CALICO 2007, Texas State University

The Many (Inter)Faces of CALL

May 22-26, 2007
Hosted by

Texas State University – San Marcos

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Conference Presentations: Day One
May 24, 2007

10:00 – 10:45

CALL Polymorphism: Technology-independent Design, Goal-oriented Conceptualization and Ontological Specification. How to Tackle Resistance Using Change Management Techniques
Jozef Colpaert
Our research in courseware engineering has led to the working hypothesis that it is more efficient to design the learning environment first and to consider the role and the shape of technology as its logical result. This design model is based on goal-oriented conceptualization and ontological specification and can be applied to courseware development, course design, and even the organization of a language institute. After an example with daily-life devices, we will highlight the advantages, but we will also focus on some surprising phenomena of resistance and on how we can tackle these types of resistance using Change Management.

Standardizing Grading Criteria: An Example of Teacher DevelopmentOnline
Joseph Hopkins
Pauline Ernest
This paper discusses an online teacher development initiative organized by the English Department of an all-online distance-learning institution which was conducted via an asynchronous computer-mediated conferencing system. Using a content analysis approach, it was found that participants had engaged in negotiation of meaning, coconstruction of knowledge, and application of newly constructed knowledge. The most successful groups had also dealt effectively with procedural issues, demonstrated awareness of the medium, and showed higher levels of social presence. The implications of these findings will be examined, especially in relation to the design and implementation of online tasks.

Effectiveness of CALL: A Meta-analysis and Research Synthesis
Maja Grgurovic
Carol Chapelle
In view of the need to make educational decisions about development and use of CALL, a number of researchers have called for a synthesis of findings about CALL effectiveness (Felix, 2005; Zhao, 2003; Burston, 2003). This paper reports on a study reporting on a large-scale meta-analysis of studies comparing CALL and classroom instruction in second and foreign language from 1970 through 2006. The studies were found by a computer search of three databases (LLBA, ERIC, and Dissertation Abstracts) as well as a hand search of six journals (CALL, CALICO Journal, Language Learning & Technology, ReCALL, System, and TESOL Quarterly).

Projecting Language Learning Technology into the Virtual World–SANSSPACE
Bryan Ellis
Traditionally, formal learning spaces have been defined by parameters such as physical space, set hours of use, scheduling requirements, number of seats, and established learning patterns.Today’s educational institution is challenged with providing opportunities to an ever growing population and variety of students including full-time, part-time, on-campus, and off-campus with various styles of learning. Understanding these variables, SANS Inc. has developed the SANSSpace™ Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) designed with features for language learning including a virtual comparative recorder and media engine, a content management facility, tracking and reporting of student interaction with course materials, and synchronous and asynchronous communication tools.

Panem Et Circenses: Language Learning and Computer Games
Felix Kronenberg
The advantages of using computer games in language learning, which include motivation, authentic materials, various media types (audio, video, images, text, etc.), interactivity, flexibility, and a connection to the real environment of many learners make them a useful teaching and learning tool. I distinguish between three general areas that can be beneficial to language learning and teaching: games as a tool for creating teaching materials, games as a teaching tool in the classroom, and games outside of the classroom. I will discuss and suggest criteria that lead to finding suitable games for different purposes and illustrate this with some concrete examples.

iPods and Second Language Acquisition
Alex Chapin
Aline Germain-Rutherford
Mobile media devices, such as iPods, introduce radically new ways to produce, organize, deliver, and use media, be it text, images, audio, video, or–more often than not—multimodal. Middlebury College Language Schools have had a number of pilot projects that integrate iPods into their curriculum including selected programs of study in Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish. The French School in particular, edited, re-edited, produced, and delivered thousands of media files for first-year students, as well as third-year students of phonetics, the latter whom produced and published audio for dozens of captured assignments.

Browserless Webware–One Year Later
Devin Asay
Delivery of web-enabled applications that are free from the encumbrances of the web browser is an idea that is steadily gaining traction. Last year I showed a proof-of-concept program for web-based instructional delivery called the Learning Web. Produced in the Revolution rapid-development environment, this software allows easy delivery of interactive, media-rich instructional content over the web, independent of the browser. In this session I will discuss our experience at Brigham Young University in initial deployment of the Learning Web application. I will present student reaction and live demonstrations of language instruction modules, including simple over-the-internet recording and playback.

11:00 – 11:20

An Exploration into Factors that Affect Student Perception of Their Online Foreign Language Learning Experience
Chun Lai
Distance foreign language learning has been growing at a fast speed, and a course design framework is much needed to promote and safeguard the quality of distance foreign language education. Decades of research have yielded valuable suggestion on the design of distance foreign language learning environments. This study constructed an online foreign language course design framework based on current research and tested the feasibility of this framework through designing and conducting a beginning-level online Chinese course at a virtual high school. The process of implementing the framework in the Chinese course was recorded to reveal issues of note when implementing the framework. Survey responses from students showed that the course communication component of the design framework, interaction with the instructor and with classmates, was a major predictor of students’ satisfaction with their learning experience.

Developing Tutoring Systems for Classroom and Research Use: A Look at Two English Article Tutors
Ruth Wylie
Teruko Mitamura
Jim Rankin
Ken Koedinger
Motivated by both classroom needs and learning science questions, we built two computer-based tutors to help students learn the English article system. One tutor, a controlled-editing tutor, teaches both error detection and production skills; while the other, a menu-based tutor focuses solely on production skills. Both tutors work to provide students with effective learning opportunities while giving insight into learning science issues such as how does prior knowledge affect learning and long-term retention and what roles do feedback timing and scaffolding play in learning grammar? We will present findings that highlight the differences between the systems and their contributions to both classrooms and learning science.

Creating a Learning Community with Moodle: Languages Across the Curriculum at Skidmore
Cindy Evans
This presentation will discuss the ongoing process of developing the languages across the curriculum (LAC) program at Skidmore College and exploring uses of Moodle to provide technological solutions to instructional problems specific to our individualized LAC format. I will provide a follow-up to my presentation at CALICO ’06 in which I discussed our initial implementation of Moodle in LAC courses during spring of ’06. I will discuss the ways in which I continue to develop our use of Moodle in response to student feedback, new features available in Moodle, and new challenges of our expanding LAC curriculum.

HAL for CALL: Artificial Intelligence Assistant for Language Instructors
Krzysztof Pietroszek
There is an increasing number of language-learning systems which adopt artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. We present preliminary results of system under development, HALCALL, an innovative AI assistant with voice and text interface. The system is capable of reacting to and correcting common mistakes in exercises, providing students with tailored feedback on their performance, delivering knowledge incrementally and in organized way, answering unambiguous questions without the need to bother the instructor, reacting to the individual needs of students by adjusting the teaching techniques appropriately and dynamically keeping track of what aspects of the subject learners have already mastered.

Webtivities: Task-based Learning and Technology
Sandy Wagner
How can practitioners integrate the power of the Internet, software programs, and task-based learning? Webtivities provide the solution. These activities engage learners, align to curriculum standards, and promote an interactive, technology-enhanced learning environment.

Going Beyond Podcasting With Live Webcasting
Randall Sadler
Webcasts, live Internet broadcasts, go beyond traditional podcasts to create an interactive experience like a radio call-in show. This demonstration shows how to create a webcast using Skypecast and discusses five ways to use this technology for language learners.

11:30 – 11:50

Reading Authentic Text in the Hypermedia Environment: Individual L2 Readers’ Use of Question Prompts
Christina Overstreet
Research will be presented that shows the effects of question glosses on the comprehension processes of intermediate-level learners of German reading authentic text in a hypermedia environment. Quantitative results were interpreted in the context of each participant’s profile, asking for whom, under what kind of circumstances, and for what type of text question prompts were helpful. Using activity theory, individual participant’s profiles as gleaned from think-aloud protocols, pre- and poststudy questionnaires, and interviews revealed what each brought to the process and provided a window into understanding why question prompts were helpful to some individuals but perceived as a hindrance by others.

