multimedia Programs
Cristina Perez and Cristina Tudela
One of the main objectives of our research is to evaluate the effectiveness of different software packages in order to teach and learn English as a second language. We developed a database in order to classify the different products available which gave us the opportunity to have a clearer idea of their different contents and objectives. We shall also explain how we have integrated CALL programs in our teaching at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia and the facilities we offer to our students to help them use computers as part of their learning process. The different capabilities of multimedia learning environments can significantly enrich students’ learning. However, in our opinion, the teacher will always have a crucial role (though the role may have to change), in knowing how to integrate the different programs in a lesson or series of lessons and how to create a better teaching/learning environment for students more actively engaged in their learning process.
Browser-Based Digital Video Authoring System
Alexander Nakhimovsky and Tom Myers
JMANNA is an authoring system for annotating digital video. All annotating is done in point-and-click manner, with no programming required. With JMANNA, users can use unabridged foreign language video in beginning and intermediate courses. Its desktop version has been used at Colgate and other colleges to teach Spanish, Russian, Hebrew, and Japanese. It is described in Multimedia Authoring Tool for Language Instruction. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 17 (3), 261-274, 1997, and the New York Times (1998, November 12). JMANNA is a networked version, with browser interface. It can be used on an intranet with the video stored on a server or CD-ROM.
Text Analysis Tools for the Preparation of CALI Materials
Marie Hayet
Much data is needed to ensure a comprehensive coverage for a language phenomenon to be taught by CALI. It serves to design tasks and exercises, diagnosis systems and adaptive courseware. Similarly, a highly controlled selection of data is required to ensure the efficient delimitation of a specialist language. It helps to determine the exact quantity and the nature of the linguistic knowledge necessary for a very special purpose. Coming up with this data cannot be left to the imagination or the intuition of a courseware designer or developer. Various text analysis tools are used to assist with its extraction.
Realizing the Interactive Potential of QuickTime
Douglas Mills
As streaming media technologies continue to improve in their ability to deliver increasingly higher quality multimedia information over the Internet, their usability and use for instructional purposes is also increasing. Apple’s QuickTime multimedia technology offers many seemingly unexplored avenues for the development of Web-based interactive language learning materials. In this presentation, various prototype applications will be examined and development/deployment issues discussed. Resources for further learning will be provided through a presentation Web page.
Using Web and Conferencing Technology in Language Learning
Sabine Siekmann and Ruth Roux-Rodriguez
Among the myriad of courses being offered via the Internet and with conferencing technology, language classes are a minority–especially when it comes to distance learning. The presenters will provide an overview of how the technology is applied in language learning, both for supplemental materials and in distance learning classes. Many practitioners point to the limitations of the technology when applied to the complex issue of language learning/acquisition practice and methodology. Special attention will be paid to areas where unique requirements prevent the use of the new technologies in order to inspire innovation. Strong pedagogic background needs to drive technological innovation.
Building A Web-Enhanced Language Course: Web Video, Performance Tracking, Development Tools
Bernd Conrad
Enhancing a language course with Web-based resources and exercises has created increased opportunities for learning. At the same time, the majority of existing course extensions on the Web reveal rather limited exercise and feedback methods as well as a lack of comprehensive audio and video support. The goal of this presentation is to demonstrate how Web video and improved development tools can help create course enhancements similar to those afforded by CD-ROM programs. An additional emphasis of the presentation will be on holding learners accountable when working in a nonmonitored virtual environment by way of tracking their work with Web-based materials.
1:30 – 2:15
The 5 Cs, Culture, and CALL: What Works and What Does Not
Wendy Ashby and Veronica Ostertag
We will present the results of a study investigating the effectiveness of an interactive, computer-mediated instructional segment called EthnoDeutsch, which was designed to educate students about ethnicity in German-speaking countries. A 25-item questionnaire containing multiple statements assessing each of the 5 Cs on a Likert scale was administered to students who worked with the program. The results of a statistical analysis of the data indicate which of the 5 Cs the program addressed effectively and which it did not.
