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Volume 6, Number 1 January 2002
Feature Articles Columns

From the Editors Welcome to LLT by Mark Warschauer, Dorothy Chun, & Pamela DaGrossa pp. 1-2 On the Net MERLOT: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching by Jean W. LeLoup & Robert Ponterio pp. 3-5 Emerging Technologies Wireless Networks by Bob Godwin-Jones pp. 6-10 Announcements News from Sponsoring Organizations pp. 11-16
Video Recording in Ethnographic SLA Research: Some Issues of Validity in Data Collection
Margaret A. DuFon California State University-Chico pp. 40-59
Social Dimensions of Telecollaborative Foreign Language Study

Julie A. Belz The Pennsylvania State University pp. 60-81
Categorization of Text Chat Communication Between Learners and Native Speakers of Japanese
Etsuko Toyoda and Richard Harrison pp. 82-99
Effects of Students' Participation in Authoring of Multimedia Materials on Student Acquisition of Vocabulary

Ofelia R. Nikolova Southern Illinois University At Carbondale pp. 100-122
Reviews
Edited by Jennifer Leeman Computer Applications in Second Language Acquisition Carol A. Chapelle Reviewed by Stephen A. Bird pp. 17-20 Essential Academic Skills in English: Listening to Lectures CD-ROM (Volume I) CELTE Reviewed by Meena Singhal pp. 21-26 Advanced French: Interactive Video Language Learning with "Au coeur de la loi"
Visible Or Invisible Links: Does the Highlighting of Hyperlinks Affect Incidental Vocabulary Learning, Text Comprehension, and the Reading Process?
Isabelle De Ridder University Of Antwerp pp. 123-146
Providing Controlled Exposure to Target Vocabulary Through the Screening and Arranging of Texts
Sina Ghadirian Mcgill University, Montreal pp.147-164
EuroTalk Ltd. Reviewed by Susan Carpenter Binkley pp. 27-32 Tesoros: A Multimedia-Based Spanish Course on CD-ROM McGraw-Hill Companies Reviewed by Joseph Collentine pp. 33-39
Student Perceptions on Language Learning in a Technological Environment: Implications for the New Millennium
Jonita Stepp-Greany Florida State University pp. 165-180
Acknowledgement of LLT Reviewers, Volume 5

p. 181
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Language Learning & Technology http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num1/from_the_editors.html
January 2002, Vol. 6, Num. 1 pp. 1-2
FROM THE EDITORS

Welcome to the first issue of volume six of Language Learning & Technology. We expect 2002 to be another exciting year for LLT with special issues coming up on indigenous languages and teacher education. In this issue, the first general issue since last January, we are pleased to bring you a wonderful variety of articles. Three of the articles examine social aspects of language learning. Margaret A. DuFon begins a discussion of ethnographic, artistic, technological, and other concerns of obtaining authentic language learning material through video in "Video Recording in Ethnographic SLA Research: Some Issues of Validity in Data Collection." She illustrates some of the theoretical and methodological questions she raises with her own experiences with her students in Indonesia. In her article "Social Dimensions of Telecollaborative Foreign Language Study," Julie Belz analyzes socio-institutional dimensions of a German-American telecollaboration partnership, revealing tremendously practical points of consideration for any inter-language telecollaboration project. And, Etsuko Toyoda and Richard Harrison, in "Categorization of Text Chat Communication Between Learners and Native Speakers of Japanese," look at how difficulties in communication trigger negotiation of meaning between students and native speakers of Japanese in chat conversations. Through their examination, they discovered crucial communication aspects which were not taught in class and which students would not have learned had they not participated in chat with native speakers. The next three articles are related to vocabulary learning. Ofelia Nikolova's "Effects of Students' Participation in Authoring of Multimedia Materials on Student Acquisition of Vocabulary" reports on a study which considers the effect of student involvement in the learning process on vocabulary learning. She also discusses the effectiveness of text, sound, and image versus text and sound only. Isabelle De Ridder addresses the question, "Visible or Invisible Links: Does the Highlighting of Hyperlinks Affect Incidental Vocabulary Learning, Text Comprehension, and the Reading Process?" In "Providing Controlled Exposure to Target Vocabulary Through the Screening and Arranging of Texts," Sina Ghadirian proposes exposing students to reading texts in an order which introduces them to words of incremental frequency in the target domain. This is now possible through the use of a computer program which sorts collections of texts and finds the target words while creating an order for the texts. Finally, "Student Perceptions on Language Learning in a Technological Environment: Implications for the New Millennium" by Johanne Steppe-Greany reports on a survey of beginning Spanish students' responses to technology-enhanced learning environments. This kind of feedback is certainly valuable to any institution considering developing technology-enhanced language classes. We have two regular technology columns. In On the Net, Jean W. Leloup and Robert Ponterio introduce us to MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching), a free online collection of reviewed authentic language learning materials. And in Emerging Technologies, Bob Godwin-Jones describes different types of wireless networks, both those available now, and those becoming available. Though Europe is somewhat ahead of the game in this area, it is a growing option in other parts of the world.
Copyright 2002, ISSN 1094-3501
Mark Warschauer, Dorothy Chun, & Pamela DaGrossa
From the Editors
We also offer you one book and three software reviews. Stephen A. Bird reviews Carol Chapelle's Computer Applications in Second Language Acquisition (2001). Meena Singhal reviews Essential Academic Skills in English: Listening to Lectures CD-ROM (Volume I). Susan Carpenter Binkley reviews Advanced French: Interactive Video Language Learning with "Au coeur de la loi." And Joseph Collentine reviews Tesoros: A Multimedia-Based Spanish Course on CD-ROM. Thank you all for your continued support of LLT. Please continue to send us manuscripts, commentaries, and reviews. We also welcome feedback from our readers and encourage each of you to subscribe. It's free, and it helps us to better know you and your interests. Have a wonderful 2002! Sincerely,
Mark Warschauer & Dorothy Chun Editors Pamela DaGrossa Managing Editor
Language Learning & Technology
Language Learning & Technology http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num1/onthenet/
ON THE NET MERLOT: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
Jean W. LeLoup SUNY Cortland Robert Ponterio SUNY Cortland Locating and evaluating online authentic materials of use in the language classroom is a time consuming but essential prelude to integrating Internet technology in the foreign language curriculum. Quality teaching materials that help us integrate this authentic online content are an invaluable resource, but such online lessons are not themselves easy to find. The MERLOT project not only points us to such teaching materials, it also provides peer reviews that help us evaluate them.
What is MERLOT?
MERLOT stands for Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching. MERLOT is a free and open resource designed primarily for faculty and students in higher education. With a continually growing collection of online learning materials, peer reviews and assignments, MERLOT helps faculty enhance instruction. MERLOT is also a community of people who strive to enrich teaching and learning experiences. This home page statement from the MERLOT project explains the essence of this Internet endeavor. MERLOT was created by the California State University-Center for Distributed Learning in 1997. Since that time, the MERLOT project has developed into an international cooperative effort that serves over 1,400 campuses, including more than 350,000 faculty and 8 million students. MERLOT has 23 institutional partners working together to support and maintain MERLOT's Discipline Communities. Discipline Communities These Discipline Communities include, but are not limited to, languages. They are focused primarily around academic disciplines (Biology, Business, Chemistry, Engineering, Health Science, History, Information Technology, Mathematics, Music, Physics, Psychology, Teacher Education, and of course World Languages). In addition, there is a community for faculty development (Teaching Well Online) and one for academic technology staff (CATS). The main goal of MERLOT is to develop and present organized collections of online teaching-learning resources for the various disciplines represented in the communities. These resources are generally online materials that have been submitted as exemplary in their particular field. They are subject to a peer review process that applies evaluation standards to the resources in the collection, though not all submissions are, indeed, reviewed.
Jean W. LeLoup and Robert Ponterio
On the Net
Peer Review The Peer Review Process is a procedure whereby materials are evaluated for Quality of Content Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Learning Tool Ease of Use Faculty evaluators are trained in the review process and have their work validated through inter-rater reliability checks. Two or three reviewers are assigned per site selected for examination. The final reviews may all be posted or may be compiled into one summary review. The author of the materials is provided feedback and given an opportunity to respond to the reviewers comments, if desired. Permission to post the review is also requested of the author. The review rating system is one of one to five stars: 1 star - Materials not worth using at all 2 stars - Materials do not meet minimal standards but there might be some limited value 3 stars - Materials meet or exceed standards but there are some significant concerns 4 stars - Materials are very good overall but there are a few minor concerns 5 stars - Materials are excellent all around MERLOT's policy is not to post peer review ratings of 1 or 2 stars. However, User Comments can include ratings from 1-5 stars. Any MERLOT member and any individual reviewer of the peer review teams can post User Comments if they wish. The site provides an extensive explanation of the rating system and the rationale for it. Clearly, individual users should examine all the materials carefully with regard to their own particular curriculum and potential educational use. World Languages The Discipline Community most likely of interest to foreign language educators is entitled World Languages. At this writing, there were 587 submissions to the World Languages community. The collection can be sorted by title, author, rating, date entered, or item type, with the default sort order being by 5 star rated materials first. Languages represented by materials submissions and/or online resources currently include Arabic, Chinese, ESL, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, LCTLs, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Materials listed in the MERLOT database can be located by keyword search or by browsing through subcategories. For example, "Humanities/World Languages/French/Culture" is just one subcategory found in the World Languages category. A complete subject index of all subcategories can assist the visitor to MERLOT looking for specific areas of interest. MERLOT's search engine allows searches of the entire database and also makes it easy to perform a subsearch to narrow the search results farther, zooming in on the desired resources. An advanced sub-search form is a valuable option that makes it very easy to design complex search criteria, even for the database novice. The results for any search done in the site include a link to the advanced sub-search form, facilitating access to the form when needed. The MERLOT project is always in search of qualified external reviewers for the World Languages Community in order to have sufficient number of content experts to do peer reviews in all of the languages in MERLOT. Faculty who are interested in being considered have to become MERLOT members, submit user comments on some of the sites in their languages, and send in their credentials (CV), which should indicate experience with online learning materials as well as content expertise. Language teachers who develop high quality online lessons should seriously consider submitting their work to MERLOT for inclusion in the database and for peer review. The usefulness of this wonderful
Jean W. LeLoup and Robert Ponterio
On the Net
resource for teachers will continue to grow as we contribute the materials we develop for our students. In addition, peer reviews not only help potential users evaluate a site, they can be an excellent source of feedback as those who develop lessons work on revisions. Joining MERLOT Individuals can contribute materials to the MERLOT site but must become members in order to so. The membership form requests a name, email, and primary/secondary areas of interest. The idea here is to establish a vehicle for educators to find other colleagues with similar interests in the profession. The community aspect of MERLOT is its greatest asset. The directors of the MERLOT project feel that they are successful in their mission if community members want to contribute resources as well as use them. If faculty and other site users submit the learning assignments that they write dealing with objects they find in MERLOT, or if they even just share comments about how they use the sites, they, in turn, feel more invested and more part of the community. They are, consequently, more likely to come back to MERLOT for future use. The end result is that MERLOT is not building just a repository but "a space where there can be real interaction among language professionals, authors and learners," says Laura Franklin ( Northern Virginia Community College) who, along with Carla Meskill (SUNY Albany), coleads the World Language Discipline Team.
Language Learning & Technology http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num1/emerging/
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES Wireless Networks

One of the most striking changes in the use of technology in the last year or so has been the explosive growth in the use of wireless networks for Internet and local network access. We will be looking in this column at the varieties of wireless connectivity now in use, including infrared, cellular, and Wi-Fi (802.11b), as well as those just now arriving on the scene, such as Bluetooth and 3G. The promise of ubiquitous wireless networks dramatically enhances the usefulness of small Internet-capable devices. Infrared Infrared (IR) ports have been standard on most laptops and PDA's ("personal digital assistants") for quite some time. Some printers and cell phones come equipped with infrared ports as well. The principal use has been to provide a communication channel between devices for synchronization, backup, or file transfer. The transfer rate is not as fast (4 Mbps or megabits per second) as wired connections (such as USB), although now some IR ports can transfer at a zippier 16 Mbps. IR ports are also used to transfer contact information or calendar entries between hand-held devices. This use is quite popular in Japan and Europe, particularly for exchanging business cards and downloading short messages. Utilities are available which allow for IR interoperability among Palms, WindowsCE/PocketPC devices, and even older Newton Messagepads (JetSend, Peacemaker, BackTalk). While IR is the granddaddy of wireless protocols, new applications continue to be developed for the its use, including InfoPort, a product for beaming large documents to Palm devices from kiosks or other public terminals (being used at the University of South Dakota for transferring documents to students), and Infrared Financial Messaging (IrFM), a new "point and pay" wireless payment standard. Financial transactions, in fact, are seen as a major future use of IR, as it is a more secure means of communication than other wireless protocols, since devices have to be lined up in close proximity to one another. What allows communication among digital devices through infrared is a common set of specifications developed by the Infrared Data Association (IrDA) and first published in 1994, the most significant of which is the Object Exchange protocol or OBEX. A project is underway at the University of Troms (Norway) to develop an open source implementation of OBEX which promises to make available OBEX functionality without license fees (to Extended Systems ). In a rare example of not re-inventing the wheel with each new technological advance, OBEX has been selected as the standard for file exchange on the new Bluetooth wireless protocol. IrDA capability is built into mainstream operating systems including MS Windows, Linux, and MacOS. But IrDA compatible ports are also being added to devices such as cameras (the Casio WQV3 cameras) and scanners (Hewlett-Packard CapShare and the QuickLink Pen from WizCom). Scanning text or images into a hand-held scanner, which can then be beamed and stored on a hand-held computer offers interesting possibilities for collecting such materials as newspaper clippings or realia for language learning purposes. Bluetooth A wireless protocol which has been highly touted in the last several years is Bluetooth, developed originally by Ericsson in Sweden in 1994 and named for Harald Bluetooth, the Viking king who united Denmark and Norway in the 10th century. Bluetooth uses a short-wave, always-on radio signal that lets devices of all kinds communicate with one another, including cell phones, printers, laptops, and hand-held computers. Since it uses RF (radio frequency) waves, communication does not require a line-of-sight connection between devices, as does IR. Like IR, Bluetooth is short range (the normal limit is 10 meters) but is also omnidirectional and can travel through non-metal obstructions (clothes, furniture, walls). Longer range transmitters, capable of sending signals up to 100 meters, are also being developed. Bluetooth transmits at a maximum rate of 1 Mbps. There has been quite a buzz about Bluetooth and the era of "personal area networks" (also being called "piconets") or "information clouds" this wireless technology promises to create. The idea is that once Bluetooth components become inexpensive enough (from the current US $20 to US $5), they will become embedded in all kinds of
Bob Godwin-Jones
Emerging Technologies
machines, including VCRs, washer-dryers, stoves, microwaves, and CD-players, all of which could be monitored and controlled by Bluetooth. Ericsson envisions a scenario in which mall shoppers would access sales information on their PDAs as they stroll, or cameras might send instantly pictures to relatives as they are taken. For some, this kind of all-encompassing network is more threatening than enticing. Of interest to language teachers is the fact that Bluetooth supports voice as well as data. Others see a more modest role for Bluetooth principally as a cable replacement technology, taking over the role of wired serial or USB connections. In contrast to IR, Bluetooth allows point-to-multi-point connections, thus creating an ad-hoc wireless connection of "master" and (up to seven) "slaves." Also, as opposed to IR, Bluetooth communication can be initiated by the devices themselves, allowing for self-monitoring and automated interactions. Given the proliferation of cell phones in Europe, Bluetooth is expected to gain a foothold there first. It is already incorporated into a variety of phones available in Europe. Wi-Fi If Bluetooth is being promoted as a cable replacement technology, Wi-Fi is seen widely as a replacement of wired Ethernet. Actually wireless LAN (local area network) technology has been around since the late 1980's. However, different proprietary approaches were used, and the networks operated at low-speed (1-2 Mbps). In 1997, the standards setting body, IEEE, released the 802.11 standard for wireless local area networking using the unlicensed 2.4 GHz frequency band (as opposed to the 900 MHz band used previously). This standard was later updated to 802.11b, which raised the transmission speed from 2 to 11 Mbps, or approximately the same transmission speed as traditional wired Ethernet connections. This is the standard generally referred to today as Wi-Fi ("wireless fidelity") or wireless LAN. As opposed to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi requires use of a "base station" or "access point" for transmitting signals to clients, which generally use Wi-Fi PC cards or desktop adapters to connect to the base station. Like Bluetooth (which also transmits at 2.4 GHz), Wi-Fi signals can travel through solid objects, although they traverse better through wood or drywall than through stone and brick. Transmission distances vary from 50 to 300 feet, depending on equipment and configuration, and can be extended up to 20 miles through the use of high gain antennas . Wi-Fi began to be widely used when in 1999 Apple introduced its "Airport" wireless networking technology which uses the 802.11b standard. Apple integrated antennas for Wi-Fi into all of its laptops and offered an attractively priced base station capable of communicating with up to 10 clients (the latest version serves 50 clients). Today many Wi-Fi base stations and adapters are available from a variety of vendors. As prices have dropped and vendors multiplied in the past year, wireless networks have sprouted throughout the US in homes, schools, and offices. The home growth in the US has been driven in part by the increasing popularity of higher-speed Internet access through cable and DSL ("digital subscriber line") modems. Base stations such as Apple's Airport allow sharing of an Internet line by multiple users. Since DHCP ("dynamic host configuration protocol") is built into the Airport hub, all devices can share just one IP number. The base station can be connected to a dial-up or Ethernet Internet connection. Some base stations (such as those from D-Link, Linksys or Nokia) incorporate firewall support. Mixed networks of Windows, Mac and/or Linux computers can co-exist quite comfortably and easily on the same Wi-Fi network, along with network-capable printers and mobile devices equipped with Wi-Fi cards. Individual configuration of Wi-Fi connections is not difficult; MacOS and WindowsXP automatically detect the presence of Wi-Fi signals (assuming a Wi-Fi client card is installed) and walk the user through set-up of the network for Internet access. Some Wi-Fi enthusiasts have taken to trolling urban areas for available Wi-Fi networks (comprehensive world-wide guides are also available). In fact, the ease and power of Wi-Fi networks has led to the establishment of wireless freenets in several urban areas in North American and elsewhere. With a series of base stations and antennae, it is not difficult to set up such a network, which some dub "parasitic grids." In the aftermath of the September 11 tragedy several such networks were quickly established in Manhattan (such as NYCWireless). Others see such " renegade wlans" as a way to bridge the "digital divide", bringing Internet access to the inner city. Commercial Internet providers are also now beginning to offer Internet access (for a fee) through Wi-Fi, especially in smaller communities. Wi-Fi connections are also showing up in public and commercial spaces such as airports or coffee shops, where connections are available for a fee.
Bob Godwin-Jones
Despite Wi-Fi's popularity there are several concerns in its use voiced by users and system administrators, namely limited bandwidth, radio interference from other devices, and security. A revision of the specification called 802.11a addresses these issues, at least in part. Although Wi-Fi runs at about the same speed as 10 Mbps wired Ethernet, configuration and security concerns usually reduce throughput to something more like 5-7 Mbps. 802.11a runs at the higher speed of 54 Mbps, although real-world use will be lower. This is still a significant increase for applications needing higher bandwidth such as streaming media. Wi-Fi runs on a radio frequency (2.4 GHz) shared by microwave ovens, most cordless phones, and Bluetooth devices, creating the potential for serious interference problems. 802.11a runs at 5.4 GHz, thus avoiding that conflict. Both wireless standards have a built-in security protocol called WEP ("Wireless Encryption Protocol") which allows for encrypted transmissions. Often, however, WEP has not been used on Wi-Fi networks out of concern that throughput will be negatively effected. The higher bandwidth of 802.11a may encourage greater use of WEP. Security experts, however, point out that WEP is not impenetrable and recommend use of VPN ("Virtual Private Network") software for secure network access with wireless clients. A new security protocol, 802.1x, is just being added to Wi-Fi setups (and is supported in WindowsXP). Products based on 802.11a, or Wi-Fi5 as it is being called, are now being marketed in the US. However, since 802.11a transmits at a different frequency, it is incompatible with existing Wi-Fi networks. In other words, new base stations and client cards will be needed. It's likely that vendors will offer dual-standard products, but they are not yet available. It is possible, however, for both standards to co-exist in the same environment. Due to the incompatibility issue, another revision of the standard has been proposed but not yet finalized. 802.11g runs also at 54 Mbps but operates in the same 2.4 GHz frequency as Wi-Fi, thus allowing for backwards compatibility with existing Wi-Fi networks. Stay tuned, since there is yet another new protocol being discussed, 802.11e, which adds QoS ("quality of service") to high-speed bandwidth, guaranteeing a reliable stream of data transmission to individual clients, vital for effective video streaming. It should also be noted that there are several other standards for wireless local networks. HomeRF, developed by Proxim (and marketed under the "Symphony" name), combines the 802.11b and the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) portable phone standards into a single system. The latest version (HomeRF 2.0) increments throughput from 1.6 to 10 Mbps. It is not compatible with Wi-Fi. Given Intel's recent drop of support for HomeRF, its future appears uncertain. A wireless standard just emerging which looks more promising is HiperLAN2, developed by Nokia and Ericsson, and approved by the European Telecommunication Standardization Institute (ETSI). It is similar to, but not compatible with, 802.11a in that it uses the 5.4 GHz frequency with a throughput of 54Mbps. However, while 802.11a is primarily a data-delivery protocol, HiperLAN2 offers built in support for voice and video and allows for QoS transmissions. HiperLAN2 also provides for unicast, multicast, and broadcast transmissions. Most experts see it as the most advanced wireless standard currently available. Alternatives and Outlook It seems likely that Europe and North America will travel different paths to wireless local networks, with North America embracing 802.11x and Europe tilting towards HiperLAN2. This leaves the rest of the world to choose one of the two or (God forbid) come up with a different standard. This mirrors the unfortunate state of affairs in cellular phones, with Europe (and most of the rest of the world except Japan) using GSM ("Global System for Mobile Communications") while North America has gone its own way with analog (AMPS -- "Advanced Mobile Phone Service") and digital (CDMA -- "Code Division Multiple Access"; TDMA -- "Time Division Multiple Access"). Actually, GSM is also available in the US and Canada but coverage is far from universal. Interest in GSM is being driven in part out of interest in world-wide compatibility and in part due to an add-on/successor to GSM called GPRS ("General Packet Radio Service") which provides always-on, higher-bandwidth data transmissions/Internet access. A similar data enhancement to CDMA is known as "1xRTT" and is just beginning to reach the market in North America. The data transmission service of analog cellular in North America (CDPD -- "Cellular Digital Packet Data"), which enables Internet access, has been available for some time and enjoys wide coverage in the US, but suffers from a slow transmission rate of 19.2 kbps (kilobits per second), suitable for e-mail but painfully slow for Web browsing (landline modems typically operate at 56 kbps). It is available for both hand-helds and laptops through PC cards such as Novatel's Merlin series. Some more expensive PC cards, such as Sierra Wireless' AirCard, use compression
Bob Godwin-Jones
software to enhance considerably access speed. A faster alternative in the US has been the Ricochet network, which operates at 128 kbps. Unfortunately for subscribers, the network's parent company, Metricom, went bankrupt in August, 2001. However, Aerie Networks purchased the Ricochet network and has announced plans to resume service in the US. Much of the news in the mobile phone world for the past several years has centered around 3G, the third-generation cellular network, combining high speed mobile access with Internet Protocol (IP)-based services, which proponents have hailed as the future of Internet access, with fast, reliable, always-on connections. Anticipated data transfer rates range from 144 kbps to 2 Mbps. It is based on a revised version of CDMA called Wideband-CDMA (with several different implementations in the works including CDMA2000 and 3GPP). Telecommunication companies have spent billions of dollars to purchase licenses to operate 3G networks and since then have invested billions more in developing the technology and buying the hardware to build the needed new infrastructure. So far, no 3G systems have seen the light of day, except in experimental trials, and it seems likely that in 3G implementation North America and Europe may again go their separate ways. Once they arrive on the scene, 3G networks promise to deliver broadband access through cell phones, allowing for applications such as videoconferencing and multimediaon-demand. The arrival of MPEG-4, with its dramatically enhanced compression codecs, will help considerably in making this a reality. This is likely to accelerate the development of so-called convergence devices, which combine the functions of cell phones, personal organizers, hand-held computers, and even video players. Smartphones from Nokia and Ericsson, the forthcoming "Stinger" phone line from Microsoft, and the recently announced "Treo" Palm devices from Handspring are examples of this trend. While 3G is still a vision waiting to be fulfilled, it seems likely that for most mobile network users, wireless LAN solutions will provide the principal means of Internet access. Wi-Fi is not likely to show up as an add-on to cell phones due to excessive power requirements of PC cards. But cards are available for both Palm devices and PocketPCs, the two dominant hand-held platforms. More applications are being developed that enhance Internet use on such devices. AvantGo , for example, uses a "store and forward" model to sync up Web-based content on handhelds. Many periodicals in a variety of languages are available for (free) subscription through AvantGo. Blackboard, a widely used course management system, has recently released a plug-in for Blackboard 5.5 which allows users to view course site content on Palms and PocketPCs through AvantGo. The University of South Dakota has been experimenting with universal ownership of Palm devices for its freshman class, with learning software specifically designed for hand-held use. East Carolina University has been using hand-helds and AvantGo in several humanities classes. St. Olaf College (Minnesota) has been using Palm devices with AvantGo and KingKanji software to help students with Japanese reading and writing skills. Participants found the devices especially helpful in practicing stroke order in writing. Given price reductions, color screens, and emerging high-speed wireless Internet access (through Wi-Fi5 or HiperLAN2), hand-held computers seem poised to become popular choices for Internet access. Such a development may open the door for development of new multimedia language learning applications, designed to run on mobile devices accessing the Internet from wherever they may be. In North America, one other wireless Internet option is a satellite connection, offered by vendors such as Starband, DirecPC, or Earthlink. Satellite access is particularly attractive in areas not served by cable or DSL service, but hardware costs are considerably higher than for other broadband services. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently awarded licenses to 11 satellite vendors to provide new satellite telecom services including high-speed Internet. These systems will be using satellites in geostationary orbit broadcasting "spot beams " in the "Ka-band" of 20/30 GHz. The promise is for faster, more affordable service throughout the US (beginning in 2002/2003). Vendors such as WildBlue are planning to enable easy sharing of the satellite Internet connection with multiple users in a home, office, or school. Resource List Organizations, Standards, and General Information on Wireless Networking WLANA - Wireless Network Association Infrared Data Association MPEG home page with wealth of links to info on MPEG-4
Bob Godwin-Jones
MPEG4 Industry Forum Wi-Fi, Bluetooth beating up on 3G from ZDNet News Bluetooth home page IEEE international standards setting body ETSI European Telecommunication Standardization Institute
Infrared and Bluetooth Point and Shoot: Infrared-enabled proximity payments are here about IrFM applications Hewlett-Packards CapShare 910 review of the hand-held scanner in PC Magazine Pocket Scanner for Your PocketPC review of the QuickLink Scanner Pen from PocketPC Magazine Open Obex open source OBEX development project from the University of Troms I talk to the Palm guide to software for moving data between hand-held devices (PocketPC Magazine) Can Bluetooth live up to the hype? from CNN
Wireless LANs IEEE 802.11B WIRELESS LAN STANDARD brief introduction to Wi-Fi The Wireless LAN Revolution from the Portland Community LAN Resource Guide 802.11b Tips, Tricks, and Facts from O'Reilly Getting Started with Lucent's 802.11b Wireless LAN Card popular PC card for Wi-Fi in laptops (now called Orinoco) Agere Plugs XP article on the "enhanced media sense" built into WindowsXP, allowing automatic detection of Wi-Fi networks Wireless Comes Home review of 12 different Wi-Fi access points in PC World Performance Test: 802.11b Takes a Lickin' and Keeps on Tickin' practical tips on Wi-Fi use, including interference issues (such as microwave ovens) 802.11a - Fast Wireless Networking comprehensive overview of the new Wi-Fi5 standard from ExtremeTech HomeRF Proxim Symphony review of Symphony cards for use on HomeRF networks Hiperlan2 about HiperLAN2 from the HiperLAN Resource Center A Wireless Neighborhood Freenet article by Moshe Bar on setting up a Wi-Fi network in Isreal 'Parasitic grid' wireless movement may threaten telecom profits from InfoWorld Renegade WLANs: Pararsitic or Free-Spirited Anarchistic
Mobile Phones and Hand-helds Blackberry hand-held device for viewing e-mail (uses CDPD network) Handspring unveils wireless triplets from Cnet, on Handspring "Treo" convergence phones An Introdcution to General Packet Radio Service from GSMWorld, detailed information on GPRS 3G or not 3G discussion of pros and cons of 3G 3G Cometh not so fast discussion of implementation issues with 3G Sendo Stinger phone coming this spring news release on new smartphone using Microsoft's Stinger technology Palm devices in Higher Ed article highlighting use of Palm devices on campuses
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Language Learning & Technology http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num1/announcements/
January 2002, Vol. 6, Num. 1 11 pp. 11-16
NEWS FROM SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS

This page includes announcements from the organizations sponsoring LLT.
University of Hawai'i National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC)

Less commonly taught languages, particularly those of Asia and the Pacific, are the focus of the University of Hawaiì National Foreign Language Resource Center, which engages in research and materials development projects and conducts Summer Institutes for language professionals among its many activities. 2002 NFLRC SUMMER INSTITUTES Heritage Learners and National Language Needs (June 20 - 21, 2002) This two-day symposium provides practical information, theoretical considerations, and program/curriculum models for language education that utilizes existing heritage language resources. Recently, there has been expanding interest among language scholars in capitalizing on the linguistic resources of language minority students through developing their heritage language skills. Such a "language as resource" approach has numerous benefits. This symposium will offer a range of language, culture, literacy, and technology workshops by experts who have extensive knowledge and experience in developing innovative K-16 heritage language programs. Ia Faalautele Lau Gagana - Samoan Pedagogy Workshop (June 24 - 28, 2002) Immediately following our Summer Institute symposium on heritage language, this 5-day workshop brings together experts in Samoan Language teaching, teacher training, materials development and Samoan Language content areas (e.g., oratory, grammar, literature) to share information and to discuss a range of Samoan Language curriculum development issues (e.g., community awareness, literacy education, resources, language structure and use) Web-based Workshops for Advanced Reading & Writing Development & Maintenance (tentatively, July 22 - August 2, 2002) This workshop serves as an online professional development opportunity for non-native-speaking teachers of Chinese and Korean language at the K-16 level. As part of our mission to serve the development and enhancement of Asian language and area studies in the United States, we will offer 2 two-week intensive language courses in Chinese and Korean. The intensive courses, delivered entirely over the World Wide Web using a tested and proven pedagogic model, focus on the development and/or maintenance of communicative language skills at the advanced level, with strong emphasis on written communication meeting high standards of literacy. For more information about the 2002 NFLRC Summer Institutes, visit http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/prodev_home.cfm. NEW PUBLICATIONS FROM THE UH NFLRC Developing Korean Language Performance Assessments, by J. D. Brown, T. Hudson & Y. Kim. This Research Note reports on a task-based performance assessment development project for Korean as a foreign language through the National Foreign Language Resource Center at the University of Hawaiì. It contains an overview of college-level Korean language teaching and testing in the United States as well as an introduction to task-based performance assessment in general and the design of performance assessment tasks using test and item specifications in particular. Questionnaire forms used and prototype tasks developed in English and Korean are presented in the appendices.
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News from Sponsoring Organizations Community Language Resources: A Handbook for Teachers , by T. Menacker. The aim of the project described in this Research Note is to capitalize on community language resources in developing programs and products to improve foreign language education. Approaches were developed in Hawaii schools to serve as a model for similar projects and programs that can be carried out elsewhere in the US. Mind, Language, and Epistemology Toward a Language Socialization Paradigm for SLA, by K. Watson-Gegeo. Karen Watson-Gegeos plenary talk, presented at the 4th Pacific Second Language Research Forum (PacSLRF) conference, lays out the issues involved and argues for a language socialization paradigm for second language acquisition that is consistent with and embraces new developments in second generation cognitive science, first language acquisition studies, cognitive anthropology, and human development research. For more information or to order NFLRC publications online, visit the publications section of our Web site.
Michigan State University Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR)
CLEARs mission is to promote foreign language education in the United States. To meet its goals, projects focus on foreign language research, materials development, and teacher training. FOREIGN LANGUAGE RESEARCH Feedback and Interaction Longitudinal Analysis of Foreign Language Writing Development
MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT Products

Business Chinese (CD-ROM)
Modules for Assessing Socio-Cultural Competence for German (CD-ROM) Pronuncia cin y fontica (CD-ROM) African Language Tutorial Guide (guide and video) Foreign Languages: Doors to Opportunity (video and discussion guide) Task-based Communicative Grammar Activities for Japanese and Thai (workbook) Test Development (workbook and video) The Internet Sourcebook for Business German The Internet Sourcebook for Business Spanish (online links from CLEARs Web site) Business Language Packets for High School Classrooms (French, German, and Spanish; PDF files from CLEARs Web site) Portuguese Pronunciation and Phonetics CD-ROM Modules for Assessing Socio-Cultural Competence for Russian (CD-ROM) Thai Tutorial Guide The Internet Sourcebook for Business French
Coming Soon!
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News from Sponsoring Organizations Game-O-Matic The Game-O-Matic is a suite of wizards that create Web-based activities for language learning and practice. Teachers can make original Game-O-Matic games by visiting http://clear.msu.edu/dennie/matic/. Have a new idea for a Game-O-Matic activity? Contact Dennie Hoopingarner at hooping4@msu.edu. Newsletter CLEAR News is a biyearly publication covering FL teaching techniques, research, and materials. Contact the CLEAR office to join the mailing list or see it on the Web at http://clear.msu.edu/clearnews/. TEACHER TRAINING 2002 Summer Workshops CLEAR is offering eight summer workshops in 2002 for foreign language educators to help strengthen and expand their teaching skills. CLEAR offers stipends to help defray the workshop fees and travel/accommodation expenses. The 2002 Summer Workshop offerings are
Teaching Writing in the Foreign Language Classroom June 17-19, 2002
Using Communicative Activities in a Grammar-Based Curriculum June 20-22, 2002 Promoting Motivation and Interest in Foreign Languages Inside and Outside of the Classroom June 25-28, 2002 Basic Web Pages for Late Bloomers July 9-12, 2002 Beyond Web Pages July 15-19, 2002 Putting Flash into Your Course July 22-26, 2002 Materials Development Marathon: Creating Online Communicative Activities from Start to Finish July 29-August 2, 2002 Developing and Managing a Tutorial-Based Language Program for LCTLs August 5-6, 2002
For more information on the Summer Workshops, go to http://clear.msu.edu/institutes/02institutes/. For more information about CLEAR, contact Center for Language Education And Research (CLEAR) A712 Wells Hall Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 Phone: 517/432-2286 Fax: 517/432-0473 Email: clear@msu.edu
Apprentissage des Langues et Systmes d'Information et de Communication (ALSIC)

ALSIC (Language Learning and Information and Communication Systems, http://alsic.org/) is an electronic journal in French for researchers and practitioners in fields related to applied linguistics, didactics, psycholinguistics, educational sciences, computational linguistics, and computer science. The journal gives priority to papers from the French-speaking community and/or in French, but it also regularly invites papers in other languages so as to strengthen scientific and technical exchanges between linguistic communities that too often remain separate. The editorial board of ALSIC invites you to contact them for any prospective contributions at the following electronic address: infos@alsic.org.
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News from Sponsoring Organizations
The Australian Technology Enhanced Language Learning Consortium (ATELL)

Contacts: Dr. Mike Levy, The University of Queensland (mlevy@lingua.arts.uq.edu.au) Prof. Roly Sussex, The University of Queensland (sussex@lingua.arts.uq.edu.au)
ATELL is an informal collaboration of Australian language teachers involved in technology-enhanced language learning and teaching. It has recently been moved to The University of Queensland, where Dr. Mike Levy and Professor Roly Sussex are developing the concept in collaboration with Mr. Greg Dabelstein, coordinator of the CALL special interest group of the Association of Modern Language Teachers' Associations of Australia (AFMTLA). We intend to establish a network of complementary and collaborating resources for teachers and learners in the TELL domain in schools and tertiary institutions. There will be a Web site, which will include information, collaboration, and resources such as a register of Australian TELL experts links to other sites with TELL-related information and materials links to reviews of hardware, software, courseware a section for FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) what's new -- ideas, research, materials a register of projects, current and past, in TELL research, development, implementation software modules, libraries, and related resources for developers audio and video files for language learning support policies and discussion special interest groups
In addition, we are reviving the ATELL mailing list, whose e-mail location is atell@lingua.arts.uq.edu.au. ATELL is supported by the Language Laboratory at the University of Queensland.
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, University of Minnesota (CARLA)

CARLA is one of nine National Language Resource Centers whose role is to improve the nation's capacity to teach and learn foreign languages effectively. Launched in 1993 with funding from the national Title VI Language Resource Center program of the U.S. Department of Education, CARLA's mission is to study multilingualism and multiculturalism, develop knowledge of second language acquisition, and advance the quality of second language teaching, learning, and assessment by conducting research and action projects sharing research-based and other forms of knowledge across disciplines and education systems extending, exchanging, and applying this knowledge in the wider society. CARLA's research and action initia tives include a focus on the articulation of language instruction, content-based language teaching through technology, culture and language studies, less commonly taught languages, language immersion education, second language assessment, second language learning strategies, and technology and second language learning. To share its latest research and program opportunities with language teachers around the country, CARLA offers the following resources: a summer institute program for teachers; a database which lists where less commonly taught languages are taught throughout the country; listservs for teachers of less commonly taught languages and immersion educators; a working paper series; conferences and workshops; and a battery of instruments in French, German, and Spanish for assessing learners' proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the intermediate-low level on the ACTFL scale. Check out these and other CARLA resources on the CARLA Web site at http://carla.acad.umn.edu.
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The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)

The Center for Applied Linguistics is a private, nonprofit organization that promotes and improves the teaching and learning of languages, identifies and solves problems related to language and culture, and serves as a resource for information about language and culture. CAL carries out a wide range of activities in the fields of English as a second language, foreign languages, cultural education, and linguistics. These activities include research, teacher education, information dissemination, instructional design, conference planning, technical assistance, program evaluation, and policy analysis. Publications include books on language education, online databases of language programs and assessments, curricula, research reports, teacher training materials, and print and online newsletters. Major CAL projects include the following: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education Refugee Service Center Pre-K-12 School Services Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence Improving Foreign Languages in the Schools Project of the Northeast and Island Regional Laboratory at Brown University National Capitol Language Resource Center National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center National Network for Early Language Learning ERIC/CLLs quarterly online newsletter, ERIC/CLL Language Link, covers current topics in language education. Recent articles in Language Link include a review of the 2000 US Census and its implications for language educators, CoBaLTT (computer-assisted language learning), profiles of effective Early Foreign Language Programs, and a Language Policy update. Recent ERIC/CLL Digests cover a range of topics in ESL, foreign language, and bilingual education including our newest Digest, Lexical Approach to Second Language Teaching.
CAL collaborates with other language education organizations on the following projects:
News from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics
News from the National Center for ESL Literacy Education Facts and Statistics Related to Adult ESL provides links to resources that NCLE most often consult for statistics on adult ESL and the populations served by adult ESL programs. The latest NCLE Digest, Reflective Teaching Practice in Adult ESL Settings offers the adult ESL practitioner background information and step-by-step suggestions for using reflective processes as a tool for professional development.
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Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO)

Since its inception in 1983, CALICO has served as an international forum for language teachers who want to develop and utilize the potential of advanced technology to support their teaching and research needs. Through its Annual Symposia, Special Interest Groups (SIGs), CALICO Journal, CALICO Monograph Series, CALICO Resource Guide, and numerous other publications, CALICO provides both leadership and perspective in the ever-changing field of computer-assisted instruction. The strength of CALICO derives from the enthusiasm, creativity, and diversity of its members. It comprises language teachers and researchers from universities, military academies, community colleges, K-12 schools, government agencies, and commercial enterprises. To learn more about CALICO activities and how to participate in them, visit the CALICO homepage at http://www.calico.org.
European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning (EUROCALL)

EUROCALL is an association of language teaching professionals from Europe and worldwide aiming to Promote the use of foreign languages within Europe Provide a European focus for all aspects of the use of technology for language learning Enhance the quality, dissemination, and efficiency of CALL materials
EUROCALL's journal, ReCALL, published by Cambridge University Press, is one of the leading academic journals covering research into computer-assisted and technology-enhanced language learning. The association organises special interest meetings and annual conferences, and works towards the exploitation of electronic communications systems for language learning. For those involved in education and training, EUROCALL provides information and advice on all aspects of the use of technology for language learning. Forthcoming EUROCALL conference EUROCALL 2002 will be at the University of Jyvskyl, Finland, 14 - 17 August 2002. For full details, contact us at http://www.eurocall.org.
International Association for Language Learning Technology (IALLT)

Established in 1965, IALLT (formerly IALL) is a professional organization whose members provide leadership in the development, integration, evaluation, and management of instructional technology for the teaching and learning of language, literature, and culture. Its strong sense of community promotes the sharing of expertise in a variety of educational contexts. Members include directors and staff of language labs, resource or media centers, language teachers at all levels, developers and vendors of hardware and software, grant project developers and others. IALLT offers biennial conferences, regional groups and meetings, the LLTI listserv (Language Learning Technology International), and key publications such as the IALL Journal, the IALL Language Center Design Kit, and the IALL Lab Management Manual. The 2003 IALLT conference will be held at the University of Michigan, June 17 - 21. For information, visit the IALLT Web site at www.iallt.org/.
Language Learning & Technology http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num1/review1/
REVIEW OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Computer Applications in Second Language Acquisition
Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series Carol A. Chapelle 2001 ISBN 0-521-62646-3 13.95 228 pp. Cambridge University Press Cambridge, UK Reviewed by Stephen A. Bird Computer Applications in Second Language Acquisition is one of the latest offerings in the Cambridge University Press Applied Linguistics Series. It presents a detailed review of computer technology's contribution to the teaching and learning of second languages, as well as theory-based rubrics for assessing second language teaching, testing, and research materials and methods. The volume reflects the rapid expansion of computer applications in second language acquisition (abbreviated by Chapelle as CASLA) and related fields of inquiry such as computer-assisted language learning (CALL), computer-assisted second language acquisition research (CASLR), and computerassisted language testing (CALT), which have become immensely important domains. Chapelle's book assumes from the outset that "anyone concerned with second language teaching and learning in the 21st century needs to grasp the nature of the unique technology-mediated tasks learners can engage in for language acquisition and how such tasks can be used for assessment" (p. 2). Her book aims to provide some of that understanding, and does so quite well. Chapters 1 and 2 present a detailed history of the use of computers in second language acquisition (SLA) research and practice since the 1950's, the impact of which has been pervasive and profound. The advent of local area networks and then the World Wide Web has generated an amazing increase in the amount of target language available to students, as well as greater opportunites to communicate with native speakers. The detailed electronic records of student communication that are now possible allow scholars and teachers to access accurate, reliable data from which to evaluate learning performance under various conditions. And of course, teacher-researchers now have ready access to statistical software packages allowing efficient data analysis. Chapelle makes it clear that there is really no area of applied linguistics that has not been dramatically affected by the advances in computer technology of the last 20 years. However, Chapelle questions the extent to which computer technology has benefited SLA, a field where the aim, she argues, is centered on improving learners' L2 communicative ability (p. 41). Related fields such as corpus linguistics, artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, and educational technology have exploited technology effectively and can make huge contributions to SLA (see, e.g., the LLT special issue on corpus linguistics). However, unlike these research domains, CASLA's research questions and methodology are focused on identifying "theoretically and empirically based criteria for choosing among the potential design options and methods for evaluating their effectiveness for promoting learners'
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communicative ability" (p. 42), meaning that CASLA has a unique research agenda.
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Reviewed by Stephen A. Bird
Review of Computer Applications in SLA
Chapter 3 raises the possibility of developing "a theory concerning ideal cognitive and socio-affective conditions for instructed SLA" (p. 45). The ideal conditions for learning discussed in this chapter are fairly vague and not particularly new. For example, Chapelle proposes that the teacher (or computer programmer/materials developer) select "a range of structures" because some SLA research suggests "learners will acquire particular structures when they are ready to" (p.46). However, she cautions that teachers should also be aware that "learners need to be exposed to language which is within their grasp" on the grounds that "language far beyond or beneath learners' abilities or needs is not useful for acquisition." Admittedly, it is impossible to provide specific, concrete recommendations to cover all learning contexts, but the advice offered here reads rather like formalized common sense and provides little in the way of practical guidance. As the chapter stresses, the ideal conditions for SLA are so complex and context-dependent that it is impossible to offer anything more precise than statements such as "motivated students will learn more quickly." But if this limitation is real, one wonders what the purpose of these rubrics and theories is. How near are we to Chapelle's stated aim of constructing a theory of ideal conditions for second language learning that can help in the design and evaluation of computerbased learning? In fact, Chapelle's book may reflect the limit of theory construction in applied linguistics as a field. Little of the theoretical content here looks like much of an advance over work produced in the late 1980's. For the most part, the recommendations offered here can be reasonably characterized as fairly general, useful statements that inexperienced teachers can consult as a starting point for evaluating and developing materials and methods. But to call them theories in a scientific, experimental sense -- that is, as statements that allow testable predictions about optimum conditions for learning -- seems to be a bit misleading given their lack of specificity. Nonetheless, Chapelle is optimistic about the future of SLA theory. Chapters 4 and 5 suggest some directions forward if computer technology is harnessed appropriately. Chapter 4 addresses computer technology's impact on language testing, arguably the domain where computers have had their most powerful impact (see the recent LLT special issue on computer-assisted language testing) Chapelle provides a comprehensive discussion of the relevant issues, focusing on what she refers to as a "usefulness analysis" (p. 148) of test materials. The criteria included are extensive, and address questions of validity, reliability, practicality, and authenticity. As in the case of materials evaluation in Chapter 2, these criteria are more subjective and context-dependent than they might appear at first. For example, the chapter stresses that many of the criteria, such as validity, are not easy to determine and that teachers thus need to evaluate usefulness on a case-by-case basis. Considering the number of usefulness criteria presented, one cannot help but feel that this chapter is more of a problem statement than a useable solution to the task of constructing or evaluating a valid and reliable test of language learning. This is not a criticism of Chapelle's book; it is actually to her credit that the chapter lays out the many tricky dimensions of language testing. But it would be misleading to say that this makes the job of constructing and evaluating a valid and reliable computerized test much easier. The fact that test tasks can now be constructed on computer platforms means that detailed information about student performance can in principle be recorded and analyzed, thus potentially yielding far more valid and reliable data on which to develop robust, testable theories. One of the chronic problems in SLA research is that studies are often too short-lived for learning outcomes to be assessed properly or predictions to be tested in a convincing way. If testing regimes allow an automated system to track student results on tests over time, a far more robust set of data is available to teachers and researchers. With this sort of power, one can run many more repeated-measures tests over long periods of time, recording numerous factors -- error rates, reaction times, and so on -- collecting in an automated fashion far more data than has been possible thus far in most SLA research. Unfortunately, Chapter 4 is somewhat scant on examples of this sort of investigation. Chapelle describes a few studies but concludes that "in short, examination of CALT in 2000 demonstrates that many questions about how to improve both
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Reviewed by Stephen A. Bird
Review of Computer Applications in SLA
theory and practice in language testing through the use of computers still remain" (p.130). And the limited number of examples of CALT tests presented in the chapter leave the reader with no clear idea of the form these advances will take. Chapter 5 examines the contribution of computers to CASLR, and again provides a list of criteria for evaluating research methods. This chapter is perhaps the least convincing of the book, particularly in terms of the amount of research reviewed. There is an over reliance on just a few studies when providing examples of computer-assisted SLA. For example, DeKeyser's (1995) study of implicit and explicit learning using an artificial grammar is cited repeatedly, although artificial grammar learning is an extensively researched terrain in experimental psychology (see Reber, 1967, for an early example; see Tunney & Altmann, 2001, for a recent study and literature review). The fact that the chapter does not cite any work -- not even a review -- from outside of SLA journals is lamentable and leaves the chapter looking fairly thin in its coverage of important research. The final chapter sketches some future directions for CALL, CALT and CASLR. Chapelle stresses the importance of developing software that cuts across all of these fields - for example, materials that allow authentic learning to take place while automatically recording a wide range of data relevant to testing CALT and CASLR. Computer technology offers potential in this regard but is yet to be fully exploited. And, consistent with the rest of the book, the final chapter offers a rough guide to what those materials should do but few specific recommendations. Nevertheless, Chapelle concludes that innovations in CASLA have the potential to allow CALL, CALT, and CASLR to gain deeper understanding of SLA, and hence, to improve second language instruction. In general, Computer Applications in Second Language Acquisition provides a very readable overview of the issues to consider in developing and employing CALL, CALT and CASLR. Chapelle makes it clear that there is yet much to be done but, as an early contribution to what is a promising area of SLA work, this volume is a good beginning.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER Steve Bird holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge Research Centre for English and Applied Linguistics. He is founder and CEO of Applied PsychoLinguistics Ltd UK, a language learning software development company. E-mail: stevebird@appliedpsycholinguistics.com REFERENCES Reber, A. S. (1967). Implicit learning of artificial languages. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 6, 855-863. Tunney, R. J., & Altmann, G.T.M. (2001). Two modes of transfer in artificial grammar learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 27(3), 614-639.
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REVIEW OF ESSENTIAL ACADEMIC SKILLS IN ENGLISH: LISTENING TO LECTURES