The Development of an Application for Producing Moodle Gap (Cloze) Exercises
Steven Tripp
I have developed an application that will generate Moodle cloze exercises automatically. It allows users to paste in a text passage, select certain clozing parameters, generate a “clozed” text, and then copy and paste this passage into Moodle. Its advantages are first that it generates error free “questions” almost instantly and second it does so semi-intelligently.

Instructional Use and Teacher Perspective Regarding Digital Audio and Video
Greg Kessler
Lia Plakans
This paper discusses a study on the transition from analog audio/video to digital formats in language instruction. Teachers are at the forefront of this transition, so their attitudes and practice must be articulated in order to facilitate this shift. This study collected and analyzed interviews and records of use to explore current practice and attitudes of teachers using analog and digital audio/video in their instruction. Two university ESL programs were included in the study. Results revealed larger issues with technology in language teaching. The paper also provides insight on supporting these teachers in this change.

Practical Chinese Writing Generator–An Example of Integrated CALL
Suen Caesar Lun
This paper discusses the courseware of Learning Practical Chinese Writing developed for the Chinese Section of the Curriculum Development Institute, EMB, HKSAR. The target users are all students in primary and secondary education in Hong Kong who are learning to compose formal correspondences in Chinese such as business letters, minutes, reports, and so on. The courseware covers not only tutorials, exercises, and games but also incorporates the ideas of integrated CALL so that real-life application of what has been learned is implemented to make the learning more target oriented and educationally effective through the application of linguistic knowledge bases and natural language processing.

Using a New Concordancer Handoumi for Korean Language Learners
Sun-Hee Lee
This presentation introduces a new concordance program, Handoumi, developed for Korean language learning. Some concordancers, such as Yconc, Kkamccaksay, and Kuljabi, are already available for linguistic research. However, they are not designed for use in language learning. Handoumi is based on Yconc developed for linguists. With modified research-oriented properties and added pedagogical functions, Handoumi provides Korean learners and teachers more accessibility to authentic usages of vocabulary and phrases. We will demonstrate basic functions of Handoumi and show how it can be combined with an existing electronic dictionary as a separate module.

Face (to Face) Spanish at a Distance
Marisol Duff
Cecilia Trevino
We will report on a comparative study on the learning of specific functions and discrete points of Spanish grammar via a Virtual Learning Environment and face to face. We will also consider the influence of the different types of intelligence on the degree of learning when the new language is presented by electronic means. The learners are all following a course in Beginners Spanish for Medics using specially prepared blended-learning materials. The course combines face to face and distance learning using King’s College London’s VLE (WebCT Vista). We will show samples of the materials used and present the results obtained.

A CALL Software Evaluation MethodCristina
Cristina Pérez-Guillot
F. Buendía
Elena Benito
This paper presents a method for evaluating CALL software. The aim of this method is to integrate the existing evaluation frameworks in order to provide new methods to facilitate CALL software evaluation. This method offers a comprehensive perspective which integrates aspects from three different frameworks: CEFRL (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages), Hubbard’s (1988) framework, and IMS Learning Design models. The method operation provides guidelines to select evaluation criteria and to generate mechanisms which evaluate CALL software environments according to those criteria. A case study has been implemented to check the proposed method in the evaluation of a specific CALL application.

On Automatically Evaluating Answers to Reading Comprehension Questions
Stacey Bailey
Detmar Meurers
We discuss the development of an automatic meaning assessment module for learner responses to free-input language activities. We present a prototype performing such assessment, building on natural language processing (NLP) technology from machine translation and summarization evaluation. We then evaluate it using responses to reading comprehension questions by advanced intermediate learners of English. These questions make a good test case given that they are used to evaluate both language comprehension and production. We show that the learning goals of questions and the expected sources for answers are central to determining whether intelligent CALL (ICALL) meaning assessment can be used to reliably evaluate learner responses.

Corrective Feedback during Intermediate German CMC Activities
Senta Goertler
Research on corrective feedback during CMC activities has been limited. This study investigated three sections of intermediate German taught by two different teachers in order to identify feedback forms used by the teacher and their effects on the students. It was found that the two teachers used corrective feedback differently. Their potential effects on the students were measured through an achievement test assessing improvement of language skills, a survey investigating student attitudes, the chat transcripts, and classroom observations. It was found that despite the significant differences between the two teachers, there were only minimal differences between the students.

Language Learning in Multiuser Game-based Environments
Dongping Zheng
Robert Brewer
Mike Young
Kristi Newgarden
The presentation will begin by describing a multiuser virtual environment (MUVE) and its affordances for English language learning for middle school level students. Evidence of language acquisition will be presented by interpreting chat log data generated by Chinese and American teenage students while engaging in content-related coquesting and other collaborative activities. Participants will be guided to explore a MUVE, Quest Atlantis during a planned activity. The presenters’ goal is to describe an innovative technology, multilevel mix qualitative/quantitative analysis, and data-driven evidence for English language learning.

Computational Analysis of Linguistic Complexity
Xiaofei Lu
We describe a computational system for automatic large-scale linguistic complexity analysis. The system distinguishes itself from conventional text complexity analysis tools with its deep natural language processing capabilities which allow it to incorporate a range of sophisticated complexity measures that involve deeper syntactic analysis than simple syllable, word, or clause counting and shallow lexical analysis. We will illustrate the usefulness of the system for (a) assessing the appropriateness of testing materials by comparing their linguistic complexity with that of the learning materials and (b) assessing learners’ linguistic development by measuring changes in the linguistic complexity of learner texts.

Wimba and Podcasting
Matt Wasowski
Wimba Voice Tools, iPods, and Podcasting have all become pervasive technologies for language learning over the last few years as educators worldwide have used these tools to answer the question: How can an online student learn a language without speaking it? This presentation will show Wimba and Podcasting for teachers to better learn how their Blackboard, WebCT, and other online classes can incorporate these new vocal technologies in order to allow students and teachers to learn and teach the most natural way of all–with voice.

3:00 – 3:45

Higher Speaking Proficiency Through Online Assessments: OWL Software Makes It Happen
Chris Dalessandri
Thekla Fall
Do you know how proficient your students are? Are you looking for ways to increase student speaking proficiency? Would you like to have district-wide or departmental assessment data (so you can speak the language of your administration)? We will demonstrate a proven online testing software program that was developed in conjunction with Pittsburgh Public Schools. The test component facilitates the collection and rating of student speech samples as well as essay writing, multiple choice, and so on. Furthermore, OWL software enables comprehensive data collection. A practice component allows students to practice vocabulary in a game-like format. The software is completely authorable so it is not dependent on any one textbook. The resulting reports enable data-driven decision making to improve proficiency and world language programming.

Using Formative Evaluation to Distinguish Learner Wants From Learner Needs
Carl S. Blyth
James Davis
In this presentation we report on an 8-year process that included three successive iterations of the developmental cycle: (a) development of instructional technology, (b) formative evaluation, and (c) modification of the technology. From the first formative evaluation to the last, our students told us that they found learning heavily contextualized language difficult and frequently requested more decontextualized language for textbook presentations and for practice. With the aid of formative evaluation data, we tried to strike a balance between what students said they wanted and what we, as language teachers and curriculum developers, believed that they needed.

The Transcultural and Multilingual Environments of Multiuser Online Games
Steven L. Thorne
Evan Weiss
This presentation will report on transcultural and multilingual language activity occurring in the international environments of multiuser online games (e.g., World of Warcraft) and the resources such environments present for foreign language education. We will suggest that, while arguments for a digital global vernacular are premature, a set of communicative dynamics that have been described as a late modern communicative aesthetic (Thorne, 2000) appear to be portable across many digitally mediated peer interactions. Linguistically, these include feature categories such as lexical choice (e.g., high use of intensifiers, contractions), variant but consistent and often locally informed orthography, phrasal units parsed over multiple turns, and phatic communicative elements such as high frequency uses of punctuation, emoticons, and tag questions.

