2002 Friday Sessions

CALICO 2002

Conference Presentations
Day Two: March 29, 2002

 

8:00 – 8:45  

Text-to-Speech: A Review of the State of the Art
Richard Kunst
We survey the current state of Text-to-Speech (TTS), especially as it applies to CALL with a review and demonstration of some popular TTS applications and a demonstration of TTS within the Win/WebCALIS system and a typical Web page. TTS, or synthesized speech, is the complement of Speech Recognition, or Speech-to-Text. It has the advantage over pre-recorded voice files in that it requires no storage whatsoever. What about bandwidth considerations? TTS has not been much used hitherto, either in CALL or in computing in general, perhaps because of concern over its mechanical, robot-like speech quality. How far have we advanced beyond that in 2002? 

DLI Online Language Courses: A Unique Virtual Learning Community
Thomas S. Parry
Kawther Hakim
Wen-chiu Tu
Youngsook Kim
Kiril Boyadjieff
The Defense Language Institute’s twelve-week Arabic, Chinese, and Korean online courses represent a virtual language learning community for U.S. government linguists serving worldwide. Employing examples from the online courses, this session will describe methods of long-distance collaborative learning using customized asynchronous templates to facilitate interaction between and among students and teachers. In addition, the session will showcase synchronous activities for online conferencing tools featuring interactive small group work with teacher support and feedback enhanced by a variety of multimedia including audio, video, and target language keyboard input methods. To access the online courses, you must establish an account at www.lingnet.org and then visit onlinelearning.lingnet.org/default.htm

The Collaborative Classroom: Flexibility and Interactivity in Language Learning
Sébastien Dubreil
José Rodriguez
In an effort to rethink foreign language instruction, a Collaborative Classroom was designed and built. With informal banquette seating and moveable tables, students and faculty enjoy access to wireless laptops and digital projection from a variety of media sources (computer, multiformat VCR, CABLE television, document camera). This new, flexible learning environment allows instructors to adapt technology to their specific pedagogical approach with minimal constraints. From collaborative writing exercises to group web research and online courses, students engage in a wide variety of communicative and interactive activities. The Collaborative Classroom, teaching techniques, and feedback from faculty and students will be presented.

Proving IT Works
Jack Burston
This paper raises the question of how to go about assessing the effects of instructional technology on the foreign language curriculum. In dealing with this issue, I begin by giving due consideration to evaluating the effectiveness of learning outcomes. However, I also very much want to propose that we need to take a broader view of the assessment of IT, one which goes beyond its defensive justification and promotion. In particular, I argue that we need to move away from a technocentric assessment of IT to one which focuses on how IT contributes to realizing our pedagogical goals and objectives.

Dynamic Modalities Compared
María Victoria González Pagani
I will present findings from research on a descriptive Spanish Dynamic Grammar for the web which uses text, sound and animation as descriptive agents. First- and second-quarter first-year students at two University of California campuses were exposed to three descriptive modalities in a controlled environment (music alone, music and target language explanations, and music combined with native language explanations) and asked to perform certain linguistic operations on sample sentences after viewing the modules. The results show, surprisingly, that a remarkable amount of learning happens when explanation is not involved at all.

E-Business Japanese Program: The Best of Low- and High-technology
Keiko Kuriyama
Mark Ashwill
This paper presents a pilot language and cross-cultural training program called E-Business Japanese developed by the World Languages Institute at the State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo. E-Business Japanese utilizes Blackboard’s web-based course delivery system that is both multimedia and interactive. The program is designed specifically for business people who need and want to learn Japanese, but find it difficult to attend regular classes. This sixteen-week certificate program for beginning-level and intermediate-level learners uses an approach that encompass both on- and offline learning. The program features instructor-led workshops and weekly telephone tutorial hours, along with the online instruction.

