2011 Thursday Sessions

CALICO 2011

Conference Presentations Day One

May 19

9:00 – 9:45

Keynote Address

Never Let You Go: The Nexus between CALL and SLA Theory

Bryan Smith
Assistant Professor of English
Arizona State University
Over the past decade CALL researchers have more systematically applied theoretical paradigms, perspectives and empirical research methods from applied linguistics in investigating the nature and effectiveness of instructed SLA. This morning I will provide one view of how some CALL researchers have recently attempted to draw on established SLA constructs and approaches in exploring learner interaction. I will try to give special attention to some of the methodologica challenges they face in doing so. How CALL research not only benefits from but also has the potential to shape (and also complicate) aspects of SLA theory will be discussed as well.

UStream recording of keynote Prezi presentation slides

 

10:00am -10:45am

Approaches to Mobile CALL App Creation

Robert Godwin-Jones, Virginia Commonwealth University

There are two basic approaches to developing CALL applications for mobile delivery. The first is to create native apps, which take full advantage of the specific hardware capabilities of a given device. Such applications are written in the development language supported by the mobile OS, and are thus proprietary to those platforms. The alternative is to write a Web App, which can be displayed on a mobile Web browser and will run on multiple devices. This approach entails working in HTMl, CSS and JavaScript. Each approach has its pros and cons, which will be discussed in the presentation. The main focus will be on demonstrating creation of a mobile optimized Web App.

audio recording presentation slides

 

 

L2 Feedback via Place-based Mobile Games

Julie Sykes, University of New Mexico
Christopher Holden, University of New Mexico

This presentation analyzes the use of complex feedback systems in a place-based mobile game designed for language learning. It is the first game of its kind designed for L2 development in Spanish. Analysis of a corpus of gameplay data as well as interviews, pre and posttests, and in-class presentations demonstrates that place-based mobile games can provide valuable contexts for authentic feedback. Implications for both the design and use of feedback in place-based mobile games for L2 development are also discussed.

Computer-mediated Perceptual Training can Improve Second Language English Vowel Pronunciation

Ron Thomson, Brock University

This study incorporates research perspectives on the development of second language (L2) pronunciation into the creation of a computer-assisted pronunciation training application. The application follows a modified version of the High Variability Phonetic Training paradigm, which trains users to better perceive L2 sounds, rather than focusing on a description of articulatory gestures associated with particular sounds. In this study, 22 speakers of Mandarin were trained to better perceive ten English vowels. Recordings of their pronunciation before and after training indicated significant improvement in both the training context as well as in a new context.

Transfer Between Chatting and Speaking: A Case Study Approach

Adam Mendelson, UC Berkeley

Multiple comparative studies based on pre/post measures of oral performance provide compelling evidence that online, text-based chatting can positively transfer to speaking foreign languages. However, these studies do relatively little to describe and explain the phenomenon. My research complements prior work by investigating transfer between chatting and speaking through case studies of individual students. I combine analysis of chat logs and oral performance data with student interviews and surveys to construct detailed descriptions of individual cases of this transfer. Through these case studies I attempt to illuminate explanatory factors that may inform the future design of chat-based instruction.

audio recording presentation slides

 

Introducing LADL: A Learning Activity Description Language

Gregory Aist

Monica G. Richards, Iowa State University
David Niedergeses, Iowa State University

Language-learning activities linking listening, speaking, reading, and writing are pedagogically valuable yet technologically challenging to construct, especially for instructors lacking Web design experience or programming expertise. This presentation introduces LADL, a learning activity description language providing a teacher-friendly interface for linking, on a single page, tasks chosen from a library of templates that can be customized to include teacher-chosen local and Web resources. LADL also allows designers and tech-savvy instructors to create programs, descriptions that generate task templates. By using client-based technology, LADL requires no server support beyond the standard browser necessary to access Web resources and course management systems.

audio recording

 

 

OWL Testing Software: Learning Activities and Assessments in Your Mediated Learning Community

Chris Dalessandri, Owl Testing Software

Because teaching in a computer mediated learning community frequently means little or no in-person interaction, how do you deliver, maintain and assess practice activities, quizzes and assessments? You can rely on the simplistic tools in a course management system or you can use OWL. OWL is a proven test, quiz, and practice management system that allows you to assess all four modes of communication. Use a wide variety of realia, audio, video, text and image content all while maintaining test security as needed. OWL even allows you to deliver multiple types of feedback including rubrics, written and recorded comments.