E-Learning and Student Engagement: Promises in Cyberspace
Catherine Caws
How does the Internet mediate and transform our practices as language learners and practitioners? How can we help students develop electronic and critical literacies in order to engage them in the coconstruction of knowledge? In this presentation, I will focus on the results of two case studies that examine language courses in which e-learning was specifically embedded in the curriculum. Our analysis addresses the influence of various models of instruction and the ways in which the integration of e-learning may impact the development of critical and computer literacies. In particular, we will speak to the influence of learning design on the effectiveness of the electronic tools provided to learners.

Teacher Training and Technology: Braving New Worlds
Kathryn Murphy-Judy
Margaret Ann Kassen
Martine Peters
Roberta Lavine
In this panel, which brings together the editing team of the most recent CALICO volume—Teacher Education and Technology—and a few invited guests, we look at the current state of the art and CALL research as it is poised to impact teacher training for the next generation of language educators. We then speculate on where we need to direct our attention and our own professional development in order to anticipate and be prepared for the predictable turns in language and communication pedagogy. We will look at the horizon of expected technologies and concomitant social and pedagogical reconfigurations that will inhabit our desks, or virtual desks, or eyeglasses, or what may become of the educational topography.

An Evaluation of Digital Language Lab Solutions
Jack Burston
With the digitization of language lab technology has come a host of new multimedia features. Needless to say, all this diversity is accompanied by a bewildering array of technical specifications, requirements, and product features. A wide range of digital language lab programs has been evaluated in the Digital Language Lab Solutions (DLLS) publication to help guide colleagues through the maze. This presentation will give a brief overview of the forthcoming second edition of the DLLS and focus in more depth on representative examples of four principal types of programs: (a) basic student computer management, (b)traditional audio lab replication, (c) full multimedia systems, and (d) remote access systems.

Revolution for Low-cost Data Collection in CALL
Claire Bradin Siskin
The presenter will demonstrate how data can be collected while learners work with CALL activities created in Runtime Revolution. Linguistic output in the form of text, audio, and video files can be saved, and it is also possible to record mouse clicks which may represent learner choices and responses to survey questions. The possibilities for data collection will be discussed in various potential scenarios in which a language instructor might work. Most of the techniques can be used for language assessment as well as for CALL research.

4:00 – 4:45

Podcasts and Language Learning. Are They Pedagogically Sound? How Are They Really Used?
Orlando René Kelm
Valdo Oliveira
Michelle Lima
Proponents of podcasts tell us that podcasts are a new alternative to textbooks and traditional instruction. Some offer short, focused, and practical lessons that are convenient, flexible, and personal. We report on the creation of a series of podcasts that focus on pronunciation lessons in Brazilian Portuguese, specifically for learners who have already studied Spanish. In addition to the demonstration of the podcasts, we discuss the pedagogical foundation that relates to their features, and we also review the ways in which students actually use the podcasts.

A Computerized Telephone Conversation Simulator for Listening and Speaking Practice
Goh Kawai
Akio Ohnishi
We are developing a standalone computer system for practicing simulated telephone conversations. The instructor designs the conversation and records responses beforehand. The learner dials a number using a telephone handset attached to the computer. No computer display is used. Depending on course design, the system connects the call either to a tightly constrained, rehearsable conversation or to a randomly selected, unanticipated conversation. The system challenges the caller using randomly chosen verbal prompts, decides when to move to the next phrase, and records the learner’s speech and other data. The system’s advantages are the learner’s concentration and the instructor’s ease of grading.

Hybrid or Distance: Do We Need Both? IUPUI’s Spanish Options
Kimmaree Murday
This presentation will describe the assessment of student outcomes for two types of nontraditional Elementary Spanish I options available for students at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). A distance learning section of Elementary Spanish has been offered for several years, making use of TV and internet technologies. Beginning in fall 2006, a hybrid version was added, which entails additional required face-to-face meetings. Student outcomes are compared between the two formats, which were taught by the same instructor using the same materials and technology. An overview of the comparative qualitative and quantitative findings for language gain and satisfaction will be presented.

Creating ICALL Activities for Task-based Instruction
Luiz Amaral
The focus on the natural language processing (NLP) abilities of ICALL systems has made system designers extremely conservative in terms of the types of activities they implemented. While CALL systems with no NLP processing have been developed to promote communicative learning styles using a wide variety of tasks, most ICALL systems propose activities that rely heavily on more form-based tasks. This paper presents ideas to develop ICALL activities that introduce more content-based tasks for ICALL without jeopardizing the systems’ ability to process students’ input. Following guidelines used in TBI, the paper introduces a series of steps to develop valid ICALL activities that take into consideration NLP capabilities in ICALL.

Moodled Mashups: An Integrated Experience
John Vitaglione
This presentation combines the expertise of Title VI NLRCs to provide guidelines for interoperable web functionality and content. Demonstrations show how digital media can be repurposed, combined with other functions, and incorporated into custom web applications. By creating mashups, teachers and learners can combine content from more than one source into an integrated web language learning experience. Such extensibility and flexibility make it possible to produce/package SCORM conformant content to ensure interoperable durability and reusability. Finished content can then be transferred to learning management systems such as Blackboard and Moodle or posted with server software such as weblogs and wikis.

Rethinking the CMS: The Online Audio Lab
Greg Kessler
After years of observing limited use of a university wide course management system, the presenter introduced an alternative Moodle-based system. This new system was still under-utilized. The CMS was revisited and the author created the Moodle-based Online Audio Lab. This new resource is an updated version of the traditional language lab. It includes many of the interactive and dynamic benefits of a CMS in an environment shared by multiple classes of students. Focused upon oral communication, the Online Audio Lab includes synchronous and asynchronous voice CMC, RSS feeds, interactive instructional media and an extensive collection of instructional and authentic content.

Chaos in CALL–A Model?
Mathias Schulze
Recent years saw a noticeable increase in the development of user-adaptive systems, particularly for online learning environments. However, there has been very little work done on student modeling in any area of computer-assisted language learning (CALL), not just for parser-based systems (Heift & Schulze, in press). This is at least partially due to our as yet limited understanding of foreign-language-learning processes (Chapelle, 2004). This paper outlines current discussions of dynamic systems theory and chaos theory within second language acquisition theories (e.g., de Bot et al., 2005; Larsen-Freeman, 1997, 2003) and education (e.g., Haggis, 2005). It will show that chaos theoretical understanding of language-learning processes has some clear methodological advantages in modeling the behavior of language learners in CALL.

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Conference Presentations: Day Two
May 25, 2007

9:00 – 9:45

Using Instant Messenger Bots and Unsupervised Learning Techniques to Promote Vocabulary Acquisition
J. Scott Payne
Michael Lipschultz
Instant messaging (IM) has emerged as the communicative tool of choice for high school and college students. We report findings from an on-going research project that uses an IM bot as an intelligent, language reference agent to provide learners with translation equivalents, examples of contextual language use, level-appropriate readings, and vocabulary quizzes. All queries, quiz results, and interactions with the IM bot are logged and combined with self-report data to generate learner models and chart vocabulary development over time.

Teacher Moves in the Physical and Virtual Environment During Intermediate German CMC Activities
Senta Goertler
While much research has focused on the role of the learner during CMC, little research has been done on the teacher’s role, particularly in the physical environment. In this multiple-case study three classes taught by two different teachers were investigated to identify teacher moves in both the physical and in the virtual environment. It was found that each teacher had a different style in each of the environments. Students’ attitudes in response to the styles were also measured through surveys and classroom observations. The differences in teachers’ styles resulted only in minimal differences in student attitudes.

The Language Lab That Never Closes: Accessing Specialized Lab Software Virtually
Jarom McDonald
Harold Hendricks
Recently, students started wondering why the Humanities Learning Resource Center at Brigham Young University could not stay open 24 hours a day. After all, they reasoned, other labs on campus were open beyond our 9 pm closing, and they can visit websites anytime they wish. For us to not accommodate their desires, so they said, would be tantamount to grade sabotage, as ours are the only labs on campus to have foreign-language-enabled word processing and CALL courseware that their professors require them to use. Our solution? Anytime access to the HLRC through machine virtualization.

