CALICO 2000
Conference Presentations
Day Two: June 2, 2000
8:00 – 8:45
Communicating from a Distance
Wen-chiu Tu, Youngsook Kim, Tsengtseng Chang, and Lewis Schnake
This session links proficiency-oriented teaching with Web-delivered instruction. Examples of collaborative activities among peers, application of Harmer’s teaching model to CALL tasks and ways of enhancing speaking via synchronous on-line conferencing will be presented. Major features to be demonstrated include multilingual input method editors of Internet Explorer 5.0, interactive Shockwave movies with staggered feedback, and streaming video/audio. Participants will leave the session with links to freeware and HTML/JavaScript templates applicable to their web pages.
Student-Teacher Collaboration in Courseware Production: Promoting Student Professionalism–The Tangible Goals of Foreign Language Education
Yumiko Guajardo
In order to make students responsible for their own learning, teachers seek to design their courses for a day-to-day student-centered classroom learning environment and to make course assignments that require student initiative and involvement. This presentation shows how to encourage students in their own learning, make their work/projects more accountable, and prepare them to become life-long learners of foreign language and culture. The HTML-based courseware materials were made through student-teacher collaboration to achieve learning goals while maintaining a high level of student enthusiasm and interest. The tangible results are a production/publication experience for the students and better course materials for learners.
Project-Based Spanish Cybertravel: The Closest to the Real Thing!
Caterina Reitano
This presentation will highlight a project-based approach to learning that took place in an advanced Spanish conversation course. The presenter will demonstrate how cyber trips lend themselves to increasing foreign language learners’ knowledge about the target culture according to their interests. Through the use of the WWW, learners made use of numerous authentic resources (e.g., RealAudio, QuickTime, Virtual Museums, and transportation schedules) during the various stages of this project to help them plan their travel abroad. Moreover, the virtual postcard was one of the components that was used by the learners as a vehicle to communicate their travel experiences. (Examples will be provided.)
Virtual Misadventures: Using the Internet in a Second Language Comprehension Course
Hélène Knoerr and Alysse Weinberg
The advanced French comprehension course at the Second Language Institute of the University of Ottawa normally presents only video and radio material to students. Starting this year, the course will also include multimedia material from the Internet. How will students react and learn from this material? How effective is comprehension learning from Internet material compared to the other multimedia resources? What are the advantages and problems related to using Internet material in the classroom? A survey of the students and their reactions to this new media will be presented.
The MLA’s Draft Guidelines for Evaluating Work with Digital Media in the Modern Languages
Donna C. Van Handle, Nina Garrett, Kathryn Murphy-Judy, and Robert Fischer
The Modern Language Association’s (MLA) “Guidelines for Evaluating Work with Digital Media in the Modern Languages” and “Guidelines for Institutional Support and Access to Information Technology for Faculty and Students in the Modern Languages” are the revised versions of the MLA’s “Statement on Computer Support” (1993) and “Guidelines for Evaluation of Computer-Related Work in the Modern Languages” (1996). These short presentations seek to highlight the most significant changes and improvements made to the two previous documents. Audience participation in a discussion of the new documents is especially encouraged.
The ICT4LT Project: An On-Line Course in Information and Communications Technology for Language Teachers
Graham Davies
Phase 1 of the ICT4LT project aims to design a syllabus and to deliver a WWW-based course on the implementation of new language teaching methodologies in four languages: English, Italian, Swedish, and Finnish. Phase 2 will be devoted to reversioning the materials in French, German, and Spanish. The main target group is language teachers already in service, although parts of the syllabus will also be suitable for teachers undergoing initial training and for teachers following short intensive courses. It is anticipated that the syllabus and the delivery mode developed and piloted in this project will lead in the longer term to a recognised international qualification (e.g., a Diploma or MA Degree). The project is being funded by the European Commission and is coordinated by Thames Valley University, London, UK.
