CALICO 2004, Carnegie Mellon University

CALL: Focusing on the Learner
June 8-12, 2004
Hosted by

Department of Modern Languages and
Language Technologies Institute

Department of Linguistics and
Robert Henderson Language Media Center

Conference Presentations: Day One
June 10, 2004

10:00 – 10:45

L1 and L2 Glosses: Their Effects on Incidental Vocabulary Learning
Makoto Yoshii
This study compared the effects of L1 and L2 glosses on incidental vocabulary learning using an Internet-based reading text. The study also examined whether the addition of images to each gloss type would make a difference. Four types of glosses were used for the investigation: L1 text-only, L2 text-only, the combination of L1 text and picture, and the combination of L2 text and picture. The experiment was conducted among 200 Japanese university students using different types of vocabulary tests including both immediate and delayed measures.

AREA1300: Learner Generated Country Study ePortfolios
Bogdan Sagatov
The AREA1300 Series of Area Studies Courses, developed for government analysts and linguists, consists of 100 individual courses, each focusing on a specific country but all employing the same generic ePortfolio designed to guide learners through a study of Internet resources (webliographies) that have been identified for their target country. The ePortfolio consists of 50 questions that cover the entire spectrum of target knowledge: geography, politics, history, economics, literature, philosophy, and so forth. The key components of the AREA1300 courses – the country specific webliographies and the generic ePortfolio – have now been made available on the Internet to guide learners at all levels in independent and collaborative country study projects

Using SRI’s EduSpeak to Teach French Pronunciation
Stephen LaRocca
Powerful tools are now available for those who would like to extend spoken language-learning activities beyond the classroom. Of these, SRI’s EduSpeak software stands out for the degree of detail that can be made available to learners concerning the accuracy of their pronunciation as they practice speaking. A question that surfaces in the design of learning activities is whether detailed feedback to learners helps their learning. This paper reports on a study of third-year French students using computer-based activities with detailed pronunciation scoring and the utility of such software for improving pronunciation.

The Effect of Task Design on Chatroom Communication: Focus on the Learner
Mark Darhower
Drawing on research from the interactionist and sociocultural SLA frameworks, this presentation analyzes the differential effects of task design on chatroom communication in both groups of nonnative speakers and mixed native/nonnative speakers. A variety of chatroom tasks are considered, ranging from tightly structured to highly open ended. Data are generated from previous chat studies, chat transcripts, and student questionnaires from an ongoing chat community of Spanish and ESL learners. Data description includes an analysis of the learners’ goals and attitudes toward both the chat and the assigned tasks. Implications are made for the assignment of chat tasks.

CMC and Foreign Language Development: A Meta-analysis of Research
Steven Thorne
Jonathon Reinhardt
In this paper, we critically review a number of research articles that utilize three frameworks common to CMC/FLL studies: namely, the interactionist, the sociocultural, and the sociolinguistic/pragmatic. Based on our analysis, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and address the primary question of how each paradigm implicitly construes/defines technology, communication, and the learner. In summary, we offer a meta-analysis of CMC/FLL research and discuss implications for educational practice.

MPEG Video CALL and Exercises on a CD-ROM/DVD
Jay Bodine
This will be a preliminary, or interim, report on the logistical experience of supplying students with their own CALL video for homework learning (intermediate German). Better uses of CALL have become possible that can now readily incorporate good digitized video (at least MPEG I or II from a CD-ROM or DVD on the newer Intel or Mac machines). The technology is here to readily and economically digitize our own video, for which we have a license, and then incorporate it with our CALL materials and save it on a CD-ROM/DVD. It becomes a matter of preparing students’ homework based on the video–in preparation for what we do in the interactive classroom and along the same lines, with the same kinds of activities.

Which Authoring Program is Right for You: Evaluation and Comparison
Ryoko Yoshida Keaton
Nobuko Taguchi
This presentation highlights characteristics of various authoring programs and compares them in terms of cost, functions, usability, and learning effectiveness. Programs such as Quia, Hot Potatoes, and Course Builder have been specifically developed for creating learning materials from templates. They are easy to use but offer limited functionality. Other programs, such as Authorware, Director, and Flash, have been developed for creating presentations and animation. Using these programs to create CALL materials requires creativity and some training. Presenters share their experiences and ideas for using these authoring programs and address pedagogical implications with student feedback.

11:00– 11:20

Adapting Language-learning Interfaces to Individual Learning Styles
Aleata Hubbard
Maxine Eskenazi
In several human-computer interface studies, it has been shown that adapting learning software to the user allows the latter to learn faster and retain more material over a longer period of time. It has also been shown that individuals have different learning styles. It would thus be good if the presentation of language learning software could adapt to the learning style of the individual learner. We devised a method for automatically detecting preferred learning styles (auditory or visual) and tested whether teaching users in that preferred style makes a difference in learning. We will discuss implications for language learning software.

What to Say When: A Look at the Effects of Different Types of Synchronous CMC on Language Learners’ Pragmatic Development
Julie Sykes
The connection between computer-mediated communication (CMC) and Interlanguage pragmatic (ILP) development presents promising possibilities for language learning. This presentation will discuss the results of a study that examined the effects of three types of synchronous group discussion (written chat, oral chat, and traditional face-to-face) on acquisition of target speech acts (refusals of an invitation). Two classes of third-semester Spanish students participated in the small group discussions. They then completed pre and post role-play tasks that elicited the target speech acts. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of these role plays will illustrate the effects that discussion type has on pragmatic development.

Student Attitudes Towards Multiple Intelligences and Technology-based Instruction
Radhika Lothe
Guhan Osman
As foreign language instructors/educators, I am sure you will all testify that student/learner attitudes towards foreign language learning constitute an important criterion in asserting their success and motivation to climb the foreign language ladder. This exploratory study investigates the combined effect of technology and multiple-intelligences-based instruction in a foreign language classroom on student attitudes towards learning a foreign language. It also aims to determine which technologies are conceived to be more beneficial than others and why.

Student ePortfolios: Let’s Tell Students About National Standards
Emi Ochiai Ahn
Many teachers have quietly implemented the 5 Cs of the National Standards, but it is important to give an explicit explanation of the 5 Cs to students, because then they can focus on their learning goals. Student ePortfolios provide a good assessment for student performance on the 5 Cs. The ePortfolio, unlike a regular portfolio, allows students to include sound or video easily and lets other students and teachers access a student’s work conveniently. The presenter will show her students’ ePortfolios that highlight their performance on the 5 Cs, and she will discuss their reactions and further development.

Revisiting Digitized Slowed Audio and the Internet
Jay Kunz
For over a year, beginning foreign language students at Mississippi State University have accessed websites in French, German, Japanese, and Spanish containing digitized audio files at normal and two slower speeds. This presentation describes a follow-up to the first study, which was presented at CALICO 2003. Results of qualitative and quantitative data on student preferences and study strategies as well as website usage will be presented, along with implications for future studies.

Guidelines for Semantic Navigation
Steven D. Tripp
In preparation for building a dictionary browser, an actual navigational interface (a digital chart plotter) was analyzed for design guidelines to be applied to an interactive semantic navigator. WordNet is a lexical database structured as an inheritance system encoding numerous semantic relationships. The guidelines are applied to the design of a browser for WordNet.

A Chat is Not a Chat, so What’s a Good Chat?
Senta Goertler
Kara McBride
Hale Thomas
At a university in the Southwest a new chat server was developed. The purpose of the development was to adapt the chat to the needs of the college teachers and to incorporate continued teachers’ feedback into the development of the program. This study discusses the expectations and experiences of 20 FL teachers with the newly developed and an old obtained program. Based on the survey and interview results and continued communication between teachers and developers a wish list was established. This presentation will discuss the development process and the teachers’ wish list.

11:30– 11:50

How Interactive is Interactive CALL?
Robert Fischer
Several studies investigating student usage of CALL materials have revealed that students often underuse learning materials or use them in unexpected ways. This study examines students’ use of instructional features in a multimedia French reading program in which selected hyperactive expressions were made more salient through color coding. It then examines the effect of students’ use of the instructional features on their reading comprehension and short-term vocabulary acquisition. Analysis of the results suggests relatively complex interactions among student usage, hyperactive marking, multimedia features, and learning.

Blogging? What Language Do You Speak? Integrating Collaborative Technology into the Foreign Language Classroom
Nicole Grewling
Annie Hesp
Len Cagle
Outside of academia, the use of Web Logs (blogs) has increased considerably over the past few years. Now educators are becoming interested in them as well due to the opportunities they offer for pedagogical purposes. Blogs have the potential to democratize a class, to develop a sense of community through collaboration, and to expand its boundaries through connections with the outside world. This presentation will discuss some pedagogical aspects of using blogs in class and show examples of possible applications in foreign language classes in higher education, with concrete examples from Spanish, French, and German classes.

How Students Experience Reading Foreign Language Texts on the Internet
Ulrike Tallowitz
The possibility of choosing foreign language texts within a hypertext environment allows students to experience autonomy in their learning. However, studies show that Internet texts are difficult since they are not adjusted to the students’ learning level. Constructivist learning theory points to the importance of scaffolding, but its effectiveness depends on how well it meets the needs of learners. This paper describes a Ph.D. research study in a university German class. Think-aloud protocols and interviews show students’ successful problem-solving strategies as well as specific difficulties while reading on the Internet. The significance of the study lies in its pedagogical implications.