Teaching, Learning and Collaborating: A Foreign Language Teacher Wiki Community
Lara Lomicka
Gillian Lord
Lara Ducate
Nike Arnold
Wikis are gaining popularity among foreign language educators due to the degree to which they promote collaboration and their ease of use. In order to take advantage of these benefits, the presenters joined four methodology classes from three different universities to create a wiki community on foreign language learning topics. We report on an end of the semester survey and an analysis of the conversations that took place on the discussion boards to show if and how groups planned the task, negotiated roles and responsibilities, and formed a community.

Integrating Podcasts into the Language Classroom
Anne O’Bryan
Volker Hegelheimer
While educational podcasts are becoming increasingly popular, there is little empirical investigation into how they can be used with language learners to help foster language acquisition. This paper presents the findings of a primarily qualitative investigation into the integration and impact of podcasts in a university-level ESL listening course.

TeLL me More®, Delivering Language Mastery
Brooke Sawyers
The focal point of this session will be a detailed demonstration of TeLL me More®, as well as the tools that come with it, demonstrating the pedagogical values of the solution. Participants will benefit from the presenter’s expertise in the field of language-learning technology. At the conclusion of the presentation, each participant will receive free trial access to the solution in order to properly evaluate how well TeLL me More® would work in each individual’s academic environment.

Language Blogs for a University Community
Claire Bartlett
Hajime Kumahata
The Rice Language Resource Center created a language blog site where students, faculty, and staff of the Rice community can express themselves in a language other than English. Rice students abroad are especially encouraged to contribute. The language blogs are open to the public to read and comment on, but only members of the Rice community can post. All languages taught at Rice are supported including non-Western languages. The blogs include podcasting using a variety of audio recording programs such as Wimba or Audacity. We will present these blogs, discuss their usage, and technical requirements.

10:00 – 10:20

Designing a Computer-assisted Writing Assessment System to Support Advanced Discipline-specific Writing Instruction
Bradley Horn
Which features of language should a computer-assisted writing assessment (CAWA) system be designed to measure? In many past automated essay scoring projects (e.g., Elliot, 2003; Page, 2003), specific linguistic features were selected primarily because they were statistically significant predictors of scores assigned by human raters, rather than because they had a strong theoretical connection to a construct of writing ability. In contrast, the current system is being designed to measure features that were identified as important for chemistry writing by chemistry faculty (Stoller, Horn, Grabe, & Robinson, 2005). Implications of this approach to CAWA system design will be discussed.

What Can Teachers and Students Achieve in a Ubiquitous Hospitality English Learning Platform
Mei-jung Sebrina Wang
This study aimed to report the implementation of a ubiquitous hospitality English learning platform (U-HELP), which incorporates technology to enrich the instructional variety, promote interaction among the students, and to investigate students’ attitudes toward the process-oriented activities conducted in U-HELP in National Kaohsiung Hospitality College in Taiwan. U-HELP provides teachers with an easy-to-use system, and the learning processes recorded can assist teachers in conducting in-depth research. In addition, an online survey is used to collect the data. Hopefully, such a new model of a standardized instructional platform will shed new light on alternative applications of web-based instruction.

Everybody Wins: Uses of Web-based Electronic Teaching Portfolios for LCTL Instructors
Emmanuel Paris-Bouvret
In order to enhance the teacher development process, instructors in the LCTLs program at Wesleyan University have started using a web-based Electronic Teaching Portfolio. Instructors are given a professionally designed web template and, in collaboration with their supervisor, develop content and receive technical help to produce supporting materials such as video clips of their teaching. This presentation will briefly describe the background of the LCTLs program at Wesleyan University and demonstrate the Electronic Teaching Portfolio while discussing the development process as well as the results of its implementation. This presentation is applicable to the LCTLs or other language programs.

A Model for DVD-based Implementation of Multiple-episode Video Programs
Bernd Conrad
The main objective of this presentation is to present a model for implementing a comprehensive authentic video program across intermediate and advanced college level German courses. Specifically, this model advocates the use of the popular TV series “Berlin Berlin” as a medium for conveying peer-group perspectives of contemporary German culture. The approach relies on DVD technology not simply as a device for presenting multisensory input but rather on its capacity for making such input more comprehensible. The use of authentic video has been found to promote incidental vocabulary learning, listening comprehension skills, language-learning motivation, and cultural knowledge.

CMC and the Development of Sociolinguistic Competence
Mathy Ritchie
This presentation describes the preliminary results of a study which investigated the development of the sociolinguistic competence of non-native speakers of French interacting through electronic discussions with native speakers of French. It has been suggested that this competence develops through face-to-face interactions with native speakers. This study suggested a pedagogical approach that uses computer-mediated communication (CMC) as an alternative to face-to-face interaction to develop the learners’ sociolinguistic competence.

Electronic Feedback Options for Writing Students
Ulugbek Nurmukhamedov
ESL writing teachers traditionally use pen and paper and oral feedback. However, Microsoft Word offers electronic options like “insert comments” and “insert audio” feedback types to writing classrooms. The presenter discusses these and other feedback options, including the pros and cons of each, based on classroom research conducted in Introduction to Academic Writing course.

Teaching Foreign Languages with XClass
Fuqiang Zhuo
This presentation will start with a brief overview of the key features of XClass, a virtual listening lab system or computer lab management system. Next will be classroom observations and analysis of the survey responses from instructors who have used XClass for foreign language instruction, testing, and research data collection. The analysis results will show which features are more important and more frequently used, as well as which features are less frequently used in classroom teaching and learning activities. The instructors’ feedback may help both trainers to organize and plan training and developers to improve the product.

10:30 – 10:50

Effectiveness of the Global Language Online Support System (GLOSS): A Case Study in Intermediate Korean
Si Yen Lee
Youngsook Kim
Sun-Kwang Bae
We will present research results that tested the effectiveness of Korean GLOSS lessons. SCORM-conformant GLOSS learning objects, developed by the Defense Language Institute (DLI), were taught to two graduating classes at DLI in two waves, with each class serving alternately as a control group for each series of 2-week modules on different topics. During the first wave, one class was taught the lessons of the module while the other was left as a control group, and, during the second wave, the roles were reversed. Summative unit test scores for each module and tracking records of behaviors are then compared.

Using Web-based Speech Recognition Technologies to Improve English Pronunciation
Howard Chen
Oral communication ability has become increasingly important. Several commercial CALL programs claim that they can provide high-quality pronunciation training with the help of automatic speech recognition technologies. Although these commercial programs can be useful, many EFL students cannot afford these expensive programs. In this paper, we introduce how we can make good use of Microsoft Speech Application Software Development Kit (SASDK), a free but very powerful tool, to develop a pronunciation training website. This website offers six different types of online exercises which allow EFL students to practice their English pronunciation and obtain immediate feedback on their performance.

Implementing Video iPods in Intensive Pashto and Persian Language Programs
Gregory E. Menke
Sarah Springer
This presentation highlights efforts to utilize video iPods as a standard tool for delivering listening materials to students in our school’s Pashto and Persian intensive language programs involving over 200 students and approximately 30 teachers. We will discuss what steps we have taken to train teachers and students, what features of the iPod and iTunes we have found to be most useful, and the challenges we have encountered in the process. We will also share information gathered from surveys and personal interviews conducted with teachers and students as a means of monitoring the implementation process.

The Development, Use, and Effect of Multiple Applications of CALL
Gi-Zen Liu
Innovative Internet-based technologies have opened the door for exploring culture-rich language-learning materials, practicing receptive and productive language abilities and promoting frequent language uses in two-way communication. Rushby (2005) observes that a new paradigm of various uses of Internet-based learning technologies and environments is rising. The NCKU Internet-based English Learning & Testing Project (http://english.ncku.edu.tw) has been in use since 2006 to improve the English ability of all university students, adopting a bilingual (English and Chinese) learning platform, a system of English standardized testing, and online multimedia interactive lessons. Proficiency in English and information technology helps raise students’ international competitiveness and self-learning.