9:00 – 9:45
New Options for Cost Effective Language Oral Proficiency Testing: The D(Digital)-VOCI
Mary Ann Lyman-Hager
The VOCI (Video Oral Communication Instrument) test was first designed at the National Language Resource Center at San Diego State University by Theodore Higgs in 1994-95. Its purpose was to create a low-cost, practical means of eliciting a “rateable sample” of speech which could be evaluated by a certified ACTFL OPI tester. The new digital, on-line version of the test has an item-by-item grid to assist evaluators who may not be ACTFL certified in making estimates of learner proficiency. Examples in Japanese and Spanish will be shown. The d-VOCIS are just one of LARC’s products available to the public at cost through one of the nation’s nine national centers.
DVD for Language Learning
Michael Bush and Harold H. Hendricks
DVD is the most successful consumer product in history and seems to have the potential to provide a universal platform for the delivery of interactive video and audio on a scale heretofore impossible for educational technology. This presentation will detail the development of a DVD version of the Italian classic film, C’eravamo tanto amati ‘We all loved each other so much.’ Demonstrations will be provided of the versatile format that DVD represents as a single medium for use in multiple settings: on conventional DVD players for home, professional DVD players with barcode readers for classrooms, and interactive multimedia via DVD-ROM on computers.
Using Distance Learning Software to Enhance Communicative Language Teaching: A Task-Based Approach
Gail Riley and Katherine Sharnoff
One of the most exciting benefits of integrating technology into language learning comes from exploiting its inherent interactivity, providing endless opportunities for a truly learner-centered approach. We explore a language-learning model which uses distance learning software to extend the language learning community beyond the classroom. Learners engage in a collaborative decision-making process resulting in a group project in which negotiation and use of the target language are necessary to accomplish specific tasks. Distance learning software allows direct student-to-student communication plus instructor guidance and feedback. This task-oriented approach combines communicative principles, educational technology, and the National Standards.
Interactive Reading with BlueGLAS Authorware
Irene Thompson
The presenter will demonstrate a reading lesson in Russian developed with GLAS (Global Language Authoring System). Particular emphasis will be placed on the application of reading theory to the design of CALL reading materials, ease of authoring with predesigned templates, customized feedback to learners, and multimedia integration.
Learning Effects of Collaboration During Foreign Language Process Writing with Computer-Supported Writing Environments: An Investigation
Isabel Borras and Anne Cappiello
Research is needed to understand the effectiveness of technology for handling the problems related to the implementation of process writing strategies within collaborative learning structures. This presentation reports the design, implementation, and results of a six-week study that sought to address such a need. Using a 1 X 3 factorial design and drawing on nine sources of data, the study examined the effects of three levels of collaboration afforded by a computer-supported writing environment on the writing performance of 60 college students in intermediate Spanish classes. The study also examined the effects of the environment on attitudes, distributed learning, and peer and channel-redundant feedback.
Implementation of Electronic Bulletin Boards for Optimal Second Language Acquisition
Nathalie Grant and Stephen Cary
Raising second language academic literacy has been a continuous challenge for foreign language departments as students in the traditional classroom lack the sustained intensity to develop a high mastery of the target language. To increase intensity, asynchronous bulletin boards have been added to French language classes as studies have revealed their potential value for second language acquisition (Carey, 1999, 2000) in a constructivist model. A formal study consisting of pretests and posttests, extensive questionnaires, and interviews shows that bulletin boards act as a scaffolding tool for qualitative and quantitative improvement of oral and written proficiency measured in terms of fluency, accuracy, and complexity.
10:00 – 10:45
Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication: An E-turn Taxonomy of Communicative Activity
Steve Thorne
Based on log file data and interviews, this paper proposes a two-level (genotype-phenotype) theoretical framework for the study of foreign language uses of synchronous CACD (Computer-Assisted Classroom Discussion). Additionally, the presenter proposes a unit of analysis that is sensitive to the production and reception of digital messages–the e-turn. Using the e-turn as a unit of analysis, this paper details a taxonomy of the features of foreign language uses of CACD and then concludes with a discussion of the influence of exogenous digital speech communities on foreign language CACD discourse.
