2006 Friday Sessions

CALICO 2006

Conference Presentations
Day Two: May 19, 2006

8:00 – 8:45

Diverse Communicational Channels of the Internet-based Multiuser Audio/Video/Text CMC and Language Classroom Interaction
Younghoon Jin-Frankenberger
This study examines how the integrated communication environments of the Internet-based multiuser audio/video/text CMC affect language classroom interaction and how each of the communicational channels (audio/video/text) assists communicational interaction. The software adopted for this experiment is a multiuser CMC system which enables the participants to communicate in video/voice/text through the Internet both ways and in real time. The analysis of nonverbal visual interaction was primarily based on observational data, interviews and questionnaires; the verbal and textual interaction was based on written transcripts. The study also showed the process of students’ adjustment to this high-tech environment in terms of learning behavior and learning strategies.

 Tracking and Data Mining with Machine Learning: The Match Made in Heaven for the Study of Learner Differences
Fenfang Hwu
Researchers have suggested that collecting large volumes of data by increasing the number of subjects or lengthening the data collection period is a way to improve the quality of CALL research. Tracking technology facilitates collecting and saving such data and tracking data enables researchers to study learner differences. Nevertheless, the size of such data sample can be too large to manage, and, thus, finding meaningful patterns becomes a challenge. This study uses the data-mining process to analyze learners’ behavior-tracking data as well as machine-learning techniques to uncover patterns which will be used to create learning models.

 ELECTRA – Electronic Modules for Specialized Translation Courses
Claudia Kunschak
Celia Rico
Ingrid Cáceres
Pilar Castaño
Recent developments in the profession of translation have been inextricably linked to advances in the field of technology, causing a profound impact on the curriculum of translation studies in general and the programming of individual courses in particular. ELECTRA, made possible by a grant from the Universidad Europea de Madrid, is a project designed to develop prototypes of computer-assisted modules for three core subjects in the translation curriculum: an advanced class in translation technology and two classes in specialized legal translation (German-Spanish/Spanish-German). The modules complement in-class instruction, follow a clear progression, are cross related, and allow students to create their own learning path.

 Where Does ICALL Fit into Foreign Language Teaching?
Luiz Amaral
W. Detmar Meurers
This paper explores the pedagogical motivation and prerequisites of a successful integration of intelligent computer-aided language learning (ICALL) tools into current language teaching practice. Based on a survey in the Ohio State University’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese to determine current pedagogical practice and perceived needs, we address key questions that need to be answered to integrate ICALL tools into current teaching practice, such as (a) when and where use ICALL systems, (b) their role in the teaching/learning process, (c) what skills they can help develop, and (d) what they are not suited for.

 The Tactical Language and Culture Training System
W. Lewis Johnson
The Tactical Language and Culture Training System helps learners acquire basic communicative skills in foreign languages and cultures. Learners practice their communication skills in a simulated village, where they must develop rapport with the local people who in turn will help them accomplish missions. Each learner is accompanied by a virtual aide who can provide assistance and guidance if needed. The aide can also act as a virtual tutor giving the learners feedback on their performance. Learners communicate via a multimodal interface which permits them to speak and choose gestures on behalf of their character in the game.

 A Multidimensional Model of Language Ecology
Jane L. Hanson
Accepted frameworks for language learning, assessment and principles of language ecology, together with insights gleaned from systems theory, the science of complexity, dynamic change theory, and the psychological fields of creative thinking and artificial intelligence, form a synthesized basis for the proposition of a multidimensional model of language ecology, borrowing the tools of a burgeoning field of information visualization.

 FLASH to the Rescue–Automating Student WebCT Orientations with a Video Tutorial
Jason Adams
Stacey L. Powell
The problem: the logistics of conducting 39 Elementary Spanish WebCT orientation sessions during the busy start of the semester at Auburn University. The solution: an interactive, Flash-based video tutorial. Our session will describe the process used to develop the script, highlight lessons learned throughout the authoring and implementation processes, and suggest strategies that audience members might use to accomplish a similar project. We will also discuss the positive impact on the beginning of semester activity in the Foreign Language Multimedia Center, as well as student reactions to the tutorial and similar projects for other language sequences.