The “I” in CALL: A Question of Design in Foreign Language Classes
Moira DiMauro-Jackson
As a foreign language educator who uses computers generally, I can postulate that personal computers provide powerful tools for students to learn languages and appreciate cultures, only if used correctly. This paper looks beyond the system and offers a solution within the notion of interfacing. I show how an interface of technology and pedagogy, converging Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligence (MI) and CALL, along with specific pedagogical goals, can promote what Laurence M. Dryden calls, “the individualization of learning and the promotion of education for deep understanding” (p. 61). I believe that identifying the students’ various abilities and developing a theory that supports the many factors of intelligence, interface design, and CALL would be a significant contribution to the field.

When Good Projects Go Bad: Examining Failure to Foster Success
Sharon Scinicariello
The needs for successful technology projects are often discussed: curriculur integration, faculty incentives, release time, technical support, and so on. This presentation examines a project which seems to have failed even though all these needs were addressed. Why are the faculty involved in the project so dissatisfied? What did the project designers fail to consider? What makes a project successful? Most important, can this project be saved? To explore these questions, the presenter will contrast this project with several smaller ones that, despite obstacles, have become integral parts of the language curriculum.

Assessment of Autonomous Language Learning through e-Portfolio
Elena Osinsky
This paper introduces e-Portfolio as an assessment tool in autonomous language learning settings for less commonly taught languages. The author is interested in how electronic portfolios might be useful for a professional development for autonomous language learners.

1:30 – 2:15

Project-based Language Learning in Virtual Learning Environments: What Learners’ Errors Can Tell Us about Their Language Development
Françoise Blin
Sylvie Thouesny
In the case of project-based language learning supported by a VLE, students’ actions are mediated by a variety of technologies presenting different affordances and constraints and, most important, by language itself. Starting from a sociocultural perspective, this presentation examines a small corpus of learner language produced in the context of a collaborative project supported by a VLE. Following a presentation of the taxonomy of errors used to encode the texts, error types are compared between text genres produced by students using different technologies available through the VLE. Implications for student assessment and the provision of feedback are then discussed.

Raising Global Language Proficiency: Technology and Eclectic Strategies for Teaching Foreign Languages
Linda L. Chang
How to put adult language learners in the driver’s seat? Eclectic strategies along with some easy-to-use technology tools were employed in a 6-week intensive Chinese refresher course for seven nonheritage Chinese foreign language (CFL) learners. This course provided the learners with ample opportunities to use the language creatively in all four modalities (previewing, reviewing, concept/skill reinforcing, and writing) with the help of several software applications. The pre/post gain scores clearly show that all seven CFL learners mastered the course materials presented. More important, the course went beyond the scope of the textbook in several major ways, in terms of the learners actively raising their global language proficiency. A live demo on the use of technology, along with the eclectic strategies and some learners’ sample works, will be part of the presentation.

Does My Learning Style Influence My Vision of Second Language Teaching and Learning?
Martine Peters
Jacques Chevrier
Ryamond Leblanc
Gilles Fortin
Student teachers (N = 18) had to reflect on their vision of learning and teaching a language and create a concept map to illustrate this vision. Our analysis examined the degree of complexity of concept maps created by student teachers and the link with their learning styles. Our conclusion will demonstrate how students with different learning styles view teaching and learning a language very differently.

From E-mail to Voice Chat: The Many Faces of Tandem Language Learning Using CMC
Peggy Patterson
I will summarize the progression of tandem language learning (TLL) projects using CMC that I have used in the past and present our most recent project using synchronous voice chats between my Spanish students and students of English in Argentina. With each project an increasing amount of asynchronous and synchronous communication was added to the basic e-mail exchange. For some projects, data were analyzed, and these data plus additional information from the learners’ self-report questionnaires indicated that the tandem projects were beneficial to language learning. Each project had advantages and disadvantages, which will be presented along with advice for those who wish to implement them in class.

In Your Face: On-demand Portability For Language Learning
John Vitaglione
Urmila Suryawanshi
Cell phones, iPods, and MP3-players enable on-demand portability for language learning at affordable rates with considerable memory capacity and connectivity. Given web access to language resources, we face challenges for good instructional use of mobile devices. This session addresses (a) the conspicuous need for pedagogical tools to customize digital media for learning and (b) compatible format conversion/use of resources for these devices. A QuickTime-based tool for customizing/repurposing video soundtracks, language subtitles, transcriptions, and chapter interactivity will be demonstrated. Procedures for converting digital media to mobile formats with Bluetooth, iTunes, and RSS will be shown with Blog, Moodle, and Podcasting examples.

French Collocations: Learner Errors and CALL Resources
Marie-Josée Hamel
Our analysis of lexical errors in an FSL learner corpus (s = ~50,000 w.) reveals serious problems with collocations, namely with the selection of collocates for given bases. Indeed, over 500 lexical errors related to collocations were found in our FSL learner corpus. FSL learners are underexposed to collocations and CALL resources are lacking which focus on French collocations. In our presentation, we will look at the erroneous uses of collocations by FSL learners, review some existing CALL resources focusing on French collocations, and present a CALL tutorial we are currently developing which exploits French collocations through a set of lexical functions.

2:30 – 3:15

Studying English with The SIMS: Investigating the Use of Computer Simulation Games for L2 Learning
Jim Ranalli
With their realistic animation and interactivity, computer simulation games can provide context-rich, cognitively engaging environments for language learning. However, simulation games designed for L2 learners are in short supply. Could mass market games be supplemented with support materials to allow learners to enter and explore these cyber worlds? This paper describes two studies that investigated whether the best selling game, The SIMs, could be made accessible for L2 learning by means of supplementary materials designed to meet Chapelle’s (2001) criteria for CALL task appropriateness. The studies evaluated vocabulary gains and learners’ attitudes toward the game as a tool for learning.

The Use of e-Portfolios in the Language Classroom: Rationale and Implementation
Peter Lafford
Barbara Lafford
Michelle Petersen
Language pedagogues are becoming increasingly aware of the advantages of using e-portfolios for assessment purposes. A particularly attractive feature of e-portfolios in this context is their ability to contain audio and video files in addition to written documents to gauge students’ progress. Using examples from university-level Spanish classes, the presenters will address the rationale behind and implementation of e-Portfolios in the language classroom. They will also evaluate the use of three different environments for hosting these portfolios: a simple template-based html web page, a PowerPoint-based e-Portfolio, and an Open Source Portfolio (OSP) online portfolio hosted on a Sakai course management system.

Video iPods, Language, and Cultural Studies: A Case Study
Sharon Scinicariello
This presentation reports on the use of video iPods in an advanced undergraduate course on German political satire. An integral part of the course design, iPods were used both to immerse students in the course content–satirical images, songs, and commentary–and to promote student interaction with the content, with the target language, and with each other. After outlining the design and implementation of the course, the presenter will show examples of the iPod-based activities and address student and faculty assessment of the iPod project. She will conclude with notes on the possible expansion of this pilot project.

Text Normalization for Corpus Exploration
Hans Paulussen
Piet Desmet
There is a growing need for enriched annotations in corpora for CALL. Text normalization based on XML standards can augment corpus structure and thus enhance linguistic analysis and text rendition. Corpora very often lack the structure necessary for efficient exploration. The use of text formats in compliance with XML standards will produce more flexibly structured texts and form the basis for creating derived products useful for depicting corpus samples from different angles. In this talk we will illustrate the possible advantages of an XML-structured parallel corpus in the context of a CALL application. Samples are taken from DPC (Dutch Parallel Corpus), a multilingual corpus project which has recently been started and which aims at compiling a parallel corpus of English, French, and Dutch translated texts.