Integrating Pedagogy and Technology: A Paradigm for Graduate Foreign Language Teacher Training
Sharon Fechter and Robert H. Smitheram
As part of the Mellon-funded initiative, Project 2001, the Center for Educational Technology at Middlebury College has designed a training program for graduate students who plan to engage in undergraduate language teaching. This curriculum is designed to meet the growing need for language faculty who are proficient both in pedagogy and technology. This presentation will describe the curriculum of this three-week intensive certificate program as it integrates foreign language pedagogy and technology. The presenters will share curricular materials and will include technology demonstrations of student projects.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Teacher-Made Software: A Case Study
Luba Iskold and John T. Pearce
The presenters will discuss student and faculty perceptions of the effectiveness of teacher-developed interactive multimedia software for the enhancement of language learning. Our project involved five major phases over a period of six years: (a) faculty training in technology; (b) production of software by faculty-student teams; (c) integration of the software into syllabi; (d) design of assessment instruments, and (e) project evaluation. In the study, five assessment instruments (questionnaires and surveys) were used. The presenters will discuss and interpret the data obtained over a period of three years. The presentation will be illustrated by a multimedia demonstration.
Spoken Language Testing Using Speech Recognition
Jared Berstein, Ognjen Todic, Brent Townshend, and Eryk Warren
Spoken language skills can be measured by an automatic system that engages a person in a series of short-turn voice interactions. The PhonePass spoken language testing system implements a 10-minute voice-voice interaction that elicits 56 spoken responses from a candidate. An augmented speech recognizer (tuned for nonnative speech) then analyzes the linguistic content, latency, fluency, and pronunciation of the responses to estimate the person’s level of speaking and listening skills. The paper describes the PhonePass system and an English test that has been taken by over 10,000 candidates. Evidence is presented to support test validity.
Language On-line
Christopher M. Jones, N. Ann Chenoweth, Kimmaree Murday, and Therese Tardio
This presentation will detail progress in the Mellon-funded project at Carnegie Mellon University to offer the first two years of French and Spanish on line. The first-semester French and Spanish courses will be demonstrated and the design process described, including pedagogical framing and technical decisions to develop both WebCT and standalone CD-ROM components. Course assessment instruments in use will be discussed in the context of preliminary results from the Spring 2000 pilot offering of Elementary French 1 On-line.
Web Technology as a Catalyst for Curriculum Development
Maria Victoria Gonzalez Pagani
The presenter will discuss her experience of working with a selected group of high school Spanish teachers in California’s MUHS district who, within a year, moved from having no technology component in their program to a topic-oriented curriculum anchored on Web technology. She will discuss how web technology promoted the reexamination of approaches, methodologies, techniques, and content and led to better articulation, dialogue, and team building among language teachers and teachers of other disciplines in the district. She will also discuss how technology is the ideal medium for integrating the foreign language National Standards and building bridges to other disciplines in the Humanities and how using the best vpn for torrenting can help you to maintain privacy online and also hide any uploads or downloads.
Self-Paced Language Instruction: Using WebPractest as a Tool for Grammar Instruction and Review
Mary Morrisard-Larkin and Gary Smith
This presentation will describe a technology-based Spanish curriculum, developed at the College of the Holy Cross, which allows students to work independently and personalize their language learning experience. The courses, which are delivered to students on the World Wide Web, use video and computer technology as the primary sources of language input. Furthermore, practice activities, which are primarily computer-based, are self-correcting so that students receive immediate feedback about their linguistic abilities. In particular, WebPractest, a free JavaScript program which facilitates the delivery of Web-based exercises and tests, has proved to be a useful tool for grammar instruction and review.