 9:00 – 9:45

Spanish Heritage Language Placement Exams: An Introduction and Model for Implementation
Cynthia M. Ducar
Hale Thomas
Sara Beaudrie
This presentation provides practical information for the successful implementation of a computer placement exam in a university Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) program. Statistical results from a trial run in fall 2005 show that the exam we developed is highly reliable in placing both intermediate and advanced SHL learners at the appropriate levels. It is our contention that an exam of this nature would be highly useful for other institutions with SHL populations. Through a careful, detailed evaluation, we believe the placement of SHL students can be as efficient a process as it is for their Spanish foreign language counterparts.

 iTuning Academe: New Models of Cooperation and Publication in Language Technology
Andrew Ross
Samantha Earp
In 2005, Apple Computer approached four universities to participate in the development of a specialized iTunes Music Store interface; the goal was to re-envision a consumer market tool for academic use. We have since tested this tool in world languages and other disciplines at our institutions. Our presentation will include a demonstration of this tool, focusing on use cases in language and culture instruction, and a discussion of the development process and its implications for university/industry partnerships. Finally, we will suggest a new model for the distribution of learning materials and discuss implications for content providers and further academic/industrial collaborations.

 Assessing Oral Proficiency for L2 Spanish: Hybrid Versus Traditional Classrooms
Cristina Pardo-Ballester
Robert Blake
This presentation examines the proficiency of L2 students learning introductory Spanish through a hybrid format: namely, two days a week in class and three days working with online resources. Students used a CD textbook in conjunction with online activities delivered through a Moodle interface with a Breeze chat program. The oral proficiency of the hybrid students (experimental group) was compared to their counterparts enrolled in traditional 5-day-a-week classrooms (control group) using Ordinate’s Spoken Spanish Phone Test. Hybrid students performed at similar levels to those of the control group.

 Developing Digital Activities within Multipurpose Language-training Content
Tarek Elgendy
Hanan Khaled
Goran Markovic
This presentation demonstrates how technology is utilized in developing digital activities within the framework of developing multipurpose training materials at the Defense Language Institute (DLI). The presented language is Arabic, although the same production principles apply to all courseware developed at DLI.  The presentation emphasizes the importance of having technology as a major medium of teaching and learning. Specific ideas, examples, and sample activities–language games–for learning sounds, scripts, and basic topics are shown to exemplify principles of teaching for proficiency in the communicative task-based classroom.

 An Ethnographic Approach to Listening: Las Voces de las Mujeres de Xelajú
Tess Lane
Las Voces de las Mujeres de Xelajú is a collection of videotaped interviews with 20 women in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, presented in an interactive HTML-based program. This video archive of interviews presents the views, values, and choices of women of a variety of ages, backgrounds, and professions by asking each woman the same set of seven open-ended questions in Spanish. Responses contain many of the same vocabulary words and structures, which provides repetition in listening practice. Students select which women and questions to listen to. Three Spanish classes with a total of 28 students completed ethnographic research projects using these materials. An analysis of the students’ reports shows the degree to which the goals of the project are being met.

 Visualize the Invisible: Flash and Grammar
Lilly Lee Chen
Hajime Kumahata
Grammatical concepts are abstract and difficult especially for the learner whose source language typologically differs greatly from the target language. In a language like Chinese, the relationship between many grammatical particles and their lexical counterparts can be understood in terms of cognitive process of metaphor. The latter’s dynamicity is represented by using web technologies, especially Flash animation. Besides showing how teaching of grammatical aspects are facilitated by appealing to the visual, thus helping the students comprehend the unfamiliar and abstract in terms of the more familiar spatial domains, this project also evaluates the approach’s effectiveness.