Developing an Electronic Portfolio in ESL Classrooms: Focus on Process
Youngwoo Kim, Barbara Harper, Hye-Yeon Lim, and Rebekah Sidman-Taveau
This presentation will give teachers some ideas about how to develop electronic portfolios in their ESL classrooms. In this study portfolios were developed as an alternative form of assessment using an authoring tool called HyperStudio. Samples of guidelines and materials for five learning skills (culture, listening, speaking, reading, and writing) will be shown. The researchers’ collaborative learning experience will be presented as one example of the actual learning process. This will give teachers some ideas of the process students may go through as they create their own portfolios. Some suggestions will be presented for collaborative group work in ESL classrooms.
Using the Internet in English Instruction at the Chinese Air Force Academy
Dorothy Chiao
English is taught as a foreign language in Taiwan and is especially important for the cadets of Chinese Air Force Academy (CAFA). Using recent developments in information technology, the presenter tries to use network instruction to give more effective teaching and help her cadets to improve their abilities and, furthermore, to enhance their comprehension in English. In addition, the Internet-based environment also provides a variety of tools and methods to help evaluate the learning process and assess cadets’ abilities. Afterwards, the network instruction is like a knowledge treasure chest including multimedia and hypermedia, valuable resources on the World Wide Web. The presenter teaches the cadets how to use them and create the domain of knowledge. Data collected from the questionnaires, a pretest on language acquisition, a posttest on network instruction, interviews, and classroom observations show that the cadets have positive attitudes toward the Computer Language Instruction Model (CLIM) through the World Wide Web (WWW). Finally, the presentation attempts to highlight some significant applications and evaluation issues on network instruction.
Spanish Distance Learning Courses
Gerardo Arrarte and Francisco A. Marcos-Marin
The Instituto Cervantes is the official Spanish institution in charge of promoting the use and study of the Spanish language abroad, as well as improving the knowledge of the culture of Spanish-speaking countries. Its Internet-based centre, the Centro Virtual Cervantes, will soon be offering a full program of distance-learning courses, the Cursos de español a distancia. The courses are designed to offer students every kind of resource currently available through Internet technology. They are intended for a partially self-learning situation, in which the teacher plays an important role in guiding students through their learning process.
Web-Based Reading Strategy Instruction in a Freshman Composition Course
Meena Singhal
The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of a Web-based reading strategy instruction program to help college level English as a Second Language students learn reading strategies and develop reading skills to understand better academic and literary texts in order to improve their overall reading comprehension, strategy use, and reading efficiency. In this study, lessons and practice exercises were designed and integrated into the freshman composition classes. Analysis of pretest and posttest measures of a standardized reading test, reading tasks, and a reading strategy inventory indicate that such instruction improved reading comprehension and strategy use.
All Aboard the Techno Train!
Jörg Waltje
After being hired as Director of the Language Resource Center at Ohio University, Jörg Waltje found that hardly anyone in the Modern Languages was using this state-of-the-art facility to its true potential. His talk will highlight strategies to involve faculty and TAs in the use of Instructional Technology and in authoring their own programs and Web sites. It will point out how to motivate faculty to integrate technology into the curriculum, how to devise attractive workshops, and where to go for moral and financial support. Recommended for anyone interested in preaching the gospel, whether as a Language Technology Specialist, Lab Director, or mere mortal with a keen interest in CALL.
Chatrooms as Conversation Simulators: L2 Chatroom Interaction and Oral Proficiency Development
J. Scott Payne
Results from an empirical study will be presented that employed Levelt’s model of language production (1989, 1995) and working memory theory (Baddeley, 1986) as a theoretical framework for testing the hypothesis that L2 chatroom interaction develops the same cognitive mechanisms underlying spontaneous second language speech. Participants in the experimental condition interacted for two of their four contact hours per week in a chatroom throughout the semester. The research design, qualitative and quantitative findings, and pedagogical issues surrounding this project will be discussed.
