Bridging CALL Communities
March 18-22, 2008

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University of San Francisco

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Conference Presentations: Day One
March 20, 2008

10:00 – 10:45

Developing Pronunciation Self-reflection Skills through Digital Video
Andrew Arthur Oestrike
IALLT Presentation
The need for International Teaching Assistants (ITAs) continues to rise across English-speaking universities because EFL programs across the world rarely prepare students with the speaking skills necessary to effectively communicate in academic environments. This study examines the use of technology in an ITA pronunciation course. The students in this class failed the standardized ETS SPEAK test, necessitating enrollment in the class. Through videos created in short interviews, students critically analyze their own speech samples as the core component to their assignments. Students’ perceptions of the material and technology, along with their improvement on the test will be discussed.

Integrating ICALL into Synchronous CMC
Markus Dickinson
Rebecca Sachs
Yunkyoung Kang
Soojeong Eom
Task-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) may represent an optimal psycholinguistic environment for form-meaning connections, but learners do not receive feedback from a trusted authority. Intelligent computer-assisted language instruction (ICALI) provides feedback, but the encouragement of communicative interaction remains largely unexplored. To combine the benefits of ICALI and CMC, we are designing a parser-based system that provides feedback on particle usage by first-year L2 Korean learners in CMC. To deal with computational challenges, we constrain the content with picture-based information-gap tasks and limit feedback to a specific area of language. This lets the system address errors in meaningful, goal-driven interactions.

Relative Effectiveness of Feedback Types in CALL
Sandra Kregar
Numerous studies have identified a facilitative for the use of corrective feedback in L2 instruction (Russell & Spada, 2006). However, few studies (e.g. Nagata, 1997; Sanz & Morgan-Short, 2004) have explored the effects of different types of corrective feedback on learner performance in a CALL environment. Moreover, these studies have not yielded a consensus regarding the superiority of a single feedback type or identified conditions in which feedback is most beneficial. This session presents a current study that explored the relative effectiveness of feedback types, discusses the findings in relation to previous research and offers implications for instructional practices.

Teaching, Learning, and Assessing Culture through Blogs: More Than What Is in the Textbook
Marc Cadd
IALLT Presentation
Whether you use your own blog or simply use existing blogs to supplement your curriculum, blogs offer a free and easy means of expanding what students learn about the target culture. Using readily available, free blog providers, you can set up a blog, control content, and have your students learn what you want them to learn about the culture. Systematic assessment of students’ learning is also a critical aspect of this process. This presentation will show you how to set up a blog, provide sources of existing blogs that will expand your curriculum, and discuss various means of assessing students’ learning of the target culture.

Sharing the Expertise: Communities of Learning for Technology
Marlene Johnshoy
Both CALICO and IALLT are concerned with making connections to language teachers who are not “techies” in order to share the technology expertise that resides in our organizations. At the same time, there are many language teachers who are doing very creative things with many different kinds of technology! How can we make more connections? This session will show the results of a national survey of language teachers on their technology use and what they would like to learn more about. Some connection suggestions will be put forward (learning communities), and brainstorming other means of knowledge sharing will be encouraged.

Mapping Resources across the Language Curriculum
Julio C. Rodriguez
Mehmet Sahin
IALLT Presentation
The Language Studies Resource Center at Iowa State University has embarked on the complex task of mapping its resources to the language curriculum. We have approached this task by implementing two complementary processes: one designed to associate resources with existing information (e.g., expert reviews, standards, learning outcomes) and the other to associate resources with specific pedagogical experiences (descriptions) or their outcomes (products) through the use of social software (wikis and blogs). The latter involves the participation of instructors and learners. We will share our experiences with the tools we selected, as well as the processes we created to collect information.

CALL Needs a Disciplinary Track Record
Nina Garrett
New technologies are often used to deliver the same pedagogy as materials in earlier formats by developers unaware of similarities in pedagogical purpose or of the research conducted earlier–which results in a kind of “reinvention of the wheel” that undermines the seriousness of CALL as a track of language pedagogy/SLA theory. CALL practitioners and publications must establish a disciplinary track record that will allow old timers and newcomers alike to understand how language pedagogy has and has not changed with changing technologies and how earlier materials and research can be recognized as basic to current theory, practice, and research.

eLearning Standards and Design-based Research
Michael Bush
Although eLearning is gaining acceptability in education, a visit to most language classrooms would reveal that few students are benefiting from interactive learning to the extent early proponents believed. Nevertheless, research has for years demonstrated that technology-enhanced language learning environments can be effective in improving learning outcomes. Yet materials development costs remain high, and many educators and decision makers still question the value of technology-based learning. This presentation will provide an overview of how eLearning standards address the problem of development costs and show how design-based research principles can add a feedback loop for further research and materials improvement.

11:00 – 11:20

The Use of Wiki in Content-based Courses in Spanish
Jose A. Narbona
IALLT Presentation
Wiki is computer software that allows users to easily create, edit, and link web pages. The advantage of this free software is that it allows collaborative work online, a very attractive option to use for second-language acquisition purposes. My presentation will focus on the varied ways in which I have been using this tool in commercial and scientific Spanish. I will talk about specific examples like our vocabulary lists, writing an instruction manual for scientific Spanish, the final presentations, and how Wiki is used to collect links and organize materials for these courses.

Language Learners’ Metacognitive Beliefs and Learner Autonomy via an Autonomous Learning Platform (ALP)
Jinghui Wang
Minjie Xing
Ken Spencer
This study explored the link between EFL learners’ metacognitive beliefs and learner autonomy via an autonomous learning platform (ALP) which consisted of both intrapersonal (e-course and e-monitoring) and interpersonal EFL learning tasks (e-revision and e-forum). Constructs of metacognitive beliefs and learner autonomy (learners’ motivation, perceived ability, attributional awareness, learner independence, and collaborative learning) were identified; metacognitive beliefs changed with experimental conditions; though all subjects made progress in terms of academic English writing proficiency, the extent and degree were different, with the intervention group displaying significant difference. ALP assisted EFL learners to develop their language proficiency as well as learner autonomy.

Professional Foreign Language Competence and Certification through Online/Multimedia Courses
J. Enrique Agudo
Eva Maria Dominguez Gomez
Patricia Edwards
Paula Ferreira
One of the world’s most important cross-cultural building blocks lies in forging a solid foundation in communicative skills. The European Union proposes to tackle the feat of understanding the multiple languages spoken among its member states by the not so far off target date of 2013. This paper addresses the question of formative needs in foreign language competency in selected working collectives in equivalent professions across Europe and is part of the government-funded research project: Creation of language learning courses for occupational purposes with online/multimedia support (Moodle) for officially recognized professional qualifications in Europe.

User-generated Content as a Tool for Video Conferencing in the Language Classroom
Yang Hye Jin
Hyun Bin Kang
User-generated content (UGC)–also known as user-created content–is media content created by users all over the world and its popularity has increased through websites such as YouTube. The presenters will demonstrate the use of UGC as a tool to teach all four integrative skills in the language classroom. The presenters will show a number of UGC related sites and also demonstrate four activities that could be used in any language classroom.

Linguistic and Stylistic Features of On-task and Off-task Chat
Shannon Sauro
This study examines chat scripts produced by dyads of university-level learners of English and their native English-speaking interlocutors completing online collaborative tasks via text chat. Analysis of linguistic, interactional and stylistic features uncovered distinct differences between on-task and off-task chat.

A Technologically Enhanced Approach to Teaching Languages through Songs
Gautami Shah
Meng Yeh
IALLT Presentation
Music is a part of every culture and songs are a wonderful way to learn a language. College and high school students are increasingly more familiar with and dependent on internet resources. The web plays a vital role in the lives of our students. How do we combine these two interests? In this talk we shall discuss ways to exploit the web to enhance the use of songs as textual material. As an example we shall report on a web-based project in which we have developed multilayered interactive websites for teaching Chinese and Hindi through songs.

In Touch with the iPod Touch
Franziska Lys
This presentation highlights an advanced German class in which students regularly used an iPod Touch to develop vocabulary and oral communication skills using the method of shared inquiry. Since the shared inquiry method is a group process in which participants explore together the meaning of a literary work, the iPod touch with its new features was an ideal tool to use shared inquiry for film and video material. During the presentation, the following tasks will be discussed, among others: learner-centered vocabulary development, building factual knowledge through shared listening, using visual information to encourage building opinions, and providing supporting evidence.

11:30 – 11:50

Effectiveness of Words, Pictures, and Other Instructional Media
Fuqiang Zhuo
IALLT Presentation
For several decades, researchers have conducted experiments on human information processing by comparing single and multiple sensory channels, or different media types, but their results varied. Meanwhile, with the rise and advancement of computer technology, training, and effort, instructors and course designers are able to create teaching materials with multimedia components (text, image, audio, video, and animation). As a result, it is vital for instructors to be aware of the overall differences and effectively design instructional materials. This presentation reports the results of a synthesis of research studies on the effectiveness of different media types for (foreign) language instruction and learning.

Designing and Evaluating CALL Materials: Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition Through Annotations
Elena Cotos
IALLT Presentation
This paper presents an example of how theory and research can inform CALL materials design and guide the evaluation of their effectiveness. CALL materials were developed for the purpose of investigating the learning potential of two types of annotations with respect to incidental vocabulary acquisition. Specifically, this study compares traditional glosses, in which the definitions of words correspond to their specific contextual meaning, with a cognitively more challenging type of input enhancement glosses linked to online dictionary and concordancer entries. Evidence suggests that both annotation modes hold learning potential for low-intermediate L2 learners.

Exploring the Nature of Language Learners’ Interaction in Multimedia-integrated CMC
Yoo-Ree Chung
Many synchronous CMC (SCMC) studies focus on text-based interaction of L2 learners. Meanwhile, technological advancement has allowed for synchronous communication on multimedia-integrated platforms, many of which accommodate aural and video communication as well as text-based interactions. Further research is called for because multimedia-integrated CMC has potentials for language learning. The present study thus explores the effects of audio- and video-assisted CMC on the nature of learner interaction. Characteristics of ESL learners’ dyadic interaction on different types of multimedia CMC will be explored in relation to task types. Finally, ESL learners’ perceptions about different SCMC modes will be reported.

Use of Technology to Improve Students’ Pronunciation
Hiroyo Saito
IALLT Presentation
Foreign language faculty at Haverford College have renewed emphasis on students’ pronunciation using technology. In this presentation, I will demonstrate how technology is being used to improve students’ pronunciation. I will discuss the types of software, audio files, equipment, and websites that are used. The software used includes Audacity, DL recorder, Praat, and Blackboard; and the equipment includes iPods with Micromemo and an Edirol R-09 (a digital voice recorder). Activities that students are required to do inside and outside of class will be described in detail. The students’ reactions to the pronunciation exercises and findings by faculty will be shared.

Exploring Conceptual Fluency through Learner Corpora
Viktoria Driagina-Hasko
This paper utilizes learner corpus analysis to investigate such an “evasive” aspect of FL acquisition as conceptual fluency attainment. Specifically, this learner corpus research focuses on diverging conceptualizations of motion in English and Russian and on how their linguistic instantiations are used by advanced American learners of Russian.

Synchronous, Asynchronous, and Face-to-face Feedback Exchanges in ESL: Instrumental Components of the Peer Review Process
Stella Hadjistassou
The aim of this study is to address the following questions: (a) How can the synchronous “collaboration sessions” and asynchronous “discussion board” set the collaborative conditions to stimulate a constructive conversation that enhances students’ understanding of the assignment? (b) How do the discourse and collaborative constructs differ on the simultaneous collaboration sessions and delayed discussion board? (c) What role does each online forum play in setting the conditions for face-to-face exchanges and completion of rough drafts? To examine these collaborative configurations and the value of online forums as a collectively and interactionally oriented activity, the study recruited 10 ESL learners enrolled in their second writing course at a large Southwestern university in the US and examined their exchanges for one semester.