Facilitating Students’ Self-Regulated Development within a Web-Based Learning Environment
Mei-Mei Chang
Web-based online learning continues to increase . However, research indicates that attrition rates become the problem of learning in cyberspace. Research suggests that EFL teachers should facilitate students taking charge of their own learning. Self-regulatory models of instruction focus on students’ use of specific processes to motivate and guide their learning. In this study, a web-based course web site was created. Except for course content, a discussion section was provided for students to interact with each other. Self-regulated activities such as self-monitoring were incorporated into the instruction to help students develop their self-regulated learning ability. Students benefit from the activities academically and motivationally.

Pedagogical and Technical Issues in a Business Chinese Simulation
Robert S. Hart
Hang Zhang
This paper describes Joint Venture in China, an attempt to address some of the pedagogical and technical problems encountered in using networked computer technology in a way which allows students to acquire business Chinese in the context of a realistic business task. Joint Venture is web-based, multimedia simulation courseware designed to provide experience with the language, practice, and culture of Chinese business. Students play the role of the Assistant Vice President of Development for VekTech, a (fictitious) American maker of computer peripherals seeking to establish a business presence in the People’s Republic of China.

9:00 – 9:45

Do You Get What You Want? A Powerful Content Selection Routine for CALL
Jozef Colpaert
Wilfried Decoo
More than 15 years ago (1986), we developed a content selection routine which we have been using ever since in our applications. This selection routine has continuously appeared to be very effective both for users and developers. It is formulated in terms of distinctive features and Boolean operators and can be translated into any programming language in a few minutes time. We will show how this routine can be used for sophisticated or user-adaptive menu systems, saving tailor-made lessons, adaptive language testing, adventure games and remedial units. Several examples will be given and implications for online development will be discussed.

A Scenistic Approach to Designing Personalized Second Language Learning Tracks: A Quality-based Method to Language Teaching
Michel Labour
Igor Crevits
Sylvie Merviel
Marie Escarabajal
Evaluating second language learning on the Web goes beyond the excellence of linguistic materials and support given to learners. Given this, we have used the “scenistic” approach (Leleu-Merviel, S. 1999. Le scénario multimédia, Hermès: Paris) for its capacity in scripting the possibilities of how students can use learning resources. The four-step approach (viz., diagesis, scenario, scenation, and scene setting) is illustrated through an action-research study based on a three-year contrastive study of 800 university students’ attitudes to teaching tools (e.g., multimedia and paper-based materials) in terms of self-reported learning styles, teaching/learning preferences, and entry language scores. The aim is to establish the implications for CALL communities.

Corpus Linguistics and the Design of CALL Materials
Ron Cowan
Doe Hyung Kim
Hannah Choi
This paper describes the intersection of corpus linguistics and CALL in instruction designed to improve L2 learners’ (university students) ability to edit first drafts of their compositions. Analysis of a large corpus of L2 learner compositions allows the identification of L1 transfer errors in sentence level grammar, which are then targeted in the program. DHTML and JScript together provide ways to enhance the interface of the instructional program while ASP with JScript connect the database to the program more efficiently. The program incorporates intelligent learner feedback of the type suggested by Chapelle (1998, 2000). Planned evaluation issues are discussed.

Hypertext, Reading Process, and Reading Comprehension in EFL: A Case Study
Chi-chuan Yang
Shih-Hsien Yang
Hui-chin Yeh
This study will discuss many reading processes such as interaction between readers and text, schema theory, linear and nonlinear reading, and content reading. The study will focus on how each participant’s reading habits affect the way he/she reads hypertext. This study will also pay attention to what strategies each participant uses while reading between printed text and hypertext. The interview results will be categorized from emerging themes. In addition, the pitfalls of hypertext will also be emphasized for classroom teachers to pay attention to.

Foreign Language Teacher Education and Technology: Bridging the Gap
Ali Moeller
Katya Koubek
This session will demonstrate a variety of products and processes designed to build competencies and confidence in preservice teachers to encourage the integration of technology into the language classroom. The interface between content and technology in the context of a foreign language education program will be highlighted. Examples of products and programs that illustrate how technology can enhance teaching practices and student learning will be demonstrated and discussed in the context of standards. Addressed will be how to bring preservice teachers to a deeper level of reflectivity and how to connect the language classroom to the community through technology applications.

