2000 Saturday Sessions

CALICO 2000

Conference Presentations
Day Three: June 3, 2000

8:00 – 8:45

Using a Computerized Dictation Program to Enhance Listening Comprehension
Juei-ching Chung
This presentation describes a dictation program and discusses its effects on general second language proficiency, as measured in an experiment with large samples. In a research project with smaller samples, qualitative data were analyzed to assess common types of listening errors and to determine the effects of computer monitoring on students’ progress. Students in the experimental group were given a dictation program correlated with the target material and were assigned to report their progress, while those in the control group were given a different drill–cloze. Results of the experiment showed a significant difference between the two groups either on qualitative or quantitative analysis.

The Computerized Oral Proficiency Instrument (COPI)
Dorry Kenyon and Valerie Malabonga
The COPI is a multimedia, computer-administered adaptation of the tape-mediated Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (SOPI). Both are oral proficiency tests based on ACTFL’s Speaking Proficiency Guidelines. Oral proficiency tests like the SOPI and COPI use real-life tasks to elicit ratable speech. We will demonstrate the administration and scoring programs of the COPI and describe the computer specifications required to run the programs. We will also present the results of our research which compared examinees’ performance on and attitudes toward the COPI, SOPI, and the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI).

TESOROS CD-ROM: A Multimedia Introductory Spanish Course
Robert Blake
This presentation will demonstrate a new CD-ROM for learning Spanish: TESOROS, a multimedia introductory Spanish course produced by BeM (Spain) and McGraw-Hill, Inc. The CD-ROM is supplemented by its print materials (not the reverse). TESOROS CD-ROM is a story-driven CD-ROM course in which students play an active role in solving a detective investigation, a type of treasure hunt. In the course of solving the mysteries of an ancient treasure map, students learn about Hispanic countries, complete a series of story-related tasks, and receive grammar and vocabulary instruction. The presentation will also discuss how TESOROS is currently being implemented as a distance learning Spanish course at the university level.

Distance Teaching: The Creation, Implementation, and Assessment of a Model for Distance Teaching
Iris Bork-Goldfield and Joan Keck Campbell
The authors of the distance learning module, GOING THE DISTANCE: Teaching Writing in the Foreign Language Classroom, will describe their experiences in which authors, located at two different institutions, collaborated with computarians and administrators at yet another institution to create this distance learning module. The presenters would like to share what worked, what did not work, and what they learned from this collaborative experience. They will offer some tips for effective communication between collaborators and for helping them to “think together” even though they reside far apart. This is a useful topic as interinstitutional collaboration increasingly becomes the norm in academia.

TeLL me More Pro©: Our Experience with This Commercial Program
Finley M. Taylor
Auralog’s TeLL me More Pro© software has dialogues, exercises, and games for beginning to advanced levels for several languages including French, German, Italian, Spanish, and ESL. The unique speech analyzer grades student responses, and tracking software logs students’ actions. We used the software in some German and Spanish classes to explore students’ reactions and see what if any evidence we could collect to determine improvement in pronunciation. We present the result of our efforts and will demonstrate the software.

Extending Discourse with TalkMaster: A Template for Developing Extended Speaking Activities
Dan Soneson
This session presents TalkMaster, a template which allows instructors to create speaking activities in any language on the computer. Instructors can generate an aural prompt and provide up to three alternative model responses as well as determine the length of time for recording student responses to each prompt. Students record their responses and can play them for comparison with the models. Student responses are stored on a central server and can be accessed by the instructor. Designed for producing extended discourse, the template can be used at any level.

9:00 – 9:45

Teaching German Business Correspondence: Computerized Approaches
Tom Leech
This presentation examines the use of the Internet to teach German business correspondence, not only as an authentic source of information but also and primarily as a medium for distance learning. The complementary use of Web-based CALIS exercises and those utilizing HTML forms will be examined and compared to the benefits provided by more traditional computer applications, including text-based and Windows-based CALIS scripts. A comprehensive survey of computer applications in this area will be provided.

WebCT and Foreign Language Learning: Design and Evaluation of Collaborative Activities
Esperanza Roman-Mendoza
WebCT, one of the most popular Web-based instructional tools at the higher education level, facilitates the development of learning environments for foreign language instruction. This session will present different strategies (a) to create interactive activities, (b) to encourage student participation, (c) to develop technical skills in the student body, (d) to monitor collaborative projects, (e) to assess student performance, and (f) to analyze students’ attitudes toward technology. Examples from three upper-level courses offered at George Mason University–a Spanish culture course and two conversation courses at intermediate and advanced level–will be provided for discussion.