Migrating to Moodle: Unraveling the Mysteries of Language Teaching and Technology
Juliet Falce-Robinson
In spite of the availability of effective technology, why are most language instructors still only using the most rudimentary forms of technology? Why is there a continued insistence to use technology for technology’s sake and not in order to achieve projected goals and outcomes? Why do so many instructors underuse the available technological resources? Through a survey of a representative group of language professionals and technology professionals we will try to answer these questions in an attempt to finally bridge the gap between techies and teachers while demystifying the process for language professionals on both sides of the technology “fence.”

CALL Design and Video Comprehension: Insight from Research and Practice
Luba Iskold
This paper examines cognitive and sociocultural theoretical paradigms underpinning research in video comprehension and explores the ways to integrate research findings in the design and development of online learning environments to augment student “learning to listen” and “listening to learn.” The presenter will demonstrate and discuss examples of online materials she developed to facilitate student comprehension of three types of video texts: (a) simulated authentic discourse in a video-driven course package, (b) authentic online newscasts, and (c) collaborative service learning projects conducted and videotaped by students in a local target language community. Findings from a survey of student opinions will be discussed.

Describing the EFL Learners’ Academic Lexicon by a Contrastive Corpora Approach
Ming-Chia Ally Lin
This study investigates the incremental changes of 25 EFL college learners’ productive vocabulary. Via one essay topic administered at three time points (pretest, posttest, and 4-week delayed posttest), the learners’ uses of the Academic Word List (AWL) will be examined by contrastive corpus analyses. With the VocabProfiler, the overall AWL type-token ratio will be calculated. Antcon3.2 concordancer and the AWL Highlighter will be employed to underscore the collocation and colligation uses of the AWL items. Two major collocation types, Verb-Noun and Adjective-Noun, will be reviewed with the BNC concordances to ensure the rating quality. Three high-frequency AWL items will be selected for qualitative descriptions. Results and implications will be discussed.

Effective use of the Twenty Questions Electronic Game in FL classes
Thomas Robb
The surprisingly accurate electronic guessing game “Twenty Questions” by Radica is available in numerous languages including French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese. While intended for use by a single person, it can effectively be used with groups of students, or even as a whole-class activity. The presenter will suggest a number of different activity configurations and extensions to focus on syntax, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Samples of the game in various languages will be available.

Task Design and Implementation of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) in Online Foreign Language Classrooms
Chun Lai
Jiawen Wang
Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has been proposed as “psycholinguistically optimal” for distance foreign language learning (Doughty & Long, 2003; Ellis, 2003; Leaver & Willis, 2003). However, the implementation of a TBLT syllabus in the online foreign language learning context is just beginning to be documented (Kötter, 2001; Stockwell, 2004; Rosell-Aguilar, 2005). Discussions on task design, a crucial factor in TBLT, in online learning contexts have just started to accumulate (Hampel & Hauck, 2004; Hampel, 2006; Rosell-Aguilar, 2005). This study attempts to add to the discussion by analyzing task design in the online beginning-level foreign language learning context in reference to the instructors’ and students’ perceptions and performances on the designed tasks during the online classes. The study identified several issues crucial to the successful implementation of TBLT and elaborated on how to design tasks in response to the identified issues to ensure the successful implementation of TBLT in the online beginning-level foreign language learning context.

Panel Discussion: Successes and Challenges of Implementing CMC Tools for Teaching and Research
Claudia Kost
Ana Oskoz
Nike Arnold
Lara Ducate
Scott Payne
Julie Sykes
Steven Thorne
The CALICO CMC SIG sponsors this panel discussion which focuses on the benefits and challenges of the implementation of a variety of CMC tools in the foreign language classroom. The presenters will discuss current research agendas and methodologies, as well as data collection and analysis techniques which they use with these tools. Nike Arnold, Lara Ducate, and Scott Payne will focus on recent forms of CMC tools, such as chat, blogs, and wikis. Julie Sykes and Steve Thorne will cover the emerging tools of gaming and virtual environments. The session concludes with time for discussion.

Do They Match Each Other? The Policy and Reality of ICT Integration
Mei-jung Wang
Yung-yuan Liu
In Taiwan, most research focuses on the effectiveness of CALL on students’ learning or teachers’ teaching. Little research has addressed national policies designed to promote the integration of information communication technology (ICT) into English instruction. This paper aims to present the policies relevant to the integration of ICT into English instruction in high schools, to examine the degree of the fulfillment of these policies, and then identify the factors which have enhanced or hindered the integration of ICT into English instruction in high schools. The results can serve as reference points for making future policies and designing teacher-training programs.

Tesoros: DVD or Online Formats for First-Year Spanish
Robert Blake
This presentation will showcase Tesoros, a first-year Spanish software program for use as a DVD or online course. The materials in both formats cover the standard grammar and vocabulary scope and sequence for introductory Spanish using the vehicle of animated vignettes and a detective storyline. The student is asked to participate in the solution of the detective story by completing a series of activities. Student responses are scored and archived for the instructor’s convenience. The online format offers chatting (CMC) with native-speaker tutors in real (VoIP) or deferred time. Tesoros can be used in hybrid, distance-learning, or individual study learning environments.

The Dark Side of the Web-Version 2.0
Sharon Scinicariello
Steven K. Sharp
IALLT Presentation
Blogs, iTunes, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, and so on. The multitude of new tools for mediated communication and learning provokes reactions that range from enthusiasm to skepticism to fear-as do calls for the transformation of education to incorporate these tools. Indeed, even when activities that integrate these tools into courses are successful, they often fail to have a lasting impact on the curriculum. Using representative examples, the presenters will discuss the pluses and minuses of these tools and explore what has to happen before they become integral parts of language learning.

3:00 – 3:45

Using NLP Technology to Promote Independent Learning of Vocabulary and Word Form
Peter Wood
This paper deals with the development of an application promoting independent learning of German vocabulary and word formation, based on freely available software and databases. With the application, students can import any German text and (after an automatic mark up) look up words in a dictionary, access morphological and semantic information on them, or have KWIC lists from a large corpus displayed. Ultimately, the application should be able to deal with learner language, analyze various errors, and provide explanations and exercises geared toward students’ individual needs. Progress in this area will be discussed at the end of the talk.

Dynamic Assessment in Synchronous Computer-mediated Communication
Mark Darhower
Dynamic assessment, a technique that is well known in the field of psychology but only recently introduced into second language acquisition, is employed in this study to help understand the development processes of two university Spanish learners as they produce a series of narrations in the past time frame. The assessments were carried out in a synchronous computer-mediated (chat) environment. The findings uncover patterns of mediation needs of the two learners, providing a snapshot of their potential in addition to their current level of independent functioning. Learner perceptions and effects of the chat medium are also discussed.

Language Related Episodes in Synchronous plus Asynchronous Communication
Ryowa Tsurunaga
Yoko Hasebe
This presentation showcases a case study report on a tandem online chat (synchronous) and blog (asynchronous) project in which university students in the US and Japan communicate using both English and Japanese in order to learn each other’s language and develop mutual cross-cultural understanding over 6 weeks. Language related episodes (LRE) are analyzed qualitatively, which uncovers marked differences in the quality of output observed in both modes. Finally, implications for designing a tandem online project will be discussed taking account of the participants’ perceptions from continuous surveys and focus interviews.

Sustainability in Telecollaboration: Social Presence and Interactional Strategies
H. Müge Satar
This paper will report on the results of an email telecollaboration exchange between participants from the US and Turkey in the spring term, 2007. Drawing on research on social presence (Rourke et al., 2001), interactional strategies (Peterson, 2006) and community building (Darhower, 2007) in online communication, a qualitative analysis of the exchanges between the participants and between the organizers will be presented by an exemplification of cases within a sociocultural/socioaffective perspective. The results will be discussed in terms of sustainability to raise awareness on the differential features of communication that may potentially affect the outcomes of the exchanges via CMC.

HumTV: New Directions for Broadcast Media in the Language Classroom
Jarom McDonald
Ian James
Anthony Quinn
IALLT Presentation
The BYU HumTV environment is a television record/transcode-on-demand application that allows faculty to easily schedule campus cable/satellite recordings, group recordings into course-specific “channels,” annotate the recordings with text, links, and images (cued to particular points in each recording), and disseminate these recordings to students through a variety of formats (Flash streaming, iTunes, podcasts, direct download, etc.). With the increased availability of technology-enhanced classrooms and the student desire for anytime-anywhere access to class materials, this is proving itself to be a very promising digital solution for faculty wishing to engage their students with broadcast media.

Using Immersive Learning Environments in Foreign Language Classes: Second Life
Heather McCullough
Douglas W. Canfield
IALLT Presentation
The use of immersive online environments and online virtual reality games is currently a popular topic in instructional technology. Advocates propose that these tools can engage students more fully in active learning and that they correspond to millennial students’ learning styles. Skeptics suggest that virtual learning environments are too time consuming to use, do not develop higher level cognitive skills, and have low accessibility. This presentation will discuss the pedagogical issues of using the popular immersive environment Second Life to teach foreign language and culture and will give practical examples of activities that can be developed and implemented in Second Life.

Learner Empowerment or Cultural Homogeneity?: A Bottom-up Critique of Community Tagging in Web 2.0
David Malinowski
IALLT Presentation
After reviewing the common Web 2.0 practice of community tagging as it takes place on several language-learning websites, this paper presents evidence from learners’ critical engagement with the reorganization of an existing multilingual and multimodal corpus of authentic texts. The paper argues that overreliance on so-called “folksonomic” construction of knowledge poses a threat to semiotic diversity, while obfuscating power relationships. In the end, the need for learners to negotiate the diversity of performative functions, socioindexical meanings, and embodied practices that local actors read into online texts leads to a host of alternative approaches for designing frameworks for learning and interaction.

Web 2.0: Output-oriented Scenarios for Language Learning and Digital Media
Bernd Rüschoff
Following the apparent upgrade of the internet to Web 2.0, expectations are running high as to the innovative potential of this (supposedly) new platform for technology enhanced language learning. In this presentation I shall discuss the principle of output orientation in language learning and then consider some of the tools the “new” internet has to offer in such an approach. The presentation will also address the issue of how output orientation in language learning can contribute to lifelong learning. It will be argued that learners engaged in “negotiating meaningful and comprehensible output” are very much engaged in learning experiences which incorporate reflective learning together with collaborative learning. Therefore, such activities provide a perfect framework for the development of learning strategies. A few examples of such experience-oriented learning scenarios from school and university contexts will be shown during the presentation.

4:00 – 4:45

The Construct Validity of a Web-based Listening Comprehension Test
Cristina Pardo
This study describes and evaluates an online Spanish Listening Exam (SLE), a listening measure focused on linguistic items and tasks based on the main topics learned in the first two years of a Spanish curriculum. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses of raters for the text content of tasks were conducted as evidence of the consistency of the SLE construct validity. Moreover, the SLE was administrated to 147 Spanish learners and participants’ perceptions about the exam similarity with instructional tasks were analyzed. This study concludes that the SLE effectively tests Spanish proficiency based on linguistic features.