Title Publisher Essential Academic Skills in English: Listening to Lectures CD-ROM (Volume I) CELTE University of Warwick Conventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom Phone: (0044) (0)-24 7652 8440 Fax: (0044) (0)-24 7652-4318 Email: easeteam@warwick.ac.uk 0902683-46-4 PC only; Windows 95, 98, 2000, or NT. 486 processor or better with 8 MB of RAM (16 MB preferred); SVGA display (800 x 600, 16 bit color or better); sound card; computer speakers; mouse http://www.ease.ac.uk English (British) Not stated, but it appears to be designed for advanced intermediate or advanced adult students. Single user copy (30.00), 5 user license (120.00), 6-20 user license (220.00), Full-site license (400.00)
ISBN Platform System requirements
Support Target language Target audience Price
Reviewed by Meena Singhal, Long Beach City College OVERVIEW Essential Academic Skills in English: Listening to Lectures is a stand-alone PC software package designed for non-native speakers of English who intend to undertake university study in English. Listening to Lectures, the first in the EASE CD-ROM series, contains digital video of academic lectures as well as activities based on these lectures, and thus introduces learners to the kinds of lecture situations and listening activities they will likely encounter in academic settings. DESCRIPTION Listening to Lectures contains 85 short video clips (approximately 1-2 minutes) from 40 authentic lectures given in 25 different departments, including the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. These clips are divided among six units: Openings, Structure and Organization, Functions 1, Functions 2, Attitudes and Significance, and Argumentation. Getting started with Listening to Lectures is easy. Users simply click on the unit they wish to study. Users also have the option of going through an introductory tour before beginning. Upon beginning a unit, the instructions inform the user of how to proceed. The tasks are organized around watching video clips from lectures. Learners first complete pre-viewing activities and then watch the video clip. The video clip can be controlled by clicking on the pla y and pause buttons and by dragging the slider with the cursor. Information about the lecture such as the title and the speaker of the lecture can be obtained by clicking on the "i" button. In addition, the user can access the entire transcript of what the lecturer is saying by clicking on the speech bubble. At any time during the program, the user can also access the dictionary
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Reviewed by Meena Singhal
Review of EASE: Listening to Lectures
which contains definitions of words in the lectures and allows learners immediate access to the video-clip in which the word is used, thus providing them with the context for the word.
Figure 1. Video clip and transcript After users watch the video clip, they complete exercises about the lecture. For the most part, these exercises emphasize lecture content and rhetorical features, including discourse-level as well as sentencelevel activities. The exercises are varied in terms of type and format, and they include matching questions, multiple choice questions, drag and drop exercises, and cloze-tests. Users also have the option of taking on-screen notes while watching the video (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. On-screen note-taking

Learners can get feedback on their answers or choose to see the correct answers by using the Done and Reveal buttons, respectively. While the form of feedback varies depending on the type of exercise, in all cases a brief explanation of why the user's answer was incorrect is provided
Figure 3. Feedback The first unit, Openings, focuses on some of the things lecturers commonly do at the outset of their lectures, and thus the six video clips in this unit are all of the beginnings of lectures. In one activity, users views three video clips and are asked to identify (from a list) the ways in which the speakers opened their lectures. Choices include "the speaker tells a joke," "the speaker states what they're going to talk about," and so forth. In this unit, questions on discourse and rhetorical features include, "Did the speaker introduce himself?" "How many parts is the speech divided into?" and "How many broad questions is the lecture organized around?" Other activities require the user to type in the phrases that the lecturer uses to talk about the structure of the lecture. In the second unit, Structure and Organization, the focus is on the ways in which speakers structure their lectures and the language they use to talk about structure. Topics covered include opening and closing summaries, markers, and transitions. In one activity, users watch video clips and then identify whether they were opening or closing summaries, while in another they identify opening and closing phrases used in a video clip. More form-focused activities in this unit require the user to identify the tense of the verbs being used by the speaker in the clip, or to type the missing words from the speaker's lecture.
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Figure 4. Drag and drop activity. In the third and fourth units, Functions 1 and Functions 2, the focus is on features of academic discourse. In other words, users are introduced to some of the things speakers usually do in lectures such as defining, classifying, comparing and contrasting, and exemplifying. In Unit 5, Attitudes and Significance, the user practices distinguishing between significant and less significant points made by lecturers and examines the degree to which the lecturer is committed to what he or she is saying. This is done through activities that ask users to identify importance markers, style and manner, speakers' attitude about a topic, and identification of non-literal meaning. For example, in one activity on style and manner, users view video clips of two different speakers. A drag-and-drop activity asks them to match words such as "informal," "formal," "humorous," and "serious" with the appropriate clip. In the final unit, Argumentation, users identify arguments and study the language and structure of arguments. In addition to thinking about how arguments are constructed, users are asked to consider the purpose of academic discourse and their role within it. Users begin by learning about the differences between documentary, which is based on truth and is factual, and fiction, which is based on imagination and is invented. They also engage in activities in which they are asked to listen for specific phrases that might indicate a lecturer does not agree with a particular notion. They are asked to identify which ones appear in a speech and which phrases are used to evaluate an argument. In another activity, users are first presented with information explaining a common organizational pattern for arguments. Next, they view a video clip and try to match the points the lecturer makes with the pattern. In addition to exercises centered around video clips, this unit also contains activities based on longer, written passages. EVALUATION This program offers a well-designed user interface and the operation of the program is self-explanatory and clear. Further, navigation is straightforward , and page numbers inform users of their progress through units. At any time during the program, learners can click on the Home icon to return to the main
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page of the first unit. However, after having moved beyond the first unit, the user cannot return to the main menu without exiting the program and starting again. Generally speaking, the sound quality is quite good. One important point to note, however, is that all speakers have British accents. While all learners will likely benefit from exposure to a wide range of English pronunciation patterns, learners in other settings, such as those who aim to enter a U.S. college, for example, may find this somewhat distracting initially. On the other hand, learners of British English will likely appreciate this aspect of Listening to Lectures. A strong feature of the program is the sound pedagogy on which it is based. According to current research, effective listening activities should be based on authentic, rather than simplified, input (Dunkel, 1991; Mendelsohn, 1994; Rubin, 1995). In Listening to Lectures, learners are presented with naturalistic spoken language, rather than scripted input designed specifically for nonnative speakers. Another important point to note is that the videos provide visual support, as users cannot only listen to speakers but can also see their gestures, facial expressions, and body language which can increase comprehension. In addition, Listening to Lectures provides users with opportunities to employ both top-down and bottomup processing skills (see Dunkel, 1991; Morley, 1991). Many of the pre-listening activities are designed to provide background information and activate schemata by encouraging the users to think about what they already know about the lecture topic and the skill to be practiced. Students can also practice a range of skills such as inferencing, evaluation and synthesis of material, and extracting implied meaning from what they hear. Such activities are in line with constructivist approaches to language learning which view knowledge acquisition as a dynamic process where learners are the architects, rather than the recipients, of knowledge (McGroarty, 1998). Another positive aspect of the program is that many activities are designed to help users develop listening strategies, including using non-verbal cues to assist in comprehension, synthesizing and summarizing information, recognizing rhetorical organization, and predicting information, to name a few. Such an approach is consistent with current theory, which views listening as a highly active process of selecting and interpreting information from auditory and visual cues (Ric hards, 1983; Rubin, 1995). The availability of feedback makes Listening to Lectures suitable for self-instructional purposes, as well as use in courses. Although the form of feedback varies, correct answers and a brief explanation are always provided. Some feedback responses, however, such as "Are you serious? Try again" offer little in the way of encouragement. Nonetheless, the feedback is generally useful and in many sections, when learners get the wrong answer, they have an opportunity to replay the clip and attempt the question again. SUMMARY Essential Academic Skills in English: Listening to Lectures is easy to use and could undoubtedly improve listening comprehension and academic listening skills. The overall format and content is most suited to students in, or planning to enter, college or university settings. Because its main focus is on improving listening skills in this type of setting, it is best as a curricular supplement for high intermediate and advanced levels. The reviewer highly recommends this program and believes it will be useful to both nonnative and native students who wish to improve their academic listening skills.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER Meena Singhal (PhD, The University of Arizona) teaches Academic Reading and ESL at Long Beach City College, CA. Some of her publications have appeared in Language Teaching and Research, CALLEJ, and On-CALL: The Australian Journal of Computers and Language Education. She is the editor of an online publication, The Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, which deals primarily with
issues related to second language reading and literacy. Her research interests include reading instruction and technology and the design of CALL materials for academic reading and reading comprehension. E-mail: msinghal@lbcc.cc.ca.us REFERENCES Dunkel, P. (1991). Listening in the native and second/foreign language. Toward an integration of research and practice. TESOL Quarterly, 25(3), 431-457. McGroarty, M. (1998). Constructive and constructivist challenges for applied linguistics. Language Learning, 48, 591-622. Mendelsohn, D. J. (1994). Learning to listen: A strategy-based approach for the second-language learner. San Diego, CA: Dominie Press. Morley, J. (1991). Listening comprehension in second/foreign language instruction. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (2nd ed.; pp. 81-106). Boston: Heinle and Heinle. Richards, J. (1983). Listening comprehension: Approach, design, procedure. TESOL Quarterly, 17(2), 219-240. Rubin, J. (1995). The contribution of video to the development on competence in listening. In D. Mendelsohn and J. Rubin (Eds.), A guide for the teaching of second language listening (pp. 151-165). San Diego, CA: Dominie Press.
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REVIEW OF ADVANCED FRENCH: INTERACTIVE VIDEO LANGUAGE LEARNING WITH "AU COEUR DE LA LOI"
Title Platform System requirements Advanced French: Interactive Video Language Learning with "Au coeur de la loi" Mac OS 8.6+; Windows 98/2000 PC: Pentium, 200 Mh; 64MB RAM; DVD ROM drive; 800x600, 16 bit color display; 50MB free disk space; Soundcard Mac: G3 or G4 processor (e.g. DVD iMac); 128MB RAM; DVD ROM drive Microphone is needed to record one's voice EuroTalk Ltd. 315-317 New Kings Road London SW6 4RF Tel: 44 (0) 207 371 7711 Fax: 44 (0) 207 371 7781 http://www.eurotalk.co.uk http://www.eurotalk.co.uk/ETWebPages/Products/DVDF.html "Help" screens are provided within the program Printed instructions are inside cover of product French (English, German, Italian, and Spanish programs also available) Intermediate or Advanced French (suitable for university and high school levels) 34.99 GBP, according to ordering information on Web site (http://www.eurotalk.co.uk/ETWebPages/Orders/orderF.html) 1-862-21403-4
Publisher / contact information
Support offered
Target language Target audience Price ISBN
Reviewed by Susan Carpenter Binkley, The Five Colleges of Ohio Consortium OVERVIEW
Advanced French is a new DVD-ROM in a series of advanced language lessons produced by EuroTalk Interactive. Each DVD in the series, which includes Advanced English, Spanish, German, and Italian as well as French, is based on an episode from a television program in the target language. Advanced French is based on an episode of Au coeur de la loi (At the Heart of the Law), a French television series which features a female detective and her male colleagues in Paris.
DESCRIPTION The main menu of Advanced French presents users with six choices: Video and text, dictionary, word search, activities, record your own voice, and quiz. There are no directions explaining where or how to begin the program, although the "video and text" button does receive prominence at the top and center of the screen (see Figure 1). This button takes the user to the heart of the DVD: the 50-minute video episode of Au coeur de la loi. While it is possible to begin with the activities, these are all based on the video, and thus users who are unfamiliar with the episode will likely become confused.
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Susan Carpenter Binkley
Review of Advanced French
Figure 1. Main menu After viewing the video, users can consult the reference tools and complete the activities largely in the order they see fit. However, the quiz should probably be done last, as it includes information from the other activities. Video and Text (Vido et texte) Clicking on Vido et texte takes the user to the video and transcript. Au coeur de la loi plays within a television-like frame, with the French transcript appearing as subtitles below the television frame (see Figure 2) .
Figure 2. Video and text screen
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It is also possible to view the video at full screen size (without subtitles, icons, or menu items) or to scroll through the episode's transcript in its entirety. In this mode, clicking on any line of dialogue will cause the video to jump to the corresponding section of the episode. There is also a scene menu from which the learner can easily jump to any part of the video without scrolling through the dialogue or using the somewhat difficult to control fast-forward and reverse buttons. Dictionary (Dictionnaire) The dictionary consists of an alphabetical list of objects and characters seen in the video. Rather than providing a definition, clicking on a given word displays a frame from the video with the corresponding object circled while a voice-over provides a pronunciation model. The dictionary is accessible only from the main menu and is not hotlinked from any other activity in the program. Word Search (Recherche de mots) Recherche de mots is similar to the dictionary, but instead of listing objects seen in the video, it lists the words spoken in the dialogue. Clicking on a word plays the scene in which that word was uttered. No translations or definitions are provided. Instead, the student must rely exclusively on context to determine the meaning. Activities (Activits) The activities section consists of four different types of exercises which focus on vocabulary, listening comprehension, and spelling. For all four activities, Advanced French includes both untimed "practice sessions" (entrainement) and timed "tests." In the practice sessions, users can eliminate one incorrect answer by clicking the question mark icon at the bottom of the screen. Some of the timed tests allow only several seconds to respond, and those several seconds seem to go by rather quickly. The spelling activity in particular requires a fair amount of clicking and dragging in a short time (see Figure 3).
Figure 3. Spelling test
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Feedback for both correct and incorrect answers is provided, with the exact form of the feedback varying by activity. In both practice and test modes, the user's score, based on the total number of questions in the activity, is reported. The vocabulary activity (vocabulaire) is a multiple-choice exercise based on the objects in the dictionary. For each item, learners see and hear a single word and then click on the corresponding image, out of six that are displayed (see Figure 4). Many of the targeted items are often covered in beginning level texts (e.g., "le pied" (a foot), "une ceinture" (a belt), and "une voiture" (a car).
Figure 4. Vocabulary activity Mot perdu is a fill-in-the-blank exercise based on brief scenes from Au coeur de la loi. As learners view the scene, the transcript is provided with one word missing. Learners click on the missing word from a list of 10 choices. The spelling activity (peler) is also based on a short clip from the video. This activity is similar to the fill-in-the-blank exercise, in that the transcript appears with one word missing. However, here learners click and drag letters to spell the missing word, rather than choosing from a list of choices. Finally, "What is the next line?" (Quel [sic] est la prochaine rplique?) is perhaps the most difficult of the four activities. Learners first view a very brief clip -- consisting of just one line of dialogue -- and then must choose the next line of dialogue from a list of three possibilities. In this activity, unlike most of the others, a transcript of the scene is not provided, so users must rely solely on their listening ability. Record Your Own Voice (Enregistrez-vous) The speaking component is located in the Enregistrez-vous section. Here, after users choose a character, a scene with that character is shown. Learners repeat each line of dialogue, recording their own voices. They do not need to memorize the line, since a written transcription is provided. However, users must keep pace with the original video, which can be quite challenging, since the actors speak quickly. After individually recording about five lines of dialogue, learners can play the entire scene with their own voice inserted into the proper places.
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Quiz (Quizz Vido) The Quizz Vido provides a game show format with a virtual competitor named Mathieu. A short clip from the video is shown, and a multiple choice question based on that clip appears and is read by the voice of a game show host. These questions cover a range of information, from vocabulary and grammar ("Quel est l'impritif prsent du verbe rflchir?" / What is the imperative of the verb to reflect?) to comprehension of the storyline ("Pourquoi est-ce que l'agent de police arrte la voiture?" / Why does the police office stop the car?). Unfortunately, if the learner doesn't respond correctly, there is apparently no way to learn the correct answer: "Mathieu" hits a button and receives the points, but it is not clear which answer he chose. Help Features Upon launching the DVD, users are given the opportunity to choose the language for the instructions on the help screens. English is the default language for the instructions, but one can also choose French, as well as a variety of other languages. Subsequently, whenever users click on the small red and white life preserver at the bottom right of each screen, they can read instructions in that language. Users sign in when they begin, and the program keeps track of their progress for each use by indicating the date of the previous use, the number of sessions practiced, and the running score for any tests taken. It does not, however, bookmark partially completed exercises, nor does it return the users to point where they left off on the previous use. EVALUATION Advanced French is appropriate for individual, self-guided work in an intermediate to advanced language class. If the instructor has a regular "lab day" incorporated into the class schedule, this DVD would work nicely. It would require, however, several days work to get through most of the activities because the video alone, played without interruption, is about 50 minutes. However, it could be challenging to incorporate this DVD into a class lesson and/or evaluate students' progress because of the absence of units or clearly divided segments. Questions in the various exercises are posed in apparently random order and do not move chronologically through the storyline. Thus, if learners watch the first 30 minutes of the video, and then attempt to complete some of the exercises, they could become frustrated, since the exercise questions will not necessarily reflect that portion of the video. This lack of segmentation is perhaps the biggest drawback for the teacher wishing to integrate Advanced French into a course syllabus. Of the four basic skills, Advanced French is strongest on listening and reading, rather than speaking or writing. However, the comprehension questions do not require learners to use any higher-order skills such as reasoning. Instead, the questions tend to be straightforward and fact-oriented. Moreover, none of the activities are based on communication; the speaking exercises consist only of repeating lines of dialogue, and the real challenge is to repeat the lines very quickly, before the recording function shuts off. It is therefore questionable whether the program lives up to the producers' billing as "interactive" since learners do not interact with other speakers. Holliday (1999) has noted this shortcoming of supposedly interactive software. In most cases, he writes, "the learner is in reality not interacting with another speaker ... and all of the computer's supposed interactive responses are in fact drawn from a limited data bank of preprogrammed, pre-audio-recorded or pre-video-recorded items" (p. 186). Advanced French provides even less than a "databank of preprogrammed responses"; the only response to the learner's recorded voice is the next line of dialogue. An instructor could, however, create oral and written activities to serve as a follow-up to the video in order to encourage oral and written communication. In fact, the video addresses many current social issues that could form the basis for further discussion in class. For example, the storyline involving Aziz, a rehabilitated delinquent, alludes to problems of racism in the workplace, particularly towards those of
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North African descent. The main character, Batrice, juggles several different -- and often competing -relationships with her mother, son, and boyfriend. The activities created by EuroTalk do not elaborate on these pertinent topics or coax the learner to explore them in more depth. SUMMARY Many students will likely find it interesting to watch a recent television episode created for native speakers of French, rather than a film produced specifically for pedagogical purposes. Thus, the use of Au coeur de la loi is one of the most attractive aspects of Advanced French in that it offers exposure to authentic French. Although learners may at first feel overwhelmed by not being able to understand all of the spoken dialogue in the film, the exercises are likely to alleviate this frustration by requiring much simpler language skills. However, the lack of opportunities for meaningful communication in these exercises provided means that instructors will likely want to supplement the DVD with various additional activities.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER Susan Carpenter Binkley has a PhD in French from the Ohio State University. She currently serves as Language Technology Specialist for the Ohio Five Foreign Language Project (The College of Wooster, Denison University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University), supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. Her current research focuses on instructional design for foreign language Web activities, and the use of digital video for second language acquisition. E-mail: binkleys@kenyon.edu REFERENCES Dickinson, L. (1987). Self-instruction in language learning. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. *** Omaggio Hadley, A. (1993). Teaching language in context. Boston: Heinle and Heinle. *** Holliday, L. (1999). Theory and research: Input, interaction, and CALL. In J. Egbert & E. Hanson-Smith (Eds.), CALL environments: Research, practice, and critical issues. Alexandria, VA: TESOL. Nunan, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP. ***
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REVIEW OF TESOROS: A MULTIMEDIA-BASED SPANISH COURSE ON CD-ROM