Exploring the Occupation of France 1940-44 through Web-Based and Multimedia Applications: Teacher-Directed and Student-Produced Projects
Nancy Mellerski and Michael Kline
The student project is a collaborative program produced by a senior seminar in French. Using Louis Malle’s Au revoir, les enfants as a basic “text,” students researched aspects of the occupation (e.g., Jewish resistance, Catholic resistance, and the black market) and created a contextual, multimedia guide to topics referenced by the film. The teacher-directed project articulates the complex cultural framework surrounding the trial of Maurice Papon, honored French civil servant and war criminal. The trial narrative is made accessible to students of French civilization through a directed Web site in a French studies course on introduction to cultural analysis.

Changing Times or How to Rethink Teaching Schedules
Kathryn Murphy-Judy
All around us, institutions and infrastructures are changing radically in concert with the Information Society and Postindustrial economies and globalization. Yet, language departments tend to perpetuate modern, assembly-line educational configurations that arose to suit the needs of smokestack industry. The presenter considers ways in which new technologies can be applied to restructuring professorial time and learning spaces in what might be called an ‘object-oriented’ vision of language education. Types of learning that were once professor-centered but which can be delivered better through technological mediation are demonstrated, as are ways to reconceptualize teaching loads.

Delivering an Oral/Aural Course at a Distance
Greg Kessler and Lia Plakans
The presenters will share their experience developing and delivering an oral communication skills course on-line. They will discuss the variety of technologies incorporated into this course as well as the rationale for employing on-line delivery in such a seemingly challenging context. Methods for overcoming the difficulties of exchanging audio and video will be discussed. The presenters will also provide an overview of the course, including a preparatory meeting, on-line interactions, the role of audio and video recording, evaluation and feedback, and a final conclusive meeting. Participants will be walked through the digital “text” that was designed for this course.

Putting It All Together: A Web Site for First Year Spanish
Karl Fisher
The World Wide Web provides a rich learning environment for students of foreign languages and is a much better way to include CALL in the curriculum than traditional “Wrong, try again!” software. The speaker will demonstrate how Web pages can be organized to take advantage of current technologies. JavaScript has been used to create text specific vocabulary and grammar exercises. RealAudio has been used to add the language laboratory program and music to the Web pages. Finally, JavaScript has been used in order to record and report by e-mail which sites students have visited.

10:00 – 10:45

Story Mazes: Flow in Immersive Language Environments
Shamus Johnson and Andrew Brusletten
This demonstration will introduce a program being developed at the University of Washington to be used as a curriculum supplement in a self-access lab setting. The program combines the added value of computing technology with pedagogical principles to produce an optimal learning experience. The learner enters imaginary worlds based on real-life contexts and must solve language-relevant tasks. These worlds draw on the inherent appeal of multimedia games to enhance learning potential and motivation, which is especially important in self-access language learning settings.

How to Implement Technology as an Integral Part of a Foreign Language Methods Course: A Mixed-Design Curriculum
Christel Broady-Ortmann
Given the impact of technology on foreign language instruction and global education, foreign language methods instruction requires new and innovative approaches. Moreover, teachers must possess abilities to continuously infuse technology as part of instruction and to assist students in their development of technological competencies. This presentation is designed to bring together both distance learning and conventional instruction. The components addressed will include World Wide Web discussions, interactive PowerPoint presentations, links to professional organizations, weekly meetings, and resource materials. In this session, participants will learn about a new course design, various assessment tools, and the concept of an electronic portfolio.

Spanish at a Distance: Streaming a Virtual Reality
Scott Despain
The presenter will discuss the process he has followed to produce a relatively inexpensive Internet course which is virtually identical to the traditional classroom course. He kept nearly all components of the course the same as the traditional course but streamed each class live (and archived each class session) using RealMedia video streaming. Student attrition and performance will be discussed, as well as the technology, class management policies, and tools used in the project with special focus on those found to be most useful over the last two years.

Establishing A Virtual Language Resource Centre
David Barnwell
The presenter describes setting up of a virtual Language Resource Centre. The principal goal of the project was to decentralize access to foreign language education and expertise in Ireland. Traditionally people in outlying areas had difficulty in accessing materials, information and ideas on language study. By availing of the Virtual language Centre, they can now find the latest information on line. Further, the Centre has been useful in creating networks of teachers, especially of the lesser-taught languages, since such teachers often suffer from professional isolation and miss the opportunity to interact with colleagues teaching the same language.