A New NLP-based Online Japanese Textbook
Noriko Nagata
Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology can be used in CALL to provide detailed, relevant feedback concerning student errors in sentence-production exercises. NLP is essential for providing such feedback because of the astronomical range of possible responses a student might produce. This paper introduces a new NLP-based online textbook called Robo-Sensei which significantly extends the scope of the currently distributed supplementary software package, Robo-Sensei: Personal Japanese Tutor (Nagata, 2004). The new Robo-Sensei will cover an entire Japanese curriculum as a stand-alone textbook. I describe each component, illustrate the variety of NLP-based exercises presented, and discuss the benefits of such exercises in and out of the classroom.

Computer-enhanced Language Instruction in the Midwest
Senta Goertler
Paula Winke
We will summarize the results of a survey of 39 language program coordinators in the Midwest on the technology-enhanced teaching practices in their language programs. Coordinators were asked to report general information about their programs, technology practices, materials used, training provided, availability of computer labs for development, teaching, and self-study, and the implementation, benefits and challenges of hybrid or online courses. Results revealed that technology practices differ across languages and institutions; however, there is a general trend toward the use of additional online materials. Additionally, programs with hybrid or online courses reported positively about these courses.

Aptitude, Personality, and Form-focused CALL Instructions
Fenfang Hwu
Theories and research in SLA have suggested that L2 learners need to focus attention on the form of the target language in some way and that consciousness at the level of rule awareness facilitates learning. It seems likely that the process of gaining rule awareness will be facilitated by learners’ ability to uncover language patterns, their memory capacity, and their preferred manner of learning about these patterns. Given that learners differ in these areas, an important function of instruction is therefore to accommodate their differences. The design of the current CALL instruction thus considers individual differences in language aptitude and personality.

Developing an Ngram-based Grammar Checker for ESL Learners
Hao-Jan Howard Chen
More and more ESL students need to improve their writing skills to pass various language tests. To help teachers reduce their teaching loads, some automatic essay raters are available (e.g., ETS Criterion and Vantage My Access). However, they often cannot give good feedback on ESL students’ writing errors. In this study, we used NLP technologies to develop an ngram language model based on a large native corpus. The grammar checker can perform well in detecting ESL learners’ lexical errors. Though the checker still has some limitations, its robustness in detecting errors has great potentials in helping ESL learners.

The LARC Lab’s Suspension Bridge To CALL: Shock Absorbers and Technological Springs to Help Meet the Instructional Needs of Faculty
Marcia Ledezman-Macias
John Vitaglione
LARC at San Diego State University supports two language-learning labs, one PC and another Mac, as well as three smart classrooms and two digital-media-production labs. First-rate communication is vital for bridging instructional needs to appropriate teaching technologies. This presentation depicts (a) the use of suspension-shock-absorbers such as job aids, lab orientations, and hands-on workshops to reduce tech stress, and (b) the technological springs of digital recording, virtual storage and access to oral assessment applications and collaborative learning environments. Examples demonstrate how multimedia production enhances learning with tools such as Skype and iMovie, while empowering instructors to take control of technology for teaching.

Developing a Meaning-focused and Task-based Virtual Learning Reality
James C. Chan
The presenter will report on the design and development of a National Security Education Program (NSEP) grant project at University of Oregon and Avant Assessment, that builds a new digital language learning environment based on the emerging technology of virtual worlds and social networking. He will present the challenges and successes of designing and implementing a meaning-focused and task-based gaming scenario in Second Life, that provides the immersion and authentic interaction lacking in the traditional classroom for advanced language development.

Design, Development, and Formative Evaluation of a Computer-based Diglot Reader
Paul F. Merrill
This paper will report on the design, development, and formative evaluation of a computer-based diglot reader. The diglot reader, which was originally conceived by Robbins Burling, gradually introduces second-language vocabulary and sentence structure within the context of a familiar authentic first-language text. The computer software provides learning aids such as native pronunciation of target vocabulary, recording of learner pronunciation, translations of target vocabulary, and grammar hints. The diglot reader will be demonstrated and issues related to its design and formative evaluation will be discussed along with the advantages and disadvantages of the diglot approach.

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Conference Presentations: Day Two
March 21, 2008

8:00 – 8:45

When They Talk About CALL
Greg Kessler
This study investigates preservice teachers’ discourse about CALL in a required CALL class. Thirty-five graduate students in a Linguistics MA program were observed over a 10-week quarter. For all of these students it was their first formal exposure to CALL as a discipline. Extensive language samples from a collaborative wiki and videotaped observations of in-class discussions document the teachers’ emerging perceptions of CALL and the role it plays in language teaching and learning. Implications regarding CALL teacher preparation are discussed.

Second Language Pragmatics in Second Life: How Learners Navigate Speech Acts and Their Attitudes Toward Error Correction
Lisa Kuriscak
Christopher Luke
We will describe findings from data collected from interactions in a synthetic immersive environment (Second Life) involving college-level, intermediate learners of Spanish. Participants had the choice of interacting with other learners of Spanish or with native speakers (NSs) of Spanish. Those who interacted primarily with NSs will be compared with a subset of those who interacted more with other learners in terms of: (a) learners’ attitudes toward error correction by NSs, instructors, and peers as well as self-correction patterns and (b) learners’ performance in carrying out and responding to requests, openings, and closings in conversation.

Implementation of an Integrated CALL Element in an Intermediate Japanese Class: A Case Study
David Laurence
A supplementary online element was designed and implemented in an intermediate Japanese class. While the use of the element could not be correlated with an increase in students’ use of Japanese outside the classroom, certain aspects, in particular the use of a Japanese-language community site and its weblog function, did have a positive correlation with student rating of the element as a whole. It is hypothesized that this positive experience with the element may reflect increased motivation, with positive implications for the use of such web-based activities in second-language learning environments.

Emotion in Online Distance Language Learning: Learners’ Appraisal of Interpersonal Transactions in Audiographic Synchronous Computer-mediated Communication (SCMC)
Beatriz de los Arcos
Although research into the role of emotions in language learning is mounting in some areas, there can be little disagreement concerning the fact that other disciplines such as psychology have suggested and explored more adventurous avenues of inquiry into what causes an emotion. Among the last is appraisal theory which claims that emotions are elicited by evaluations of events and situations in relation to a person’s goals, needs, or concerns (Roseman & Smith, 2001). This paper will present the main assumptions and models of appraisal theory and discuss its potential contribution to the study of emotion in language learning.

What’s Important in Teaching and Learning a Language According to Preservice Teachers?
Martine Peters
Our research examined the link between preservice teachers’ learning styles and concepts they judged important in their vision of teaching and learning a language. Student teachers had to reflect on their vision of learning and teaching a language and create a concept map to illustrate this vision. We wanted to examine why some student teachers chose to present, almost exclusively, concepts related to learning while others focused on the teaching process. Yet, others indicated no relationship in their concept maps between teaching and learning a language. As well, the importance accorded to language in the learning and teaching process was examined.

Social and Affective Strategies in Online Language Learning
Mirjam Hauck
It has long been suggested (e.g. Chapelle & Jamieson, 1986, 1989, 1991; Chapelle, 1990, 1995) that investigations of CALL should incorporate areas central to second language acquisition. Learning strategies constitute one such area, yet-apart from an emerging interest in metacognitive strategies (Hauck, 2005; Hauck & Hurd, 2005)-research into strategy use in online settings has been scant. As a result, we still know little about how exactly learners deploy strategies when learning a language online and how they develop strategic competence. In this presentation I will focus on affective and social online skills and explore how the fact that communication is mediated via the computer impacts on language learners’ strategy use. The findings are based on observations of learner interactions in the context of a telecollaboration project with participants from three different countries: France, the UK and the US.

A Quality Analysis of CALL Journals
Barbara Lafford
Bryan Smith
This presentation will address the results of a quality analysis of CALL journals. The data used for this analysis will be gathered from two sources: (a) a survey of established CALL scholars on the perceived quality of various academic journals that publish CALL research and their opinions of how CALL-related scholarly activity is assessed during promotion and tenure decisions involving CALL researchers and (b) a study of CALL journals regarding their readership and publication data (e.g., acceptance rate, readership, intended audience, time to publication) and other quality indicators (e.g., citation counts, impact, publisher rank, number of indexes, etc.).

Creating Hypermedia Readers for Language Learning
Thom Thibeault
This presentation focuses on hypermedia readers for language learning and how instructors can create them using HyperMedia Editor 1.1. Hypermedia readers allow language students at all proficiency levels to read materials written for native speakers. This is possible because students can click on unfamiliar words to get additional information about those words. The information can be in a variety of formats, including text (definitions, explanations), sound (readings, pronunciation), images, animations, web links (online quizzes and activities, cultural content), and video. HyperMedia Editor 1.1 is a new tool which allows language instructors to create their own hypermedia readers. Attendees will receive a copy of the program.

9:00 – 9:45

Online Translation Websites Assist Communication but Hinder Learning
Peter Ruthven-Stuart
This presentation describes the results and implications of an experiment to discover to what extent people could distinguish between texts that had been created entirely by translation software and texts written by Japanese learners of English. On average, respondents misidentified almost 40% of the texts. One of the main conclusions drawn from the results is the possibility that new technologies being developed to assist communication may hinder the acquisition of language skills. Even now, students are able to use free translation web sites to ‘assist’ them with language tasks, and many of their teachers are unable to recognize this.

Weblogs, Peer Review, and Multimedia Representation as Enhancements of EFL Writing
Hsien-Chin Liou
Zhong-Yan Debby Pen
Blogging’s interactive functions and multimedia compatibility have made it a promising environment for students to provide peer review and compose visual essays. The present study examines the relationship between students’ peer comments, their revision quality, and their use of multimedia when composing in blogs. Fourteen EFL students participated in a writing class and wrote four formal assignments and seven journals in their individual blogs. Peer review training was held. The results of characteristics of students’ peer comments before and after training, students’ revision quality, and students’ use of multimedia in writing will be presented.

Learning Languages in Virtual Worlds: An Analysis of Use and Potential
Jacob E. Larsen
Karina Silva
Within the last decade, virtual worlds have gradually become more used as teaching and learning environments. This paper will focus on the benefits and constraints of using virtual worlds in language education. More specifically, the presenters will discuss the use of virtual worlds in and outside the classroom and compare the virtual worlds of Second Life and Active Worlds. This comparison will address issues of interface design, feasibility and practicality. Recommendations will be given for their future employment as language learning tools. This presentation targets teachers and researchers with an interest in online and distance education.

Petrarch, Drupal, and the Intersections of Learning and Technology
Jeff Magoto
Massimo Lollini
Norman Kerr
IALLT Presentation
Many of us in IALLT work in interdisciplinary places called “humanities centers” or “language learning centers,” yet our work is frequently characterized as literature-focused or language-focused. We feel this is unfortunate. The Petrarch Project focuses on one attempt to bridge that divide: it is a digital archive and communications portal for a great work of poetry, the Canzoniere. It is also a set of tools for other courses in other genres to build upon. We will discuss the nature of the collaboration and software used to build the site, the approaches to teaching that underpin its design, and offer suggestions for similar projects.

Is Technology Driving our Curriculum?
Claire Bartlett
IALLT Presentation
Using Rice as an example, we will show and discuss how a number of technologies have altered our curriculum. Thanks to streaming technologies, video material is more easily integrated to our curriculum and contributes significantly to the teaching of culture. The practice and assessment of speaking is now on our syllabi thanks to user friendly software. The use of Learning Management Systems shapes our testing. Today’s students are writing to publish on the internet and communicate with students across continents. Textbooks and homework are mostly online. Is today’s class much different? What is behind these changes?