Title Platforms System requirements Tesoros: A Multimedia-Based Spanish Course on CD-ROM. Windows 95/98 Macintosh: System 7.5 or later. Windows: Pentium 100 MHz processor; 16 MB of RAM; 640 x 480 256-color display; 8x CD-ROM drive; SoundBlaster compatible sound card with microphone and speakers Macintosh: PowerPC 100 MHz processor; 16 MB of RAM; 640 x 480 256color display; 8x CD-ROM drive; microphone and speakers McGraw-Hill Companies PO Box 182605 Columbus, OH 43218-2605 Phone: 1-800-262-4729 (students) Phone: 1-800-338-3987 (instructors) Fax: 1-614-759-3644 E-mail: customer.service@mcgraw-hill.com Customer service: http://www.mhhe.com/catalogs/cust_serv/ Spanish. Introductory level. Stand-alone set of 5 CD-ROMs: $45 Institutional lab pack (10 sets of 5 CD-ROMs): $320 Site license: Contact your local McGraw-Hill representative http://www.mhhe.com/catalogs/rep/ 0-07-234220-X
Publisher
Support offered Target language Target audience Price
ISBN
Reviewed by Joseph Collentine, Northern Arizona University Tesoros is an introductory multimedia Spanish course on five CD-ROMs. It forms the core of a larger package that includes a textbook and a workbook/laboratory manual which is appropriate for self-study or classroom-based learners. According to the accompanying information booklet (p. 1), Tesoros "offers students the opportunity to explore Spanish through an intriguing story line" and it "contains many interactive task-based activities." The narrative-based curriculum centers around a detective who searches for a hidden treasure located somewhere in the Spanish-speaking world, a plot element which takes users to a myriad of countries. The student plays the detective's assistant, completing a number of tasks that are meant to help the sleuth find the hidden treasure. Each of the 16 lessons is organized around a multimedia episode of the story. First, students view and listen to a comic -strip-like episode. To understand the content of an episode, students can roll their mouse over a caption to hear an audio-recording of the dialogue.
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Reviewed by Joseph Collentine
Review of Tesoros...
Figure 1. Story episode Double-clicking on any frame in the episode opens a window with the dialogue transcribed and hyperlinked to information about lexical and grammatical features (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Dialogue with hyperlinks to lexical and grammatical information.
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Learners then complete a series of tasks assigned by the detective, who requires them to compose e-mails and record biographical information about certain characters. Learners must also recreate portions of the episode's dialogue by means of a drag-and-drop activity. Subsequently, the student reads and listens to a list of vocabulary items related to the episode. Various activities are designed to help the learner retain these lexical items. Finally, each lesson ends with a grammar explanation and accompanying exercises.
Figure 3. Vocabulary and grammar activities. Lafford (2001) recently reviewed the Tesoros package for CALICO, concentrating on the extent to which Tesoros is compatible with what are presumed to be effective computer-assisted language learning (CALL) design features. Lafford's thorough and insightful assessment concludes that Tesoros is compatible with about half of the multimedia design features that Chapelle (1998) argues will create fruitful conditions for second language acquisition (SLA). Chapelle's features are motivated by interactionist SLA research, which posits that the acquisition of linguistic phenomena is facilitated by negotiating for meaning. The perspective on learning taken by Tesoros' designers is somewhat broader, since it appears to be more informed by cultural and social psychological theories of learning. Using a mystery story as the foundation for the course is consistent with one thesis of cultural psychology: that the narrative is an effective tool with which to foster knowledge acquisition (Bruner, 1996). Tesoros' designers also attempt to engage Spanish learners in taskbased activities, which reflects the increasing acceptance of the social psychological thesis that instruction should encourage knowledge acquisition through "situated cognition" (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989). Finally, although Tesoros does not include any of the currently available technologies that allow learners to negotiate messages with either fellow students or their instructors (e.g., chat rooms), the designers demonstrate an awareness of recent CALL discussions on the need for materials to provide so-called "interactive software features" that give learners frequent feedback and that affect a non-linear experience (see Labour, 2001).
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TESOROS' USE OF THE NARRATIVE AS A CURRICULAR FOUNDATION Narratives whose content constitutes a central and unifying theme within a given curriculum represent a key factor in facilitating knowledge acquisition since they provide a cognitively efficient mechanism around which learners can build new knowledge about culture and language (Bruner, 1996). Activities that involve learners' episodic memory and cognitive "scripts" (e.g., advanced organizers) facilitate the acquisition process because they add new memories to related, rather than isolated, bits of information (McLaughlin, 1987). To be sure, the Open University's MENO project (Multimedia, Education, and Narrative Organization) has specifically researched the facilitative effects of narratives on learning in multimedia environments. Because computer-based materials can overload the novice with data (e.g., links, stimuli), the use of narrative as a curricular cornerstone can be particularly beneficial in this medium, as narratives provide an anchor with which to integrate new information. Technology-based Spanish FL materials have embraced the potential benefits of the narrative since the introduction of Destinos, a video-based introductory course, and more recently with the McGraw-Hill/Annenberg/CPB Nuevos Destinos project. Other groundbreaking FL projects include French in Action and A la rencontre de Philippe. Tesoros effectively uses its story line as a unifying theme when providing opportunities for learners to develop their lexical and grammatical abilities. Most linguistic structures (e.g., vocabulary, grammatical phenomena) are introduced through the comic -strip episodes, and hyperlinks encourage students to seek the definitions of unknown words and grammar explanations. However, even though one of the learner's duties is to study cultural information about the country in which each episode takes place, Tesoros does not adequately integrate this cultural information in the narrative. While the CD-ROM and Web links provide a plethora of social, historical, literary, and musical information about any given place, the materials do not clearly specify task demands that might require the learner to seek specific information. Tesoros would have done well to provide activities requiring learners to conjecture about some of the places that the detective might visit in a given country, what the detective might see and eat, and important people that could provide information or even clues to the treasure's whereabouts. Thus, teachers using Tesoros in courses will likely want to design such activities. In future versions of this software, portions of the narrative's development could be contingent on the user's interaction with cultural materials. For instance, a student might choose from a selection of songs to buy, and that music might form the background music for some subsequent situation; or, a work of art that the learner enjoyed might "mysteriously" reappear in a subsequent episode. TESOROS AS A SOURCE FOR ENCOURAGING LEARNING THROUGH SITUATED COGNITION Situated cognition is a theory of social psychology asserting that knowledge acquisition results not only from abstract explanations of concepts but also from experiencing how that knowledge is useful in realworld problem solving (Brown et al., 1989; see also Salaberry, 1996). Within the fields of second- and foreign-language acquisition, pedagogues have spoken of the need to involve learners in task-based activities, or assignments where learners employ the target language while working towards some nonlinguistic goal (Crookes & Gass, 1993; Long, 1997, Nunan, 1989). Students role play, derive a solution for some dilemma, and make choices about how to achieve a goal. Some of Tesoros' task-based activities reflect these stipulations, since learners must use Spanish communicatively in the role of a detective's assistant who needs to gather and organize clues. Each chapter requires learners to complete various tasks based on the accompanying episode. For example, writing tasks require students to use Spanish to uncover and maintain biographical information about the story's participants and correspond with the detective via (simulated) e-mail. It is questionable whether some activities labeled "tasks" will truly involve learners in situated cognition. For example, one duty that
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the detective assigns his assistant involves the recreation of a portion of each episode's dialogue. Students complete a drag-and-drop activity, matching written segments with their place in the episode's dialogue. Yet, while recreating the content of a conversation is reasonably authentic detective work (to the extent that detectives often take notes on what they have heard or observed), Tesoros does not make clear the non-linguistic (i.e., the situational) purpose of such a task. Future versions of the software could ask students to act somehow on the information in the dialogue. For instance, if the detective needed to know the whereabouts of a person possessing an important clue, the application could prompt the learner to get that information from the dialogue. The student might then need to write a note reporting the person's whereabouts. Alternatively, an input-oriented activity might require the learner to choose between one of several possible notes to send to the detective. Finally, one of the learners' designated "tasks" is not, by definition, task-based at all; it simply requires learners to record and listen to sentences that they repeat from the episode. TESOROS' INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE FEATURES An important CALL design issue as of late is the extent to which an application is "interactive." Tesoros' principal author, Robert Blake, has raised concerns about the accuracy of software marketing that claims to give students an interactive experience (Blake, 1999). Given that this program does not allow users to exchange information either between two people (e.g., in a chat room environment) or between a user and the software (e.g., via some sort of Natural LanguageProcessing technology), in all likelihood, Tesoros' authors do not mean to equate "interactive task-based activities" with interpersonal interaction. From a software engineering perspective, Labour (2001) asserts that there are two important factors by which to assess an instructional application's degree of interactivity: a) the frequency and the variety of comprehension checks (e.g., Cloze exercises, multiple choice questions, open-ended questions); b) the degree to which students can explore content in a non-linear fashion. Tesoros does provide a non-linear experience; yet, the comprehension checks could be more engaging. Concerning comprehension checks, Tesoros relies heavily on discrete-point types of exercises that require mostly one-word answers and that entail matching tasks (i.e., drag-and-drop exercises). For instance, several grammar activities prompt students to write sentences employing a targeted structure (e.g., the copula). Erroneous or problematic portions of the learner's text automatically change to green. For the most part, however, the comprehension checks do not provide the level of linguistic interactivity that the Macromedia Director authoring environment in which Tesoros was created could support. As one who authors pedagogical materials in Director (see Collentine, 2000), this reviewer believes that the software designers have not taken advantage of the algorithms that the Director API and its Lingo scripting language offer language instruction. Director contains numerous built-in string operations that parse simple and complex phrases. For instance, an activity might require a learner to pose questions to a character in the story, targeting the use of interrogatives. With a high degree of reliability, code such as that shown in Figure 4 could check the learner's response to see if it contains the appropriate interrogative.
Figure 4. String operations checking for presence of interrogative. Similarly, a linguist and a software engineer could collaborate to capitalize on various string operations to examine whether a particular verb appears in a user response (i.e., whether the response contains the targeted semantic information) and then whether that verb appears in the correct form. For example, the
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code shown in Figure 5 employs Lingo to examine a user's entire response to a question prompting the use of dormir (to sleep). Specifically, it employs built in methods such as "the number of words in STRING," "STRING contains STRING," and "offset STRING1, STRING2" (where the result is the character position of STRING1 within STRING2) to determine whether the learner's utterance has a form of dormir and whether it is inflectionally appropriate. It would not be difficult for an engineer to make this code re-usable (i.e., convert it so that it takes parameters representing certain segments of any verb, such as is stem and its inflection).
Figure 5. String operations checking for presence and accuracy of dormir Regarding linearity, Tesoros allows students to move freely within the various chapters of the story and within the various scenes of an episode. Here students can explore in detail a wide variety of forms found within the narrative's dialogue. With any number of mouse events, learners can retrieve "graphic" glosses of unknown numerous vocabulary items in the dialogue (i.e., in the form of drawings). Users can also click on a grammatical form, whereupon they see a "reference card" that reveals the grammatical paradigm to which the form belongs and any other related forms. For example, if a student clicks te (the second-person, singular, direct-object pronoun), a list of direct-object pronouns appears. These forms are not translated into English. Superficially, this design feature might seem like a shortcoming. Yet, this approach is likely to lead learners to consider the semantic value or grammatical features of terms that they might already know within a paradigm (e.g., a learner may already know what me -- the first-person form -- represents). Perhaps by deductive efforts the learner will discern the meaning and/or function of te. What will likely be frustrating for some learners, however, is that these reference cards do not contain links to parts of the software application where learners can access full lessons on the referenced grammatical item (e.g., a grammar lesson treating direct-object pronouns). SUMMARY The Tesoros CD-ROM package resides on a solid foundation of learning theory and materials design. The multimedia materials, in concert with Tesoros' print materials and any teacher-specific tasks, will provide learners with opportunities to develop their knowledge of the Hispanic world and the Spanish language in an engaging fashion. Furthermore, the interface and the application's software features allow for an interactive experience. At the same time, Tesoros is testimony to the need for commercial educational software to exploit more fully the tools that authoring environments offer. The designers would do well to include specific tasks based on the cultural information provided. Additionally, in future versions of this courseware, the inclusion of more task-based activities that parallel real-world demands and linguistic interactions that take full advantage of Director's built-in string-parsing operations would likely provide learners with a more beneficial experience.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER Joseph Collentine is an Associate Professor of Spanish at Northern Arizona University. He has published on CALL theory, materials design, and tracking technologies. He also researches the acquisition of morphosyntactically complex structures by foreign language learners of Spanish. E-mail: Joseph.Collentine@nau.edu REFERENCES Blake, R. (1999). Nuevos destinos: A CD-ROM for advanced beginning Spanish. CALICO Journal, 17(1), 9-24. Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, S. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32-42. Bruner, J. S. (1996). The culture of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Chapelle, C. (1998). Multimedia CALL: Lessons to be learned from research on instructed SLA. Language Learning & Technology, 2(1), 22-34. Retrieved November 15, 2001, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol2num1/article1/index.html. Collentine, J. (2000). Insights into the construction of grammatical knowledge provided by user-behavior tracking technologies. Language Learning & Technology, 3(2), 44-57. Retrieved November 15, 2001, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol3num2/collentine/index.html. Crookes, G., & Gass, S. (Eds.). (1993). Tasks and language learning: Integrating theory & practice. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Labour, M. (2001) Social constructivism and CALL: Evaluating some interactive features of networkbased authoring tools. ReCall, 13(1), 32-46. Lafford, P. (2001). Tesoros review. The CALICO Review. Retrieved November 15, 2001, from http://astro.temple.edu/~jburston/CALICO/review/tesoros00.htm. Long, M. H. (1997). Focus on form in task-based language teaching. Retrieved November 15, 2001, from http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/foreignlang/conf/first.htm. McLaughlin, B. (1987). Theories of second language learning. London: Edward Arnold. Nunan, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Salaberry, R. (1996). A theoretical foundation for the development of pedagogical tasks in computer mediated communication. CALICO Journal, 14(1), 5-36.
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Language Learning & Technology http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num1/dufon/
VIDEO RECORDING IN ETHNOGRAPHIC SLA RESEARCH: SOME ISSUES OF VALIDITY IN DATA COLLECTION
Margaret A. DuFon California State University-Chico ABSTRACT In recent years increasing numbers of researchers have begun to investigate second language acquisition within the socio-cultural context in which it occurs using qualitative methods and approaches such as an ethnographic approach. This frequently entails audio and/or video recording of the participants in naturalistic contexts. Yet theoretical and methodological issues related to video recording have not yet received a great deal of attention in the second language acquisition literature. The purpose of this paper is to initiate such a discussion among SLA researchers. This is accomplished by reviewing the visual anthropology, educational anthropology, and ethnographic filmmaking literature on three questions concerning the collection of valid video recorded data: a) How should the interaction be video recorded? b) Who should be video recorded? c) Who should do the video recording? Examples from my own research are presented to illustrate the kinds of problems that might be encountered in each of these areas. Finally I present my reflections on the decisions I made when videotaping so that other SLA researchers using video recording might gain some insights that will assist them when dealing with the theoretical, methodological and practical considerations of planning and implementing their SLA studies using an ethnographic approach.
INTRODUCTION In recent years, increasing numbers of second language acquisition researchers have begun to study the process of second language acquisition within the socio-cultural context in which it occurs (Lazaraton, 1995) -- whether it be in the classroom (e.g., Duff, 1995; Ohta, 1999; Poole, 1992) or naturalistic settings outside the classroom (DuFon, 2000; Iino, 1996; Krupa-Kwiatkowski, 1998; Schecter & Bayley, 1997; Siegal, 1995), or both (Rymes, 1997) -- using qualitative theoretical and methodological approaches. One type of qualitative approach is the ethnographic approach. Many studies of second language acquisition that use an ethnographic approach require microanalysis of the speech of the learners and the input from and interaction with native speakers of the target language (e.g., DuFon, 2000; Iino, 1996) or with other learners of the target language (e.g., Duff, 1995; Willett, 1995) and with their teachers (e.g., Duff, 1995; Willett, 1995). In order to meet this requirement and to study the acquisition process in the socio-cultural context in which it occurs, linguistic data are typically obtained by audio or video recording of speech during naturalistic interactions. Yet, many times, SLA researchers are not adequately trained for the task of video recording. The training that they receive in ESL and applied linguistics programs in the areas of ethnographic methods in general, and visual ethnography in particular, is limited when compared to that received by linguistic anthropologists. Students of ESL and applied linguistics are likely to take only one or two courses in qualitative research methods, and with all the issues that must be covered (e.g., negotiating entry, selecting informants, writing field notes, utilizing various methods of data analysis), little time is available for issues specifically related to video recording. Not only are they not trained in the technical aspects of how to video record, but the theoretical and methodological aspects of video recording are not
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Videorecording in SLA Ethnographic Research
necessarily covered in classes on qualitative research methods. Additionally, little time, if any, is devoted to providing students with practical experience in video recording for research purposes. As a result, SLA researchers are often left to self-train. They may seek training from video or film production professionals, who can help researchers with learning the technical aspects of video recording, but are often unaware of and unconcerned with the theoretical and methodological issues that must be considered by the second language researcher using an ethnographic approach. Consequently, SLA researchers often go into the field less than adequately prepared to deal with video recording and its associated theoretical, methodological, and technical issues. The purpose of this article is to share with other second language researchers who are interested in collecting data through video recording what I have learned both through the academic literature in visual anthropology, ethnographic filmmaking, educational anthropology, and the educational uses of ethnographic and video technologies and through my own field experience. This particular article will focus on an ethnographic approach to research, which is the approach I used in the investigation and that I will use to illustrate some of the points that I make here. The theoretical and methodological constraints on videotaping will vary somewhat according to the approach that is used. Therefore, researchers using other theoretical and methodological approaches to research in SLA may not have identical concerns with those discussed here. Nevertheless there may be some overlap and they may find some issues discussed here to be relevant to their work. For those who are unfamiliar with an ethnographic approach, I begin with a brief description of what it is. This will be followed by background information on the study I conducted and which I use to illustrate the issues presented here. Next I will focus on three specific questions which deal with the issue of obtaining valid videotaped data in naturalistic settings that will enable the researcher to compose a valid account of the phenomenon under investigation: 1) How should the interaction be video recorded? 2) Who should be video recorded? and 3) Who should do the video recording? For each of these three questions, I will review the relevant academic literature from other disciplines, and then illustrate some of the problems I faced concerning the issue in question in my own research and field experiences. Through this discussion, the reader should gain some understanding of the types of problems and concerns associated with video recording in the fie ld, as well as some of the issues that need to be considered when planning and conducting ethnographic research using video recording as a method of data collection. This article will not deal with the technical aspects of how to film (e.g., light source, type of microphones, etc.), which are dealt with by Duranti (1997), Goodwin (1993), and Jackson (1987). Rather the technical aspects will be discussed only as they influence the theoretical and methodological considerations. Transcription and analysis of audio and video recorded data in ethnographic research are important issues and should be addressed in the second language acquisition literature, but they are beyond the scope of this paper. For further information on transcription, the reader is referred to Asch (1988), Corsaro (1982), Duranti, (1997), Edwards & Lampert (1993), Green, Franquiz, & Dixon (1997), Ochs (1988), Roberts (1997), and Schieffelin (1990). For information on various aspects of analysis of video recorded data, good sources include Corsaro (1982), Erickson (1982, 1992), Erickson and Schulz (1982), and GoldmanSegall (1993, 1995, 1998). Furthermore, this article will not deal with the ethical issues related to the collection, transcription, and presentation of recorded data. This topic is a very large one in and deserves an article of its own. For more information on this topic, see Asch (1992), Besnier (1994), Biella (1988), Duranti (1997), Erickson (1992), Grimshaw (1982b), Harvey (1991, 1992), Heider (1976), Iino (1999), Punch (1986), Ruby (2000), and Watson-Gegeo, Maldonado-Guzman, & Gleason (1981). Finally, this article does not deal with telling the story crafted as a result of the research either through the video itself or through accompanying textual materials. For information related to issues of producing ethnographic videos or multimedia for public consumption, see Goldman-Segall (1998) and Heider (1976) and for writing the ethnographic text, see Golden-Biddle & Locke (1997) and Wolcott (1990).
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An Ethnographic Approach Ethnographic research focuses on the behaviors (including the linguistic behaviors) of the members of a particular community by studying them in naturally occurring, ongoing settings, typically while they participate in mundane day-to-day events. Its aim is to provide a thick description (Geertz, 1973) or a descriptive-explanatory-interpretive account of that community or some aspect of life within it, incorporating both an emic perspective, or the culturally specific framework used by the members of the community under study for interpreting and assigning meaning to their experiences, and an etic perspective, based on the academic frameworks, concepts, and categories of the researcher's discipline (Watson-Gegeo, 1988). The thick description of an ethnographic account is accomplished through a number of means. First, an ethnographic approach is holistic (Lutz, 1981), that is, the (linguistic) behaviors are investigated in the context in which people produce them and they are interpreted and explained in terms of their relationship to the entire system of which they are a part (Watson-Gegeo, 1988). Second, it involves prolonged or intensive fieldwork in the community under study, which allows time for the researcher to become socialized into the community, to build trust with the participants, to observe the phenomenon under investigation repeatedly so as to gain some idea as to its degree of typicality and its range of variation, and to test information and analysis for accuracy (Asch, 1992; Corsaro, 1982; Davis, 1995; Erickson, 1986, 1992; Heider, 1976; Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Lutz, 1981; Watson-Gegeo, 1988; Wolcott, 1995). Third, it involves triangulated inquiry; gathering naturalistic data using a variety of techniques -- participant-observation, field notes, audio and/or video recordings, interviews and so forth -- from different sources (Diesing, 1971; Sevigny, 1981) and checking it with various members of the community (Corsaro, 1982; Davis, 1995; Lincoln & Guba; 1985; GoldmanSegall, 1993, 1995, 1998; Tobin, Wu, & Davidson, 1989) or even with outsiders who come from other communities (e.g., Tobin, Wu, & Davidson, 1989) in order to get multiple perspectives or points of view on a particular behavior, event, or phenomenon. This triangulation in the process of interpretation of data, as well as in the collection of them, builds in layers of description, thus yielding a thicker description and increased credibility or validity (Goldman-Segall, 1995, 1998). Data analysis, which is typically done with words or textual data rather than numerical data (Miles & Huberman, 1994), begins as soon as the researcher selects a problem to study and continues throughout the project until the last word of the report is written (Fetterman, 1998). That is, data analysis is ongoing and early findings are used to guide subsequent observations in terms of what is being investigated and how that investigation is carried out. In contrast to experimental research, the purpose of an ethnographic study is to focus on the community in question, and to gain insights regarding how it works with respect to the issues under investigation; the purpose is not to generalize beyond it to other communities. However, it is often the case that comparisons based on ethnographic studies of two or more communities can be made on a more abstract level. This kind of comparison is referred to as ethnology (Davis, 1995). In the past, European and North American anthropologists went off to distant lands to study exotic cultures in Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the Arctic. Therefore, the anthropologist was always an outsider with respect to the community under study. Today, there are both Western and non-Western ethnographers and both often study their own cultures; consequently, they are often cultural insiders. In the study of second language acquisition, there are at least two communities under investigation, the native language community of the learners and the target language community, though in foreign language settings, the target language community may be more imagined due to its lack of a physical presence. The ethnographer may be an insider to one community and an outsider to the other. I will discuss this further after first describing the context of the study that I draw on in this article.
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THE STUDY The study (DuFon, 2000) I conducted using an ethnographic approach investigated the acquisition of linguistic politeness in Indonesian by foreign language learners. These learners were six undergraduate students from American universities who were studying the language during a four-month study abroad program in Malang, East Java, Indonesia during the fall semester of 1996. All were between the ages of 20 and 22. Three were male and three were female. Three were absolute beginners and three were intermediate level learners. Four were Americans, who spoke English as their native language. Two of the women were Japanese nationals, who spoke Japanese as the first language; they were also fluent speakers of English. All lived with Indonesian host families in Malang, the "second city" of East Java. They all studied in daily language classes with their teachers at IKIP-Malang (now Universitas Negeri-Malang) as well as in weekly sessions with a private tutor. All agreed to participate in the study, which involved a number of obligations including, but not limited to, the following: a) allowing me to accompany them on a tutoring session, audio taping the interaction; b) allowing me to videotape them during a naturalistic interaction of their choice once during the course of the program; c) audio taping themselves in a minimum of nine naturalistic interactions with native speakers of Indonesian during the four-month program; and d) keeping a journal on what they learned about politeness in Indonesian through their interactions with Indonesian native speakers, including those which they had audio taped. Like the learners, I was a cultural outsider to the Indonesian community, easily identifiable as such by immutable characteristics such as my body height, skin and eye color, and nose shape, as well as behaviors such as foreign accent, posture, and gait, which with time and attention might increasingly conform to Javanese Indonesian norms. In contrast, to the learners, at least the American ones, I was to a large extent a cultural insider. I had been a student in the COTI Program (Consortium On the Teaching of Indonesian, now Consortium On the Teaching of Indonesian and Malay, COTIM), a study-abroad program for advanced learners of Indonesian, four years earlier in 1992. The 1992 COTI program was held in Malang at the same college and shared many of the same host families. Therefore, I shared with the four American learners a common national background and consequently a considerable amount of common cultural background. With all six learners, I shared a similar study-abroad experience. Yet I was not a total insider either. I was a generation older than the learners and my status was that of researcher, not student in the program. Consequently, our privileges, rights, and obligations were not the same, and our experiences were not identical. Factors such as these affected the ways in which I could participate in the two communities involved in the study -- the Indonesian native speakers and the foreign learners of Indonesian -- and the extent to which I could integrate into them. With respect to videotaping, although I had previously conducted ethnographic research, I had used only audiotape. Videotaping was new to me, and I was not comfortable with it. Nevertheless, I found that the videotaping that I had collected under good conditions yielded valuable and usable data. Videotaping was often a challenge given the conditions of the situation, and obtaining valid data on tape was not a given. In the following sections, I discuss issues related to the problem of obtaining valid video data. OBTAINING VALID VIDEO DATA There are a number of advantages to video recording in ethnographic research. One advantage is the density of data that a visual recording provides (Grimshaw, 1982a). In an ethnographic approach to research, we seek to study real people in real situations, doing real activities. Video recorded data can provide us with more contextual data than can audio recorded data (Gass & Houck, 1999; Iino, 1999). They can give us a more complete sense of who the people are, and acquaint us with the setting in which the people function and the types of activities they engage in from day-to-day as well as the nature of these activities themselves. In second language studies, not only does video recording enable us to
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accurately identify who is speaking, but also it provides information about posture, gestures, clothing, and proxemics, which inform us regarding native speaker norms with respect to these features and the degree to which the learners conform to them, which in turn provide us with some information concerning the extent to which the learners have been socialized into the target language community. Gestures, facial expressions, and other visual interactional cues also provide important information both on the negotiation of meaning and the negotiation of affect. Non-native speakers, especially those whose linguistic means are limited, may rely extensively on extralinguistic means, as well as linguistic and paralinguistic means, to convey both their referential message and their relational message (Gass & Houck, 1999). Furthermore this kind of visual information can help us to disambiguate verbal messages by narrowing down the possible number of accurate interpretations (Iino, 1999). Finally, the visual information in videos also provides information on directionality and intensity of attention, which can be particularly useful in determining the levels of comfort and involvement of the interlocutors (Gass & Houck, 1999). These kinds of visual contextual information, then, can enrich our data base in many ways. Video (as well as audio) recording also provides us with denser linguistic information than does field note taking, for ideally it allows us to record every word. When taking field notes, the researcher is limited to writing down the gist of what the interlocutors said, or recording only brief interactions consisting of a few short turns because of constraints on memory and the inherently slower speed of writing as compared with speaking (Beebe and Takahashi, 1989). Another advantage of video recording is permanence (Grimshaw, 1982a), which allows us to experience an event repeatedly by playing it back. With each repeated viewing, we can change our focus somewhat and see things we had not seen at the time of taping or on previous viewings (Erickson, 1982, 1992; Fetterman, 1998). Replaying the event also allows us more time to contemplate, deliberate, and ponder the data before drawing conclusions, and hence serves to ward off premature interpretation of the data. Even a rare event, when captured on tape, can be replayed repeatedly for a thorough analysis so that it can still be studied intensively. Real time observation does not have this advantage (Erickson, 1992). Nevertheless, the amount of information contained in ethnographic footage -- the unedited videotaped material of a particular event (Crawford, 1992) -- is necessarily limited, and we need to bear these limitations in mind. First, the information is limited in that the videotape itself tells us nothing about statistics, that is, how typical this event is. Is it a frequent event or an unusual event or a unique event? That kind of information must be supplemented by the ethnographer, who has spent sufficient time in the field as a participant-observer, triangulating with other methods of data collection in order to know something about the frequency (as well as other characteristics) of the event being recorded (Corsaro, 1982; Erickson, 1992; Hastrup, 1992; Heider, 1976). Second, a video is limited because it can capture only what is observable. The unspoken thoughts and feelings of a participant cannot be seen or heard on the tape. They might be guessed at or inferred, but if a participant is successful at dissembling, the inference will not be accurate. One advantage of video, however, is that it can be played back to the participants (e.g., Corsaro, 1982; Erickson, 1975, 1982; Erickson & Schulz, 1982, Fiksdal, 1988; Iino, 1993; 1996; Watson-Gegeo et al., 1981) in order to attempt to get them to recall and describe their thoughts, feelings and reactions at different points in time during a given event, thus giving us information about the unobservable. Third, videotaping only allows the event to be experienced vicariously. It does not allow for hypothesis testing in the way participant-observation does. With participant observation, one can test out emerging theories in the field by trying them out, thus giving an idea of what is acceptable (Erickson, 1992). Still, video data can also provide a means of hypothesis testing. By showing clips to others, both cultural insiders and outsiders, and asking them pertinent questions about what was said or done, what ought to have been said or done, and how they assess or interpret the behavior, hypotheses can be developed and tested to some extent (e.g., Tobin, Wu & Davidson, 1989). Furthermore, modern video, computer, and
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Web technologies have made it possible for many people to engage in collaborative theory construction in order to strengthen the findings of one researcher or a small group of researchers; this is what GoldmanSegall (1995, 1998) refers to as configurational validity. It is based on the belief that the collaborative construction of theory that results from the participation of many diverse persons in viewing and commenting on the video adds strength to a study by adding layers of interpretation and weaving a thicker description than could be accomplished by one analyst or a few analysts alone. This is because each person's interpretation is necessarily limited by his or her own experience; therefore multiple points of viewing help to offset those limitations and increase the validity or credibility of the study (Asch, 1992; Goldman-Segall, 1995, 1998; Iino, 1996). The limits of one's perspective also affect the videotaping in another, more physical way. Although a video camera can capture a great deal of both auditory and visual information, it nevertheless confines the view. Therefore, in spite of the sense of being there that a film can provide, it does not show every observable thing that happened, but only that which was occurring within the range of the camera lens (Fetterman, 1998; Heider, 1976; Watson-Gegeo et al., 1981). This limitation can be overcome to some extent by using multiple cameras and filming the event from various perspectives simultaneously, if the research budget and human resources allow, and if it is not too intrusive for the setting. For example, Bottorff (1994) conducted a study on nurse-patient interactions using two video cameras, mounted on tripods, with remote control pan/tilt and video switcher. This enabled her to tape interactions in private hospital rooms from two perspectives with less movement and obtrusiveness and still keep both the nurse and patient in view regardless of where the nurse was standing. Even when two or more cameras are used for recording, however, when the videotape is viewed usually only one of these perspectives will typically be seen at a time, though split screen or picture-within-a-picture viewing are possible with modern technology. In many studies, however, only one camera is used at a time (e.g., Corsaro, 1982; DuFon, 2000; Iino, 1993, 1996, 1999; McMeekin, forthcoming) and even those in which two or more are used (e.g., Bottorff, 1994) some data are lost because part of the activity falls outside the range of the lens. Even the human eye has a limited range of view and cannot take in everything that is happening in a scene; still the angle of view of the human eye is wider than that of the lens of the video camera. Given these limitations, the videotape will not be able to portray a complete picture, revealing everything there is to know about an event. Keeping this in mind, how can we obtain video data that will best enable us to construct a valid account of the phenomenon in question? This question entails a number of other questions, three of which will be addressed here: a) How should the interaction be videotaped? b) Who should be included in the videotape? and c) Who should do the videotaping? It is to these questions that we now turn. HOW SHOULD THE INTERACTION BE VIDEO RECORDED? The Literature The question How should the interaction be videotaped? has been hotly debated in the field of visual ethnography (e.g., Biella, 1988). There are various schools of thought on this issue. Exactly how the event is portrayed on videotape depends on the purposes for which the film is being recorded. When a video is being recorded for educational or commercial purposes, cinematic and artistic concerns increase in importance (see, e.g., Heider, 1976; Rollwagon, 1988). Heider advocates putting ethnographic concerns first in any case in which one is producing an ethnographic video. Compromising the standards of ethnographic research for artistic concerns may produce an interesting an aesthetically pleasing video, but a less informative one for ethnographic purposes. For research purposes, however, when the film is going to be used only for analytical and possibly for playback purposes rather than for audience consumption, a greater degree of technical imperfection can be tolerated and I believe the way to proceed is clearer. For research purposes, it is generally advocated that one a) shoot whole events using long-takes, b) with wide
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angle views and c) without manipulating the setting, the participants, or the script , that is, what the participants say (Asch, 1992; Balikci, 1988; Corsaro, 1982; Heider, 1976; Watson-Gegeo et al., 1981). Whole events, or at least complete sequences of activities within events, are necessary if one is to determine the structure or organization of the event. Filming whole events is particularly crucial in studies focused on pragmatics and discourse because the interpretation of the meaning of any given utterance is influenced by what has come before. Having a recording of only parts of an event could make it difficult to judge the appropriateness of a comment, question or response. What is a whole event? We can look to Blum-Kulka (1997) for an example. In this study of Israeli, American, and American-Israeli dinner talk, whole dinner conversations were videotaped from the beginning to the end. One could also videotape only part of the dinner conversation, obtaining a sample of dinner talk. Such an approach would not give a complete picture. For example, if a middle segment of a dinner were filmed, we would not know how the family comes together, whether or not they say a grace, how food is served and by whom, how the family breaks up after the meal, who leaves the table first, whether or not permission is asked to leave, and so forth. Therefore, the best option, particularly when analyzing the discourse of an event is to have a complete record of that event on videotape from start to finish. Recognizing the boundaries of a particular event are not always clear (Corsaro, 1982; Erickson, 1992; Heider, 1976). Because of this, Erickson (1992) recommends that taping begin a few minutes prior to the beginning and continue for a few minutes after it has ended. For example, Blum-Kulka (1997), who was already familiar with the culture, videotaped the dinner conversations from the point at which the family began to gather around the table to the point at which they left the table rather than waiting until they were all seated and eating before beginning. In this way, she was able to capture the complete event. More context can be created for the viewer by videotaping a larger area for the viewer than what will appear in front of the lens once the actual event begins. For example, to continue with the dinner event, the video camera could pan the entire dining room, perhaps even show the other public space in the house to give the viewer a better sense of the family and their environment. One might even begin videotaping in the neighborhood as one approaches the house, then videotape parts of the inside, and finally the dining room itself. Alternatively, one might videotape the food being prepared in the kitchen and then being brought out to the dining room table. Another possibility is to videotape one or more of the family members prior to and following the dinner so that we might better see how that dinner fits into their lives. Some ethnographers (Erickson, 1992; Heider, 1976) recommend the wide-angle view because this view gives the viewer a better sense of the big picture. Furthermore, since we are concerned with the sociocultural context, we need to view not just the learner but also the other speakers that the learner is interacting with (see Corsaro, 1982; Goodwin, 1993). The wide-angle view allows us to see all (or at least a greater number) of the participants in the speech event; furthermore, it allows us to see whole bodies, not just faces, and hence to capture body language. We can see how the participants are responding to any given speaker at any given moment in time, both linguistically and extralinguistically. There may be times, when we want to zoom in closer. For example, a close up view would enable the viewer to see facial expressions better; this would be particularly useful when the interlocutors are few in number, thus reducing the physical area that needs to be captured in the film. It is also useful to zoom in on an object or picture that is the subject of conversation in order to have a better idea what the interlocutors are talking about. Nevertheless, because close-ups on the speaker's face can cause us to miss the non-vocal responses of his or her listeners, it is generally argued that they should be used sparingly and avoided except when they help us to attend to details that are lost in the whole. When close-ups are used, they should be preceded and followed by contextualizing wide-angle shots in order to give a better sense of the whole and the context in which the close-up expression took place (Heider, 1976). When using two or more cameras, one camera can take a wider view while the other focuses close up. However, in many cases, the ethnographic researcher has but one camera to work with and must make a choice concerning the angle of view.
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Some visual anthropologists may disagree and perhaps even feel that angle of view is not an issue. Goldman-Segall (1998) relates that she initially held back and filmed from a distance, for fear of being too obtrusive, thus filming with a wider angle of view. However, after observing another ethnographer move in close with the camera, she changed her filming style. In her case, however, she was actually investigating the relationship between digital media and children's thinking. In such a case, moving in close worked well. In a study such as Bottorff's (1994) investigation of nurse-hospital patient interactions, moving in close to the center might have been far more intrusive and far less appropriate. In determining the angle of view, then, one needs to consider the purpose of the research, the role of the researcher, and the comfort and safety of the participants (see Grimshaw, 1982a). Finally, ethnographic studies, which by definition study participants during naturally occurring events, must avoid any manipulation of the participants in terms of what they say or the physical setting in which they are interacting, as this would compromise the naturalness of the situation. My Field Experience Because I was interested in the interaction between native speakers and learners of Indonesian, I wanted to be able to capture both verbal and non-verbal reactions. Although I wanted to focus on linguistic politeness, I also wanted to use the videotape to give me a picture of the larger context that the learners were interacting in. I was able to create some context with the videotape, for example, by filming scenes of a village that we visited, zooming in on a particular house before entering it, and panning across the inside of the public areas of the house before focusing in on the space where the primary interaction was to take place. I also wanted the videotapes to provide me with non-verbal information that would be useful in interpreting the interactions between learners and native speakers in terms of politeness norms (both linguistic and extralinguistic). Therefore, I wanted wide-angle shots that could get whole bodies of all the participants involved in an interaction. Furthermore, I was interested in videotaping whole events in order to have a better sense of what the event consisted of, to be able to better interpret later utterances in relationship to what had gone before, and to observe learner and native speaker behavior throughout the entire event. To be less obtrusive, I tried to position the video camera at some distance from the participants. To keep the situation naturalistic, I tried not to manipulate the setting or what the participants said. However, putting the theory into practice was not always successful. First, videotaping whole events requires using a lot of videotape. The videotape I needed for my camera was not always readily available in the city in Indonesia where I conducted my research. Therefore what I had, I rationed. Also, I had only one regular and one back-up battery. The two batteries enabled me to video record for several hours, but not an entire afternoon. Consequently, I was not always able to video record the learners the entire time that I was with them. Nevertheless I was able to capture whole segments of events, or events within events, on tape. For example, while I might not have videotaped an entire visit to a village on tape, I was able to record an entire meal plus the conversation that preceded it and some that followed it while we were in the village. The biggest difficulty I had was in obtaining wide angle shots. Because of financial constraints, I had purchased low-end equipment, a SONY Handycam Video 8 CCD-TR330E, which did not have as wide an angle of view as some of the more expensive models. While the camera had performed adequately in the store, I found its viewing angle too limiting for the field, where I was working in very small spaces. It was not always possible to back up far enough in order to capture all the participants within the range of the camera lens. Therefore, I either opted to focus on the learner and those closest to him/her or to move the camera lens back and forth. Thus I was not able to simultaneously capture what the learner was saying and how others were reacting at all times. Had I bought a better camera with a greater range of view in the zoom lens, I would have been able to overcome this problem.
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Since I had only one camera, I was limited to recording from one perspective at a time. I was further limited in my options regarding where to place the camera. For example, in one interaction, I video recorded the learner during a cooking lesson in the kitchen. The kitchen was small and had solid walls on three sides. That meant I could only shoot from the doorway. For most of the interaction, I faced the participants' backs as they worked at the counter and the stove. Because of the practical problems involved in finding a perspective that would work at all, I found I could devote little attention to the theoretical and methodological issues related to selecting my angle of view. With the small confining spaces in many Indonesian homes, the choice of perspective is necessarily a practical one. Sound was another problem. Again, to save money, I had not purchased external microphones. It did not seem necessary because when I tested the camera in the store, it picked up the sound quite well. However, when I was in the field, recording participants in open spaces or at greater distances from the camera, the built in microphone did not always pick up their voices well. I compensated somewhat for this by simultaneously audio recording with a small cassette recorder. A wider angled lens would have allowed me to get closer to the participants and therefore get better sound quality with the built-in microphones. Ideally, external microphones would have been used. In order to keep the interaction naturalistic, I made every effort not to manipulate the setting in any way. Again the low-end equipment forced me to make a few compromises here. For example, I once asked the participants to move closer together and to change their angle of seating so that I could get better light and sound quality. In other cases, I found that something like closing a curtain could improve the picture quality by reducing the backlighting effect. Nevertheless I was often reluctant to make even small changes such as these because they reduced the naturalistic quality. The result was sometimes a poor quality picture. Reflections It is clear from my experience that buying a low-end camera with no external microphones was counterproductive. Buying a mid-range camera and external microphones was difficult for me to reconcile with my extremely limited budget. Nevertheless, in spite of the financial hardship, I feel it would have been worth it to invest several hundred dollars more in better equipment, as it would have paid off with much better quality in picture and sound in the end. Ideally, I would have liked to try out the video camera in the field prior to purchasing it, buying one that guaranteed me satisfaction or a refund or exchange. However, this was not practical in my case. Because of cost and quality concerns, I needed to buy the video camera before I had the opportunity to enter the field and to see what it was actually going to be like to videotape there. Therefore I had no opportunity to pre-test the camera before I actually needed to use it. For that very reason, I should have bought a more expensive camera and external microphones because it would have given me more flexibility in less than ideal situations. In future field studies, I would, based on previous experience in that same field, try to envision from the perspective of a videographer the situations in which I might be video recording and the conditions obtaining in those situations. I would think in detail about the size of space that might be available, the spatial arrangement (e.g., where walls and other barriers that might limit angle of view are), the characteristics of the setting that might affect the acoustics, and the lighting that might be available. Then, before leaving my home territory, I would try to videotape under similar conditions, using these simulations to test out the equipment under field conditions. When unsure of the conditions that I might encounter, I would give a strict test to the equipment. That is, I would try it out in small, cramped quarters with limited angles of view, poor acoustics, high ambient noise, low light, or highly variable light sources. If there were any possibility that I might be video recording outdoors, I would test the video recorder and the external microphones outdoors as well in order to verify their ability to pick up voices outdoors at various distances. By following such a procedure, I would be more likely to arrive in the field
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with a camera that would perform adequately for the needs of my research project. I would not have to concern myself as much with the practical concerns of obtaining quality footage and this would free me to deal more with the theoretical and methodological concerns of videotaping. Furthermore, I think that I would be more flexible and feel a little bit freer to make minor adjustments in the setting rather than stick to a hard and fast rule not to manipulate the setting in any way. For example, if during a visit to someone's house, drawing a curtain would significantly change the lighting so as to cause a major improvement in the quality of the picture, I would most likely be willing to draw the curtain, expecting that it would have little, if any, effect on this type of interaction in most cases and hence would not destroy the naturalness of the interaction. In other words, the benefits of this kind of small manipulation would outweigh the costs. WHO SHOULD BE VIDEO RECORDED? The Literature In an ethnographic study of second language acquisition using videotaping as a method of data collection, the learners and their interlocutors would of course be among those who are video recorded. However, another question to consider is whether or not the researcher should also be filmed. More specifically, should the ethnographer/videographer be video recorded while doing his/her research tasks including that of video recording? This is another area of considerable debate in the field of ethnographic filmmaking. Filmmaking involves a producer, a process, and a product. Films are categorized into three major categories -- observational, participatory, and reflexive -- according to the emphasis they give to these various dimensions. Observational films emphasize the product, in this case, the film or videotape. In observational filmmaking, the camera acts as a "passive" recording device, meaning that it allows the viewer of the film to see the events as they unfold and to let these events "speak for themselves" (Crawford, 1992, p. 78). The researcher and videographer remain behind the camera lens and do not appear in the films themselves. Thus the viewer sees the events almost as if the camera and the researcher were not there (Rollwagon, 1988), giving the film a more "objective" quality (Ruby, 1980). In some cases, the researcher may not actually be there. For example, in his study of dinner table conversations between Western learners of Japanese and their Japanese host families, Iino (1996, 1999) used what he refers to as the "remote observation method" (Iino, 1996, p. 116). He set up the camera in the dining area and then left the scene so that his presence would not affect the interaction between the learners and the host families. He chose this approach after first trying to operate the camera himself during the dinners. However, he discovered that his presence encouraged the host families to interact with him, who like them was a native speaker of Japanese, and the language learners became mere observers at the dinners. Iino's leaving the scene encouraged the families to interact with the learners. Such an option is possible when the participants remain stationary for the duration of the event being video recorded. Obviously, when the participants are mobile, remote observation is not an option. Participatory films focus on the producer as well as the product. In participatory film, the ethnographer and/or videographer step out in front of the lens, thus allowing themselves to be seen by the viewer, reminding their audience that that their presence is having an effect on the course of events (Collier, 1988; Rollwagon, 1988). One study in second language acquisition research that used this approach is that of Blum-Kulka (1997) in her study of family dinner conversations in American Jewish families, native Israeli families, and American immigrant families in Israel. In all three cases, the researcher was invited to join the dinner table as a matter of course, and in all three cases, the presence of the researcher affected the course of the interaction; however, the ways in which it did so varied according to the particular cultural group. In Israeli society, where symbolically minimizing social distance is more highly valued, the participant-observer took a more participatory role, divulging personal information and even
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taking sides in conflicts, all with encouragement from the participants, whether in the homes of natives or immigrants. In contrast, in American society, with its scientific tradition in the social sciences that insists that observers be as unobtrusive as possible, the researchers felt that they should not participate any more than necessary. Likewise, those American participants being observed maintained a non-intimate relationship with the observer and did not encourage more than minimal interaction. A third style is reflexive filmmaking, which gives attention to the process as well as to the product and the producer (Ruby, 1980, 2000). In reflexive filmmaking, ethnographers reveal not only themselves as producers and the subjects of their study in the product, but also focus on the process. In the film itself, they try to reveal their methods of inquiry. Proponents of the reflexive style of filmmaking contend that in the production of an ethnographic film, one of the most important things that is happening is the fact that the film is being produced at all. Thus it is important to allow the viewer to see not only the people and events that are the subject of the film, but also to see the researcher-producer and to show how the film was made and the data collected (Banks, 1992). The first ethnographic film using this style is believed to be Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin's (1961) Chronicle of a Summer, which was influenced by the work of avant-garde Soviet documentary director Dziga Vertov's (1928) Man with a Movie Camera (Ruby, 2000). Rouch and Morin explored the thoughts and feelings of the people of Paris during the Algerian War. One or the other of the filmmakers often appeared before the camera, thus making their role in the process clear to the viewers. After editing some of the footage, they played back the rough cut to some of the participants and interviewed them regarding their reactions to the film and to how they had been portrayed. These playback interviews were also filmed and added on to the rough cut. Finally, discussions between the two filmmakers in which they evaluated the film were filmed and added to the final version. Even today, Chronicle of a Summer is considered one of the best examples of reflexive ethnographic filmmaking because it was designed precisely for that purpose (Ruby, 2000). Reflexivity is perhaps a more important issue when ethnographic footage is used to produce films for public consumption than when it is viewed strictly by the ethnographic researcher, who was present at the event and who has field notes available on the methodology. Nevertheless, a reflexive approach might be useful when, for research purposes, the film is shown to others for their points of view, as recommended by Goldman-Segall (1995, 1998), which with modern multimedia technology is a procedure that is likely to increase in frequency. A reflexive approach could also be useful when a long time has elapsed between the videotaping and the analysis of data from the videotape in that it might remind the researcher of some of the details of the data collection procedure that have since been forgotten. Thus ethnographic SLA researchers have decisions to make regarding the extent to which they want to observe, to participate, and to focus on their methodology in their video recording. These decisions should be based on sound theoretical grounds. Nevertheless, the degree to which one chooses to participate or observe will likely be influenced not only by theory but by the other roles the ethnographer plays in the community (Grimshaw, 1982a) and by cultural preferences as well (Blum-Kulka, 1997). My Field Experience The extent to which I participated in any taped interaction varied according to the situation. I was always present at the events that I video recorded for this study. I did not use the remote observation method. One reason for this choice is that usually the activities that were video recorded involved some movement or change of setting from time to time; that is, the participants were not stationary for the entire duration of the event. Another factor influencing my level of observation versus participation was the pressure applied by Indonesians for me to participate. Although originally it was my intention to remain behind the camera lens, I found that the Indonesians were not always content to have me there. They frequently coaxed me to join them in their activity, to the point that it felt rude not to accept. Consequently, I often became a participant in the interactions I was observing.
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As with the other second language acquisition studies discussed so far, my presence as a researcher, a more advanced learner of Indonesian, did have an affect on the interaction that occurred between Indonesian native speakers and the learners in my study. In some cases, my presence had an inhibitory effect on the learners' acquisition of Indonesian and in other cases it had a facilitative effect. When I was actively involved as a participant, the Indonesians tended to talk with me and to pitch their language to my level of comprehension rather than to that of the less fluent learner. This was particularly noticeable in one interaction. Since much of the conversation was beyond the learner's comprehension, he was less able to participate. His role, as also happened in Iino's (1996, 1999) study, was reduced to that of observer for much of the time. On the other hand, there were positive effects that resulted from my presence. Most Indonesians are bilingual, speaking a local language as their home language and Indonesian as the language for intergroup communication. Since this study took place in Java, most people speak Javanese as their home language. Javanese is often used even in the presence of non-Javanese speakers. However, my presence added to the number of non-Javanese speaking participants present in multiparty interactions and therefore most likely increased the amount of Indonesian used as the medium for communication. My presence as a researcher also seemed to cause some participants to make a greater effort to use Indonesian (rather than Javanese or English) as the medium of communication than was typically the case. Thus the recorded interactions were atypical in some respects; at the same time, however, they promoted language acquisition by increasing the amount of input (some of which was comprehensible) in Indonesian available to the learner than might have otherwise been the case. Another positive aspect of my presence was that it allowed the learners to observe variations in the pragmalinguistic and sociolinguistic behavior of their Indonesian interlocutors as they interacted with different non-native speakers of the language. This kind of exposure helped to promote the learners' acquisition of pragmatics and sociolinguistics in Indonesian language. For example, during the play back interview, one learner commented that he noticed that his tutor frequently addressed me and an Indonesian friend of mine with vocatives using our names preceded by a kin term whereas his tutor almost never did this with the learner or with family members. (Later, in checking the entire video recording from that day as well as the audio recordings from other days, I was able to verify that this observation was accurate.) The learner then began to speculate as to why that might be so and eventually concluded that it had something to do with the social distance between his tutor and the various interlocutors in question. While social distance is not the only factor that affects the frequency of terms of address, it is indeed a key factor (DuFon, 2000, in press). Reflections In reflecting back on my videotaping experience, I believe that at the time I first entered the field, I was hoping to remain as "objective" and unobtrusive as possible by maintaining my distance as dictated by American scientific tradition in the social sciences (Blum-Kulka, 1997). Pressure from the participants to participate and to join into the activities, however, caused me to reconsider and to behave in a more sociable manner. Consequently, I sometimes appeared before the camera lens once I got the camera set up for any activity that did not involve frequently moving from place to place. Other pressures were more internal. On one hand, there were times when I wanted to be a participant and to join in the fun rather than be an observing researcher at a distance from the activity. On the other hand, I wanted to be a good ethnographer and not forget the task that had brought me there in the first place. Therefore, I needed to monitor myself and the effect my participation was having on the interaction of the other participants. One step I took to monitor the effect of my participation on the interaction was to critically view the videotapes shortly after the taping. With the more proficient learners, I could see that my participation did not seem to have an adverse effect on their participation, as they could remain active participants in the conversation. With the beginning learners, however, my participation sometimes increased the level of
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the discourse beyond what was comprehensible for them so that they were reduced to observers for some segments of the interaction. I used this information to make adjustments in my degree of participation in the next interaction. In future studies, I think I would spend more time planning the videotaping events, carefully considering which approach to videotaping I thought would be best to take for each videotaped event given the nature of the event itself, the learner and his or her proficiency level, and the relationship of the various participants to each other and to me. I would try to imagine how each approach might affect the outcomes in terms of the learner's access to comprehensible input and opportunity to speak during the interactions with native speakers as well as the native speakers' reactions to my behaviors in terms of politeness norms. I might even ask native speaker researchers about what they would suggest I do in various situations (e.g., when invited to eat a meal with the rest of the guests) and how they thought people might react to different responses (e.g., refusing an invitation to eat in order to continue controlling the camera). By considering each approach and its consequences beforehand, my decision would be more strongly grounded in theoretical and methodological principles rather than just practical considerations. Nevertheless, there are practical considerations and I would want to remain flexible and perhaps change my pre-decided approach in a given situation depending on circumstances. Having carefully thought about the consequences beforehand, however, would give me a better idea of what to expect as a result of my decision. In future projects, I might check on the effect of my participation in a number of other ways. One way would be to experiment with different approaches of the same kind of interaction with a similar group of interlocutors and then view the tapes to see how my physical presence or active participation had affected the interaction and access to input. I would also consider asking one or two assistants or friends to view the recording with me and to comment on the effect that they felt that I was having on the interaction. If I were to try remote observation, I would view the video tapes as soon as possible after the taping in order to determine whether the tape was being shot as I had wished (e.g., whole events, wide angle views), whether there were any technical problems that needed to be ironed out, and whether the participants were indeed remaining sufficiently stationary for this technique to work. WHO SHOULD DO THE VIDEO RECORDING? The Literature The third question under consideration here is Who should do the filming? There are several options: the researcher, a videographer, or the participants. The first option is to have the researcher double as the videographer. This has the advantage of using a minimum number of human resources, thus cutting down on costs and intrusion by outsiders at the events being recorded. It also gives the researcher greater control over the filming process. On the other hand, while the researcher is actively occupied with operating the camera, he or she may not be able to attend to other research tasks (e.g., taking field notes) and his or her view of the event will be constricted to what can be taken in by the lens. Likewise while operating the camera, the researcher may be unable to attend to the required social tasks (e.g., properly greeting a participant) in a given situation. A second choice is using a professional videographer. This approach brings with it technical expertise in filming and a better quality product from a technical standpoint. It likewise frees the researcher to do other activities such as note taking or to view the big picture rather than be confined to the limited view of the lens. There are several disadvantages with this approach. It can be more costly and more intrusive since more people are involved. Also the videographer may have different goals in mind than the researcher. For example, the videographer may want to produce a film that is more interesting and artistic,
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while the ethnographer may want something that is more complete and accurate in the story it tells (Heider, 1976). The third choice is to have the participants of the study do the video recording. This option might be particularly enlightening when the learners in the study are from a different cultural group than the researcher because significant differences in video recording behavior have been found across cultural and sub-cultural groups (e.g., Chalfen, 1981, 1992; Collier, 1988; Faris, 1992; Hughes-Freeland, 1992; Worth & Adair, 1972). Worth and Adair (1972) are generally recognized as the innovators of this approach. They gave cameras and film to Navajos, and spent two days teaching them the basics of camera operation (i.e., how to load and unload film, and how to achieve proper exposure, good focus and so forth). They did not teach or discuss aspects related to the content of the film or the art of filming so as not to influence them in any way in terms of what they thought was a proper film. They then gave the Navajos film and sent them off to produce their movies. What they found was that there were some startling cultural differences between their films and the films of mainstream American society. One notable difference was that in films about traditional Navajo society a high proportion of the time (roughly 75%) was spent walking. In mainstream films, walking is usually viewed as a bridge between activities or places, and the amount of time that this transitioning is depicted in mainstream films is relatively short. For the Navajo, walking is not a transitioning, but rather is the activity itself. Another clear difference was the avoidance of close-ups of the head by the Navajo filmmakers. Close-ups tended to be cut-off at the head, or showed the head with the face turned away from the camera. The close-ups of the face that did occur were of short duration and limited in function. For example, a certain pose "with the eyes looking slightly upward -- sort of staring inwardly" (Worth & Adair, 1972, p. 152) was used by filmmakers to indicate that the person was thinking about something. A third difference was that Navajos were extremely reluctant to film anything (e.g., horses, sheep, houses) that did not belong to them. Chalfen (1981, 1991, 1992) conducted a number of studies comparing the photographic habits of people according to their cultural or sub-cultural group. In one study, Chalfen (1991) compared the still photos of two Japanese American families with the photo albums of mainstream American families of European descent. He found some striking differences between the albums of Japanese-Americans as compared with Anglo Americans. For example, for the Japanese-Americans there were many more photographs of group membership, and these were broader in scope that what was typically found in Anglo American photo albums. Also, while both groups photographed happy social events such as birthdays and weddings, the Japanese-Americans took pictures of events and situations that Anglo-Americans typically did not, such as snapshots of funerals, people at church, and people working at work or school. He concluded that these Japanese-American albums emphasized the significance of family, work, achievement, group experience, and honor. In another study, Chalfen (1981) used an approach modeled after Worth and Adair (1972) to compare the approach to filming taken by eight groups of Philadelphia youths ages 14 to 16 in four stages of film production: planning, filming, editing, and exhibition. He found significant differences in terms of the type of material that they selected for shooting, the photographer's relationship to the material, the patterns of searching and looking for material, and the patterns of narrating and telling the story of the film. Chalfen (1981, 1992), reports that these differences were influenced more by social class than by either ethnicity or gender. The higher socio-economic groups preferred a more observational and distant approach to filmmaking, which Chalfen notes, is associated with a position of power, that is, with someone who is calling the shots. In contrast, the lower socio-economic class preferred a more participatory approach, which is not associated with a position of power. From this literature, it is clear that there is significant variation across cultures and subcultures with respect to how they view the process of video recording in terms of who should video record, and what should be video recorded and what should be avoided, and how one should go about the process of recording. Since the SLA researcher is by definition working across cultures, it is necessary to give some
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thought to whom should do the video recording as the decisions made could dramatically affect the output. For example, if the learners were from a different culture than the researcher, the events that they chose to videotape or the way in which they conducted the videotaping may be quite different from what the researcher would have chosen. This might yield some unexpected yet fruitful results. I do not know of any study in second language acquisition that has systematically invested the effect of participant recording versus their being recorded by the researcher, but it is a question that merits investigation. My Field Experience In my own study, I chose a middle ground between giving the learners control of the equipment and maintaining complete control myself. I controlled the camera, either by mounting it on a tripod and participating in the interaction, or by operating the camera myself from behind the tripod. Given the cost of the video camera, which, while low end, was not trivial (see Fetterman, 1998), I preferred to keep it in my possession and to be the one to operate it. However, I allowed the learners to choose the situation they wanted to be videotaped in provided that they chose a relatively private and quiet place where the camera could pick up the sound of their voices. The video recordings that I took were supplemented by audio recordings, over which the learners had greater control. I gave each of them a tape recorder and told them to record themselves approximately once every week or two in an interaction with a native speaker of Indonesian. I did give them some suggestions and guidelines so that they would have some idea of the kinds of events they might record and the conditions under which they needed to record (e.g., a relatively quiet environment without significant ambient noise). I also exercised control in another way in that I asked the learners to change their recording habits to some extent part way through the program. For example, I noticed that because I had instructed the learners to get permission to record before they began, I rarely got any greetings, which typically preceded the request for permission to record. I then asked the learners to begin recording before they began the interaction, then to ask permission, and to erase the tape in front of their interlocutor if permission was not granted. Nevertheless, more often than not, the learners began recording sometime after the interaction had begun, and continued sometimes till the end, sometimes not, but the recordings are often missing the beginnings of the interactions, and hence they do not document whole events (see Heider, 1976, pp. 84-85), but only partial ones. This was unfortunate because greetings were a key feature of interest in my investigation. Yet they rarely occurred in the recorded data; typically they appeared on the tapes only when another interlocutor entered the scene in the middle of an ongoing interaction. The decisions regarding who did the taping were motivated mostly by practical, rather than theoretical concerns. I had only one video camera and a small budget, thus I maintained control of the video camera. On the other hand, I had seven audio recorders -- one for each learner and one for me. I did audio record some of their interactions myself as I accompanied them on some of the events in which they participated but I wanted the learners to be able to record whenever they had a good opportunity to do so. I could not have collected as many recordings if I had needed to be physically present at all the events recorded by the learners. Giving the learners the freedom to choose the interactions they recorded had both advantages and disadvantages. One advantage was that of taking individual differences in experience into account. The learners had somewhat different language learning experiences in Indonesia, and in this way they were able to record what they experienced rather than what I told them to experience. Secondly, this diversity gave me a good range of data. One disadvantage of allowing for this diversity was that it limited comparability. For example, one of the subjects, Minako, collected almost all of her data with familiar people, namely her host family and her tutor. The only time she collected data with strangers was when she was interviewing Indonesians for her course project. Another participant, Kyle, in contrast, collected a number of tapes with strangers and acquaintances that he did not know well. He often recorded a conversation with someone he had just met. In most cases, he had only one interaction with these people,
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and that was the tape recorded interaction. These differences in recording habits do not necessarily reflect differences in actual experience in terms of the learners' interactions with Indonesian native speakers. Minako reported that she did have interactions with strangers but did not feel comfortable asking strangers to allow her to tape record. Kyle on the other hand, recorded himself with strangers a number of times. He did not have any major reservations about asking them to allow him to tape. Thus the freedom given to the learners resulted in different recording patterns. These patterns may be more representative of whom the learners felt comfortable in recording rather than of their language learning experience as a whole. Thus, the problem of statistics (Hastrup, 1992) is evident here. I had to rely on other data sources such as learner journals and interviews in order to determine how representative the learner recordings were of their language learning experience as a whole. In my study, I opted for a middle ground. I controlled the video camera, but let the learners choose the context in which they wished to be video recorded within certain limits dictated by the limitations of my video camera. I also gave them control over the audio recording. Reflections As I conducted this study with its procedure of videotaping, I did not feel comfortable with a number of aspects of it. I was concerned with how the people being videotaped felt and did not want to be too intrusive. I had technic al problems that needed to be overcome with better equipment and more experience operating it. There were also the practical concerns of protecting the equipment from the weather and thieves. Consequently I was not ready to be too experimental in my approach to videotaping, particularly when it involved giving up control of the equipment. As I have gained some more experience in videotaping, I feel somewhat more comfortable with all of these issues. I believe one direction for future research in SLA would be to experiment with having the various participants -- the learners and members of the target culture -- as well as the researcher do the actual videotaping. By putting people from the various cultural groups, who fulfill different roles in the study, behind the camera and seeing what kind of recording they produce, we might learn something both about the cultures involved and about their use of language. It is possible that they might select events that the researcher had not even considered but which may turn out to yield very interesting and revealing data. Furthermore, such an approach might provide insights into what taboos there might be in terms of what should not be filmed. Inadvertently violating these taboos could interfere with obtaining good interactions since the participants would likely be uncomfortable and might even refuse to participate. One concern that I have is that in giving the control of the video recording to others, I risk not getting the kind of data I am hoping for or looking for. However, there is also the possibility that this approach would produce far richer results than if I did all the videotaping myself, providing me with greater insights into the target language culture as well as the learner culture. Therefore, it seems to be an approach to videotaping worth experimenting with in ethnographic second language acquisition studies. CONCLUSIONS This paper has initiated a discussion among SLA researchers of some of the theoretical and methodological issues as well as some of the practical concerns related to the topic of video recording naturalistic interactions in investigations using an ethnographic approach. Specifically three questions have been addressed which relate to obtaining valid video data on tape: a) How should the interactions be video recorded? b) Who should be video recorded? And c) Who should do the video recording? The academic literature in the fields of visual anthropology, educational anthropology, and ethnographic filmmaking, my field experience, and my reflections on that field experience have been presented in order shed light on these issues for SLA researchers using video recordings as part of their data collection procedures. Finally, some directions for future research on video recording in SLA research have been suggested.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Aneta Pavlenko for encouraging me to write this article and Gabriele Kasper and three anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier drafts of this article. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Margaret A. DuFon is an assistant professor in the English Department (Linguistics Program) at California State University -- Chico. Her research interests include interlanguage pragmatics and second language socialization in Indonesian as a Second Language. She is currently working with Gabriele Kasper in producing video materials for teaching Indonesian pragmatics. E-mail: mdufon@csuchico.edu REFERENCES Asch, T. (1988). Collaboration in ethnographic filmmaking: A personal view. In J. R. Rollwagon (Ed.), Anthropological filmmaking (pp. 1-29). Philadelphia: Harwood Academic Publishers. Asch, T. (1992). The ethics of ethnographic filmmaking. In P. I. Crawford & D. Turton (eds.), Film as ethnography (pp. 196-204). Manchester,UK: Manchester University Press. Balikci, A. (1988). Anthropologists and ethnographic filmmaking: A personal view. In Jack R. Rollwagon (Ed.), Anthropological filmmaking (pp. 31-45). Philadelphia: Harwood Academic Publishers. Banks, M. (1992). Which films are the ethnographic films? In P. I. Crawford & D. Turton (Eds.), Film as ethnography (pp. 116-129). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press Beebe, L. M., & Takahashi, T. (1989). "Do you have a bag?": Social status and patterned variation in second language acquisition. In S. Gass, C. Madden, D. Preston, & L. Selinker (Eds.), Variation in second language acquisition: Discourse and pragmatics (pp. 103-125). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Besnier, N. (1994). The truth and other irrelevant aspects of Nukulaelae gossip. Pacific Studies, 17(3), 1-39. Biella, P. (1988). Against reductionism and idealist self-reflexivity: The Ilparakuyo Maasai film project. In J. R. Rollwagon (Ed.), Anthropological filmmaking (pp. 47-72). Philadelphia: Harwood Academic Publishers. Blum-Kulka, S. (1997). Dinner talk: Cultural patterns of sociability and socialization in family discourse. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Bottorff, J. L. (1994). Using videotaped recording in qualitative research. In J. M. Morse (Ed.), Critical issues in qualitative research methods (pp. 244-261). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Chalfen, R. (1981). A sociovidistic approach to children's film-making: The Philadelphia project. Studies in Visual Communication, 7(1), 2-33. Chalfen, R. (1991). Turning leaves: The photographic collections of two Japanese American Families. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. Chalfen, R. (1992). Picturing culture through indigenous imagery: A telling story. In P. I. Crawford & D. Turton (Eds.), Film as ethnography (pp. 222-241). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. Collier, J., Jr. (1988). Visual anthropology and the future of ethnographic film. In J. R. Rollwagon (Ed.), Anthropological filmmaking (pp. 73-96). Philadelphia: Harwood Academic Publishers. Corsaro, W. (1982). Something old and something new: The importance of prior ethnography in the collection and analysis of audiovisual data. Sociological Methods and Research, 11(2), 145-166.
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Crawford, P. I. (1992). Film as discourse: The invention of anthropological realities. In P. I. Crawford & D. Turton (Eds.), Film as ethnography (pp. 66-82). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. Davis, K. A. (1995). Qualitative theory and methods in applied linguistics research. TESOL Quarterly, 29(3), 427-453. Diesing, P. (1971). Patterns of discovery in the social sciences. Chicago: Aldine Duff, P. (1995). Ethnography in a foreign language immersion context: Language socialization through EFL and history. TESOL Quarterly, 29(3), 505-537. DuFon, Margaret A. (2000). The acquisition of linguistic politeness in Indonesian as a second language by sojourners in naturalistic interactions. (Doctoral dissertation. University of Hawai'i, 1999). Dissertation Abstracts International 60(11), 3985-A. DuFon, Margaret A. (in press). The acquisition of terms of address in Indonesian by foreign learners in a study abroad program in East Java. NUSA, 51. Duranti, A. (1997). Linguistic anthropology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Edwards, J. A., & Lampert, M. D. (Eds.). (1993). Talking data: Transcription and coding in discourse research. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Erickson, F. (1975). Gatekeeping and the melting pot: Interaction in counseling encounters. Harvard Educational Review, 45(1), 44-70. Erickson, F. (1982). Audiovisual records as a primary data source. Sociological Methods and Research, 11(2), 213-232. Erickson, F. (1986). Qualitative methods in research on teaching. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (pp. 119-161). New York: Collier-Macmillan. Erickson F. (1992). Ethnographic microanalysis of interaction. In M. D. LeCompte, W. L. Milroy & J. Preissle (Eds.), The handbook of qualitative research in education (pp. 201-225). New York: Academic Press. Erickson, F., & Shultz, J. (1982). The counselor as gatekeeper: Social interaction in interviews. New York: Academic Press. Faris, J. C. (1992). Anthropological transparency: Film, representation and politics. In P. I. Crawford & D. Turton (Eds.), Film as ethnography (pp. 171-182). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press Fetterman, D. M. (1998). Ethnography: Step by step (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Fiksdal, S. (1988). Verbal and nonverbal strategies of rapport in cross-cultural interviews. Linguistics and Education 1, 3-17. Gass, S. M., & Houck, N. (1999). Interlanguage refusals. New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Geertz, C. (1973). Thick description: Toward an interpretive theory of culture. In The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays (pp. 3-30). New York, Basic Books. Golden-Biddle, K., & Locke, K. D. (1997). Composing qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Goldman-Segall, R. (1993). Interpreting video data: introducing a "Significance Measure" to layer description. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 2(3), 261-281. Goldman-Segall, R. (1995). Configurational validity: A proposal for analyzing ethnographic multimedia narratives. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedi,a 4(2/3), 163-182.
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Goldman-Segall, R. (1998). Points of viewing children's thinking: A digital ethnographer's journey. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Goodwin, C. (1993). Recording human interaction in natural settings. Pragmatics, 3(2), 181-209. Green, J., Franquiz, M., & Dixon, C. (1997). The myth of the objective transcript: Transcribing as a situated act. TESOL Quarterly, 31(1), 172-176. Grimshaw, A. D. (1982a). Sound-image data records for research on social interaction: Some questions and answers. Sociological Methods and Researc,h 11(2), 121-144. Grimshaw, A. D. (1982b). Whose privacy? What harm? Sociological Methods and Research, 11(2), 233247. Harvey, P. (1991). Drunken speech and the construction of meaning: Bilingual competence in the Southern Peruvian Andes. Language in Society, 20, 1-36. Harvey, P. (1992). Bilingualism in the Peruvian Andes. In D. Cameron, E. Frazer, Pl Harvey, B. Rampton, & K. Richardson (Eds.), Researching languages: Issues of power and method. London: Routledge. Hastrup, K. (1992). Anthropological visions: Some notes on visual and textual authority. . In. P. I. Crawford & D. Turton (Eds.), Film as ethnography (pp. 8-25). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. Heider, K. (1976). Ethnographic film. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. Hughes-Freeland, F. (1992). Representations by the Other: Indonesian cultural documentation. In P. I. Crawford & D. Turton (Eds.), Film as ethnography (pp. 242-256). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. Iino, M. (1993). The trap of heneralization: A case of encountering a new culture. Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, 9(1), 21-45. Iino, M. (1996). "Excellent Foreigner!": Gaijinization of Japanese language and culture in contact situations -- an ethnographic study of dinner table conversations between Japanese host families and American students. (Doctoral dissertation. University of Pennsylvania, 1996). Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(4), 1451-A. Iino, M. (1999, March). Issues of video recording in language studies. Obirin Studies in Language and Literature, 39, 65-85. Jackson. B. (1987). Fieldwork. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. Krupa-Kwiatkowski, M. (1998). Second language acquisition in the context of socialization: A case study of a Polish boy learning English. (Doctoral dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1997). Dissertation Abstracts International, 58(8), 2969-A. Lazaraton, A. (1995). Qualitative research in applied linguistics: A progress report. TESOL Quarterly, 29(3), 455-472. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills: Sage. Lutz, F. W. (1981). Ethnography: The holistic approach to understanding schools. In J. L. Green & C. Wallat (Eds.), Ethnography and language in educational settings. Advances in discourse processes 5 (pp. 51-63). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. McMeekin, A. (forthcoming). NS-NNS Negotiation in the Study Abroad Homestay Versus Classroom. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Hawai'i-Manoa.
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Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Ochs, E. (1988). Culture and language development: Language acquisition and language socialization in a Samoan village. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Ohta, A. S. (1999). Interactional routines and the socialization of interactional style in adult learners of Japanese. Journal of Pragmatics 31, 1493-1512. Poole, D. (1992). Language socialization in the second language classroom. Language Learning, 42, 593616. Punch, M. (1986). The politics and ethics of fieldwork. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Rollwagon, J. R. (1988). The role of anthropological theory in "ethnographic" filmmaking. In J. R. Rollwagon (Ed.), Anthropological filmmaking (pp. 287-315). Philadelphia: Harwood Academic Publishers. Roberts, C. (1997). Transcribing talk: Issues of representation. TESOL Quarterly, 31(1), 167-172. Ruby, J. (1980). Exposing yourself, Reflexivity, film, and anthropology. Semiotica, 3, 153-179. Ruby, J. (2000). Picturing culture: Explorations of film and anthropology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Rymes, B. (1997). Second language socialization: A New Approach to Second Language Acquisition Research. Journal-of-Intensive-English-Studies, 11, 143-154. Schecter, S. R., & Bayley, R. (1997). Language socialization practices and cultural identity: Case studies of Mexican-descent families in California and Texas. TESOL Quarterly, 31(3), 513-560. Schieffelin, B. B. (1990). The give and take of everyday life: Language socialization of Kaluli children. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Sevigny, M. J. (1981). Triangulated Inquiry: A methodology for the analysis of classroom interaction. In J. L. Green & C. Wallat (Eds.), Ethnography and language in educational settings. Advances in discourse processes, Vol. 5 (pp. 65-85). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Siegal, M. (1995). Looking east: Identity construction and white women learning Japanese. (Doctoral dissertation, University of California -Berkeley, 1994). Dissertation Abstracts International, 56(5), 1692A. Tobin, J. J., Wu, D. Y. H., &. Davidson, D. H. (1989). Preschool in three cultures: Japan, China and the United States. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Watson-Gegeo, K. A. (1988), Ethnography in ESL: Defining the essentials. TESOL Quarterly, 22(4), 575-592. Watson-Gegeo, K. A., Maldonado-Guzman, A. A. & Gleason, J. J. (1981). Establishing research goals: The ethnographer-practitioner dialectic . Proceedings of selected research paper presentations, Theory and Research Division (pp. 670-714). Association for Educational Communications and Technology. Willett, J. (1995). Becoming first graders in an L2: An ethnographic study of L2 socialization. TESOL Quarterly, 29(3), 473-503. Wolcott, H. F. (1995). The art of fieldwork. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press. Wolcott, H. F. (1990). Writing up qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Worth, S., & Adair, J. (1972). Through Navajo eyes: An exploration in film communication and anthropology. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
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Language Learning & Technology http://llt.msu/edu/vol6num1/belz/
SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF TELECOLLABORATIVE FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY1