 The iPod Project: A Mobile Minilab
Jorg Waltje
With the availability of a recording function Apple’s iPods (Portable Digital Audio Players) have become very interesting vehicles for language learning. The iPods foster autonomy by freeing our students from their usual language lab assignment routine. Students are able to download the audio materials used in their classes and then listen to these files wherever they wish. Furthermore, they can now do their recordings anywhere and at anytime and then upload them for the instructor to check and/or their peers to use online. This presentation will report in detail on a project conducted at Ohio University, its transferability to other learning environments, and the feedback we have received from students and instructors.

 10:00 – 10:20

Information Literacy: How ESL College Students Use the Internet for Academic Purposes
Sylvia Koestner
This paper examines international undergraduate students Internet usage for academic purposes. To be considered ‘information literate,’ students have to be able to not only locate and retrieve information but also to evaluate that information. The data demonstrate how nonnative speakers of English enrolled in a university-level writing course conduct research and how they use the web to access information. The presentation will address students research habits and their ability to exploit Internet sources critically and effectively.

 Formative Research on Refining A Design Theory for Teaching A Hybrid EFL Course
Gi-Zen Liu
The researcher created an instructional case to develop guidelines (including speaking, listening, reading, and writing) for teaching EFL to first-year undergraduate students in a hybrid course (including both classroom and online context) in Taiwan. This study utilized the broad framework of instructional design theory (Reigeluth, 1999) to develop guidelines and used the formative research methodology to collect and analyze data to refine the guidelines in the theory in a five-stage process. Two rounds of expert reviews were used to collect and analyze formative data on the case and then to refine the case and the guidelines.

 How to Devise a Cognitive Agent for Distance Language Learning
Jean-Claude Bertin
Patrick Grave
This paper is based on the distance-learning ergonomic model, outlined in CALICO 2004, and that revealed the different interactions between language, teacher designer, virtual environment, real-life tutor, learner and follow-up functions in a distance computer-mediated environment.

 Teaching Technology for Life-long Learning
Sharon Scinicariello
RSS and podcasts are two relatively new tools for acquiring authentic materials on a variety topics. Effective use of these resources in the language classroom not only improves students’ listening and reading but also links the classroom to the “real world.” If students are to become life-long learners, they need to learn to use these tools to develop their skills when they are no longer in class. Using examples from conversation and composition courses, this session discusses the design and implementation of assignments that build life-long learning skills while addressing course specific instructional goals.

 Webware: Rapid Creation of Internet-based Multimedia Applications Without Web Browser Hassles
Devin Asay
Claire Bradin Siskin
The rapid application development tool Revolution is often perceived (and dismissed) as standalone application. In fact, this tool can be used to develop applications that look and feel like a local standalone but run entirely from a web server. In this environment, multimedia can be easily created and integrated into online language learning interfaces. The presenters will demonstrate web-enabled and internet-enabled applications created in Revolution in which multimedia files are accessible online.

 Teaching Well Online with MERLOT
Carla Meskill
Margarita Hodge
John Thomas
The Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) is an international collection of multimedia learning materials that can help faculty enhance their online instruction. MERLOT’s functionality allows for easy identification of relevant materials that have been reviewed for quality, accuracy, and applicability by peers within the academic discipline. Members of the World Languages Editorial Board will share the MERLOT mission and language collection as well as demonstrate effective online integration techniques.

 10:30 – 10:50

Learners’ Collaborative Offline Interactions Between Online Messages in Asynchronous Computer-mediated Communication
Keiko Kitade
This study investigates learners offline face-to-face interactions between asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC) messages and native speakers. The language related episodes (Swain & Lapkin, 1998) are identified in the audiorecorded offline data and the online ACMC data and are categorized as follows: (a) linguistic focus (lexical, grammatical, pragmatic, and orthographic) and (b) whether the problem is agreed upon or solved appropriately. Data analysis reveals that the offline collaborative work enhances learning opportunities in ACMC and suggests the significance of employing learners’ collaborative work in offline modes in ACMC activities.