The Instructor’s Roles in Asynchronous Computer-assisted Classroom Discussion: Observing Russian Classes
Natasha Anthony
Instructor-scaffolded learner communication is widely viewed as the central locus of communicative language teaching. Extending learner opportunities for engagement in communicative practice in the target language via telecommunications has been widely lauded. However, the potential enhancements to the acquisition process when telecommunications-mediated language-learner discourse is guided by skillful instructor participation, and what an online instructor’s ‘verbal’ support and guidance might actually consist of, have yet to be explored. This presentation discusses the effective online instructional techniques and learner responses to them within transcripts of online class conversations undertaken by US college students learning Russian.

Video Conferencing in Content-based Language Learning Classrooms
Malcolm H. Field
Chris Shepherd
This paper reports the use of video-conferencing media in the language learning classroom from classroom-management, language-learning, and content-learning perspectives. Interaction was between students from a high level private Japanese university and a US State university. The transcription of the interaction showed very little clarification and repetition, questions were left unanswered and exchanges were incomplete, highlighting that video conferencing alone seems to be limited in its application for both the development of language and content over distance. Task-based learning approaches can help to alleviate these factors and are discussed in the paper.

Evaluating Web-based Instruction and B-board Use for an Elementary Japanese Course
Akiko Mitsui
Megumi Hamada
Sono Takano-Hayes
Yuki Yoshimura
The study examined the effect of web-based instruction on learners’ motivation and awareness in learning Japanese as a foreign language. It is widely known that motivation plays important roles in learning a foreign language successfully (Gardner, 2000). However, not much is known about how web-based instruction enhance learners’ motivation and outcome of their learning particularly in learning Japanese orthography. This study addressed the issues of whether there were any differences in learning Japanese orthography (e.g., Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji) between students supported by web-based instruction and those who studied by paper-based practice.

Emiliando: A Project to Generate “Initial Motivation” in Learners of Intermediate Spanish through an Exchange via Email; Proofs of the Increase of Motivation
Roberto Gómez Fernández
Some studies have revealed the effects of the use of email in the motivation of students (e.g., Ushioda, 2000; Cruz Piñol, 2002), but there is a need for calculating this increase and the factors which affect it. The author proposes a study comparing two groups (NS-NS and NNS-NS) studying the progression of their motivation taking into account several factors such as their background, the process, and the effects at the end of the exchange.

2:00– 2:45

Predicting Scores for Spanish OPIs on ILR and ACTFL Scales
Jared Bernstein
Isabella Barbier
Elizabeth Rosenfeld
This study reports on the feasibility of building a short, computer-administered, and automatically scored Spoken Spanish Test (SST) to predict scores on Oral Proficiency Interviews. Results indicate that, overall, the SST predicts scores for OPIs on ILR and ACTFL scales with the same precision as two independent OPIs predict each other.

New TeLL me More Education, Language Learning Software
Christophe Pralong
The new TeLL me More Education responds to the educational demand of a more comprehensive approach to language learning, while applying the latest in multimedia resources. This new version has been specially designed to meet the needs of educational institutions. TeLL me More has been already adopted by thousands of academic institutions worldwide. Available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic for networked labs, distance learning (Internet), or CD-ROMs.

The Effectiveness of Online Listening and Reading Exercises
Claire Bartlett
Meng Yeh
Chao-mei Shen
We will present two research projects assessing the use of technology for listening and reading comprehension exercises. The first study examines the effectiveness of the implementation of an online Chinese Listening Workbook as compared to that of the original workbook format based on quantitative and qualitative data from the student’s and instructor’s perspective. The second project examines the results of two comparable groups on a series of online reading exercises to explore the effectiveness of Narrow Reading Approach. We will show samples from both studies, discuss results, and provide technical explanation. Both projects use ExTemplate, a Rice University web-authoring tool.

Building Templates for Foreign Language Applications with HTML, JavaScript, and XML
Steve Koppany
Pamela Combacau
Kiril Boyadjieff
The development of online materials requires substantial expertise in both content development and web-related programming. One way of reducing production expenses is to utilize the many opportunities HTML, JavaScript, and XML offer in creating templates. By utilizing MS Front Page, programming models and practices will be demonstrated and discussed including specifics related to right-to-left text systems. The presentation is of interest to Foreign Language educators, program administrators, project managers, and those who have already some expertise in programming with HTML/JavaScript. The offered ideas and techniques carry the potential of cost reductions and resource enhancement.

German Online Dictionary User Skills Project
Lisa M. Hundley
Jonathon Reinhardt
Whether or not they receive explicit instruction, students utilize digital resources like online dictionaries as situated practice embedded in cultures-of-use (Thorne, 2003). Yet, online resources can lead to transformative practice if they are considered mediational tools. Kern (2000) offers a heuristic for designing transformational literacy instruction that can address the development of electronic literacy skills (Shetzer & Warschauer, 2000). Utilizing this framework, the presenters designed instruction to teach online dictionary user skills to 50 lower-intermediate, university-level German students. Students were taught to critically frame the activity of online dictionary use, resulting in transformed practice.

Collaborative Learning Via Technology: What Really Works and How Can I Do It?
Lisa Nalbone
With the benefits of collaborative learning becoming more and more apparent, the application of this learning style in the context of technology in the classroom expands the horizons of this learning strategy. In this discussion, I plan to demonstrate different strategies that implement technology in the collaborative environment. The rationale behind their implementation will show the practical concepts that serve as a model whether or not all of the technology is available in the audience’s institution. The goal is successful, student-centered learning, and, in this case, it becomes enhanced through technology.

Learner Control: Online Digital Integration of Interactive Authentic Resources for Foreign Language Teaching and Learning
John Vitaglione
Giving learners interactive control of the integrated online digital media they use for language learning has specific advantages. Authentic resources from LARC’s Digital Media Archive (DMA) enable learners to access and play materials at specific points that draw on different language competencies. Interactive examples of digital video chapters, multiple language audio and text tracks, panoramic virtual reality, and movie-in-a-movie techniques will be demonstrated using Apple Computer’s cross-platform-compatible QuickTime player. Discussion will include how LARC incorporates these types of digital media within its DMA, its web pages, and its online/distance education courses for language teaching and learning.

3:00– 3:45

The Browser is Dead, Long Live the Web: Delivering Web-based CALL Without Web Browser Hassles
Devin Asay
The World Wide Web brings great reach and ease of delivery to developers of CALL materials. However, the variety of web browsers across multiple operating systems, each using different implementations of “standards,” bring its own headaches to the process. Using web-savvy development tools, it is possible to bypass the browser and produce web-delivered materials in a way that gives you both greater flexibility and control over the end user experience. I will discuss the pros and cons of both approaches and show examples of web-enabled CALL applications developed with Revolution, a commercially available, cross-platform development tool.

Creating a Mobile Language Learning Environment
Read Gilgen
We will describe how we implemented several foreign language learning projects at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, using wireless laptops, PDAs, and tablet PCs, what we have learned about setting up a wireless environment in a humanities context, and how our projects turned out, including results of extensive assessment of student and faculty attitudes.

CALL Outside In: Perspectives from Computational Linguistics
Mathias Schulze
Over the last 30 years, there have been a number of projects whose aim it was to employ natural-language-processing techniques in computer-assisted language learning. Many of these projects were carried out by computational linguists who presented project results at computational linguistics (CL) conferences or in CL journals. Often, these projects received little attention by CALL researchers and developers. In this paper, a selection of such projects will be reviewed, and their significance for developments in CALL will be evaluated. The focus will be on parser-based projects for the improvement of writing skills.

The Web-delivered Teacher’s Unit/Lesson Template
Kathryn Murphy-Judy
Robert Godwin-Jones
We will demonstrate a web template for curricular, unit, and lesson planning. The template takes teachers, especially beginners, through the process of creating a course mission statement all the way to the details of individual activities within a given lesson. The template links to sites of current best theory and practices in language learning and includes references to the ACTFL standards and K-12 Performance Guidelines. It also addresses learners’ styles and intelligences and assessment.

Technology and the Teaching of Foreign Language Across the Curriculum
Nina Garrett
Bradley Gano
Courses in many disciplines present language students with intellectually interesting and personally relevant opportunities to work at advanced levels when special language sections–typically called “Foreign Language across the Curriculum” (FLAC or LxC)–are made available. However, FLAC presents serious challenges with regard to staffing roles and funding. Garrett and Gano will present a model for FLAC that addresses these problems through the use of technology. They will discuss the success of a Yale sociology course’s FLAC section and the use of a web-based application called CRAFT to facilitate students’ study of authentic texts.

Lessons, Tricks, Pitfalls and Mantras: How to Optimize Data Collection and Analysis in CALL Environments
Kara McBride
Mary E. Wildner-Bassett
In addition to the benefits that computers have the potential to bring to the language classroom, they facilitate the collection, storage, sorting, and analysis of language classroom data. The magnitude of this facilitation is limited by little beyond the vision of the researchers involved. Reporting on an extensive data-gathering initiative completing its fourth year, we share lessons learned and techniques developed in survey creation, administration, and analysis; the coding of files and types of data; statistical analyses; meeting Human Subjects requirements; and to what degree processes can be automated and collected data can be turned into a searchable database.