Transforming Aligned Video Transcriptions for Automatic Video Selection in CALL Applications
Hans Paulussen
Piet Desmet
Although originally used as supporting text to accompany videos for language learners, video captions can also be transformed into an application related corpus. The resulting corpus samples can be used as input for exercises, feedback material, searchable lexical database, and so on. In this talk we will present how this approach is being implemented in MEDIATIC, a database of freely available video materials. The transcriptions and translations are stored in XML caption files where time codes are used to align the captions with the corresponding video sequences. Transcriptions and translations are aligned, using the alignment tools developed within DPC (Dutch Parallel Corpus), a parallel corpus project for English, Dutch, and French.

Bridging an Online Resource Gap: Interactive Writing and Grammar Tutorial
Olga Urban
Writing is a skill that can be daunting for students to master. Many universities have established Writing Centers and tutoring services to promote effective writing practices. However, students still lack basic grammar and writing skills, and faculty often find it difficult to allocate class time to review common problem areas in student writing. The majority of writing resources available online are mere electronic page turners which neither engage students nor offer feedback. This paper describes the design, development, implementation, and usability survey of the Online Tutorial on Effective Writing Practices which attempts to bridge this gap by allowing students to review and learn from their most common English grammar, punctuation, organization, and style mistakes.

10:00 – 10:20

Focusing on Grammatical Form through CMC Tasks in Beginner German Classes: Do Students or Don’t They?
Deanne Cobb-Zygadlo
IALLT Presentation
Whereas most L2 research in computer-mediated communication investigates its effect in intermediate or advanced language classes, in this study I investigate beginner German language students’ demonstration of discrete grammatical forms in the CMC environment. A quasi-experimental design and qualitative analysis of the chat room transcripts determines that students’ primary focus is on communicating meaning and that their focus on form is minimal. To help explain the results, I use qualitative data provided by student survey responses and posit that the teaching methodology adopted by the students’ classroom instructor may have impacted the results. This study has implications for instructors who use collaborative tasks to practice grammatical structures in beginner language courses.

Survey of Attitudes towards Technology by Teachers of Literature/Culture/Linguistics
Hélène Ossipov
IALLT Presentation
The use of technology in language teaching is well documented and is almost universally accepted. However, it is not clear that instructors of literature, culture, and linguistics make as extensive use of technology as language teachers do. In this presentation, I will analyze the results of a survey of attitudes toward and use of technology in a language and literature department of a large university.

Perceptions of CALL in the Second Language Classroom
Stephanie Buechele
This study examines instructors’ perceptions of their use of CALL in comparison to their actual use in the L2 classroom. Instructors in an intensive English program were interviewed about their perceptions of their use of CALL in their classroom and were observed teaching. Students were asked to give their perceptions of how the teacher’s use of CALL affected their language learning to see if their perceptions were in line with those of the instructors. Consistencies and inconsistencies within the data are explored with implications being discussed.

Ten Technology Tips for Teaching with Target Language Songs
Lathrop Johnson
Songs have always been and remain a key resource in language learning. By combining the opportunities of technology with imaginative pedagogy, teachers can make learning with songs much more effective than before. The ten tips will include ways of manipulating text displays, changing or adjusting the audio content, and preparing for creative follow-up activities by the students.

Humor Support in Computer-mediated Communication
Ilona Vandergriff
Carolin Fuchs
Our paper contributes to the growing body of research on language play in CMC which, more than any other medium, has been associated with goofing off, chatting off task, role playing, joking and other nonserious communication. In reacting to a joke, speakers often rely heavily on nonverbal cues (e.g., a smile or laughter). In this paper, we explore how foreign language learners in computer-mediated discussions provide humor support in light of the reduced nonverbal repertoire.

The Study of Gender Difference in Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) Using Microsoft Windows Messenger (MSN)
Hsiao-ping Wu
IALLT Presentation
The paper examines the relationships between genders, internet-use behaviors and communication styles in a computer-mediated communication (CMC) context. A questionnaire is used to explore internet-use behavior and a chat tool is used to collect interaction patterns and communication styles on 10 male and 10 female Mandarin-Chinese speakers who attend universities and work in companies in the US. Findings show gender has very slight influences on online behavior and also has a weak relationship on communication style; misunderstandings and misinterpretations occurred because they are caused by the lack of social context cues, social presence, and conversational turn taking.

Integrating YouTube in the Foreign Language Classroom
Rocco A. Mesiti
IALLT Presentation
From audiocassettes in language labs to high speed internet, technology has made again another major presence in foreign language classes with the popular website YouTube. This presentation demonstrates how language teachers can maximize technology at home and in the classroom integrating YouTube in their lesson plans. Teachers can customize their lessons to be more interesting, contemporary, captivating, and provide current language content for students. Relevant lessons can be achieved while still delivering the ACTFL five C’s of language learning (communication, culture, connections, comparisons and community). This presentation will show the following: an overview of YouTube, how to use YouTube, registered and unregistered users, blogging (postings) in target language by students and teachers, and sample of a lesson plan.

Implementing Video in the Foreign Language Classroom
Leah Graham
Jack Franke
The ubiquity of storage, fast processors, and software programs has permitted greater inroads for video in the FL classroom. Innovations such as YouTube, iTunes, and the iPod have galvanized this medium in US education. We will discuss the use of video from two viewpoints: familiarization with technology for the beginning FL learner and digital portfolios for adult language learners. We will discuss student and faculty training in multimedia and demonstrate techniques for green screen, video capture, editing and conversion.

La valorisation de la liberté: Using Music in a Web Site Supporting English Students Enrolled in a European History Course Taught in French
Alysse Weinberg
This session will describe the use of music in a website developed for a European history course taught in French. Half the web site is devoted to English immersion students enrolled concurrently in a special language support course set up to improve their French language skills while working through the history course content. Specially commissioned songs about European history are at the centre of each of the learning activities. The session will also discuss the attitudes of the students towards the songs and whether or not these multimedia exercises provided productive French vocabulary and comprehension learning.

Rockin’ Russian: Music Videos for Language and Culture Instruction
Thomas J. Garza
IALLT Presentation
This presentation discusses a web-based program of graduated modules to supplement the instruction of Russian at all proficiency levels. The modules are designed around authentic Russian music videos, modified with Russian, English, or no captions, and a series of interactive exercises. The exercise materials focus on pronunciation, vocabulary development, grammar, and cultural features relevant to each video. The modules will feature graduated exercises based on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines to allow learners from Novice to Superior levels of competence to use the materials. The exercises are self-graded and students move at their own pace through the modules and video segments.

Teaching Foreign Languages with YouTube
Patricia D. Hardin
One of the best sources to incorporate cultural realia into the foreign language classroom is YouTube, which allows the instructor to introduce cultural capsules and easily intersperse them throughout the syllabus. This presentation discusses the many benefits, both for students and instructors, derived from incorporating YouTube videos in the foreign language classroom, specifically for German and Italian. The presenter will share specific YouTube sites used at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced level for various cultural topics and also discuss exercises, developed by the presenter, for students to complete during or as a follow-up, to the viewing of YouTube videos.

EFL College Students’ Perceptions of Self-access Language Learning in a CALL Classroom
Chih-cheng Lin
Shiau-jiun Lillian Ning
This paper evaluates the effectiveness of a university self-access classroom (SAC) by examining EFL college students’ perceptions of self-access language learning (SALL) at the SAC. Both quantitative and qualitative data show that the SAC has created a proper environment for language learning. Not only have the students improved their language abilities from using the learning programs, they have also developed skills to evaluate their learning and to acquire common knowledge. Further investigations of the beneficiaries reveal that they share characteristics of choosing suitable materials and monitoring whether they have attained their learning goals.

Learn Chinese in Second Life Chinese School
Dongping Zheng
Ning Li
Yong Zhao
The Confucius Institute Chinese School in Second Life is an immersive environment to teach Chinese language and culture. It takes advantage of the existing technological functions that support social interactions and communications, and also adds new language learning functions. This study looks at how learners interact with instructors, native Chinese speakers, designed objects and tasks in the virtual world. We will report results from online ethnographic observation and interview data, as well as learners’ chat and audio log data to argue that learning in the virtual world can bring embodied experience with engagement and enjoyment.

Multimodal Projects for Advanced Spanish Classes
Bruno Louchouarn
Felisa Guillen
Crystal Carrera
IALLT Presentation
Multimodal production engages language students with technology in upper division classes. The teamwork, process, and end result activate the integration of various cognitive streams and yields both a critical synthesis of information and an enhancement of cultural and linguistic competence. Two classes developed at Occidental College are examined: “Multimodal Portrait of a Grandparent” in a Spanish for native speakers class and “Media and Literary Appropriations in Chicano Culture” in a Chicano literature class.

Speech Recognition Technology: A Cure for Test Anxiety?
Marina Dodigovic
Success at high-stakes, high-anxiety and high-cost standardized language proficiency tests such as TOEFL opens the door to prestigious international schools, jobs, and awards. However, not everyone can afford to take such a test, and, even if they can, sometimes test anxiety can spoil the outcome. This becomes even more of a concern because such tests take a long time to complete. In this situation, speech recognition technology could be a solution. An application of this technology is being used to test English proficiency and is compared to TOEFL in a validation study described here.

1:30 – 2:15

Teaching L2 Pragmatic Competence with Materials Based on a CMC Corpus
Nina Vyatkina
Corpus-based pedagogical suggestions for L2 teaching have mostly involved indirect native speaker corpus use, have not considered CMC corpora, and have not been tested empirically for their efficacy. This paper addresses these gaps and reports on a successful direct application of an integrated learner-native speaker CMC corpus for teaching L2 pragmatic competence. Possible indirect applications are also discussed.

Learners’ Reactions to Arabic Online Learning
Robert Blake
Sonia Shiri
In the fall semester, 2007, the University of California, Berkeley launched the first University of California online language course in Arabic. Seventeen students used Moodle to access the course materials, including (a) extensive web materials with sound recordings and video interviews, (b) JavaScript/Flash exercises, (c) wiki assignments, and (d) weekly CMC meetings via Wimba. This presentation will cover the formative evaluation measures that document student use and reactions to the online format. All aspects of the course production and evaluative measures will be discussed along with an analysis of how the CMC chat contributed to the students’ progress.

Revisiting Negotiated Interaction in Computer-mediated Communication (CMC)
Hyewon Lee
I examined the relationship between dialogic negotiated interaction and comprehensible output by comparing computer-mediated communication (CMC) with face-to-face (F2F) communication. Specifically, I investigated whether negotiated interaction in synchronous chat can play a more constructive role in producing comprehensible output during a collaborative task than F2F interaction through activating and mediating learners’ cognitive processes. The chat data show that ESL learners who actively participated in negotiated interaction in CMC produced more comprehensible output than in F2F interaction. From an interactionist perspective, results imply that the procedure of interaction may provide good stimulus for acquisition (e.g., vocabulary, structure, grammar), supporting a more direct link between negotiated interaction and acquisition (Smith, 2004).

Open Source Technology as a Catalyst for Foreign Language Teachers
Tony Erben
Rebecca Blankenship
Victoria Russell
We report a study that examines foreign language teachers’ collaborative dialogues as they explored open source (OS) technologies, attempted to incorporate OS resources into lessons, and how this activity led to self-regulated professional development. The goals of the study were twofold: first, to investigate teachers’ awareness about open source (OS) technologies and to explore teachers’ beliefs about the impact of these technologies on their professional knowledge base and, second, to make sense of teachers’ mediation of OS and how this led to self-regulation. The findings indicate that through collaborative dialogue (Swain, 2000) teachers engaged in problem-solving activity (unpacking the instructional significance of using OS resources) leading to meaningful professional development.