 The Development of Reflection through the Use of Conceptual Maps in Teacher Education
Martine Peters
In our teacher education program, preservice teachers are required to develop reflective skills. One activity through which they develop these skills is the creation of a conceptual map on their teaching philosophy. Preservice teachers are asked to conceptualize their vision of teaching in a conceptual map using Inspiration. This research analyzed the depth of reflection through the choice and number of concepts used as well as the type of architecture used for the concept maps by the preservice teachers. Conclusions on the use of conceptual maps in a teacher education program to develop reflective skills will be discussed.

 Effect and Affect of CMC in Peer Review Activities Reexamined
Yi Xu
Previous research often confirms that technology applications in the L2 classroom bring positive changes in students participation. However, the current project finds that information exchanges in students peer review activities in CMC and in traditional modes were strikingly similar. Questionnaires also confirm students had no preference over a particular mode. I suggest it could be the students favorable reaction towards the change itself, rather than a favorable attitude towards the CMC, that has resulted in an initial higher level of participation when the computer application was introduced into the classroom for the first time.

 Off-Task Behavior During Computer-mediated Communication
Claudia Kost
Chat topics often consist of task-based activities that are deemed to be beneficial for language learning. However, chat transcripts also often provide evidence that learners go off task during their online conversations. By analyzing transcripts from weekly chat sessions of beginning learners of German, the present study investigates this off-task behavior and attempts to determine some underlying reasons and explanations for it. Possible solutions in terms of task design, teacher behavior, or classroom management will be suggested.

 Learner Interaction Management in a 3D Virtual World
Mark Peterson
Computer systems that facilitate collaborative interaction within the context of three dimensional (3D) virtual worlds represent a technology with potential in CALL. This paper explores the avatar and text-based interaction of learners in a 3D real-time communication system known as Active Worlds. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies were employed to investigate the data. The results indicate that the subjects made use of both interactional and transactional communication strategies when managing their target language interaction. Moreover, there was only limited evidence that negotiation occurred. This experimental project highlights the need for further studies into the nature of learner interaction management in CALL projects that utilize 3D virtual reality.

 CUADERNO: Online Notebook and Writing Portfolio
Pablo Viedma
Mark Kondrak
Frances Matos-Schultz
Developed at the University of Minnesota’s CLA Language Center, Cuaderno is a system for creating and managing web-based writing portfolios. Cuaderno allows instructors to create and then provide timely and contextualized comments on writing assignments via a system of color-coded markups. Students draft and submit their writing assignments online and then receive feedback within the same Cuaderno environment. Students works are archived in their portfolios, which they and their instructors can review at any time. At the teachers discretion, students can also be organized into peer groups, which allows for collaborative activities such as group writing assignments and peer reviews.

 Online Language Lab (For Free!)
Tony C. Beld
The old lab manual with CDs, or worse, cassettes is definitely a thing of the past. With Hot Potatoes, embedded audio, and Ganesha LMS, language programs can create engaging web activities for their students that are tracked by the LMS. This presentation reviews the tools used to easily setup the LMS and generate hundreds of Potatoes with embedded audio–all for FREE!

 1:30 – 2:15

Computer-mediated Communication and the Development of Pragmatic Competence: A Research Perspective
Martina Mollering
Providing a brief overview of the research literature on computer-mediated communication (CMC) in second language acquisition, this paper concentrates on internet-mediated intercultural communication in foreign language learning. The paper is based on the rationale that, although CMC has been established in foreign language education for more than a decade, its contribution to intercultural learning is ambiguous, with a number of recent studies focusing on the occurrence of cross-cultural miscommunication in telecollaboration projects. Drawing on research in cross-cultural pragmatics, this contribution examines the potential of CMC for the development of pragmatic competence in the context of an Australian-German telecollaboration project.

 Autonomous Technology-assisted Language Learning: Principles, Resources, Needs, and Possibilities
Gary A. Cziko
Recent advances in technology have provided valuable new resources for autonomous language learners. Resources for input include text, audio, and video available via the Internet; satellite radio and TV; and DVD video. Interactive resources include wikis, instant messaging, voice over IP, and video conferencing. However, serious obstacles remain to the widespread and effective use of these resources for language learning. These obstacles will be discussed and possibilities for overcoming them will be proposed, the latter demonstrated via a number of software and hardware products, prototypes, and designs.