1:30 – 2:15
Multimedia Mode Switching: Teething Problems and Reflections
Debra Hoven
This paper describes the process of transferring a standalone or LAN-delivered multimedia software package to delivery over the World Wide Web (WWW). After a period of extended evaluation of learners’ uses of the software and perceptions of it in standalone mode, the software design and components were modified and rewritten to suit WWW delivery. Findings of positive perceptions and changes in learners’ language learning strategies during the evaluation of the standalone software has necessitated rigorous attempts to reproduce a similar level of interactivity in the WWW version. While the Indonesian implementation is described here, the software is designed to be used by other languages.
Better Web Development: Designing for User Customization
Robert Godwin-Jones
The promise of the Web: a richly enabling learning environment using hypertext and networked interactivity to accommodate the needs and abilities of individual language learners. The current reality: mostly static pages difficult to read, stale drill and kill, one-size-fits-all resource presentation, linear organization. This session will discuss and demonstrate an approach to Web development for language learning which accommodates user choice to the goal of enabling students to tailor resources to individual preferences and learning styles. Examples will include on-line readings with multiple layout options, user-customizable glossary functionality, and varied comprehension exercises. Technologies used consist of JavaScript, Perl-based CGI, DHTML.
Web-Based Advanced Grammar Instruction through RealPlayer: Connecting Form and Meaning Further with Explicit Instruction and Meaning-Bearing Multimedia-Based Illustrations
Fenfang Hwu
While some researchers claim that input is essential in second language acquisition and question the effectiveness of explicit instruction, others recognize the shortcomings of such a monolithic approach. Nonetheless, it is commonly recognized that successful foreign language acquisition requires exposure to meaningful input. This paper posits that the overly simplistic, vague, and technically written grammar rules are the barriers to grammar acquisition, not the explicit manner of their presentation to learners. Consequently, through an abundance of illustrative and meaningful examples and input in various media formats, language functions can be more effectively exemplified and conceptualized by learners. Streaming media through RealPlayer is ideal for attaining such an objective.
Design Issues and Design Decisions in Implementing CALL Labs in Tertiary Level Institutions
Elif Demirel
This research study focuses on the critical design issues to be considered when establishing a CALL lab in order to assist academic decision makers in Turkey. The particular audience is the administrators of the Preparatory School of English for Post Graduate Students at Karadeniz Technical University. The study sought to answer a number of research questions regarding critical design issues. The first question was to determine the design issues themselves. The second question was to determine how various national and international CALL labs dealt with the design decisions and how users have reacted to these design decisions. Student reactions were examined and a total of 75 intermediate and upper intermediate level students from Ko University and Bilkent University were given questionnaires. Interviews with Turkish and foreign administrators of CALL labs and CALL lab staff were done to examine how design decisions were made in various institutions.
Compiling Language Tests through the Internet
José Noijons
Language testers increasingly ask for tailor-made language tests of the productive skills of speaking and writing. Rather than having to rely on standard tests, teachers would like to compile their own tests. However, constructing such tests is a time-consuming activity with no guarantee of a reliable outcome. CITO, the Dutch National Exam Board, is now developing an internet-based system in which teachers can compile their own tests by selecting relevant learning objectives and accompanying assignments. The system will produce tailor-made tests, drawing from item pools, inclusive of rating scales and procedures, to be downloaded through the internet.
An Easy-To-Use Template for Multimedia Exercises
De Bao Xu and Hong Gang Jin
De Bao Xu and Hong Gang Jin will present an easy-to-use Template which is designed for language teachers to create multimedia exercises for their own language courses. With this template, language teachers can easily create their own multimedia teaching materials independently. The built-in functions of the template cover the basic exercises in a language course including vocabulary exercises, listening and reading exercises, grammar and culture notes, and video closed captioning. Using the built-in functions can also create similar exercises such as multiple choice, fill in blank, and listening comprehension questions. The template is now coded for Chinese, a two-byte language. All the built-in functions have two versions: a traditional Chinese version and a simplified Chinese version. Teachers can choose either one (or both) of them.