Communicating and Interacting: What Role for Multimedia?
Debra Hoven
As the media we use to communicate in and teach languages matures, it is time we in the profession took stock of what the current research literature is telling us about the effectiveness of communications technologies in the teaching and learning of language, whether these technologies be synchronous, ‘delayed synchronous,’ or asynchronous. In order to help us make informed decisions about what technologies to employ with which student populations, this presentation will examine how our learners are using these technologies to communicate and learn in their second languages, and what differences are emerging among these different modes of human-human and human-computer interactions.

4:00– 4:45

Learning Management Systems: Essential for Distance FL Learning?
Thomas S. Parry
Wendy W. Tu
Earl Schleske
In the context of technology-mediated autonomous language learning, a learning management system (LMS), if built right, can track the progress of learner proficiency, deliver personalized learning activities, provide a comprehensive view of learner knowledge/skills, measure gains in productivity, and reveal the effectiveness of a course. This presentation will demonstrate the features of a LMS under development at Ft. Huachuca and the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center highlighting features that are essential for language learning and the detailed reporting collected from pilot teaching. Discussion will also focus on whether the LMS is essential for improving FL learning programs.

The Language Laboratory’s New Role in Language Learning
U. Theresa Zmurkewycz
Today’s updated language laboratories have opened up endless possibilities for both teachers and learners at all levels of language study. This presentation will demonstrate some approaches to language teaching that can be incorporated at the beginning through intermediate language courses as well as those that I have used for Business Spanish and Spanish Culture and Civilization. The session will demonstrate the use of programs created by textbook publishers, using peer editing on the Tandberg system, websites for educational purposes, teacher-generated activities and online research. Although the examples will be for Spanish students, they can be adapted to all languages.

Utilization of a Coefficient of Variation for Comparing Nonnative and Native Mandarin Intonation
Garry Molholt
John Morgan
Although real-time displays of pitch contours provide visual insight into comparisons of patterns of different speakers, indications of the absolute Hertz level are also misleading. For example, though a change from 200 Hertz to 400 Hertz appears to be much greater than a change from 70 to 140, the two changes are similar in that they both cover one octave. By creating visual displays which show the relative change, therefore, we are able to better represent the similarities and differences of the intonation of nonnative and native speakers. This presentation is designed to show how a coefficient of variation provides the means for comparing the relative changes of a student’s voice with a native speaker model. In order to determine the appropriate level of the coefficient, while allowing for appropriate flexibility, a baseline study was conducted involving analysis of 50 sentences spoken by 300 native speakers. Statistics derived from this study also show levels of variation according to gender, age, education level, and geographic region of the subjects.

Using Speech Data to Assess Reading Proficiency
June Y. Sison
Joseph E. Beck
The Reading Tutor is a computer tutor that uses automated speech recognition (ASR) technology to listen to children read aloud and helps them learn how to read. The research reported here uses ASR output to predict students’ GORT fluency posttest scores. Using a linear regression model, we achieved correlations of over .80 for predicting first through fourth graders’ performance. Our model’s predictive ability is on par with standard public school reading assessment measures. This work contributes to a better understanding of automated student assessment in language tutors and introduces methods for accounting for noisy ASR output.

CALL and Teacher Training: A Chance to Reflect on What Should be Taught and Why
Volker Hegelheimer
Chapelle and Hegelheimer (2003) argue that technology has become integral to the ways in which ELT professionals teach, create materials, and even the way they conceptualize the profession in the 21st century. However, future teachers enrolled in MA programs may not necessarily realize the pervasiveness of technology or simply disagree with the concept that technology can enhance language learning. Their vision for computer use in their profession is initially limited to managerial and presentation tasks. However, their healthy skepticism/criticism, which is frequently absent in publications about CALL, provides professionals in CALL with the opportunity to ponder their assumptions.

Input Enhancement in Computer-generated Recasts
Ken Petersen
A common salience-enhancing characteristic of recasts in oral interaction is the addition of stress or emphasis on the feature that is being corrected. This study examines issues related to salience in recasts and input enhancement in a CALL environment by engaging a group of 28 high school level-two learners of Russian in a series of picture description tasks. Throughout the treatment, experimental groups were exposed to (a) no feedback, (b) unenhanced recasts, or (c) recasts enhanced with visual input enhancements. Results indicate that recasts have a significant effect on the acquisition of both lexical and morphosysntactic forms.

Effects of CALL Approaches on EFL College Students’ Learning of Verb-Noun Collocation
Hsien-Chin Liou
Crystal Tunpei Chan
English verb-noun (V-N) miscollocation has been found to be a dominant lexical weakness among EFL learners based on learner corpus analyses. This project built six online units on collocation with pedagogical designs for inductive and deductive teaching with four major V-N types and a bilingual concordancer to investigate whether 70 college learners would benefit from such practice through 7 weeks. Research questions address the impact of factors such as learners’ prior collocation knowledge, different types of V-N collocation, and different online teaching methods on the effectiveness of collocation learning, besides the overall effect, retention, and learners’ perception via measures of pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest.

Conference Presentations: Day Two
June 11, 2004

8:00 – 8:45

Helping Language Students Become Better Language Learners: Embedding Explicit Strategy Instruction into Online Learning Materials
Dianna Murphy
Proponents of strategies-based instruction (SBI), a learner-centered approach that aims to help language students become better language learners, argue that strategy instruction should be made explicit if learners are to transfer a new strategy to other tasks. This presentation will show how two multilingual authoring tools developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Listening Assistant and Activity Creator, can be used to create web-based listening comprehension lessons that provide students with explicit instruction in listening and other language use and language learning strategies.

Get the JIST: An Auditory Comprehension Strategy for the Foreign Language Learner
Mary Toulouse
Previous research indicates that learning strategies empower second-language learners by making them self-sufficient. We shall demonstrate and discuss the theory behind a computerized multimedia tutorial that teaches a learning strategy for better auditory comprehension of a foreign language. The listening strategy, a mnemonic called “Get the JIST,” trains students to: J-just listen, I-isolate vocabulary, S-seek out sentences, T-target facts. The JIST is a multipass strategy, based on a number of classic studies for teaching the learning disabled. The tutorial uses animated gifs, multiple choice, and drop/drag activities with lyrics from music to present the strategy.

Development and Delivery of Online Arabic and Russian Proficiency Tests
Paula Winke
The Center for Applied Linguistics developed Arabic and Russian listening and reading proficiency tests based on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. These tests, delivered via a secure Internet browser, are semi-adaptive, and are available for placement or proficiency testing. The project, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, also produced a replicable model (a Framework) for developing online proficiency tests for less commonly taught languages (LCTLs). This presentation will demonstrate the two tests, explain the adaptability of the tests, and provide information on developing LCTL online test items according to this project’s framework.

Internationalizing the Elementary Curriculum: The SEEDS Project
Tony Erben
Jeannie Ducher
Phase 3 of the SEEDS project (Support for Elementary Educators through Distance Education in Spanish) aims at internationalizing the elementary curriculum by allowing teacher and students to view, experience, and reinforce the existing curriculum through facts, events, activities, and methodologies derived from the rich Hispanic heritage of the United States and its cultures. This presentation will uncover the process preceding the realization of the third phase of the project based on distance-education principles and proven immersion strategies and involving monolingual and Spanish bilingual generalist elementary teachers in the conceptualization and generation of this unique online tool for professional development.

NativeAccent–Pinpointing Errors in the Pronunciation of English
Maxine Eskenazi
Gary Pelton
Carnegie Speech’s NativeAccent listens to a nonnative English speaker and points to any pronunciation mistakes. It then provides correction information. From the individual student’s performance, the system structures its curriculum to address the discovered pronunciation problems. NativeAccent’s uniqueness resides in its ability to pinpoint exactly which sounds made by the speaker are correct and which are not correct. The pinpointing forms the basis for both the prescriptive advice given to the student and the intelligent tutoring system used to select the appropriate lessons for the student.

Entre dicho y hecho …: An Assessment of the Application of Second Language Acquisition
Barbara Lafford
Peter A. Lafford
Julie Sykes
Many findings from Spanish second language acquisition (SLA), computer-assisted language learning (CALL), and related research are applicable to the creation of Spanish CALL materials, but there is often a lack of integration of these findings in the creation of software products. The purpose of this paper is to bring together findings from research in various research fields related to Spanish SLA in order to propose some design features of CALL software that would apply these insights to the creation of computer-based activities. We will also discuss logistical barriers impacting the creation of CALL materials and possible solutions to those problems.

Negotiating for Meaning across Borders: Tandem Language Learning through CMC
Peggy Patterson
Susana Trabaldo
CMC provides language students with an excellent opportunity to interact in Tandem Language Learning (TLL). TLL involves the interaction of two individuals with different native languages that are learning each other’s native language. This investigation looks at the discourse produced by two groups of university students participating in TLL. Fifty students of Spanish in the USA exchanged email, contributed to Bulletin Board forums, and participated in conversations using Instant Messaging with 50 students of English in Buenos Aires. An analysis of the language produced by these three methods of CMC showed a variety of discourse functions, including negotiating for meaning.

9:00 – 9:45

Online Proficiency Assessment: A Model for Development Across Languages
Robert L. Davis
Madeline Spring
The Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS, the Northwest NFLRC) has developed an online suite of tools that provide an integrated system for instruction and proficiency-based assessments (Spanish and Japanese available; French, German, Chinese, Turkish, and Hebrew in development). This session describes both the online tools and the innovative development process, with suggestions for how the process can be applied to other technology-intensive projects.