Individual Learner Differences in CALL
Trude Heift
Carol Chapelle
In the 2006 spring semester, we conducted a study with 50 learners of German to investigate the use of a new measure (Cárdenas-Claros, 2005) for research in the field of independent-dependent (FI/D) cognitive style and CALL use. After the measure was administered, students worked on a CALL program for German that logs interaction. We will report the reliability and item analysis of the FI/D-CALL measure in addition to its relationship with learners’ behaviors in the CALL program. With the goal of understanding how FI/D intersects with satisfaction and success in learning through CALL, we will suggest areas for future development of the measure.

Web-based Formative Assessment
Abdelfattah Boussalhi
Youngsook Kim
Sun-Kwang Bae
The Curriculum Development Division of DLIFLC has been involved in developing a web-based formative assessment system called Online Diagnostic Assessment (ODA). ODA enables learners to evaluate and manage their foreign language learning. ODA aims to provide the learners with individualized feedback on their accomplishments and needs in their chosen foreign language. This feedback will be based upon a systematic sampling of their abilities across a variety of levels and specific linguistic features. The presenters will briefly review the ODA development process, methodology, technological architecture, and showcase sample tests and the diagnostic profile generated by the system.

3:30 – 4:15

Focus on Form through Collaborative Scaffolding in Synchronous Computer-mediated Communication
Lina Lee
This presentation reports on a study of peer-to-peer synchronous CMC to foster focus-on-form procedures delivered to 30 college students. The study aimed to examine the effectiveness of feedback negotiation through collaborative scaffolding in the novice-expert apprenticeship. Findings drawn from chat logs, questionnaires, and final oral interviews relate to form-focused feedback on lexical and syntactical errors including expert’s role, L1 use, self-repair, and take type. The findings suggest that CMC has great potential to bring a balanced approach to L2 instruction whereby communication is the primary focus while target forms are reinforced through a process of collaborative interaction in a social setting.

Implementation of Automatic Fluency Checking Using Freely Available Tool Kits
Garrett G. Molholt
John Morgan
Jinah Park
We are extending our work from CALICO 2006 with a pilot study that evaluates a real-time implementation of a fluency checker. The new work includes disfluency modeling of Korean student speech. The fluency checker will be implemented in the Python programming language using a Tkinter GUI, the SNACK audio and speech processing package, and HTK for speech recognition.

Written, Aural, and Visual Processing Strategies in a Multimedia Environment
Linda Jones
James Davis
Computer-based multimedia environments provide second language input in print, sound, and video modes. Few studies have focused upon the differing processing strategies these media require. The present research reports on nine students, native speakers of English, who were presented with written, aural, and video texts in French. Students were asked to “think aloud” as they attempted to understand the texts. They also filled out a questionnaire, completed immediate recall protocol tasks, and participated in an exit interview. This presentation reports on an analysis of the learners’ think aloud protocols and includes video-based segments of their reported strategy use.

Building the New French Online: The Challenges of Shared Infrastructure
Christopher M. Jones
Marc Siskin
French Online is a web-based hybrid course in use and continuing development at Carnegie Mellon University since 2000. Currently under redevelopment with NSF and Hewlett Foundation funding, the new course includes new exercise templates based on the Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools, extensive logging, tracking and modeling, gated interactive progression, new communicative video shot in Nantes, and synthetic activities based on authentic materials. Unique challenges include sharing a proprietary delivery system with nonlanguage courses. This presentation will combine an outline of design principles and institutional context, a description of the technical infrastructure of the course, and a brief demonstration.

Using E-texts and Software to Improve Reading Comprehension in Chinese
Jing Wang
Facilitated by software, reading Chinese e-texts may be easier than reading printed texts because the software divides word boundaries and provides meaning of words in English if the cursor is put under characters. Twenty-two intermediate and advanced learners read an e-text in Chinese facilitated by the software, wrote down a summary in English, and then answered questions concerning the reading of the text. The author tried to identify strategies students used in the reading process, gauge the effectiveness of the software in aiding reading comprehension, and summarize students’ reactions to reading e-texts with the help of the software. Based on the findings, the author gives suggestions on the pedagogical use of e-texts and the software.

Automated Scoring of ESL Essays Using Linguistic Maturity Variables
Ronald P. Millett
Deryle Lonsdale
Only recently has research focused on the challenges of automatic holistic scoring of ESL essays. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of using statistical measures of linguistic maturity to predict holistic scores for ESL essays. Using customized algorithms based on multivariable regression analysis as well as memory-based machine learning, holistic scores were predicted from selected linguistic attributes on test essays within ±1.0 of the scoring level of human judges’ scores over 90% of the time. This level of prediction is an improvement over the 66% prediction level attained from a previous study.

The Many Interfaces of CALL Listening
Philip Hubbard
Although computer technologies offer a plethora of possibilities for developing second language listening proficiency, little has been done at the methodological level to produce and refine procedures for teachers and learners to use the affordances of these innovations effectively. This paper offers a first pass at a descriptive framework for CALL listening aimed at encouraging greater exploration in this domain. It recognizes the central role of the computer in enhancing listening through the foundational processes of transferring, transforming, archiving, indexing, and linking and delineates forms of developer, teacher, and learner control over a range of audio, video, and text parameters.

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Conference Presentations: Day Three
May 26, 2007

9:00 – 9:45

Blogging Wiki-ly: Social and (Inter)cultural Effects of Communication and Community in Blended Online Learning Environments
Debra Hoven
This presentation examines the uses of blogs, wikis, and other social-networking software in the teaching of a Masters course in language teacher education. Since the use of blogs was a common characteristic across the three-semester study, these will be used to illustrate usage and communication patterns among culturally diverse students, focusing on electronically mediated mentoring which took place across semesters and across successive student cohorts, and postcourse reflections and interactions. Intercultural and personality factors will be examined to determine their role in the formation of a cohesive learning community mediated by a blend of f2f and electronic communication.

Increasing Motivation and Interest with Animated Pedagogical Agents in Computer-assisted Language Learning
Roberto Perez Galluccio
Animated pedagogical agents are visual interfaces that mediate between the computer and the learner in order to achieve more natural, human-like communication. Research has shown that a well developed, properly implemented animated agent can positively affect learner interest and motivation (Prendinger & Ishizuka, 2001; Moreno, 2001; Baylor, 2001). In a language learning environment, special importance should be assigned to the role of the agent (e.g., presenter, tutor, conversation partner), the type of task attempted (e.g., grammar lesson, communicative activity), and the pedagogical agent’s communicative style (e.g., oral or gestural). This presentation will discuss current research, issues of effective implementation, and available agent technologies.

Learning to Show You’re Listening: A Back-channel Trainer for Arabic
Rafael Escalante
Nigel Ward
Yaffa AlBayyar
Thamar Solorio
Good listeners generally produce back-channel feedback, and do so in a language appropriate way. Second language learners often lack this skill. This paper presents a training sequence which enables the acquisition of basic Arabic back-channel skill, namely, that of producing feedback immediately after the speaker produces a sharp pitch downslope. This training sequence includes software that provides feedback on learners’ attempts to produce the cue themselves and feedback on learners’ performance as they play the role of an attentive listener in response to one side of a prerecorded dialog. Preliminary experiments indicate that this is effective.

From Computer-based to Internet-based Oral Proficiency Assessment
Trevor Shanklin
At the San Diego State University Language Acquisition Resource Center, we are using a range of digital recording software to enhance the teaching and assessment of oral skills in the foreign language curriculum. With LARCStar 2.5.1, released in October 2006, an instructor can use any multimedia prompt to elicit a recorded answer that is saved on a server for assessment. Students can go back to their recording and see the instructors evaluation. We are also pilot testing Horzion Wimba with Blackboard and Speex on our Moodle site. We will report on the results of our pilot testing.