Macro and Track Changes in Foreign Language Writing: The Case of Arabic as a Foreign Language
Saad AlKahtani
Macro and Track Changes are two useful features in Microsoft Word 2000 that can be handily used by writing teachers. This session will demonstrate how Arabic teachers can use Macro and Track Changes for feedback and comments on their students’ papers. The session will: highlight the use of CALL in Arabic as a foreign language (AFL), discuss the advantages of using Macro and Track Changes in AFL classrooms, and demonstrate how these two tools can be used in teaching AFL writing. Teachers will learn about the different uses of Macro and Track Changes for peer and teacher feedback.

ExTemplate: A Model for Web-Based Assessment and Interactive Teaching
Claire Bartlett and Inge DiBella
Developed at Rice University, ExTemplate allows users to create Web interactive exercises and tests in a variety of formats with full multimedia integration. This user-friendly program supports all languages and, due to its database functionality, allows both instructors and students to access cumulative records on the Web. The presenters will discuss the design, development, and implementation of modules created with ExTemplate, as well as with other Web authoring programs. Sample exercises and tests will be shown in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.

11:00 – 11:45

GOLDEN: German On-Line Distance Education Network–A Pedagogically Driven Approach to Distance Education
Aleidine Moeller, Eleonore Sylla, and Stephen Panarelli
This session will examine a model distance learning project that illustrates how pedagogy drives technology to enhance learning. GOLDEN is an on-line professional development project for teachers of German funded by the Goethe Institute and the American Association of Teachers of German in cooperation with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. These courses can lead to graduate degrees and professional development for teachers of German. Highlighted will be an examination of how technology can enhance the level of deep learning among the participants and the impact of the distance instruction on teaching practices.

Learning English as a Second Language: A Proposal for the Classification and Evaluation of Multimedia Programs
Cristina Perez and Cristina Tudela
One of the main objectives of our research is to evaluate the effectiveness of different software packages in order to teach and learn English as a second language. We developed a database in order to classify the different products available which gave us the opportunity to have a clearer idea of their different contents and objectives. We shall also explain how we have integrated CALL programs in our teaching at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia and the facilities we offer to our students to help them use computers as part of their learning process. The different capabilities of multimedia learning environments can significantly enrich students’ learning. However, in our opinion, the teacher will always have a crucial role (though the role may have to change), in knowing how to integrate the different programs in a lesson or series of lessons and how to create a better teaching/learning environment for students more actively engaged in their learning process.

Browser-Based Digital Video Authoring System
Alexander Nakhimovsky and Tom Myers
JMANNA is an authoring system for annotating digital video. All annotating is done in point-and-click manner, with no programming required. With JMANNA, users can use unabridged foreign language video in beginning and intermediate courses. Its desktop version has been used at Colgate and other colleges to teach Spanish, Russian, Hebrew, and Japanese. It is described in Multimedia Authoring Tool for Language Instruction. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 17 (3), 261-274, 1997, and the New York Times (1998, November 12). JMANNA is a networked version, with browser interface. It can be used on an intranet with the video stored on a server or CD-ROM.

Text Analysis Tools for the Preparation of CALI Materials
Marie Hayet
Much data is needed to ensure a comprehensive coverage for a language phenomenon to be taught by CALI. It serves to design tasks and exercises, diagnosis systems and adaptive courseware. Similarly, a highly controlled selection of data is required to ensure the efficient delimitation of a specialist language. It helps to determine the exact quantity and the nature of the linguistic knowledge necessary for a very special purpose. Coming up with this data cannot be left to the imagination or the intuition of a courseware designer or developer. Various text analysis tools are used to assist with its extraction.

Realizing the Interactive Potential of QuickTime
Douglas Mills
As streaming media technologies continue to improve in their ability to deliver increasingly higher quality multimedia information over the Internet, their usability and use for instructional purposes is also increasing. Apple’s QuickTime multimedia technology offers many seemingly unexplored avenues for the development of Web-based interactive language learning materials. In this presentation, various prototype applications will be examined and development/deployment issues discussed. Resources for further learning will be provided through a presentation Web page.

Using Web and Conferencing Technology in Language Learning
Sabine Siekmann and Ruth Roux-Rodriguez
Among the myriad of courses being offered via the Internet and with conferencing technology, language classes are a minority–especially when it comes to distance learning. The presenters will provide an overview of how the technology is applied in language learning, both for supplemental materials and in distance learning classes. Many practitioners point to the limitations of the technology when applied to the complex issue of language learning/acquisition practice and methodology. Special attention will be paid to areas where unique requirements prevent the use of the new technologies in order to inspire innovation. Strong pedagogic background needs to drive technological innovation.