Using Technology to Improve Listening Comprehension
Lathrop Johnson
Recent years have seen significant advances in our knowledge about the listening and comprehension processes in humans. When these advances are combined with new technological capabilities, it becomes possible to design a wide array of tools to help students improve their ability to understand spoken foreign language. After a short theoretical introduction, several flexible but simple tools using interactive audio and video will be demonstrated. These tools, built from everyday internet and standalone utilities, can be used by individual students, in small groups, or with an entire classroom, either singly to solve specific listening problems or in a coordinated suite to teach strategies for improving listening/viewing comprehension.

Multimodal Glossing and Incidental Vocabulary Learning in Spanish
Adam Karp
Although learners may acquire L2 vocabulary incidentally through extensive reading alone, unfamiliar words are better acquired after a single exposure when the learner has been drawn to notice form-meaning relationships such as through glossing. Which gloss type is best suited for achieving this effect is still unknown. Two theoretical approaches receiving much attention on this issue are the dual-coding effect–associated with multimedia glossing–and the inferring method–exemplified by multiple-choice glossing. This study investigates the effects that learner-level exerts on incidental vocabulary learning in light of current research on the use of multimedia and multiple-choice glosses in online reading tasks.

Chinese Multimedia Listening Exercises
Limin Zheng
The presentation demonstrates Chinese multimedia listening comprehension lessons that combine audio texts, images, and sound effects in the form of PowerPoint slide shows. The lessons also consist of web-based exercises that can give students instant feedback. The presentation discusses the pros and cons of multimedia listening exercises and the ways for the materials to be used in the classroom. In addition, it also touches upon a few general principles for teaching material development. Finally, it discusses briefly the innovative approach to the management of this multimedia project in the Chinese section at Foreign Service Institute.

Evaluating CALL: The Arabic Context
Mashael Al-Hamly
The presenter will demonstrate a survey of the existing Arabic multimedia software; evaluating their inherent features, skills covered, points of strength and weakness, as well as potential context of use.

10:00 – 10:45

No One Is an Island: Campus Computing and Language Resource Centers
Peter Liddell
Sharon Scinicariello
Ursula Williams
This panel discusses the changes in campus computing (course management tools, wireless access, online delivery) to come in the next five to seven years and their impact on Language Resource Centers. As universities adopt technology-fueled changes and provide more varied access to learning and materials, technology centers with a broad mandate, like LRCs, tend to be the most affected. Do LRCs differ from other campus support centers? (How?) Will they be affected by the changes? One example alone, the analog-to-digital transition, involves budget, staffing, pedagogy, faculty support. Will LRCs change from being content distributors to content producers?

Faculty Development Trends with Technology and Foreign Language Learning
Joel Goldfield
Faculty development with technology is one of the most idiosyncratic areas in higher education outside of teaching styles. Yet technology is one of the most common elements binding disparate divisions and disciplines. Studying the results of recent grants, workshops, IALLT surveys, and the content of local syllabi will put into microcontext trends in foreign language faculty development as observed at several institutions. Their macrocontext and the future of organizations like CALICO will be suggested by comparison with my analyses of approximately 10,000 technology-oriented job ads, focusing on the Chronicle of Higher Education (1997-2001) and the MLA’s Job Information List (1991-2001).

Optimizing Speech Recognition for Use by Learners of Less Commonly Taught Languages (Arabic)
Stephen LaRocca
John Morgan
Sherri Bellinger
Producing speech recognition systems for use by native speakers is relatively well understood, but more effort is needed to adapt these methods to the needs of language learners. The Center for Technology Enhanced Language Learning has studied techniques that optimize speech recognition for language instruction. Pioneering work by Stanford Research International, sponsored by the US Government, has shown there are several possible strategies for developing a system optimized for language instruction. Model development for different proficiency levels of Arabic speech has been carried out applying several model adaptation techniques. An Arabic exercise using the adapted model sets will be demonstrated.