The Interactive Syllabus: Using Course Management Systems to Create a Web-based Interactive Syllabus
Jane Sokolosky
This paper will give guidelines and suggestions on how to create a web-based interactive syllabus using a course management system from companies like Blackboard or WebCT. The interactive syllabus incorporates the skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking and includes a large cultural component. Activities include a project called the “Digitales Lesevergnügen” ‘the pleasure of reading digitally’ and the writing of a serial novel. Although this syllabus was initially designed for an intermediate German course that used the textbook Kaleidoskop, the ideas inherent in the interactive syllabus can be adapted for a wide range of skill levels and languages.

Myths and Pitfalls with User Prototyping in Tutorial CALL: Towards Design Alternatives in a Research-based Research-oriented Approach
Jozef Colpaert
Wilfried Decoo
In this presentation, we will give an overview of lifecycle models in engineering of tutorial CALL and focus on user prototyping. We will discuss the advantages of iterative user-prototyping approaches, but also the constraints: why they are less amenable to include empirical and epistemological findings and why they do not necessarily lead to reusable and exchangeable concepts and components which can be used by other CALL researchers and developers worldwide. We will explain the advantages of real-world implementation as a source of user feedback which leads to a new engineering loop based on working hypotheses.

Pittsburgh’s Online Oral Proficiency Testing Program
Thekla Fall
Susan Cefola
Devin Browne
Chris Dalessandri
This session will present Pittsburgh Public Schools’ exciting standards-based online speaking proficiency test. Last spring, Pittsburgh was the first district in the nation to collect and rate over 1,300 student speech samples online. Program components will be demonstrated from the point of view of the student, teacher, administrator, and software developer. Also included will be a discussion of the challenges and solutions to implement this program in 36 schools with computers of varying ages and configurations; for students in grades 5, 8, and high school; and teachers and students with varying degrees of tech proficiency.

Working Memory, Synchronous CMC, and L2 Oral Proficiency Development
J. Scott Payne
Brenda Ross
Recently, a number of SLA researchers have experimentally investigated a connection between real-time, L2 conversation via text and second language oral proficiency development (Healy-Beauvois, 1998; Payne & Whitney, 2002; Kost, 2003; Abrams, 2003). Findings from Payne and Whitney (2002) suggest that L2 chat develops the same cognitive mechanisms underlying spontaneous L2 speech and gives students with lower working memory capacity a leg up in developing speaking ability in the target language. This presentation reports findings from a combined psycholinguistic and corpus linguistic analysis of 21 chat sessions from that study in an effort to gain additional insight into how working memory capacity limitations may modulate L2 learner performance.

How Effective are Authoring Tools: To What Extent do They Allow for Half-open Exercises and Corrective Feedback?
Hans Paulussen
Piet Desmet
In this talk, we will present a number of criteria which can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of authoring tools, especially when used to provide CALL exercises which are different from the stimulus-response type and which therefore are typically used for intermediate and advanced learners. The criteria presented focus on global tree structure, corrective feedback, half-open exercises, and the functional integration of multimedia. Half-open exercises facilitate the use of alternative variable answers, typically used in translation exercises, dictation, reformulation, and correction exercises. Corrective feedback can help the learner to gradually find the correct answer.

The Electronic Network for Language and Culture Exchange (ENLACE): Development and Implementation
Gary A. Cziko
Raymond D. Meredith
The Electronic Network for Language and Culture Exchange (ENLACE) provides a web-based synchronous communication environment for language and culture learning using the principles of tandem learning. Pairs of students learn each other’s language and culture through synchronous interaction using text, audio and/or video. This presentation will include (a) a demonstration of the current capabilities of ENLACE, (b) plans for its global implementation, (c) a discussion of its potential as a tool for research into second language and culture learning, and (d) an account of its use in an eTandem project involving students at the University of Illinois and Heidelberg University.

10:00– 10:20

Teaching ESL Internet Resources
Darcy Christianson
A review of the web site teaching ESL Internet resources that provides a quick and comprehensive reference directly from various and free resources on the Internet such as movie scripts, tongue twisters, and analogies to accompany activities and games for teaching and learning ESL skills.

Using Commercials in the Foreign Language Classroom
Eric Jewell
Audiovisual materials have long been considered an important part of the foreign language classroom. Current research supports this trend claiming improved aural skills and retention among learners. However, video media are often difficult to incorporate into computerized testing due, in part, to enormous memory requirements, as well as the length of segments required to create a sufficient context. This presentation intends to demonstrate some possible uses of commercial advertising in the classroom as an aid to listening comprehension, modeling of grammatical forms, cultural information, and stimulus items. Discussion and commentary from interested participants will be welcomed.

Listening Competence: Better Isolated or Integrated?
Rama Sohonee
The question pertaining to developing listening competence is largely solved through technology since repetition, aural clarity and pronunciation checks can be achieved digitally. However, the pedagogical implications of developing listening competence in isolation need to be addressed. This presentation uses two multimedia modules to address this issue and poses multiple research questions. The presentation concludes that a healthy mix of all skills is one of the better approaches towards supporting and enhancing listening comprehension. Visual and textual clues add to comprehension instead of detracting. Tips and tricks for designing activities that build a sufficient context to support isolated listening activities will also be discussed.

A Concordance Examination of the German Verb werden
Joseph Magedanz
“What to teach when” in a foreign language can be based on authentic samples of the target language. A concordance investigation of a target language sampling can show specific usages and patterns that differ from what we teach. By comparing the typical presentation of the German verb werden in first-year textbooks with the uses of werden in authentic German, it becomes clear that how we present werden does not correspond to its use by German speakers. Based on these results, we can rethink the presentation of werden and realign it with authentic use.

Learners’ Lexical Development in Asynchronous Discussion Forums: What’s Inside Their Minds?
Su-Lin Tai
This study is conducted from the perspective of sociocultural theory and looks into learners’ lexical development in the threaded discussions forums. The study sheds light on how language learners advance from interpersonal interaction (reading messages posted by other participants) to intrapersonal interaction (composing messages to reply to prior messages) and investigates learners’ lexical development during the process of reading and posting messages. The data were collected from message transcripts, learners’ self-reports, and posttask interviews. An investigation of lexicon development also tracks the social consciousness that the learners possess when engaging in asynchronous threaded discussion forums.

Does Hearing Examples Facilitate Grammar Learning?
Gearóid Ó Neill
A phrase heard on a couple of occasions from teachers trying to encourage reluctant essayists was “if it sounds right, write it.” Being reassured by “heard phrases” is undoubtedly very useful. However, there is more than one side to a story, and so it is with many grammatical points. Here is described a preliminary investigation into whether the use of samples of recorded speech as part of a CALL system facilitates learning grammar.

Teaching It All: Computer-based Projects for Multiple Literacies
Sharon Scinicariello
International television, foreign language films, and the global reach of the World Wide Web provide teachers and learners with important new resources for the acquisition of language and culture, but the effective use of these resources and tools requires multiple literacies. Part one of this presentation considers how the learning objectives for media, technology, and information literacies intersect with the goals of language teachers and learners. Part two uses examples from class assignments to show how computer-based projects can be designed to address multiple literacies and to discuss how to meet the challenges of implementing these projects.

10:30– 10:50

Learning to Use Technology in Second Language Teaching: Empowering Teacher Learners
Yu-Feng (Diana) Yang
The purpose of this presentation is to discuss a research study regarding the process of teacher learning in the use of technology for their instruction. With a focus on teacher learners, this qualitative research discusses teacher learners’ power of deciding what to focus on and how to approach their learning. Study findings suggest that the participant teachers had different learning plans while taking the same CALL course online. The research applications include a discussion of future research directions and strategies that the CALL teacher educator and course designer can use in order to empower teacher learners.

Using Student Documentary Film Projects to Promote Advanced Proficiency
J. Scott Payne
Jon Badalamenti
Dan Saniski
Hilary Stepancik
The focus of this presentation is a documentary film project carried out by fifth-semester German students and researched by undergraduate and graduate students taking a course on project-based foreign language learning. The German language students spent 8 weeks first researching and then documenting with audio and film the lives and perspectives of Pennsylvania Dutch speakers with the goal of producing a DVD. Students from the fifth-semester German course will present their project from an emic perspective followed by reports of empirical studies investigating the linguistic and pedagogical processes and outcomes of the project.

Thinking Outside the Box: Applying Lessons from a Public Forum in Promoting Critical Literacy and Critical Thinking in EFL/ESL Contexts
Snea Thinsan
Malinee Prapinwong
Having found that the well known “Cognitive Presence” of the “Community Inquiry Model” by Garrison and colleagues did not fit the data we had, we developed our model based on four systematically selected sets of data taken from over 200 threads on a hot social issue discussed at the most popular Thai public forum. Our goals were to identify the unique characteristics of the interactions in the public forum, modify the cognitive presence model, and suggest strategies for using web forums in promoting critical literacy and critical thinking in EFL/ESL contexts. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted. We will share the main findings, hoping to push the edge of knowledge based on the lessons from outside the box.

Implementing Theoretical Issues in the Development of an Interactive English Online Program
Emerita Bañados
This presentation will describe an interactive English online program for EFL students using information and communication technology to develop integrated linguistic skills, with an emphasis on oral language. The author will describe the foundations of the network-based model underlying the software and will show how theoretical issues taken into account were actually implemented in the online materials.