 Corpora for CALL: Transforming Text Samples into Authentic Learning Materials
Hans Paulussen
Piet Desmet
Over the last 20 years, text corpora have gradually gained importance in language technology and corpus linguistics. Since they contain real language usage, text corpora have also become an important language resource for language teaching, and CALL in particular. However, it still remains a difficult task to render corpus samples in a way which is suited for didactic purposes. The microscopic view of the classical KWIC-index (well suited for linguistic analysis) neglects the contextual coloring provided by the authentic context. Corpus samples can be very useful for language teaching when presented in an authentic context. In this talk, we will introduce three possible methods to transform text samples into authentic learning materials within a corpusCALL application.

 Electronic and Paper Workbook Use: A Comparative Study
Cathy Barrette
This presentation describes a comparative study of electronic and paper workbook use by 19 university students in second-semester Spanish. The data was used to compare students electronic versus paper workbook use and its relationship to overall course performance including students prior experience with Spanish, their workbook completion rates, quality of workbook completion, exam scores, final grades, and students survey responses regarding their workbook use and attitudes about their workbook version. Results suggest that electronic and paper workbooks were used differently, with no clear effect on course performance. Implications for the use of electronic versus paper workbooks are discussed.

 Flexible Pedagogy for Disruptive Technologies
Debra Hoven
In the field of technology-enhanced language learning, we are riding a wave of technological change that is rapidly reaching tsunami proportions. This presentation will examine the nature and characteristics of a pedagogy that is flexible enough to accommodate breakthroughs in technology while continuing to facilitate good learning. Starting from a social constructivist perspective, the concept of affordances will be discussed in relation to social computing and computer-mediated communication, and the expanded field of view these open up for us. Some examples will be demonstrated of social software in use, combining so-called disruptive technologies, mobile devices, and flexible pedagogies.

 Give your Online Language Classes a Voice with Horizon Wimba!
Matt Wasowski
How can anyone learn a language without speaking it? This troubling question has been raised all too often as most online language courses rely exclusively on text, particularly those that use Blackboard and WebCT. Fortunately, Horizon Wimba’s Voice Tools solution–which integrates into most course management systems–remedies this problem by offering online language learning solutions that allow students and teachers to learn and teach the most natural way of all–with voice. Learn how colleges throughout the world are giving their online classes a voice.

 Taking the Classroom Forward: Rediscovery of Online Language Learning
Faizah Sari
Catherine Dockery
Ashley Donaldson
Mark Johnson
Sylvia Koestner
Christiane Schoernig
Lijuan Ye
The studies done in this panel investigate issues on collaborative implementations of research methodologies in online language-learning contexts, specifically those on the subject of computer-mediated learning materials, online navigation techniques, and L2 learner behavior. The discussion consists of the current dialogue between classroom innovations and online technology which help reaffirm higher success rate in language learning. Through this panel, we are calling to assess the current phenomena of online technology relevant to language learning: an educational investment thus far remains to be perfected by relentless creative curiosity and should be effectively navigated to accommodate ideal learning process.

 2:30 – 3:15

What XML Can Do For You: Utilizing the Full Potential of Extensible Markup Language Schemas in Computer-Based Testing
Jarom McDonald
Developers of computer-based tests have been exploring the use of extensible markup language (XML) schemas as an alternative to relational data models (such as mySQL) for encoding and delivering online tests. Yet in practice, the potential of XML has been very sparingly realized. This presentation demonstrates advantages of using XML in computer-based tests by showcasing a web-based test development application currently under development and, more significantly, demonstrating how such tests can be deployed, simultaneously, on a computer via an HTML browser, on paper via a dynamically generated PDF, and on a cell phone via a WAP browser.