L2 Reading Comprehension with CALL: A Decade of Data
Dorothy Chun
Great strides have been made during the last decade in the development of software for L2 reading and in research on how reading comprehension is facilitated with multimedia. In this paper, I compare longitudinal data of user behavior with CyberBuch (a CD-ROM for reading German) and netLearn (a web-based simulation). Learners today are shunning the multimedia glosses that were used to a greater extent in the mid-1990s and are going unabashedly for the simple translations of unknown words encountered while reading. The user behavior data and the results of reading comprehension tests suggest avenues for future research and software development.

Multimedia Online Testing with ExTemplate 2.0: Placement tests, Midterm, and Final Exams
Claire Bartlett
Raquel Gaytán
ExTemplate is a multimedia web-based authoring tool created at Rice. It enables instructors to develop exercises and tests even in languages using non-Roman characters. Students and instructors modify and access their records in a database. ExTemplate 1.0 has been used at Rice for two years and is currently required for 30 language classes. During the summer of 2001, ExTemplate 2.0 was implemented to administer our ACTFL-approved online placement tests, which include listening comprehension components. The demonstration will also include a new Wimba-enabled speaking component, which will be used for the 2002 placement tests. Instructor feedback and results will be discussed.

The Learners’ Experience in Technology-Enhanced Versus Traditional Elementary Spanish
Christine A. Coleman Young
Using WebCT as a course delivery system, students in a technology-enhanced elementary Spanish course were presented with a variety of modes of interactive learning tools for one fifteen-week semester. Students in a control group had no access to the CALL materials but were given an equivalent activity or task on the same day for the same amount of time in a more traditional format. An assessment of the pedagogical merits of CALL materials is based on the comparison of the performance of both groups of students on entrance and exit exams and on students’ assessment of the learning environment.

A Tale of Two Sites: Teaching Introduction to Literature in the Foreign Language Classroom Via Teleconferencing and Web-based Technology
Perla Sasson-Henry
Ana María Alfaro-Alexander
While the distance-learning discussion in our field focuses on language acquisition, literature courses can benefit from these technologies as well. This instructional model permits smaller foreign language programs to round out their offerings and tap into the specialized expertise of colleagues elsewhere. The presenters closed the gap between two Vermont state colleges by jointly offering a course in the fundamentals of literary analysis in Spanish through a variety of short stories, thus enabling the students to complete their minor in Spanish. They will share the steps they followed to prepare and teach this course, paying special attention to methodology, skills integration, and interaction between the students at the two sites.

Student Experiences in the Language Online Project
Kimmaree Murday
Eiko Ushida
As part of the continuing evaluation of the Language Online project at Carnegie Mellon University, student progress has been measured both quantitatively (in terms of language gain) and qualitatively. Our focus here is on the qualitative data, which includes individual and group interviews, reflective papers, journals, and course evaluations. We will present a portrait of the student experience in these online French and Spanish classes, including how students adjust to language learning in a new format and the strategies that may have influenced student success. These factors may provide important insights for the development and implementation of online language courses.

Teaching Intermediate Spanish Composition Online
Andrés Villagrá
This paper analyzes the effectiveness of using online instruction for foreign language education purposes. The study identifies the following features of the foreign language generated through the electronic medium: (a) foreign language instruction online, (b) variety of tools and language functions, (c) higher level of language accuracy, (d) video and audio components for the course, (e) more student-intiated interactions, and (f) real-time conference and e-phone. These observations were extracted from the presenter’s Spanish Composition Online Course during Spring 2001 and reflect on how to integrate electronic communication in the classroom in order to facilitate foreign language learning.