Building A Web-Enhanced Language Course: Web Video, Performance Tracking, Development Tools
Bernd Conrad
Enhancing a language course with Web-based resources and exercises has created increased opportunities for learning. At the same time, the majority of existing course extensions on the Web reveal rather limited exercise and feedback methods as well as a lack of comprehensive audio and video support. The goal of this presentation is to demonstrate how Web video and improved development tools can help create course enhancements similar to those afforded by CD-ROM programs. An additional emphasis of the presentation will be on holding learners accountable when working in a nonmonitored virtual environment by way of tracking their work with Web-based materials.

1:30 – 2:15

The 5 Cs, Culture, and CALL: What Works and What Does Not
Wendy Ashby and Veronica Ostertag
We will present the results of a study investigating the effectiveness of an interactive, computer-mediated instructional segment called EthnoDeutsch, which was designed to educate students about ethnicity in German-speaking countries. A 25-item questionnaire containing multiple statements assessing each of the 5 Cs on a Likert scale was administered to students who worked with the program. The results of a statistical analysis of the data indicate which of the 5 Cs the program addressed effectively and which it did not.

Developing an Electronic Portfolio in ESL Classrooms: Focus on Process
Youngwoo Kim, Barbara Harper, Hye-Yeon Lim, and Rebekah Sidman-Taveau
This presentation will give teachers some ideas about how to develop electronic portfolios in their ESL classrooms. In this study portfolios were developed as an alternative form of assessment using an authoring tool called HyperStudio. Samples of guidelines and materials for five learning skills (culture, listening, speaking, reading, and writing) will be shown. The researchers’ collaborative learning experience will be presented as one example of the actual learning process. This will give teachers some ideas of the process students may go through as they create their own portfolios. Some suggestions will be presented for collaborative group work in ESL classrooms.

Using the Internet in English Instruction at the Chinese Air Force Academy
Dorothy Chiao
English is taught as a foreign language in Taiwan and is especially important for the cadets of Chinese Air Force Academy (CAFA). Using recent developments in information technology, the presenter tries to use network instruction to give more effective teaching and help her cadets to improve their abilities and, furthermore, to enhance their comprehension in English. In addition, the Internet-based environment also provides a variety of tools and methods to help evaluate the learning process and assess cadets’ abilities. Afterwards, the network instruction is like a knowledge treasure chest including multimedia and hypermedia, valuable resources on the World Wide Web. The presenter teaches the cadets how to use them and create the domain of knowledge. Data collected from the questionnaires, a pretest on language acquisition, a posttest on network instruction, interviews, and classroom observations show that the cadets have positive attitudes toward the Computer Language Instruction Model (CLIM) through the World Wide Web (WWW). Finally, the presentation attempts to highlight some significant applications and evaluation issues on network instruction.

Spanish Distance Learning Courses
Gerardo Arrarte and Francisco A. Marcos-Marin
The Instituto Cervantes is the official Spanish institution in charge of promoting the use and study of the Spanish language abroad, as well as improving the knowledge of the culture of Spanish-speaking countries. Its Internet-based centre, the Centro Virtual Cervantes, will soon be offering a full program of distance-learning courses, the Cursos de español a distancia. The courses are designed to offer students every kind of resource currently available through Internet technology. They are intended for a partially self-learning situation, in which the teacher plays an important role in guiding students through their learning process.

Web-Based Reading Strategy Instruction in a Freshman Composition Course
Meena Singhal
The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of a Web-based reading strategy instruction program to help college level English as a Second Language students learn reading strategies and develop reading skills to understand better academic and literary texts in order to improve their overall reading comprehension, strategy use, and reading efficiency. In this study, lessons and practice exercises were designed and integrated into the freshman composition classes. Analysis of pretest and posttest measures of a standardized reading test, reading tasks, and a reading strategy inventory indicate that such instruction improved reading comprehension and strategy use.

All Aboard the Techno Train!
Jörg Waltje
After being hired as Director of the Language Resource Center at Ohio University, Jörg Waltje found that hardly anyone in the Modern Languages was using this state-of-the-art facility to its true potential. His talk will highlight strategies to involve faculty and TAs in the use of Instructional Technology and in authoring their own programs and Web sites. It will point out how to motivate faculty to integrate technology into the curriculum, how to devise attractive workshops, and where to go for moral and financial support. Recommended for anyone interested in preaching the gospel, whether as a Language Technology Specialist, Lab Director, or mere mortal with a keen interest in CALL.