Potentialities of the Internet for English as a Foreign Language Classes
Gyonggu Shin and Jihyon Park
Internet use in L2 classrooms has been increasing dramatically. This presentation will begin with a brief introduction to historical and theoretical perspectives to CALL including the nature of internet communication in the educational framework. The main purpose of the presentation is to examine internet use in L2 classrooms focusing on its promotion of collaborative and interactive language learning in the context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). A case of an on-line class in an EFL setting will be analyzed to review implementational potentialities of the Internet for language curricula and syllabi. In addition, internet resources for language learning and teaching will be exhibited.
Integrating Web Resources into Japanese as a Foreign Language Task Design: An Evaluation
Eiko Ushida
This study evaluates authentic resources on the Web in the Japanese as a Foreign Language (JFL) classroom and compares them to other types of authentic resources. These two types of authentic resources were incorporated into a classroom task within the current curriculum to examine their effects. The paper attempted to answer the question of whether the curriculum-driven integration of Web resources is possible, whether Web resources are more effective than the traditional resources, how tasks can be designed effectively, and what the impact of Web resources might be in a JFL setting.
2:30 – 3:15
Using On-Line Discussion to Assess L2 Writing
Lisa A. Jurkowitz
This presentation will describe the use of on-line discussion as an alternative assessment of foreign language writing proficiency in a fourth-semester university-level French course. The highly interactive nature of on-line discussion, and its facilitation of meaningful, engaged, and interdependent communication may hold promise in bringing the testing of foreign language writing closer to the field’s communicative goals. Transcripts of the students’ exchanges, as well as their responses to an open-ended evaluation, will be shared with participants as a means of prompting discussion regarding innovative communicative language testing.
Developing Critical Thinking via Computer-Mediated Interaction in the Foreign Language Curriculum
David Wright and Zsuzsanna Ittzes
Educational technology has enabled students to access information easily from the Internet and from each other. This presentation discusses strategies employed in two German courses (one at Purdue University and the other at the University of Texas at Austin) to help students think critically about the information they access and share. Both courses included activities that encouraged students to approach learning from a collaborative and interdisciplinary perspective. These computer-mediated activities, which focus on the learner, help develop critical thinking skills at both the graduate and advanced undergraduate level across a variety of content areas.
How to Read a Web Page: An Internet Literacy Skills Project
Jonathon Reinhardt
As socially constructed definitions of literacy change, language instructors must reexamine reading goals, methods, and techniques to develop literacy in students in both paper and electronic mediums. The presenters designed an instructional model aimed at improving and enhancing reading skills needed by language students to successfully navigate and extract information from the World Wide Web. The training component of the model focused on browsing skills and vocabulary development. The application component introduced a framework in which the students could apply those skills to a meaningful context. Using SPARK, students learn to survey, preview, anticipate, read, and know a Web page.
Virtual Team Teaching and Other Uses of the WWW for English for Specific Purposes Teaching at Valencia Polytechnic University
Rafael Seiz, David Perry, and Maria Luisa Carrio
This paper discusses a series of programmed tasks using the Internet as part of an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course at a technical university. The framework includes cooperation between the ESP teacher, content teachers, and the learners in order to retrieve and manipulate authentic on-line information and materials used for language learning purposes. Thus, it could be regarded as virtual ESP team teaching using the World Wide Web. Technical, practical, and methodological issues are dealt with in the analysis so as to support the meaningful and efficient use of Web-based training tools. Practical didactic hints based on experience are also presented.
Multimedia in Language Instruction: The Student Perspective
Gamin Bartle
The hype surrounding the use of multimedia is frequently not matched by its actual use in the classroom. Many universities have a wide range of technology equipment and software available to teachers and students, from computerized language labs to classrooms equipped for audiovisual and multimedia applications. However, the frequency and type of use varies widely among faculty and language programs. With the goal of helping faculty use these technology resources more appropriately and effectively, an evaluation project was undertaken in the University of Alabama’s Language Resource Center to measure student perceptions of the multimedia materials available for German. This session will describe this project and report on students’ reactions and evaluations. It will conclude with recommendations for more ‘scientific’ ways of assessing the effectiveness of multimedia from the student perspective.