1:30 – 2:15

Developing a Collaborative Community
Debra Hoven
Proficiency in a second language and intercultural awareness are seen as important assets as we take an increasingly global perspective. In Australia, Indonesian is one of the priority languages, while in Indonesia, English is the most widely taught foreign language in schools and is compulsory for most secondary students. This presentation describes a developing project, Queensland Indonesia Proyek Internet (QUIPNet), designed to enhance the language proficiency and cultural awareness of students using computer-mediated exchanges. Ten schools in Indonesia and 15 schools in Queensland have been linked in this large-scale tandem e-learning project, after a preliminary year-long feasibility study.

Online Language Learning and Virtual Communities
Christophe Pralong
Tell Me More Online, by Auralog, is an interactive program based on speech recognition for learning languages on the Internet. The program covers all essential areas of language learning and includes tools for the teachers. The course is completed by a virtual community that can be used for virtual classes by bringing together students grouped by level or by language studied. In general terms, this site, combined with individual study and used within the structure of the tutored learning, is both a communication center, and the ideal place for users to find information and additional publications to enrich their software.

“Klass”: A Virtual Classroom Space and Task-Authoring System for Teachers of Russian
Ken Petersen
After developing a large corpus of standalone language modules, the development team at Russnet felt that it needed a way to let teachers better integrate the materials into their classes. What has emerged is “Klass.” Klass is a web-based virtual classroom environment and authoring system for Russian language learning activities. With this system, teachers can create a wide variety of interactive activities through a simple user interface. The activities are automatically tied into Russnet’s database-driven tracking system that allows teachers to review student scores, mistakes and writing samples and to search contributed material by content and grammar keywords.

Enhancing the Study of Literature with the Web: Two Collaborative Projects
Anne Green
Caroline Schaumann
Caroline Schaumann and Anne Green will present and discuss interactive web projects to enhance the literary texts “Der Vorleser” by Bernhard Schlink and “Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee” by Thomas Brussig. The “Vorleser” project, completed in Fall 2000 by advanced Middlebury students, was used in a Carnegie Mellon course in Fall 2001 and provided the model for the “Sonnenallee” web project. The “Sonnenallee” project, in turn, is being used and enhanced by Middlebury students in a similar course in Spring 2002. These projects explore possibilities of multi-institutional collaboration using the web and provide models for other languages.

Interaction, Interrelation and Autonomy in the Context of Computer-Assisted Learning and Distance Learning
Aline Germain-Rutherford
The French Masters Program of the University of Wisconsin offers a distance education Oral Proficiency course. The course design and the choice of the technological tools to conduct the course on line revolved around two main ideas: Tardif and Mukamura’s definition of teaching with an emphasis on human interactions and the constructivist conception of learning as an active process which builds knowledge through collaboration and reflective interactions among learners. We will discuss the use of computer-mediated communication tools and techniques implemented to allow the students and the teacher to develop stronger partnerships and interrelations in this distance language teaching/learning situation.

Getting the Most out of Technology in the Classroom
Yumiko Guajardo
This presentation addresses the pros and cons related to technology-assisted classroom instruction. The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) has developed technology-based teaching materials for various levels of several languages in which success has been derived from collaboration between classroom instructors and students. The effectiveness of the technology is heightened when it strongly supports classroom activities and curriculum as a whole. This presentation will demonstrate how particular online programs are used in relation to classroom activities, exams, and other means of assessment. It will also discuss the adaptation of word processing and online translation software in less commonly taught languages.

Accelerated Language Learning Online
Antonie Alm-Lequeux
Accelerated learning theory, derived from Lozanov’s Suggestopedia, developed in the 1950s. While widely applied for general learning contexts, accelerated learning techniques share common ground with modern language learning principles. Both recognize different learning styles, the nonlinear process of learning and the role of emotion (positive or negative). In this project I want to show that computers–traditionally seen as intruders in human interaction–can be used to complement a language course based on accelerated learning principles. The computer is also used to monitor and evaluate the learning outcomes of a six-week accelerated German beginners course.