Chatrooms as Conversation Simulators: L2 Chatroom Interaction and Oral Proficiency Development
J. Scott Payne
Results from an empirical study will be presented that employed Levelt’s model of language production (1989, 1995) and working memory theory (Baddeley, 1986) as a theoretical framework for testing the hypothesis that L2 chatroom interaction develops the same cognitive mechanisms underlying spontaneous second language speech. Participants in the experimental condition interacted for two of their four contact hours per week in a chatroom throughout the semester. The research design, qualitative and quantitative findings, and pedagogical issues surrounding this project will be discussed.

Potentialities of the Internet for English as a Foreign Language Classes
Gyonggu Shin and Jihyon Park
Internet use in L2 classrooms has been increasing dramatically. This presentation will begin with a brief introduction to historical and theoretical perspectives to CALL including the nature of internet communication in the educational framework. The main purpose of the presentation is to examine internet use in L2 classrooms focusing on its promotion of collaborative and interactive language learning in the context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). A case of an on-line class in an EFL setting will be analyzed to review implementational potentialities of the Internet for language curricula and syllabi. In addition, internet resources for language learning and teaching will be exhibited.

Integrating Web Resources into Japanese as a Foreign Language Task Design: An Evaluation
Eiko Ushida
This study evaluates authentic resources on the Web in the Japanese as a Foreign Language (JFL) classroom and compares them to other types of authentic resources. These two types of authentic resources were incorporated into a classroom task within the current curriculum to examine their effects. The paper attempted to answer the question of whether the curriculum-driven integration of Web resources is possible, whether Web resources are more effective than the traditional resources, how tasks can be designed effectively, and what the impact of Web resources might be in a JFL setting.

2:30 – 3:15

Using On-Line Discussion to Assess L2 Writing
Lisa A. Jurkowitz
This presentation will describe the use of on-line discussion as an alternative assessment of foreign language writing proficiency in a fourth-semester university-level French course. The highly interactive nature of on-line discussion, and its facilitation of meaningful, engaged, and interdependent communication may hold promise in bringing the testing of foreign language writing closer to the field’s communicative goals. Transcripts of the students’ exchanges, as well as their responses to an open-ended evaluation, will be shared with participants as a means of prompting discussion regarding innovative communicative language testing.

Developing Critical Thinking via Computer-Mediated Interaction in the Foreign Language Curriculum
David Wright and Zsuzsanna Ittzes
Educational technology has enabled students to access information easily from the Internet and from each other. This presentation discusses strategies employed in two German courses (one at Purdue University and the other at the University of Texas at Austin) to help students think critically about the information they access and share. Both courses included activities that encouraged students to approach learning from a collaborative and interdisciplinary perspective. These computer-mediated activities, which focus on the learner, help develop critical thinking skills at both the graduate and advanced undergraduate level across a variety of content areas.

How to Read a Web Page: An Internet Literacy Skills Project
Jonathon Reinhardt
As socially constructed definitions of literacy change, language instructors must reexamine reading goals, methods, and techniques to develop literacy in students in both paper and electronic mediums. The presenters designed an instructional model aimed at improving and enhancing reading skills needed by language students to successfully navigate and extract information from the World Wide Web. The training component of the model focused on browsing skills and vocabulary development. The application component introduced a framework in which the students could apply those skills to a meaningful context. Using SPARK, students learn to survey, preview, anticipate, read, and know a Web page.

Virtual Team Teaching and Other Uses of the WWW for English for Specific Purposes Teaching at Valencia Polytechnic University
Rafael Seiz, David Perry, and Maria Luisa Carrio
This paper discusses a series of programmed tasks using the Internet as part of an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course at a technical university. The framework includes cooperation between the ESP teacher, content teachers, and the learners in order to retrieve and manipulate authentic on-line information and materials used for language learning purposes. Thus, it could be regarded as virtual ESP team teaching using the World Wide Web. Technical, practical, and methodological issues are dealt with in the analysis so as to support the meaningful and efficient use of Web-based training tools. Practical didactic hints based on experience are also presented.