audio recording presentation slides

 

 

11:00am – 11:20am

Developing CAPT Tasks in WebSwami

Jing Xu Iowa State University
Elena Cotos Iowa State University
Ruslan Suvorov Iowa State University

This presentation provides an overview of audio- and video-based pronunciation activities created in WebSwami, a commercial web-based language learning application. Specifically, the overview focuses on the theoretical rationales for developing English pronunciation learning tasks in WebSwami and on a judgmental evaluation of their potential. It also suggests a model for further empirical evaluation of the effectiveness of these tasks.

audio recording

 

 

Computer-generated Feedback for L2 Grammar Acquisition: A Taxonomy-based Synthesis and Research Proposal

Luis Cerezo, American University

Four meta-analyses have been recently published to interpret the rapidly growing empirical literature on corrective feedback for L2 grammar acquisition (Russell & Spada, 2006; Mackey & Goo, 2007; Li, 2010; Lyster & Saito, 2010). None of them, however, included any study on computer-generated feedback. In this paper, I present a synthesis of 20 years of published and unpublished research using a three-componential taxonomy, including explicitness of negative evidence, provision of positive evidence, and prompts for error repair. Results help to interpret existing findings and identify future research avenues on aural modality, implicit computerized feedback, and isolation of intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

The Effects of Task-essentialness in a Computerized Context on L2 Development

Nina Moreno, University of South Carolina

Task-essentialness is the third of three consciousness-raising task features coined by Loschky and Bley-Vroman (1993). This feature demands that the target structure be attended to if the task is to be completed successfully. A growing number of studies containing tasks that are task-essential have been conducted in a computerized environment (Bowles, 2005; Sanz, 2004; Sanz and Morgan-Short, 2004), but only a handful has addressed the contrast between the presence or absence of task-essentialness. This study monitored 59 learner performances and internal cognitive processes as they carried out [+/- task-essential] tasks on Spanish direct object clitics, following a pretest-posttest-delayed posttest design.

audio recording

 

 

Learner Strategies for Constructing Meaning from Mediated Authentic Video

Bernd Conrad, Northern Arizona University

This presentation is to report the results of a study on strategies learners employ when viewing authentic video. The goal of the investigation was to determine the extent to which learners rely on verbal and non-verbal clues, guessing, and memory. Students also rated the effectiveness of advance organizers, L2 subtitles, and playback intervention. The experiments were administered as part of in-class tests. Using the TV series “Berlin Berlin”, the study has been conducted in a 4th semester German course since spring 2008. Visual and listening comprehension tasks are mediated by way of a pedagogical treatment integrated with the video on DVD.

audio recording

 

 

QuizML, a Markup Language for Interactive Exercises.

Bill Wadge, University of Victoria
Christine Wadge University of Victoria

QuizML is a markup language that allows instructors with limited computer skills to quickly create Web-based interactive exercises. In its simplest form the instructor types in text with certain words marked by a # sign. The instructor also, at the beginning of the text, lists the choices to be offered. In the web version the marked words are replaced by blanks. When the student places the mouse over the blank, the choices are presented in a drop-down menu. Wrong choices are counted, and the correct choice replaces the menu and the blank. The transformation from annotated text to interactive web page is performed on a server – there is no software to download and install.

audio recording

 

ESL Learners’ Reading Engagement In TELL Classrooms

HyunGyung Lee

This qualitative research focuses on ESL learners’ reading engagement in English in Technology enhanced language learning (TELL) environment. Reading engagement can positively affect students’ reading achievement because engaged readers read voluntarily and extensively for knowledge and pleasure and they can make better connections to the real-world so that authentic learning can occur (Guthrie, 2001). However, there have been only a few studies on ESL learners’ reading engagement in natural TELL classroom contexts. Therefore, this research investigate 1) what motivates ESL students to read, 2) what levels of reading engagement they perceive they have during the three reading tasks, 3) what task features facilitate or hinder their reading engagement in English in the TELL classroom.

audio recording

 

11:30am – 11:50am

 

Oral Proficiency Assessment of Intercultural Online Collaborative Tasks

Sake Jager, University of Groningen
Steve Thorne, Portland State University; University of Groningen