Personality and Learning: Designing CALL for Different Learners
Fenfang Hwu
This study explores how learners of different personality types can be accommodated by different designs of an input-enhancement application. To find designs to match different types of learners, the study examines existing instructional approaches and methodological options for input enhancement. It also examines the characteristics frequently associated with each personality type and the patterns of interests and motivations revealed by different personality preferences in learning situations. Additionally, it considers research reports on type differences in choices of tools, learning strategies, learning styles, and the interaction effects between personality and instructional approach. New instructional options will be proposed accordingly.

Using Wikis for a Collaborative Writing Project
Claudia Kost
This paper presents results from a pilot study investigating the use of Wikis for collaborative writing projects in intermediate German classes. Students wrote several of the regularly assigned essays during one semester in collaboration with another student using a Wiki. The research was guided by the following questions: What do students correct when they make changes to their common texts (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, stylistic expressions, etc.)? How do they change/add to the content? How do they perceive the use of the Wiki (via questionnaires)? Findings regarding students’ collaborative writing and error correction behavior will be reported.

Language Influence in Foreign Language Spelling
Anne Rimrott
Trude Heift
This presentation investigates the relationship between language influence and spelling. Forty-eight English-speaking learners of German participated in our study in which we analyzed 735 misspellings according to native and foreign language influence and their correction rate by a spell checker. As part of the analysis, we classified the misspellings into three groups: intralingual (L2 influence), interlingual (L1 influence), or nonlingual (no L1/L2 influence). Study results indicate that intralingual misspellings are the most frequent (61%) but have a low correction rate (59%). The presentation provides examples of misspellings and makes recommendations for improving the correction rate of language-influenced misspellings in CALL.

10:00 – 10:45

Neurocognitive Engagement in Web-based Learning
Antonio Gragera
I am presenting a web model of language learning that follows premises from cognitive sciences. It addresses the relationship between attention, long-term memory, and patterns of conceptualization from the perspective of developmental psychology and linguistics. The interface design is based on the works of Jacob Nielsen. The linguistic content and sequencing of activities follows a pragmatic approach to language learning. These environments reflect social interactions that are familiar to the students as a way to link lexical form and situational meaning. The method wants to include implicit association of structures and situations as much as possible.

Language Lab Unleashed!: Creating Virtual Professional Development Resources Every Thursday Night at 8 pm
Barbara Sawhill
Erin Brazell
Language Lab Unleashed! (http://www.languagelabunleashed.com) is an interactive webcast and blog created by and for language-learning technologists with the goal of creating conversations among and between language technologists and teachers around the world. Language Lab Unleashed! is a professional development tool created by and for the community it serves that strives to alleviate the relative isolation many members of our community feel on their respective campuses when funding for other means of professional development is scarce or nonexistent.

Beyond the “Wow” Factor: Putting the iPod to the Test in Language Learning
Janel Pettes Guikema
This pilot project investigates the effectiveness of the iPod in language learning. Specifically, the study explores how and to what extent the use of this device can enhance listening comprehension, contribute to cultural knowledge and understanding, and influence learners’ motivation. Preloaded with digital flashcards and a wide variety of music and podcasts in the target language, the iPods were loaned to intermediate-level students, giving them portable access to language and culture beyond the confines of the classroom. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected in this year long study, including Likert and open-ended questionnaires, listening comprehension tests, interviews, and student-created podcasts.

Reconceptualizing Language Labs: If You Only Have Lemons, Make Lemonade
M. Rafael Salaberry
The same technological advances that have challenged the existence of language labs have also provided opportunities for their retooling. First, labs can create learning environments that are qualitatively different than face-to-face settings. Furthermore, lab sessions are less costly than regular face-to-face classroom interactions. In this paper I will argue that the proper reconceptualization of language labs needs to be guided by the principled analysis of the theoretical and logistical conditions that support the retooling of the language lab. I will describe examples of both effective and ineffective examples of the above-mentioned process of analysis and implementation.

A Reflection on Best Practices for Using Technology to Teach Languages
Robert Blake
This presentation is a reflection on implementing best practices for using technology to teach languages. Teachers must realize: (a) there are multiple entry points for using technology; (b) emphasis should be on what is done with technology, not what technology is used; (c) students must be made to be agents of their own learning; and (d) goals include arriving at a third place, the development of intercultural communicative competence. These observations will be discussed in order to formulate a list of guidelines for implementing technology in the curriculum that might be useful in teaching training.

SCORM-compliant Learning Objects in Online Language Learning
Bob Godwin-Jones
Ray Clifford
J. Scott Payne
Michael Bush
This session will feature a panel discussion on the SCORM learning standard and will address the following issues: (a) What is SCORM (origins, purpose), (b) Current status of SCORM (SCORM 2004 and simple sequencing), (c) SCORM in use (integration into LMS, language learning), (d) Tools for creating SCORM-compliant content (brief survey of free and commercial authoring tools), and (e) Future of SCORM (Web 2.0, Common Cartridge, and IMS Tools Interoperability Specification).

Technitude 3: Why Type When You Can Click?
Alysse Weinberg
Martine Peters
Nandini Sarma
This paper will present the results of a study on students’ perceptions of the types of tasks used in technological activities for grammar activities in language learning. We will shed light on the factors that may influence students’ preferences by analyzing the relationship between their attitudes towards technology, their learning styles, and their perceptions of technological tasks. We suggest that understanding these factors is important in the creation and design of technological grammatical activities and in their integration in the classroom.

11:00 – 11:20

The Instrument for Investigating the Perceptions of Taiwanese Students Toward English as Foreign Language Course Using an Online Course Management System
Hsiu-Jen Cheng
With the influence of national e-learning plan and distance educational procedural rules, English Language Teaching (ELT) in higher education institutions started adopting Internet technology in Taiwan. The online course management system (CMS) has become the main tool to promote the movement to e-learning (KSL, n.d.). Huang (2003) and Liaw (2002) agreed that the successful implementation of Internet technology relied on users’ attitudes. The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to investigate students’ perceptions of the English courses using an online CMS. Such a scale was examined by a convenient sample. Detailed results were discussed.

Computer-mediated Communication and Video Chat: An International Critical Evaluation
Randall Sadler
The presentation reports on an international evaluation of 6 video chat tools, including CU World, ICQ, MSN Messenger, PalTalk, Skype, and Yahoo Messenger. The project involved 18 graduate students, 10 located in the United States and 8 in Turkey, who utilized each program for CMC, after which they answered a 22-question survey regarding the technical quality of the program and its applicability to personal and academic communicative situations. The presenter will discuss the quantitative and qualitative results for each program and ways in which such technology can be used to enhance language learning both inside and outside of the classroom.

Language and Culture through Music: A Collaborative Model Online
Aaron Prevots
This talk will present the learning object French through Songs and Singing, http://www.southwestern.edu/~prevots/songs/. The focus will be on how I developed a resource bank for teaching and learning language and culture through music. The aspects discussed will include adapting open source software (WordPress), elaborating project goals and inviting outside contributions. The site itself features music-related articles, streaming MP3’s and annotated, downloadable lyrics. The recordings – mainly my own – are of songs in the public domain and an occasional original. The initial set of fifty pieces has already expanded through offerings by current recording artists from France, Canada, and the USA.

A Morphological Analyzer for German: Applications in CALL
Peter Wood
Although parsers can automatically analyze the structure of sentences, they are rarely used in CALL applications. One of the main reasons is that parsers still have considerable difficulty in analyzing erroneous learner texts correctly. Languages like German with a complex morphology necessitate parsers to do a comprehensive morphological analysis to provide useful output when dealing with learner data. This paper will summarize how a morphological analyzer detects morphological units, attempts to find morphological errors, and provides feedback. The main focus will be on showing CALL applications of a morphological analyzer that can be used by instructors and learners alike.

11:30 – 11:50

Towards Innovative Online Foreign Language Courseware Design: A Design Experimentation Study
Chun Lai
Yong Zhao
Dongping Zheng
This study, using design-based research framework, looks at beginning-level online foreign language course design in terms of content, format, and technology. Drawing from the literature, we implemented an innovative approach based on culture to add to the intellectual challenge of the learning materials, separates the learning of vocabulary from that of grammar, proactively uses learners’ native language to materialize the intellectual challenge at the beginning-level, and takes advantage of network technologies to maximize the affordances of this approach. The iterative design, development, and evaluation of an online Chinese courseware developed based on this approach will be the case to be presented.