Julie A. Belz The Pennsylvania State University ABSTRACT Previous research on network-based foreign language study has primarily focused on: a) the pedagogy of technology in the language curriculum, or b) the linguistic characterization of networked discourse. In this paper, I explore socio-institutional dimensions of German-American telecolla boration and the ways in which they may shape foreign language learning and use. Telecollaborative partnerships represent particularly productive sites for the examination of social aspects of foreign language study since, by definition, they entail tight sociocultural and institutional interface. Within the theoretical framework of social realism (e.g., Carter & Sealey, 2000; Layder, 1993), any human activity is thought to be shaped by both macro- and micro-level sociological features. These include socia l context and institutional setting, situated activity and individual agency, respectively. In this analysis, I intertwine the socially and institutionally contingent features of language valuation, computer know-how, Internet access, and learning accreditation and the micro features of situated classroom interaction and individual psycho-biography in order to provide a rich and multi-faceted characterization of foreign language learning and use on both ends of a GermanAmerican telecollaborative partnership.
INTRODUCTION In its relatively short history, much of the research on computer-assisted language learning (CALL)2 has focused on pedagogical and structural issues (Appel, 1999, p. 3; Warschauer, 1997, p. 470; Warschauer & Kern, 2000, p. 14). These have appeared as narrative accounts of the integration of technology into language and culture curricula generally regarded as successful (e.g., Warschauer, 1995) and descriptive characterizations of computer-mediated communication (CMC) at the interactional level (e.g., Chun, 1994; Kern, 1995, 1996; Sotillo, 2000). Researchers in this area have not yet robustly examined cultural, historical, and social dimensions of CALL and of le arners engaged in CALL activities (Chapelle, 2000, p. 217). Although mainstream second language acquisition (SLA) research is still characterized by primarily psycholinguistic approaches to language learning (e.g., Kramsch, 2000, p. 315; VanPatten, 1999), the social turn pervasive in educational research in general (e.g., Erickson, 1986; Salomon & Perkins, 1998) has begun to make inroads into the non-CALL variety of this field as well (e.g., Lantolf, 2000; McGroarty, 1998; Norton, 2000; Rampton, 1995; see Freeman & Johnson, 1998, for Foreign Language Teaching [FLT]). Broadly conceived, the social turn recognizes the culturally and historically shaped nature of learners as well as that of the learning and teaching processes in which they are situated. SLA and FLT researchers have subsequently begun to investigate language learners as agents in sociocultural context(s) as well as input "processing devices" (Lantolf & Pavlenko, 2001, p. 145). Some CALL researchers have also recently recognized the need to place sociocultural dimensions of language learning and use toward the center of their developing research agendas. Warschauer (1998a, p. 760), for example, notes that in order "to fully understand the interrelationship between technology and
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Social Dimensions of Telecollaborative...
language learning, researchers have to investigate the broader ecological context that affects language learning and use in today's society, both inside and outside the classroom" (see also Chapelle, 2000; Salaberry, 1999, p. 104). Telecollaboration, defined here as the application of global communication networks in foreign language education (e.g., Kinginger, Gourves-Hayward, & Simpson, 1999; Warschauer, 1996), is of particular interest with respect to social dimensions of language learning and use, since this type of learning environment consists of pairs or groups of distally-located students embedded in different sociocultural contexts and institutional settings. Nevertheless, the social and institutional factors impinging on language learning and use in this configuration have been underexplored (see, Belz, 2001; Belz & Mller-Hartmann, 2001; Kramsch & Thorne, in press; Warschauer, 1998b; Wegerif, 1998). In this paper, on the basis of a wide variety of quantitative and qualitative data, I examine the ways in which social dimensions of telecollaboration, in tight conjunction with learner agency, may shape language learning and use on each end of a German-American partnership. SOCIO-COGNITIVE INVESTIGATION Unlike the field of FLT, where pedagogical revolutions have frequently demanded "a fervent commitment to a single theory of teaching and [a rejection of] all other methods or approaches as ineffectual and outmoded" (Omaggio Hadley, 1993, p. 78), some proponents of the social turn in SLA research have been more tempered in their uprising, espousing the inter-illumination of culture and cognition as explanatory factors in SLA. For example, Warschauer and Kern (2000) advocate the application of socio-cognitive frames of interpretation to SLA phenomena (see also Kramsch, 2000, p. 316; Lantolf, 1996; Lantolf & Pavlenko, 2000, p. 159). Socio-cognitive interpretation necessarily entails the complementarity of sociocultural, ethnographic, and qualitative data sources on the one hand, and psycholinguistic, linguistic, and quantitative data sources on the other. These recent developments in SLA theory building and investigative methodology find precedence in the field of sociology, where researchers such as Margaret Archer (1988, 1995) and Derek Layder (1993) have advanced social realism as an approach to the exploration and interpretation of social action such as telecollaborative language learning (see Cameron, Frazer, Harvey, Rampton, & Richardson, 1992; Candlin, 2000, pp. xv-xix; Carter & Sealey, 2000, for applications of social realism to applied linguistics research). Theoretically, the realist position construes the empirical world as highly complex and multifaceted. Within this variegated and layered world, social action is shaped by an intimate interplay of both macrolevel phenomena such as social context and setting (i.e., structure) and micro-level phenomena such as linguistic interaction and psycho-biography (i.e., agency). Furthermore, social action is embedded within history and inequitable relations of power and both of these influence the ultimate meaning and shape of human activity in important ways. Methodologically, social realism reflects the complex and layered nature of the empirical world. It relies on an exploratory, theory-generating, multi-strategy approach which attempts to make as many "analytic cuts" (Layder, 1993, p. 108) into the research site as possible in order to elucidate the meanings of particular social actions for the people involved. As a field guide to social realist investigation, Layder (1993, p. 55) suggests a research map (see Table 1) which clearly emphasizes the multi-directional interrelationship of structure (i.e., context and setting) and agency (i.e., situated activity and self) in the investigation of human activity. Although realist accounts are predicated on a "bedrock of interpretive work" such as interviews and participant observation, Layder (p. 113) insists that quantitative data must be brought into the analysis in complementary fashion. However, quantitative data are not limited to counting observable instances of behavior (e.g., grammatical features of CMC), but also include such information as demographic statistics. "Put very simply," Layder (p. 16) remarks, "a central feature of realism is its attempt to preserve a 'scientific' attitude towards social analysis at the same time as recognizing the importance of actors' meanings..."
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Table 1. Multi-strategy research in German-American telecollaboration (Adapted from Layder, 1993, p. 114) Additional Factors HISTORY,
e.g., patterns of socialization into classroom FLL
Research Elements CONTEXT
Types of Data Qualitative Theoretical/interpretive characterizations, e.g., institutional histories; policy documents; informational interviews with administrators; scholarly publications Participant observation Interviews with learners Classroom discourse Learner portfolios E-mail correspondence Chat transcripts Biographical surveys Project assessments Quantitative Aggregates of individuals in specific social circumstances, e.g., computer ownership by race/ethnicity from governmental statistical databases Traditional quantitative data, e.g., statistical correlations between experimentally controlled variables
SETTING
SITUATED POWER, e.g., ACTIVITY

student-teacher or NS-NNS differentials; learning accreditation pressures
SELF
Simple forms of counting, e.g., occurrence of linguistic features in electronic discourse; number of email messages composed per group
In this paper, I apply the multi-strategy methodology of social realist investigation to the situated activity of German-American telecollaboration in order to provide as rich a picture as possible of language learning and use in this configuration. In particular, I highlight the relationships between certain aspects of structure (e.g., institutional affordances and constraints) and agency (e.g., la nguage learning and use) in the situated activity of transatlantic e-mail correspondence. The focus here is on the inter-relationship of the broader ecological context of telecollaboration and language learning and language use in telecollaboration, since it is this area which has been under-explored in the literature on computermediated language study to date. However, I also attempt to divert the tendency for sociocultural accounts to be interpreted as a form of social determinism by briefly discussing the multi-directional relationships between structure and agency in these data (see Multidirectional Interaction of Context, Setting, Situated Activity, and Self). The methodology of social realism brings a disciplined flexibility (Layder, 1993, p. 109) to exploratory investigations of new SLA environments afforded by technological advances. The research map provides clear guidelines for sites as well as forms of data collection. Its insistence on the inter-penetration of structure and agency (indicated by dashed lines in Table 1) nicely reflects the sociocultural gist of the social turn, while simultaneously legitimizing the explanatory contribution of previous and prevalent quantitative approaches. Finally, social realism clearly acknowledges the crucial roles of the self, history, and power in the explanation of social action. Some of these constructs do not appear to be highlighted to the same extent in other sociocultural approaches to human activity. According to Layder (1993, p. 80), situated activity "shifts focus away from the individual's response to various kinds of social situations towards a concern with the dynamics of interaction itself" Embedded within this particular situated activity were 16 American and 20 German selves, each with his own psycho-biography. As Layder (1993, p. 74) writes, the self "points to an individual's sense of identity, personality and perception of the social world as these things are influenced by her or his social experience." As indicated in Table 1 above, data sources for these two micro layers include biographical
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and technological surveys, interviews, participant observation on the part of the author, e-mail and chat transcripts, and student-produced course portfolios. Layder (1993, p. 90) defines settings as "already established forms of organization" in which situated activities take place, while class, gender, and ethnic relations comprise the typical macro elements of contexts. In this case, the institutions of the German and American universities, foreign language classes at universities in general, and the particular foreign language class in this study are all levels of setting. As Tella (1996, p. 10) points out, the computer-mediated foreign language classroom, in comparison to the conventional foreign language classroom, facilitates significant shifts in aspects of the culturallydependent classroom script (Belz, 2001, pp. 143-145; Hatch, 1992, p. 92). German and American society in general and post-secondary educational systems in particular frame the situated activity of telecollaboration on the structural level. Data sources include institutional and societal statistics, informational interviews, policy documents, and academic publications. DESCRIBING THE SITUATED ACTIVITY OF GERMAN-AMERICAN TELECOLLABORATION The networked German-American learning community reported here consisted of a teacher education Proseminar at Justus-Liebig-Universitt (JLU) in Gieen, Germany, and a fourth-semester German class, German Conversation and Composition, at Penn State University (PSU).3 The JLU Proseminar, entitled Encounters between the US and Germany: Intercultural Readings of Texts and Films, was one of several options for fulfilling a variety of Teacher Education program requirements in foreign language pedagogy. The students in this Proseminar were enrolled in degree programs which lead to certification as an English teacher at the elementary and secondary levels in the German education system. The U.S. German class represented the first foreign language elective beyond PSU's three-semester undergraduate requirement. The JLU English Proseminar met once a week in a computer laboratory, while the U.S. German class met four times per week, twice in a computer laboratory. Using e-mail, synchronous chat, and Web-based information exchange (e.g., the construction of Web sites), the German Proseminar and the U.S. German class collaboratively engaged in a series of tasks for the express purpose of developing foreign language competence and intercultural awareness. These interactions were based, in part, on students' common reading and viewing of parallel literature and film (e.g., Furstenberg, Levet, English, and Maille t, 2001, pp. 65-66; Kinginger et al., 1999). Parallel texts are linguistically different renditions of a particular story or topic; crucially, they are not literal translations of the same text, since it is the culturally-conditioned varying representations (Widdowson, 1992, pp. 16-25) of a single story or topic that are at issue as a prompt for intercultural learning. Grimm's original Germanlanguage fairy tale, Aschenputtel, and Disney's English-language animated adaptation, "Cinderella," illustrate the concept for a German-American partnership. The JLU-PSU interaction was loosely organized around the topic family issues and consisted of four phases. In Phase I, prior to the commencement of the German academic semester, the U.S. German students prepared Web Project I, a compilation of biographical sketches and university information, in order to introduce both themselves and their community to the JLU English students (click here to sample pages from Web Project I). They also read the first set of parallel texts, the juvenile novels Ben liebt Anna (Hrtling, 1997) and If You Come Softly (Woodson, 1998), which deal with intercultural/interracial first love (see Mller-Hartmann, 2000, for a rationale of the use of juvenile literature in networked FLT; see also Kramsch, 1985). The Cinderella versions comprised the second set of parallel texts, while the contemporary feature films, Nach fnf im Urwald (Schmid, 1995) and American Beauty (Mendes, 1999), which deal with middle-class family life, formed the final set. In Phase II, the students formed transatlantic pairs or groups based on mutual interests. The primary task in this Phase was discussion and analysis of the parallel texts with native-speaking partners via e-mail. In order for both the German and U.S. students to profit linguistically, discussion occurred bilingually in
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both German and English (Appel, 1999, pp. 62-63). The e-mail discussion took place and was archived for analysis in FirstClass (2001), a teleconferencing software program that enables the simultaneous maintenance of e-mail correspondence between multiple pairs/triads as well as multi-room synchronous chat (Gillespie, 2000; click here for a screen shot of the FirstClass working environment). In Phase III of the partnership, the transatlantic pairs/triads merged to form seven larger transatlantic groups. The task during this phase was for each group to develop a Web site (click here for sample pages from Web Project II) which contained a bilingual essay pertaining to the parallel texts and a bilingual discussion of a cultural construct (e.g., "racism," "beauty," "family") from multiple perspectives. In addition to discrete-point grammar, discourse grammar (e.g., McCarthy & Carter, 1994), and content, students were evaluated on their demonstration of electronic literacy (e.g., Warschauer, 1999) as evidenced by the appropriate integration of images, video, sound, and topic-related informational hyperlinks into their Web sites. The U.S. semester ended at the conclusion of Phase III. During Phase IV, the JLU students discussed their experiences in the telecollaborative partnership from practical and theoretical perspectives. DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS The current focus on social dimensions of telecollaboration is reflected in the data presentation by proceeding from the level of structure. Language valuation and technological access and know-how are discussed as representative of the level of context. Methods of learning accreditation are addressed at the level of setting. Indicative of the inter-penetration of structure and agency in the social realist paradigm, data pertaining to the micro-levels of linguistic interaction and psycho-biography are woven through these sections in narrative fashion. They are further discussed in Multidirectional Interaction of Context, Setting, Situated Activity, and Self. Level of Context Language Valuation. In the German-speaking world, knowledge of English is often considered to be a prerequisite for success in certain areas of professional and personal life (Hilgendorf, 1996). German, in contrast, does not share the same status in American society. This difference can be seen vividly with the example of foreign language instruction in secondary education in each country. For the 1998/1999 German school year, Das Statistische Bundesamt (Federal Statistics Office) reported that 97.3% of all children in the fifth grade and 99.8% of all children in the seventh grade receive instruction in English. In contrast, the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics reported in 1994 that 2.7% of all pupils in Grades 9 through 12 receive instruction in German. Furthermore, the English language is pervasive in present-day German media and popular culture (Hilgendorf), while the reverse trend is not in evidence. Based on this macro-level demographic information, one could surmise that Germans generally have more exposure to English than Americans do to German. This additional exposure may facilitate higher English language proficiency levels for Germans when compared to German-language proficiency levels for their U.S. age peers. Jennifer,4 a 19-year-old U.S. student, hinted at the relationship between the macro-level shaping of this discrepancy in proficiency and her position as a U.S. student in a GermanAmerican telecollaborative partnership: "I figured they [the Germans] expected to have a much higher level of English I mean they've had English forever."5 The expectation that the U.S. students may be less proficient in German than the German students are in English surfaced at the level of situated activity in e-mail correspondence during Phase II. For example, Verena, a 22-year-old German student, wrote the following to her U.S. partner, 18-year-old Nancy, in her second e-mail: "I think that it must be hard to learn our language. My pen friend from England is not as good as you are." Corinna, a 24-year-old German student, betrayed her pre-conception of her U.S. partner's (21-year-old Mitch) ability to understand German: "Okay, let me introduce myself in English, I guess, that will be easier for you to understand." These initial positionings of the U.S. students by the German students as the linguistically less competent members of the partnership may be perceived by the
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U.S. students as threats to positive face (Brown & Levinson, 1987) which, in turn, may have meaning for their ability to "open up to each other on an emotional plane" (Mller-Hartmann, 2000, p. 130) and establish the positive personal rapport that is important to maintaining a viable electronic partnership and engaging in intercultural learning (Appel, 1999, p. 55; Wegerif, 1998, p. 34; see also Byram, 1997, p. 50). The U.S. students in this partnership also tended to position themselves as the linguistically less competent members. For example, 19-year-old Alice explicitly cast herself and her U.S. classmates in this role in her first e-mail to her partner, 24-year-old Patricia: "It is a little intimidating for us, because you have studied English for much longer than we have studied German. From talking with my classmates, we all are a little nervous that our German isn't quite as good as you expect." Similarly, Mitch imagined what his German partner might think when she received e-mail from him: "Yeah, I'm sure that some of the stuff I wrote [Corinna] was like ohhhh great! What is he trying to say" (see also Fischer, 1998, p. 114). In a post-semester interview, Nancy conjectured that the German partners may be less likely to participate if they perceived the U.S. partners to be less proficient: "Maybe [they wouldn't want to write because] they thought it was like funny when they'd get the emails from us and like not really understand the German." Mismatches in foreign language proficiency affected both interpersonal and linguistic aspects of the telecollaborative partnership in the case of 21-year-old Joe and one of his German partners, 20-year-old Gabi. On a written project assessment, Joe explained, The German students have learned English since grade school. I felt childish when I spoke with my German partner It was particularly problematic when we were in a chat room. I got upset because I write very slowly in German I think that my partners also got a little bit upset. Joe related the discrepancy in proficiency, at least in part, to differences in the respective educational systems. On the same assessment instrument, Joe's partner, Gabi, wrote that the proficiency difference influenced her to withhold particular linguistic actions from him: "It was difficult for me to correct mistakes because I didn't want to give my partner a feeling of inferiority. He tried really hard and I found that to be more important." Other German students acknowledged the role that their partners' proficiency level played in the development of the individual telecollaborative partnership. For example, Marike, a 22-year-old German student, commented on a post-semester questionnaire that she got lucky with her American partner, 19-year-old Jackie, because she spoke German well: "I had very good luck with my partner Jackie who was linguistically super fit which enabled deep discussions and analyses" (see Belz & Mller-Hartmann, 2001, for a case study of Jackie). The implication may be that Marike would have been less inclined or able to participate in the way that she would have liked to, if Jackie had had a lower proficiency level. In an interview, Mitch gave a clear picture of how his proficiency level in German affected his linguistic performance at the level of situated activity (i.e., while composing e-mail messages to his partner during class time): The class period is only fifty minutes so when you get in there you start reading what they have to say and then you got about a half hour left. Then you start trying to compose your ideas. I tried to write it in English first and then translate it into German. It was painstaking and slow and I'm like wait a second I got to correct these grammar mistakes first so you do that first and then you try to write as much as you can in German to get it out of the way I know I could write English really fast so I'm trying to do the German first and by that time the class is almost over and I really didn't get a chance to get across the true point of what I wanted to say.
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When Mitch's partner dropped out of the Proseminar after the third week of the German semester, he experienced it in the following way: "It was kinda just like a relief that it was over." These examples clearly suggest the relationships between macro-level data, that is, the teaching and societal valuation of specific foreign languages, and linguistic action at the micro-interactional level of situated activity. Gabi did not correct JOE as much as she would have if his proficiency level had been higher; Marike indicated that Jackie's proficiency level had a significant effect on her ability and desire to engage in content-related discussions of parallel literature; and Mitch gave a vivid account of the effect of his limited German ability on the linguistic composition of emails in German within the confines of the 50-minute class period. The differences in foreign language exposure may have significant influence on learning expectations and perceived learning outcomes in telecollaboration. For instance, in written project assessments, most German students reported that they did not profit in the course of telecollaboration with respect to the target language and culture. For example, 20-year-old Ilse wrote, "Personally I didn't notice any improvement in my linguistic abilities.I also didn't learn very much about cultural differences. Everything that I know about that I learned outside of class." Ilse's assertion about cultural learning may reflect the infiltration of German popular culture by American cultural artifacts. Judy, an 18-year-old U.S. student, described her experience of this phenomenon well in an interview with the author: "when I was over there the music they listen to is all our music it was in English and you know there was tons of billboards and signs that were in English and movies they watch movies that played in English" Other German students tended to agree with Ilse. In fact, Gabi remarked that she did not value linguistic development in the course of the project, a comment which may point to the differing expectations of the American and German students in general: "Linguistically I also didn't profit [from the partnership], but I also didn't set any store by that." The U.S. students, on the other hand, tended to perceive that both their linguistic and cultural knowledge improved over the course of the partnership. Eighteen-year-old Suzanne's assessment of the partnership is representative of their commentary: "My German is now better than before the project began. I find that it is easier to write in German. Now I know more words than before Every email that I wrote I learned something from my partner." Differences in the social and economic values of German and English as foreign languages may create logistical issues which have meaning for telecollaborative language learning at the micro-interactional level. The German-English subnet of the International Tandem Network, an agency which facilitates the pairing of autonomous networked tandems for the purpose of language learning, recorded that Germanspeaking learners of English outnumber English-speaking learners of German by 366 to 1. 6 The higher demand for speakers of English (based perhaps on the social and economic value of the language in Germany) was reflected in the JLU-PSU partnership where, in four cases, two German students were paired with one U.S. student and approximately 20 JLU students were turned away at the beginning of the German semester. Clara, a 21-year-old German student who shared a U.S. partner with Ilse, thought this arrangement was disadvantageous when she related that it hindered her ability to establish a personal relationship with her partner, the very criterion which Little and Brammerts (1996) and Mller-Hartmann (2000) consider to be significant for long-distance intercultural telecollaborative foreign language study: "It is much easier to establish a personal relationship, if one has his own partner." Ilse indicated that sharing a partner caused her to feel stress, which may have interfered with the type of language she offered her American partner: I or rather we ascertained during the project that it's not so easy to share a[n American] partner. You sit together with your [German] partner in front of the PC and feel pressured by him. If you can't think of something, or if you're considering what to say, how you should say something, you always have the feeling that this is bothering your [German] partner.
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Ilse directly related aspects of the situated activity, sharing a U.S. partner with another German student, to the online processes of language production with respect to content and lexis. It should be noted that this arrangement may be shaped by the differing social valuations of English and German, that is, a higher demand for native speakers of English as e-mail partners. Ilse's commentary is particularly significant if one assumes that foreign language input is a primary factor in the development of foreign language competency. Technological Access and Know-How Americans tend to have greater home access to computers and the Internet than their German counterparts do. According to the Statistisches Bundesamt, 47% of German households owned a personal computer in 2000 and 17.4% of all German households in the former West German states had Internet access. In contrast, the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) reports that 51% of all U.S. households owns a computer in 2000 and 41.5% of all households has access to the Internet. More relevant to the current study, the NTIA reported that 74% of all U.S. households with college graduates owned a computer and 64% of the same population had Internet access. In the context of elementary and secondary education, one observes disparity between the US and Germany in relation to Internet access as well. In the Digest of Educational Statistics 2000 (Snyder, 2001, p. 472), the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics reports that 89% of U.S. schools has Internet access in 1998 and 95% of all schools has internet access a year later in 1999. In contrast, in Schulen am Netz in Deutschland, the German Ministry for Education and Research reports that 36% of German schools had Internet access in 1998 (see also Brammerts, 1996, p. 127).7 These macro-level features of the respective societies seem to be reflected in the individual biographies of the project participants. For example, as self-reported on a technological survey, 4 of the 11 German respondents indicated that their primary point of computer access was in their place of residence, while 11 of the 13 U.S. respondents fell into the same category. In addition, the German respondents indicated an average daily computer usage of less than one hour, while the U.S. average was nearly 3 hours per day. On written project assessments some German students commented on the differences in technological know-how between the two groups. For example, Clara wrote, "I also got the impression that American students are significantly farther along [than we are] with respect to the internet. That might be a result of the brilliant homepages that they produce." Social and institutional discrepancies in Internet access and technological know-how may have meaning for the situated activity of telecollaboration at the level of linguistic interaction. At the outset of Phase II, German students' e-mail was punctuated with stories of computer difficulties. Twenty-three-year-old Christa, for example, described her familiarity with technology: "Today we finally got access to the FirstClass program, but it took some time until everything worked. -- Also, it's pretty confusing." In contrast, her American partner, 18-year-old Beth, took part in a German-American e-mail exchange in high-school and in a Spanish-American computer-mediated partnership in seventh grade. Technical problems also seemed to plague the partnership between Elizabeth and Jana. Jana opened six of the nine e-mails she wrote to Elizabeth in Phase II of the project with stories of computer difficulties: "Today I had some technical problems in class. First I couldn't log on and then a written letter was deleted. I am really sorry about that!! Please don't be frustrated." The German and U.S. academic calendars overlap for a maximum of 8 weeks in the Fall or Winter term. This misalignment may exacerbate the meanings that technical difficulties may have for the development of language competency and intercultural awareness within the partnership. To illustrate, on the first day of the German Proseminar, the German students needed to a) become oriented to the project as a whole; b) become familiar with the technology required to execute it; c) pick a U.S. partner based on the student biographies posted at Web Project I; and d) compose a first e-mail to the U.S. partner. In contrast, the U.S. students have had nearly 2 months to learn about the project-mediating technology and were quite eager for the e-mail correspondence to begin. Alice summarized this sentiment well in her first e-mail to
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her partner: "It took a long time for this project to really begin! We've already been in class for two months and we've already done a lot of work on this project. We've all waited a long time to meet our partners!" Technological difficulties at this point in particular, such as the non-delivery of messages, may have lessened the likelihood that a productive transatlantic partnership would develop. Technological discrepancies between the two groups influenced telecollaboration for some pairs/triads for the duration of the project. For example, lack of Internet access at home limited the frequency of correspondence to the weekly class meeting for some of the Germans. This feature of the institutional setting constrained telecollaboration to such an extent for Anke and Catharina that they suggested that Internet access at home become a prerequisite for enrollment in the JLU Proseminar. When some German students did try to correspond out of class time, they ran into problems which were unlikely to be experienced by their U.S. counterparts. For example, 21-year-old Katrin explained to Joe how computer wait time influenced her correspondence with him in an e-mail from Phase II: "Dear [Joe], I hate this situation ... I have about 5 min to write a mail and there is no available computer [emphasis added] and what I hate the most in the world is to write in a hurry" (see Appel, 1999, pp. 19-20; Meskill & Ranglova, 2000, p. 34, for technological mismatches in other telecollaborative partnerships). Kerlin, the Director of Education Outreach at the Center for Education Technology Services at PSU, reported that wait time in PSU computer labs is virtually non-existent with 4,372 university-owned computers available for an undergraduate student population of approximately 30,000 (personal communication, January 2001). In contrast, the 20,000 JLU students have access to approximately 250 university computers (MllerHartmann, personal communication, March 2001). In other cases, German students did have Internet access at home but they had to pay for it. Twenty-threeyear-old Inge, for instance, reported that she was constantly nervous when she was writing e-mails from home because it was expensive. Twenty-two-year-old Annike indicated that this aspect of her setting had a direct influence on the frequency and length of e-mail correspondence with her American partner: "I had the problem that I constantly had to be online and that was pretty expensive in the long run. If that hadn't been the case I might have been online much longer and in more detail." Such considerations were perhaps difficult for the PSU students to entertain since, upon matriculation, each student received a free e-mail account, Internet access, and server space and all dormitory rooms offer free ethernet connections (Kerlin, January 2001, personal communication). In some cases, the U.S. partners may have experienced the relative lack of response from their German partners as a social threat to face rather than as a technological constraint on participation particular to the German institutional setting. For example, Annike's partner, Jennifer, discussed Phase II of the project in this way: At first I was pretty happy but then it just like really frustrated me that I'd only get an email once a week especially when we wrote twice a week cuz like what could you say? You'd write an email you'd ask questions and then you wouldn't get anything back it's just so hard when you're writing all the time and you're not getting anything I think they should have to write outside of class. Writing outside of class time, however, was subject to institutional and social constraints particular to the German end of the partnership. Institutional Level of Setting Studies in comparative education have documented the many differences between educational systems in the US and Germany (e.g., Ash, 1997, pp. 127-219; Ashwill, Foraker, Nerison-Low, Milotich, & Milotich, 1999; Perkins & Burn, 1978). Noack (1999, p. 773) writes quite illustratively that comparing these two systems is like comparing "apples and sauerkraut." While Phase II of this project ran relatively smoothly, major difficulties in socio-collaboration arose in Phase III, which, in some cases, led to transatlantic electronic confrontations (see Fischer, 1998, pp. 62-63; Wallace, 2001, pp. 88-105). In this section, I focus on course accreditation, a major difference between the German and US post-secondary
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educational systems. These systems may have meaning for student participation and thus foreign language learning and use in the telecollaborative partnership. Course Accreditation The German post-secondary educational system favors intermittent high-stakes learning assessments, while the U.S. system emphasizes frequent low-stakes learning assessments (e.g., homework, quizzes). For example, German students are required to take comprehensive content examinations such as the Staatsexamen at various points in their university careers, while such assessments play no role at all in U.S. undergraduate studies. Course accreditation differs dramatically in the two systems. German students may drop an individual course from their schedules without penalty at any point in the semester. In fact, two German students, Verena and Christa, dropped out of the JLU Proseminar after Phase III was completed. U.S. students, on the other hand, have the opportunity to drop an individual course from their semester schedule without monetary or grading penalty only up until a certain deadline. After that point, they receive a grade for the course in their permanent academic records. German students may choose to receive accreditation in a particular course at any point in the semester and sometimes months after the course has concluded. Accreditation comes in the form of graded or un-graded certificates of participation (qualifizierte or unqualifizierte Scheine) and is typically based on the completion of a single high-stakes exam or project. U.S. students' learning and participation in a particula r course are evaluated constantly throughout the semester and accredited immediately after the course has taken place according to a sometimes complex formula of frequent low-stakes assignments and, in some cases, a final examination or project. In the JLU-PSU partnership, German students were required to participate in the e-mail partnership and to submit a portfolio by the beginning of the next term in order to receive a graded certificate for the course. Elizabeth registered her surprise vis--vis German evaluation and accreditation procedures during a synchronous chat with her German partner Jana: "I asked her one day in a chat session like how grading works over there [in Germany] and she said I haven't decided if I want to take the grade for this class or not!" In contrast, the U.S. students were required to participate regularly, complete numerous homework assignments, complete Web Projects I and II, present a formative portfolio in an oral conference with the instructor at mid-semester, and present a summative portfolio at the end of the semester. Despite the fact that participation in the telecollaborative partnership was presented and treated as the cornerstone of each class, the distinctions between the two systems in course accreditation may have influenced the two groups' differing conceptualizations of the relative significance of participation in the partnership. Corinna and Mitch illustrate this well. After Mitch corrected some of Corinna's English mistakes (a required task) in an initial e-mail, Corinna had the following reaction: "Yes, my English is not perfect, I know that. I thought, this seminar is only an fun-e-mail-writing-thing! Do not be too hard with me, okay?" In a post-semester interview Mitch commented on Corinna's characterization of the class as a "fun-e-mail-writing-thing": "Ah! (laughter) Ow! I'm like what are you talking about? I'm like this is like some big project Are you crazy? Like this is like our grade!" Clearly, at least some members of the two groups had different conceptualizations of the activity in which they were involved and thus their need to pay attention to it, and these may have been contingent on the location of evaluative scenes in German and American classroom scripts (Hatch, 1992, pp. 92-101) as well as aspects of individual learners' psycho-biographies. Evaluative scenes which entail student participation (e.g., Staatsexamen) are not located within the temporal confines of a course at the German university to the same extent that they are at American universities. The mismatch in academic calendars amplifies these institutional differences in assessment and accreditation. Thus, as the Germans were comfortably entering the fourth week of their semester at the onset of Phase III, the U.S. students were gearing up for the end of their semester, a period when demands on U.S. student investment in class work and projects increases significantly. From the outset, the U.S. students viewed Web Project II as an important component of their final grade in an accredited university
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course, whereas the Germans did not. Annike again underscored the possible differences in each group's conceptualization of the project: "Everybody knew what the task was [in Phase III], but I had the feeling that the Americans and Germans had different conceptualizations of the project." American Perspectives on German-American Telecollaboration Perhaps one result of these institutional differences in course accreditation was the common U.S. perception that the Germans did not participate adequately in Phase III of the partnership. In Phase II, 216 e-mail messages were exchanged: 102 were written by PSU students, while 114 were written by JLU students. During Phase III, however, there was somewhat less German participation in terms of total messages sent: PSU students sent 92 messages, while JLU students sent 82. On a qualitative level, the U.S. students' evaluation of the German students' participation was sometimes quite negative (and may have been exacerbated by the point in the semester in which the U.S. students were located relative to the time structure of the German semester), as Jennifer's commentary illustrates: They wrote some stuff in German,8 they plagiarized stuff after like the second email they sent us we realized they're only emailing us like in class they didn't do anything out of class so we were like alright we have to do this whole thing and then I was really pissed because they sent an email like the Tuesday after it was due and uh were like could you at least send us an email to tell us if you got this it would be nice and I was like what the heck! you send me this a week after it was due and then you're mad that I didn't write back! Apparently, the U.S. students expected increased participation in Phase III since Web Project II was their final project which comprised a significant portion of their final grade in a 4 credit-hour course. The German students, in contrast, were under no pressure in terms of grades to participate in Web Project II to the extent that the Americans did. Mitch reported that the perceived behavior of his German partners in Phase III of the project contradicted beliefs that he held concerning the German work ethic: It kind of seemed interesting to me how lackadaisical they were about coming to class -- I come to class every day -- but they're supposed to be like we're coming to class we're doing this work you know -- it just seemed very funny that they just didn't show up, they just didn't write When asked in a post-semester interview how his characterizations of Germans had changed from the beginning of the semester due to his experiences in Phase III, Mitch replied, "I guess I don't think they're punctual anymore, because a lot of them didn't really do any work on the project." In the same format, Beth reported that her experiences in Phase III also flouted her expectations of German behavior: "You know all that stuff we said at the beginning of the semester? Like they're punctual and hard-working? Well, it's not true!" Even U.S. students who appeared to experience mutual support and understanding (Little & Brammerts, 1996) from their German partners in Phase II of the partnership perceived a discrepancy in participation during Phase III. For example, Elizabeth, who was "so excited to get every single email" from Jana, reported that she was upset about her partner's level of participation during Phase III: "I got pretty worked up about it cuz I was getting like mad I was like they aren't doing any work on the project it's not fair I'm like this is my grade I really really care about this I want to do a good job" Elizabeth's desire to "do a good job" was clearly related to her desire to get a good grade in the course. In some cases, these differences in participation were related to Internet access. Like Jennifer, Elizabeth expressed surprise at the fact that her German partners Anke and Catharina appeared to be working on the project only during class time: "Eric and I did all the organizing for the project. They [Anke and
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Catharina] just read our outline and did whatever they wanted they're gonna do their part in class. And outside of class? you know like we're out of luck cuz you know they're not going to do anything." Contrastively, the German partners Anke and Catharina expressed surprise at the fact that Eric and Elizabeth did not seem to realize that they only worked on the project during class time: "In our opinion, the group work with Eric and Elizabeth didn't go so well We feel that it wasn't clear to them that we mostly didn't have the opportunity to check our accounts everyday and to get their changes right away." Some U.S. students related the perceived lack of German participation to the German course accreditation system. Nancy commented on and rationalized Verena's perceived behavior in Phase III in the following way: "The only thing that she did contribute was a few ideas and a little bit to the conclusion at least she did that because they weren't getting a grade -- they had less motivation about it not only because of that but also because they came once a week, they were older" Jennifer, whose mother is a high school German teacher, related that although she found the perceived lack of German participation in Web Project II to be frustrating, she nevertheless accepted it based on her understanding of the German postsecondary educational system: "I just kinda accepted it [the fact that the Germans didn't participate] because I knew that they don't like get graded or anything." Jennifer went on to explain how she thought that the differences in the two educational systems affected the execution of Web Project II: I thought that was the biggest problem with the whole project. Not like the way it was planned or anything. It was just like the differences in the structure of the two school systems because like there you know they have to like write their term paper and they have like up to a year pretty much to write it and to hand it in so like they don't understand like when this is due it's due and you better have it done Indeed, the German segment of Jennifer's group demonstrated the differential conceptualization of deadlines, semester structure, and project significance along national lines in their last e-mail to their American collaborators: "Hello partner group! First of all we want to apologize that things didn't work out the way we wanted them to be. We just got to know today that the last session we had was the final one [for you] and that you really get under pressure because you have to finish your homepage." The meaning that this institutional difference may have had for language learning in a telecollaborative partnership was illustrated at the lexical and conceptual level in this group. The U.S. members decided to write on racism for a component of Web Project II and used the German word Rassismus (racism) to refer to this phenomenon as they understood it: Maybe we could talk about the differences in the types of racism in the US and in Germany. Of course, "If you come softly" is a more clear-cut example of racism, but we think it may be interesting to use Ben liebt Anna as a contrasting example. In the U.S. racism is typically over the color of a person's skin. It seems to us that in Germany racism is more about religious background, nationality, or ethnicity and less about people's outer appearance." (first e-mail to German partners in Phase III) In response, the German collaborators wrote: "all of us three believe that it is better to concentrate on If You Come Softly, because the problem of racism is conveyed much clearer there" Throughout their text the American students used the word Rassismus, with its National Socialist connotations, to refer to the prejudice experienced by both Jeremiah, an African-American character in If You Come Softly and Anna, a Polish-born, German-speaking Aussiedlermdchen, in Ben liebt Anna. In an interview, Jennifer related that German friends at PSU explained to her later that it would have been better to use terms like Auslnderfeindlichkeit (animosity toward foreigners) or Fremdenhass (hate of the other) to describe the latter situation given the associations of the German Rasse (race) and Rassismus with National Socialism in mid-twentieth century Germany. Jennifer was disappointed that her German partners at JLU did not raise this point and related her lack of learning in this respect to the partners' perceived lack of participation which she, in turn, related to their institutionally constrained conceptualization of the
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significance of Web Project II: "Our partners said at the beginning I don't think Ben liebt Anna is really racism but they didn't explain why and then I found out why and I was like 'oh' like all the terms we used in German [in our essay] are like wrong." German Perspectives on German-American Telecollaboration From the German perspective there tended to be two salient characterizations of perceived U.S. behavior in Phase II and in Phase III in particular: a) the U.S. students did not share (enough) personal information; and b) the U.S. students appeared to be more oriented toward project completion than topic discussion. Just as distinctions in course accreditation systems can have meaning for the typical U.S. perceptions regarding German participation, varying institutional constraints may have had meaning for each of these reactions as well. Many German students commented in summative post-telecollaboration assessments that they did not get to establish a personal relationship with their American partners. Twenty-three-year-old Nadja, for example, related, "I didn't really like the fact that my partner didn't reciprocate my attempt to establish contact on a more personal level" Similarly, 21-year-old Angelika commented that she perceived the personal touch to be missing in her correspondence with 18-year-old Jane: "However, the contact was more or less limited to aspects of the seminar and tasks that had to be completed for the seminar." These differences with regard to personal discussions in telecollaboration may relate to differences in course expectations. The U.S. students tended to expect to learn the German language in the course (what this entails was, in turn, influenced by institutionalized scripts for foreign language education and instruction, e.g., Hall, 1999; Hatch, 1992, pp. 85-120), while the Germans tended to expect to learn about U.S. culture or technology in language teaching, or to get to know an American person. Differential learning expectations may be reflected in the perceived discrepancies in learning outcomes, as discussed above. The U.S. focus on the task (e.g., discussing the books and films) may reflect the course accreditation system in which they are embedded: They need to respond to frequent low-stakes assignments in order to get a socially and professionally acceptable grade. Anke and Catharina appeared to come to this conclusion as well with respect to Eric's perceived behavior: "He appeared to be very interested in his grades, which may be a representation of his culture." In some cases, the institutional necessity that the U.S. students complete Web Project II by a specific deadline influenced processes of transatlantic meaning negotiation and topic choice within those negotiation processes. In a post-semester interview, Elizabeth explained how these institutional tensions were demonstrated in the discourse of synchronous chat sessions among the members of her virtual group: I had talked to Jackie and they were like having problems even getting to a thesis by the time the project was due. She'd just be sitting there chatting with her partner pulling her hair out cuz they were like I thought you meant this why don't we do this and she was like you don't understand the project is due in like two days we need to get this done! Inge, one of the German members of this group, described her experiences in the group in that she directly related American behavior to the pressures of the educational system: What occurred to me again is that the College [sic] system is very much like elementary school [i.e., verschult] and this causes the students to be quite inflexible. In this way the danger exists that they will cling too much to assigned [tasks] and/or that they won't let go of an idea once they get it into their heads. If it is the case that institutional parameters such as the immediacy of grades influenced transatlantic meaning negotiation, then these social dimensions of the situated activity of telecollaborative language learning may turn out to be of more consequence in language acquisition processes in some cases than individual psycholinguistic factors.
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When asked about Inge's comment in a post-semester interview, Jackie, one of Inge's American partners in Phase III, remarked, I guess that's probably true um cuz I know a lot of the times when we were discussing things because of the structure that we were given for the essay we'd say no no no we have to have this we have to have this and maybe we didn't feel that we needed all of that but we knew that in order for us to get the grade that we wanted we'd have to have that so I think I would agree with that. In this instance it does appear to be the case that U.S. participation in the project was guided more by locally contingent task requirements and course accreditation procedures (which are beyond instructor control) than the opportunity to discuss a cultural issue with native speakers of the target language. Elizabeth, who also appeared to agree with Inge's assessment, raised more difficult questions in her response: She [Inge] doesn't realize that we don't have a choice that's the way universities work here ... I think they kinda need to learn about how the school systems work over here and then realize that you know it's not our fault that we're this way it's like if we want to graduate we got to be like this you know and if we want to get a job that's how we're like expected to act. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS This investigation indicates that the social action of telecollaborative foreign language study is a complex and multifaceted human activity. This activity is shaped by an intricate inter-relationship of social and institutional affordances and constraints, aspects of individual psycho-biography, as well as language and computer socialization experiences and particular power relationships. These inter-relationships are first summarized at the levels of context and setting. Then the multi-directional nature of structure and agency is illustrated by providing several examples of cases where learner agency appears to override particular institutional pressures. In a concluding section telecollaborative best practices for German-American partnerships are addressed. Context National differences in technological know-how and computer access raise important ethical and methodological questions for telecollaborative foreign language study. For example, should participation in German-American partnerships be limited to students who have Internet access at home, as the Germans Anke and Catharina suggested (see Wegerif, 1998, p. 46, for a similar recommendation)? This type of participation prerequisite may alleviate socio-collaborative difficulties in dyadic or group work configurations, but it will also preclude technologically (and almost invariably) economically more disadvantaged students from certain learning communities. As the NTIA reports, in the US, at least, computer ownership co-varies with racial and ethnic identity. For example, 55.7% of white non-Hispanic U.S. households owns a computer in 2000; 23.2% of Black non-Hispanic households; 65.6% of Asian American and Pacific Islander households; and 33.7% of Hispanic households. In sum, while technological prerequisites for telecollaborative participation may benefit language learning in terms of increased target language exposure and interaction, it may also result in discriminatory educational practices (see Warschauer, 1998b, for the relationship between ethnicity and computer know-how). Setting Institutional differences in computer access, academic calendars, and accreditation systems may have meaning for perceived participation levels and the establishment and facilitation of personal interaction and thus personal rapport between keypals. Personal rapport is considered to be a significant factor in successful telecollaborative foreign language study (Fischer, 1998, p. 72). For example, in Web Project I,
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each American student built an electronic response box into his or her Web biography where the German students could answer questions they had posed. Responses to each question were to be mailed to all members of the American class and the instructors. No German students replied to any of these questions using the response boxes. In an interview Jackie expressed her reaction to this situation: "I guess I expected a little more reaction to our biographies ... none of them used the little response boxes or answered our questions ... I was disappointed that they didn't answer." More detailed knowledge of the German institutional setting clarifies this development. In a June 21, 2001 e-mail to the author, the JLU instructor explained the circumstances surrounding the German students' first contact with Web Project I on their first day of class in mid October 2000: I had 1 1/2 hours to get rid of surplus students (there were about 35-40 in the class at first), explain the idea of the course to them, have them choose their partners from the short descriptions I chose from the websites, change rooms ... and have them write first letters. It is at this stage that students were able to look at the webpages ... Since they had to write their e-mail letters to present themselves I think they just didn't consider to write anything in the response fields. The misalignment of the German and American academic calendars compelled the JLU instructor to accomplish a great deal in the first class period. Perhaps the greater social valuation of English in Germany shaped the greater demand for the Proseminar. This administrative work took away from the time that students had to interact with Web Project I. Less readily available home and university Internet access may have precluded students from re-accessing Web Project I and responding to the input boxes at a latter date. In a July 3, 2001 e-mail, the JLU instructor related that part of the confusion on the first day of class was because the technician had removed FirstClass the week before the course started (and I only realized this the night before I wanted to use the room) ... he had rearranged the interface and just removed all the programs that were of no use for the computer linguists without consulting anybody in TEFL. Thus it appears that the political situation with respect to academic disciplines at the German institution also had consequences for the ways in which the German students were able to interface with Web Project I and, in turn, for the ways in which some of the American students construed their reactions to the Web biographies in general and their use of the response boxes in particular. Multidirectional Interaction of Context, Setting, Situated Activity, and Self Although the focus of this paper has been on the ways in which society and institution may have meaning for the development and execution of a German-American telecollaborative partnership, one should not be tempted to conclude that this study is meant to represent a form of social determinism in foreign language learning, that is, that the sociocultural mediation of mind entails a strict one-to-one causal relationship between socia l structure and the ultimate course of human activity. Human beings are not mere pawns in the grips of social and institutional forces. In fact, Carter and Sealey (2000, p. 5), two forerunners in the application of social realist tenets to applied linguistics research, clearly state that "it is only human beings who can have intentions, purposes and reflexivity: it is only human beings who can act in the world and are thus the 'agents' of social action." Other sociocultural researchers in the field of Second Language Learning approach the social realist view of the inter-relationship between structure and agency in social action by insisting on the co-construction of language learner agency. For example, Lantolf and Pavlenko (2001, p. 148) argue that "agency is never [just] a 'property' of a particular individual; rather, it is a relationship that is constantly co-constructed and negotiated with those around the individual and with the society at large."
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To illustrate this point in the study at hand, I would like to present several instances in the data where an individual learner's agency (i.e., his or her psycho-biography and aspects of the situated activity) contributed to countering the social and institutional constraints at play in this particular learning community. In other words, I would like to demonstrate the multidirectional nature of the interrelationship between structure and agency in shaping human action. First, in those cases where transatlantic partners were able to establish a positive rapport (Belz, 2001, p. 132-136), they were sometimes able to re-interpret their classroom roles in terms of expected participation levels, thus flouting aspects of their culturally-specific socialization into classroom behavior (e.g., Hatch, 1992). For example , Jana attributed her uncharacteristic heavy participation in the course to the personal relationship she established with Elizabeth: "I found it totally interesting to find out what Elizabeth (my partner) thought about, for example, American Beauty. The authentic communication which arose as a result of that really motivated me to write regularly, carefully, and with interest." Second, the thrill of acquiring new technological skills in the course of the telecollaborative partnership and thus becoming apprenticed into an electronic discourse community (EDC), might diminish the ability of institutional constraints on computer access and technological know-how to squelch the virtual partnership. For example, Patricia, a 24-year-old German student, vividly described the growing centrality of her membership in EDCs in the course of German-American telecollaboration: During the semester it became clear to me, that I have the possibility to play around with communication. I have the freedom to choose if I telephone, email, write, or chat. For a long time I wasn't able to appreciate that, because I had to first slowly figure out how to deal with email and chat. At the beginning my problems as a [computer] user hindered the content of my communication, but that's over now. It's really nice to observe this learning process. Finally, the benefit of participation in the project may outweigh its locally perceived time-intensive nature for some students. To illustrate, Jana explicitly connects her heavy participation with the attainment of career goals: "Furthermore, the fact that Elizabeth is a native speaker of the language that I study and will later teach motivated me to participate." Telecollaborative Best Practices In post-semester interviews with the American students, many of them commented that they learned about differences between the German and American educational systems and the conceptualization of group work during he telecollaborative partnership. In other words, the American students appeared to indicate that the main cultural learning they did in the situated activity of telecollaboration was related less to the pedagogical goals of the tasks assigned (e.g., learning about the culturally contingent conceptualization of constructs like "racism," "nudity," "family") and more to epiphenomena which arose in the process of task completion. Best practices in the design and execution of intercultural telecollaborative foreign language learning will have to grapple with issues of the locus of intercultural learning. In other words, should telecollaborative projects be designed to minimize the difficulties associated with institutional interface in an effort to shift the locus of learning to the task (e.g., the parallel texts, the Web essay assignment), or should the cultural faultlines (Kramsch, 1993, pp. 205-232) inherent in the institutional interface be allowed to surface and function as the locus of intercultural learning? In order to provide a tentative answer to this question, I would like to draw on the psychologist A. A. Leont'ev (1981) and his work on second language pedagogy and Activity Theory, a branch of sociocultural theorizing. According to Lantolf and Pavlenko (2001, p. 157), two modern interpreters of Leont'ev, Activity Theory "is committed to the proposition that by changing the material circumstances (artifacts and social relations) under which individuals operate, it is possible to help people move their learning and development forward." Therefore, educational development may be effected by calculated pedagogical intervention. Lantolf and Pavlenko explicitly echo this sentiment when they write,
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it is not sufficient only to observe what transpires in those places, such as language classrooms, where learning happens, but [Activity Theory] compels the researcher to intervene in communities of practice in order to help find ways of ensuring that all individuals have access to full participation and with it the opportunity to develop to their fullest potential. (p. 157) In short, the clash of cultural faultlines in telecollaborative learning communities such as the one under study should not be smoothed over or avoided based on the sometimes negative results of a study such as this one; indeed, they should be encouraged. As Kramsch (1993, p. 228) advises, foreign language educators should "teach the boundary" between the source and target cultures/languages. However, such clashes should not develop and persist in a counterproductive way (i.e., in a way which leads to the establishment of a new stereotype such as the American perception in this study that Germans are lazy) without the guidance of more expert intercultural explorers such as foreign language teachers (Byram, 1997; see also Agar, 1994, p. 254, for "languacultural experts"). To that end, I would suggest that in future German-American telecollaboration of this nature both American and German students participate in guided cultural sensitization on social patterns of communication and institutional conditions which may influence (but not determine) the execution of task-oriented electronic collaboration. For example, students may become more sensitized to the concept of intercultural communication itself, particularly at institutions located in more rural and culturally homogenous regions of the US and Germany, through the use of expository materials. Sections of Scollon and Scollon's (2001) Intercultural Communication may be suitable as reading material in Phase I of the project (Kinginger et al., 1999). Also in Phase I, more time could be spent on the critical comparison of the two partner institutions as represented by their official Web sites. Students may be guided in the development of their critical cultural awareness of both self and other (Byram, 1997, p. 63) by engaging with short literary texts such as Peter Schneider's (1991) Amerikanische Biographie, which present an outsider's view on perceived differences in the two educational systems (e.g., schummeln vs. cheating in school), among other things. Web-published journals by students who have spent a year abroad provide an invaluable source of information concerning the cultural reality of their immersion experience. Many such Web sites concentrate on educational differences. Particularly rich in cultural faultlines and opportunities for intercultural learning and reflection is the diary-like Web site of Timm Gehrmann, a teenage German Gymnasium pupil who spent a year living with his American host in a trailer in rural northern Florida. Such engagement may facilitate a shift in perspective, one of the steps toward developing critical awareness as a competent intercultural speaker according to Byram (1997). Suggestions for the German side of the partnership might include a critical viewing of the recent American Public Broadcast System (PBS) documentary American High which provides an inside look at various academic and social aspects of American secondary education. Both groups might read Ernst Noack's (1999) accessible comparative piece on secondary education in the United States and Germany. Finally, teachers might compose tasks such as sentence completions or situation reactions (see Furstenberg et al., 2001, p. 58) which would enable learners in the initial stage of Phase II to exchange information on their a) course of studies, b) course accreditation system, c) course load, d) methods of educational financing, e) course expectations, f) institutional facilities (e.g., computer labs, libraries, dormitories), g) social forms of instruction (e.g., seminars, lectures, labs, discussion sections), and h) geographical layout of university buildings and student housing. In other words, students and instructors might exchange, compare, and reflect on the particularities of their respective institutions and their working conditions in order to better understand and appreciate how these institutional factors might differentially facilitate and constrain the activity of intercultural telecollaboration. In this way, virtual partners may then have more adequate factual knowledge (Byram, 1997, p. 51) on the basis of which they may interpret cultural faultlines (e.g., things about the other they don't understand) without resorting to the perpetration or even the creation of (new) cultural stereotypes.
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NOTES
1. This project is funded by a United States Department of Education International Research and Studies Program Grant (CFDA No. 84.017A). The author is a research associate on this grant and the instructor of the experimental German section. I am using the term CALL broadly to refer to all uses of the computer in the service of second/foreign language learning and teaching including the use of network-based technologies such as the Internet and e-mail. The JLU English Proseminar was taught by A. Mller-Hartmann. All students' names are reported as pseudonyms. I present commentary from the PSU German students in plain text and commentary from the JLU English students in italics. Comments which were originally given in German are provided here in English translation only. All translations from German to English are mine. As reported on line on January 22, 2001. Mller-Hartmann (personal communication, February, 2001) reports that the situation has improved drastically since 2000 when AOL and Telekom began to provide free Internet access to German schools. However, the university students reported in this study would have been in school prior to this intervention and thus may have experienced relatively low levels of participation in electronic discourse communities in the school setting. A stipulation of the task is that learners write in their target language; thus, the Germans writing in German is perceived as a violation of the assignment by the Americans.
2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7.
8.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Julie A. Belz (PhD, University of California at Berkeley) is an Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics and German and an affiliate of the Center for Language Acquisition at Penn State University. She teaches graduate courses in Applied Linguistics and undergraduate telecollaborative courses in German language and culture. She has conducted research and published articles on L1 use, second language play, learner identity, contemporary metaphors in German, L2 pragmatics, literary accounts of language learning, and telecollaborative language study. E-mail: jab63@psu.edu REFERENCES Agar, M. (1994). Language shock: Understanding the culture of conversation. New York: William Morrow. Appel, M. C. (1999). Tandem language learning by e-mail: Some basic principles and a case study. Centre for Language and Communication Studies, Occasional Paper 54. Dublin: Trinity College. [Accessed on-line via ERIC ED 430396.] Archer, M. S. (1988). Culture and agency: The place of culture in social theory. New York: Cambridge University Press. Archer, M. S. (1995). Realist social theory: The morphogenetic approach. New York: Cambridge University Press. Ash, M. G. (Ed.). (1997). German universities past and future. Crisis or renewal. Providence, RI: Berghahn Books. Ashwill, M. A., Foraker, W., Nerison-Low, R., Milotich, M., & Milotich, U. (1999). The educational system in Germany. case study findings. National Institute on Student Achievement, Curriculum, and Assessment Office of Educational Research and Improvement U.S. Department of Education Report. Retrieved July 15, 2001, from http://www.ed.gov/pubs/GermanCaseStudy/title.html.
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Belz, J. (2001). Institutional and individual dimensions of transatlantic group work in network-based language teaching. ReCALL, 13(2). 129-147. Belz, J., & Mller-Hartmann, A. (2001). Deutsch-amerikanische Telekollaboration im Fremdsprachenunterricht -- Lernende im Kreuzfeuer der institutionellen Zwnge [German-American telecollaboration: Learners in the cross-fire of institutional constraints]. Unpublished manuscript. Brammerts, H. (1996). Language learning in tandem using the Internet. In M. Warschauer (Ed.), Telecollaboration in foreign language learning. Proceedings of the Hawaiì Sumposium (pp. 121-130). Honolulu: University of Hawaiì Press. Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge, UK: Cambrdge University Press. Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Cameron, D., Frazer, E., Harvey, P., Rampton, M. B. H., & Richardson, K. (1992). Researching Language: Issues of Power and Method. New York: Routledge. Candlin, C. (2000). Introduction. In B. Norton (Ed.), Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity and educational change (pp. xiii-xxi). New York: Longman. Carter, B., & Sealey, A. (2000). Language, structure, and agency: What can realist social theory offer to sociolinguistics? Journal of Sociolinguistics, 4(1), 3-20. Chapelle, C. (2000). Is network-based learning CALL? In M. Warschauer & R. Kern (Eds.), Networkbased language teaching: Concepts and practice (pp. 204-228). New York: Cambridge University Press. Chun, D. (1994). Using computer networking to facilitate the acquisition of interactive competence. System, 22, 17-31. Erickson, F. (1986). Qualitative methods in research on teaching. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (pp. 119-161). New York: Macmillan. FirstClass. (2001). [computer software]. Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada: Centrinity. Fischer, G. (1998). E-mail in foreign language teaching. Toward the creation of virtual classrooms. Tbingen, Germany: Stauffenburg. Freeman, D., & Johnson, K. E. (1998). Reconceptualizing the knowledge-base of language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 32(3), 397-417. Furstenberg, G., Levet, S., English, K., & Maillet, K. (2001). Giving a voice to the silent language of culture: The Cultura Project. Language Learning & Technology, 5(1), 55-102. Retrieved July 15, 2001, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol5num1/furstenberg/. Gillespie, J. (2000). Toward a computer-based learning environment: A pilot study in the use of FirstClass. ReCALL, 12(1), pp. 19-26. Hall, J. K. (1999, March 8). The discursive construction of learning in one high school classroom. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Association for Applied Linguistics, Stamford, CT. Hrtling, P. (1997). Ben liebt Anna (2nd ed.). [Ben Loves Anna]. Weinheim, Germany: Beltz Verlag. Hatch, E. (1992). Discourse and language education. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Hilgendorf, S. (1996). The impact of English in Germany. English Today, 12(3), 3-14.
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Kern, R. G. (1995). Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers: Effects on quantity and characteristics of language production. The Modern Language Journal, 79(4), 457-476. Kern, R. G. (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Using e-mail exchanges to explore personal histories in two cultures. In M. Warschauer (Ed.), Telecollaboration in foreign language learning (pp. 105-119). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center. Kinginger, C., Gourves-Hayward, A., & Simpson, V. (1999). A tele -collaborative course on FrenchAmerican intercultural communication. The French Review, 72(5), 853-866. Kramsch, C. (1985). Literary texts in the classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 69(4), 356-366. Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kramsch, C. (2000). Second language acquisition, applied linguistics, and the teaching of foreign languages. The Modern Language Journal, 84(3), 311-326. Kramsch, C., & Thorne, S. (in press). Foreign language learning as global communicative practice. In D. Block & D. Cameron (Eds.), Language learning and teaching in the age of globalization. London: Routledge. Lantolf, J. P. (1996). SLA theory building: "Letting all the flowers bloom!" Language Learning, 46(4), 713-749. Lantolf, J. P. (Ed.). (2000). Sociocultural theory and second language learning. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Lantolf, J. P., & Pavlenko, A. (2001). (S)econd (L)anguage (A)ctivity theory: Understanding second language learners as people. In M. Breen (Ed.), Learner contributions to language learning: New directions in research (pp. 141-158). New York: Longman. Layder, D. (1993). New strategies in social research. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Leont'ev, A. A. (1981). Psychology and the language learning process [Ed. by C. V. James]. New York: Pergamon Press. Little, D., & Brammerts, H. (Eds.). (1996). A guide to language learning in tandem via the Internet. Centre for Language and Communication Studies, Occasional Paper 46. Dublin: Trinity College. [Accessed on-line via ERIC ED399789.] McCarthy, M., & Carter, R. (1994). Language as discourse: Perspectives for language teaching. London: Longman. McGroarty, M. (1998). Constructive and constructivist challenges for applied linguistics. Language Learning, 48(4), 591-622. Mendes, S. (Director). (1999). American Beauty [Motion picture]. USA: DreamWorks. Meskill, C., & Ranglova, K. (2000). Sociocollaborative language le arning in Bulgaria. In M. Warschauer & R. Kern (Eds.), Network-based language teaching: Concepts and practice (pp. 20-40). New York: Cambridge University Press. Mller-Hartmann, A. (2000). The role of tasks in promoting intercultural learning in electrnic learning networks. Language Learning & Technology, 4(2), 129-147. Retrieved July 15, 2001, from: http://llt.msu.edu/vol4num2/muller/. Noack, E. (1999). Comparing U.S. and German education. Like apples and sauerkraut. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(10), 773-776.
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Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity, and educational change. New York: Longman. Omaggio Hadley, A. (1993). Teaching language in context [2nd ed.]. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle. Perkins, J. A., & Burn, B. (1978). Access to higher education: Two perspectives. A comparative study of the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States. New York: International Council for Education Development. Rampton, B. (1995). Crossing. Language and ethnicity among adolescents. London: Longman. Salaberry, R. (1999). CALL in the year 2000: Still developing the research agenda. A commentary on Carol Chapelle's CALL in the year 2000: Still in search of research paradigms. Language Learning & Technology, 3(1), 104-107. Retrieved July 15, 2001, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol3num1/comment/. Salomon, G., & Perkins, D. N. (1998). Individual and social aspects of learning. Review of Research in Education, 23, 1-24. Schmid, H.-C. (Director). (1995). Nach fnf im Urwald [It's a Jungle Out There; Motion picture]. Germany: Senator Film. Schneider, P. (1991). Amerikanische Biographie [American biography]. In R. Walker, E. Tschirner, B. Nikolai, & G. Strasser (Eds.), Assoziationen. Deutsch fr die Mittelstufe (p. 232-236). New York: McGraw-Hill. Scollon, R., & Scollon, S. (2001). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach [2nd ed.]. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Snyder, T. (2001). Digest of education statistics 2000. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved July 31, 2001, from http://nces.ed.gov.pubs2001/2001034.pdf. Sotillo, S. M. (2000). Discourse functions and syntactic complexity in synchronous and asynchronous communication. Language Learning & Technology, 4(1), 82-119. Retrieved July 15, 2001, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol4num1/sotillo/. Tella, S. (1996). Foreign languages and modern technology: Harmony or hell? In M. Warschauer (Ed.), Telecollaboration in foreign language learning (pp. 3-18). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center. VanPatten, B. (1999). What is SLA and what is it doing in this department? ADFL Bulletin, 30(3), 49-53. Wallace, P. (2001). The psychology of the internet [2nd ed.]. New York: Cambridge University Press. Warschauer, M. (Ed.). (1995). Virtual connections. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center. Warschauer, M. (Ed.). (1996). Telecollaboration in foreign language learning. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center. Warschauer, M. (1997). Computer-mediated collaborative learning: Theory and practice. The Modern Language Journal, 81, 470-481. Warschauer, M. (1998a). Researching technology in TESOL: Determinist, instrumental, and critical approaches. TESOL Quarterly, 32(4), 757-761. Warschauer, M. (1998b). Online learning in sociocultural context. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 29(3), 68-88. Warschauer, M. (1999). Electronic literacies. Language, culture, and power in online education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
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Warschauer, M., & Kern, R. (Eds.). (2000). Network-based language teaching: Concepts and practice. New York: Cambridge University Press. Wegerif, R. (1998). The social dimension of asynchronous learning networks. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 2(1). Retrieved July 15, 2001 from http://www.aln.org/alnweb/journal/vol2_issue1/wegerif.htm. Widdowson, H, (1992). Practical stylistics: An approach to poetry. New York: Oxford University Press. Woodson, J. (1998). If you come softly. New York: Penguin.
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Language Learning & Technology http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num1/toyoda/
CATEGORIZATION OF TEXT CHAT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN LEARNERS AND NATIVE SPEAKERS OF JAPANESE1
Etsuko Toyoda The University of Melbourne, Australia Richard Harrison The University of Nagoya, Japan ABSTRACT A number of CALL studies suggest the potential benefits of network-based communication for L2 acquisition, focusing on its nature for inducing negotiation of meaning. This study examined negotiation of meaning that took place between students and native speakers of Japanese over a series of chat conversations and attempted to categorize the difficulties encountered. The data showed that the difficulties in understanding each other did indeed trigger negotiation of meaning between students even when no specific communication tasks were given. Using discourse analysis methods, the negotiations were sorted into nine categories according to the causes of the difficulties: recognition of new word, misuse of word, pronunciation error, grammatical error, inappropriate segmentation, abbreviated sentence, sudden topic change, slow response, and inter-cultural communication gap. Through the examination of these categories of negotiation, it was found that there were some language aspects that are crucial for communication but that had been neglected in teaching, and that students would not have noticed if they had not had the opportunity to chat with native speakers. In light of these findings, the authors make pedagogical recommendations on some classroom tasks for improving chat conversations.
INTRODUCTION As a result of technological innovations, new types of communication, namely network-based communication, have emerged. These new technologies, e-mail and chat in particular, are being used increasingly in second/foreign language (L2) learning environments. Many researchers regard this type of communication as a promising tool for language learning, as it allows learners to interact with native speakers from the country where their target language is spoken. Previous research suggests that it increases learners' opportunities to use the target language (Barson, Frommer, & Schwartz, 1993), induces a series of negotiations of meaning (Blake, 2000), and improves the quality of written and spoken language (Sotillo, 2000). SLA Theories Second language acquisition (SLA) theories advocate that oral interaction that requires negotiation of meaning is necessary for enhancing learners' interlanguage (Ellis, 1985; Long, 1991; Pica, 1994; Swain, 1993, 1995). Negotiation of meaning is defined as "modification and restructuring of interaction that occurs when learners and their interlocutors anticipate, perceive, or experience difficulties in message comprehensibility" (Pica, 1994, p. 495). Modification and restructuring include repetitions, confirmations, reformulations, comprehension checks, recasts, confirmation checks, and clarification requests (Long, 1996).
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Categorization of Text Chat Communication...
The Interaction Hypothesis (Gass, 1997; Long, 1996, 1991) claims that resolving miscommunication (negotiation of meaning) enhances L2 learning, as it provides more opportunities for comprehensible input and modified output. The Output Hypothesis (Swain, 1993, 1995) explains that producing output is one way of testing a hypothesis about comprehensibility or linguistic well-formedness (Swain, 1995, p. 126), and that learners' hypothesis testing often invokes interaction between the learners and their interlocutor(s). Native speaker difficulties in following learners' interlanguage may trigger feedback, which in return may induce changes in the learners' output. Negotiation of meaning also occurs on occasions where the native speakers' input is above the learners' threshold level of understanding. Learners may notice a gap between their interlanguage and the language that native speakers produce, and may request clarification. The output hypothesis thus claims that the output induces negotiation of meaning and the negotiation leads to the enhancement of the learners' interlanguage. CALL Studies on Negotiation of Meaning Many CALL researchers postulate that network-based communication can facilitate second language acquisition in a similar fashion to face-to-face negotiations in classroom settings, and have found abundant evidence of comprehensible input and modified output resulting from negotiation of meaning (Blake, 2000; Kitade, 2000; Pellettieri, 2000; Warschauer, 1998). They claim that this type of communication may be beneficial for enhancing learners' interlanguage even more than oral conversations, as the learners can view their language as they produce it and they are more likely to 'monitor' and edit their messages (Kitade, 2000; Ortega, 1997; Pellettieri, 2000; Warshauer, 1998). One of the distinctive features of network-based communication, a lack of non-verbal cues, may facilitate negotiation of meaning as communication has to rely merely on verbal correspondence(Kitade, 2000). Another advantage is that logs of the communications can be saved, which can then be reviewed later on by the learners and their teachers. These logs can be valuable resources for the enhancement of the learners' interlanguage (Blake, 2000). In the networked environment, learners can engage in asynchronous communication or synchronous communication. E-mail is one type of asynchronous communication where people can take time to read and write messages. The delayed nature of this type of communication gives learners more opportunities to produce syntactically complex language (Sotillo, 2000). On the other hand, synchronous communication, such as chat, requires instantaneous responses as in face-to-face communication. By comparing synchronous and asynchronous modes, Sotillo claims that the quality and types of discourse functions present in synchronous discussions were similar to the types of interactional modifications found in face-to-face conversations. As there is no physical environment or non-verbal signals to share (Kitade, 2000), chat may be referred as a 'text-mediated telephone conversation.'' Research Questions Although a number of CALL studies suggest the potential benefits of network-based communication for L2 acquisition focusing on its nature for inducing negotiation of meaning, few have investigated the triggers for negotiation in a free conversation setting. Even fewer have mentioned how the logs can be utilized for the enhancement of learners' interlanguage. In order to beneficially use network-based communication for L2 learning, more research based on discourse analysis is called for. The purpose of this study is to examine the Japanese chat data in order to uncover specific types of communication difficulties that trigger negotiation of meaning, and based on findings from these analyses, to make recommendations on how the quality of communication can be improved.
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STUDY Participants The participants were 5 undergraduate students enrolled in an advanced level Japanese course, Japanese Multimedia, offered in Semester 2, 2000 at the University of Melbourne. One of the main aims of this course was to enhance students' autonomous learning skills in Japanese through research and presentation using multimedia tools. The participant students undertook a semester-long project, created a Web site, and electronically interacted with their partners using the chat function of a 3-dimensional language learning environment called JEWELS.2 The students were all advanced learners of Japanese who had studied the language for at least 4 years and had in-country experiences prior to participation in the project. In face-to-face communication with the teacher, they had no trouble getting their meaning across despite making some subtle errors. Their partners were all native speakers of Japanese (students and teachers) who resided in Japan or the USA at the time of chatting. JEWELS We created an online virtual university campus, named JEWELS (Japanese-language Education Worldwide Electronic Learning Space) using software from an American company called Activeworlds (www.activeworlds.com). This software allows one to create 3-D models of buildings, and has a library of ready-made objects such as chairs, tables, and computers for creating rooms, and so forth. The users log in with a username and password, and are rendered as 3-D avatars which appear in the scene. They can even fly if they want to. When they log in, the users see the 3-D environment in the left hand window of the browser (see Figure 1) and on the right side see a window for displaying WWW pages based on Internet Explorer. Communication between the users in the environment is through a chat window below the 3-D window. Users can communicate to all the other users in the environment, or to individuals using a whisper chat window. All the chat dialogues appear in the chat log window immediately below the 3-D window.
Figure 1.
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In our case we used Japanese fonts for the chatting. We configured the program to handle Japanese fonts using a utility program called Emigrant32, which allowed Japanese fonts to be displayed in the chat windows and in the WWW browser window. However, this was dependent on the user having a Japanese Windows operating system running on their computer. We installed Japanese versions of Windows 98 on the Melbourne machines so that the software would run correctly. Input in Japanese is carried out through standard QWERTY keyboards with the users typing in Romanized Japanese, which the software automatically converts into Hiragana or Katakana (phonetic-based scripts) as appropriate. Pressing the space bar brings up a window from which the users can choose the correct Kanji (non-phonetic-based script). This is the standard form of Japanese input used on every Japanese capable computer. Use of Avatars The built-in avatars in Activeworlds could be used in two ways. Firstly, the appearance of the avatar could be chosen so that it could be female or male or even a bird. Kim (2000) notes that avatars are one way in which participants are able to create their own persona, and that an important part of building an online community is to use personal profiles to distinguish individuals within the online community (p.101). Secondly, the avatars could move around in the environment using the arrow keys, taking different viewpoints of the environment. Each avatar had associated programmable actions such as waving, dancing, fighting, and so forth. Our students and their Japanese partners used the first features of changing the appearance of the avatars to those that they liked; however, they made little use of the other movement features, probably because we did not give them tasks that required such movements. Also the students seemed not to have any spare time to attempt to use these features while they were chatting, as they were experienced at neither the electronic chatting, nor the manipulation of avatars. The ideal situation would have been to have an avatar construction kit, whereby the avatars could be programmed to look more appropriate to the context, with programmable actions associated with Japanese cultural gestures such as bowing, and so forth. This would also involve creating tasks in which the avatars would be required to move and act. Another interesting project would be to investigate how avatars can be used to express cultural non-linguistic features such as bowing and other culturally laden gestures. However, this was beyond the scope of our project. In the current project, we were interested in getting the students to use the chat facilities rather than to use the avatars. Chat Data In chat, due to the fact that multiple participants can type messages simultaneously, some utterances addressing unrelated topics may often be interwoven into any discussion thread. Such complexity may lead to breakdowns in communication for novice users (Werry, 1996). To minimize the confusions and misinterpretations resulting from the multiple threads, we allocated our students to different communication zones in the JEWELS environment, and we limited the number of participants to a maximum of three in each zone. The students had chat exchanges with their partners for 1 hour per session over 10 sessions in the semester. Data used for this study were the students' chat logs over the course of seven sessions, excluding the sessions when a) the participants moved around the learning environment to familiarize themselves with it, b) we had a mock job interview, and c) the participants thanked each other (the last session). In all seven sessions, the participants were instructed to discuss with their partners ideas and thoughts regarding the Web page creation project. Data Analysis The chat data were analyzed using discourse analysis methods. Following Kitade's study (2000), the data were first segmented into sequential units of conversation. A sequence of conversations was separated from others based not only on topic changes but also direction shifts within the same topic. After excluding the units where no communication breakdowns were observed, the remaining 45 units were
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placed into categories according to their features. Two experienced Japanese language teachers carried out the data analysis, and where the two could not agree, a third person's opinion was sought for the judgment. Communication breakdowns sometimes occurred due to the nature of conversations between native and non-native speakers, and at other times due to problems caused by the CMC (computer mediated communication) tools. However, this study does not distinguish between the two, and sees these difficulties as a natural form of chat communication between native and non-native speakers. Categories The conversations observed in the chat tended to follow the typical schema noted by Varonis and Gass (1985): trigger, indicator, response, and reaction. Briefly stated, a trigger is the stimulus for the negotiation that ensues, and an indicator alerts that there is a communication problem. Following an indicator, there are generally a response from the speaker who caused the problem and a reaction to the response. To categorize a series of negotiation of meaning, we focused on the trigger of the negotiation. We have observed in the collected data that the triggers could be grouped into three levels: word, sentence and discourse. Each level also could be sorted broadly into three different categories, resulting in nine categories all together. Word level W-1 Recognition of new word W-2 Misuse / misunderstanding of word W-3 Pronunciation / typing error Sentence level S-1 Grammatical error S-2 Inappropriate segmentation S-3 Abbreviated sentence Discourse level D-1 Sudden topic change D-2 Slow response D-3 Intercultural communication gap
The distribution of the negotiation of meaning in each category was as follows. The numbers in the parentheses show the negotiations caused by native speaker triggers. Table 1 Distribution of Negotiation of Meaning W1 12(8) W2 5 W3 7 S1 3 S2 2 S3 6(5) D1 4(1) D2 4 D3 2(2)
The next section will look into each of the nine categories. EXAMPLES AND INTERPRETATIONS W-1 Recognition of a New Word Introduction of new words took place on both the students' and native speakers' sides although it happened far more frequently on the latter. Upon introduction of a new word from the native speakers, in many cases (8 times out of 12), the student in the dialogue noticed the new word and presented a clarification question to ask for the meaning of the word, as shown in this example (NS is a native speaker and NNS is a non-native speaker, i.e., a student). Table 2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 NS NNS NS NNS NS NNS Senmon wa? Igaku desu! Dono bun-ya desu ka? Bun-ya tte doo iu koto? Nai-ka toka shooni-ka toka. Mada bun-ya ga nai desu. What are you majoring in? Medicine! Which area? What does area mean? Things like internal medicine and pediatrics. I don't have an area yet.
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By giving some examples or explaining the definition of the word in simpler language, the native speakers tried to restore the communication. Other frequently used clarification questions were: X.tte dou iu koto? (What does X .mean?), X.tte? (abbreviated form of What does X mean?), X wa nan desuka? (What is X?), Nan desu ka sore? (What is that?), or just repeating the unknown word with a question mark. New words were sometimes introduced with confirmation questions by the native speakers. The frequently used confirmation questions were: Wakaru? or Wakari masu ka? (Do you understand?) and X.tte kotoba shitte imasu ka? (Do you know the word, X?). In the following example, the learner encountered two new words that she could neither read nor get the meanings. In English, pronouncing the word is usually possible even if the meaning of the word cannot be drawn from the spelling. In contrast, Japanese kanji-written words convey far less information. To show that the words were introduced to the student without any clue to meaning and pronunciation, in the following excerpt, the words were left in Kanji. Kanji is one type of Japanese script, which is derived from Chinese characters, and, unlike the other types of Japanese scripts, is not phonetic-based (Tamaoka, 1991). Although Kanji is often described as ideographic or logographic, inferring the meaning of a word from a chain of unfamiliar Kanji characters is not easy. Because these words are specifically used in a topic related to religions, the native speaker may have sensed that they were difficult for the student. He asked the student Wakaru? (Do you understand?), and then gave the definitions of the words. When the student later clarified the pronunciation of one of the words by asking how to read the characters, the native speaker gave the pronunciations of both words. Table 3. 1 NS Kono shuumatsu wa gifu no no omairi to, otto no jikka no deshita. Wakaru? 2 NNS Wakaranai.... . 3 NS wa nakunatta hi no koto. Oboo san ga kite okyoo o agete kuremasu. 4 NNS Sore wa, meejitsu to iu n desu ka. 5 NS tte iu no wa ie o atarashiku tateru toki ni, tate hajimeru mae ni oharai (nihon-shiki no oinori?) o shite morau koto desu. 6 NS wa meenichi to yomimasu. 7 NS wa jichin-sai desu. 8 NNS Naruhodo This weekend I visited the grave of my father-in-law for , and attended . Do you understand? I don't understand it.... means the anniversary of the day someone passed away. A priest comes and recites a sutra for us. Is it called meejitsu? is to receive Shinto purification (Japanese style praying?) before they begin to build a new house. is pronounced as meenichi is pronounced as jichin-sai. I see
Although less often (4 out of 12 cases), new words were sometimes introduced by the students, as in the following example.
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Table 4. 1 NNS Sate, meruborun ni ryuugaku shite iru nihon-jin to nihon-go o benkyoo shite iru aasutoraria no gakusei to ni nihon ni kankee mono ka ebento o minna ni tsutaeru saabisu nandesu. 2 NS Hoomusutee toka? 3 NNS Matsuri toka bbq nado. 4 NS bbq wa nani desu ka. 5 NNS Hai, hoomusutee nado 6 NS Nee, bbq tte nani? 7 NNS Babekyuu. 8 NS Aa, sokka. By the way it is a service to let all Japanese overseas students studying in Melbourne and all Australian students learning Japanese know about things related to Japan or special events. About home stay or something? Things like festivals and BBQs and so on.
What is a BBQ?
Yes, about things like home stay and so on.