This presentation will discuss the application of WebCEF, an assessment tool based on the Common European Framework of Reference, in intercultural online collaborative tasks between students of English and Dutch in two universities in Europe. The Skype-enabled interactions, based on principles of TBLT, are recorded and competencies for oral communication are assessed by the student-participants themselves and their teachers. We discuss how this approach to oral communication assessment is relevant to intercultural online exchanges and may be a source for self-reflection, language learning, and intercultural awareness.

audio recording presentation slides

 

 

A Review of the Use of Learner-Behavior Tracking in CALL Research Studies: Programs Providing Meaning Aids

Fenfang Hwu, University of Cincinnati

This paper reviews studies in which computer-based tracking was used to record learning behaviors in programs that used “meaning technologies” to enhance reading and listening activities. The objective of the review is twofold. The first is to ease the challenges that researchers face in collecting and studying tracking data. Accordingly, the review identifies the research questions that have been answered by using tracking data, the tracking data to be collected, and the behavioral data to be derived. The second is to promote tracking data sharing to increase the number of subjects. Thus, examples of how researchers can share data through CALL data repositories and use such data to answer research questions are provided.

audio recording presentation slides

 

 

Learning German in a Massively Multiplayer Online Game


Donald Vosburg, Pennsylvania State University

An ongoing pilot project is described in which voice and written synchronous data of third semester German students is recorded while they game online in World of Warcraft (WoW). Possibilities of using an online gaming environment, such as WoW, will be briefly discussed for use as a supplement to traditional foreign language teaching practices. Furthermore, the ongoing work in this project provides some insight into which language forms appear in this environment. Results of change in participants’ pre/post gaming rate of speech and hesitation, and other data available for analyzing benefits for Second Language Acquisition (SLA) will be discussed.

Public Internet Discussion Forums. Can They Enhance Writing Skills?

Mathy Ritchie, Simon Fraser University
Catherine Black, Simon Fraser University

This presentation describes the results of a research study that took place in an advanced French writing class in a Canadian university. The goals of the research study were to see if public internet discussion forums are beneficial to students for the development of their argumentative skills, critical thinking, and sociolinguistic and cultural competences. The preliminary results show that students were motivated to investigate topics of French culture, to write better to “fit in” and to be understood by the francophones participating in the forums. Students read participants’ comments in the forums and mimicked some of the vocabulary and expressions to help improve their own writing.

audio recording

 

Using Bookmarklets to Enhance Language Learning

Lathrop P. Johnson, Ball State University

Because more and more language activity is performed online, students and teachers should take advantage of bookmarklets to easily access a multitude of background information, such as translations, synonyms, pronunciations, IPA spellings, conjugations, images, or even encyclopedia articles. Bookmarklets are small JavaScript utilities that can be placed in a browser bookmark or favorites toolbar to pop up specific information for highlighted words with a single mouse click. The presentation will demonstrate a variety of possible bookmarklets and describe how participants can create their own bookmarklets for personal or student use.

audio recording

 

Social Positioning in Fanfiction Writing

Soomin Jwa University of Arizona

Throughout this case study, I look at the ways in which the design of fanfiction discourse (FanFiction.net) helps L2 users build writer identity and create a voice through text production. Especially investigating two ESL fanfiction users’ writing, I found that technological affordances as revealed in the hybrid form of fanfiction discourse, the dialogic interaction among community members, and electronic texts encourage multiple social positionings within the discourse, which helps shape their identity and create discoursal voice in texts. The study overall offers a nuanced view of how the notion of voice is redefined within the intersections of multiple discourses, and how these redefinitions relate to L2 writing in the digital era.

audio recording

 

2:00pm – 3:30 pm

 

Research-Based Uses of Learning Management Systems

Klaus Brandl, University of Washington
Lisa Frumkes,Apex Learning
Robert Godwin-Jones, Virginia Commonwealth University
Lilian Mina, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Michael Trevor Shanklin, San Diego State University

The advent of web-based environments has led to the development of numerous course and learning management systems (LMSs) that have become standard in nearly all learning environments. These systems normally come prepackaged with tools and design features that can be restrictive, yet allow for creative task designs and implementations. We will discuss advantages and areas of applicability of several courseware development tools, and demonstrate creative task designs when using courseware, Web and course management systems. The presentation will be useful for both CALICO newcomers and those interested in catching up with new trends in courseware development and task designs. This panel features the following four presentations: 1. Multiuser Interactive Task Designs using Moodle, Klaus Brandl, University of Washington 2. Asynchronous Discussion Activities: Increased Engagement and Interaction, Lilian Mina, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) 3. Recreating the Language Lab via Moodle, M. Trevor Shanklin, San Diego State University 4. Adding functionality to an LMS, Bob Godwin-Jones, School of World Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University

audio recording presentation slides (Robert Godwin-Jones)
presentation slides (Trevor Shanklin)