The Effect of Computer-assisted Language Learning on the Cognition of Self-directed Learners
Wu Jing
Wu Zhongjie
Since ineffective self-directed language learning is currently shown in the higher education of China, this paper focuses on whether CALL could create a good cognitive environment for self-directed learners, facilitating their cognitive process and the development of cognitive strategies. A system called Experiencing English Centre and Experiencing English II Courseware newly developed by HEP were used for this purpose. Through the surveys on the undergraduates in UESTC, their fulfillment levels to the cognitive conditions under both the traditional mode and CALL mode were statistically analyzed and compared. It is discovered that the CALL mode is much more favorable for self-directed learners during their cognitive process. The superiority of CALL has been further proven by the quantitative analyses on learners’ achievements.

Online Video Streams: Theoretical and Practical Considerations of Using Newscasts
Luba Iskold
The presenter will discuss the pros and cons associated with the integration of digital video streaming into language curricula. She will demonstrate an online Guide she constructed for students of Russian to augment their comprehension of newscasts delivered by SCOLA via the internet. The Guide may be used as a template for any language. The researcher will explore how the theoretical view of comprehension leads to the design of online video-driven learning environments which are sensitive to the ways students construct meaning from videotexts. She will demonstrate examples of activities performed as previewing, during viewing, and postviewing tasks.

Playback and Selective Listening in an Intermediate Spanish Course
Adolfo Carrillo Cabello
This project has been designed to introduce students to playback and selective listening as listening comprehension strategies that they can use to develop self-correction and assessment of their oral production. Conversation tables are recorded and put into Podcasts to which students subscribe. Students are asked to playback the recordings to monitor the language they produce, listening for specific information that is listed in a worksheet. This process directs students’ attention to the analysis, reflection, and reasoning of their spoken language. As part of the assignment, students are asked to record a brief (1-minute) description of their oral production using a Wimba Voice Board. The comments are available on a threaded voice-based online discussion board through which students can interact with other members by commenting on their postings in the form of an oral reply.

Drake: Language Studies for the Internet Age
Jan Marston
Drake’s learner-centered language program emphasizes building communicative and technology skills to help students achieve competence in second languages and cultures. Students learn to use internet tools and resources, not only to support their language acquisition but also to explore the cultures of the language they are studying. Students also learn the skills they need to make an electronic portfolio and keep a learning journal. They work collaboratively, developing skills in self-assessment and peer assessment; after they master the basics, they can choose to use their language knowledge to study and research in their major or another discipline.

1:30 – 2:15

“I asked my parents why a wall was so important:” Historical Content in Language Learning
Franziska Lys
This presentation is an update on the interactive video program Drehort Neubrandenburg originally filmed in 1991. The interactive program today contains an additional one-hour documentary shot in 2002 featuring unique stories of the lives of the original towns people and their reflection on the last 11 years. The presentation will highlight two distinct ways of presenting and working with multimedia material. Students work intensively with the documentary material shot in 1991. The accompanying software guides them through linguistic practice and holds them responsible for the acquisition of new vocabulary and phrases, among other things. Students work extensively with the documentary material shot in 2002.

Necessity and Invention: How Foreign Language Teachers use Generic Software Applications
Jessamine Cooke-Plagwitz
Despite increased access to computer hardware and software in many schools, a significant number of foreign language (FL) teachers still do not have access to the materials they prefer. Moreover, many FL faculty who use computers for instruction are dissatisfied with prepackaged language-learning software and prefer to create their own materials using readily available generic software applications. This presentation reports on a survey-based study which examines how FL teachers are incorporating this software into their instruction. Additionally, it discusses the ways in which these teachers have subtly altered their teaching strategies and classroom schedules to include these new tools.

Designing Learner Models for Intelligent Language Tutors
Luiz Amaral
Detmar Meurers
Learner models for intelligent language tutoring systems (ILTS) have been designed to model a student’s state of knowledge in terms of her acquisition of linguistic structures (see Heift, 2005; Michaud & McCoy, 2004; Murphy & McTear, 1997). In this paper, we motivate a broader perspective of learner models for ILTS that incorporates strategic competence (Bachman, 1990) as well as learning strategies (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990). The learner model architecture we present allows the system to react to a student’s errors not only based on her linguistic knowledge, but also taking into consideration her ability to perform language tasks, and her preferred strategies to learn a foreign language. The proposed learner model is being implemented as part of the TAGARELA system for the instruction of Portuguese.

Virtual Teaching and Learning Commons
Kathryn Murphy-Judy
Mark Peterson
We will present some of the new programs that are cropping up like Second Life in light of their teaching and learning potential inside and outside the language classroom. We will also consider the wider concern of new communicational media and modes and their impact on social and linguistic formations among our students and colleagues. If we have good beginning data from research derived from constructing our island in Second Life (January-April), we will present it. If not, we will indicate some viable directions for research and explorations in this area and the steps to setting up an island.

2:30 – 3:15

Mobile Language Acquisition: A Study in iPod Use in Listening Comprehension
Bridget Dahill
J. Scott Payne
Since the introduction of Apple Computer’s iPod, foreign language educators have been experimenting with how portable media players together with RSS (real simple syndication) can be deployed in second language acquisition. In this presentation we report findings from two related studies spanning three semesters on the impact of pod- and vodcasting on listening comprehension and oral skill development in introductory Russian courses. Through a combination of self-report and performance measures we examined the role that ubiquitous access to multimedia materials plays in developing these skills and possibly transferring to other skills. Pedagogical implications and directions for future research are also discussed.

Virtual Face-to-face Interaction through Videoconferencing: A Step Towards Enriching Foreign Language Teaching Programs
Kristi Jauregi Ondarra
The Spanish Department at Utrecht University, in collaboration with the universities of Granada and Barcelona in Spain and the University of Concepción in Chili, has been experimenting with the use of videoconferencing in the foreign language courses. The project aims at investigating whether such a synchronic communication tool can contribute to enrich the quality of foreign language curricula by facilitating virtual face-to-face communication with native speakers and so recreate immersion conditions. In the project we (a) explored the cooperative possibilities the virtual environment offers, (b) designed relevant tasks with the main focus on negotiating intercultural differences at B1/B2 level (Common European Framework of Reference), (c) established session deadlines, (d) recorded the session for further analysis, and (e) asked students to fill in questionnaires to globally evaluate their experience. We will describe the project, show relevant samples of interaction, present results, and discuss experiences.

Weekly Training Events: Interfacing Out of the Box in CALL
Gregory Arthur Lloyd
Andrei Aleinikov
Alaa Elghannam
Weekly Training Events (WTE) is a pioneering program in online language and area studies created by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. It is the first fully automated system for teaching productive (spoken and written) foreign language skills and professional Final Learning Objectives (translation, interpretation, transcription, and summarization) to advanced learners (ILR Level 2+/3) in nonclassroom, self-instructional settings. By providing an innovative variety of sample-based, automated feedback modes to stimulate critical reflection and facilitate self-evaluation, WTE lessons foster a new type of learner—the “expert” learner—who teaches him/herself to think and produce outside of the interface “box.”

Take a Slice of My Pie and Begin Your Online Course
Roberto Rodriguez
See how to migrate relevant areas of classroom learning into a web-based learning environment, while using both the classroom and Internet to teach a course. Demonstrate how WebCt or Blackboard, Wimba, and PCs are used to prepare and create an online foreign language course or any course. The goals of the presentation are to reduce anxieties associated with the online experience of creating web course. Wonderment, self-doubt, minimal computer skills, and misinformation often deter an instructor from creating cyber courses; therefore, the presenter will provide instructors with information on how to confidently begin a simple course page and add material ‘as time passes by.’

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