Multimedia in Language Instruction: The Student Perspective
Gamin Bartle
The hype surrounding the use of multimedia is frequently not matched by its actual use in the classroom. Many universities have a wide range of technology equipment and software available to teachers and students, from computerized language labs to classrooms equipped for audiovisual and multimedia applications. However, the frequency and type of use varies widely among faculty and language programs. With the goal of helping faculty use these technology resources more appropriately and effectively, an evaluation project was undertaken in the University of Alabama’s Language Resource Center to measure student perceptions of the multimedia materials available for German. This session will describe this project and report on students’ reactions and evaluations. It will conclude with recommendations for more ‘scientific’ ways of assessing the effectiveness of multimedia from the student perspective.

A Virtual Language Lab: Part II
Andrzej Styrcz
This paper describes Teleste Educational’s (mother company of Tandberg Educational) digital learning lab system which allows extra-campus and inter-campus connectivity to language resources. Language learning resources in a campus-wide network environment can easily be accessed by students through a Library Pilot resource and management software application. This powerful database provides media storage facilities for secure intranet and Internet access. Another significant component of such a virtual language classroom is an interactive multimedia recorder, Divace, which allows students to learn with digital resources in any file format. Teacher-led instruction is enhanced by means of the IMPERATA application and control system for computer classrooms.

Redefining Communication in the Beginning Foreign Language Classroom: A CMC-Centered Curriculum
Hélène Gresso
What if technology was no longer a mere complement to traditional ways of instructional delivery? When serving as the course’s core tool and replacing the textbook, Compuer-Mediated Communication (CMC) can effectively shift the way a class functions and how students approach learning. Using different forms of CMC as means for intellectual development and self-expression, a French colleague and the presenter developed a collaborative curriculum for cross cultural communication between French and American students at the beginning level of language learning. In this session, the presenter will describe some aspects of the integrated curriculum (e.g., correspondence, a web magazine, debates, and an exchange). After presenting the evolution and evaluation of the project, she will discuss concrete examples of situations and ways of developing materials for a CMC-based program.

3:30 – 4:15

On-Line Interactivity: Promoting Communicative Proficiency with JavaScript
Cindy Jorth and Christine Manteghi Goulding
With the ever increasing popularity of CALL, the Internet has become a favored medium of language instruction. However, even a cursory surf through existing sites reveals a massive gap between theories of second language acquisition and on-line practices. While the goal of communicative proficiency requires that learners use the language in context as a means to an end, the overwhelming majority of existing sites are grammar-oriented, uncontextualized, and noncommunicative. We will demonstrate how the imaginative use of JavaScript can help bridge the chasm between theory and practice and promote the communicative use of the language beyond the classroom.

The Delicate Balance Between the Affective Filter and the Negotiation of Meaning: Testing the Limits with Synchronous Network-Based Communication
Jill Pelletteiri
Current second language acquisition theory posits that many of the necessary conditions for L2 development (e.g., comprehensible input, comprehensible output, and focus on L2 form) are optimized during episodes of the negotiation of meaning. However, some studies of classroom L2 interaction have questioned this theory, claiming that the negotiation of meaning is not only difficult to foster among classroom learners and that frequent episodes of negotiation can frustrate and de-motivate students and even make them feel incompetent, thus resulting in unproductive L2 language practice (Aston, 1986; Foster, 1998). This paper reports on an investigation of the use of synchronous network-based communication (SNC) to mediate the apparently delicate balance between negotiation and classroom L2 learners’ affective filter. The results indicate that the use of SNC along with a carefully crafted task can combat de-motivating effects that frequent episodes of negotiation might provoke. It is concluded that maximizing classroom learners’ opportunities to negotiate meaning through SNC can benefit L2 development without adversely affecting learner’s self-esteem or confidence in the L2.

Support Partners: A Strategy for Faculty Development
Rachel Saury, Yitna Firdyiwek, Chris Rahe, and Jared Berg
At the University of Virginia, an innovative program called the Teaching + Technology Support Partners (TTSP) program was established last year to develop more widespread and mainstream support for the use of technology in teaching. The Arts & Sciences Center for Instructional Technologies (ASCIT) is the recipient of a TTSP and has modeled its own Support Partner program after the university’s. In this presentation, panel participants will discuss the successes and failures of this faculty development and outreach program and make suggestions for its application at other institutions.

Agora, NetQuiz and Dialogos–Easy Software for Web Development
Lydia Froio
Agora is a program around which schools or departments can build a Web site or add to an existing one. Agora handles uploading files easily and efficiently and enables teachers to create forums and Web pages. Agora facilitates site development allowing users to add connections to learning activities that can be quickly developed with other programs such as NetQuiz and Dialogos. These programs create quizzes and dictations without any need for HTML programming.