 Incorporating a Voice-enabled Bulletin Board into Tandem Language Learning: Speaking across Borders
Peggy Patterson
Susana Trabaldo
Hajime Kumahata
Online tandem language learning (TLL) provides language learners in different countries an excellent opportunity to communicate with each other. In our previous TLL projects all communication was written. We incorporated speaking into our current email project by using a voice-enabled bulletin board system (BBS) with embedded WIMBA. We compared various BBS-voice postings across different borders. Fifty-four Mexico-USA tandem partners discussed specified topics with voice board, and fifty-two Argentina-USA learners participated in voice board without assigned topics. Learners also discussed cultural differences encountered through word association activities. The learners discourse was evaluated to determine which voice board provided more interaction and cultural exchange.

 The IN6ENIO Online CALL Authoring Shell: A New Approach to Designing Self-access Courseware
Ana Gimeno
The recent proliferation of web-enhanced language-learning environments led the author to initiate an research and development project, known as Proyecto IN6ENIO, to establish the theoretical background on which to base the creation of a pedagogically sound online dedicated CALL authoring shell. This language independent tool, which includes templates that integrate video, graphics, audio, and text, allows language teachers from around the world to design and publish materials to suit their students’ particular needs. Besides having designed the authoring shell, a content manager has also been developed to allow language specialists to create a database from which to select materials. In addition, a language-learning environment offering courseware for learners of English for specific purposes has also been produced.

 The Effects on Student Learning and Curricular Objectives of a Redesigned Spanish Course
Michael Heller
Edwin M. Lamboy
During CALICO 2005, Portland State University presented the outcomes of a redesigned large enrollment, introductory Spanish course that included the integration of a learning management system to increase enrollment while reducing costs without negatively impacting student performance. Similarly, Montclair State University (MSU) has redesigned the first-semester Spanish course using a functional approach and has leveraged technology to extend the language learning experience beyond the classroom. Results from the pilot of MSU’s redesign will be presented along with findings from partner institutions engaged in course redesign supported by The National Center for Academic Transformation’s Roadmap to Redesign (R2R).

 Incidental Vocabulary Learning, Lookup Behavior, and Vocabulary Size
Makoto Yoshii
This study examines the incremental nature of vocabulary learning through reading for comprehension using Internet-based materials. The study took place over a month with 40 Japanese university English as a foreign language (EFL) students. The participants read two texts for comprehension purposes during class with computers, using a program created to present reading texts with an electronic dictionary component which allowed the researcher to keep track of learners lookup behavior. The study looks at how the students developed their vocabulary knowledge and examines the relationship among the vocabulary test scores, the lookup data, and learners’ vocabulary size.

 What Makes Students Click (Again): Replicating Chun and Payne (2004)
Emily F. Rine
Lisa Hundley
J. Scott Payne
Dorothy Chun
In a study exploring the relationship between working memory and multimedia look-up behavior, Chun and Payne (2004) found a robust relationship between phonological working memory and look-up behavior while reading L2 texts. We report findings from a replication of Chun and Payne (2004) that employs a pretest, posttest, delayed posttest, and quasi-experimental design to address some limitations of the previous study: the small sample size, a possible role of motivation, initial vocabulary knowledge, and longer term recall of vocabulary as they relate to look-up behavior. Implications for classroom instruction and multimedia software design are also discussed.

 Streamlining Video Streaming: Automated French TV News Delivery
John H. Stewart
Rachael Criso
One of the presenters utilizes daily French news broadcasts as out-of-class assignments for a Business French course. On her office computer, the instructor first reviews streamed news programs and selects topics or news programs. Students have responded very positively to having current, relevant, and “real” news from a European perspective. The instructor is able to review, assign, and provide news programming to students campus. The other presenter has developed an automated system for easily digitizing and deploying high-quality, low bandwidth on-demand video, as well as live multicast rebroadcasts of international satellite TV–all without videotape!