Factors that Influence the Quality ofPolite Expressions: An Investigation of Email Messages Produced by Japanese English Learners
Tadayoshi Kaya
The present study attempted to examine the causes of difficulties of Japanese university students in using appropriate English polite expressions in email. Fifty Japanese university students in the US were asked to compose polite email messages on the computer in response to four given situations presented in an online format. Through statistical analyses, the findings of the present study indicate that the proficiency level of Japanese English learners might play an important role in the quality of their politeness expressions in email, which has not been investigated mainly in the previous literature.

The Effect of Interactive Movies and Learning Styles on Foreign Language Learning
Fuqiang Zhuo
Many people have used digitized videos and may even call them interactive movies, but very few of them are interactive. Just using digitized videos is not enough for instruction and learning. It is necessary to find out how students learn with interactive movies. This study report is a follow-up of the presentation at CALICO 2003. While the previous presentation covered what interactive digital movies are and why to make them for foreign language instruction, learning, and research, this presents a study on what effects interactive digital movies and learning styles have on learning a foreign language.

In the Intersection of Language Learning and Culture: Two Playspaces in Hellas Alive
Andreas Karatsolis
This demonstration session will showcase two examples of cultural playspaces, game-like activities aimed at providing Greek immigrants in the United States with a rich understanding of Greek culture. These playspaces, in combination with the language learning instruction provided in Hellas Alive, foster an appreciation of and eventually acculturation in the community of practice of speakers of Greek. Moreover, the XML structure of these playspaces areas allows users from the community to easily provide content for new learners to interact with, thus making the experience authentic and historically situated.

1:30– 2:15

Student Expectations and Evaluating CMC Performance
Zsuzsanna Abrams
While research has examined various CMC tasks’ ability to improve oral skills, empower students, and improve culture learning, it has not yet addressed classroom evaluation of CMC performance. A lack of clear guidelines can undermine the (face) validity of CMC assignments, potentially resulting in student performance that is vastly divergent from teacher expectations. Grounded in CMC research and drawing on traditional and alternative methods of assessment, this presentation provides some appropriate and economic ways of evaluating CMC performance. It examines holistic, analytic, primary trait and portfolio assessments, and their washback effects vis-à-vis various task types in both synchronous and asynchronous CMC.

Negotiation of Meaning in Jigsaw and Free Discussion in Synchronous Computer-mediated Communication (S-CMC)
Ana Oskoz
Negotiation of meaning has been studied in S-CMC (Blake, 2000; Fernández-García & Martinez-Arbeláiz, 2002; Pellettieri, 2000; Smith, 2003). Characteristics of different tasks, however, affect the amount and quality of the negotiation. This study focuses on students’ negotiation of meaning in S-CMC in the jigsaw and free discussion. Thirty dyads of Intermediate Spanish II students participated in two tasks. Results showed a significant difference regarding the amount of negotiation produced. Surprisingly, the data revealed fewer instances of negotiation than expected (Smith, 2003). Two factors account for this result: the use of circumlocution and the insufficiency of the Varonis and Gass’ model.

Evaluating Spanish Language Teaching at a Distance
Robert J. Blake
Students who work full time enroll in a virtual first-year Spanish course and use a combination of multimedia CD-ROM materials, content-based web readings, activities, and a collaboration chat tool with telephonic sound. Performance was compared to that of traditional courses using results from S-CAPE, grammar exams, and responses to a follow-up survey. The overall evaluation demonstrates that students in the virtual course performed similarly to those from traditional classrooms. The advantages of each format will be discussed. The implications for the foreign-language curriculum will also be discussed, along with ideas about extending this teaching format to LCTLs.

Making Authentic Interaction Possible: Connecting Foreign Language Learners with Native Speakers through Chat
Rebecca Bearden Jobe
Recent research by Koike and Ramey (2001) and Regier (2002) has shown that frequently learners engaged in dyadic interaction with other learners are not actively involved in the conversation. This study seeks to examine the effect of three variables on the degree of involvement of FL learners in dyadic interaction: (a) the discussion format–oral, face-to-face discussion versus synchronous, computer-assisted discussion; (b) the interlocutor–native speakers versus nonnative speakers; and (c) the task–open-ended discussion versus information exchange tasks. The results show that learners are most involved, regardless of task, when engaged in CAD with a native speaker.

CALL Strategies Training for Teachers
Phil Hubbard
Marinna Kolaitis
Howard Pomann
Commercial software is more valuable if students understand how to use it effectively. However, getting instructors to incorporate this idea into their classes represents a formidable challenge. A group of instructors in our ESL program has developed a set of CALL strategy materials linking software activities to learner goals. This presentation reports on a series of workshops used to train other faculty in using these materials and designing their own. We showed them how to analyze their software beyond its mechanical features, encourage students to recognize a variety of paths through exercises, and relate these paths to specific learning objectives.

Factors that Affect Information Technology Adoption of Teachers
Hyesung Park
This study examines factors that influence teachers’ adoption and use of information technology in the classroom. An online survey was administered to K-12 second/foreign language teachers to determine what factors contributed to the adoption of information technology in the classroom. An adapted version of the technology acceptance model was employed to determine factors such as perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use that influence a teacher’s decision to use information technology. In this study, information technology is defined as computer-based multimedia. This study developed and tested a model of relationships among a variety of variables and the teacher’s use of information technology. The current study tested constructs that may provide critical insights into successful technology use by second/foreign language educators.

2:30– 3:15

Facilitating Multilingual CMC: Unicode Wikis, Blogs, and Forums
Arlo Bensinger
Unicode-based CMC environments allow language learners to interact across Roman and non-Roman character sets, as well as providing a uniform encoding format for capturing and storing learner text and subsequent text analysis. This presentation examines three asynchronous, text-based CMC environments that were adapted to support Unicode: a Wiki, a Blog, and a discussion forum. The particular engines behind these environments were selected for (a) freeware/open source code, (b) PHP coding and MySQL databasing of text, and (c) ease of scalability/replicability.

Digital Language Labs: Where We Are, Where We Are Going
Ron Remschel
This session focuses on a discussion of space-time pedagogical methodologies used for language learning and the past, present, and future technologies that are utilized in each one. The presenter will provide a brief review of the technological history of language labs including the current state-of-the-art “virtual” labs (with a live demonstration). He will also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of analog, analog/digital hybrid, and all digital systems. Participants will acquire information about available language “lab” technology to assist them in making choices for integrating multimedia technology in lesson plans.

Words on the Web: An Introduction to Text Annotator, a New Hypertext Editing Tool
Judith Frommer
D. Bradford Marshall
Text Annotator, a web-based tool and database, allows for multimedia annotation of online literary and nonliterary texts. A description of the successful implementation of annotated hypertexts in university foreign language courses will be followed by a demonstration of the instructor’s interface which those familiar with word processing can use to create their own texts with audio, video, still images, and text definitions. Limited only by database capacity, Text Annotator can handle texts for any number of instructors and courses. We will conclude with examples of courses in which Text Annotator has stimulated students’ interest and enhanced their reading comprehension.

Language, Technology, and the Social Environment: Towards an E-CALL-ogy of Language
Francis M. Hult
Shannon Sauro
This paper calls for an e-CALL-ogy of language–applying the ecology of language (Haugen, 1972; Fill & Mühlhäusler, 2001) in order to study CALL holistically. The importance of relating CALL activities to the social environments in which they are situated, both real and virtual, is illustrated by examining specific language courses: (a) an American university foreign language class, (b) an online Swedish course, and (c) a selection of online courses on minority languages in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. In all cases, the ecology of language provides a framework for evaluating how CALL can be contextually integrated in socially responsible ways.

How are Teacher Training Programs Meeting the Needs of Language Teachers?
Greg Kessler
As language teachers are expected to be increasingly competent with computer-assisted language learning (CALL), it should be expected that relevant training would correlate. Are teacher training programs preparing teachers for such expectations? The presenter will share research investigating the extent of technology-related coursework across teacher training programs. Additional questions include: What technology skills do teachers require? What knowledge of technology for teaching do teachers in training typically obtain? What percent of a program consists of CALL related training? What CALL options exist for teachers in training? Where else might CALL professionals receive such training?

Reflection of the Self and Others: Virtual Practices in Effective Reflective Teaching
Gillian Lord
Lara Lomicka
Educators are aware of the benefits of self-reflection in teaching, and reflective practices are gaining popularity nationwide. This session focuses on reflective teaching as both an individual and social process. Graduate Assistant Teachers at the Universities of Florida and South Carolina took part in a collaborative project that involved one of three reflective journaling techniques: private journaling, peer journal exchange, or virtual journaling via discussion boards and digital movies. We will discuss reflective teaching and present preliminary findings from the study, with a focus on the benefits and challenges of using discussion boards and digital movies in the reflection process.

The Integration of Literature and Technology in the German Classroom: Focus on the Learner
Aleidine J. Moeller
By integrating technology as a central part of a professional development seminar, teacher practitioners learned to use technology while learning content (language, literature, culture) and pedagogy. By using the context of an adolescent novel, Damals war es Friedrich, teacher participants created a website that contained pedagogically prepared teaching activities directly tied to the text. This project builds on the websites of several foreign language professionals and illustrates how the web can be used as a venue for developing curricula across universities through collaborative virtual projects that promote student learning inside and outside the classroom walls.