Hey, what is a BBQ?
Barbecue. Oh, I see.
The correct Japanese for barbecue is baabekyuu. Even though the student wrote the word incorrectly, the native speaker understood the word and posted the acknowledgement as a reaction to the student's response. An interesting dialogue was recorded when the native speaker misinterpreted the word that the student introduced. Table 5. 1 2 3 4 5 NNS Katakana no "hotkey" arimasu ka? NS Hokkee desu. NNS Hokke- tte nan nan desu ka? NS Machigaemashita. NNS Yappari nai ka.... Ma, ee wa. Is there a "hotkey" for Katakana? It's hokkee (hockey) (in Katakana).
What in the world is hokke-?
I misunderstood. Just as I thought, there isn't one, is there? .... Oh well, that's all right.
Katakana is another type of script used for Japanese writing, and is usually used for loan words, that is, words originated in Western languages. When the student asked about a hotkey for Katakana, the native speaker thought that this student wanted to know how to write hockey in Katakana. This became a trigger for the next question, What is hokkee? By then the native speaker had realized that he had misunderstood the student's utterance, and apologized for it, though whether the native speaker understood the student's utterance is not clear from the chat log. W-2 Misuse / Misunderstanding of Word The first example is for the misuse of a word. In the following conversation, the student and her partner were talking about popular TV programs in Japan. Trying to say also common to old people, the student used the word icchi suru (agree, match with), which was not totally wrong, but was not appropriate in this context. The native speaker rephrased the word in two different ways, once as "Dare ni demo atehamaru" (That can apply to anyone), and another time as "Kyoutu shiteiru" (That is in common). At the end, the student himself rephrased it as "Things that even older people know."
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Table 6. 1 NNS Demo, motto toshiyori hito demo itchi no But aren't there things that even more elderly koto imasen ka. people agree on? 2 NS Dare ni demo atehamaru yoo na joohoo Do you mean the kind of information that to iu koto desu ka? would apply to anyone? That's right. Do you all know "Doraemon"?
3 NNS Soo desu ne. Minna doraemon o shitte imasu ka. 4 NS
Umareta nendai wa motto nenree no takai Even people who are of higher age groups by hito demo shitte iru koto wa kyootsuu birth would know the same things we know, shite imasu yo ne. don't you think? No, are there any other examples?
Examples? Examples of what?
5 NNS Uun, hoka ni nani ka ree ga arimasu ka. 6 NS Ree? Nan no ree desu ka?
7 NNS Nenree no takai hito demo shitte iru koto.
Things that even people of higher age would know.
The next example is when a polysemy caused a communication difficulty. The native speaker used the word katamaru for the meaning of gather, while the student interpreted this word as harden, which is the primary meaning of this word. Table 7. Saikin no watashi no kansatsu dakedo, hoka no kuni no hito no yoo ni, omotedatte katamaru no wa sukunai kamo shirenai kedo, ura de to iu ka, mienai tokoro de katamatte iru ki ga suru kedo doo kana? 2 NNS Watashi wa ajia-jin to shite soo iu hito o yoku kansatsu shita koto arimasu yo. 3 NS Soo iu hito to wa 4 NNS Damatte kurushimu hito ga ooi desu ne. 1 NS This is my recent observation, but, I have a feeling that they do not conspicuously gather in groups but, behind, or in places where they can not be seen, they seem to gather in groups. What do you think? As an Asian, I have often observed people like that.
What do you mean, people like that? There are many people who keep silent and suffer, aren't there?
To keep silent and suffer? 5 NS Damatte kurushimu? 6 NNS To iu ka, heesa-teki de jibun no mondai o In other words, they shut others out and iwanai. don't say anything about their own problems. 7 NS Aa, wakari mashita. Oh, now I see.
After a number of exchanges, it seems that the student and native speaker came to realize that they were discussing two different topics. Expansion and elaboration on the word may have helped them to realize the definitions of the word. The student confirmed her understanding with the teacher after this chat exchange, although it is not clear from the chat log if she realized her misinterpretation. While misuse or misunderstanding of a word is not unusual, this example shows that the misunderstanding is not always easily noticed, and it sometimes takes a while before it is realized.
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W-3 Pronunciation/Typing Error One frequent cause of miscommunication was pronunciation/typing error, and many of the words that were mispronounced or misspelled were Katakana words. Although making a distinction between a pronunciation error and a typing error is not an easy task in the case of chat conversations, the fact that errors occur much more frequently on Katakana words made us think that there were likely to be some contributions from pronunciation errors. As mentioned above, Katakana words are loan words originated in Western languages. The students tended to make mistakes all the more because the Katakana words are similar to their original English words. In other words, they are inclined to pronounce the words in a similar way to English. For example, many Japanese learners write intaneto for Internet when it should be written as intaanetto. In the following conversation, one of the Katakana words that this student misspelled triggered miscommunication. Table 8. 1 2 3 4 5 NNS Yoroo 2000 o mimashita ka. NS Nan desu ka? Sore. NNS Yorooppa no sakkaa chaipionshipu. NNS E, yorooppa ni sakan deshita. NS Yuuro 2000 kana? Nihon-go de wa? (Demo jitsu wa shirimasen) Did you see Euroo 2000? What is that? The Euroopean soccer championship. Oh, it existed widespread in Euroope. It's perhaps called Euro 2000. In Japanese. But I actually don't know.
The native speaker was not able to guess what "Yoroo 2000" was, but when the student gave a context of European soccer championship, she was able to give a possible word. Other misspelled Katakana words that caused communication difficulties were bajjin for baajin (Virgin -the name of an airline company), fashion for fasshon (fashion), ronvekeshon for rongubakeeshon (Long Vacation -- the name of a TV program), and fuutoboor for futtobooru (football). The next example is from a Kanji word. When typing words in Kanji using a Japanese word processor, the word is typed in using Roman letter keys as it is pronounced, which appears in Hiragana (phoneticbased script) on the screen, and then turns into appropriate Kanji when the space bar is pressed. Often the same pronunciation has several forms in Kanji. If the Kanji given by the installed dictionary is not an appropriate one, other options are available on a list to replace the one that had appeared in the first place. In the following example, as the student typed in shuushin instead of shusshin and converted it to Kanji, the two-Kanji word that means sleep appeared. The native speaker did not understand why the student abruptly began to talk about sleeping which had no connection with the previous conversation. The student then chose another Kanji and added Taiwan, from which the native speaker was able to give feedback. Table 9. 1 2 3 4 NNS Shuushin (in Kanji) NS Shuushin? (in Kanji) NNS Shuushin (in another Kanji) wa taiwan. NS Shusshin de wa? Going to sleep (Shuushin) Going to sleep (Shuushin)? Life-time (shuushin) is Taiwan.
Don't you mean Shusshin (where you come from)?
5 NNS Soo. 6 NS (NNS) san no shusshin wa taiwan desu ka.
That's right.
Is Taiwan where you come from?
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In a face-to face conversation, mixing up a long vowel with a short vowel does not necessarily cause any miscommunication, as in most cases the meaning gets across with the help of the context. However, since chat communication relies more on Kanji as it appears on the screen and it provokes native speakers to activate their lexical properties of the kanji, it may therefore cause communication difficulties. S-1 Grammatical Errors We observed very few communication difficulties due to grammatical errors. While grammatical errors per se were recorded numerous times, there were only three cases where the native speakers could not follow the students' intentions. One of the examples is shown in Table 10. Table 10. Nihon no dorama no kanjoo ni, kyookan ga motemasu ka? 2 NNS Kakko ii desu ne. Kyookan wa, taiwan-jin no hoo ni chikai kedo. 3 NS To iu no wa, amari kyookan wa dekinai, tte iu koto? NNS Oosutoraria no tomodachi de mo, 4 minagara waraimasu. 5 NS Soo kaa. "Owarai" to shite, miteru no kaa.... 1 NS
Can you sympathize with the emotions in Japanese dramas?
They are cool. Even though sympathy is more like a Taiwanese.

Are you saying that you can't sympathize with them much?
Even my friends in Australia laugh while they watch. Oh, is that right? Are they watching them as "comedies".?
By synthesizing line 2 and 4, it appears that the student meant to say that even his Australian friends (understand and) laugh while watching the Japanese drama although Taiwanese appreciate Japanese drama in a more similar way to Japanese. The error was only one particle; because the student said Taiwanjin no hou NI chikai instead of Taiwan jin no hou GA chikai, the meaning changed completely. Particles are post-positional markers to show case functions such as nominative, possessive, and objective. The particles look as if they are only supplementary in a sentence. However, they can shift the meaning of a sentence 180 degrees. Whether or not the native speaker realized this is not clear from the chat log. Nevertheless, miscommunication caused by grammatical errors was not one of the main causes for communication difficulties in conversation between these advanced level students and native speakers in this study. S-2 Inappropriate Segmentation Inappropriate segmentation was even less common a cause of miscommunication than grammatical errors. Table 11. 1 NNS Sore wa, nani ka to ii masu to melbourne ni iru nihon-go no gakusei 2 NNS to melbourne ni iru nihon-jin no gakusei 3 NS Nihon-go no gakusei no donna koto ni tsuite kaku no desu ka. 4 NNS no tame no site. 5 NS Naruhodo. Tame ni naru joohoo o noseru to iu koto desu ne.
Well, to tell you what it is, students studying Japanese in Melbourne.
and Japanese students staying in Melbourne What kind of things about the Japanese language students are you going to write about? A Web site for (them).
I see. You mean you are going to put information that would be useful, do you?
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The student meant to say that "(it will be) a site for students learning Japanese and Japanese students in Melbourne, but she segmented or broke the sentence into three utterances: a) students studying Japanese in Melbourne, b) Japanese students staying in Melbourne, and 3) a Web site for (them). Because the student stopped the previous utterance with the noun (gakusei) without the particle (no), and there came in another utterance made by a native speaker, no tame no site (a site for) looked as if it were stand-alone. The native speaker interpreted this word as useful, which is another meaning of the word. Despite the misinterpretation, the direction of the conversation did not skew so much in this case, as they were still in the same topic framework. In Japanese, particles are bound-morphemes and they are placed after nouns (except two types of particles; one that shows quotations and the other that shows moods). When native speakers write in Japanese on the computer, in most cases they type in a particle together with the word that comes before the particle. In the chat logs kept during the seven sessions, there were no cases where native speakers made an utterance starting with a particle (with exceptions of the particle for quotations). On the other hand, some inappropriate segmentation (ending a line without a particle and starting the next line with the particle) was observed among the students during the first few sessions although they rarely resulted in miscommunication. They may have misanalyzed a particle as a preposition for the following verb rather than a postposition for the preceding noun. However, there is not enough evidence to determine whether or not this is something that reflects interlanguage representations. S-3 Abbreviated Sentence In spoken conversations among native speakers, the use of abbreviated sentences is frequent. In Japanese, stopping a sentence mid-way is acceptable as long as the context supports the meaning of the sentence. Some abbreviated sentences produced by native speakers in the chat seemed to have troubled the students as shown in the following conversations. Table 12. Nani ni tsuite, tsukutte iru no desu ka. Teema toka. 2 NNS Teema ka.... gakusei no joohoo saabisu e 1 NS 3 NS Arubaito toka? 4 NNS Ima nai kedo, mae ni ten-in datta. 5 NS 6 NS
A, soo na n desu ka.
What are you making a homepage on? Topic or something?
Topic.... To the information service of the students.

Part time jobs or something?
I don't have one but I was a shop assistant before.

Oh, were you?
Ano, hoomupeeji no hanashi ni modori mashoo ka.
Um... shall we go back to the topic of the homepage?
The second sentence in line 1 and line 3 are abbreviated sentences. In face-to face communication with native speakers, one may encounter a number of this type of utterance. The most frequently used form as can be seen in the above example, is a noun with toka, which means such as X but can mean What about X?, What do you think of X?, or Do you mean X? all depending on the context. In the given example, when the native speaker said Teema (theme) toka, the students understood it, and tried to answer to it in line 2. However, when the native speaker said Arubaito (part-time job) toka?, meaning Are you thinking of including part-time job in your theme?, the student (NNS) interpreted this utterance superficially and started talking about his own part-time job experiences. The native speaker's response A soonandesuka (Oh, were you?) made the student think that his interpretation was correct. Confusions were amplified when another topic intertwined in an existing topic of conversation as can be seen in the following example.
Table 13.
Shall we talk about the home page you are 1 NS1 (NNS) san ga tsukutte iru, "HP" ni making, (NNS)? tsuite, hanashi masu ka? 2 NNS Hai, soo shimashoo.. Yes, let's do that. In Japan there are many young people who 3 NS2 Nihon de wa, furiitaa to iu shigoto o are doing a work called free worker. How about shite iru wakai hito ga ooku imasu. in Australia? Oosutoraria de wa? Was it about jobs? 4 NS1 Shigoto ni tsuite deshita kke? 5 NNS So That's right 6 NS1 Gutai-teki ni wa? (What is it) exactly about? 7 NNS Shosho, machi kudasai. Please wait a moment. Is there anything wrong? 8 NS2 Dooka shimashita ka? What kind of topic shall we talk about? 9 NNS Donna topikku ni shiyo ka. In lines 1 and 2, both sides have agreed on talking about the Web page that the NNS was creating. And then in line 3, the NS 2 abruptly brought in a new topic about freeter (a person who is not bound to one company and who freely takes up different jobs), followed by an abbreviated sentence asking about the situation in Australia. As the sentence merely means In Australia? and there is one unrelated sentence in between the utterances, the student seemed to have been confused. Other abbreviated sentences in lines 4 and 6 made the situation worse, which resulted in the student asking once more about the topic of the conversation. The distinctive features of chatting, such as no turn-taking competition and no non-verbal signs, negatively affected this sequence of communication.
D-1 Sudden Topic Change In the above situations, the students failed to incorporate contextual information in order to understand the utterances. In the example below, the native speaker's use of the context had adversely led to a misunderstanding. While the student abruptly changed the topic using an abbreviated sentence, the native speaker was still trying to interpret the utterance in relation to the context. Table 14. Uun, sugu ni wa wakaranai kedo, "YAHOO" toka de shiraberareru n ja nai kana. 2 NS Kiiwaado de, nihon toka fasshon toka iretara, ippai dete kuru to omoo yo. 3 NNS Ja kyoomi wa. 4 NS Soo, kyoomi aru mono ni tsuite, kiiwaado ni iretara, ii desu yo. 1 NS 5 NS Kyoomi wa doo iu koto ni tsuite aru no? 6 NNS Chigaou, anata no kyoomi yo. 7 NS A, watashi no?
Hmm, I can't thnk of any straight away but I suppose you can find out through places like "Yahoo".
If you enter keywords like Japan or fashion, I think a lot will come out.
Then what about interests?
That's right. All you have to do is to enter what you are interested in into the "keyword".
What kind of things are you interested in?
It's not right. I mean, your interests.

Oh, mine?
One of the clear differences between the students and the native speakers was, with the exception of this case, that the students often tried to shift the topic without a conjunction whereas the native speakers often used the conjunction tokorode (by the way) for a topic change.
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D-2 Slow Response In the following conversation, when NS1 started to talk about his experience in the USA, NS2 added another episode from her experience in Canada. The student (NNS), in response to these, asked NS1 for the reason. However, the response (in this case, the question) was so slow that it induced the confusion. Table 15. 1 NS1 Saikin ichiban omoshirokatta no wa, paatii ni itta n dakedo, dare ga sensee de dare ga gakusee ka o "guess" suru no ga muzukashikatta desu. 2 NS2 Kanada de wa, eego kenshuu o uketari, nihon-go kyooiku no genba o kengaku shitari shita no desu ga, 3 NNS Dooshite desu ka. 4 NS1 Kono shitsumon wa (NS2) san ni? Soretomo watashi ni? 5 NNS Sensee wa dare ka, gakusee wa dare ka, guess dekinai no wa. What was most interesting recently was that, I went to a party and it was difficult to "guess" who were teachers and who were students. In Canada, I did things like learning English and observing places where Japanese was actually taught, but,
Why was (it)? Is this question for me? Or for (NS2)?
Not being able to guess who the teachers were and who the students were.
In face-to-face conversation, this sort of communication disorder can be avoided by, for example, giving eye contact to the addressee. In text-based communication, it seems to be inevitable to have communication difficulties of this kind. Managing multiparty conversations might have been much more demanding compared to dyads involving only two interlocutors. However, the communication breakdown could have been avoided if the student's response was quicker and was made in relation to the previous utterance. In conversations among native speakers, a number of demonstratives (e.g., this, that, these, and those) are used referring to the previous utterances in order to avoid confusion, and when they ask questions about something that has been said several lines up where links were not so clear, they may make the subject of the sentence clear by repeating some words used before. This particular communication breakdown caused by the student's slow response may have been avoided if the student used some linkage words. D-3 Intercultural Communication Gap The last category is for communication difficulties due to cultural differences. The following is a conversation over jikoshuchou (self-assertive) between the student and native speaker. Jikoshuchou, or expressing one's opinion, has been an important aspect of character-building in Western culture. On the contrary, conforming oneself to the situation has been a virtue in Japan. In a reply to the student's question if Japanese are lacking self-assertion, the native speaker said that Japanese tend to assert themselves after acknowledging the other party's opinion. The student is using the word jikoshuchou as "asserting oneself with no relation to others" whereas the native speaker is using the same word as "expressing one's opinion suitable to the situation."
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Table 16. 1 NNS Eeto, nihon-jin tte jiko shuchoo busoku da to omoimasu ka. 2 NS Aite no iken o kiite kara kangae yoo to suru tokoro wa arimasu yo ne. 3 NS Aite no iken to jibun no iken o tatakawase yoo to suru no dewa naku, onaji bubun o mitsukete ukeirete ikoo to suru no dewa nai desu ka. 4 NNS To iu ka, boku no iken dewa nihon-jin wa narubeku meewaku o kakenai yoo ni soo suru shuukan ga aru to wakatte imasu ga. Aite no iken mo mitomete, jibun no iken mo wakatte morau doryoku o suru. 6 NNS Desu kara, sore wa gyougi ni chikai desu ne. 7 NS Kyougi, desu ne. 5 NS
Well, do you think Japanese people lack selfassertion? We do tend to try and think after listening to the opinion of the other, don't we?
Perhaps it is that, rather than trying to argue against the other's opinion with our own, we try to find common grounds and accept the other's views? Or, in my opinion, I already understand that the Japanese customarily do that so they don't cause trouble or inconvenience to others. Accepting the other's opinion and also making an effort to make the other understand our opinions.
So, that is more like a manner/behaviour, isn't it?
You mean conferring, don't you?.
After exchanging each other's view, the student concluded that expressing one's opinion after taking in the other's opinion is a kind of gyougi (manner). Conceivably, the student tried to understand that not imposing oneself would be mannerly in Japan. Hearing this word, the native speaker corrected the word to kyougi (negotiation), in thinking that the student misspelled the word, as the whole notion of jikoshuchou for him is kyougi(negotiation) and not gyougi (a manner). It appeared to the student that expressing one's opinions after listening to the other's opinions is a mannerly behavior, while from the native speaker's point of view it is negotiation. RECOMMENDATIONS Chatting in a L2 may not always be an easy task for learners, as it requires them to read messages and respond to them quickly. There are no clues such as facial expressions and body language to help them understand the incoming messages, which may make their interactions with their interlocutors difficult as they have to rely solely on written texts. Moreover, complexly intertwined threads of dialogues may place more burdens on the learners to comprehend the messages and subsequently impede their appropriate output. Nevertheless, our data showed that the difficulties in understanding each other have indeed triggered negotiation of meaning. Another point to make is that the data revealed that there were several levels of communication difficulties; word, sentence, and discourse levels. We observed that as we moved away from word level and into discourse level, negotiation of meaning became more complex and less transparent. The findings from the study suggest that the higher the level of the negotiation, the less clear it becomes whether the negotiation is successful. Successfully negotiating the communication problems is essential in order to take advantage of comprehensible input and modified output. The review of the chat logs may facilitate the improvement of students' interlanguage. In this section, we would like to look into how the quality of chat communication can be improved. Chat logs, especially those that learners themselves have produced, can be valuable linguistic material for helping students to reflect on their interlanguage. Learners will definitely pay attention to the language in
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their logs because they are their own products (Swain, personal communication). The findings from the analysis of the chat data shed some light on what we can do in class using chat logs as learning materials. Given the limited data, these should be considered as example tasks for negotiation about form in our study context. W-1 Recognition of New Word Although a number of new words were introduced by the native speakers, the students sometimes failed to get the meaning of the words because they did not indicate to the native speakers clearly enough that they did not understand the word. Only when we went over the chat log with the students, did it become clear that there were times where the students experienced difficulty in understanding words and were not able to negotiate the meaning of the words. Having a good stock of expressions for clarification checks and confirmation checks seems to be critical in order to carry on a conversation. These communication strategies for asking the native speakers for clarification could be one kind of task using the chat logs, for example, looking for instances where the request for clarification was not clear, and discussing how they can be made clearer. Japanese language teaching has now shifted in approach to more communicationfocused teaching. The findings from this study suggest that explicit teaching of communication strategies is also necessary. Going through the logs could be a valuable opportunity for learning some examples of the types of stock phrases the students might need. W-2 Misuse / Misunderstanding of Word There were some cases where the students misused or misunderstood words that had more than one meaning and words that shared a similar meaning with other words. These polysemies and homonyms can be perfect materials for discussions. Learners usually learn new target words in relation to their equivalents in their native language. However, dependence on the translation could cause miscommunication as meaning range in two languages often does not completely overlap. Japanese language teaching may have focused extensively on the expansion of new vocabulary, and may have neglected to teach the word usage in contexts. Learners can talk about the reasons for the misuses and misunderstandings and learn the core meaning of the words by collecting many example sentences that contain the words. W-3 Pronunciation / Typing Error Our data has shown that writing English words in Katakana is not easy, as knowledge of the correct English spelling may interfere with proper Japanese pronunciation. However, with some exceptions, there are general rules for conversion, and learners may be able to find out the rules or exceptions by reviewing Katakana words in their chat logs. The findings from our study suggest that reviewing Katakana is necessary in the later stages of learning. When converting the typed words into Kanji, learners need to be aware that the Kanji being chosen is relevant to the context of a conversation. In our study, the chat conversation did make the students realize that instant kanji processing skills should be improved. One task would be a dictation of a passage that contains many homophones, and discussion on the difference among the possible types of Kanji characters. S-1 Grammatical Error A particle can sometimes be crucial to convey the right meaning of a sentence. However, it is also true that particles are most commonly misused among learners of Japanese. In most cases, learners learn particles along with other grammatical features, and have rarely been taught their functions in comparison with others. Highlighting the particles that appeared in chat logs and analyzing the function of each particle in class may help students organize the acquired knowledge.
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S-2 Inappropriate Segmentation It was interesting to see some sentences starting with particles in the chat logs, as such a feature is rarely, if ever, observed in regular classes either in face-to-face communication or in written composition where utterances or sentences just flow. It tells us that learners may be treating a particle as a preposition for the following verb rather than a postposition for the preceding noun. Segmentation of a sentence into smaller units may be one task appropriate here. S-3 Abbreviated Sentence We have observed frequent use of abbreviated sentences by the native speakers. For students who have limited experience conversing with native speakers, comprehending abbreviated sentences using contextual information was not easy. Teaching abbreviated sentences has been neglected, although these sorts of sentences form an important part of natural conversations. Also, learners would not have noticed such sentences if they had not engaged in electronic chats with native speakers. Most of our students have had experiences of living in Japan and are familiar with Japanese native speech. Nevertheless, it is not easy to notice when and how abbreviated sentences are used while conversing in face-to-face situations. Learners may be able to find abbreviated sentences, if any, in their chat logs and discuss the expanded form of those sentences. D-1 Sudden Topic Change A sudden topic change without a conjunctive word was one of the typical causes for communication difficulty. Our suggestion is that learners go over their logs and discuss how their partners have changed a topic. It might be a good opportunity to review conjunctive words and their functions in a passage, and examine when conjunctive words are not used. As in the case of particles, conjunctive words are usually presented together with other language functions. The proper usage of such words needs to be taught at some stage. It could be possible to practice this through pair work, eliciting sentences from a picture and collaboratively combining the sentences using a conjunction. D-2 Slow Response Multiple topics of conversation intertwined together is a unique feature of chatting. When a response is slow, it can cause confusion. There is no doubt that coping with multiparty conversation with native speakers using an unfamiliar chat tool is extremely hard for non-native speakers. Learners should be aware that responding quickly in chat by using shorter sentences is essential. Learners may discuss strategies for avoiding this sort of confusion, and look for particular strategies for chat conversation. Some practice sessions for making shorter abbreviated sentences might be necessary. However, making an utterance shorter does sometimes cause communication difficulties. Based on our impressionistic observation of conversations between native speakers, we believe there exist many repetitions of phrases to link one's utterance to the previous ones, particularly in cases where "why" and "how" are sought. Learners may need to learn some strategies to respond quickly in the shortest possible abbreviated sentences that still have links to the previous utterances. D-3 Intercultural Communication Gap The concept of a word is not the same in a different cultural context. Miscommunication caused by a gap in concepts between two cultures is typical in an international communication setting, and is not specific to chat conversation. However, chat conversations certainly make the situation worse, as interlocutors cannot see each other's facial expression of confusion. It may be valuable to have discussions on the meaning range of a word in the target language and in the native tongue, and talk about the sense of value in each culture. In language classes, even when cultural differences are touched upon, they are usually discussed on a superficial level. Focusing on some key words that can be a cause of communication breakdowns would be a very good way of leading learners to notice cultural differences.
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CONCLUSION Abundant research suggests that negotiation of meaning, which has been claimed to facilitate L2 learning, frequently occurs in electronic communication. In this paper, we categorized negotiation of meaning that took place between learners and native speakers of Japanese over a series of chat conversations, and made suggestions for making use of chat logs. A series of communication difficulties was observed in the chat logs. We found that the chat exchanges induced negotiation of meaning between interlocutors at various levels. Another thing that the chat logs taught us was that there were some language aspects that are crucial for communication, but that had been neglected in teaching, and that students would not have noticed if they had not had the opportunity to chat with native speakers. NOTES 1. This study has been funded by the Faculty of Arts ITMM grant. An early draft of the paper was written by the first author and was submitted as a class assignment for the subject "Second Language Acquisition" offered in the Linguistics and Applied Linguistics Department at the University of Melbourne. 2. JEWELS has been developed by a team of researchers in Japan led by Mr. Richard Harrison.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to express our gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Tim McNamara and Dr. Robert Debski for their valuable comments on the earlier version of the paper. We would also like to thank the LLT reviewers for their constructive feedback. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Etsuko Toyoda is a senior tutor of Japanese at the Melbourne Institute of Asian Languages & Societies at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests include word recognition, learner autonomy, language learning and technology, and metalinguistic awareness. Richard Harrison, born in the UK, has been teaching Japanese as a foreign language and developing/using computer-based software for Japanese for the past 10 years in the UK, Australia, and Japan. His current research interests are in virtual learning environments and constructivist approaches to learning language, particularly socially-based interaction using chat. E-mail: e.toyoda@asian.unimelb.edu.au harrison@ecis.nagoya-u.ac.jp
REFERENCES Barson, J., Frommer, J., & Schwartz, M. (1993). Foreign language learning using email in a task-oriented perspective: Interuniversity experiments in communication and collaboration. Journal of Science and Technology, 2(4), 565-584. Blake, R. (2000). Computer mediated communication: A window on L2 Spanish interlanguage. Language Learning & Technology, 4(1), 120-136. Retrieved May 6, 2001, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol4num1/blake/. Ellis, R. (1985). Understanding second language acquisition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
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Gass, S. (1997). Input, interaction, and the second language learner. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Kim, A. J. (2000). Community building on the Web. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press. Kitade, K. (2000). L2 Learners' discourse and SLA theories in CMC: Collaborative interaction in Internet chat. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 13(2), 143-166. Long, M. H. (1991). Focus on form: A design feature in language teaching methodology. In K. de Bot, R. Ginsberg, & C. Kramsch (Eds.), Foreign language research in cross-cultural perspective (pp. 39-52). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Long, M. H. (1996). The role of linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W. C. Richie & T. K. Bhatia (Eds.), Handbook of research on language acquisition, Vol. 2: Second language acquisition (pp. 413-468). New York: Academic Press. Ortega, L. (1997). Processes and outcomes in networked classroom interaction: Defining the research agenda for L2 computer-assisted classroom discussion. Language Learning & Technology, 1(1), 82-93. Retrieved May 6, 2001, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol1num1/ortega/. Pellettieri, J. (2000). Negotiation in cyberspace: The role of chatting in the development of grammatical competence. In M. Warschauer & R. Kern (Eds.), Network-based language teaching: Concepts and practice (pp. 59-86). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Pica, T. (1994). Research on negotiation: What does it reveal about second-language learning conditions, processes, and outcomes? Language Learning, 44, 493-527. Sotillo, S. M. (2000). Discourse functions and syntactic complexity in synchronous and asynchronous communication. Language Learning & Technology, 4(1), 82-119. Retrieved May 6, 2002, from http://llt.msu.edu.vol4num1/sotillo/default.html. Swain, M. (1993). The output hypothesis: Just speaking and writing aren't enough. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 50, 158-164. Swain, M. (1995). Three functions of output in second language learning. In G. Cook & G. Seidhofer (Eds.), Principles and practice in applied linguistics: Studies in honor of H. G. Widdowson (pp. 125-144). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Tamaoka, K. (1991). Psycholinguistic nature of the Japanese orthography. Studies in Language and Literature, 11(1), 49-82. Varonis, E. M. & Gass, S. (1985). Non-native / non-native conversations: A model for negotiation of meaning. Applied Linguistics, 6, 71-90. Warschauer, M. (1998). Interaction, negotiation, and computer-mediated learning. In M. Clay (Ed.), Practical applications of educational technology in language learning. Lyon, France: National Institute of Applied Sciences. Retrieved May 6, 2001, from http://www.insalyon.fr/Departments/CDRL/interaction.html. Werry, C. C. (1996). Linguistic and interactional features of Internet relay chat. In S. Herring (Ed.), Computer-Mediated Communication: Linguistic, social, and cross-cultural perspectives (pp. 47-63). Amsterdam: J. Benjamins.
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Language Learning & Technology http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num1/nikolova/
EFFECTS OF STUDENTS' PARTICIPATION IN AUTHORING OF MULTIMEDIA MATERIALS ON STUDENT ACQUISITION OF VOCABULARY