A Virtual Language Lab: Part I
Andrzej Styrcz
This paper describes Teleste Educational’s (mother company of Tandberg Educational) digital learning lab system which allows extra-campus and inter-campus connectivity to language resources. Language learning resources in a campus-wide network environment can easily be accessed by students through a Library Pilot resource and management software application. This powerful database provides media storage facilities for secure intranet and Internet access. Another significant component of such a virtual language classroom is an interactive multimedia recorder, Divace, which allows students to learn with digital resources in any file format. Teacher-led instruction is enhanced by means of the IMPERATA application and control system for computer classrooms.
2:30 – 3:15
The Electronic Markerboard in the Classroom
Charles E. Long
The electronic markerboard enables the teacher to more dynamically create classroom visuals that are archivable for later retrieval. This session will demonstrate the use of the Smartboard in the foreign language classroom. Classroom blackboard annotations are stored on the computer for later retrieval by the teacher or student. Internet pages can be marked up with electronic ink. Compositions can be “corrected” by the class as a group. These activities are just some that can be done with an electronic markerboard and a personal computer. The activities and some of the pertinent technical considerations will be demonstrated and discussed.
Developing Reading Comprehension through Video
Franziska Lys
Many traditional computer programs have been used to aid and develop reading comprehension by linking text to an on-line dictionary or by simply providing textual explanations. Such assistance, however, is often not sufficient. This presentation will discuss a new reading program that uses interactive exercises based on video clips and still pictures for previewing activities to prepare students for the reading activity. The prereading exercises are designed to further independent reading by activating and using background information and reviewing and acquiring thematic vocabulary items through short video clips. The reading examples in this software are a collection of texts relevant to the history, culture, and background of Berne, Switzerland.
Multimedia Approach to French Poetry
Françoise Denis and Thomas Browne
This presentation will demonstrate a multimedia program devoted to the literary analysis of French poetry for intermediate or advanced students. The program takes into account the basic tenets of Lozanov’s method while adjusting them to the particular demands of literary analysis and to the peculiarities of computer technology. The program uses the target language exclusively. It guides students through the maze of French poetry rules, helps them in the discovery of the poem’s main themes, and fosters their potential for interpretation. This multimedia approach also seeks to lower students’ affective filter about poetry and provide some enjoyment in the work process.
Lessons Learned from a Three-Year Pilot Project in CALL
Lathrop P. Johnson
This presentation is the final report on a three-year grant-supported project using technology to enhance language learning. It will describe the conception of the project, the gathering of support from faculty and administrators, negotiations with the textbook publisher, the products delivered, student reactions, and the overall assessment of the success of the project. Participants will receive a checklist of do’s and don’t’s for anyone planning a large-scale emphasis on using technology.
Developing Theory-Based Foreign Language Culture Instruction in CALL: “Salvador Virtual”
Paul Sundberg
Foreign language cultural instruction is too often a curricular afterthought with no systematic rationale for how the cultural content is selected or presented. Good instruction, however, including computer-based instruction, requires theoretical justification for such instructional choices. This paper presents an instructional rationale for selecting and presenting foreign language cultural content based on principles in Cognitive Flexibility Theory (Ill-Structured Domain Theory) and models of cultural knowledge from cognitive anthropology. As an example of one such theoretically based system, the presenter will demonstrate “Salvador Virtual,” a multimedia CD-ROM project being developed to teach Brazilian culture to US students of Portuguese.
Improving a Specialized German Course through Distance Learning Components
Antje Bettin
The goal of this project was to find a solution to the mismatch between the training needs of undergraduate music students and the delivery format of a German course for singers. Reduction of class contact hours, Web-based self-learning components, and individualized tutorials were chosen to strike a balance among the training needs of the program, student needs and availability, and the viability of a language course for specific purposes through increased cost effectiveness. Technology infusion was part of a plan to adapt several other specialized language courses to the specific needs of undergraduate programs and an increasingly diverse adult student population.