Designing and Implementing the LanguageSpace: A Consortium Project Website for Social Networking for Language Learning and Teaching
Douglas Moody
Otmar Foelsche
IALLT Presentation
The BYU HumTV environment is a television record/transcode-on-demand application that allows faculty to easily schedule campus cable/satellite recordings, group recordings into course-specific “channels,” annotate the recordings with text, links, and images (cued to particular points in each recording), and disseminate these recordings to students through a variety of formats (Flash streaming, iTunes, podcasts, direct download, etc.). With the increased availability of technology-enhanced classrooms and the student desire for anytime-anywhere access to class materials, this is proving itself to be a very promising digital solution for faculty wishing to engage their students with broadcast media.

Using Immersive Learning Environments in Foreign Language Classes: Second Life
Heather McCullough
Douglas W. Canfield
IALLT Presentation
The LanguageSpace (http://www.languagespace.org) is funded by a grant from the Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning and is designed to create a social networking “nexus of communication,” which will promote student-centered learning activities and demonstrate these innovative teaching methods to instructors of foreign languages. The LanguageSpace website utilizes Web 2.0 technology to connect learners and teachers of foreign languages and cultures. The LanguageSpace project is still in its preliminary stages, and the principal investigators at three Consortium institutions, Dartmouth, Harvard, and MIT, tested the beta version of the website in the fall semester of 2007. During the spring semester of 2008, the investigators will begin to integrate the website into their instruction during the pilot phase of the project. This presentation will demonstrate the current developments and findings of the LanguageSpace.

Sakai and the “Audacity” to Moodle: Three Audio and Video Projects
Bridget Yaden
IALLT Presentation
The results of four pilot studies of audio and video projects for language study, utilizing Sakai (2) and Moodle (2), will be presented. These projects used Audacity and Sony Virtuoso/Soloist for recording audio and video. This session includes an in-depth discussion of the implementation of the projects, which involved university-level Spanish courses, a first-semester Norwegian course, and an American Sign Language (ASL) course. Survey and assessment results will be shared, with a discussion of the role of technology and the benefits of the projects, including increased participation in the L2, encouragement of self-assessment, and improved oral and/or signing skills.

Making the Unconventional Conventional: Examining the Role of Emerging Digital Media in Language Learning
Steven Thorne
Julie Sykes
This presentation will explore approaches to L2 acquisition that emphasize the immediate relevance of internet usage and the attendant proliferation of new media literacies and communicative genres. Following a discussion of our own and other relevant research in the areas of internet use and educational gaming, we will describe an innovative pedagogical framework that is rooted in authentic opportunities for meaningful expression via emerging digital technologies. We will conclude the presentation with concrete suggestions for heightening the relevance of instructed foreign language education and for better preparing language learners to be successful multilingual members of 21st century global communities.

Fostering Cohesion and Community in Asynchronous Online Courses
Stephen L. Tschudi
David V. Hiple
Dorothy Chun
How does the teacher enhance students’ personal involvement in an online learning environment? This presentation, based on research from an advanced online Chinese language course, examines this question from two angles: fostering cohesion, or the sustained advancement of relevant topics by participants in a conversation; and fostering community, or a sense of solidarity and identification among learners that contributes to strong participation. Three distinct patterns of behavior discerned in student interactions in asynchronous forums in the course pointed to a set of pedagogical principles for instructors to follow when designing and teaching asynchronous online courses.

2:30 – 3:15

Wiki: An “Enhancing” Tool For Foreign Language Instructors and Students
Jean Janecki
IALLT Presentation
The wiki has several advantages that I will discuss in this paper, illustrated by different wiki projects that I have used in my Spanish language, literature, and culture classes. I will show how these projects, created on the open-source “wikispaces,” are easy to design, not difficult for students or instructors to use, and help improve students’ participation and learning at various levels, thus, an “enhancing” tool for both instructor and student. The presentation will focus on proper ways to approach the wiki so that it will be beneficial for all, keeping in mind the pedagogical goals of the instructor.

Participation Patterns of Three Nonnative Speakers in Online Discussion
Hoe Kyeung Kim
Asynchronous online discussion involving text-based computer-mediated communication has a great potential for promoting the participation of nonnative speakers in class discussion. In spite of the popularity of online learning, there is little research on nonnative speakers’ participation in online learning environments. The postings of three nonnative speakers and eleven native speakers enrolled in an introductory language teaching course were examined to understand nonnative speakers’ participation patterns. The presenter will discuss the findings of a study on nonnative speakers’ participation patterns in online discussion in terms of the frequency and collaborative efforts.

A Second Life for a Second Language: Is it Worth it?
Natalie Mullen
Hui-I Shaw
Two language teachers give a critical perspective on the benefits and drawbacks of using the virtual world Second Life as a language-learning tool. They will present conclusions from qualitative data collected from eight language teachers and their own experiences participating in Second Life for second language learning purposes. Two language teachers, one learning English at an established virtual English language school and the other learning Spanish in online Spanish-speaking communities, will discuss the different attributes of each experience, which give rise to distinct recommendations and precautions about using virtual world programs like Second Life in language classrooms.

Individualized and Technology-based Foreign Language Instruction
Linda L. Chang
How can individualized instruction be provided for advanced foreign language learners with diverse needs and varying domains of expertise? A 7-week (3 days a week) advanced Chinese course for Chinese Foreign Language (CFL) learners at the Department of Defense can. Individualized and technology-based CFL instruction has proven very effective in raising advanced language learners’ level and language proficiency in Chinese, whether in a college setting or for government Chinese linguists. Students have also shown a dramatic increase in their affective learning and a positive attitude toward learning the target language, especially in their specialized fields. Samples of students’ feedback demonstrating positive affective learning outcomes and a live demonstration on the students’ final presentations at Brigham Young University will be part of this presentation.

Blogging in the Language Class–Challenges and Victories
Senta Goertler
Angelika Kraemer
In this presentation, we will summarize the practical implementation of blogging in two upper-division technology-enhanced German classes. In addition, we will present research findings from a qualitative analysis of the interactivity (measured by number of people responding to a blog entry and length of the responses) and quality (measured by content appropriateness, language comprehensibility, and directness of response) of student blogs. Didactic implications will be discussed, including possible factors that positively (e.g., reliability of the blogger) or negatively (e.g., position of the blog) influenced the interactivity and quality of the blogging.

Bridging the Three CALL Communities (Research, Practice, and Engineering): Building on Facts, Findings, or Informed Opinion?
Jozef Colpaert
Although not strictly separated, one could consider there are three CALL communities: research, practice, and engineering. CALL research mainly applies accepted empirical and theoretical methodologies. In this presentation we will explain (a) how CALL practice and CALL engineering can be considered applied research, (b) which methodologies are most appropriate to yield relevant findings, (c) how CALL research can take into account these findings and become more practice oriented at the same time, and (d) how to publish about CALL engineering and practice. The three communities will most efficiently exchange information if they use common concepts and frameworks. A conceptual and methodological framework will be presented which is based on literature and projects.

From Technology to Technagogy-based Training
Sandra Wagner
Rong Yuan
IALLT Presentation
Integrating technology into classroom instruction requires more than just learning the features and functions of the new hardware. According to Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) Report #21 (1994), “technology integration is a developmental process of entry, adoption, adaptation, appropriation, and innovation.” When teachers are required to incorporate specified technology into instruction, factors such as participant motivation and attitude, familiarization with the technology, and incorporation of effective pedagogy /technology integration (technagogy) in task design must be considered. This presentation focuses on the development and implementation of technology training for instructors teaching in a foreign language immersion program, progressing from technology-based to technagogy-based outcomes.

3:30 – 4:15

Chaos Theory, Complexity Science, and Classroom Management in the Technology-enhanced Language Classroom
Leah Graham
New socioconstructivist approaches to learning, which facilitate greater student investment and interaction and greater use of the language, demonstrate that students working noisily, moving about the classroom is as prominent a signal of learning as students sitting quietly at their desk. Thus, this paper discusses the need for a new theoretical framework, chaos theory and complexity science, with which to study CALL settings that acknowledges the social, cultural, and intellectual complexity of the language classroom. The discussion is based on a study that took place in a technology-enhanced EFL course; however, the discussion will focus on implications for general CALL environments.

Bridging Communities of Language Teachers
Lara Ducate
Lara Lomicka Anderson
Gillian Lord
Nike Arnold
This presentation examines peer blogs and expert discussion boards in teaching methods courses at two universities. Both media allowed TAs to hone their teaching expertise and receive support for classroom issues and frustrations. Students reflected weekly on their teaching experiences in a blogging community of peers; the groups also engaged in monthly interactions with SLA experts via discussion boards. Our analysis investigates the benefits of each virtual discussion by highlighting how peer-peer interaction and peer-expert interaction in each group was characterized. We also examine the reactions of the virtual guests to their experiences in this medium.

How to Get Published in the IALLT Journal: Advice from the Editors
Douglas W. Canfield
Heather McCullough
IALLT Presentation
In this session, the President of IALLT and the editors of the IALLT Journal of Language Learning Technologies discuss current and future developments in the IALLT Journal, and in CALL journals generally, as the profession begins to more fully embrace digital scholarship. This discussion of trends and issues in digital scholarship as it pertains to the IALLT Journal will form the foundation for suggestions from the editors on practical considerations for those interested in contributing to the professional literature by having their work published in the IALLT Journal.

Language Technology Boot Camp
Felix Kronenberg
Ryan Brazell
IALLT Presentation
With this grant-funded project, the Language Technology Boot Camp, we will further develop the language assistant training that started at Pomona College in 2005. After a spring conference, an out-of-the-box training program-which is of high quality, selective, adaptable for various settings, and open source-will be developed. In this session we will show the progress that we have been making, provide information on the project and its benefits to the wider community, and discuss ways in which participants may join or contribute to our project. More information can be found at our website (http://bootcamp.pomona.edu).

Speech Recognition: Strengths and Weaknesses
Lance Knowles
Data collected over several years points to the effectiveness of DynEd’s proprietary use of speech recognition technology. This has now been upgraded to include useful visual feedback, scoring, and better accuracy. DynEd is now using this upgraded technology for proficiency testing purposes. Despite its weaknesses, which will be illustrated, the technology provides many benefits for language learners, as will be demonstrated in a variety of exercises drawn from DynEd courses, including Aviation English, Hospitality English, and New Dynamic English.

Find the Key and Choose Your Way: Learner Autonomy, Self-access Learning Centresand Moodle in an “Unconventional” Grammar Workshop
Verónica Morgade Cuña
The ideas presented derive from an ongoing grammar workshop in cooperation with the Leuphana University in Lüneburg (Germany). The aim of the self-directed grammar workshop was to develop the learners’ capacity to assume responsibility for their learning, planning, choosing an objective and developing the capacity for reflection in a CALL environment. Participants built autonomous strategies through collaboration with the group and with the advisor using different tools such as learning diaries, portfolios, Moodle, and second language materials (books, Blogs, internet, etc.). Students were required to submit a number of products to be evaluated: a learning plan, learning diaries, a final report linked to three diaries with a minimum of three products, and participation during in-class meetings and meetings with the advisor and a final group grammar presentation of their own choice. Examples of collaboration will be given, including the participants’ perceptions of their own autonomy.

Taking One Step Further in Language Technology–Summer Workshops for Language Educators
Hajime Kumahata
IALLT Presentation
Educators envisage applying technology in their classroom teaching. However, their demanding schedule often prohibits them from spending time researching language technology. The Language Resource Center at Rice University recognized this dilemma and began offering summer workshops to the faculty members. I will discuss the pros and cons of the nine unique web based projects from the workshop over the last 4 years. I will also discuss the implementation of the projects in and outside of the classrooms and the process of the entire summer workshop, from the “call for proposal” to the final presentations and implementation.