Ofelia R. Nikolova Southern Illinois University at Carbondale ABSTRACT This study investigated the effects on vocabulary acquisition of student participation in authoring a multimedia instructional module. Sixty-two subjects were randomly assigned to two groups, and each group was randomly assigned to one of two treatments. The control subjects were asked to study a French text downloaded from the Internet and presented on a computer. In the text, 20 relatively low-frequency words were annotated with text, sound, and pictures. The experimental subjects had the same text but without annotations. They were asked to participate in creating annotations for the same 20 target words. The study produced evidence that students learn vocabulary significantly better when they participate in the creation of the instructional module, provided time is not considered. However, when the variable of time on task is taken into account, there is no statistically significant difference between the experimental and the control treatments. In addition, annotations containing text, sound, and pictures were found to be more helpful for vocabulary learning than annotations with sound and text only. The results are discussed in light of theories of vocabulary acquisition and active student involvement in the learning process. Practical applications and ideas for further research are suggested.
INTRODUCTION In recent years the development of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) has created the need and opportunity for investigating the effects of multimedia on vocabulary acquisition. Thus far, numerous studies (Al-Seghayer, 2001; Aust, Kelley, & Roby, 1993; Brett, 1998; Chun & Plass, 1996; Davis & Lyman-Hager, 1997; Duquette, Renie, & Laurier, 1998; Groot, 2000; Hulstijn, 2000; Laufer & Hill, 2000; Lyman-Hager & Davis, 1996; Lyman-Hager, Davis, Burnett, & Chennault, 1993; Plass, Chun, Mayer, & Leutner, 1998; Siribodhi, 1995) have shown that computerized media and a multimedia environment can be helpful for learning foreign language vocabulary. In these studies, however, the materials used for foreign language teaching were commercially available or teacher-produced. No studies have investigated how the student authoring of computer-based materials for foreign language learning affects student acquisition of vocabulary. The idea of cognitive and affective benefits from authoring of learning materials in a conventional or computerized environment has been the topic of numerous studies (Arnett, 1995; Bowman & Plaisir, 1996; Brown, 1993; Kramsch, A'Ness, & Lam, 2000; Kubota, 1999; Marchionini, 1988; Meek, 1990; Milone, 1995; Renzulli, 1977; Turner & Dipinto, 1992). The encouraging results of these studies have prompted the work described in this article. The present study reports data from an investigation of the effects of student participation in authoring of multimedia materials, based on authentic French texts downloaded from the Internet, on student vocabulary acquisition. This investigation sought to determine whether acquisition of foreign language vocabulary was higher for students who helped author the materials compared to students who simply
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Effects of Students' Participation in Authoring...
utilized teacher-created multimedia materials based on the same texts. A comparison was made between the scores of the two groups with and without time on task taken into account. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Creativity and Authoring of Multimedia Materials One of the major contemporary learning theories -- the constructivist learning theory -- considers authentic creative experiences the main vehicle of the learning process (Bednar, Cunningham, Duffy, & Perry, 1992; Zahorik, 1995). It is the basis of numerous successful teaching models and approaches such as the Foxfire project, Renzulli's Enrichment Triad, and Hungerford's Investigation and Evaluation of Environmental Issues and Actions model (IEEIA, 1993). Studies that have evaluated these models credit their success to the active involvement of the learner in the learning process, the authentic context, the real-life problems that learners have to solve, and the creation of genuinely marketable products. Similar characteristics underlie successful student authoring of multimedia materials. Data from studies on student authoring (Arnett, 1995; Bowman & Plaisir, 1996; Brown, 1993; Kramsch et al., 2000; Kubota, 1999; Milone, 1995; Turner & Dipinto, 1992) indicate that the process of creating learning materials is beneficial with respect to student motivation and attitude toward both the learning process and the subject matter. Even though the degree of creative involvement of the students in these projects varied, all of them showed evidence that students worked on their tasks with greater motivation. Most studies reporting results from any type of creativity-based approaches to instruction, including student authoring of multimedia materials for learning, are primarily concerned with the affective aspects of the impact these approaches have on the students (exception Brown, 1993). Three of the studies (Arnett, 1995; Kramsch et al., 2000; Kubota, 1999) reviewed an authoring experience for students in CALL. However, these studies were based on a qualitative design. The present investigation, therefore, was undertaken in an attempt to acquire for the first time quantitative data from student participation in the authoring of foreign language multimedia materials. L2 Vocabulary Acquisition The importance of vocabulary for overall foreign language acquisition is the basis of a multitude of vocabulary acquisition studie s. Interesting for the present research are above all the studies concerned with reading and reading-related tasks, as well as studies focusing on the role of context, dictionaries, student involvement, and multimedia annotations in vocabulary acquisition. Foreign language vocabulary is viewed as a primordial factor in successful communication (Levelt, 1989) and, to a great extent, in high-level reading ability and comprehension (Anderson & Freebody, 1981; Markham, 1989; Segalowitz, Watson, & Segalowitz, 1995). Furthermore, reading itself is frequently singled out as the most important vocabulary-building activity both for the first language (L1) and the second language (L2). The impact of reading on vocabulary acquisition outweighs by far the impact of aural language because of the relatively simple lexicon used in the spoken language (Krashen, 1989, p. 455). A large number of the studies in SLA (e.g., Horst, Cobb, & Meara, 1998; Knight, 1994; Krashen, 1989; Nagy, Herman, & Anderson, 1985; Nation & Coady, 1988) examine the role of context in vocabulary acquisition which takes place through reading or reading-associated tasks. Context plays a primordial role in this acquisition by supplying the necessary input. In many cases, vocabulary acquisition while reading occurs in an incidental way and is largely due to the learners' guesses (Krashen, 1989). However, numerous articles concerned with the controversy between guessing from context and the use of a dictionary or glosses (marginal or computerized) in L2 acquisition provide data in favor of dictionary/ gloss use in addition to vocabulary embedded in a natural context (Al-Seghayer, 2001; Groot, 2000; Hulstijn, 2000; Hulstijn, Hollander, and Greidanaus, 1996; Knight,1994; Krantz, 1991; Lomicka, 1998; Luppesku & Day, 1993; Lyman-Hager et al., 1993; Lyman-Hager & Davis, 1996; Summers, 1988).
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Dictionaries are particularly helpful for rarely occurring, low-frequency words and for cases where the subjects do not have enough background for correct guesses. Moreover, even a correct guess, does not necessarily lead to acquisition (Mondria and Wit-de Boer, 1991). This conclusion can be explained by assuming that learners who guess words correctly either do not pay sufficient attention to the link between form and meaning in the learning stage or else thinking they know the words well, they do not study them. A plausible explanation of the phenomena related in the present study is Channell's (1988) theory about the active role of the learner in the process of vocabulary acquisition. Unlike Krashen (1989), who sees acquisition (incidental learning) and learning (intentional learning) in opposition, Channell considers them to be a dynamic aspect -- process (learning) -- and a static aspect -- product (acquisition) -- of one and the same phenomenon. In her work she comes to several conclusions related to practical teaching issues. The most important one for this paper is the active role of the L2 learner. "Learners should be encouraged to make their own lexical associations when they are actively learning new vocabulary. (However, at present we do not know which kind of associations are the most useful in aiding retention)" (p. 94). The associations created by the learner between form and meaning while attending to the unknown lexical items either during attempts to guess, or checks of meaning in reference sources (marginal glosses or dictionary) lead to successful L2 vocabulary acquisition. Checking a guessed meaning in a dictionary brings positive reinforcement and also allows for a longer manipulation of the form and the correct meaning of the word, which most likely leads to the associations mentioned by Channell. In line with Channell's ideas about the active role of the learner in vocabulary acquisition are a number of studies concerned with the notic ing hypothesis (Fotos, 1993; Robinson, 1995; Schmidt, 1990). According to these studies, consciousness-raising strategies, through formal instruction or through performance of different tasks, promote the amount of noticing of a particular form, which in turn is an important step toward the acquisition of this form. These conclusions, made mainly with regard to grammar rules, are claimed valid also for second language vocabulary acquisition by Laufer and Hill (2000). These authors go on to suggest that "additional elaboration strategies will be necessary on the part of the learner before a memory trace for the noticed word is created" (p. 59). The present study is concerned with vocabulary acquisition in a multimedia environment. Several fundamental research questions have been investigated regarding this issue. They include the effectiveness of annotations or glosses via different media for vocabulary acquisition, the attitude of students toward paper versus computer dictionaries/glosses, the gloss density in a text, the richness of glosses (the extent and type of information included in them), and the student look-up preferences. (AlSeghayer, 2001; Aust et al., 1993; Chun & Plass, 1996; Davis & Lyman-Hager, 1997; Groot, 2000; Hulstijn, 2000; Kost, Foss, & Lenzini, 1999; Laufer & Hill, 2000; Lomicka, 1998; Lyman-Hager et al., 1993; Lyman-Hager & Davis, 1996; Nagata, 1999; Plass et al., 1998; Roby, 1999; Siribodhi, 1995). Annotations that have been studied extensively include text, sound, pictures, and video. Even though research does not provide evidence as to a decisive advantage of one type of annotation over another, there are some data referring to a positive impact of image-based annotations on L2 vocabulary acquisition (Al-Seghayer, 2001; Chun & Plass, 1996; Kost et al., 1999; Pla ss et al., 1998; Siribodhi, 1995). In general, the computerized format is preferred by students over the paper format for dictionaries and glosses and appears to be a more efficient way of vocabulary learning (Aust et al., 1993; Roby, 1999). Student look-up behavior is under close scrutiny in recent studies which show that the variety of learner look-up preferences should be matched by a variety of media presentations and types of information included in the computerized annotations (Laufer & Hill, 2000; Lomicka, 1998; Lyman-Hager & Davis, 1996; Plass et al., 1998).
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Nagata (1999) suggests that interactive computerized glosses enhance second language vocabulary acquisition. Context is another important issue in second language vocabulary acquisition. Not only does it supply the necessary input; but if carefully chosen, it can also offer additional affective benefits. Many studies have pointed out the beneficial effects of an Internet environment for language learners (Copen, 1995; Kost, 1999; Kramsch et al., 2000; Li & Hart, 1996; McCarty, 1995; Oliva & Pollastrini, 1995; Peterson, 1997; Silva, Meagher, Valenzuela, & Crenshaw, 1996). Even though these studies are mostly concerned with communicative tasks, the authenticity of an Internet-mediated context plays a positive motivational role also for texts downloaded from the net. In summary, numerous research projects have been conducted in different subject matters in which the subjects were given the opportunity to create a finished product (computer-based or other) whose users were other students or the general public. The results of such projects usually showed high positive affective impact on the students as well as some cognitive benefits. There are, however, few quantitative data, particularly on the cognitive outcomes of these projects. In addition, only one such project (Brown, 1993) compared quantitatively the achievements of students working in a creative condition with the achievements of a control group. Projects whose aim is production of computer-based learning materials are practically non-existent in CALL (exceptions Arnett, 1995; Kramsch et al., 2000; Kubota, 1999). Research has shown that second language vocabulary acquisition is enhanced if the verbal information is accompanied by pictorial information and if the learners are encouraged to manipulate the form of the unknown word in order to create their own associations between form and meaning. L2 vocabulary learning also improves through reading if the L2 words are presented in authentic contexts relevant to the learner. One way of providing the learners with authentic and varied contexts is tapping the resources of the Internet. One way of encouraging the learners to manipulate the form of the unknown lexical items in order to create a link between form and meaning is asking them to prepare their own multimedia materials for vocabulary learning/teaching based on texts downloaded from the Internet. In addition, involvement in creating an authentic product has been shown to increase the level of motivation and enthusiasm and has been found conducive to enhancing content knowledge. The design of the present study was conceptualized with the purpose of combining the above-mentioned factors.
Hypotheses
The purpose of the study described in this paper was a comparison between two groups of students working with authentic French texts from the Internet in the framework of a multimedia environment. The experimental subjects had to participate in the creation of multimedia learning materials based on the French texts mentioned above, while the control subjects were asked to study a multimedia module created by the researcher on the basis of the same texts. The two types of treatment -- control (reading) and experimental (authoring) -- were the independent variables in the study. The dependent variable was acquisition of vocabulary (with and without time on task taken into account). The hypotheses, which the study sought to test, are stated as follows: 1. If time on task is disregarded, acquisition of L2 words presented in a text via a multimedia instructional module is better when the students help create the instructional module rather than when they study the text containing the target words annotated with multimedia annotations by a teacher. 2. If time on task is taken into account as an additional variable, acquisition of L2 words presented in a text via a multimedia instructional module is better when the students help create the instructional module rather than when they study the text containing the target words annotated with multimedia annotations by a teacher.
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The above-formulated hypotheses were based on results from studies discussed earlier (Channell, 1988, Fotos, 1993, Laufer & Hill, 2000; Robinson, 1995, Schmidt, 1990). Given that the experimental subjects had an ample opportunity to manipulate the target words and thus create a strong link between form and meaning, it was believed that they would retain the new vocabulary items better than the control group. This belief was expressed in the first hypothesis. It was clear, however, from a common sense point of view as well as from the results of a pilot study, that the experimental subjects were going to spend more time on their tasks. There weren't any previous quantitative studies in this field to help the researcher make a prediction as to the impact of time as a additional variable. A pilot study also failed to give enough data to allow clarification of this issue. It was, therefore, assumed that the performance of the experimental subjects would be sufficiently stronger in order to compensate for the longer time spent on task. This assumption was expressed in the second hypothesis. METHODOLOGY Design and Subjects This study followed a "randomized control-group pretest-posttest design" (Isaac & Michael, 1995, p. 72). All subjects in the study were first randomly assigned to two groups. Each group was then assigned at random to either the control or experimental treatment. The target population for subject recruitment was all students from the second semester, first-year French class at a large research university in the Midwest. The sample of subjects participating in the study was formed by all the students who volunteered to take part. Out of a target population of 69 students, 62 participated in the study, thus forming one experimental and one control group of 31 each. All students were native speakers of English. Materials Lesson content (Appendix A) Eight two-line French jokes in the form of riddles were directly downloaded from the Internet (site address http://www.rigoler.com/Blagues3/fourretout05.shtml). These riddles constituted the text, which was used as lesson content. There were several reasons for choosing the jokes as content. (a) They formed a unified, well-defined authentic context--the context of automobiles as viewed and used by native French speakers. The unity of context was thought to facilitate the subjects' learning. (b) Expert opinion (a panel of three French teachers in the Foreign Language Department) judged the jokes easy to understand for the subjects participating in the experiment except for 20 low-frequency words mostly related to automobiles (Appendix A). (c) Expert opinion judged these 20 words as appropriate target words to test vocabulary acquisition because they were most likely unfamiliar to the subjects (even though these words were not included in the vocabulary lists of the lessons these students had covered, a pretest was given to identify possible cases of previous knowledge). (d) Seventy percent of the target words (14 out of 20) could be annotated with pictures. (e) Twenty target words were considered to be a reasonable and frequently encountered number of unfamiliar lexical items for one instructional module in a college-level foreign language class. Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) In order to control the subjects' aptitude for language learning as a possible confounding variable, the students were asked to take the Modern Language Aptitude Test (Carrol & Sapon, 1959), a standardized test aimed at measuring aptitude for learning foreign languages. The results from this test were included in the analysis of the data concerning subjects' acquisition and retention of vocabulary. The MLAT is usually administered in two versions--full and short. Since the short version contains all sections relevant to vocabulary learning, it was the version selected for the current research.
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Pretest/Posttest The pretest (Appendix B) consisted of the 20 target words and 10 distractors, randomly arranged. The students were asked to translate all the words from French into English. The distractors were used to limit possible carry-over effects of the pretest. The posttest was the same as the pretest as far as the lexical items were concerned and was administered twice: the first time immediately after the experiment and the second time 1 month after the experiment. Each time the posttest was given, the words in it were rearranged randomly. SmarTText1 Software SmarTText was chosen as the tool for annotating the text. This software package had been used successfully as teaching tool by faculty in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures prior to the experiment. The faculty's impression was that the software was user-friendly and students had a positive response to its usage. French-English Dictionaries Copies of the relevant pages of a French-English dictionary were made available to all the students in the experimental group at the time of the experiment. The dictionary selected for use in the experiment was The New Cassell's French Dictionary which contains both FrenchEnglish and English-French (Girard, 1970). Target-Word Handout (see Appendix C) It was only needed for the experimental subje cts. It consisted of a list of the target words and the names of the corresponding sound files (for all 20 words) and picture files (where applicable --only 14 words). Time Log & Math Problem The start time and end time of the treatment for each participant was manually logged by the researcher. A simple math problem was given to the students after the treatment and before administration of the immediate posttest. The math problem was intended to help the students empty their short-term memory and direct their attention toward a different cognitive track. Procedures Orientation and Pilot The orientation and practice sessions were conducted by the researcher in the New Media Center at the university and were scheduled for regular class periods. A pilot test was run with the students from second-year French. The procedures were the same as for the experiment. However, the pilot-test subjects did not take the delayed posttest. Given the small number of participants in the pilot test (10), it was impossible to seek statistically significant differences in the variables. The most important conclusion of the pilot test was that there was a significant difference in the time on task between the groups. Scheduling, Supervision, and Pretest A schedule with 16 time slots of 90 minutes each, spread out over 3 days was offered to the participants for sign-up. The experiment was held in the New Media Center where eight computers were reserved during the scheduled time slots. Upon arrival in the New Media Center, each subje ct was assigned to a computer station and was provided with a packet of materials according to his/her condition -- control or experimental. Control Treatment The control group had to study the text in a multimedia module presented via computer. In this module the target words were "hot"; they were annotated by the researcher with text definitions (all 20 words), sound (all 20 words), and pictures (14 out of the 20 words) and appeared in boldface on the computer screen. By double -clicking on the "hot" word the subjects were able to see the text annotations (translation of the word). When a "hot" word was double -clicked in addition to the presentation of text annotations, which each word had, one or two of the icons in the right-hand column of the screen turned dark (Figure 1).
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Figure 1. Computer screen with a hot word highlighted Each dark icon indicated a link to a particular type of annotation -- sound or picture. All words had sound and text annotations, but only 14 out of the 20 words had picture annotations as well. For the word dcapotable both the picture icon and the sound icon are dark. The word has, therefore, both picture and sound annotations. By double -clicking on the picture icon the students could see the picture annotation of the word. By double -clicking on the sound icon the students could hear a native speaker pronounce the word (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Picture annotation for the word dcapotable