3:30 – 4:15
Creating Electronic Portfolios in the Language Classroom
Zena T. Moore
This paper describes the creation and implementation of electronic portfolios in a graduate language evaluation class. It presents a step-by-step outline for implementation that may facilitate similar projects. The project which extended over three semesters underscores the value and worth of collaborative learning. Guided by the Vygotskian principle that all knowledge is socially constructed, the study reported here provides rich data that supports the use of technology to promote a “better” learning environment.
Using Electronic Corpora in the Language Classroom
Randall Jones
The use of language corpora in teaching and research has increased significantly during the past several years, as evidenced by the numerous conferences and publications devoted to this topic. A corpus can be defined as a representative collection of authentic samples of a language, either written, spoken, or both. A language corpus can be useful to the teacher for finding examples of language usage and can be useful to the student for direct observation of the language. This paper will demonstrate how a corpus can be constructed and will provide information on existing language corpora.
Interface Interactivity and Its Effects on Language Production in Computer-Mediated Communication
Maria Jose Alvarez-Torres, Yong Zhao, Sophie Tan, Bryan Smith, William Divers, and Marcie Pyper
Synchronous computer-mediated communication has evolved from a single, unique environment into dynamic applications, from programs that rely on a purely text-based format (ChatNet) to graphics-based chat interfaces that incorporate text-to-sound and “virtual physical space” (The Palace). This presentation reports on a quasi-experimental study that examines the effects of these interfaces on the language production and lexical acquisition of learners of Spanish and ESL during task-based, computer-mediated nonnative speaker-nonnative speaker interaction. The amount, distribution, and quality of the learners’ interactions will be explored as will learner attitudes and perceptions of these programs in terms of their suitability for fostering communication and language learning.
Taming Teaching Agents, Meaning Technologies, and Participatory Dramas
Philip Hubbard
It is argued that the use of teaching agents, meaning technologies, and participatory dramas in CALL will grow dramatically in the near future due to both technological advances and their increasing acceptance in non-CALL domains. Teaching agents are software characters that act as a teacher. Meaning technologies include hyperlinked dictionaries, automatic translation modules, speech to text encoders, etc. Computer-based participatory dramas provide a direct language experience for the learner as a character in a developing story. This presentation discusses the obvious promises and less obvious pitfalls of all three and proposes directions for short- and long-term research and development.
WebCAPE: Language Placement Testing Over the Web
Charles Bush
WebCAPE is a web-based implementation of Brigham Young University’s Computer-Adaptive Placement Exam (CAPE) series. These exams use adaptive procedures to assess language ability, drawing from a large bank of calibrated test items. Tests are administered from a Web server computer through the internet to a browser application on students’ computers. French, German, and Spanish exams are currently available, with Russian and ESL under development. This presentation introduces the program and then discusses issues of Web delivery, security, and alternative implementations for different audiences.
The Implementation of DISSEMINATE: A New Point of Departure for the Year 01
Philippe Delcloque
In 1998, the author proposed a new hypercollaborative architecture for authoring of Web-delivered language learning materials. The acronym DISSEMINATE is seen as a suitable mnemonic vehicle to carry the concept of a Distributed, Integrated, Stable, Superimposed Mediaware for Interactive, Networked, Authorable, Tracking Education. The presenter will outline the proposed initial construction structure and suggest methods of dissemination. The approach merits discussion for two essential reasons: (a) it combines effectively the paradigmatic and toolbox axes of creation, and (b) it counteracts the natural restrictions of Web-based language exercises and offers real hope for the future.
4:30 – 5:15
On-Line Language Learning: (How) Can We Obtain Sufficient Linguistic-Pedagogical Functionality?