Creating Community at a Distance: Language Teacher Education Options and Possibilities
Debra Hoven
Web 2.0 and Education 2.0 are overtaking the landscape of teacher education in many arenas and changing what the CALL profession and the field of language teacher education consider to be essential knowledge and expertise of language teachers. Based on four semesters of data collection and action research, a set of design guidelines will be presented for “converting” a face-to-face language teacher education course to fully online mode. An experiential, community-based pedagogical approach was necessary to equip pre- and in-service teachers from varied cultural and language backgrounds with the necessary skills and understandings to become actively practicing CALL teachers.

4:30 – 5:15

Investigating the Occurrence, Linguistic Complexity, and Lexical Richness of Deleted Turns in Chat
Bryan Smith
Shannon Sauro
This session will present preliminary results of a semester-long study involving adult learners of German (n = 10) in a university CALL setting. Using video screen capture software and applying a new model for coding sent and unsent text during synchronous CMC (SCMC) interaction, this study explored two aspects of deleted messages during task-based text chat. First, under what conditions are these messages deleted rather than sent? Second, is there a difference in the linguistic quality of those messages deleted over those which are sent? Results of the comparison of sent versus deleted messages will be discussed.

Matrix Model Simulation: An Investigation into Long-term Vocabulary Change
Makoto Yoshii
This study attempts to examine long-term change in learners’ vocabulary knowledge. The researcher used a computer simulation to predict the change and compared the simulated data with actual data collected through a case study. The case study took place with two learners over 3 months dealing with 200 to 300 words. The participants rated their vocabulary knowledge weekly for 10 weeks. In the presentation, the researcher will share the results of the comparison of the data between the simulation and the actual case study and discuss the possibility of using such simulations for investigating language acquisition.

Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) and Second Life: The Reality of Learning a Language
Randall Sadler
Ulugbek Nurmukhamedov
How can the very real world methodologies of task-based language teaching (TBLT) be applied to the virtual world of Second Life? This presentation will discuss the results of a semester-long project which investigated how TBLT activities apply to teaching in a virtual world. The participants, all students in an advanced ESL class on Everyday Reading and Writing, spent one class per week engaging in a variety of TBLT activities in Second Life. The presentation will demonstrate several of the activities from the study as well as the quantitative and qualitative results.

Self-authoring Projects: Structure, Implementation, and Evaluation
Kara McBride
Social networking websites, blogs, podcasts, internet video sharing, and wikis have made self-authoring a part of many peoples’ lives. A general model for including self-authoring activities is presented in this talk, starting with a foundation of critical social-constructivism and a review of relevant literature. I then sketch out ways of introducing self-authorship into a FL class, depending on what the main role of technology is otherwise in the course. Next, three examples classes are presented in terms of (a) how assignments were structured and explained, (b) different models of group work and product sharing, (c) evaluation, and (d) student response.

The Right Tool for the Task: Language Production and User Preferences in a VLE
Ursula Stickler
Regine Hampel
This paper reports on a study into learner use of computer-mediated communication tools in the context of an online German course. The course, CyberDeutsch, was designed for the Open University’s new Moodle-based virtual learning environment and used a range of asynchronous Moodle tools as well as additional synchronous software such as a Flash-based videoconferencing tool. The focus of the course was on giving learners the opportunity to communicate and practice the target language. In order to find out more about users’ spoken and written language production, learner output and usage data were collected and analyzed and compared with subjective user evaluation of tools.

Using Speech-processing Technologies to Assess Airplane Pilots’ English Proficiency
Masanori Suzuki
Jian Cheng
This presentation describes the test development and validation process of an automated test of spoken aviation English. The test was developed in collaboration with the FAA to meet the ICAO language proficiency requirement. The spoken aviation English test is delivered over the telephone or via computer to simulate voice-only contexts. The candidates’ responses are automatically analyzed and scored by speech processing technologies. The test reliability was found to be 0.93. The correlation between the scores given by ICAO experts and by the machine was 0.94, suggesting that sufficient information can be obtained from the automated test for high-stakes testing purposes.

Pittsburgh Students Are Doing “LAPS” for Proficiency
Marsha Plotkin
Susan Cefola
Chris D’Alessandri
Are your students “exercising” to improve their speaking skills as they advance through your World Language program? Pittsburgh Public School students are improving by using Language Assessment and Practice Software (LAPS). Learn about the materials developed with two FLAP grants and the progress made with a third FLAP grant. LAPS includes the PPS Orals Online Assessment, the PPS Multimode Test, and Practice Activities for Language Students (PALS) developed with Prismatic Consulting. Prepare your students to move up the proficiency scale by doing LAPS and collect important data to support instruction and promote World Language programs.

Customizing Technology for Language Learning Success
Ulysses Navarrete
Kevin Donnelly
In this presentation, we will demonstrate how creating custom learning paths using technology can enhance the overall learning experience and increase learner engagement, as well as help grow a language program. Plus attendees will have an opportunity for hands-on practice.

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Conference Presentations: Day Three
March 22, 2008

8:00 – 8:45

Ergonomic Investigations in the Design of a CALL Reformulation Dictionary
Marie-José Hamel
Lexical errors are salient in the texts of language learners. Their knowledge about the lexicon could be superficial while their lexical reference strategies could be poor. Furthermore, lexical resources used by language learners are often missing the kind of information needed to meet their encoding needs. These findings motivate the development of our CALL ‘reformulation’ dictionary. To better understand the design of an interface for such a dictionary, we have investigated user-centered (ergonomic) issues within both a pedagogical lexicography and a CALL perspective, as they emerged from the language learning context described above. Our presentation will focus on the outcome of these ergonomic investigations.

Training on Mandarin Tones at Phrase and Sentence Levels
Xinchun Wang
A group of beginning level Mandarin learners with different L1 backgrounds completed 6 hours of training on Mandarin phrases and sentences produced by multiple native Mandarin speakers. The trainees recycled the training stimuli on a PC computer using Kay Elemetric’s Sona Speech II software with instant display of pitch contours along with speech output. Judged by four native Mandarin speakers, the trainees’ posttest sentences improved significantly from the pretest while the control subjects did not show such improvement. Intensive visual and auditory training is effective for learning Mandarin tones in a larger linguistic context.

Language Lab Unleashed: Virtual Professional Development and Collaboration
Barbara Sawhill
Felix Kronenberg
Ryan Brazell
Douglas W. Canfield
IALLT Presentation
Language Lab Unleashed (LLU) began in late 2005 as a place for two language learning technologists to experiment with social software and as a place to share ideas about the art and the craft of being a language technologist/teacher in academia today. In the past 3 years, LLU has become a virtual resource center for language teachers and technologists around the world, many of whom are often the only individuals at their schools doing what they do, and most of whom do not have the necessary funding to attend meetings, workshops, or conferences on a regular basis. LLU (http://languagelabunleashed.com) strives to provide an open, free, virtual meeting space for teachers and technologists to learn about new tools for the teaching and learning of languages, a place to discover and create new connections between technology and teaching, as well as a site where individuals can participate in conversations with fellow academics, self-identified techno geeks … and even Bluegrass stars. This session will introduce the audience to the site and provide a “behind the scenes” glimpse of the tools and resources used to run LLU and create its content. The presenters will talk about the different roles they fill on the LLU site. Audience members will be invited to suggest topics for upcoming shows, sign on as guest bloggers, and host webcasts using the LLU tools.

Investigating Learners’ Awareness of Collocations: Using Novel Technology to Address an Old Question
Anne Li-Er Liu
David Wible
Chin-Hwa Kuo
Tsung-Fu Hung
Collocational knowledge has drawn considerable attention of researchers and teachers in gauging learners’ vocabulary knowledge. It is widely recognized that a native-like usage of collocations of learners suggests a more thorough understanding of the target language. An increase of exposure alone does not improve learners’ collocations (Nesselhauf, 2004). By implementing a novel learning tool, UWiLL Collocator, this presentation aims to address the issue of how the collocational awareness of learners might be promoted via an online reading task. The result indicates that learners’ perception of collocation can indeed be changed which, in turn, implies that learners can identify a collocation rather than seeing the two words of a pair as two separated units. Further, learners’ receptive knowledge on collocations is explored in light of the theoretical proposals presented in the paper.

Learners’ Perception and Preference of Audio Stimuli during an Online Pragmatics Test
Dennie Hoopingarner
Fei Fei
Computer-based assessment of interlanguage pragmatic knowledge has not taken into account the effect of multimedia elements on learners’ behavior. This study used a Chinese pragmatics test in which learners had access to audio stimuli in addition to written prompts. A computer program was developed specifically to capture participants’ performance, including the frequency of audio selection. In addition to the quantitative analysis, interviews were conducted to collect students’ perceptions of the audio stimuli to provide a qualitative analysis. The results of this study furthers our understanding of the utility of including audio in online tests.

Towards Bridging Cultural Gaps by Using a CALL-enhanced LMS
Daniele Allard
Transfer of patterns from L1 can initially be a major source of errors for learners. These show that language, as a social practice, is imbued with culture. What learning difficulties associated with cultural differences can we identify? What are the cultural differences? This paper will highlight examples of errors in English and French in view of pragmatic functions and link them to cultural concepts organized according to ontological engineering methodology, which focuses on the specification of concepts, their relations and their attributes. It will also demonstrate how a potential LMS, in accessing information to this effect, can support the design of language lessons.

Web-based Diagnostic Assessment of Listening
Sun-Kwang Bae
Abdelfattah Boussalh
Youngsook Kim
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 provides learners with individualized feedback on their accomplishments and needs in their chosen foreign language. This feedback is based upon a systematic sampling of their linguistic abilities across a variety of levels, to include language-specific features. We will present the ODA listening assessment component, including system-wide structure, targeted listening features and assessment items. Korean and Arabic samples will be used.

9:00 – 9:45

Computer-mediated Communication and Real-world Teaching
Randall Sadler
There are now a large number of computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools available for teachers to enhance their students’ language learning. However, how much are these tools actually utilized? This paper discusses the results of a survey of 500 teachers which examined the actual use of CMC by language instructors, both for their personal use and for language teaching. In addition to the quantitative results, the presenter will share qualitative findings illustrating the successful, and not so successful, use of CMC in the “real world.”

Foreign Language Learner Beliefs about the Use of Technology in Language Learning
Tetyana Sydorenko
Ching-Ni Hsieh
Seongmee Ahn
This survey study explores learners’ beliefs about using technology in language learning from two perspectives: (a) language learners’ beliefs about the effectiveness of technology and (b) the relationship between learners’ familiarity with particular technology and their beliefs about it. The survey, administered to university-level foreign language learners, consists of three sections: (a) background questionnaire, (b) Likert-scale items on learners’ beliefs about using technology for language learning, and (c) learners’ familiarity with technology. It is hypothesized that several factors will influence learners’ beliefs about the use of technology for language learning, and that overall beliefs will be positive.

Educational and Appealing? Language Learning via Gaming
Jörg Waltje
This presentation will report on the efforts of developing a strategy and adventure game for the study of foreign languages, a collaborative project of the Games Research and Immersive Technology (GRID) Lab and the Language Resource Center at Ohio University.

Online Foreign Language Achievement Testing for College Credit
Jerry Larson
During this session, the feasibility and development of online foreign language achievement tests for students wishing to receive college credit by examination will be discussed. The tests include sections for listening comprehension, grammatical accuracy, and reading comprehension. Registering for the tests, taking the tests, and receiving performance feedback for both the students and the respective institutions are all accomplished online. Examples of two tests (Spanish and Russian) will be presented.