 3:30 – 4:15

The Transferability of L2 Chinese Writing Skill in the Computer Chat Medium to a Non-electronic L2 Chinese Writing Environment
Jianling Liao
This research project focuses on the use of computer chats as a tool for Chinese second language (L2) writing. It uses an interactionist framework to investigate the transferability of Chinese L2 writing skills in computer chats to a nonelectronic Chinese writing environment. Specifically, the aspects and extent of transfer were explored. Students were placed into dyads at random and asked to perform an opinion exchange activity. Pre- and postwriting tasks were also conducted to examine the impacts of computer chats on L2 writing. The findings suggest that computer chats could affect nonelectronic L2 Chinese writing in a variety of aspects.

 Different Learners-Different Strategies and Outcomes: Effects of Proficiency Level in CALL
Trude Heift
Anne Rimrott
Individualization of the learning process is frequently cited as a desirable feature and goal of CALL. While many learner variables can be considered to address the variety of language learners, proficiency level is a factor that not only can be determined fairly accurately but can also be easily used for cross comparisons. Over the past years, we have conducted a number of studies that investigated learning outcomes and learner strategies. All studies considered learner proficiency as an independent variable. In this talk we will highlight the proficiency-related differences we found and make recommendations for CALL research and program design.

 Computer Makes Three? The Role of Language and Technology in Collaborative WebQuests
Sabine Siekmann
This presentation examines interactions between two students and the computer while completing a collaborative online reading task. A short review of research methodology in CALL will highlight how full-motion screen capture with audio can be a successful data collection procedure in order to understand group work on computers. Findings from a study of six dyads completing collaborative WebQuests will then be presented. Discussion of results will include the role the computer plays within the group and the ways in which students utilize their L1 and the L2 to negotiate the task and the technology.

 Donde quiera, cuando quiera–Opportunities and Challenges–Online AP Spanish
María Victoria González Pagani
We will present a two-semester AP Spanish language long distance course with components including learning-strategies explanations, language explanations, and a battery of exercises and activities aimed at developing reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. One of the prominent characteristics of this course is the amount and variety of activities. Our presentation will focus on the challenges the content team faced in the development of the materials, especially in the design of the activities. We will address specific issues such as type, number, and display of feedback.

 Meta-analysis of the Current Five-year Research Studies in the CALICO Journal
Fuqiang Zhuo
This presentation focuses on using meta-analysis approach to conduct systematic reviews and syntheses of teaching foreign languages with technology from the studies published in the last 10 years of the CALICO Journal. The presenter will provide a brief history of meta-analysis, discuss its advantages and disadvantages, demonstrate its procedures, and explain effect size suggested by APA to be included in experimental research reports. The statistical results will show how effective of teaching with technology in the articles including file-safe drawer figures.

 Web-based Collocation Retrieval Tools and Advanced EFL Learners
Howard Hao-Jan Chen
The development of L2 collocational knowledge has received more and more attention. Several innovative collocation sites based on large corpora have been developed. So far, considerable attention has been paid to development of these collocation tools. However, relatively little attention has been paid to investigations of ESL learners actual use of these tools and their attitudes toward such use in the L2 writing. In this study, 45 students in writing courses were invited to use and assess these tools. The data indicated that students perceived web-based collocation retrieval tools as beneficial and that these tools also help them increase their writing confidence.

 Multimedia Materials: Content Based, Interactive, Teacher Selected
Debra Lee
Richard Stephens
Marta Chroma
Marcin Sliwka
Charles Hall
Content and technical course developers will demonstrate the interface between a classroom-based and web-driven program for a regional law and language program. Four aspects of the program will be highlighted: (a) the ability of classroom teachers to easily design a course based on provided materials and exercises to fit the needs of their particular classroom, (b) the content-based, problem-driven comparative law approach to language learning, (c) the DVD-web portal interface, and (d) an interactive role play scenario designed to practice language learning and legal reasoning skills of participants.