Jozef Colpaert, Wilfried Decoo, and Mathea Simons
Web-based language learning offers attractive advantages, but researchers point at the fact that it is still less interactive and therefore less functional than traditional CD-ROM applications. This presentation starts with an operational definition of interactivity and describes the specifications of linguistic-pedagogical functionality within a goal oriented design, which should lead to more user satisfaction (for teachers and learners). It then argues for a development where first a software architecture is drawn as a platform-independent structure, and only next the appropriate development environments and tools are chosen and concludes by presenting other distributed and hybrid architectures.
L2 Reading Strategies for Hypertext Environment
Zeynep Kocoglu
The process of reading in foreign language (L2) is very complex because of variables such as age or inefficient use of reading strategies. Therefore, determining effective reading strategies for L2 learners has long been investigated in the language teaching field. However, even though a significant amount of research has been done on the use of specific strategies for printed text, very few studies deal with the reading strategies L2 learners employ while reading hypertext through the Internet. This study seeks to identify reading strategies that L2 learners use while reading hypertext documents in English on the Internet.
Web-Based Reading Lessons
Lea Christiansen and Nimet Soysalan
Lessons are for intermediate learners of Finnish and Turkish who wish to acquire a variety of strategies to facilitate reading all kinds of texts in Finnish and Turkish. The lessons may be used on their own or as a supplement to classroom instruction. First, various reading strategies are introduced and modeled in English followed by practice exercises. The objective is for students to acquire an intuitive feel for when, where, and how to use a strategy. Second, a three-stage reading process of prereading, reading, and postreading activities is presented for texts on different topics. Third, limited help in terms of glossing of words and grammar explanations is provided, and useful links are listed on morphology, vocabulary, and cultural aspects. Fourth, students can assess their own performance and develop an ability to self-monitor their comprehension.
TIME Machine Versus LEARNING Machine
Jean-Claude Bertin
Sociologists and psychologists agree on the fact that use has a direct influence on the form of technical artifacts as well as on their users’ mental representations. Educational psychology is also subject to such interaction since it involves two users of a very different nature: the teacher/designer and the learner/user. This entails a number of observable impacts on several levels. First, teachers are not computer engineers; their lack of technical competence influences the design of authoring systems which are offering more and more user friendly environments. Oversimplification may however mean forgetting educational follow up and objectives (CALL “gadgets”). Second, learners’ and designers’ representations of the machine are influenced by their respective perception of traditional computer uses (i.e., saving TIME for efficiency – office work). The author suggests that if unheeded, this latter point will lead to a number of misrepresentations of the actual learning process which may in turn entail severe disillusionment in CALL efficiency. He will then outline the actual place of the computer in the language learning field and suggest a number of guidelines in order to strike a balance between time savings and learning efficiency.
Funding Faculty Projects: An Innovative Grant and the Resulting Projects
Chris Higgins, Xueying Wang, and Kelley Piper
This session will highlight the software and faculty generated materials developed with innovative funding from a FIPSE grant received by Johns Hopkins University, The Catholic University of America, Georgetown University, and the University of Maryland. The panel will discuss the innovative strategies used for funding the faculty projects while exploring and testing previously developed software and authoring tools. The panelists will discuss the grant proposal, the collaboration between the four schools with regard to faculty training, the dissemination of materials, and the evaluation process.
PageBinder: JAVA Applets for Interacting with Authentic Text and Video on the Web
Sue Otto and James Pusack
Next-generation Web courseware will overcome current limitations to interactivity. Progress toward this goal has already been achieved via PageBinder, a set of JAVA applets including the following: Categories, Sequencer, Checklist, Opinions, and Text Mover. These templates produce comprehension-building activities needed to help students deal with authentic documents in both text and video and allow authors to engage in WYSIWIG materials development. An accompanying record keeping system supports tracking of student performance. This session will demonstrate typical student interactions in Spanish and German, show how authoring works, and encourage speculation about possible future forms of collaboration.