Digital Narratives 2.0
Felix Kronenberg
IALLT Presentation
Digital narratives share the advantages that traditional storytelling offers: they are multimodal, interactive, and can be saved and shared with ease. The new web-often referred to as web 2.0-has brought about a large number of tools that make digital storytelling easier and more interactive than ever. In addition, since they are browser based they are portable and platform independent. In this presentation I will discuss the pedagogical framework of storytelling and discuss various tools and their uses in a language program. Multiple projects in various languages and skill levels at Pomona College will be presented and commented on.

Using IM in the Classroom: Common Lexical Bundles in Computer-mediated Communication
Aziz Yuldashev
Julieta Fernandez
IALLT Presentation
This presentation will discuss how corpora findings can not only yield new quantitative and qualitative information about language use, but also make a case for an alternative view of how ESL can be taught through CMC. This presentation will provide practical ideas on how to implement instruction that helps students become aware of common lexical bundles used in IM, and achieve and interpret different social acts within IM environments in a pragmatically appropriate way.

Somewhere Over the Virtual Rainbow: Bridging the CALL Communities of Cultura and Second Life
John Vitaglione
Sabine Reljic
Somewhere over the virtual rainbow, world citizens participate in a global village where they interact and communicate across cultures. Successful interaction requires an understanding of cultural value systems other than their own, and the ability to learn the mainstream language of society. This presentation bridges the virtual CALL communities of MIT’s Cultura and Linden Lab’s Second Life to demonstrate how authentic artifacts posted by native speakers can be shared online with second language learners in communicative learning environments which engage users in web-mediated exchange. The goal is to achieve a rich understanding of the target culture to further promote language learning.

The Sims in Academe: Integrated Gaming in French Classes
Mylene Catel
IALLT Presentation
This presentation deals with exploring and implementing emerging technologies such as simulation games into the language curriculum. Games such as Sims 2, Sims Online, and Second Life can be educational tools for the teaching and learning of foreign languages. I use integrated gaming as a way to attract students, motivate them, immerse them, and role-play with them. In the resulting relaxed atmosphere, linguistic rules are more easily learned. See http://www.langwidge.com or http://www.profcatel.com for more information.

10:00 – 10:45

Effects of Guest Responses in an Asynchronous Learning Network: An Exploratory Study
Wen-Kai Yu
Yu-Chin Sun
Online discussions are known to have been incorporated with distance education to support participants who might not be able to meet or interact with their teachers face to face (King, 2001). There have been ample studies endeavoring to address the differences between synchronous online discussions and asynchronous online discussions; however, few have tackled the effect of guests in an asynchronous learning network. The present investigation examines the effects of guest responses in an asynchronous learning network in a exploratory study of seventeen-year-old EFL learner’s blog in Taiwan. The study also provides suggestions for future research and on how online courses can be better designed.

A Collaborative Peer Observation Model for Online Language Teachers
Joseph Hopkins
Pauline Ernest
Peer observations have long been considered a valuable tool for teacher development and reflection in foreign language teaching in face-to-face environments (Fanselow, 1988; 1992; Wajnryb, 1992). There is a limited amount of literature available, however, on peer observation within online education. This paper focuses on a model for collaborative online peer observation used in a recent teacher-development activity for 58 English language teachers at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), a fully online distance-learning university based in Barcelona, Spain. The activity was conducted asynchronously, using virtual group spaces and a common discussion forum, within the university’s virtual learning environment.

Designing a Computer Delivered Language Performance Test: A Pilot Study
Carol A. Chapelle
Yoo-Ree Chung
Volker Hegelheimer
Nick Pendar
Jing Xu
Prototype tasks were constructed to elicit language displaying evidence about grammatical knowledge. The tasks were piloted using 30 ESL students in one session and 453 in a second. This presentation will describe the basis for test design, the test tasks, and the results of the pilot studies to evaluate performance relative to the research on grammatical development and students’ performance on other tests. We will discuss implications for use of second language acquisition and learner corpus research for increasing the utility of L2 assessment with automatic response analysis.

The K-12 Factor: Bridging the Gap between the K-12 and University Communities
Frank Kruger-Robbins
Kristy Britt
Marlene Johnshoy
Rachida Primov
Dana Rensi
IALLT Panel Discussion
Why do CALICO and IALLT have a small number of K-12 constituents while ACTFL boasts a strong K-12 community? Is it time for a paradigm shift to encompass the needs of the K-12 educator? Come partake in this panel session of K-12 and university faculty members. Panelists will report on successful programs and resources that are already making this paradigm shift a reality. See how the CARLA Summer Institutes for Language Teachers, the University of Miami-Dade Outreach Program, and a K-16 “Blackboard” Language Resource Site are already changing the way K-12 and college-level language instructors communicate via technology!

Heritage and Foreign Language Learners’ Language Development: An Exploration of the Use of Asynchronous Communication Exchanges
Cynthia M. Ducar
Sara Beaudrie
This presentation investigates the gains achieved by SFL and SHL learners in an asynchronous exchange. Using an emergent theme analysis, we analyzed the 70,000 word corpus for metalinguistic comments and interaction patterns. Our findings show that the CALL environment increased students’ opportunities to attend to both form and content.

Podcasting for Language Learning: Models and Possibilities
Fernando Rosell-Aguilar
The popularization of portable media players such as the iPod, and the delivery of audio and video content through content management software like iTunes, means that there is a wealth of language learning resources freely available to users. These resources vary greatly in quality and follow different approaches to learning. This paper will present a review of the potential of podcasting for language learning in the light of SLA theories, provide a taxonomy of current podcast resources available, argue for better design, outline directions for future research, and discuss what the next steps are to arrive at a “podagogy” for language learning.

Evaluating Teaching CALL in Teacher Training
Trip Kirkpatrick
Mark Knowles
This presentation reveals a preoccupation about CALL’s rightful place in teacher training programs. To this end, we will discuss the development of a questionnaire used to uncover the structures of beliefs, assumptions, and knowledge ([BAK] structures, following Woods, 1996) of teachers who use CALL and those who promote CALL but may not teach. Following Borko et al. (1979), we refute the claim that teachers can be programmed to use desirable methods effectively. Instead, we believe that the language curriculum evolves when experienced teachers adapt to new environments and bring imagination and creativity to bear on those contexts.

Language and Culture and Tweets
Sharon Scinicariello
IALLT Presentation
In spring 2007 a new name–Twitter–appeared in the popular press, and now everyone seems to be sending tweets. Twitter is one of several applications that facilitate the sending of short “status” messages to the web. Because tweets can be read and sent via IM and SMS, they are a form of one-to-many communication that can be completely mobile. This presentation discusses several ways that Twitter can foster connections with other languages and cultures, for example, learning from tweets sent by global news organizations, following tweets from twitterers in other countries.

Bridging CALL Communities–Bringing Teachers Together Online!
Kirsten Söntgens
This paper will focus on the presentation and critical appraisal of the Leonardo-funded project called ‘EUROVOLT via VLE’ (European vocational online learning and teaching via a virtual learning environment), 2005-2007. EUROVOLT is an online teacher training course presented with Moodle, which trains experienced tutors from further and higher education in developing online vocational language courses themselves on their chosen virtual learning environments. The presentation will highlight how the training course was conceived and how it worked during the pilot as well as its critical evaluation by its participants. This evaluation will focus on data collected from the ‘trainees’ in an online seminar as well as online evaluation questionnaires.

Combining Moodle and Online Video to Spur Language Learning and Critical Thinking
Peter Neff
IALLT Presentation
The ever increasing availability of online video materials has been a boon for language instructors, especially in EFL contexts, who wish to provide their students with various authentic listening options outside of the classroom. Using resources such as Google Video and YouTube, in combination with systems like Moodle, teachers can now develop multifaceted online extensions of the learning environment. This presentation will demonstrate how different types of online video can be assigned for outside-of-class viewing and then later tied to assessment and critical thinking development through quizzes, debates, and forum discussion.

Sona Vocabulary Assistant: Connections and Integration through Browserless Webware
Curtis Ford
Sona Vocabulary Assistant is a cross-platform, web-enabled desktop application used in Russian classes at the University of South Carolina. Created in Runtime Revolution, it allows instructors to more tightly integrate existing textbook resources by bringing information scattered among different media into a single multimedia environment with six automatically generated activities. Instructors can also easily add to word lists their own examples of usage, audio, notes, images, and web links. I will discuss the current state of the program, students’ reactions, and demonstrate how web-enabled programs can deliver culturally rich learning materials without the limitations of a browser.

The Impact of Academic Podcasting on Student Learning Outcomes
Betty Rose Facer
Margaret Camarena
M’hammed Abdous
With an award from the National Endowment for the Humanities-Digital Humanities Initiative, the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Old Dominion University is building upon its Pilot Podcasting Project to determine if the use of podcasting technology in foreign language courses results in increased pedagogical effectiveness and greater student learning outcomes. The study examines the academic use of podcasting in beginning to advanced language, literature and culture courses for the 2007/2008 academic year. It is expected that podcasting technology will not only enhance students’ out-of-class review and practice activities, but that it may eventually cause instructors to rethink the types of materials they provide to students and the ways in which language courses are offered.

LinguaStep: A Platform for Curriculum-based Language Learning
Loren Siebert
IALLT Presentation
LinguaStep is a new online language-learning resource that was designed from the ground up to work in conjunction with existing language textbooks. While many existing commercial software programs target language learning, their focus tends to be on replacing textbooks and classrooms (and teachers) with solitary learning. LinguaStep takes the opposite approach by integrating an existing textbook series into an easy-to-use and pedagogically sound Web 2.0 service, so that textbook-based language learners can leverage online technology as well. By incorporating ideas from research on human memory and computer-aided language learning, the LinguaStep service aims to make each student more successful with the curriculum they are following. And by integrating guided and exploratory activities into a single service that leverages content relevant to the curriculum, students gain a useful resource for language learning.

International Online Student Language Exchange and Intercultural Sensitivity
Nina Langton
Alwyn Spies
IALLT Presentation
Through online collaborative multimedia projects, students have increased opportunities to connect with L2 students of different cultural backgrounds for the purpose of producing and negotiating meaning in the target language. These opportunities can also potentially make students more aware of cultural issues that may impact their own language acquisition and use. This study, involving online collaboration between second-year Japanese language students in Canada and Taiwan, examines connections between intercultural sensitivity and Japanese language development, and hypothesizes that online exchanges between multicultural learners of a second language can potentially contribute to increased intercultural sensitivity.

Topic-oriented Tasks and Vocabulary Acquisition
Maria Victoria Gonzalez Pagani
Jenny Nadaner
There has been an increased focus on vocabulary growth as a benchmark for SLA in recent years. Research has shown that interaction through computer-mediated communication benefits L2 vocabulary acquisition. Further studies show that lexical confusions dominate negotiations of meaning. The present study centers on incidental vocabulary acquisition through topic-oriented tasks in the context of synchronous CMC through learner/learner (NNS/NNS) pair chat exchanges using Skype. Tasks included information exchange and collaborative writing on the chosen topics. Target vocabulary was measured by two different instruments, and chats were examined for negotiations of meaning and the use of target vocabulary in context.

11:30 – 11:50

ICT and the Reversal of Authority Legitimation and Power Representation: Possibly a New Learning Experience?
Moira DiMauro-Jackson
This paper will reflect the preliminary findings of the observation carried out in a first year Italian class at Texas State University, featuring a video final project created by the students, in comparison to a French second year class with no such project, focusing on the pedagogical, social, cultural, and anthropological dimensions of ICT within the classroom. I will seek to demonstrate that the ways in which teachers and students “invent” their uses of technology both reflect and constitute the ways the political culture of a society is maintained and changed. Magli (1997) states that by introducing technology into school practices, we change the processes of authority legitimation and power representation and ultimately achieve a new learning experience.