 4:30 – 5:15

Using a Virtual Classroom to Train Language at a Distance: The Special Operations Forces Tele-training System (SOFTS)
Eric A. Surface
Martin Bushika
Betty Feng
Francis Feng
Sherrie A. Jones
Most Special Operations Forces (SOF) personnel have a requirement to learn and maintain proficiency in a foreign language. This is sometimes difficult because these personnel are geographically dispersed, and there are often not enough personnel with the same language at a location to justify a traditional language class. To ensure that SOF personnel receive language training, the SOF Language Office is field testing a virtual classroom technology–the Special Operations Forces Tele-training System (SOFTS)–with three classes. Our session will provide a project overview, a demonstration of the instructional interface, preliminary evaluation data, and lessons learned.

 Using Multimodal Advance Organizers to Support Learner Comprehension of Authentic Foreign Language Video
Anja Szustak
John Balong
This presentation reports on an original video-based multimedia website that was developed to help beginning learners of German comprehend authentic video, build vocabulary, and notice a limited number of grammatical features present in the video. The developers used the website to investigate the effects of different types of advance organizers on learner comprehension of the video material in the site. Advance organizers are presented in two conditions: text+sound and picture+sound. The results are interpreted in terms of Paivio’s (1986) dual-coding theory and Mayer’s (1997) generative theory of multimedia.

 The Bodo Bot Project: Intelligent Agents, Instant Messaging, and Vocabulary Acquisition
J. Scott Payne
Michael Lipschultz
To date, very little work has been done exploring how IM tools can be directly harnessed for SLA research. The Bodo Bot project is an SLA research tool in the form of an IM bot that is designed to collect detailed behavior-tracking and self-report data, generate user models, and track language development while serving as a language reference agent in a conversational “wrapper.” In this presentation we will: (a) outline the Bodo Bot design framework, (b) discuss the computational components that parse and learn from user input, and (c) report findings from an initial study of L2 vocabulary acquisition.

 WebCT Use, Writing Tasks and Test Scores in Blended Chinese Language Classes
De Zhang
This 9-month long quantitative study was conducted in intact intermediate-blended Chinese language classes at a midwest university. Chinese WebCT was used to support the online learning environment. Major research findings include significant correlations between the students’ WebCT use and the test scores in the first semester. Two major writing tasks (reflective journals and Chinese essays) made significant contributions to the students’ learning outcomes in both semesters. This study demonstrated the great potential the WebCT student-tracking function provides to second/foreign language instruction and research and sheds light on instructional design and assessment in online language-learning environments.

 Exploiting the Text Annotation Tool to Open the World of Agrippine
Monique Burston
Comics depicting the world of French adolescents, such as the Agrippine series, offer an excellent introduction to modern French colloquial speech. However, because sociocultural presuppositions as well as numerous nonstandard forms involving lexicon, syntax, and phonology, it is a challenge for the teacher to make this motivating resource accessible to nonnative students. In this presentation I will demonstrate how the Text Annotation Tool, a web-based program developed by Frommer et al., can be used to hyperlink comic book text and images to explanatory resources (local and Internet-based) of all types: text, graphics, audio, and video.

 Pedagogy for Online Language Teaching
Ursula Stickler
The CALICO Special Issue Spring 2006 was devoted to online pedagogy. The topic was timely and produced interesting contributions and deliberations. Not only is the online teaching of languages gaining popularity worldwide–as witnessed by descriptions of best practice from eight different countries–interest is also rising in a theoretical basis for online teaching, a pedagogic groundwork with which to justify the training of tutors. This presentation will provide a framework for online pedagogy; attempting to answer the fundamental questions: How is online teaching of languages different from face-to-face teaching? and What training and experience do online teachers need?

 On-site Student-produced Cultural Documentaries
Claire Bartlett
Jane Verm
Rice produced two cultural documentaries made by students for students. We will present these documentaries, discuss the project and learning process, and describe their use in language classes. Two teams of students went to Almeria, Spain and Corsica, France to film these documentaries. Each team included one linguist and one cameraman. The linguists, who stayed for 8 weeks, participated in an internship and conducted the interviews. The cameramen filmed and stayed for 4 weeks. They were guided by a team of faculty and technicians in the USA. You can view the documentaries on our streaming server or request a copy (http://lang.rice.edu/documentaries).