3:30– 4:15

Learning Styles and Web-based Task Design: a Matter of Teachers’ Technical Expertise
Mónica Cárdenas-Claros
Noelia Ruiz-Madrid
Moises Perales-Escudero
Multimedia technology allows teachers and CALL designers to create web-based activities that cater to different learning styles (Healey, 1999). Moreover, beneficial results have been reported when learners are provided with tailor-made learning opportunities that enhance and extend their learning style preferences (Ngeow, 1999; Dunn, Griggs, Olson, & Beasley, 1995). This paper presents a teacher-oriented matrix for analyzing the options (i.e., off-the-shelf courseware, template-based authoring software, and web-based applications) currently available to develop web-based activities according to different levels of technical expertise. It also gives suggestions for designing web-based activities focused on learning styles using authoring software.

Effects of Graded Texts on EFL College Students’ Incidental Vocabulary Learning: Issues of Exposure Amount and Acquisition of Productive and Receptive Vocabulary
Hsien-Chin Liou
Hung-tzu Huang
Incidental vocabulary learning while reading is often encouraged to intermediate L2 learners to promote their language proficiency. The paper reports the design of an extensive reading program for a period of 8 weeks with 16 articles and its assessment with 35 college freshmen. The articles were graded based on filtering texts with four word lists out of the original 5,008 articles of a parallel corpus, Sinorama, to reach 95% familiar word coverage. Another control of times of target word exposure was incorporated into text sequencing. Pretest-posttest measures are used to address what is the adequate amount of exposure for words to be acquired incidentally for receptive or productive use.

Preferences of Learners Towards the Use of Technology in Language Learning
Nandini Sarma
Alysse Weinberg
Katherine Lagrandeur
Martine Peters
We present research conducted in various multimedia settings in three Canadian universities. Our purpose was to find out which activities students prefer and, of these, which ones the students feel facilitate their language learning. We will discuss the relationship between positive attitudes toward technology and the belief that such technologies can enhance language learning. We will also present students’ preferences in activities and in interface when using technology to support language learning. Implications for the language classroom will be discussed.

Didactic Ergonomics and Web-based Materials Design
Jean-Claude Bertin
Patrick Grave
Can web-based material design and e-learning follow any ergonomic model? Experience suggests that a first wave of web-based materials were heavily constrained by the limits of essentially descriptive HTML languages. The advent of real programming languages for the web (e.g., Java, PHP, etc.) now makes it possible to include features that were until recently reserved to local applications. Such features should reflect a model of didactic ergonomics which the speaker will outline in the first part of the presentation before giving an account, based on a study of two digital campuses, of how the model can apply to distance-learning.

Electronic Scaffolds for Challenging Internet Resources
Leila May-Landy
Daniel Beeby
Hyung Kyune Shim
Authentic materials on the web can be both an extraordinary opportunity and challenge for ESL students. This presentation will demonstrate how an electronic “wrapper” can make complicated authentic materials more accessible through annotations, comprehension exercises, and supplementary materials. The presenters will describe a collaborative effort between the instructor and an educational technology service organization, which blends pedagogical objectives with simple web technologies to create a customized web-based study environment from authentic materials. Participants will be given general technical guidelines about how to develop these materials, but the technical simplicity of this project underscores the pedagogical richness of the technique.

Are We Doing What We Are Supposed To? Students and Teachers Perspectives
Sabine Siekmann
This presentation will present and discuss data of first semester German as a foreign language students working on collaborative WebQuests. WebQuests will be shown as an inquiry based methodology that is well suited for beginning language learners. Examples of how students work together to understand the task and solve the linguistic and task problem will be shown. The discussion of these data is framed in sociocultural theory and focuses on the use of language as a mediational tool in the collaborative dialogue of students engaged in figuring out what they are supposed to do. This, in turn, reflects on the appropriateness of the task itself.

Methodological Issues in Online Courses
Bonnie L. Youngs
This presentation reviews results of a questionnaire and a follow-up interview regarding four online instructors’ opinions on the major differences between traditional and online instructional contexts; how they have adapted their teaching style (or not) to an online format; advice they would give to new teachers teaching in this format; and how SLA research issues regarding feedback, interaction, and community development are reflected in an online environment. Additionally, the presenter’s first online teaching experiences are reviewed from her perspective of having learned from the questionnaires and interviews what constitutes successful online methodology.

Conference Presentations: Day Three
June 12, 2004

8:00 – 8:45

The Langland Project
Douglas Coleman
Greg Kessler
Langland is an “open source” project to develop a 3D multiuser virtual environment (3D-MUVE) for language learning. Users will move about in detailed scenes depicted on computer monitors, interacting with their environment and (through synchronous chat) each other. A multiuser version of the software will be demonstrated. The CALL community is invited to share in its long-term development and use.

Correlating Acoustic Analysis and Perception of the Korean Accent of English
Garry Molholt
Hee Yeoun Yoon
According to the results of a survey administered to 100 native-English-speaking university students, Korean speakers of English in a formal setting received the highest overall scores combining enthusiasm, confidence, and clarity when their utterances combined dynamic variation of intonation with moderate pace. The lowest perception scores were for utterances which combined static variation of intonation with slow pace. Between these two extremes, we found two overlapping areas. An important conclusion from this research study is that analysis of intonation should be combined with analysis of pace in order to account for and predict success for nonnative speakers in being perceived as enthusiastic, confident, and clear.

The Role of the Teacher in Foreign Language Classroom CMC: Less is More
Senta Goertler
Estela Ene
Kara McBride
Chat has become a popular foreign language classroom activity because it may lead to more equitable group work, may lessen anxiety for learners, is intrinsically attractive to many learners, and generates transcripts that learners, teachers, and researchers alike can work with later. But what should the teacher’s role during synchronous CMC be? Data from FL and ESL courses, as well as a quasi-experimental investigation this year all corroborate with recent non-CMC data to indicate that active teacher participation in group work in language classrooms may have a negative impact on student activities. Teaching implications are explored.

College Students’ Attitudes Towards Computer-mediated Versus Face-to-face Group Tests
Julian Heather
A recent innovation in language testing involves the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) to assess individuals’ second language (L2) ability. While student reactions to this new testing format have been positive (Jurkowitz, 2002), it is unclear whether computer-mediated communicative tests are preferred over alternative testing methods. This study, therefore, compares the reactions (expressed through questionnaires) of third-semester French students to a computer-mediated communicative test and the nearest equivalent face-to-face test, a group oral exam.

Note-taking Strategies in Action
Jeanette Clement
Nonnative speakers of English have difficulty taking notes from academic lectures because of vocabulary and discourse conventions. The presenter demonstrates an interactive computer-assisted model featuring visual support for developmental note-taking strategies for comprehending and processing academic lectures.

NativeAccent Kids–Software to Teach Pronunciation of English to Children
Gary Pelton
Patti Price
Maxine Eskenazi
Tutoring children’s English pronunciation requires several fundamental differences compared to an adult system. The underlying concepts of pinpointing pronunciation errors and using an intelligent tutor can continue to be essential approaches if adapted correctly. The pinpointing technology has work for children’s voices and cannot be the main activity, evolving into an assessment at the end of a unit, after more passive activities have been completed. The intelligent tutoring still decides on student-appropriate lessons but rarely jumps from one lesson to another.

9:00– 9:45

Create Your Own Online Language Games without Special Software
Marmo Soemarmo
The presenter has explored three approaches to online language games that can be created simply typing the data in any text editor: HTML Editor with JavaScript, Flash MX with ActionScript, and Authorware with Script. JavaScript does not allow reading external files, Flash MX can read external text files but must follow a strict format. The winner is Authorware because it can read external text files, and games can be created without having to use Authorware editor, only typing the data with any text editor. A beta version will be made available for those who want to use the tool and submit feedback.

Premiere 6.5 and Pinnacle’s Edition 5.5 versus a G5 Macintosh and iMovie
Jay Bodine
J. T. (Jolyon Timothy) Hughes
Two friendly colleagues argue the (dis-)advantages of recent programs and systems for the capture and editing (and possibly, time permitting, also burning/streaming) of digital video – Pinnacle’s Edition 5.5 (Pro) and/or Adobe’s Premiere 6.5 versus Apple’s G5 Macintosh with iMovie and/or Final Cut Pro 4.0. What capabilities are there now available for professional language instructors who are not professional video editors?

Computer-delivered Medical Interpreter’s Exam: An Update
Jerry W. Larson
Kim L. Smith
During the presentation, we will give an update on the development of a computer-delivered oral test of Spanish to be used for assessing speaking skills of individuals wishing to work as medical interpreters.

The Use of CALL in Presenting Chinese Festivals to Heritage Learners
Sue-mei Wu
At Carnegie Mellon University, heritage learners make up a large percentage of the students in the Chinese curriculum. They often have basic speaking and listening skills but very limited reading and writing skills. Chinese festivals are rich in legends, folktales, special foods, and traditions. We have developed online reading and writing modules exploring Chinese festivals to help heritage students develop their cultural literacy and reading and writing skills. These modules include original essays, photos, audio, and video segments. The content is presented according to a logical pedagogical strategy and supplemented by exercises that are interactive, personalized, and innovative.

Developing Intercultural Competence: A Project-based German-American Telecollaboration
Ilona Vandergriff
Ingrid Rose-Neiger
Successful intercultural communication places much higher demands on interlocutors than observing some rules. It requires openness to the other culture, a critical awareness of one’s own beliefs and values, as well as the skills to interpret cultural products, events, and attitudes (see Michael Byram et al., 2001, pp. 5-6). Current research suggests that such skills develop best when speakers engage with “foreign” peers on an exploration along “cultural faultlines” (Kramsch, 1993, p. 205ff). We will discuss our project-based German-American telecollaboration, outline its goals and intended outcomes, highlight its pitfalls, and provide a preliminary analysis of the results.