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The students of the control group were allowed to spend as much time as they desired studying the text and using the annotations. They were instructed to ask for help if they needed any. Only two students asked questions pertaining to the context in which the target words were presented. Experimental Treatment The experimental group had the same text as the control group. The text was presented via the same computer template, SmarTText. However, in the experimental setting, the target words in the module were not "hot"; they were not linked yet to their corresponding annotations. The experimental subjects had to link the target words with sound and picture files previously input in the computer by the researcher. For this purpose, they used the author mode of the SmarTText software. In addition, they had to write text annotations after looking up the meaning of the target words in a FrenchEnglish dictionary and link these annotations to the target words. Both the experimental and control subjects were encouraged to ask for help if needed. There were quite a few questions asked in the experimental group. Most of the questions were related to the context in which the target words were presented, but there were also questions pertaining to the software. All subjects worked with headphones throughout the entire experiment. Therefore, the questions asked and the answers given could be heard only by the researcher and the individual who asked the particular question. At the end of the experiment, each experimental subject had to signal the researcher and his/her time out was logged in. In addition, the researcher examined the module produced by the subject. Despite several minor problems with the software, which required help from the researcher, all experimental subjects finished their modules and created correct hyperlinks for the annotations of the target words. Posttests (Immediate and Delayed) After finishing the treatment, the subjects were asked to solve a simple math problem and were then given the immediate posttest. One month later, the delayed posttest was administered. It was identical to the immediate posttest with a different, random arrangement of the words. Three subjects from the control group and 3 subjects from the experimental group did not participate in the delayed posttest for various reasons (dropping the class, illness, etc.), thus reducing the experimental and control group to 28 participants each. Testing the Hypotheses The level of significance at which the hypotheses in the study were tested was = .05. The data, analyzed via the statistical package SPSS, Inc. (1996), were gathered through the following measurements (see Tables 1 and 2 below).2 Table 1. Descriptive Statistics for the Control Group n MLAT Pretest Immediate gain Delayed gain Immediate posttest Delayed posttest Computer proficiency Time Attitude 31 31 31 28 31 28 31 31 31 Minimum 24 0 2 0 3 0 2 12 44 Maximum 80 7 19 8 20 13 9 18 100 M 50.13 1.00 13.00 2.96 14.00 4.00 6.10 14.55 77.48 SD 13.86 1.41 3.64 1.93 3.72 2.97 1.90 1.73 13.44
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Table 2. Descriptive Statistics for the Experimental Group n MLAT Pretest Immediate gain Delayed gain Immediate posttest Delayed posttest Computer proficiency Time Attitude 31 31 31 28 31 28 31 31 31 Minimum 16 0 7 1 7 1 2 31 31 Maximum 79 2 20 8 20 10 9 54 99 M 49.10 .42 14.94 4.25 15.35 4.68 6.10 38.29 79.03 SD 13.86 1.41 3.64 1.93 3.72 2.97 1.90 5.63 14.89
Hypothesis 1: Vocabulary Acquisition (without time on task) In order to test Hypothesis 1 (vocabulary acquisition without time on task), MANOVA was run with dependent variables the difference between the mean scores on the pretest and on the immediate and delayed posttests with covariate -- the score from the MLAT. MANOVA compared the means of the differences between pretest and immediate and delayed posttest scores for the control and the experimental groups adjusted with respect to the MLAT scores as a covariate. Box's test of equality of covariance matrices shows that the assumption for homogeneous variances was met F (3, 524880) = .397, p = .755. The results from the MANOVA are reported in Tables 3 and 4. Table 3. Multiple Analysis of Variance of Acquisition of Vocabulary with MLAT as Covariate Effect GR Wilks' Lambda *p < .05 Value .868 F 3.966 Hypothesis df 2.000 Error df 52.000 p .025*
Wilks' lambda = .868 indicates that there is a statistically significant difference for the multivariate test. The values of F (2,52) = 3.966 and p = .025 show that there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups on the set of two dependent variables. Table 4. Test of Between Subjects Effects for Acquisition of Vocabulary with MLAT as Covariate Source Dependent Variable SS df MS F p GR Imm. Gain 49.703 1 49.703 4.088 .048* Del. Gain 23.017 1 23.017 5.247 .026* Error Imm. Gain 644.343 53 12.157 Del. Gain 232.506 53 4.387 *p < .05 The results in Table 4 for the immediate, F (1,53) = 4.088, p = .048, and for the delayed gain, F (1,53) = 5.247, p = .026, show that there is also a statistically significant difference between the groups on each of the dependent variables separately. Hypothesis 1 was, therefore, accepted. The experimental group acquired target language vocabulary as measured by the difference between the pretest and both the immediate and delayed posttests significantly better than the control group when controlled for MLAT, but not for time.
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Hypothesis #2: Vocabulary Acquisition (with control for time on task) In order to test Hypothesis #2, MANOVA was run with dependent variables the difference between the mean scores on the pretest and on the immediate and delayed posttests with covariates -- the score from the MLAT and time on task. Box's test of equality of covariance matrices shows that the assumption for homogeneous variances was met, F (3,524880) = .397, p = .755. The results from the MANOVA are reported in Tables 5 and 6. Table 5. Multiple Analysis of Variance of Acquisition of Vocabulary with MLAT and Time on Task as Covariates Effect GR Wilks' Lambda Value .985 F .382
b
Hypothesis df 2.000
Error df 51.000
p .684
Wilks' lambda = .985 indicates that there is no statistically significant difference for the multivariate test. The values of F (2,51) = .382, p = .684 show that there is no statistically significant difference between the two groups on the set of two dependent variables. Table 6. Test of Between Subjects Effects for Acquisition of Vocabula ry with MLAT and Time on Task as Covariates Source Dependent Variable GR Imm. Gain Del. Gain Error Imm. Gain Del. Gain SS 4.902 23.017 644.334 232.501 df 1 1 52 52 MS 4.902 23.017 12.391 4.471 F .396 5.247 p .532 .481
The results in Table 6 for the immediate F (1,52) = .396, p = .532 and for the delayed gain F (1,52) = 504, p = .485 show that there is no statistically significant difference between the groups on either of the dependent variables separately. Hypothesis #2 was therefore rejected. When controlled for time and MLAT, there was no statistically significant difference between the vocabulary acquisition of the experimental and the control group. In conclusion, the first hypothesis was accepted and the second rejected. If time on task was not taken into account, the experimental subjects acquired vocabulary significantly better. If time on task was considered, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups as far as their vocabulary acquisition was concerned. A post-hoc item analysis was conducted. It aimed at clarifying the following issues: what type of words were easier for the students to recall, whether the type of annotation affected the recall of target words, and if so, how was this influence expressed. Table 7 gives a summary of the correct answers per target word and rank-orders the target words from the ones that were most frequently recalled downwards.
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Table 7. Correct Recall of Individual Words Type of posttest Overall Group 1. une usine 78 2. une chane d'assemblage 77 2. le sommet 77 3. dcapotable 68 4. drle* 61 5. une colline 59 6. une roue de secours 57 7. faire le plein 54 7. un crasement 54 7. pousser 54 8. geler* 53 9. un volant 47 10. la valeur* 46 11. le dgivrage 44 11. un dpotoir 44 12. il faut* 43 13. un oubli* 41 14. une crevaison 37 14. aveugle 37 14. aucune* 37 * only sound and text annotations for these words Immediate C-l Exper. 18 28 23 26 27 25 26 27 24 24 17 24 26 27 23 26 20 25 21 25 21 22 17 20 19 22 22 21 16 23 20 20 18 19 16 18 15 20 14 21 Delayed C-l Exper. 14 18 14 14 8 17 5 10 5 8 4 14 2 2 6 2 2 7 6 2 4 6 6 4 3 2 0 1 1 4 2 1 2 2 0 3 1 1 1 1
Six words were found to share the first five positions in the overall category. Five of these words were concrete nouns and one (drle) an adjective. Out of these six words, five were annotated with text, sound, and pictures, and one (drle) with text and sound only. Table 8 presents the number and percentages of correct answers for the control and experimental groups on both the immediate and delayed posttests. These numbers and percentages are broken down by type of annotation: with or without picture. Table 8. Comparison of Correct Recall for Words with Different Types of Annotations Control group Immediate Delayed X1 n1 % X2 n2 % With pictures Without pictures 287 116 434 186 66% 62% 66 17 392 168 17% 10% Experimental group Immediate Delayed X3 n3 % X4 n4 % 335 128 434 186 77% 69% 99 20 392 168 25% 12%
A z test of comparison of proportions was run to determine whether the differences in recall for items annotated with pictures vs. items annotated without pictures were significant within the particular groups for the different posttests (Table 9).
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Table 9. Comparison of Proportions (z-test) for Words with Different Types of Annotations With pictures Group/test C-l immediate C-l delayed Exp. immediate Exp. delayed *p < .05 **p < .01 X1 287 66 335 99 n1 434 392 434 392 Without pictures X2 n2 116 186 17 168 128 186 20 168 z .90 2.05* 2.20* 3.54**
In three out of four possible cases, namely within the control group for delayed posttest and within the experimental group both for delayed and immediate posttest, the recall of items annotated with pictures was significantly better than the recall of items annotated without pictures. In conclusion, the students recalled better words annotated with pictures, sound, and text as opposed to words annotated with sound and text only. This was particularly clear in the delayed posttest. DISCUSSION No significant difference was found between the vocabulary acquisition of the two groups -- experimental and control -- when time on task was included in the analysis. Even though this finding rejected the second hypothesis, it was not very surprising, since inclusion of time on task emphasized the efficiency aspect of the experiment. The experimental group, which had to participate in putting together a whole module, did not surpass the efficiency of the control group, which had only to study the module. The conclusion from this is that authoring is not an efficient way of vocabulary teaching. Other aspects of this activity, however, such as effectiveness and amount of time spent on task (reasonable or not) were not explored. Answers to these questions should be considered before the overall usefulness and applicability of authoring is judged. In order to investigate the effectiveness of participation in authoring, the answers to the first research question were reviewed. A very important aspect of the time issue in this research was whether the experimental subjects could finish their work in a reasonable amount of time. It is the researcher's contention that an average of 38.29 minutes is a reasonable amount of time for the experimental task and will not hinder application of this method in real classroom conditions. The reason for attempting an analysis without time on task was manifold. First, as already mentioned, a longer time on task was an inherent aspect of the experimental treatment. It should not necessarily be viewed as a waste, but rather as a positive aspect of the experimental treatment, even at the risk of having the results of this treatment interpreted as a low-efficiency way of learning vocabulary. A longer time on task may be a desirable effect of a pedagogical treatment, since oftentimes it means that the subjects were motivated to stay longer on task and will eventually end up acquiring more knowledge. In the case of the current study, both groups were allowed to spend as much time as they wanted on their work. The experimental subjects were not told that they had to finish the module; on the contrary, they were informed that they may quit at any time. However, all of them remained until their modules were finished and functioning. From a pedagogical point of view, the importance of involving students in an activity that will lead them to better learning may outweigh to a great extent the relative lack of efficiency of this activity. The scores in this experiment should be compared per activity (treatment) and not per unit of time. The claim made in this paragraph would be better substantiated if the subjects had to work on longer
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texts and were asked to perform this type of activity in at least several sessions. Such a treatment would have compensated for a possible novelty effect, which may have been at play in the present study. Second, it was not clear how much time the subjects in the experimental group spent on occupations other than actually manipulating the target words and their annotations. Such other activities may have been trouble-shooting or organizing the work. It is, therefore, difficult to say to what extent it was the time that made the difference in the results of both groups. In other words the present study does not give an answer to the question: if the control group was forced to spend as much time on task as the experimental group, whose results would have been better? This question was not asked because the researcher aimed at keeping the conditions for both groups as close to real classroom conditions as possible. Forcing the control group to stay longer would not have been natural, since they were allowed to spend as much time as they thought they needed anyway. In addition, it might have not guaranteed the students' attention during the entire obligatory period of time and may have not necessarily resulted in better scores. The whole point of the experimental treatment was to allow for a naturally prolonged time on task as an inherent part of the authoring activity during which the students are engaged in a constant manipulation of the target words. The question ultimately remains, why bother with authoring, since it proves to be time-consuming and not very efficient for vocabulary acquisition? It is the researcher's contention that an activity which results in engaging the students in putting together a final product in a reasonable amount of time and which leads to vocabulary acquisition significantly higher (even though numerically not very impressive) than vocabulary acquisition of students sitting with the intention for learning, should not be neglected. Therefore, the discussion that follows is concerned with scores and effects of vocabulary acquisition with time on task left out. The study found that students have significantly higher rates of acquisition of L2 vocabulary if they participate in the authoring of a multimedia module than if they study one prepared by a teacher. The means of immediate vocabulary gain of the control group and the experimental group in the study were 13.00 and 14.94 words, respectively. The means of delayed vocabulary gain were 2.96 and 4.25 words, respectively. The answer to the research question concerning vocabulary acquisition is consistent with most findings reported in the review of the related literature, and more specifically with Beaton, Gruneberg, and Ellis (1995), Brown (1993), Channell (1988), Fotos (1993), Hulstijn et al. (1996), Joe (1995), Knight (1994), Krantz (1991), Krashen (1989), Laufer & Hill (2000), Mondria and Wit-de Boer (1991), Robinson (1995), Schmidt (1990), Stahl and Fairbanks (1986), and Summers (1988). This study's findings confirmed Channell's (1988) ideas about the importance of the active role of learners during second language vocabulary acquisition. Manipulating the form of the vocabulary item and its meaning at the same time, as the experimental subjects did in the present study, is one way of encouraging creation of the above-mentioned associations. Creation of one's own lexical associations seems to be a plausible way of explaining the results of the experimental group in the study. As Mondria and Wit-de Boer (1991) found, more attention toward the link between form and meaning leads to a better retention of the foreign word. Similar findings were reported by Beaton et al. (1995). Studies based on the noticing hypothesis (Fotos, 1993; Robinson, 1995; Schmidt, 1990) also emphasized the beneficial effects of increased attention toward and conscious awareness of the link between form and meaning. Improved attention in the present study was attained through a more active approach to L2 vocabulary acquisition, namely simultaneous manipulation of form and meaning of the target word. The subjects had to attend to the form of the word they were annotating in order to look for it in their dictionary pages. Once the word was found, an estimation of the context, in which the word occurred, of all meanings listed in the dic tionary for the particular word, and finally of the possible fit of word meaning and context had to be performed in order to obtain the best match between the lexical item and its translation.
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The use of a dictionary, even though shown to be beneficial for vocabulary learning by many studies (Aust et al., 1993; Hulstijn, 2000; Knight, 1994; Krantz, 1991; Krashen, 1989; Laufer & Hill, 2000; Luppesku & Day, 1993; Mondria & Wit-de Boer, 1991) is a controversial topic. One of the main problems with dictionary use (particularly a paper dictionary as it was in this study) is that it can become boring for the L2 learner and for this very reason is difficult to apply consistently. In the present study the subjects were motivated to use dictionary information in order to participate in the creation of a product for whose quality they were responsible. Their success -- the fact that all of them completed the task and finished a multimedia unit of high quality -- brings evidence that the boredom of dictionary use was somehow overcome. A speculation on the part of the researcher is that the subjects' main concern was putting together the unit. Therefore, the relatively boring dictionary consulting was perceived only as a tool in the accomplishment of a more interesting and a relatively more creative assignment. Diverting attention from a monotonous task thus succeeded in making dictionary use part of an overall more adventurous experience, which brought good results in vocabulary acquisition. It is necessary to admit, however, that the text which the students manipulated was relatively short (139 words). The claim that student participation in authoring is an effective way to counteract boredom from dictionary use would be better substantiated if experiments were conducted with longer texts and over several sessions, preferably as part of real class-work assignments. The role of context in L2 vocabulary acquisition was another issue reported earlier (Hulstijn et al., 1996; Knight, 1994; Krantz, 1991; Krashen, 1989; Mondria & Wit-de Boer, 1991; Nation & Coady, 1988; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986; Sternberg, 1987). Both groups in the present research studied or manipulated words embedded in the same authentic context. At first glance, this fact makes it difficult to draw conclusions from the results of the study regarding the role of contextual as opposed to definitional information for L2 vocabulary acquisition. However, the researcher observed substantial differences in the way students approached the context. The study was designed so that both groups could take full advantage of combined contextual and definitional information with regard to the target words. The target words were presented in a natural context and were either annotated (for the control group) or a dictionary was provided (for the experimental group). Even though the context in which the target words were embedded was evaluated by expert opinion as familiar for the students, it turned out that some of the participants had difficulty understanding it. The researcher's observations revealed that control subjects did not attempt to clarify the context. Only two control subjects asked one question each with regard to the meaning of unfamiliar words, whereas experimental subjects frequently asked such questions. This fact sheds light on the ways both groups used the context in their L2 vocabulary acquisition. The control subjects apparently relied above all on the definitions in the annotations in order to learn the meaning of the target words and made less use of the context. The experimental subjects, on the other hand, had to first clarify the meaning of the context in order to select an appropriate definition for their annotations. The very essence of their treatment did not allow them to disregard the context in which the target words were presented. It seems logical, therefore, to draw a conclusion which stresses the beneficial effect of student participation in authoring on the usage students make of the context while acquiring L2 vocabulary as well as the beneficial role of context in L2 vocabulary acquisition in general. The post-hoc analysis of items revealed that the words that were most frequently recalled correctly were concrete nouns (46%). There were five of them among the six words sharing the first five positions in the overall recall (see Table 7). The percentage for correct recall of nouns (abstract and concrete) was 44%, verbs 43%, adjectives 38%, and abstract nouns 36%. These differences in the means, however, were not statistically significant and, just as in the Smith, Miller, Grossman, & Valeri-Gold (1994) study, they did not support the idea of noun superiority, according to which nouns are easier to learn than other parts of speech.
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Some other factors may have influenced the better recall of the words in the first positions. Chane d'assemblage, for example, is a partial cognate with the English "assembly line." Even though it harvested some unexpected translations in the posttests such as "hi-fi stereo" and "stereo system" (probably mostly because of contamination with chane stro [stereo system], a word that the subjects had studied), it still may have benefited from its closeness to the English word. Colline and sommet were both repeated in the text and, therefore, had a better chance of being remembered (see Hulstijn et al., 1996). Dcapotable, on the other hand, may have impressed the students with its meaning "convertible," a very desirable object for young people, and the attractive picture that was used as annotation. The presence of the only adjective, drle, in the top five positions could also be explained on the basis of emotional response. It is quite possible that its meaning "funny, weird" triggered a stronger emotional reaction in the subjects and thus made it more memorable for them. The investigation of the impact the type of annotations had on recall yielded a significant advantage for annotations containing pictures versus annotations without pictures on the immediate posttest for the experimental group (z = -2.2, p < .05) and the delayed posttest for both the control (z = 2.05, p < .05) and the experimental (z = 3.54, p < .01) groups. These findings corroborated findings from previous studies (Chun & Plass, 1996; Davis & Lyman-Hager, 1997; Kost et al., 1999) according to which words with picture and text annotations are better remembered than words with text annotations only. In an earlier study by Smith et al. (1994) a similar phenomenon was observed favoring recall of words presented with visuals over words presented with text only. The results of the present study are in alignment with Paivio's (1971) dual-coding theory and the claim that the use of images improves vocabulary learning. Moreover, the fact that a statistically significant difference in the recall of picture versus non-picture annotations was demonstrated on the two delayed posttests, but only on one of the immediate posttests is an illustration of the phenomenon of hypermnesia, reported in other studies (Chun & Plass, 1996; Smith et al., 1994). Hypermnesia is a psychological effect, which explains the fact that pictures tend to be remembered better over time whereas words are more easily forgotten. CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS The present study made an attempt to investigate for the first time some quantitative parameters of vocabulary learning for students participating in multimedia authoring. The novel character of this research and the relatively small sample size make it impossible to generalize the findings of the study beyond the conditions described in this article without replication of the experiment. The study showed that students can successfully participate in authoring of multimedia instructional materials based on foreign language texts. All subjects accomplished their task in a reasonable time and helped create high-quality materials. The main question of the study, whether students learn vocabulary better if they participate in multimedia authoring, was not answered in an unequivocal way. On one hand, if time on task was taken into account, the answer was negative. On the other hand, if time on task was disregarded, the authoring treatment yielded significantly better results in vocabulary acquisition. The researcher considered disregarding time on task because of the longer time being an inherent characteristic of the authoring treatment and generally a possible positive aspect of a learning activity from a pedagogical point of view. Even in this case, however, the results of the study should be interpreted cautiously because of the small numerical difference in the scores of the experimental and the control groups, the small sample size, and the fact that the authoring activity was performed only once. This short treatment could have been responsible for a novelty effect. In order to compensate for a possible novelty effect, a future study might be devised whereby students would be asked to work on longer texts in several sessions over a longer period of time. The students would also be given attitude questionnaires, which would monitor the level of their
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motivation and their overall impressions from the treatment in order to study the long-term motivational aspect of the authoring activity. The uncontrolled time on task in this study remains a controversial point and could be approached in several ways in a future study. As mentioned before, controlling time by simply forcing the control subjects to stay in front of the computer as long as the experimental subjects do and read the text over and over again will be highly unnatural and will most likely decrease motivation. Therefore, the control subjects could be given some exercises based on the presented text. Such a treatment would allow them to fill in the time gap between themselves and the experimental subjects in a more natural way. Thus a future experiment using such a design will help overcome another limitation of the present study, namely the lack of a well-defined goal in the control group activity. The somewhat vaguely defined task for the control group may have been responsible for weaker motivation on the part of the control subjects and may have been one of the reasons for this group's weaker performance. The study shed some light on the very controversial debate over dictionary use. Engaging the students in some activity other than direct vocabulary learning may help overcome the usual boredom related to dictionary use. If the dictionary is perceived simply as a tool for the accomplishment of an interesting and relatively complex task, which requires evaluation and judgment of several factors, it becomes a necessary step in the process and the students use it consistently. However, it is unclear to what extent these conclusions were influenced by the relatively restricted length of the text. Even though authoring of instructional materials can hardly be considered as an everyday activity in the foreign language classroom, the present research showed that it could be used to help introduce variety in learner tasks. It was found to be helpful for vocabulary acquisition and thus cannot be dismissed as a simple "waste of time." Moreover, there are potential benefits implied by student authoring of multimedia materials for FL learning which should be taken into account. If students successfully help create mediated learning materials for FL, these materials can be used by other students, by teachers in other classes, and even disseminated over the Internet. Teacher time for developing such materials can be drastically reduced, since teachers can function as consultants, supervisors, and quality control rather than as main executors of such projects. The study also showed that foreign language texts downloaded from the Internet can be used without alteration for multimedia instructional units partially created by students. Creating such materials for FL learning using texts downloaded from the Internet will give the students opportunities to work in an authentic context. Exposure to unaltered texts in the target language is a very valuable experience for L2 learners with potential for important affective impact on them. Nevertheless, the level of sophistication of these authentic materials should not exceed drastically the level of student knowledge in order to avoid frustration and boredom. In real life conditions, many alterations to the activities described in this paper can be undertaken. For example, students may be asked to find their own texts for annotation. They may also be encouraged to annotate texts and to link them to other Internet sites, create their own Web pages with annotated texts, and so forth. The study demonstrated that a visual element in the annotations of target words significantly improves vocabulary learning, particularly long-term retention of words. Thus the present experiment supports findings from previous research about the importance of visuals in vocabulary teaching. A better way to control for the difficulty level of each individual word would have been a betweensubject design whereby one group is exposed to all words without pictures and the other group to all words with picture annotations. This was not done in the present study since a comparison of picture versus non-picture annotations was not part of the original design of the experiment. The idea of this comparison came up later when the data were collected and an interesting pattern emerged. A future study
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might use a between-subjects design and use four groups -- two control (one with picture annotations and one without) and two experimental (one with picture annotations and one without). This design will call, of course, for a larger subject pool. The pioneer character of the present study and its limitations leave room for replications and alterations in the design. In addition to the possibilities already discussed, different types of texts may be used and the impact of the nature of the text on student performance studied. Using different text types, multiple sessions, a more goal-oriented activity for the control group and controlled time on task will give the researchers the opportunity to collect more diverse data and attain more reliable results. For practical purposes, a future study may be done to look at the benefits of authoring for subjects with different ability levels. Any differences in the response to treatment based on ability level should suggest a differentiated application of the authoring method in classroom conditions. A qualitative study in which the students are observed over a longer period of time, working in realistic classroom conditions on multimedia units (including creating picture and sound files) as part of their curriculum, would most likely bring more insightful information about the real-life application of the idea of student authoring. Finally, it is our hope that the present study, by producing some evidence of the positive effects that student participation in authoring of multimedia materials has on vocabulary acquisition, will help orient researchers' attention toward this activity and its more thorough investigation. If the promising results of the present research are confirmed, a more sophisticated and complex activity using the wholesome potential of the Internet and with practical effect on saving teacher time might become part of the foreign language teacher arsenal. APPENDIX A. LESSON CONTENT O est la roue de secours * sur une Lada? - Il n'y en a pas. En cas de crevaison, utiliser le volant la place. Comment doubler la valeur d'une Lada? - On fait le plein. Qu'est-ce qu'une Lada au sommet d'une colline ? - Un miracle. Et trois Lada au sommet d'une colline ? - Une drle de place pour mettre une usine Lada. Et mille Lada au sommet d'une colline ? - Un dpotoir (ou encore un crasement d'un Tupolev...) A quoi sert le dgivrage sur une Lada? - A pas se geler les mains quand on la pousse. Quelle est la diffrence entre la Lada et le chien guide? - Aucune , pour les deux, il faut tre aveugle pour en acheter. Qu'est-ce qu'on appelle une Lada dcapotable ? Un oubli de la chane d'assemblage. * The words in bold face are the target words. Where is the spare tire in a Lada? - There isn't any. In case of a flat tire , use the steering wheel instead. How can you double the value of a Lada? - Fill it up What is a Lada on top of a hill? - A miracle. And three Ladas on top of a hill? - A weird place for a Lada factory. And a thousand Ladas on top of a hill? - A junk yard (or else the crash of a Tupolev...) What is the defroster on a Lada for? - To keep your hands from freezing when you push the car. What is the difference between a Lada and a guide dog? - None , for both, you have to be blind to buy them. What is a Lada convertible called? - An oversight on the assembly line .
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APPENDIX B. PRETEST (ID number ) Translate the following words in English: 1. utile 2. gens 3. une algue 4. un crasement 5. une roue de secours 6. un collier 7. une usine 8. pousser 9. aucune 10. une crevisse 11. un poisson 12. voler 13. la valeur 14. une crevaison 15. aveugle 16. un collant 17. geler 18. faire le plein 19. drle 20. un pain 21. le dgivrage 22. un dpotoir 23. une chane d'assemblage 24. un oubli 25. dcapotable 26. il faut 27. le sommet 28. une route 29. un volant 30. une colline
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APPENDIX C. TARGET-WORD HANDOUT Annotate with text, sound and pictures (where available) the following words which are part of the anecdotes on your screen. Word to annotate Sound file Picture file 1. une roue de secours .......................................... roue roue 2. une crevaison .................................................... crevaison crevaison 3. un volant ........................................................... volant volant 4. la valeur ............................................................ valeur -------5. faire le plein ...................................................... plein faire le plein 6. le sommet .......................................................... sommet sommet 7. une colline ......................................................... colline colline 8. drle .................................................................. drle -------9. une usine ........................................................... usine usine 10. un dpotoir ...................................................... dpotoir dpotoir 11. un crasement ............................................. crasement crasement 12. le dgivrage .................................................... dgivrage dgivrage 13. geler ................................................................ geler -------14. pousse.......................................................... pousse pousse 15. dcapotable.................................................. dcapotable dcapotable 16. un oubli........................................................ oubli ------17. une chane d'assemblage.............................. chane chane 18. aucune.......................................................... aucune -------19. il faut ............................................................... il faut -------20. aveugle......................................................... aveugle aveugle
NOTES 1. SmarTText is a hypertext-based computer program created for the needs of foreign language teaching. It can be downloaded from http://www.siu.edu/~nmc/smarttext.html. 2. Data about computer proficiency and attitude toward the subject matter were both collected from self reports of the subjects based on a Likert scale with numerical values from 1 to 10. Immediate and delayed gain as reported in these tables refer to the difference between the words recalled on the immediate and delayed posttests respectively, minus the words familiar for each student as shown on the pretest.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nikolova is currently Assistant Professor of French in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Her research interests are in second language acquisition, CALL, and multimedia in foreign language learning. She has published articles and presented papers in these areas. E-mail: ofeliarn@siu.edu
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Lyman-Hager, M., Davis, J. N., Burnett, J., & Chennault, R. (1993). Une Vie de Boy: Interactive reading in french. In F. L. Borchardt & E. M. T. Johnson (Eds.), Proceedings of the CALICO 1993 Annual Symposium on "Assessment" (pp. 93-97). Durham, NC: Duke University. Marchionini, G. (1988). Hypermedia and learning: Freedom and chaos. Educational Technology, 28(11), 8-12. Markham, P. (1989). Effects of contextual versus definitional computer-assisted vocabulary instruction on immediate and long-term vocabulary retention of advanced ESL students. Educational Psychology, 9(2), 121-126. McCarty, P. J. (1995). Four days that changed the world (and other amazing Internet stories). Educational Leadership, 53(2), 48-49. Meek, A. (1990). On 25 years with Foxfire: A conversation with Eliot Wigginton. Educational Leadership, 47(6), 30-35. Milone, M. (1995). Electronic portfolios: Who's doing them and how? Technology and Learning, 16(3), 44-52. Mondria, J. A., & Wit-de Boer, M. (1991). The effects of contextual richness on the guessability and the retention of words in a foreign language. Applied Linguistics, 12(3), 249-267. Nagata, N. (1999). The effectiveness of computer-assisted interactive glosses. Foreign Language Annals, 32(4), 469-479. Nagy, W. E., Herman, P. A., & Anderson, R. C. (1985). Learning words from context. Reading Research Quarterly, 20(2), 233-253. Nation, P., & Coady, J. (1988). Vocabulary and reading. In R. Carter & M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary and language teaching (pp. 97-110). New York: Longman. Oliva, M., & Pollastrini, Y. (1995). Internet resources and second language acquisition: An evaluation of virtual immersion. Foreign Language Annals, 28(4), 551-63. Paivio, A. (1971). Imagery and verbal processes. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Peterson, M. (1997). Language teaching and networking. System, 25(1), 29-39. Plass, J., Chun, D., Mayer, R., & Leutner, D. (1998). Supporting visual and verbal learning preferences in second-language multimedia learning environment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(1), 25-36. Renzulli, J. S. (1977). The enrichment triad model: A guide for developing defensible programs for gifted and talented. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press. Robinson, P. (1995). Review article: Attention memory and the "noticing" hypothesis. Language Learning, 45(2), 283-331. Roby, W. B. (1999). "What's in a gloss?" Language Learning and Technology, 2(2), 94-101. Retrieved May 14, 2001, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol2num2/roby/index.html. Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 11, 129158. Segalowitz, N., Watson, V., & Segalowitz, S. (1995). Vocabulary skill: Single -case assessment of automaticity of word-recognition in a timed lexical decision task. Second Language Research, 11(2), 121136. Silva, P., Meagher, M. E., Valenzuela, M., & Crenshaw, S. (1996). E-mail: Real-life classroom experiences with foreign languages. Learning and Leading with Technology, 23(5),10-12.
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Siribodhi, T. (1995). Effects of three interactive multimedia CALL programs on the vocabulary acquisition of elementary level EFL students (Doctoral dissertation, University of Kansas, 1995). Dissertation Abstracts International, 56(09), 3552A. Smith, B., Miller, C., Grossman, F., & Valeri-Gold, M. (1994). Vocabulary retention: Effects of using spatial imaging on hemispheric-preference thinkers. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 27(4), 244-252. SPSS, Inc. (1996). SPSS for Windows, version 7.5. Chicago, IL: Author. Stahl, S., & Fairbanks, M. (1986). Effects of vocabulary instruction: A model-based meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 56(1), 72-110. Sternberg, R. J. (1987). Most vocabulary is learned from context. In M. G. McKeown & M. E. Curtis (Eds.), The nature of vocabulary acquisition (pp.89-105). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Summers, D. (1988). The role of dictionaries in language learning. In R. Carter & M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary and language teaching (pp. 111-125). New York: Longman. Teets, S. T., & Starnes, B. A. (1996). Foxfire: Constructivism for teachers and learners. Action in Teacher Education, 18(2), 31-39. Turner, S. V., & Dipinto, V. M. (1992). Students as Hypermedia authors: Themes emerging from a qualitative study. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 25(2), 187-199. Zahorik, J. A. (1995). Constructivist teaching. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.
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VISIBLE OR INVISIBLE LINKS: DOES THE HIGHLIGHTING OF HYPERLINKS AFFECT INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING, TEXT COMPREHENSION, AND THE READING PROCESS?
Isabelle De Ridder University of Antwerp ABSTRACT This article investigates how the signaling-mode of electronic glosses in online texts (i.e., presented digitally on a computer screen) influences the user's reading process, incidental vocabulary learning, and text comprehension. Indeed, does the fact that hyperlinks with dictionary definitions are visible (i.e., highlighted) or invisible affect the foreign language learner's look-up behaviour and as a consequence the possible learning outcome? Furthermore, the article addresses the question whether the type of reading task (general vs. specific) affects the learner's use of these links and the amount and quality of the language learned. The article discusses empirical research conducted in an attempt to address these questions. The results indicate that when reading a text with highlighted hyperlinks, readers are significantly more willing to consult the gloss. However, this increased clicking does not slow down the reading process, does not affect text comprehension, and does not increase the vocabulary learned incidentally. The reading task does not seem to alter the clicking behaviour of the students but seems to influence the reader's vocabulary learning: A content-oriented reading task decreases the reader's attention for vocabulary.
INTRODUCTION Current technologies in language learning allow student-users to consult translations, dictionary definitions, grammatical explanations, and cultural information at the simple click of a mouse. The availability of this kind of additional, often multimediatic, information is considered to be one of the preeminent advantages of language learning via computers, and consulting any of these extras is no longer seen as a major interruption of the language-learning activity. Research has concentrated on the effectiveness of this supplementary information and has evaluated whether these annotations improve, for instance, text comprehension or actual language learning (e.g., vocabulary learning). In general, they were found to be beneficial to several aspects of language learning (e.g., Brett, 1997, 1998; Chun & Plass, 1996, 1997; Hulstijn, Hollander, & Greidanus, 1996; Lomicka, 1998). However, although many things have been said about what should appear on the screen to obtain better results in language learning, how these features should appear to the learner-user is still under investigation. The how question is often considered to be a simple design question, independent of the learning process. But is this truly the case? Is the layout of the screen an autonomous issue, separate from the learning that is going on? In reading research, it has been suggested that the presentation-mode of a text on paper matters, and affects the cognitive aspects of text processing: variables such as comprehension and reading speed are said to be influenced by typefaces, margins, line length, font size (Frenckner, 1990, cited in Muter, 1996). It is still unknown to what extent findings from paper media can be extended to electronic media (Muter, 1996), but it has become clear through empirical research (see Dillon, 1992, for a review) that features such as the use of colour, screen size, interline spacing, and size of characters can play a role in the optimisation of reading from the screen and thus the learning that accompanies this reading.
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Visible or Invisible Links
Within the entire spectrum of all possible on-screen features that could have an impact on the amount and the quality of language learning, I chose to focus on the signaling-mode of glosses. Indeed, the primary aim of this study is to evaluate whether the way in which the software indicates that glosses are available influences the learners' willingness to consult the gloss. Moreover, this research concentrates on how this affects the readers' language learning (e.g., vocabulary learning) and overall text comprehension. In software designed to improve foreign or second-language readings skills, one might opt for highlighting difficult words, thus indicating a link with the provided extra information. When activating the hyperlink, these additional annotations can then appear in a pop-up window or in a separate window at the bottom or the top of the screen. More concretely, this highlighting -- which in itself is nothing but a visualisation of the hyperlink -- could be the use of boldface type or a font colour different from the text colour, for instance, with additional underlining of the word. Another option would be not to use highlights but to insert invisible links; a choice that would result in a text in entirely the same type and font colour. To summarise, a differentiation is made between the actual gloss (which is a content-related issue, i.e., the translation and/or the dictionary definition that appears when the hyperlink is activated) and the hyperlink (which is a technical feature that enables the gloss to appear). Hyperlinks can be visible or invisible: the highlights are the means by which the hyperlink is visualised (in itself a graphical issue). See Appendix A for an example of the two discussed interfaces. I would like to stress that the effectiveness of the (electronic) gloss itself is not at issue here, since, as mentioned above, the influence of marginal glosses on vocabulary learning and text comprehension has been studied intensively. What is questioned here is whether the highlights -- used as a signalling-mode, a graphical indication of a hyperlink leading to additional information -- have an impact on the reading and/or language learning process. However, it is also taken into consideration that the possible effects of visible (i.e., highlighted) or invisible links might be affected by the reading task (general vs. specific) involved. The study hereby presented addresses these issues by discussing empirical data collected from an experiment conducted at the University of Antwerp (Belgium). RESEARCH AIMS AND RATIONALE FOR THIS STUDY Reading in a second language is considered to be a meaningful language-learning activity, be it on paper or on screen. Indeed, while attempting overall text comprehension, learners interact with different types of cultural, semantic, and syntactic information that can be processed and possibly learned/remembered. Moreover, many second-language specialists see reading as a pre-eminent means of acquiring new vocabulary (e.g., Krashen, 1989). This kind of vocabulary learning, where the vocabulary is "picked-up" during normal L1 or L2 reading activities, is referred to in the research as "incidental" vocabulary learning (e.g., Hulstijn et al., 1996; Nagy, Herman, & Anderson, 1985; Nation, 1990; Sternberg, 1987). It is called "incidental" because the major purpose for the interaction with the particular environment or material is not to learn words, but to understand the message of the text and to build up a coherent text base. While reading, learners seem to "guess" (Huckin & Coady, 1999), "reconstruct" or "derive" (Sternberg, 1987; Sternberg & Powell, 1983) the meaning of unknown words from the context. Whenever the context fails to deliver the correct meaning of unknown words (when the context contains too many unknown words or whenever the reader lacks the adequate cultural, world or domain knowledge [Drum & Konopak, 1987]) the use of a dictionary or of marginal (electronic) glosses is one of the factors that can promote pick-up rates (Ellis, Tanaka, & Yamazaki, 1994; Hulstijn, 1992; Knight, 1994).1 It is therefore of great importance that students make the utmost use of the dictionary definitions the software provides. However, a study by Black, Wright, Black, & Norman (1992) indicated that readers use electronic definitions only for short-term purposes and that long-term retention is almost non-existent. Moreover, it has also been suggested that inferred meanings are remembered better than given meanings (Hulstijn, 1992) and that inferring word meanings from context is still one of the most effective strategies for learning new words. Advocates of this kind of vocabulary learning rely on the theory of "cognitive depth"
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and high mental effort: the more actively we work out a solution to the problem, the more likely we are to store this information permanently (Craik & Lockhart, 1972). Hulstijn et al. (1996) therefore suggest that dictionary use should remain "well-determined." Summarising, the software programme should provide the learner with dictionary definitions in order to support the reader when the reading becomes problematic, but should also prevent the reader from excessive clicking (called "click happy behavior" by Roby, 1999, p. 98) which could lead to a more superficial, short-term learning. Therefore, the signalling-device of glosses plays an important part. Indeed, on the one hand, a condition in which the hyperlinks are highlighted could incite the users to click excessively, which could lead to a more temporary vocabulary acquisition. On the other hand, a condition where the hyperlinks are invisible could encourage the students to make a more careful use of the glosses and rely more on the context to figure out the meaning of unknown words (which in turn, could le ad to more thorough retention of the vocabulary). Nevertheless, in another line of thinking, it is also possible that the highlights indicating the hyperlinks simply attract attention to the words in question, which could have a positive effect on vocabula ry acquisition. Several studies seem to indicate that when a word is made salient, this has a positive influence on its acquisition. In a study on listening comprehension, Brett (1998) for instance posits that if language items are made salient in any way (e.g., by exercises), they are remembered better than others. Brett did not focus on reading and vocabulary learning and therefore did not address the question of comprehension of the whole text. In reading research, some studies also indicate that when words are made salient, they are remembered better (Chun & Plass, 1996, 1997; Liu & Reed, 1995). Does this imply that in a condition without highlights (a graphical tool to make words salient), vocabulary learning would immediately become more difficult? And what would this mean in the long-term? Some research has looked into the effects of how the users' willingness to consult an online dictionary definition can be increased. A study by Black et al. (1992; similar but separate from the one mentioned above), involving 20 subjects, suggested that if the glosses are indicated by a small black spot, displayed as a superscript immediately after the glossed word, it increases the students' willingness to consult this gloss. However, this study did not look into which effects these increased consultations might have on the reading process, actual vocabulary learning, and text comprehension. As far as the reading task is concerned, research has established that the way in which a text is read is strongly influenced by the readers' study goals (e.g., text summarisation versus knowledge acquisition, Schmalhofer & Glavanov, 1986). It is therefore not unlikely that a given reading task might influence the students' use of either visible or invisible links, which might be reflected in the learning and/or reading outcomes. Yet another small-scale study by Black et al. (1992) could not establish that the involvement of a particular reading task (reading for gist or for detailed knowledge acquisition) differentiates the readers' clicking behaviour. The five studies by Black et al. (1992) reported on in the single article relate to firstlanguage technical-vocabulary acquisition. The present study aims to clarify the following issues: When difficult words are highlighted in a software reading programme, does this incite the readers to click intensively, and, if so, does this have a positive effect on the vocabulary acquisition? Or does this lead to excessive clicking, which only results in shortterm vocabulary retention? Or does the simple fact that the highlights make some words in the text salient increase their chances of being better candidates for storage in long-term memory? Other studies have looked into the signaling-mode of glosses and have addressed the question of salience, but these studies did not concentrate on the combined effects of marking a hyperlink (i.e., highlighting) and the reading task (general vs. specific) on vocabulary acquisition (short-term and long-term retention), text comprehension, and reading process (reading time, clicking behaviour). Indeed, does increased clicking slow down the reading? Or does reading and rereading a higher number of glosses take up as much time as the combined action of consulting glosses and deriving a word meaning from its context? Moreover, is
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it the case that when students consult more dictionary definitions, this also leads to a better understanding of the remainder of the text? Research does tend to suggest that a strong correlation exists between vocabulary and comprehension (Freebody & Anderson, 1983a, 1983b). However, perhaps it is the case that the constant interruption of the reading process results in the construction of a less coherent text base. A small-scale, introductory study on the subject (De Ridder, 1999; De Ridder, 2000; De Ridder & Van Waes, 2000), including 17 second-year university economics students, revealed that these particular foreign language readers clicked significantly more in a condition where the text contained highlighted hyperlinks, and were thus more inclined to look for extra information (here dictionary definitions and translations) than in a condition with invisible links. This clicking behaviour did not slow down the reading process, nor did it affect text comprehension. It did have a significantly positive effect on the amount of vocabulary incidentally learned from the text. Nevertheless, this positive effect seemed to have disappeared in a delayed vocabulary test. One of the major advantages of this first study was that it made it possible to test the experimental design and the quality of the instrumentation (more appropriate and more in-depth testing was imperative). It also led to promising results worthy of more ample investigations. HYPOTHESES Expected Effect of Marking and Reading Task on Clicking Behaviour Marking Increases Clicking The experimental research of Black et al. (1992) indicates that if words in an online text (i.e., presented digitally on a computer screen) are marked with a black spot behind the word, they attract the readers' attention. If the willingness to consult a gloss increases by using a small black spot, it can be hypothesised that the blue font colour and underlining would have the same effect on the subjects involved in the present study. Moreover, the previous, introductory study suggested that readers do click significantly more in the marked (or highlighted) condition than in the unmarked one. A Specific Reading Task Decreases Clicking Research by Schmalhofer & Glavanov (1986) indicated that a text is read differently according to the reading task. I therefore hypothesised that the reading task would also change the clicking behaviour of the students. However, other research, by Black et al. (1992) for instance, suggested that a different reading task does not imply a difference in the consultation of dictionary definitions. The specific reading task used in the present study, however, was limited to strict time-constraints. It was postulated that the orientation towards the comprehension of the text, together with a slight time pressure, would incite the students to click only when absolutely necessary (i.e., when the unknown vocabulary would hinder the comprehension of the gist of the text). Expected Effect of Marking, Reading Task and Time on Incidental Vocabulary Learning Marking Increases Incidental Vocabulary Learning Several studies indicate that when words are made salient, this has a positive influence on their acquisition (e.g., Brett, 1998). Moreover, the more glosses are consulted, the better this might be for vocabulary acquisition (see, e.g., Hulstijn, 1992, who established a positive influence of glosses on incidental vocabulary learning). The results of the introductory study tended to confirm this argumentation. I therefore hypothesised that in the marked condition, students would pick up significantly more words than in the unmarked condition (at least in the short-term). A Specific Reading Task Decreases Incidental Vocabulary Learning If it is the case that the specific reading task decreases the students' willingness to click, and if it is established that increased clicking results in better vocabulary learning, then this might well cause a slight drawback on vocabulary learning. Marking Leads to a More Superficial, Short-Term Retention of Vocabulary It is more than likely that the results of the delayed vocabulary test would be significantly lower than those immediately after reading, both in the marked and the unmarked condition. However, if, as previous research suggested
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(Black et al, 1992), readers tend to use electronic glosses for short-term purposes only and if in the marked condition readers are more inclined to consult definitions, then it could be expected that the results decrease significantly more in the marked than in the unmarked condition (i.e., an expected interaction effect between time and marking). Expected Effect of Marking and Reading Task on Text Comprehension Marking Decreases Text Comprehension Up until now, similar investigations (e.g., Black et al., 1992) were limited to the aspect of language "acquisition." To my knowledge, no study has looked into the effects of visible links on text comprehension. I hypothesised that in the marked condition, the attention of the learners would be drawn towards the highlighted words, which would distract them from the overall text and its meaning. It is indeed possible that the constant interruption of the reading process in the marked condition (more intensive clicking) would hinder the students from building up a coherent representation of the text. A Specific Reading Task Increases Text Comprehension Since the specific reading task was much more oriented towards comprehension, the group with this particular task was expected to perform better on text comprehension than the group with the general reading task. Expected Additional Effects of Marking Marking Does not Slow Down the Reading Process As far as reading time is concerned, I originally assumed that if students click more in the marked than in the unmarked condition, the reading process would slow down. However, in the introductory experiment no difference in overall reading time could be established. I expected to confirm these findings in the present experiment. Marking has a Negative Effect on the Results of the Free Recall The students of the group with the specific reading task performed a free recall. Its results were expected to be identical to the ones from the overall comprehension test, since the free recall is considered to be a fully integrated part of it. Highlighting could thus have a negative effect on the results of the free recall, because excessive clicking could lead to a poor construction of the text base. Marking Positively Influences the Results on the Search-and-Find Question The group with the specific reading task also completed additional search-and-find questions. As far as these questions are concerned, the students might perform better in the marked condition, since highlighted hyperlinks might help in skimming a text. For instance, if the students are asked to find the four operations a diamond undergoes when it is cut, they can hypothesise that either the main category (indicated by the word oprations) or the subcategory (being the operations, i.e., le clivage, le sciage, l'brutage, le facettage) might be highlighted. They can start skimming the text while concentrating on the highlighted words, which would then make it easier to find the answer to the question. Previous research could not present conclusive evidence to prove that subjects find a target option faster in a highlighted display than in a display without highlighting. Some researchers favour the highlighted condition and others the nonhighlighted condition (for an overview of this line of research, see Fisher and Tan [1989]). Marking Negatively Influences the Concentration Level of the Reader It is not implausible that the blue highlights also have an impact on the students' level of concentration. In fact, in the interviews concluding the introductory experiment, the subjects involved even suggested that the highlights distracted them. The highlighted hyperlinks either attract the readers' attention and by doing so increase the interaction with the text and thus intensify the reading, or they lead to a more superficial, "click happy" behavior, where text interaction would be minimal. If students do click excessively in the marked condition and if indeed this has a negative effect on long-term vocabulary acquisition and overall text comprehension, then the concentration level of the students in the marked condition might well be significantly lower than in the unmarked condition. Appendix B, Table 11 offers an overview of the hypotheses and expectations of the experiment.
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METHOD Subjects Sixty second-year economics students (university level; 26 females, 34 males) voluntarily participated in this experiment. These students were between 19 and 21 years of age and none of them had participated in any previous experiments. All of them were computer literate and were native Dutch speakers. None of them were bilingual but all had a fairly advanced level of French (9 years of French as a foreign language). Moreover, they were just finishing up a course of business French incorporated in their curriculum (30 hours/academic year). Design I randomly assigned the subjects to two groups of 30 students each, one with a general reading task, the other with a specific reading task. Both groups were subjected to a Latin-square design, as clarified in Table 1. A Latin-square design controls for text and condition order. Table 1. Design of the Experiment Latin-square design 1: general reading task group 1 (N=7) 2 (N=8) 3 (N=8) 4 (N=7) 5 (N=7) 6 (N=8) 7 (N=8) 8 (N=7) reading session 1 Text 1 marked Text 2 marked Text 1 unmarked Text 2 unmarked Text 1 marked Text 2 marked Text 1 unmarked Text 2 unmarked reading session 2 Text 2 unmarked Text 1 unmarked Text 2 marked Text 1 marked Text 2 unmarked Text 1 unmarked Text 2 marked Text 1 marked
Latin-square design 2: specific reading task
Material Reading Materials The students involved in the experiment read two glossed French economic texts, comparable in length (about 2,000 words each), grammatical difficulty, and vocabulary load. The texts had been selected for the introductory study mentioned above, after a pilot study involving four texts, 28 students and two faculty members of French. Within this pilot study, the texts were evaluated for interest and difficulty level: the two texts with the most similar score were included in the study. The first text dealt with the diamond industry in Antwerp; the second one was about human resources in business. A word was glossed whenever one student of the pilot study failed to know the Dutch translation of this word in a vocabulary test taken after reading. This procedure lead to the creation of 109 glossed words in the first text and 116 in the second one, which is about 5-6% of the total amount of words. In the existing literature, there is no consensus on how many unknown words a text may contain in order not to disturb the global comprehension level or the learning of vocabulary: West (1941) speaks of 2%, whereas for instance Holley (1973) refers to 7%. Both studies did not include the help of glosses. The students were asked to read the texts online. They could easily access the glosses by clicking on the defined word. A pop-up window with a Dutch translation and a French definition (separated with a horizontal line) would then appear. I chose to offer the translation and the foreign language definition, since preferences for one or the other are said to be highly individual (Jacobs, Dufon, & Fong, 1994). The pop-up window did not cover up the portion of the text in which the glossed word was found (see Roby, 1999; Stark, 1990). Context-bound explanations were given first; more general information was given at the end between brackets. This difference was explained to the students before starting their reading (see Widdowson, 1978).
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Two versions of each text were created: a marked one and an unmarked one. In the marked condition the glossed words were in blue and underlined. In the unmarked condition the hyperlinks were invisible (i.e., the glossed words were typed in black and not underlined; see Appendix A). The glosses remained identical in both conditions. The texts appeared in a black Times New Roman font, 12 points, on a white screen. The screen design was based upon the "Recommendations for Basic Typography and Spatial Factors" of Scott Grabinger & Osman-Jouchoux (1996, p. 194-196). These authors give recommendations for screen design, based upon both print and computer screen research. In the investigation carried out, the following aspects were divergent from these guidelines: the full justification (instead of left justification) and the line length (83 characters). Scott Grabinger and Osman-Jouchoux propose a line length of 60 characters, while other authors (e.g., Dyson & Kipping, 1998) find an increase in reading rate with a greater number of characters per line. Instrumentation and Observation Clicking Behaviour and Total Reading Time An Internet Explorer specific java-script made it possible to register how much time the students spent on reading and on clicking. With these log files it could be determined which glosses the students consulted and for how long they consulted them. The students were shown how the glosses worked before starting their reading and they were explicitly told to close each pop-up window after consultation.2 Vocabulary Test After having read each text, the students took an unexpected vocabulary test of 38 items. All of these items were chosen on the basis of the original pilot study and the glossed words. For every word of the vocabulary test, the students were asked whether they thought they knew the word a) already before reading the text or b) from reading the text. In this way, the individual pre-knowledge of the students could be estimated. I deliberately chose not to include a pre-test in the experiment because in this particular kind of experiment, testing the students on vocabulary knowledge before they start reading might direct their reading towards vocabulary. Within this learning indication survey, an "I don't know" option was also included. This same technique was applied by Hulstijn et al. (1996) in their study on the combined influence of frequent occurrences and the use of dictionaries/marginal glosses on incidental vocabulary learning. One week after having read the text, the students took a delayed vocabulary test (the same items but in a scrambled order) in order to measure any long-term retention of the vocabulary eventually acquired. The two texts also contained four non-existent words each. To these words, I attached a self-made, acceptable, context-bound meaning. 3 In the introductory experiment, only two of these words per text were included, but an item selection test (included in Cronbach's reliability test) proved that these words were very good discriminators, hence, the decision to increase their number. I deliberately avoided working exclusively with non-existent words because of the artificial nature of this procedure. The four non-existent words of the present study were also used as a means of verification. Since it was impossible for the students to know these words, these contributed to the clarification of the students' clicking behaviour and the learning indications that were included in the tests. When scoring the vocabulary test, I did not take into account the words that at least 70% of the students said they knew before reading the text (indicated in the learning indication survey) and answered correctly in both of the tests.4 Text Comprehension Test After having read the text, all of the students took a comprehension test of 8 multiple-choice questions and 13 open-ended questions. The reliability scores for this test were rather low, but could be improved by leaving out some of the items of the test (item selection test, N of cases = 60, Text 1, = .7021, N of items = 11, Text 2, = .7351, N of items = 13). The group with the specific reading task started with a search-and-find task, which was followed by a reading instruction that specifically described the comprehension test that was to be taken afterwards: the general comprehension test mentioned above (multiple choice and open-ended content questions) and a summarisation under the form of a free recall. The tasks in question were chosen on the basis of the work of Wesdorp (1981),
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Kintsch (1998, p. 295), and Nuttall (1996), who give an overview and a critical evaluation of assessment techniques for reading comprehension. Several studies on the teaching of reading (e.g., Bentez, Castrillo, Cerezal, & Surez, 1988; Nuttall, p.150) propose skimming through a text (stimulated by search questions) before starting the actual reading as a successful strategy. For an in-depth insight in searchand-do and other possible reading strategies, see for instance Fyfe & Mitchell (1985). The search-and-find task of this study contained four questions where one or more items had to be found: three questions could be found literally in the texts, and for the fourth one, the students had to establish a relationship between information contained in two (not necessarily consecutive) paragraphs. The reliability scores for the search-and-find task were rather low, but could be improved by leaving out 1 item in each test (see item selection test, N of cases = 30, N of items = 9, Text 1, = .6979, Text 2, = .7077,). The evaluation procedure of the free recall occurred as follows: For every separate part of the texts, main and secondary ideas were identified. Whenever a student was able to reproduce a main idea and two or three secondary ideas, depending on the level of difficulty of that particular part of the text, the student received 3 points. If s/he only mentioned the main idea without the necessary secondary ideas, the student was assigned 2 points. Only reproducing the subsidiary ideas entitled the student to 1 point. Students could obtain a maximum of 34 points for text 1 and 32 for text 2. 5 Concentration Level of the Students To establish a possible difference in the students' concentration during the reading of the marked versus unmarked text, a small attention test for the group of the specific reading task was incorporated. During the online reading sessions, a red rectangle (4 to 3 cm, java-script) randomly appeared (with a maximum of 5 times in the 25 minutes of reading time). The students were explicitly asked to click on it as fast as possible in order to make it disappear. I expected that the longer it took the students to react, the higher their concentration level was and the higher their interaction level with the text they were reading. A similar technique was used in research on writing in order to establish the subjects' attention capacity (Kahneman, 1973; Kellog & Mueller, 1993).6 The goal of this test is to disturb the students in their reading, and the longer it takes them to withdraw their attention from the text, the more they are assumed to be concentrating on their reading. Additional Information Gathering All 60 students were allowed to take notes while reading so as not to disturb their normal reading process. They were not, however, allowed to use these notes during any of the tests. The process data were collected by recording all sessions with Hypercam, a software programme that registers every on-screen movement and files them in AVI-videofiles. These files were used as a means of verification. For all 60 students a small interview and some general questions on the student's reading habits concluded each session. 7 Procedure All students participated in three individual sessions. Each session was concluded with a small interview and some general questions. Before reading, the students received a general technical explanation (working of pop-ups, etc.). The General Reading Task-Group (Latin-square 1) In the first session, the students of this particular group read one of the two texts in one of the two conditions, took a test on text comprehension and completed an unexpected vocabulary test. In the second session, they started with the delayed vocabulary test of the text of the first session, read the other text in the other condition, took a test on text comprehension and a finished with a vocabulary test. The delayed vocabulary test of the second session took place in a brief third session. The 30 students of this group received the following (general) reading task before reading:
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Read the text that will appear on the screen very thoroughly and try to understand as much as you can. After having read the text, you will receive a test on text comprehension. You can read as long as you think is necessary. Thus, no specific time limits were set and no particular information about the testing that would follow the reading was included. Table 2 gives an overview of the development of the experiment within this (general reading task) group. Table 2. Development of the Experiment Within the Group with the General Reading Task activity reading of one of the two texts in one of the two conditions (see Latin square design) test on text comprehension vocabulary test interview and general questions delayed test on the vocabulary of the text read in previous session session 1 X X X X session 2 X X X X X X session 3
The Specific Reading Task Group (Latin-square 2) In the first session, the students of the specific reading task group started with a search-and-find task of one of the two texts, in one of the two conditions. Afterwards, they read the text in question, performed a free recall and took an unannounced vocabulary test and an announced comprehension test. In the second session, they took a delayed vocabulary test of the first text and read and completed the tasks of the second text. The delayed vocabulary test of the second session took place in a brief, third session. For the search-and-find task, the students received a total of 6 minutes. Afterwards, they were assigned the following reading task, specifically mentioning the form in which they would be tested: You will receive 25 minutes to read the text that will appear on the screen. Afterwards, you will be asked to give an oral overview of what you have read in the text. You will also receive a comprehension test with multiple -choice and open-ended questions. As the reader can see, this particular experimental group was subjected to strict time limits, which were pre-tested with advanced learners and were adjusted to this specific group of learners. The students had the same comprehension test as the first group and they took the same vocabulary test after the free recall. 8 In Table 3 one can find an overview of the development of the experiment within the group with the specific reading task. Activities marked with an asterisk are identical to the ones of Table 2 of the group with the general reading task.
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Table 3. Proceedings of the Experiment for the Group with the Specific Reading Task activity search assignment for one of the texts in one of the two conditions (see Latin square design; 6 minutes) reading of one of the texts in one of the two conditions (see Latin-square; 25 minutes) free recall vocabulary test (*) comprehension test (*) interview and general questions (*) delayed test on the vocabulary of the text read in previous session (*) RESULTS For an overview of all established results, see Appendix B, Table 12. Within the design of this experiment, marking and time are within-subjects variables; reading task is a between-subjects variable. A within-subjects design means that each participant provides more than one response. With a betweensubjects variable, every set of responses comes from a different group of subjects. Effect of Marking and Reading Task on Clicking Behaviour Table 4 shows the percentage of time applied to clicking. The results were analysed with marking as a within-subjects variable and reading task as a between-subjects variable.9 The results show that marking and reading task have a significant effect on the students' clicking behaviour: marking, F (1,58)=24.292, p < .05; reading task, F (1,58)=16.331, p < .05. There is no interaction effect between the within-subjects variable and the between-subjects variable: F (1,58)=0.008, p > .05. These results show that students click significantly more in the marked than in the unmarked conditions and significantly more in the group with a general reading task than in the group with the specific reading task. Appendix C, Figure 3 illustrates these results. Marking thus increases clicking and a specific reading task decreases clicking, as was hypothesised. 10 All statistical tests were performed at the .05 level, unless otherwise indicated. Table 4. Percentage of Time Applied to Clicking condition general reading task specific reading task total Mean 12.15 7.70 9.92 marked SD Min 6.50 1.11 4.00 .86 5.80 .86 Max 26.82 19.58 26.82 Mean 9.44 4.88 7.16 MS 228.83 608.17 7.65 unmarked SD Min 5.05 1.85 3.02 .61 4.72 .61 df 1 1 1 F 24.290 16.330 .008 Max 20.16 11.52 20.16 p .00* .00* .929 N 30 30 60 session 1 X X X X X X session 2 X X X X X X X X session 3
GLM, repeated measures effect of marking (within-variable) effect of reading task (between-variable) interaction effect marking*reading task
SS 228.83 608.17 7.65
Effect of Marking, Reading Task and Time on Incidental Vocabulary Learning Table 5 presents the results of the vocabulary tests, taken immediately after reading and then one week later. These results were analysed with marking and time (test immediately after reading and delayed test) as within-subjects variables and reading task as a between-subjects variable. The results show that on one
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hand, marking has no significant effect on vocabulary learning: F (1,58)=3.70, p >.05. On the other hand, time and reading task do have a significant effect on vocabulary learning: time, F (1,58)=10.62, p <.05; reading task, F (1,58)=28.16, p <.05. There are no interaction effects: marking*reading task, F (1,58)=0.17, p >.05; marking*time, F (1,58)=2.59, p >.05; time*reading task, F (1,58)=1.30, p >.05; marking*task*time, F (1,58)=.127, p >.05). Both groups thus score significantly lower in the delayed vocabulary test. The group with the general reading task scores significantly better on the vocabulary test than the group with the specific reading task. 11 Appendix C, Figures 4 and 5 illustrate these results. Thus, marking does not specifically influence incidental vocabulary learning (contrary to what was hypothesised), whereas a specific reading task does decrease vocabulary learning (as was hypothesised). Moreover, marking does not lead to more superficial, short-term retention of vocabulary learning, since there is no significant interaction effect between time and marking (contrary to what was hypothesised).12 Table 5. Results on the Vocabulary Test, Immediately After Reading and Delayed Vocabulary Test condition IMMEDIATELY AFTER READING general reading task specific reading task total condition ONE WEEK LATER general reading task specific reading task total marked Mean 70.27 53.87 62.07 SD 18.96 15.49 19.06 Min 31.43 17.14 17.14 Max 97.14 80.00 97.14 Mean 66.21 48.66 57.43 unmarked SD 13.30 16.36 17.23 Min 36.67 25.71 25.71 Max 88.57 80.00 88.57 N 30 30 60
marked Mean 66.91 47.55 57.23 SD 15.93 16.21 18.69 Min 33.33 16.67 16.67 Max 97.14 73.33 97.14 Mean 65.48 46.47 55.97 MS 520.91 595.39 19611.48 2.32 171.599 72.81 8.41