 

Building and Leveraging Malleable Tools

Michael Bush, Brigham Young University
Sue Otto, University of Iowa
Ken Petersen, American Councils for International Education
Evan L. Villemez, American Councils for International Education

Envisioning the killer app for language learners may be simple, but implementing it is anything but. The real challenge is to develop tools that can be repurposed in ways not imagined by the original author. This session takes a look at example REST and SOAP Web APIs from popular Internet services, analyzes the underlying technologies, and shows how implementing them in certain applications has completely changed the way people interact with the given application, or even enabled the creation of entirely new applications. Tools made available through APIs can be combined in various ways to create compelling new applications, often referred to as “mashups”. Discussion will follow on initiatives to make tools accessible as Web services: NLP underway at the American Councils for International Education, work done at the University of Iowa for advanced instructional design techniques for educational applications, and ongoing projects on online learning applications involving video and open learning management systems at Brigham Young University.

audio recording

 

Enriched Reflection in Teacher Education: Linking Theory and Practice through Telecollaboration

Nike Arnold Portland State University
Lara Ducate University of South Carolina

This presentation reports on a cross-institutional telecollaboration project of foreign language and ESOL teacher candidates who shared teaching experiences and research insights through blogs and video conferencing with the goal of implementing an action research study. While one group blogged about their teaching experiences in the classroom, the less-experienced group gave feedback and advice based on the research they were reading. After describing the project, we share findings from a qualitative data analysis of students’ blog postings using Ur’s (1991) model of enriched reflection which focuses on how the blogs facilitated practical and theoretical reflection of teaching methods and research.

audio recording

 

Interlanguage Pragmatic Development in NS/NNS Participatory Online Environments

Adrienne Gonzales University of New Mexico

Studies have shown that SCMC can improve language learners’ pragmatic skills. This presentation will discuss conversation closings between Spanish as a second language learners and their interlocutors in Livemocha, focusing on politeness strategies employed during their SCMC interactions in this environment. Using a conversation analytical approach to the data, this project seeks to reveal the evolution of learner politeness strategies over time, the effect of learner perception of this online community, and native speaker influence on language learners. This presentation will address these questions as well as the implications of this technology for classroom language learning.

audio recording presentation slides

 

Dubbing and Subtitling of Film Scenes in a Translation and Adaptation Spanish Course, an Interdisciplinary Project

Felisa Guillen Occidental College
Bruno Louchouarn Occidental College

Translation, adaptation, and performance of a second language are linked processes involving semantic, pragmatic, rhetorical and embodiment aspects of language. In an upper division course, taught in Spanish, and grounded in cultural studies and cognitive linguistics, students transcribed, translated, adapted, and dubbed scenes from the film Teresa de Jesús. Student’s pronunciation improved and they exhibited a positive cognitive shift when acting the text to fit the actors’ actions. They gained a deeper understanding of culture-specific concepts and lexicon. Translation strategies they developed increased their awareness of cultural differences and helped them reflect on the key role played by translators as intercultural facilitators.

Trans-Atlantic Conversations: Intercultural Negotiation and Effective Understanding through an Inter-University Collaborative E-platform

Ana Oskoz, UMBC
Anna Brígido, University of Valencia

Previous research has shown that, despite benefits of international interactions for intercultural communicative development (Byram, 1997), differences in cultural-related communication styles also lead to misinterpretations, reinforcement of stereotypes and communication breakdowns (Belz, 2002; O’Dowd, 2003). The present study aims to understand the discourse practices that hindered or enhanced positive discussions and the extent to which such exchanges facilitated intercultural competence in a trans-Atlantic online NING interaction. Preliminary discourse analysis suggests that emotional involvement, affective networks, and commitment within the group are key to successful negotiations, allowing learners to engage in productive intercultural discussions.

 

3:00pm – 3:45pm

 

Opportunities and Challenges in Adopting New Instructional Technology

Cathy Barrette Wayne State University

This presentation describes the process of introducing new instructional technology — an online workbook for students and pedagogical resources for instructors —- in 18 sections of a first semester Spanish course. Adopting new technology in a multi-section introductory language course presents both opportunities and challenges for language program directors, instructors, and students. Careful planning and implementation of the adoption process serves to maximize opportunities while minimizing challenges to all participants. In addition to evaluating the adoption process, the presenter will identify pitfalls to avoid and suggest improvements applicable to the adoption of any new instructional technology.