Integrating CALL into Language Curricula
Antje Neuhoff
I would like to present results after one year of working on the project at the Centre for Languages and Cultures at Dresden University. The project has been developed to combine several schemes for maximum effect: (a) learning platform (adaptation of an existing platform to make it suitable for language learning), (b) language courses and materials (design of language courses and learning modules), (c) teacher training (a series of workshops called “media passport” for all teachers to develop competency for new technologies), and (d) learning materials (media database development with criteria specific to language learning).

Building Online Academic Communities: Analysis of an Online Discourse
Joan Keck Campbell
Iris Bork-Goldfield
How can online academic discourse create a nurturing learning environment in which students’ voices are heard and taken seriously and comments seen as building blocks for further discussion? What course mechanisms reinforce the interactions between instructors and students, students and content, and students and students? How can user interface contribute to this communication? The presenters will answer these questions based on their experience as authors and instructors of a successful online course. Furthermore, research has shown that online interaction can give insight into learner types. This knowledge leads to more effective online discourse and produces a marked carry-over effect in face-to-face instruction.

2:30 – 3:15

Student Motivation in Online Language Learning Environments
Jonathon Reinhardt
Barbara Kuczun Nelson
How do factors such as technological literacy level and reasons for learning foreign languages affect student motivation in online learning environments? How engaging are online foreign language learning activities compared to similar classroom activities? The presenters surveyed the users of a highly popular, noncommercial Spanish grammar exercises web site. An online survey was used to gather responses from some of the thousands of daily users of the site, and paper surveys were given to four control groups–students in university-level Spanish classes. The presenters will show the results of the survey and discuss implications for CALL instructional design.

Taking Language Instruction Online: Progress or Demise?
Klaus Brandl
The purpose of this presentation is to report the results of a research study that compared the learning outcomes of and students’ attitudes toward two different versions of an intensive Spanish language course. 298 students participated in the study. Subjects in the regular sections (control) met with their instructor five times per week. Subjects in online-integrated sections (experimental) experienced only two contact hours per week and completed learning materials autonomously online. The results revealed no significant differences between the control and experimental group on posttest and final. The surveys showed a strong preference in favor of the in-class learning environment.

Visual Displays of Tone for Learners of Chinese: A Teacher’s Perspective on Machine-Generated Feedback
Mark Francis
Christopher Pultz
The recent availability of speech-enabled courseware for learners of Chinese provides new opportunities for students to practice pronunciation and, more specifically, the proper use of tone. Lessons produced at US Military Academy at West Point and commercially available software produced by Auralog make use of graphical displays that compare pitch over time for student utterances and native examples. Faculty evaluation of these learning tools indicates considerable variability in the shape of the pitch patterns of acceptable utterances. Insights on the best use of these pronunciation tools will be presented along with a courseware demonstration.

Metacognition and L2 CALL
Ninette Cartes-Enríquez
Gonzalo Pérez-García
This longitudinal experimental research tries to explain the real importance of metacognition for students who learn/acquire English as L2. The general objective of this study was to develop L2 language acquisition in the intelligent class to gather information from three viewpoints (linguistic, cognitive, and metacognitive). The specific objectives were to develop critical thinking, to guide students in their metacognition, and to specify the samples’ progress in reading comprehension. After a recorded pretest and postest interview and the application of standardized tests, quantitative and qualitative results were obtained to compare groups and to differentiate the mean in independent samples in order to get the conclusions connected with the objectives.

Three Approaches to Creating Animated Grammar
Marmo Soemarmo
Brown (1994) points out four significant issues which language teachers should consider in determining how to teach grammar. These issues include: (a) determining whether the form should be presented inductively or deductively, (b) choosing to use technical or nontechnical language and grammatical explanations, (c) deciding to teach grammar in “grammar only” classes or integrating it into other language skills courses, and (d) providing explicit correction of errors or ignoring errors. Each of these issues can be built into Animated Grammar. This presentation will demonstrate three different tools to create animated texts, the basis for Animated Grammar: Authorware, DHTML, and Flash.