Collaborative Learning and Multimedia
Linda C. Jones
College students enrolled in a French course listened to a computer-based French passage in one of four randomly assigned treatments: the listening text (a) alone, with no annotations; (b) in pairs, with no annotations; (c) alone, with both written and pictorial annotations; and (d) in pairs, with both written and pictorial annotations. Overall, students recalled the passage and vocabulary words best when working with both annotation types either alone or in pairs. These results further suggest that adding pictorial and written annotations to multimedia listening comprehension activities, along with a collaborative learning strategy, results in improved comprehension and vocabulary recall.

Supporting the Learner with Complex Learning Environments
Frank Bacheller
One way that technology can support second language learners is by providing complex learning environments. These environments consist of authentic tasks, materials, and settings. They are composed of many interrelated elements, not simplified, and they present learners with challenges sufficient to cause them to depend on available resources, including each other. In this presentation, three computer-delivered environments, along with their computer-based learning activities will be demonstrated: a QuickTime VR presentation of a cemetery, a QuickTime movie of an old woman talking about relatives, and a Flash animation of a spaceship chasing a sports car.

10:00– 10:45

Exploring the Link between Metacognitive Knowledge, Efficient Strategy Use and Learner Autonomy in Multimodal Virtual Language Learning Contexts
Mirjam Hauck
In 2002, the Department of Languages at the Open University/UK started to offer students online language tutorials using Lyceum, an Internet-based audiographic conferencing system. There is to date, however, very little published research about the link between strategic competence and effective learning, taking into account the particular situation of distance language learners. This is even more true with regard to the role of metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive strategies within multimodal contexts such as Lyceum. The present study therefore investigates how far tasks designed to foster metacognitive knowledge acquisition in virtual learning spaces can foster ‘metacognitive growth’ (White, 1999) in independent language learners.

LCTLs Online; Current Status, Future Needs
Peter Liddell
Politically, technology is often, as now, touted as an important delivery medium to professionalize the teaching of less-commonly-taught languages (LCTLs). As language professionals know, the key ingredient is the infrastructure needed to build and sustain change. This paper reviews current online offerings, with particular attention to instructor development, methods, and teacher and learner communications. It will also consider the limited research available and the emerging needs and trends in learning and teaching LCTLs either wholly or partially online.

Inquiry-based Learning with the Internet: Student Choices, Student Voices
Christopher Luke
The purposes of this presentation are: (a) to provide a theoretical backing for constructivist approaches such as inquiry-based learning in FLE and (b) to present a concrete example of inquiry-based learning from an intermediate-level university Spanish class that utilized a software program and the Internet for teaching and learning. The software developed for the course will be demonstrated. Research data to be presented include anecdotal records, classroom observations, surveys, questionnaires, and interviews.

LexiTown: Teaching K-8 Foreign Language Through Project-based Collaborative Instruction
Roxana Hadad
Gary Greenberg
Participants in this session will learn about LexiTown, an online, collaborative foreign-language-learning environment that provides any K-8 student the opportunity to learn a foreign language, regardless of access to a foreign language instructor. In LexiTown, language learning occurs through engaging students in interesting thematic projects that provide meaningful content and contexts for listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities. Each activity results in artifacts that are shared with the LexiTown community and invite comment and interaction in the target language. LexiTown is built around Northwestern University’s Collaboratory, a web-based environment that teachers use to develop innovative project-based activities.

The Role of Students’ Attitudes and Motivation in L2 Learning in Online Language Courses
Eiko Ushida
This study reports the results of research that investigated the role of students’ motivation and attitudes in second language study within online language courses. Students’ attitudes and motivation were examined within Gardner’s socioeducational framework while learning contexts were examined based on Dornyei’s components of foreign language learning motivation. The results showed that students’ motivation was significantly and positively correlated with module test scores as was the language assistants’ rating of students’ performance in online chat sessions. Most importantly, students’ motivation and attitudes significantly influenced the amount of effort that they expended to engage L2 learning activities regularly and persistently.

Increasing Technology Use in K-12 Foreign Language Classrooms through Preservice Teachers: A Classroom-based Approach
Aleidine J. Moeller
Hyesung Park
Practicing language teachers in K-12 settings are being challenged to increase student learning and achievement in their classrooms. Researchers have documented the success of technology in increasing student achievement, yet many teachers are resistant to using technology due largely to the time commitment needed for technology training. This session will present a collaborative effort that introduced technology directly into the classroom through preservice teachers working directly with K-12 teacher practitioners. A description of the project and the results of a qualitative investigation of the impact of such an approach to technology integration on K-12 teachers and learners will be highlighted.

Enhancing Student’s Written Discourse with CMC: Intermediate Chinese and Spanish
Hajime Kumahata
Chao-mei Shen
Jane Verm
Can students improve their written discourse with computer-mediated communication? Will students become more capable of reaching beyond simple sentence to short paragraph discourse in writing with CMC? The presenters will report their findings to address these questions through their studies in second-semester Intermediate Spanish and Chinese classes. One group of students uses CMC to discuss a topic, whereas the other group orally discusses the same topic in class. The written discourse analysis will focus on such areas as content, syntactic structures, and discourse organization. The CMC tool, Bulletin Board System, and its effectiveness will also be discussed.

11:00 – 11:20

Theoretical Merits of Multimedia Technology for Postperformance Feedback
Michio Tsutsui
Providing effective feedback on oral performances (e.g., speeches and dialogues between students) is an especially challenging task because this type of performance does not allow for instructor-student interaction. For these activities, feedback after the performance is a common practice. However, conventional postperformance feedback (PPF), such as written evaluations and oral comments after a performance, is often ineffective. Language Evaluator, a PPF feedback tool developed at the University of Washington, reveals from a theoretical point of view that feedback using multimedia technology has significant merits not only for language instruction but also for feedback research.

Integration of New Media for Authentic Collaborative Language Learning
Claire Trépanier
Following the creation of oral presentations using PowerPoint, French as a Second Language learners communicate ‘live’ (in synchronous mode) with French speaking students from Quebec and France using an interactive webcasting software.

Student Adaptation to Language Learning in an Online (Hybrid) Format
Kimmaree Murday
In this presentation, I examine the influence of individual differences on how students approach learning in online (hybrid) language courses at the university level. Data were collected to determine the characteristics of the online students. Four online students with contrasting characteristics were observed throughout the semester as they studied and participated in class activities. These data, combined with interviews and measures of class performance and language gain, provide four very different models for student adaptation; some successful, some not. These models will provide a basis for further investigation to allow us to help all students succeed in technology-enhanced learning environments.

Enhancing Academic Writing Classes Through Corpus-assisted Instruction
Viviana Cortes
This presentation focuses on the curriculum development and corpus collection for the design of a corpus-based course of academic writing for graduate second language students. It includes details of the corpora collection and the development of the software used for teaching this writing class. In addition, the presentation shows the course description with examples of some class activities based on the identification and analysis of the different genres represented in the corpora collected for this course.

Using Technology to Promote Learner Autonomy and Creativity
Cindy Evans
The role of CALL in promoting learner autonomy is most often conceived as the use of technology to deliver content in an individualized and/or self-paced language learning environment. This presentation will address the use of technology as ‘tool’ rather than ‘tutor’ to engage learners in creative activities for language practice. Tools such as video editors and storyboarding software empower learners to generate content for language practice. This presentation will include examples of task-based projects and a discussion of creative uses of technology from the instructors’ and learners’ perspectives.

Distance Language Learning: Focusing on the Learner
Josh Saunders
Herbert Chang
Andreas Ryschka
Krysia Smith
Silede Gross
Rama Sohonee
Since 1999, the Foreign Service Institute has been designing and developing distance language learning courseware for foreign affairs professionals around the world. Courses for teaching basic speaking skills and advanced reading skills have been created in 11 languages and are being developed for Arabic, Korean, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian. Advanced listening skills courses are being developed for French, Korean, and Russian. Language conversion courses are being developed for Polish, Portuguese, and Slovak. This presentation by content experts discusses the learner-focused approach used in courseware design and delivery with very encouraging results.

Teaching Language with Popular Songs: Technology Tips and Tricks
Lathrop Johnson
Students react positively to popular songs in the classroom, but we must be sure that we are following the best pedagogical principles and also enhancing our instruction with the most appropriate technology available. This session provides a primer in using popular songs to support language learning.

11:30– 11:50

Computer Adaptive Tests in ESL
Miguel Fernández
Computer-adaptive tests (CATs) started being used as an alternative method of assessing language acquisition. However, there are still some disadvantages in their use. Are they as practical, valid, and reliable as paper and pencil tests? This presentation will show when, how, and why to administer both kinds of tests.

Bridging Theory and Practice: Research-based Listening Tasks for Video Comprehension
Luba Iskold
This study, examines the effects of listening tasks performed by second-semester learners of Russian on their immediate comprehension and further retention of a video. In the control group, learners view the episodes from beginning to end; after that, they answer comprehension questions. In the experimental group, students use viewing guides designed for the present investigation, which include research-based listening tasks performed by the learners during video viewing. The research examines which of the two treatments produces greater comprehension and retention of the video text.