Exploring Non-native English Speaking Students’ Use of Technologies to Improve their Paraphrasing Skills and Avoid Plagiarism

Dawn Bikowski, Ohio University
Robert Stewart, Ohio University

This presentation will report on a study that explores student use of technology to check their own writing for plagiarism. It will include how often students use technology to check their own writing, if they find this to be useful, and if there are any predictors of when students choose to use technology to check their own writing. Participants are 300 NNES graduate and undergraduate students, and data includes survey and focus group information. Results will indicate if and how these technologies are used and will identify factors that co-occur with their use. Pedagogical implications will be discussed.

audio recording presentation slides

 

Computer Tracking Tools and Techniques for Collecting and Analyzing Data on Learner Behaviour

Marie-Josee Hamel, University of Ottawa
Catherine Caws, University of Victoria

Computer tracking, as a method of obtaining direct, objective feedback on the learner has evolved from being static to being more dynamic. Such an “ethnographic method” (Fisher 2007) produces process and product oriented empirical data that can be qualitatively and quantitatively analysed. Results from studies based on computer tracking facilitate the measure of the efficiency and effectiveness of interfaces and features of CALL applications (Hamel and Caws 2010). Hemard (2003) and Colpaert (2004) insist on the participation of users throughout the development cycle of CALL applications. We will present tools/techniques to collect/analyse data on learner behaviour and task outcome. We will also discuss their relevance in wider CALL contexts.

presentation slides

 

Scrapbooking as an Approach to Writing

Martine Peters, Universite du Quebec en Outaouais
Mary Frankoff, Heritage College

Today’s college students have access to a multitude of information from the Internet that they can use to write school assignments. Digital ‘scrapbooking’ leads the student to choose a variety of pieces such as ideas, arguments, images, videos, and text, and to combine, reorganize, and finally to knit everything together in a new creation. However, many teachers consider the practice to be plagiarism. We will present the results from questionnaires distributed to college students about their scrapbooking strategies when writing school papers. Conclusions will examine the practical applications for the writing process.

Reversing Enrollment Attrition: Ideas for Enhancing the Student Language Experience

Todd Nichols Talk Abroad

Intercultural experiences are increasingly valued by the modern student. Even so, foreign language class enrollment is 50% of what it was in 1960. This session will explore this phenomenon through the lens of the student in the classroom. This will be a data-driven session looking at the psyche of the modern student, common perceptions of foreign language programs and their impact on language program enrollment, and ideas for using technology to improve the language learning experience.

audio recording

Mediation, Expansion and Remediation in Digitally Mediated Language Learning Environments

Francoise Blin, Dublin City University
Steve Thorne, Portland State University; University of Groningen

Cultural Historical Activity Theory is a “developmental theory that seeks to explain and influence qualitative changes in human practices over time” (Engeström 1999: 378). It emphasizes the central role of artifacts and practical collective activity in the process of mediation. In this presentation, we explore the concepts of mediation, remediation and expansion, and their relations to human activity and agency, as seen by contemporary cultural historical activity theorists. We contrast them with recent articulations of “strong mediation” that have been expressed in other fields, such as actor network theory, and discursive psychology, and science studies. We apply this discussion to research on language learning in digitally mediated environments.

audio recording

 

4:00pm -4:45pm

 

Curricular Design from the Bottom Up: Development and Analysis of Hybrid Elements of a Spanish Advanced Composition Course

Mark Knowles, University of Colorado at Boulder
Anne Becher, CU-Boulder
Alison Hicks, CU-Boulder

In this presentation, we will describe the development of hybrid elements of a Spanish advanced composition class, including an on-line tutorial about research resources created by a multilingual librarian. We will discuss how the hybrid format evolved through an organic process of adopting technological change, which led to a tipping point in the conception of the course. Our experience is suggestive of the appeal of curricular design that includes a bottom up approach in the adoption of technology. We will provide an evaluation of the technology used as well as a discussion of the interdepartmental collaboration behind it.

audio recording presentation slides

 

LingvoHelpilo, a Pedagogically Enriched Grammar Checker for a Distributed Learning Community

Sonja Lundberg
Eckhard Bick, University of Southern Denmark

Quality and immediacy of error identification and feedback are important factors in language acquisition, and automatic tools can accelerate this process at both the learner and teacher levels. We present such a tool, a Constraint Grammar-based spell and grammar checker for Esperanto (LingvoHelpilo), with a special focus on systematic error classification and pedagogical explanations, deemed essential for a distributed language community with a large proportion of adult L2 learners. Our web-based interface recognizes about 85 different error types, providing correction suggestions as well as usage rules and textbook examples. At a semi-automatic level, the system can be used by teachers in a remote e-learning context.