Chatting Around the World: Using Synchronous Oral Computer-mediated Communication to Connect Students and Classrooms
Shannon Sauro
Most of us are already familiar with Internet text-based chat programs that allow users to communicate with each other in real time. Less known are the free and widely available chat programs that allow synchronous oral communication. These types of applications provide new opportunities for the foreign language learner to use oral language to communicate in the L2 with native speakers or other learners. This presentation will introduce and demonstrate various free applications that permit synchronous voice-chat as well as discuss network oriented tasks suitable to this environment.

Multi-user Virtual Environments: Constructivist and Communicative Learning
Cindy Jorth
Lisa Mentz
With the rise of the Internet, the potential of e-mail, bulletin boards, object oriented multi-user domains (MOOs), and chat rooms was instantly recognized by language educators. Researchers continue to examine whether technologies affect learning and, if so, in what capacity. In particular, how have text-based, and now 3-D, multi-user virtual environments been incorporated into courses? What conclusions, both anecdotal and research-based, can be made? What are prospective design, implementation, and research directions? This survey examines the utilization of multi-user virtual environments in education (language learning in particular) and draws a connection between second language acquisition theory and constructivism. 

Li Chastels de Savance: Combining Resources and Communication in a Virtual Environment
Sharon Scinicariello
The program Li Chastels de Savance ‘the Castle of Wisdom’ presents a virtual reality world created to organize multimedia resources for the teaching of French civilization. Learners use real-time audio to communicate with each other as they collaboratively explore the environment and complete learning activities. This presentation outlines the pedagogical and technical aspects of the virtual world’s construction. It focuses on the creation of the resource database and explains both how queries are linked to objects in the environment and why resources are represented as three-dimensional objects. Finally, participants will discuss how the environment can be used to teach other courses 

Facing Real Problems in Virtual Communities
Yoko Koike
Hideko Shimizu
For several years, students in Japan and in the US have participated in a collaborative network-based Japanese language project in which each student was assigned as a member of a team consisting of students from different schools. Using synchronous and asynchronous communication, each team collaboratively created establishments in a cybertown. Vygotsky claimed that, in essence, communicational proficiency develops through socially meaningful interaction. Vygotsky’s sociocultural perspective served as foundation of our project. Sharing this view, the participating instructors helped students create a virtual community. The instructors will discuss issues they faced and the implications these have for facilitating learning in cyberspace.

3:30 – 4:15

Web-based Chinese Placement Test
Alex Chapin
Yao Tao-chung
The Computer-Adaptive Test for Reading Chinese (CATRC) has been used at the Middlebury College Chinese School and elsewhere for many years and has proven to be a reliable indicator for reading proficiency in Chinese. The foreign languages instructional technology group at Middlebury College has developed a web version of this test that will be demonstrated in this presentation. The web version of the test can be set up to email test results as well as save these results into a web database. It can also limit any given user’s access to the test material through its user tracking interface.

SALUD: A Project to Integrate Language, Technology, Healthcare, and Distance Learning That Bridges the Gap Between Disciplines and Learning Sites
Julia Cardona Mack
An interdisciplinary group at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has designed an intermediate Spanish course, using DVD and web-based technology, for healthcare providers who work with immigrant populations. To serve intermediate students with different skill levels and learning styles and facilitate the practice of oral skills in a distance-learning format, we integrated video-based materials, audio email and web meetings, and also optimized tools for collaborative and independent learning. A showing and discussion of the pilot DVD will illustrate the innovations in pedagogy and technology developed for this course and the implications for distance learning and interdisciplinary courseware development.