Theory and Steps to Develop Adaptive Hypermedia Material for L2 Acquisition
Mercedes Rico
Eva Maria Dominguez Gomez
Maria Antonia Paín Arias
Héctor Sánchez Santamaría
Alejandro Curado Fuentes
Learning and information technologies (ICTs) are progressively evolving in the Spanish educational system with an increasing joint focus on the early ages. The process has been accelerated by legislation applied to elementary and preschool curricula claiming the need to foster foreign language learning in combination with educational technologies for 3- to 6-year old children. In this context, our research group-Research Group for Computer-Assisted Language Learning in Extremadura (GexCALL, http://gexcall.unex.es)-has embarked on the development of an adaptive hypermedia system founded on individualized user models and the creation of adaptive games.

Tagging and Word Frequency: What Do Language Learners Need to Know?
Charles Wiz
IALLT Presentation
The use of tags has become an important tool for finding and retrieving information on the internet. Individuals are free to assign any tags to any item, without the existence of a controlled vocabulary or imposed guidelines. This can pose challenges to language learners who wish to use sites that employ tags. This presentation will report preliminary findings on item frequencies and divergence between standard word frequency lists and tag frequencies, and the potential impact that this may have on vocabulary instruction.

Synchronous Computer-mediated Communication for Real-life Tasks: Ordering Pizza
Jacob E. Larsen
Karina Silva
The interaction between native and nonnative speakers has been researched for decades. This research has, among other things, focused on the negotiation of meaning. However, no studies have addressed native and nonnative speaker interaction in an authentic, everyday activity, such as the ordering of pizza via phone and written synchronous computer-mediated communication. This study aims at filling this gap by analyzing participant performance on a pizza-ordering task in terms of communication breakdowns, turns, and time on task. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of the participants’ performance and perceptions will be presented and discussed.

Using a Digital Video Library to Develop Cultural Literacy
Catherine Caws
This paper describes FrancoToile, a work-in-progress project initiated in the summer of 2006 at the University of Victoria, and its pedagogical implementation in our language courses focusing on the development of cultural literacy. I will review recent research in CALL technologies relating to sociocultural theories, focusing on cultural awareness, and discuss the opportunity of combining these technologies with concepts of multiliteracy as well as curriculum design. The presentation will introduce and explain the technology as well as present its associated research project used to measure learners’ capacity to use the technology and other tools in order to develop their understanding of Francophone cultures.

Promoting Cultural Acquisition among Korean Language Learners through Podcasting
Minsook Kim
Junghee Park
IALLT Presentation
This paper is a report of an on-going development project, “Berkeley Korean Podcasting,” which aims to enhance the cultural knowledge of Korean language learners at the University of California at Berkeley. Starting in late October 2007, we launched a podcast called “Berkeley Korean,” with a new episode debuting each week. The podcasts can be downloaded for free and be used by teachers to lend an extra dimension to classroom learning. Taking advantage of the increasing iPod usage at the college level, the podcasts will hopefully prove to be a successful marriage of technology and language and bridge the gap between classroom language learning and real-life cultural acquisition.

Using Computer Lab Internships to Train Future Teachers
Troy Cox
IALLT Presentation
Many intensive English programs (IEPs) as well as teacher training institutions struggle with getting their teachers trained in CALL. To get future teachers trained before they have the stress of being a “new teacher,” one program started a pilot program to offer paid internships to students who are just entering the field. The purpose is to train teachers in educational uses of technology prior to their being hired to teach at an IEP with the goal that they will be able to more effectively integrate the technology with their classes. This presentation will report on how the pilot program is working.

Advance Organizers and Listening Comprehension Assessment in a DVD-based Video Program
Bernd Conrad
The objective of this presentation is to demonstrate how DVD technology can be used to incorporate preview and review activities that help beginning level learners comprehend the story in the TV series “Berlin Berlin.” One challenge is to design advance organizers which help learners focus on global comprehension but do not compromise their interest in how the story unfolds. Similarly, an episode review is designed to assess comprehension but not to delay the presentation of the next episode by dwelling on linguistic aspects of the current one. Preview examples will have English translations and video excerpts will have English subtitles.

1:30 – 2:15

Learning Chinese Language and Culture in the Context of an Massively multiplayer Online Role-playing Game (MMORPG)
Kenneth Wade Dirkin
Ruhui Ni
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games are a significant potential, but underutilized, learning environment for second language acquisition. The exploration and discussion on how to fully employ the characteristics of MMORPGs to support language learning has drawn a great deal of attention from many such areas as second language acquisition, CMC, gaming, and educational technology. This presentation is to introduce ZON, an on-going project aimed at providing an MMORPG environment for Chinese language learning and Chinese culture experience for English speakers. The beta version of the ZON game will be demonstrated. The rationale of design, the framework of the ZON game, and how language learning and culture exposure happen in this environment will be presented and discussed as well.

CALL Learner Training in a Listening Course
Philip Hubbard
Kenneth Romeo
CALL learner training is receiving increasing interest, yet our understanding of how to incorporate it effectively into a course remains largely anecdotal. This presentation reports on a pilot study for developing a pervasive learner training component for an advanced ESL listening course for graduate students. Data are collected from pre- and postcourse surveys, assignments during the course, student learning journals, and videotaped individual meetings focused on checking and refining students’ understanding and implementation of learning principles and procedures. The data are analyzed qualitatively to assess the impact of the training and inform a more extensive study planned for subsequent quarters.

Advances in Large Scale Oral Reading Fluency Assessment
Ryan A. Downey
David Rubin
Alistair Van Moere
Individualized assessment of oral reading fluency (ORF) consumes teachers’ valuable time. As part of the development of an automated system for assessing ORF (i.e., percent words read correctly, reading rate, and phrasing/expressiveness), two large-scale studies collected oral reading samples over the telephone from first-, second-, third-, and fifth-graders from the US. Samples were scored using an automated speech-processing system that had been trained to match human scoring. Results demonstrated: (a) automated scoring correlated highly (above .90) with scores from expert human raters and (b) internet-to-telephone test delivery can significantly reduce time spent administering and scoring ORF tests.

Using Second Life to Learn a Second Language: Language Learning in a Virtual World
Christopher Luke
Lisa Kuriscak
The primary intent of this presentation is to demonstrate how second language learning can be facilitated in the online, virtual world of Second Life (SL). The presenters will focus on a recent pilot project that involved approximately 100 fourth-semester Spanish students and their initial work in SL. Topics will include designing and implementing a SL project in a language class, successes and drawbacks of using SL, and student reactions and response to learning in this particular online environment.

Student-Authored Content at the Core: Instant Video Projects in Italian 101
Cindy Evans
Shirley Smith
IALLT Presentation
The presenters will give a brief overview of the integration of video projects in the foreign language curriculum at Skidmore College, focusing on the current use of student-authored video as content in Italian. Students create video assignments designed to target specific thematic and grammatical structures. As an alternative to the use of video projects as a capstone experience, this practice exploits the medium as a tool for creative expression; students engage by putting their personal perspectives on center stage. The presentation will also include a discussion of constructionist principles supporting the integration of video projects in the classroom.

Computer-assisted Study Abroad: Empowering Students with Web 2.0
Kevin M. Gaugle
Duleep Deosthale
IALLT Presentation
Distance learning has traditionally been thought of as a matter of convenience in which one studies online because traveling is not an option. However, what if traveling were a mandatory component of a distance-learning experience? How might such an initiative redefine the meaning of study abroad or distance education itself? The following presentation will describe several projects at Marist College that have used student-generated podcasting, blogging, and geotagged photography to enhance both the student’s study abroad experience as well as traditional on-the-ground courses at the host institution.

2:30 – 3:15

Activity Theoretical Case Study: A Research Method for Online Language Learning
Joseph M. Terantino
This paper presents a research method for investigating CALL. The method integrates the conceptual framework provided by activity theory with case study methods to facilitate CALL research in online language learning. This presentation offers a comprehensive description of activity theory and case study methods, which emphasize the learning context as opposed to isolated learning outcomes. These descriptions provide guidelines for defining activity systems and describing the transformational processes associated with online language learning. The presentation will close with conclusions drawn from the application of the research method to a real context, my dissertation research in progress, demonstrating its usefulness to investigating online language learning.

Changing Realities of the Writing Classroom: The Effects of Computer-mediated Feedback on Revision in L2 Writing
Soo Hyon Kim
This presentation reports on a classroom-based study using insert comment/track changes, a function in Microsoft Word, and also Google Docs, a web-based collaborative editing program, for giving students comments on their essays prior to revision. Based on the findings of this study, the presenter discusses the effects of computer-mediated feedback on students’ writing and how the changing realities of ESL classrooms call for a closer examination of the influence that the medium of teacher feedback has on the ways students revise.

Creation and Application of a Database of Foreign Language Film Clips
Mark Kaiser
We will demonstrate the pilot for a searchable database of foreign language film clips. The clips, ranging in length from 30 seconds to 5+ minutes, have been tagged for descriptive features (e.g., culture, discourse, and linguistic) and language (e.g., actual words used in the dialog of the clip). Privileged users are able to search the database, review clips, and order those that they want to make available to their students. We discuss potential pedagogical applications of film clips, as well as problematize both decontextualization of the clip and the use of film clips as models of authentic speech.

Writing Collaboratively: Using Wikis in the Foreign Language Classroom
Ana Oskoz
Idoia Elola
IALLT Presentation
This study focuses on the use of wikis for collaborative writing in a FL context. It examines students’ writing performance individually and collaboratively by analyzing in the essays (a) fluency, accuracy, and syntactic complexity and (b) content and structure. Furthermore, the study analyzes students’ beliefs regarding individual and collaborative writing. Twenty-one students in a Spanish advanced writing course composed four essays and completed two questionnaires. Although the essays composed collaboratively showed less fluency, the essays improved in accuracy, content, and structure. Moreover, students felt they learned more about content, genre and grammar when working collaboratively than working individually.

Synthetic Immersive Environments and Spanish Pragmatics: Examining Dynamic CMC
Julie Sykes
Various features associated with these online collaborative environments are ideally suited to tackle pragmatic complexities. This presentation reports on the design, testing, and implementation of the first synthetic immersive environment (SIE) for learning L2 pragmatics. It describes the development process of the 3-dimensional, virtual space including the theoretical model for design and implementation. It reports on a large-scale study addressing user perception of the SIE for learning, the patterns of use within the SIE, and learner outcome data. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of implications for research as well as suggested applications of SIEs in language classrooms.

Web 2.0, the Language Learner, and You!
Clayton Mitchell
IALLT Presentation
Have you ever wanted to add technology to your classes and were not sure where to begin? Have you ever wanted to communicate with your students more efficiently? Have you been daunted by all of the technology available? If so, this talk is for you. Technology is no longer an option when talking about instruction in the 21st century; it is an obligation we have to our students to prepare them to communicate in the global community.

The Use of e-Portfolios in Spanish Language Teaching: Update on a Case Study
Peter Lafford
Barbara Lafford
Michelle Petersen
The educational use of e-portfolios continues to increase. Particularly relevant in support of language study, e-portfolios that can incorporate text and audio or video clips, documenting the student’s linguistic skill and progress over time, can be especially useful. Within the context of college-level Spanish, the presenters will update last year’s pilot study with more robust empirical data addressing the rationale and implementation of PowerPoint-based e-portfolios in a Spanish language classroom at Arizona State University. They will also report on the progress of the Global Language Portfolio project at Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Sakai-based Open Source Portfolio, showing examples of each.

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