Foreign Language Preservice Teachers’ Perspectives about the Use of Courseware Tools
Marcela van Olphen
In this paper, I present an analysis of preservice teachers’ ideas, attitudes, and dispositions about the integration of technology into the foreign language classroom instruction; specifically, usefulness, strengths, and weakness of courseware tools. Source of data analysis include (a) interviews, (b) field notes, and (c) WebCT postings. This study demonstrated that pre-service teachers perceived that the advantages of using courseware tools in the methods class greatly enhanced their experiences in two ways: (a) interactivity and connectivity with classmates and instructor granted by the use of courseware tools and (b) opportunities for academic exchanges.

Connecting Universities, Constructing Meaning: An Analysis of Beginning and Future FL Teachers ‘Meeting’ Online
Marion Nike Arnold
Lara Ducate
Research in the field of computer-mediated communication (CMC) suggests that electronic discussions provide an environment conducive to collaborative learning and the co-construction of meaning. This presentation reports the findings of a research study in which graduate students enrolled in FL teacher training courses at two different universities ‘met’ online in small groups to discuss issues mentioned in their reading assignments and during classroom discussions. The study was designed to address the questions whether participants in electronic exchanges go beyond “serial monologues” (Henri, 1991) and engage in the social construction of knowledge and a professional community.

Using Concordances to Boost Writing
Georgette Jabbour
Using concordance lines and collocation boost writing performance. Concordance and collocation provide a focused perception on how words associate with one another to construct specific meanings. This presentation first tackles the issue of reading concordance lines and understanding collocation. It then goes on to present examples of word combinations and structures that may not be detected unless concordance is used. The examples are taken from both the sublanguage of medicine and the general language of narratives. Concordance software will show textual sets of search words and word collocation.

Electronic Language Media Archive (ELMA) à la française
Kimberly Jansma
Vera Klekovina
Spanish and French foreign language departments from several campuses of the University of California received funding to develop a searchable electronic archive of cultural modules on the Internet. Electronic Language Media Archive’s (ELMA) goal is to engender a more student-centered classroom in which students develop language proficiency through close interaction with culturally authentic materials. In this presentation, we will demonstrate the database and several cultural modules developed for French. In addition, we will explain decisions made in creating the modules, and how these materials have been integrated into the language program.

The Use of BlackBoard in Teaching Czech at a College Level
Katya Koubek
This presentation will demonstrate the use of BlackBoard software in teaching Czech at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The focus will be made on assessment of listening and reading skills with incorporation of authentic materials such as fairy tales. Future suggestions of the use of BlackBoard will be discussed in the light of student preferences and achievements.

1:30– 2:15

The USC Tactical Language Training Project
W. Lewis Johnson
The University of Southern California is developing interactive computer-based training in face-to-face communication, initially aimed at spoken Arabic. It employs a functional approach, only teaching enough communicative skills (verbal and gestural) and competencies that are necessary to complete specific missions and tasks. Learners get extensive practice employing their skills in a simulated foreign setting, implemented using computer game technology (Unreal Tournament). The system utilizes automated speech recognition, trained on learner speech and designed to detect and diagnose learner errors. Learners receive continual customized feedback aimed at their particular deficiencies, so learning is much more rapid than in classroom instruction.

Technology-enhanced Teaching and Learning Practices
Edward Dixon
Christina Frei
As the use of multimedia technologies is becoming standard practice in foreign language learning, its pedagogical purpose needs further investigation. While in the beginning the use of technology was seen from a more pragmatic perspective (e.g. as a time-saving device), its unique pedagogical advantages are now becoming more apparent, such as, for instance, improved interactivity and greater opportunities for independent learning. Furthermore, it may contribute to more reflective teaching and learning practices. In this paper, we will discuss some of the specific benefits of a technology-enhanced foreign language curriculum within a learner-centered environment.

Proyecto Ancla: An Experiment in Open Source
Juan Manuel Soto
The work done with Proyecto Ancla is an example of customization for development of a foreign language web-based instructional project that uses Open Source tools such as PHP and MySQL. It focuses on a self-paced use by the learner, and it provides many advantages for instructors as well as departments. Learners using Ancla have a high submission rate for their class assignments (95%) and are able to prepare before class meetings.

Synchronous Mode of Computer-mediated Communication and EFL Learners’ Oral Proficiency Development
Huifen Lin
This presentation reports the findings of an experimental study conducted to investigate if asynchronous and synchronous forms of computer-mediated communication enhance EFL learners’ oral proficiency development. Ninety-six EFL learners participated in the study and were randomly assigned to control group and two experimental groups – synchronous and asynchronous CMC. The subjects engaged in either asynchronous or synchronous forms of interaction twice per week for 12 weeks. No significant difference was found between students’ pretest and posttest in regards to oral proficiency, but participants in synchronous CMC group reported that they became more confident in their speaking than those in asynchronous CMC group

The Relationship Between Personality and Learning Behaviors in a Multimedia Application for Grammar Instruction
Fenfang Hwu
In a previous study, the author observed distinct behaviors between learners of different personality types via computer tracking. Learners of one personality type had more tendency to change one particular sequence or skipping one task. This seemed to indicate that they adapted the application to their preferred learning styles. Consequently, in this study, the application is redesigned to accommodate personality differences. Learners are asked to choose their preferred format. Their choices and learning behaviors are recorded by tracking. These data, along with their learning outcomes and self-reported surveys on personality and learning, are compared and analyzed to draw further implications for the relationship between personality and learning behaviors.

2:30– 3:15

J-PEP: A Perceptual Test of English Pronunciation for Japanese EFL Students
Tim Riney
J-PEP, using Cedrus SuperLab, assesses the accuracy of Japanese perception of English Pronunciation. Perception is measured by having the student listen to sound files and respond via either a keyboard or a response pad. Some of the tasks are the following: Based on hearing a group of speakers each reading the same sentences, identify those who are native speakers of English and those who are not; those natives who are British and American; and those Japanese who have relatively “good” and “bad” accents. J-PEP also includes more narrowly focused perceptual tests involving suprasegmentals and segmentals.

Auf geht’s! A Multimedia Course for First-Year College German
Lee Forester
Anne Green
The session will present Auf geht’s!, a unique multimedia approach to classroom-based first-year German, currently begin developed with a FIPSE grant. The course materials emphasize culture and fully integrate multiple media (print, web, CD-ROM). The vision of this project will be presented, and a demo of selected elements of the interactive software and print materials will also be shown to illustrate this innovative project.

The Implementation of Asynchronous Discussion in the Content-based EFL Class
Chi-Fen Emily Chen
Wei-Yuan Eugene Cheng
This paper presents a situated study of the implementation of asynchronous discussion as a required component in a large content-based university EFL class in Taiwan. The study, using action research methodology, aims to investigate the effectiveness of using this learning mode to enhance students learning of both content and language. The study first analyzes the students’ participation and interaction in different asynchronous discussion groups and then uses the instructor’s observation notes as well as students’ questionnaire responses to discuss how factors in cognitive, linguistic, and socioaffective aspects affected their engagement in asynchronous discussion and learning of content and language skills.

Synthesizing Corrective Utterances for Spoken Dialogue-based CALL
Antoine Raux
Maxine Eskenazi
Alan Black
In a realistic immersion dialogue, the language learner may be pressed for time and the correction must be condensed into one or two utterances at most. In this presentation, we will describe a method for generating corrective sentences to nonnative ungrammatical spoken sentences. Assuming the nonnative utterance was recognized correctly by a speech recognizer, we compare it to a database of correct sentences and detect the problematic words. Then, using a speech synthesizer, we produce a correct utterance with prosodic emphasis on the corrected words.

NVivo: New Generation of Qualitative Research in Second Language Acquisition
Marat Sanatullov
Aleidine J. Moeller
In a step-by-step fashion, the session demonstrates the use of NVivo software program by analyzing the data of a qualitative research project in the field of second language acquisition. Representing a new generation of the qualitative research tools, this program integrates the processes of exploration, interpretation, and questioning by analyzing rich-text and fluid data with no fixed analysis. The functions of using attributes and nodes, think-aloud coding and searching for text patterns, and preparing cross-tabulated comparisons and conceptual maps are reviewed and demonstrated in the context of the language research project.

CALLing Success: Creating an Integrated Instructional Environment
Hale Thomas
Mark Bryant
Senta Goertler
Kara McBride
One challenge facing instructors wishing to use CALL is the convenient and reliable access to both human and technical resources to support their efforts. To address this challenge the College of Humanities at the University of Arizona has implemented a collaborative approach to CALL: teachers, administrators, researchers, and technology developers work together to create an ideal CALL environment for learning, teaching, and researching within the financial and technological possibilities of the college. This presentation discusses the philosophy behind and the process of creating an ideal environment for technology-enhanced learning and research on language learning.

Creating Websites for Lifelong Learning: A Case Study
Sharon Scinicariello
What happens when students exhaust their school’s course offerings in a language? If they cannot find courses nearby or on line, what do they do? This presentation outlines the development of websites designed to support “graduates” of experimental courses in Arabic and Turkish who want to continue learning. Topics include (a) the identification of learner needs, (b) lessons learned from the evaluation of existing sites for language learning, (c) the selection of resources to include, and (d) the development of activities to help learners plan and assess their own learning.

CALL: Focusing on the Learner June 8-12, 2004 Hosted by

Department of Modern Languages and Language Technologies Institute

Department of Linguistics and Robert Henderson Language Media Center

Conference Presentations: Day One June 10, 2004