Virtual Learning Environments and Communities of Practice: The CSU-Teleste Virtual Language Learning Lab Project (VLL)
Ronald Bergmann
Yoshiko Saito-Abbott
Yoko Pusavat
Ryu Kitajima
Wayne Stromberg
Cindy Jorth
Gus Leonard
Jeff Winters
The California State University (CSU) system-wide Virtual Language Learning (VLL) Project has the primary goal of building virtual learning communities in less commonly taught languages. The VLL-Japanese (VLL-J) Group includes professors and lab directors from four CSU campuses: Chico, Long Beach, Monterey Bay, and San Diego. VLL-J is (a) using “virtual language lab” software and traditional web-based technologies for course delivery and virtual community building, (b) developing course materials using a community of practice model, and (c) collaboratively teaching between the four campuses. This panel discussion will reveal the project processes and progression from the perspective of the professors, lab directors, and the administrative director.

Technology-enhanced Content-based Instruction in Spanish Phonetics and Phonology
Travis Bradley
This presentation discusses the ways in which technology enhanced two upper-division undergraduate courses on Spanish phonetics and phonology, both taught at a West Coast research university in 2001-2002. For many learners, these courses constitute an initial formal exposure to both linguistics and the Spanish sound system. Technology was employed in several ways: a course website, in-class multimedia-enhanced presentations, out-of-class asynchronous communication, and interactive web-based and CD-ROM resources. On a practical level, this presentation demonstrates how such technologies can effectively enhance content-based instruction in Spanish linguistics by providing concrete examples of what worked well in these courses and what did not.

Principles for Creating Online Language Learning Environments
Stephen Carey
Chronological sequences of graduate courses with live seminar and online bulletin board components were analyzed for reciprocal transference and scaffolding of second language between course modes to study refinements in creating virtual language learning communities. Each seminar, comprised of ESL and native speakers, also allowed a study of academic writing growth as well as virtual learning communities across native languages. Interviews showed progression in creating more closely knit communities in successive seminars with new students, thus demonstrating refined principles of virtual language learning environments. Discourse analysis and studies of recasts and idiom transfers showed advantages of online learning.

Psycholinguistics and CALL: Suggestions for Improved CALL Interactions
Lee Forester
Based on a psycholinguistic model of language processing presented at CALICO 2001, a set of CALL interactions will be proposed that seeks to improve on standard CALL activities by activating underutilized learner cognitive processes and strategies. Prototype interactions will be demonstrated, and initial findings from user testing will be presented and discussed. These results will hopefully contribute to ongoing research and discussion on effective human-computer interactions in both web-based and standalone CALL applications.

Computer-assisted Reading Strategy Instruction: An Empirical Study
Cindy Evans
I will discuss my ongoing research study on computer-assisted reading strategy instruction. My presentation will include an overview of the theoretical basis for the study and a demonstration of the reading strategy instructional modules I designed using the Libra authoring system. I will present results of a pilot study conducted with intermediate students of French and results I have from the ongoing implementation of the study.

A Web Site for All Seasons: Personally Tailored Language Learning Plans and Resources
Madeline Ehrman
Gerald Lampe
LangNet is a web site offering language resources, learning plans, and study strategies all personalized to user needs by such categories as learning situation (e.g., instructed or not), topics of interest, language proficiency level, and learning style. LangNet has begun with reading, at levels from beginning to distinguished. Users can self-assess for language proficiency and learning style and use the results to select lesson materials and learning strategy advice. Developed through Federal interagency cooperation, LangNet’s languages so far range from Spanish through Hindi to Chinese; more are planned. The presentation describes the program design and shows how it works.

Human-factors in Computing: The Influence of Multimodal Design on Long Term L2 Vocabulary Retention
Rod A. Farmer
Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) tools have been used with considerable success in second language acquisition. The success of graphic user interface design has been a major advance in the development of these learning tools, rendering applications more accessible and intuitive. However, few studies have provided empirical evidence as to the impact of CALL design on human factors, such as memory and language acquisition. In response, the present study investigates the impact of multimodal interaction on long-term word retention. We submit that multimodal CALL applications will lead to increased usability and greater long term second language vocabulary retention.