A Virtual Language Lab: Part II
Andrzej Styrcz
This paper describes Teleste Educational’s (mother company of Tandberg Educational) digital learning lab system which allows extra-campus and inter-campus connectivity to language resources. Language learning resources in a campus-wide network environment can easily be accessed by students through a Library Pilot resource and management software application. This powerful database provides media storage facilities for secure intranet and Internet access. Another significant component of such a virtual language classroom is an interactive multimedia recorder, Divace, which allows students to learn with digital resources in any file format. Teacher-led instruction is enhanced by means of the IMPERATA application and control system for computer classrooms.
Redefining Communication in the Beginning Foreign Language Classroom: A CMC-Centered Curriculum
Hélène Gresso
What if technology was no longer a mere complement to traditional ways of instructional delivery? When serving as the course’s core tool and replacing the textbook, Compuer-Mediated Communication (CMC) can effectively shift the way a class functions and how students approach learning. Using different forms of CMC as means for intellectual development and self-expression, a French colleague and the presenter developed a collaborative curriculum for cross cultural communication between French and American students at the beginning level of language learning. In this session, the presenter will describe some aspects of the integrated curriculum (e.g., correspondence, a web magazine, debates, and an exchange). After presenting the evolution and evaluation of the project, she will discuss concrete examples of situations and ways of developing materials for a CMC-based program.
3:30 – 4:15
On-Line Interactivity: Promoting Communicative Proficiency with JavaScript
Cindy Jorth and Christine Manteghi Goulding
With the ever increasing popularity of CALL, the Internet has become a favored medium of language instruction. However, even a cursory surf through existing sites reveals a massive gap between theories of second language acquisition and on-line practices. While the goal of communicative proficiency requires that learners use the language in context as a means to an end, the overwhelming majority of existing sites are grammar-oriented, uncontextualized, and noncommunicative. We will demonstrate how the imaginative use of JavaScript can help bridge the chasm between theory and practice and promote the communicative use of the language beyond the classroom.
The Delicate Balance Between the Affective Filter and the Negotiation of Meaning: Testing the Limits with Synchronous Network-Based Communication
Jill Pelletteiri
Current second language acquisition theory posits that many of the necessary conditions for L2 development (e.g., comprehensible input, comprehensible output, and focus on L2 form) are optimized during episodes of the negotiation of meaning. However, some studies of classroom L2 interaction have questioned this theory, claiming that the negotiation of meaning is not only difficult to foster among classroom learners and that frequent episodes of negotiation can frustrate and de-motivate students and even make them feel incompetent, thus resulting in unproductive L2 language practice (Aston, 1986; Foster, 1998). This paper reports on an investigation of the use of synchronous network-based communication (SNC) to mediate the apparently delicate balance between negotiation and classroom L2 learners’ affective filter. The results indicate that the use of SNC along with a carefully crafted task can combat de-motivating effects that frequent episodes of negotiation might provoke. It is concluded that maximizing classroom learners’ opportunities to negotiate meaning through SNC can benefit L2 development without adversely affecting learner’s self-esteem or confidence in the L2.
Support Partners: A Strategy for Faculty Development
Rachel Saury, Yitna Firdyiwek, Chris Rahe, and Jared Berg
At the University of Virginia, an innovative program called the Teaching + Technology Support Partners (TTSP) program was established last year to develop more widespread and mainstream support for the use of technology in teaching. The Arts & Sciences Center for Instructional Technologies (ASCIT) is the recipient of a TTSP and has modeled its own Support Partner program after the university’s. In this presentation, panel participants will discuss the successes and failures of this faculty development and outreach program and make suggestions for its application at other institutions.
Agora, NetQuiz and Dialogos–Easy Software for Web Development
Lydia Froio
Agora is a program around which schools or departments can build a Web site or add to an existing one. Agora handles uploading files easily and efficiently and enables teachers to create forums and Web pages. Agora facilitates site development allowing users to add connections to learning activities that can be quickly developed with other programs such as NetQuiz and Dialogos. These programs create quizzes and dictations without any need for HTML programming.