The Impact of Enhanced Subtitles plus Explicit Grammatical Instruction on the Acquisition of L2 Grammatical Structures

Heidi Kent, Simon Fraser University

There is strong evidence that showing L2 video that is also subtitled in the target L2 facilitates listening comprehension, speech production and incidental vocabulary acquisition. The current study examines whether input (a subtitled video) which includes a particular grammatical form, followed by an explicit explanation of that form, will result in better learning of the generalized grammatical rule if the initial input is modified to enhance noticing, as compared to unmodified input. The results showed a significantly higher improvement for the students who received the modified input for some, but not all, forms of the grammatical structure.

audio recording presentation slides

 

Transatlantic Tutoring: The Pittsburgh–Clermont-Ferrand Collaboration

Christopher Jones, Carnegie Mellon University
Thierry Chanier, Universite Blaise Pascal
Anne-Laure Foucher, Université Blaise Pascal

In fall 2010, Blaise-Pascal University in Clermont-Ferrand, France and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylania pooled resources in the interest of programs at both institutions. On the French side were teachers-in-training seeking experience using on-line communication tools and exploring pedagogical implications. On the U.S. side were undergraduate students enrolled in the French Online course created at CMU. The organizational architecture was to insert the Clermont interlocutors into an existing system of conversational practice meetings in the French Online blended design, using Skype technology. This presentation will consist of multimedia documentation and reactions from students and instructors, illustrating the challenges and benefits of the arrangement.

audio recording

 

On the Development of a Virtual Worlds for Language Learning Alliance

Randall Sadler, University of Illinois@Urbana-Champaign

This presentation will discuss the development of a Virtual Worlds for Language Learning Alliance (ViLLA), including an overview of the current members of the alliance (approximately 50 researchers, teachers, and schools), their resources available to CALICO members, how alliance members are making use of VWs in the language learning process, and a discussion of how they are developing (and redeveloping) land in Second Life and Open Sim. The presentation also serves as a call for additional participation in the alliance, and will include a brainstorming session for future alliance activity and direction.

audio recording

 

 

Voice vs. Text Chats: Their Effectiveness for Learning Probing Questions by Non-Native Speaking Nursing Students in Online ESP Courses

Olga Geissler, Center for English as a Second Language

This session will present the findings of an English for Medical Purposes: Communication in Nursing course delivered online for NNS nursing students at a nursing college in the Philippines. The project aimed at examining the following questions: Which CMC interactional mode — voice or text — provides for better learning of probing questions by NNS nursing students online through noticing of their use in situations typical for everyday medical communication?; Which CMC interactional mode — voice or text — is perceived as more effective for learning how to use probing questions in medical communication by the online course participants?; Is there evidence that practicing probing questions in text-based chats online may transfer them to speech?

audio recording presentation slides

 

Evaluating the Impact of Podcasts about Listening Strategies and Note-taking Skills for University French Immersion Students

Alysse Weinberg University of Ottawa
Helene Knoerr University of Ottawa
Larry Vandergrift University of Ottawa

Students listening to academic lectures in their second language (L2) have the double challenge of understanding complex information and unfamiliar language terms. A series of seven podcasts grounded in metacognitive (e.g., Wenden, 1998) and L2 listening theory (e.g., Goh, 2008) were scripted and recorded to provide French immersion (FI) students in the bilingual University of Ottawa with strategies to enhance their L2 listening ability and note taking skills. This session reports on the impact of these podcasts at the end of the Fall 2010 semester. In order to detect any growth in metacognitive awareness of L2 academic listening as a result of exposure to these podcasts, all 254 students in all 21 immersion classes completed the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (slightly modified) at the beginning and the end of the semester. Quantitative data are complemented by data from an online questionnaire and a pre- and post-paper and pencil questionnaire on the actual use, perceived usefulness, and level of enjoyment of the podcasts.

audio recording