unmarked SD 11.36 15.06 16.33 df 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Min 28.57 23.33 23.33 Max 85.71 76.67 85.71 F 3.70 10.62 28.16 .017 .259 1.30 .127 N 30 30 60 p .059 .002* .000* .898 .112 .259 .722
GLM, repeated measures effect of marking (within-variable) effect of time (within-variable) effect of reading task (between-variable) interaction effect marking*reading task interaction effect marking*time interaction effect time*reading task interaction effect marking*task*time
SS 520.91 595.39 19611.48 2.32 171.599 72.81 8.41
Effect of Marking and Reading Task on Text Comprehension Table 6 shows the results of the overall comprehension test, that is, the multiple -choice questions and the open-ended questions. These results were analysed with marking as a within-subjects variable and reading task as a between-subjects variable. The results show that neither marking nor reading task have a
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significant effect on the student's text comprehension: marking, F (1,58)=.003, p >.05; reading task: F (1,58)=.028, p >.05. There is no interaction effect between the within- and between-variable: F (1,58)=.246, p >.05. Appendix C, Figure 6 illustrates these results. Thus, marking does not decrease comprehension of the text and a specific reading task does not increase text comprehension (both contrary to what was hypothesised). Table 6. Result of the Text Comprehension Test in Percentage condition Mean general reading task specific reading task total 57.13 62.91 60.02 marked SD Min 28.35 16.44 23.16 0.00 30.77 0.00 Max 100.0 100.0 100.0 SS .799 19.968 739.54 Mean 61.93 57.78 59.86 MS .799 19.968 739.54 unmarked SD Min 23.34 20.84 22.04 df 1 1 1 9.09 9.09 9.09 F .003 .028 2.46 Max 100.0 92.31 100.0 p .959 .869 .122 N 30 30 60
GLM, repeated measures effect of marking (within-variable) effect of reading task (between-variable) interaction effect marking*reading task Additional Effects of Marking
Total Time Spent on Reading Table 7 presents the total time in seconds spent on reading, only for the group with the general reading task, since the group of the specific reading task was subjected to strict time limits. These results were analysed with marking as a within-subjects variable, showing that there is no significant effect of marking on the total time spent reading: F (1,58)=1.54, p > .05. Thus, marking does not slow down the reading process, as was hypothesised. Table 7. Total Reading Time in Seconds in the Group of the General Reading Task condition marked unmarked Mean 2071.46 1927.13 SD 581.34 590.10 Min 1113 1076 SS 312481.66 Max 3177 3003 N 30 30 df 1 F 1.54 p .224
GLM, repeated measures effect of marking (within-variable)
MS 312481.66
Free Recall Table 8 shows the results of the free recall performed by the group with the specific reading task. These results were obtained by averaging the evaluations of two independent researchers who analysed the transcriptions of the oral recalls produced by the students. Agreement between the scores of both independent researchers was measured by computing the Pearson product moment correlation coefficients; for text 1 a .937** correlation was achieved and for text 2 a .974** correlation (= significant at the .01 level). For issues in measuring reliability, see Hayes and Hatch (1999). These results were analysed with marking as a within-subjects variable, revealing no significant effect of marking on the free recall: F (1,29)=1.18, p > .05. These results are thus identical to the results on the overall text comprehension test: marking does not negatively influence text comprehension.
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Table 8. Results of the Free Recall in Percentage condition marked unmarked Mean 1.72 34.11 SD 12.69 15.09 Min 4.69 7.81 SS 85.82 Max 53.13 72.06 MS 85.82 N 30 30 df 1 F 1.18 p .285
GLM, repeated measures effect of marking (within-variable)
Search-and Find Question Table 9 displays the results of the search-and-find questions in percentage. These results were obtained by counting all correctly found items. The search-and-find task only applies to the students of the group with the specific reading task. I analysed these results with marking as a within-subjects variable, which shows that there is a significant difference between the results of the marked and the unmarked condition: F (1,29)=7.02, p < .05. Marking has a negative influence on the results of the search-and-find task (contrary to what was hypothesised), since the students score significantly better in the unmarked condition. Table 9. Results of the Search-and-Find-Question in Percentage condition marked unmarked Mean 53.55 74.00 SD 32.23 25.31 Min 0.00 0.00 SS 6269.62 Max 100.00 100.00 N 30 30 df 1 F 7.02 p .013*
GLM, Repeated Measures effect of marking (within-variable)
MS 6269.62
Attention Test The values in Table 10 are the results of the attention test. They represent the seconds the students with the specific reading task needed to close the red rectangle on the screen. These results were analysed with marking as a within-subjects variable, which revealed that no significant difference could be established between the marked and the unmarked condition: F (1,29)=.220, p > .05. According to these results, marking does not negatively influence the concentration level of the students (contrary to what was hypothesised). Table 10. Seconds Necessary to Close the Red Rectangle on the Screen (Attention Test) Condition marked unmarked Mean 2.54 2.66 SD 1.15 1.40 Min 1.25 1.00 SS .217 Max 5.75 6.00 MS .217 N 30 30 df 1 F .220 p .642
GLM, repeated measures effect of marking (within-variable) DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
In this section, the questions raised in the research aims and rationale section are revisited and discussed in light of the results of the empirical investigation presented above. The first question posed, which led to several other questions, was whether highlighted or visible links increase the readers' willingness to consult dictionary definitions. According to the results of the present study, the answer to this question is affirmative. The student users consulted significantly more glosses in the condition with visible links. This finding confirms previous research of Black et al. (1992) concerning first-language acquisition and shorter texts, where a black spot behind the glossed words also attracted the learners' attention and made
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them click to access the provided word definition. Is this particular clicking behaviour altered by the reading task? The findings of the experiment indicate that students click significantly more in the marked than in the unmarked condition, be it in the general reading task or the specific reading task group. This might be an indication of how powerful a tool highlighting is to attract the reader's attention. However, the study also established that readers click considerably more when they are confronted with a general reading task than when they receive a specific one, while previous research (Black et al.,1992) seemed to suggest that a reading task variable does not influence the students' clicking behaviour. It is possible that the difference between the present results and those of Black et al. are due to the time limits that were imposed on the students. Furthermore, does the fact that students spend significantly more time consulting information in the marked than in the unmarked condition influence the incidental learning of vocabulary? On the shortterm-vocabulary test (taken immediately after reading) no difference was established, which means that whichever different vocabulary-learning strategy the students used in the two conditions can be considered equally effective in the short-term. It seems plausible that in the marked condition, students turn to a vocabulary-learning strategy based upon the reading of dictionary definitions, whereas in the unmarked condition they use a combination of this particular strategy and context derivation. The findings of the present experiment indicate that not using highlights thus making the glossed words less graphically salient, does not particularly influence the incidental learning of vocabulary in a negative way. In both conditions, the students seemed to have adapted their vocabulary learning strategies to the marking situation. In the delayed vocabulary test, the students scored significantly lower than in the test taken immediately after reading. However, the results indicate that in the marked condition, where students were guided more intensively by the highlights and clicked more excessively, the vocabulary loss is not greater than in the unmarked condition. The findings thus do not suggest that readers tend to use electronic glosses for short-term purposes, as the investigations of Black et al. (1992) indicated. The findings of the investigation presented also establish that the use of either strategy does not slow down the reading process, since no difference in reading time was found between the marked and the unmarked condition. Does the reading task have an effect on the learning of vocabulary? As indicated, reading is often seen in the research as a pre-eminent means of vocabulary learning. The findings of the empirical research presented above clearly indicate that the success of this vocabulary learning depends highly on the reading task that is set. In the experiment, the specific reading task le d to significantly less incidental vocabulary learning, which is more than probably due to the time pressure and the specific orientation towards text comprehension. Did the more intense clicking of the marked condition lead to better text comprehension? Apparently not, and this might be explained by the link that seems to exist between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension, which was suggested by previous research (Freebody & Anderson, 1983a, 1983b). Since both conditions result in equal learning of vocabulary, both conditions also result in equal text comprehension. 13 In the experiment, text comprehension was measured in different ways: on the one hand, a general comprehension test containing multiple -choice and open-ended questions was used; on the other hand an additional free recall for the group with the specific reading task was employed. Neither of these indicated an effect of marking on text comprehension. The search-and-find question, on the other hand, was subjected to an effect of marking. These results seem to confirm part of the research on localising items in highlighted and non-highlighted displays. It is possible that the highlights confused the students and that in the unmarked condition the text structure helped them to find the items they were looking for. Did the reading task have an effect on text comprehension? The findings of the current investigation indicate that, contrary to what was hypothesised, the introduction of the specific reading task did not lead to a more thorough understanding of the text. This might have been due to the time limits that were set.
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The fact that students concentrated more on the text content when they received a specific reading task is suggested by additional information from the notes they took while reading. In these notes, they wrote down exclusively content-related items, whereas the other group (general reading task) wrote down more vocabulary. 14 Are students more concentrated in the unmarked than in the marked condition? Is it possible for them to interact more intensively with the text in the unmarked condition? The attention test that was introduced did not reveal any differences in the concentration level of the students. The results of the current experiment do not all confirm the findings of the previous, introductory experiment. Globally, the findings are consistent. However, the present ones are much more detailed and complete (especially on the level of text comprehension). The previous experiment did indicate a better result on the short-term vocabulary test after reading the texts in the marked condition. Nevertheless, since the internal consistency scores of the current tests were higher than the previous ones, it may be assumed that the current results are more reliable. On the other hand, the p-value of this particular effect is here .059, which is not statistically significant when a 5% level of significance is maintained. However, I believe that this value indicates that further research might not be redundant. The fact that no significant effect could be established is perhaps due to the population of the study. Indeed, the present study was conducted with students who probably have a rather high and advanced level of French, especially when compared to other cultural backgrounds: they all had 9 years of French as a second language and live in a country where French is one of three official languages (also Dutch and German). It is possible that the results would be completely different with students at the beginning or intermediate level, coming from different cultural backgrounds. It might also be the case that the basic assumption that more intensive clicking leads to better results on the vocabulary test -- as was suggested by previous research on glosses -- is one that should be reconsidered. Indeed, when computing the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient with the results of the vocabulary test and the time applied to clicking, a .329* correlation was achieved for the marked condition and a .270* correlation for the unmarked condition (= significant at the .05 level). These are significant but very weak correlations. Summarising, the present experiment made it possible to evaluate what influence the signalling-mode of electronic glosses has on vocabulary learning, text comprehension and the reading process. Indeed, when foreign-language learners read a text where the link with the gloss is visible (highlighted), they are more willing to consult the gloss. However, this increased clicking does not slow down the reading process, nor does it increase the vocabulary learned incidentally. On the contrary, when reading a text in a condition with invisible links, the students' clicking will be less excessive and better determined, leaving room for context derivation, which, in the long-term however, does not particularly have a positive effect on vocabulary learning. The fact of highlighting or not highlighting the hyperlink does not have an impact on text comprehension either. Apparently, the readers seem to adapt their reading strategies and vocabulary learning strategies to the screen-situation they are confronted with. The reading task then does not alter the clicking behaviour of the students since they still click considerably more when visible links are presented, even when carrying out a specific reading task. However, the reading task did influence the students' vocabulary learning: A content-oriented reading task seems to decrease the reader's attention for vocabulary. Nevertheless, in a future follow-up investigation, some issues of the present experiment could still be improved, for instance, the way in which the study dealt with prior knowledge. I think my reasons for not including a pre-test in the experiment are defendable. The vocabulary test was based upon results with similar students and in co-operation with the students' teaching assistants. By asking the students whether they knew the word before, a means of verification was included. In the end, 30% of the words of the original vocabulary test was not taken into consideration, yet an internally consistent vocabulary test was kept with the remaining items. As far as text comprehension is concerned, some questions could not yet
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be answered. For instance, no significant correlations could be found between the different text comprehension tests (i.e., the search-and-find question, the overall comprehension test, and the free recall). This would imply that somehow these tests have measured other types of comprehension. It remains to be seen exactly where the differences between the three lie. However, it should not be forgotten that the Cronbach's alpha values of the free recall were rather low and that therefore the absence of effects or significant correlations could be due to the unreliability of this particular test. When listening to all 60 students in the interviews, I realised that different students might have experienced the different conditions in a different way. Moreover, the videofiles from the Hypercam reveal that within the group of participating students different reading or learning profiles might have been involved. Furthermore, the standard deviation (SD) of the percentage of time applied to clicking is rather high (see Table 4) which is also an indication of differences between the individual students. In a follow-up investigation, I therefore plan to include aspects of cognitive mapping in the research. The results of the current research indicate that the learners involved were rather flexible and adapted easily to the material they were confronted with. However, the question can still be raised whether the users should adapt to the design of the screen and not the other way around. Visible (highlighted) hyperlinks might be helpful for some learners while disturbing for others, as far as vocabulary learning, text comprehension and the reading process are concerned. Students whose learning style is one of external regulation and step-by-step processing might benefit more from a highlighted condition than students whose learning style is one of self-regulation and deep-processing (Vermunt & Van Rijswijk, 1987). The kind of research that involves cognitive flexibility and cognitive profiles would undoubtedly be useful, especially in the light of today's technological developments. With the advent of Dynamic HTML for instance, the design of the screen can be instantly adapted to the learning and reading profile of the user (e.g., Godwin-Jones, 2000). The notion of "usability" (see Nielsen, 2000) is becoming a component that online educational settings can no longer ignore. APPENDIX A
Figure 1. Screenshot of the interface using highlights (words in blue and underlined)
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Figure 2. Screenshot of the interface without highlights (invisible links) APPENDIX B Table 11. Overview of the Hypothesis of Experiment 2 effect of marking (within-subjects variable) Reading process clicking behaviour total reading time Vocabulary learning Text comprehension Additional testing free recall search-and-find attention positive effect positive effect negative effect positive effect no effect positive effect negative effect negative effect negative effect + interaction effect with marking effect of reading task (between-subjects variable) effect of time (within-subjects variable)
negative effect positive effect
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Table 12. Overview of the Established Effects of Experiment 2 effect of marking (within-subjects variable) Reading process clicking behaviour total reading time Vocabulary learning Text comprehension Additional testing free recall search-and-find attention APPENDIX C no effect no effect no effect positive effect no effect no effect no effect negative effect negative effect no effect negative effect but no interaction effect effect of reading task (between-subjects variable) effect of time (within-subjects variable)
Figure 3. Percentage of Time Applied to Clicking, Within-Subjects and Between Subjects Variable
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Figure 4. Vocabulary Test in Percentage, Within-Subjects and Between-Subjects Variable
Figure 5. Vocabulary Test in Percentage, 2 Within-Subjects Variables
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Figure 6. Text Comprehension Test in Percentage, Within-Subjects and Between Subjects Variable
NOTES 1. Other factors seem to have a positive influence on incidental vocabulary learning. Hulstijn et al. (1996) give a detailed overview of these factors with full bibliographical references. 2. None of the log-times of glosses proved to be enormously long. It is possible that the students left the pop-up window open while rereading the sentence or while copying vocabulary on paper. However, these activities can be categorised under "consultation" of a gloss. 3. In text 1 about the diamond industry: cautioler (to guarantee), tre hardel (to be authorised to), le desti (the challenge), pourver (to push to extremes). In text 2 about the human capital in business: loxer (to remove), mettre en devore (to incite), rummrer (to rime), berluter (to encounter). 4. The vocabulary tests have a very high reliability index (Cronbach's alpha): Text 1, immediately after reading, = . 8476; Text 1, delayed, = .8677, N of items = 38 Text 2, immediately after reading, = . 8208; Text 2, delayed, = .8015, N of cases = 60 When applying the filter of pre-knowledge: Text 1, immediately after reading, = . 8423; Text 1, delayed, = .8606, N of items = 35, N of cases = 60 Text 2, immediately after reading, = . 8254; Text 2, delayed, = .8133, N of items = 30; N of cases = 60 5. The Cronbach's alpha of the free recalls: Text 1, = .5709; N of items = 22 Text 2, = .5862; N of cases = 30
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6. These authors propose to confront the students with an auditory signal during writing, on which they are asked to produce an oral reaction (i.e., say "stop"). 7. The results of these general questions and interviews have been analysed but did not reveal any relevant differences. I have therefore chosen not to report them within the scope of this article. 8. The fact that the free recall was performed before the students took the comprehension test did not have a facilitating effect on the latter, since correlations between both tests are not significant (Pearson product moment coefficients: marked, .171; unmarked, .144). 9. All the results were analysed with a General Linear Model (GLM), Repeated Measures (unless otherwise indicated). This is a Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance (an ANOVA for Repeated Measures). Using the GLM-procedure, one can test null hypotheses about the effects of both the within-subjects and the between-subjects factors. 10. These results are confirmed when taking into account the percentage of words clicked. The results show that marking and reading task have a significant effect on the student's clicking behaviour: marking: F (1,58)=13.992, p < .05; reading task, F (1,58)=14.40, p < .05). There is no interaction effect between the within-subjects variable and the between-subjects variable. F (1,58)=1.576, p < .05. 11. For all of the students involved, the vocabulary test of the first session (marked or unmarked) was completely unexpected. It is possible that in the second session, the students might have expected a similar test. A GLM Repeated Measures Model including "session" and "time" as within variables and "reading task" as a between variable yields no significant effect of session, F (1,58)=1.53, p = .221 > .05; no interaction effects were established, only an effect of time was found, F (1,58)=8.71, p = .005* < .05. 12. When only taking into account the non-existent words, this results in a (fairly reliable) test where preknowledge is absolutely excluded. Reliability: Text 1, Cronbach's = .7426, N of items = 4 Text 2, Cronbach's = .5773, N of cases = 60 The results on this test have been analysed with a GLM repeated measures and confirm the results of the overall vocabulary test. The results show that on the one hand, marking has no significant effect on vocabulary learning, F (1,58)= .311, p >.05. On the other hand, time and reading task do have a significant effect on vocabulary learning: time, F (1,58)=17.75, p <.05; reading task, F (1,58)=26.40, p <.05. There are no interaction effects: marking*reading task, F (1,58)=2.10, p >.05; marking*time, F (1,58)=1.58, p >.05; time*reading task, F (1,58)=.219, p >.05; marking*task*time, F (1,58)=2.62, p >.05). 13. When computing a Pearson product moment coefficient, the correlation between text comprehension and vocabulary learning obtained is not all that strong: For the marked condition a correlation of .172 (not significant) was obtained and for the unmarked condition .333** (= significant at the .05 level). 14. Thirty seven out of 60 students took notes: 12 in the group with the general reading task and 25 in the group with the specific reading task.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very grateful to Gert Rijlaarsdam and Luuk Van Waes for reading and commenting on various drafts of this paper. I am also indebted to Marille Leyten for her help in analysing the recalls. Finally, I would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Isabelle De Ridder graduated in 1993 in romance languages and has been a foreign language teacher ever since. She is currently a fourth year PhD student at the University of Antwerp (UFSIA). Her research focuses on online reading in a foreign language and screen design implications. E-mail: isabelle.deridder@ua.ac.be REFERENCES Bentez, L., Castrillo, J. M., Cerezal, N., & Surez, C. (1988). Reading tasks. Harlow, UK: Longman. Black, A., Wright, P., Black, D., & Norman, K. (1992). Consulting on-line dictionary information while reading. Hypermedia 4(3), 145-169. Brett, P. (1997). A comparative study of the effects of the use of multimedia on listening comprehension. System 25(1), 39-53. Brett, P. (1998). Using multimedia: A descriptive investigation of incidental language learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning 11(2), 179-200. Chun, D. M., & Plass, J. L. (1996). Effects of multimedia annotations on vocabulary acquisition. Modern Language Journal 80(2), 183-198. Chun, D. M., & Plass, J .L. (1997). Research on text comprehension in multimedia environments. Language Learning & Technology 1(1), 60-81. Craik, F., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory record. Journal of verbal learning and verbal behaviour 11, 67-84. De Ridder, I. (1999). Are we still reading or just following links? In K. Cameron (Ed.), CALL and the learning community (pp. 195-116). Exeter, UK: ELM Bank Publications. De Ridder, I. (2000). Are we conditioned to follow links? Highlights in CALL-materials and their impact on the reading process. Computer Assisted Language Learning 13(2), 183-195. De Ridder, I., & Van Waes, L. (2000). Gemarkeerde hyperlinks en hun invloed op het leesproces, de woordenschatverwerving en het tekstbegrip [Marked hyperlinks and their influence on reading process, vocabulary acquisition and text comprehension]. In N. Ummelen, R. Neutelings, & F. Maes (Eds.), Over de grenzen van de taalbeheersing. Lezingen gehouden op het VIOT congres in Delft [Over the borders of language competence. Proceedings of the VIOT conference in Delft, The Netherlands] (pp. 381-391). Den Haag, The Netherlands: SDU. Dillon, A. (1992). Reading from paper versus reading from screens: A critical review of the empirical literature. Ergonomics 35, 1297-1326. Drum, P. A., & Konopak, B. C. (1987). Learning word meanings from written context. In M. G. McKeown & M. E. Curtis (Eds.), The nature of vocabulary acquisition (pp. 73-87). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Dyson, M. C., & Kipping, G. J. (1998). The effects of line length and method of movement on patterns of reading from screen. Visible Language 32(2), 151-181. Ellis, R., Tanaka, Y., & Yamazaki, A. (1994). Classroom interaction, comprehension, and the acquisition of word meanings. Language Learning 44(3), 449-491. Fisher, D. L., & Tan, K. C. (1989). Visual displays: the highlighting paradox. Human Factors 31(1), 1730.
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Freebody, P., & Anderson R. C. (1983a). Effects of vocabulary difficulty, text cohesion, and schema availability on the reading comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly 18, 277-305. Freebody, P., & Anderson R. C. (1983b). Effects of text comprehension of differing proportions and locations of difficult vocabulary. Journal of Reading Behaviour 15, 19-40. Frenckner, K. (1990). Legibility of continuous text on computer screens -- a guide to the literature (TRITA-NA-P9010). Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology. Fyfe, R., & Mitchell, E. (1985). Reading strategies and their assessment. Oxford, UK: The NFERNELSON Publishing Company. Godwin-Jones, R. (2000, June). Better Web-development: designing for user customization. Paper presented at the CALICO conference, Tucson, Arizona. Hayes, J. R., & Hatch, J. A. (1999). Issues in measuring reliability. Written Communication 16(3), 354367. Holley, F. (1973). A study of vocabulary learning in context: The effect of new-word density in German reading material. Foreign Language Annals 6, 339-347. Huckin, T., & Coady, J. (1999). Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21(1), 181-193. Hulstijn, J. H. (1992). Retention of inferred and given meanings: Experiments in incidental vocabulary learning. In P. J. L. Arnaud & H. Bjoint (Eds.), Vocabulary and applied linguistics (pp. 113-125). London: Macmillan. Hulstijn, J. H., Hollander, M., & Greidanus, T. (1996). Incidental vocabulary learning by advanced foreign language students: The influence of marginal glosses, dictionary use and reoccurence of unknown words. The Modern Language Journal 80(3), 327-339. Jacobs, G. M., Dufon, P., & Fong, C. H. (1994). L1 and L2 vocabulary glosses in L2 reading passages: Their effectiveness for increasing comprehension and vocabulary knowle dge. Journal of Research in Reading 17, 19-28. Kahneman, D. (1973). Attention and effort. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Kellog, R. T., & Mueller S. (1993). Performance amplification and process restructuring in computerbased writing. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies 39(1), 33-50. Kintsch, W. (1998). Comprehension: A paradigm for cognition. Cambridge, UK: University Press. Knight, S. (1994). Dictionary: The tool of last resort in foreign language reading? A new perspective. The Modern Language Journal 78, 285-299. Krashen, S. (1989). We acquire vocabulary and spelling by reading: additional evidence for the input hypothesis. Modern Language Journal 73(4), 440-464. Liu, M., & Reed, W. M. (1995). The effect of hypermedia -assisted instruction on second-language learning. Journal of Educational Computing Research 12(2), 159-175. Lomicka, L. (1998). "To gloss or not to gloss": An investigation of reading comprehension online. Language Learning and Technology 1(2), 41-50. Muter, P. (1996). Interface design and optimization of reading of continuous text. In H. van Oostendorp & Sj. de Mul (Eds.). Cognitive aspects of electronic text processing (pp. 161-180). Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
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Nagy, W. E., Herman, P. A., & Anderson, R. C. (1985). Learning words from context. Reading Research Quarterly 20, 233-253. Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. New York: Newbury House. Nielsen, J. (2000). Designing Web usability. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders Publishing. Nuttall, C. (1987). Teaching reading skills in a foreign language. London: Heinemann Educational Books. Roby, W. B. (1999). What's in a gloss? Language Learning and Technology 2(2), 94-101. Retrieved August 13, 2001, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol2num2/roby/ Schmalhofer, F., & Glavanov, D. (1986). Three components of understanding a programmer's manual: verbatim, propostional, and situational representations. Journal of Memory and Language 25, 279-294. Scott Grabinger, R., & Osman-Jouchoux, R. (1996). Designing screens for learning. In H. van Oostendorp & Sj. de Mul (Eds.), Cognitive aspects of electronic text processing (pp. 181-212). Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation. Stark, H. A. (1990). What do readers do to pop-ups, and pop-ups do to readers? In R. McAleese & C. Green (Eds.), Hypertext: State of the art (pp. 2-9). Oxford, UK: Intellect Limited. Sternberg, R. J., & Powell, J. S. (1983). Comprehending verbal comprehension. American Psychologist 38, 878-893. Sternberg, R. J. (1987). Most vocabulary is learned from context. In M. G. McKeown & M. E. Curtis (Eds.), The nature of vocabulary acquisition (pp. 89-105). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Vermunt, J. D., & Van Rijswijck, F. A. (1987). Inventaris leerstijlen voor het Hoger Onderwijs [Inventory of learning styles for higher education]. Tilburg, The Netherlands: Katholieke Universiteit Brabant. Wesdorp, H. (1981). Evaluatietechnieken voor het moedertaalonderwijs [Evaluation techniques for mother tongue education]. 's Gravenhage, The Netherlands: Staatsuitgeverij. West, M. (1941). Learning to read a foreign language. Harlow, UK: Longman. Widdowson, H. G. (1978). Teaching language as communication. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
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PROVIDING CONTROLLED EXPOSURE TO TARGET VOCABULARY THROUGH THE SCREENING AND ARRANGING OF TEXTS
Sina Ghadirian McGill University, Montreal ABSTRACT This article considers the problem of how to bring foreign language students with a limited vocabulary knowledge, consisting mainly of high-frequency words, to the point where they are able to adequately comprehend authentic texts in a target domain or genre. It proposes bridging the vocabulary gap by first determining whic h word families account for 95% of the target domain's running words, and then having students learn these word families by reading texts in an order that allows for the incremental introduction of target vocabulary. This is made possible by a recently developed computer program that sorts through a collection of texts and a) finds texts with a suitably high proportion of target words, b) ensures that over the course of these texts, most or all target words are encountered five or more times, and c) creates an order for reading these texts, such that each new text contains a reasonably small number of new target words and a maximum number of familiar words. A computer-based study, involving the sorting of 293 Voice of America news texts, resulted in the finding that a) the introduction of new target vocabulary in each text could be kept to a reasonably small amount for the majority of texts, and b) the number of target vocabulary items occurring fewer than five times could be kept to a minimum when the list of target vocabulary accounted for 96% of the domain's running words, rather than 95%.
THE PROBLEM: L1 VERSUS L2 VOCABULARY ACQUISITION There is considerable evidence that L1 learners acquire a large amount of their vocabulary through guessing from context (Nagy & Herman, 1987; Sternberg, 1987). The frequency at which the L1 learner encounters words, and the variety of contexts in which words are encountered, ensure that the learner will eventually come across most new words in a context where the word is guessable. Research suggests, however, that foreign language students do not undergo the same rich and varied exposure to vocabulary (Singleton, 1999). As a result, although EFL elementary-level students quickly learn many of the highfrequency words that occur in teaching materials, they experience a breakdown in their ability to guess from context when faced with the much lower frequency words found in unsimplified texts. This is because the low-frequency words found in unsimplified texts make up too large a proportion of those texts. In other words, since there are not enough familiar words in the text for the learner to use as clues, guessing unfamiliar words from context becomes extremely difficult or impossible. The problem, then, is how to expand a student's vocabulary knowledge to the point where he or she recognizes enough of the words in unsimplified texts to be able to guess unfamiliar words from context. Put another way: what is needed is a strategy for bridging the gap between a knowledge of the kinds of high-frequency words found in elementary texts, and a knowledge of the words necessary for the student to be able to resume incidental vocabulary learning. The problem can be broken into two parts: a) Which words are needed in order to bridge this gap? b) Which methods should be used to teach these words quickly and effectively?
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Providing Controlled Exposure to Target Vocabulary
Which Words Carroll, Davies, and Richman (1971) pointed out, nearly three decades ago, that about 80% of the running words (tokens) in any English text are accounted for by the 2,000 most frequent word families1 of English. Nation (1990) has drawn to our attention the importance of knowing these word families to reading comprehension. A reader who is familiar with 80% of the tokens in a text, however, is still not able to adequately comprehend the text. Studies by Liu & Nation (1985) and Laufer (1989) point toward 95% as the amount of coverage required in order for a reader to adequately understand a text and guess new words from context. Finding a reasonably-sized vocabulary list that accounts for 95% of the tokens of all unsimplified texts, however, has proven difficult. Instead, it may be more feasible to focus on moving the student from elementary-level texts to texts in a specific domain or genre. How to Get 95 % Coverage in Academic Texts Researchers interested in vocabulary acquisition by students enrolled in ESP (English for Specific Purposes) courses point out that just over 90% of the running words in academic texts can be accounted for by two word-lists, West's General Service List (GSL; 1953) -- which includes the 2,000 most frequent word families of English -- and Xue & Nation's University Word List (UWL; 1984) -- which is made up of words frequently found in academic texts (Nation & Hwang, 1995).2 In addition, academic texts contain a number of word families specific to the academic domain that is the subject of the text (Sutarsyah, Nation, & Kennedy, 1994). In one study, researchers working with an economics textbook found that word families from the GSL and UWL accounted for over 91% of tokens in the text, and estimated the number of domain-specific word families at 460 (Sutarsyah et al., 1994). Unpublished research by the author suggests that domain-specific word families (defined by their greater frequency of occurrence in a narrow range of texts circumscribed by the domain) account for more than 4% of academic economics texts' tokens, thus bringing the total to 95%.3 If we assume that this figure holds true for other academic domains, we can conclude that for academic texts it is possible to come up with a reasonably-sized combination of word lists (GSL at 2,300 word families + UWL at 800 word families + economics domain list at 460 word families) that accounts for 95% coverage of the text. Knowing these word families should allow learners to comprehend the texts and attempt to guess the remaining 5% of tokens from context. Which Method Once a word list or combination of word lists accounting for 95% of tokens in the target domain has been found, the next question to consider is which method is best suited to acquainting students with the word families on this list quickly and effectively. Some interesting solutions to this problem have been suggested by researchers interested in the problem of ESP vocabulary acquisition. At issue for these researchers is how to integrate the speed of explicit instruction with the traditional benefits of readingbased vocabulary acquisition. In response to this problem, a number of instructional strategies have been devised which attempt to teach target vocabulary items quickly, while ensuring that each item is supplied with some form of meaningful context. One strategy that has shown much promise over the last few years is vocabulary instruction via computerbased concordancing. First, a computer-based corpus is created by scanning texts in the students' target domain into a computer. Subsequently, any word that exists in the corpus can be viewed by the student surrounded by its immediate context (or contexts, as there are usually multiple instances of the word in the corpus). Cobb and Horst (1999) argue that a concordance-based tutor has three advantages over incidental reading-based and traditional word list learning strategies: a) computer concordancing conserves the efficiency of list targeting while allowing for exposure to the new word in multiple contexts, b) it allows for a way to ensure that each word is encountered a minimum of five times, and c) the learner can choose among the example sentences generated by the concordancer for one that makes sense to him or her (Cobb & Horst, 2001). Note that, relevant to the second argument, a study by Saragi,
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Nation, & Meister (1978) has shown that a word needs to be encountered at least five times in order to be well retained. 4 Other computer-based lexical tutors have been drawing attention in recent years. Of note is a tutor developed by Peter Groot (2000) named CAVOCA (Computer Assisted VOCabulary Acquisition). CAVOCA is designed to operationalize current theories about how lexical storage works. Hence, students using CAVOCA are introduced to a word by having to guess the word from context, think about correct versus incorrect usage of the word, read the word in the context of example sentences, and finally produce the word in a CLOZE exercise. According to Groot, this kind of rigorous involvement with the word should encourage deeper processing and longer-term retention than traditional learning strategies like bilingual word list memorization. PROVIDING CONTROLLED EXPOSURE TO TARGET VOCABULARY THROUGH THE SCREENING AND ARRANGING OF TEXTS The strategies mentioned above offer alternatives to reading-based incidental vocabulary learning, which, as both researchers point out, is not necessarily best-suited to ESP purposes. The three major complaints about reading-based vocabulary acquisition are that a) it is an inefficient strategy for learning target words (readers must wade through many other words, in haphazard fashion, before they come across a target word), b) even if a target word is encountered during reading, there is no guarantee it will be encountered five or more times, and c) even if a and b were not problems, the high proportion of unfamiliar words in unsimplified texts ensures that for L2 learners with a limited vocabulary of high-frequency words, guessing new target words from context is difficult or impossible. If these three problems could somehow be resolved, however, there may be good reason for encouraging reading-based vocabulary acquisition over non-reading-based strategies. Krashen (1989) has argued vigorously that extensive reading is the only strategy that provides the learner with complete and nonsuperficial knowledge of a word. The pleasure that many learners experience when reading a whole text is also an important factor to consider, since, ideally, it creates the motivation to read more (and hence, learn more words). Finally, important reading skills are exercised during the reading of whole texts that are not exercised during the reading of example sentences (making predictions, recognizing genre, etc.). Developing these skills may be crucial to further reading (and again, further vocabulary learning). My contention is that the three problems mentioned above -- a) the difficulty of finding texts with a high proportion of target words, b) the difficulty of knowing whether a reader has encountered a word five or more times, and c) the breakdown in learning new words that occurs because students do not recognize enough familiar words in the text -- can be resolved. They can be resolved by carefully selecting, screening, and arranging texts by means of a recently developed computer program (Ghadirian, 2000). Specifically, this program a) finds texts with a suitably high proportion of target words, b) ensures that over the course of these texts most or all target words are encountered five or more times, and c) creates an order for reading these texts such that each new text contains a minimum number of new words and a maximum number of familiar words. Such a program is designed, in effect, to improve the reading-based acquisition of target vocabulary by applying careful control over what words are contained in the texts, how often they occur throughout the texts, and how many are introduced to the reader in each text, that is, to create the conditions for what we might call "controlled" or "optimized" reading-based vocabulary acquisition. (Note that this article does not attempt to prove that using the program does result in measurable vocabulary acquisition. Rather, it presents the program's strategy for providing controlled exposure to target vocabulary as a pla usible means of bringing this acquisition about.) Of course, this is not the first attempt at regulating texts' vocabulary content for the purpose of optimizing vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension. Graded reading schemes, which attempt to move
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learners through a sequence of vocabulary levels by having them read texts suited to the levels, have been around for quite a while. However, there are important differences between learning vocabulary from graded readers and learning vocabulary from texts arranged by the program mentioned above. These differences involve the amount of new vocabulary required to bridge the gap between texts at consecutive levels, as I discuss elsewhere in the article.5 Providing Controlled Exposure to Target Vocabulary: The Process of Selecting and Arranging Texts So far, I have talked about a program that provides controlled exposure to target words by supplying the reader with a sequence of texts in which a) target words make up a large proportion of each text, b) five or more instances of each target word occur throughout the texts, and c) the texts are ordered in such a way that each text contains a maximum number of familiar words and a minimum number of new target words. What I wish to do at this point, is explain the criteria used by TextLadder (the computer program briefly described above; Ghadirian, 2000) as it screens texts and sorts them into this sequence. To assist my explanation, I am going to draw on a hypothetical ESP teaching situation involving students with specific vocabulary needs. Imagine a classroom located in a country where English is not the first language and made up of students who are beginning a master's degree program in Economics. All the students have received bachelor degrees in economics; however their experience with economics-related texts in English varies from limited exposure to no exposure whatsoever. They have been informed that over the course of their master's degree program texts written in English will be among the readings assigned. Their immediate need, then, is to be able to read English academic texts related to economics as quickly as possible. As mentioned previously, various studies suggest that students need to be familiar with 95% of the tokens in a text in order to adequately understand that text. As well, I have already said that researchers have been able to identify three word lists that, together, can provide 95% token coverage of academic texts related to economics. Therefore, from the point of view of the students' vocabulary needs, learning the word families from these three lists (the GSL, the UWL, and the economics specialty-words list) takes priority over learning any other kind of vocabulary. The first step, then, before TextLadder even becomes involved, is for the ESP instructor to find a large number of relatively short texts (article or news story-sized would be ideal) that conceivably contain words from these lists in a high proportion. A good choice would probably be news stories related to economics or business, and academic articles suitable for the undergraduate level. Note that articles considered graduate-level reading are not a good choice. An important criterion of text selection at this stage is that if the texts were somehow translated into the students' L1 they would be comprehensible. As the students are at the beginning of their graduate program, this criterion is not met for graduate-level texts. Once the texts have been collected by the ESP instructor, the next step is to scan these texts onto the computer. Once that is done, TextLadder takes over. TextLadder's first task is to check each text to see whether 95% of the tokens in the text are accounted for by the three word lists. (Optionally, proper nouns can be included in this 95%, but whether or not proper nouns qualify as "familiar vocabulary" is a complicated question that is discussed in more detail later) Texts that do not make the 95% cut-off are dropped. The criterion at work here is this: If the reader knows all the words from the three lists found in that text, he/she should be able to understand the text. As we shall see, the incremental nature of the program's sorting process ensures that the reader is familiar with the list words found in that text by the time he or she reaches it. If the word list or combination of word lists really does consistently account for 95% of tokens in texts from the target domain, then only a small number of texts will in fact be eliminated. The texts that remain
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will be representative of the target domain: 95% of their tokens (or slightly less, if proper nouns are allowed) will be words found in the GSL, UWL, and economics word lists. Once the elimination process is completed, Textladder moves on to the sorting process. The program sifts through the collection of texts and finds the text with the smallest number of unfamiliar words. It does this by comparing the words of each text with a pool of "familiar words." This familiar words pool consists, initially, of high-frequency words of the kind taught in elementary-level EFL texts. To be more precise, it consists of the first 176 words of the GSL (i.e., the 176 words most frequently encountered in English language texts) and an assortment of other words that are found in a broad range of elementary texts: basic numbers, basic colours, days of the week, and so forth. 6 Once the text with the fewest number of unfamiliar words is found, the text is placed first on the "sequence list" (the list which describes the order in which the texts should be read), and its unfamiliar words are added to the familiar words pool. (Note that, of course, only the unfamiliar words that are also GSL, UWL, and economics list words are added. Proper nouns and other words not on the lists are not added.) The program now repeats the process of looking through the texts, trying to find the text with the smallest number of unfamiliar words. Again, it compares the words of each text with the words of the (now slightly enlarged) familiar words pool. Once this text is found, it is placed second on the sequence list, and its words added to the familiar words pool. The program repeats this process over and over until no more unfamiliar list words remain in any of the texts. Notice that there will always be a certain number of unfamiliar words for each new text. The number of unfamiliar words per text varies depending on a) the size of the text itself; b) the number of texts that were ultimately selected to undergo sorting (the greater the number of texts, the fewer unfamiliar words per text); and c) the text's position on the sequence list (in general, the number of unfamiliar words for the first few texts will be high). The unfamiliar list words found in each text are displayed prior to that text. Before reading the text, the student is asked to acquaint him/herself with these words through the use of a bilingual dictionary, preferably a computer-based one accessible either on CD-ROM or via the Internet. (A study by Hulstijn, Hollander, & Greidanus [1996] has highlighted the reluctance students often demonstrate toward using paper-based dictionaries in reading situations.) The rationale for this kind of pre-reading dictionary activity is that the resulting superficial knowledge of the word attended to will be reinforced during the actual reading of the text and further reinforced by encounters with the word in new contexts over the course of succeeding texts. Notice too that, over the course of the preceding paragraphs, I have not explained how the fiveencounters-per-word criterion is satisfied. Let me now elaborate. TextLadder keeps track of the number of times a word is encountered over the course of all the texts with which it is dealing. If, by the end of the whole sorting process, there remain words that were encountered fewer than five times, TextLadder informs the instructor of these words, as well as the number of times each of these words was encountered. The instructor then has a number of options concerning how to make further encounters with the words possible (e.g., direct teaching or the construction of customized texts). In the following section, a fuller discussion is provided on how the number of target words occurring fewer than five times can be kept to a minimum. A third note, in the previous discussion I said that TextLadder judges a word in the text to be "familiar" if it matches a word in the familiar words pool. The meaning of "matches" needs to be clarified. I do not mean to say that the word in the text has to be an exact replica of the word in the pool. The word in the text can vary in certain allowable ways: it can be pluralized, have a different verb tense, or be a derived form of the same base word. In short, the general criterion for a "match" is that the two words belong to the same word family (i.e., Level 6 of Bauer & Nation [1993], with certain differences).7 In some cases, TextLadder comes across a word that is apparently derived from a familiar base word but in fact has a
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completely different meaning (e.g., "homely"). In such cases, TextLadder does not consider the two words a match. (TextLadder is not be able to catch all these cases but it should be able to catch most of them.) There is one more note to consider before we wrap up our example. TextLadder does not ensure that all the words on all three lists (GSL, UWL, and economics word list) are encountered. Rather, it ensures that all the words from these lists that occur in all the texts being sorted through are encountered. If the number of texts scanned onto the computer is large enough, then conceivably all the words in all the lists would be encountered. However, this is not a prerequisite, a fact that allows the instructor to use a word list, or combination of word lists, which is larger than is strictly necessary. At the end, the instructor has a list of texts throughout which all the words from the three lists necessary for comprehending the complete set of texts (including those not on the sequence list) are encountered. The majority of them have been encountered five or more times. The texts on the list are ordered in such a way that reading and comprehending each new text should not be a struggle for the student: The number of words that have to be learned (via the pre-reading dictionary exercise) in order to understand each text is at a minimum, so that the student is not overwhelmed by these words during the reading. The number of texts is substantial (probably somewhere between 150 and 300 news story-length texts), and the instructor is confronted with some difficult decisions concerning pace. (I estimate that the students must read one text a day over the course of an average two-semester course, or two a day for a one semester course, in order to finish. Whether reliable learning can actually take place at this pace is a separate question that is not dealt with in this paper.) The heavy workload is hopefully offset for the students in the class by the satisfaction derived from understanding each text and seeing recently encountered words appear in subsequent texts. FIVE POTENTIAL PROBLEMS Grammar An important issue to consider once the sequence list has been produced is how to guarantee that the student has the necessary grammatical knowledge to tackle each text as s/he comes to it. This is not an easy problem to solve. There is, of course, no guarantee that the texts, sequenced for incremental vocabulary acquisition, will also be sequenced for incremental introduction of grammatical usage. In many cases, students will come across structures in the text (e.g., the present perfect continuous tense, the passive voice, etc.) before they learn them in the classroom. A partial answer to this problem is that the instructor only focus on the structures and tenses that most commonly occur in texts from the target domain/genre. An important article by Flowerdew (1993) describes how computer concordancing can be used to focus on which grammatical structures, notional areas, and discursive formations are most used in a given text or group of texts. This may allow the instructor to streamline his/her instruction so that the material most relevant to immediately comprehending the texts can be taught earlier and later expanded on over the course of subsequent classes. Multi-Word Units A second problem concerns multi-word units. When TextLadder comes across the phrasal verb "blow up," it does not recognize the entire unit but only the individual words of which it is made. In fact, not only is TextLadder unable to recognize phrasal verbs, it is unable to recognize any multi-word unit, be it a compound noun (e.g., "home run") or an idiomatic expression (e.g., "make a run for it"). This is obviously problematic since students may understand the individual words making up a multi-word unit without comprehending the unit itself. Ideally, TextLadder should recognize these units, include them in the prereading activity, and factor their presence into the overall comprehensibility of the text. It is conceivable that TextLadder could be modified in a future version to allow for this. In the meantime, concordancing,
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in the context described by Flowerdew (1993) could be useful in determining which phrasal verbs and other multi-word units are most common in the texts. Proper Nouns Proper nouns present us with another problem. As mentioned, various studies indicate that a student must be familiar with 95% of the tokens in a text in order to be able to adequately understand the text. But do proper nouns qualify as "familiar"? Hirsh and Nation (1992) have discussed this problem in the context of a specific kind of text: the simplified novel. They present us with two arguments for why proper nouns in simplified novels should be considered as words that do not require previous learning: a) the text reveals what we need to know about the proper nouns as the story progresses, and b) the initial capitalized letter of the proper noun informs the reader that it is a proper noun, which is already an important piece of information. As well, Hirsh and Nation pointed out that the number of proper nouns was small and their frequency of occurrence high in the simplified novels under study. This reasoning appears sound, and it is difficult to see why proper nouns in simplified novels that have a low number of high-frequency proper nouns (all of which adequately introduced by the text) should not qualify as part of the 95%. Still, the situation will be different for every domain and every genre of text. Some texts may assume a prior acquaintance with proper nouns that the reader does not in fact have, and they may contain a large number of these proper nouns scattered over the text, each one mentioned only once or twice. This is, of course, a worst-case scenario. Most news stories are careful to introduce proper nouns that are names of people (although place names can be more problematic). Ultimately, the choice of whether or not to include proper nouns in the 95% is left to the instructor, who must consider the kinds of texts being read and decide whether or not to select the "include proper nouns" option in TextLadder. Not selecting the option may mean spending excessive amounts of time locating texts and scanning them into the computer (since the number of texts that can pass the 95% test will obviously be much smaller if proper nouns are not included). Selecting the option risks the possibility that students may not be able to comprehend the texts (since, when the text's proper nouns are completely unfamiliar or unexplained, the percentage of tokens that the student is in fact familiar with will be below 95%). Hopefully, future studies will clarify the question of exactly how proper nouns factor into readers' comprehension of a text. Low-Encounter Words A fourth problem concerns the effect that "familiar" words that have been encountered very few times have on comprehension. To explain, I will draw on a hypothetical situation. A student comes across a word for the first time (we'll say the word is "bargain") in one of the texts. The word, of course, has been seen by the student in the pre-reading activity at the beginning of the text. However, over the course of the text, the word is encountered only once. Three or four texts later, the student comes across "bargain" once again. Because TextLadder no longer considers it to be an unfamiliar word, "bargain" does not appear in the pre-reading activity. However, as the student has only encountered the word once (twice, if we include the original dictionary activity), there is a good chance s/he does not remember it well, thus making comprehension of the text more difficult. The question, then, is how to factor the number of times familiar words have been encountered into the sorting process. In a version of TextLadder on which I am currently working, I have come up with a provisional answer. When TextLadder is deciding which text has the fewest unfamiliar words, it penalizes texts that have familiar words that have been encountered fewer than five times. A familiar word that has been encountered once will incur the greatest penalty, while one that has been encountered four times will incur the smallest penalty, and words that have been encountered five times or more incur no penalty at all. Because of this penalty system, a text that has eight unfamiliar words might be placed on the sequence list before a text that has seven unfamiliar words, if the latter text contained more low-encounter familiar words.8
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Homographs A final problem concerns homographs. Say, for example, the word tear shows up in a pre-reading dictionary activity. Which meaning should a student focus on? This problem is partly resolved by the fact that if the student is using a CD-ROM or Internet dictionary, s/he will be able to click on the word during the reading of the text and figure out from context which meaning is appropriate. However, there remains a problem. The next time a student encounters tear in a text, TextLadder will already consider the word to be a familiar word, even though this tear may bear a different meaning from the first tear. How do we get around this problem? One solution, which has not been implemented yet, is to have TextLadder run all the texts through a part-of-speech tagging program. This way, although TextLadder will not be able to differentiate between two homographs which are also the same parts-of-speech, it will be able to differentiate between homographs which are different parts-of-speech, which would effectively allow it to tell tear (as in "to rip") from tear (as in "what comes out of your eye when you cry"). PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS: TEXTLADDER AND VOICE OF AMERICA SIMPLIFIED NEWS TEXTS In order to obtain a quantitative measure of TextLadder's ability to bridge the gap between a limited vocabulary of high-frequency words and an expanded vocabulary consisting of words from a target domain or genre, a genre was chosen and relevant texts amassed, so that TextLadder could be put through a test-run. The genre (or rather, sub-genre) chosen for the study was Voice of America simplified news texts. By "simplified news texts," I am referring to news stories that have been specifically written for an audience that consists of EFL students. Texts from this genre are appearing in increasing numbers on the Internet. Some examples of simplified news texts include Voice of America Special English news stories, Key News Reader Newspaper stories, KXTV abridged news stories, and CNN abridged news stories (the latter two are also directed at adult L1 students in literacy programs). My decision to work specifically with Voice of America simplified news texts was made for the following reasons: a) much of the vocabulary in Voice of America simplified news texts is drawn from a list of words called the "Special English" word list, a fact that makes finding the combination of word lists necessary for 95% coverage much easier, and b) Voice of America has a large EFL reader/listener base, which suggests that these are the kinds of texts EFL students find useful and of interest. The goal of the Voice of America study was to see whether TextLadder would be able to ensure two things: 1) that each text selected for reading contained a reasonably small number of unfamiliar list words, if read in the appropriate order, and 2) that all, or most, of the list words encountered in the selected texts were encountered five times or more. The first step in the study was the compiling of a word list that accounted for 95% of the tokens in Voice of America simplified news texts. It was found that the Special English word list by itself did not provide 95% coverage. Therefore, the list was supplemented by words from the GSL, UWL, initial "familiar words pool" list, and the Longman Defining Dictionary (LDD) word list. (The LDD and Special English word lists are accessible in a list by Rick Harrison called Vital English Vocabulary [Harrison, 1997].) It was found that the new list, in combination with proper nouns, consistently accounted for 95% of the tokens in Voice of America texts.9 Next, 293 Voice of America simplified news texts were downloaded onto a computer. The size of the texts varied between 300 and 1,500 words. All parts of the text that were not part of the news story itself were edited out. TextLadder was then run and 266 texts made the 95% cut-off and underwent the sorting process. At the end of this process, two pieces of output were produced: 1) a list of the names of the 253 texts selected (i.e. the "sequence list" mentioned in the last section), with corresponding figures describing the amount of new target vocabulary introduced in each text; and 2) a list of all the target vocabulary encountered
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over the course of the 253 selected texts, each word accompanied by a figure stating the number of times the word had been encountered. 1) Amount of Unfamiliar Target Vocabulary Introduced in Each Text Figure 1 describes how the amount of new target vocabulary introduced per text changes over the course of the 253 texts placed on the sequence list. Note that "amount of unfamiliar target vocabulary per text" is synonymous with "percentage of unfamiliar list-word tokens in each text." The latter is determined by dividing the number of unfamiliar list-word tokens in the text by the total number of tokens in the text.
Figure 1. Amount of new target vocabulary introduced per text As Figure 1 makes clear, the percentage of unfamiliar list words in each text is quite high at the beginning. However, after only 80 texts, it has already dipped below 1%. In the following 140 texts, unfamiliar list-words regularly make up less than 1% of the tokens in each text. It is only in the last 35 texts that the percentage begins rising back up toward 4%. The question that arises from this result is whether students should invest time and effort in reading those 140 texts (over 55% of the total number of texts on the sequence list), when new words make up such a small percentage of those texts (see Appendix B for the actual number of words). If an accelerated pace of vocabulary learning is the aim, then the answer is probably no. The problem lies with TextLadder's sorting process: For each slot in the sequence list, TextLadder looks through the texts and finds the one with the smallest number of unfamiliar words. Although this sorting strategy is desirable at the beginning when the lowest percentage of unfamiliar words is well over 10%, it becomes less desirable later in the sequence. As a result of these findings, the TextLadder program was modified. The program was allowed to follow the old sorting strategy for the first few texts on the sequence list. However, when the lowest percentage of unfamiliar words dipped below 5%, the sorting strategy was reversed: TextLadder now began looking for texts with the highest number of unfamiliar list words. The results proceeding from the adjusted TextLadder program are shown in Figure 2.
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Figure 2. Amount of new target vocabulary introduced per text (Adjusted) Note that rather than making a steep drop down to 1% within the first 80 texts, the percentage of unfamiliar words now decreases at a much slower rate, not dipping below 1% until the 144th text, and hitting zero after the 216th text. The number of texts in which new list words make up less than 1% of tokens is therefore only 73 texts (those between the 144th and 216th ), significantly fewer than in the unadjusted version of TextLadder. Note also that all the list words in the 266 texts have been encountered after only 216 texts. (In other words, students do not need to read any other texts besides these 216 in order to encounter all the list words in all the texts.) The new version of TextLadder thus created shorter sequence lists than the unadjusted version, which required 253 texts in order to encounter all the list words.10 2) Number of List Words Occurring Fewer than Five Times Throughout the Selected Texts TextLadder produced, as output, a list of all the target vocabulary encountered over the course of the selected texts and the number of times each word11 was encountered. The words on this list were then divided into two categories: those occurring four times or fewer throughout the selected texts and those occurring five times or more.12 Figure 3 displays the difference between these two categories.
Figure 3. Words occurring four times or fewer vs. words occurring five times or more As the above chart shows, a substantial number of list words (631) occurred four times or fewer over the course of the selected texts. This is clearly a problem, as there are serious doubts as to whether a student reading through the selected texts would effectively learn these words. As I have noted before, TextLadder always informs the instructor of the identity of words occurring four times or fewer so that the instructor can take steps to provide the students with exposure to the words through alternate means.
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However, 631 words (30% of the total number of words encountered) is clearly too large a load for the instructor to handle. As a result of this finding, two modifications were made: one to the compiled list of target words providing 95% coverage of Voice of America texts, and the other to TextLadder itself. The word list was altered (or rather, supplemented) in order to allow for 96% token coverage of Voice of America simplified news texts, rather than 95%. This was done by adding a new list to the combination of lists that already provided 95% coverage. This new list was obtained by selecting all the words occurring 1,000 times or more over the course of four years of The Guardian newspaper, minus proper nouns. (A word frequencybased analysis of The Guardian produced by Mike Scott [1997], served as the basis for this selection.) Once this new list was added to the previous ones, the resulting combination of lists was found to consistently provide 96% coverage of Voice of America simplified news texts (if proper nouns are included in the 96%).13 The advantage to having 96% list word/proper noun coverage, rather than 95%, is this: A student only needs to be familiar with 95% of the tokens in the text in order to comprehend that text. If list words account for 96% of a text's tokens, then the student does not in fact need to know all the list words encountered in the text. Indeed, up to 1% of the of the text's tokens can be made up of list words that the student can ignore (by "ignore," I mean that it is not necessary for the student to pre-acquaint him/herself with these words through the pre-reading dictionary exercise or through prior exposure). Which list words should be ignored? The best candidates would be the ones that occur four times or fewer over the course of all the selected texts. There is a problem, however. List words that occur four times or fewer over the course of all the selected texts (we shall call them "low-frequency words" for convenience) still tend to make up more than 1% of the tokens in individual texts. Therefore, some of the low-frequency words do need to be learned, in order for comprehension to take place. TextLadder's strategy for selecting which low-frequency words should be learned is to focus on those texts where ignored low-frequency words make up more than 1% of tokens. From each of these texts, low-frequency words are selected for learning until the number of ignored low-frequency words makes up less than 1% of tokens in the text. This is done in a way that ensures that higher-frequency low-frequency words (e.g., words that occur four times throughout the selected texts) are selected before lower-frequency low-frequency words (e.g., words that occur once throughout the selected texts).14 Once the ignored low-frequency words make up less than 1% of the tokens in all the selected texts, TextLadder stops. At this point, it has determined exactly which lowfrequency words still have to be learned in order for a reader to comprehend each of the selected texts. Figure 4 shows the results of running the adjusted TextLadder with a list that provides 96% coverage (including proper nouns) of Voice of America texts.
Figure 4. Words occurring four times or fewer vs. words occurring five times or more (96% list)
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As is clear from Figure 4, a significantly smaller number of low-frequency list words is required for comprehension, when the newly-adjusted TextLadder is used in conjunction with a list providing 96% coverage. Presumably, the number should be even smaller with a list providing 97% coverage, although this was not tested. Note that TextLadder produces, as output, a list identifying these 250 words and specifying the number of times they have occurred over the selected texts. The instructor can use this information to provide the students with further encounters with the words, either through direct vocabulary instruction or through customized text creation. (For example, the 250 words above could conceivably be presented to students -- with the appropriate number of repetitions -- over the course of 10 or so texts designed and written by an instructor expressly for that purpose. These texts could then be read by the students once they had finished all the texts on the sequence list.) Figure 5 shows the amount of new vocabulary introduced per text, when the 96%-coverage list is used.
Figure 5. Amount of new target vocabulary introduced per text (96% list) Note that the results displayed in Figure 5 resemble, to a great extent, the results displayed in Figure 2. This suggests that using a word list that provides 96% coverage instead of using a word list that provides 95% coverage does not greatly alter the distribution of new vocabulary over the course of the texts on the sequence list. Based on this finding, we can conclude that the 96% coverage list is the better list to use, since it a) allows for a similar amount of new vocabulary to be introduced in each text over the course of a similar number of texts, and b) ensures that a significantly smaller percentage of the target vocabulary that is encountered fewer than five times needs to be learned. CONCLUSION The results of this study show that an adjusted version of TextLadder can ensure that a reasonable amount15 of new vocabulary is introduced in each text, for the majority of the texts on the sequence list. The study also indicates that of the list words occurring four times or fewer throughout the selected texts a significantly smaller number need to be learned when a list providing 96% coverage of the target domain can be obtained. These results suggest that two major obstacles to the reading-based acquisition of target vocabulary -namely, the high number of unfamiliar words in each text, and the insufficient number of repetitions of a target word -- can likely16 be overcome through computer-driven intervention. Two important issues, however, have not been addressed by this study.
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First, the study does not deal with how a reader might learn all the words on a given word list, but only those list-words encountered over the course of a miniature corpus consisting of 293 texts. This leaves unanswered the questions of how big a corpus would have to be to include all the words on the list, and how many texts would have to be read in order to encounter all these words. Second, although the TextLadder program has been written with an eye to taking advantage of recent findings in vocabulary acquisition studies, no attempt has been made to determine whether it in fact results in measurable learning. It is hoped that future studies will address these questions, so that TextLadder's feasibility as a method for optimizing reading-based vocabulary acquisition can be more definitively determined. TextLadder is available at http://www.readingenglish.net. TextLadder is free for research purposes.
APPENDIX A. NUMBER OF LIST WORDS OCCURRING FEWER THAN SIX TIMES THROUGHOUT THE SELECTED TEXTS
Figure 6. Words occurring five times or fewer vs. words occurring six times or more (95%)
Figure 7. Words occurring five times or fewer vs. words occurring six times or more (96% list)
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APPENDIX B. NEW LIST WORDS INTRODUCED PER TEXT (EXPRESSED AS NUMBERS RATHER THAN AS PERCENTAGES) Note: Figures 8, 9, and 10 correspond with Figures 1, 2, and 5, respectively.
Figure 8. Number of new list words introduced per text
Figure 9. Number of new list words introduced per text
Figure 10. Number of new list worlds introduced per text (96% list)
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NOTES 1. A word family consists of the base form of a word and all the inflected and derived forms of it that can be understood by a learner without having to learn them separately. (This will depend to a great extent on the learner's command of prefixes and suffixes.) For example, connect, disconnect, and connectable are subsumed by a single word family (Bauer & Nation, 1993). 2. A new list, the Academic Word List (AWL), has recently been developed (Coxhead, 2000). This list is shorter than the UWL and provides better token coverage for academic texts (10% as opposed to the UWL's 8.5%). There is also evidence that the GSL may not be the best general service vocabulary list available. A study by Nation and Hwang (1995) suggests that a 1,945-word family list consisting of the various overlaps between three word lists -- the GSL, a frequency list based on the Brown corpus, and a frequency list based on the LOB corpus -- provides better token coverage (83.4%) than the GSL itself (82.3%). 3. It is still uncertain whether or not the percentage remains above 4% when frequently occurring proper nouns are removed from the list of domain-specific words. 4. The number of encounters required for learning is controversial. This issue is brought up again later in the article, and discussed in detail in Note #12. 5. According to an analysis by Nation & Wang (1999) of a set of popular graded readers, the word lists for four out of six levels did not provide 95% coverage of readers at subsequent levels, even when proper nouns were allowed to be part of that coverage. The difference between word list sizes of any two consecutive levels (i.e., the "vocabulary gap" between texts at those levels) averaged out to about 400 words. In contrast, the number of words needed to bridge the vocabulary gap between any two consecutive texts arranged by the computer program varies between 1 and 25 words. Of course, the graded readers are much longer than the texts used by the program, which are news story-sized. However, this size difference is precisely the point: Smaller texts ensure that new vocabulary can be incrementally introduced in smaller, more manageable chunks. The use of shorter texts to sequence the introduction of new vocabulary has been attempted in a recent study (Worthington & Nation, 1996), and found to be problematic due to the varying rate of vocabulary introduction: a very large amount of vocabulary is introduced over the first few texts, while texts later in the sequence contain very little new vocabulary. The last section of the present study attempts to demonstrate, however, that applying careful control over the amount of new vocabulary introduced in each text can help mitigate this problem. 6. The choice of the first 176 words of the GSL along with basic colours, numbers, and so forth, as the basis for the initial familiar words pool, is somewhat arbitrary. In the future, I hope to conduct an extensive word-frequency analysis of elementary-level ESL/EFL texts, in order to better determine which words a post-elementary-level student can be expected to be familiar with. 7. Many of the prefixes and a number of suffixes for Levels 5 and 6, for example, are not considered when determining a match. 8. Although this approach ensures maximum comprehensibility for each new text, it may also create new problems by prolonging the interval between encounters of low-encounter words, thereby making it more likely that the student will forget the word in that interval. Such a situation might make acquisition of the word less likely. Clearly, then, there is a tension between the need for increased comprehensibility, which requires that the interval between exposures to low-encounter words be increased, and the need to reduce the likelihood of forgetting, which requires that the interval between exposures to low-encounter words be decreased. Ultimately, testing will have to be done in order to determine which of the factors takes precedence. If it is found that students are irrecoverably forgetting words in the prolonged interval between exposures, then two options remain:
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a) simply remove the penalty system, or b) actually reverse the penalty system, so that texts with high numbers of low-encounter words are "rewarded" and placed earlier on the sequence list rather than later. 9. The list provided 95% token coverage (including proper nouns) for 91% of domain texts tested. 10. Also, note that TextLadder was adjusted in this second version to not place texts on the sequence list if they contained more than 25 unfamiliar words, regardless of the percentage. This restriction had the effect of saving longer texts for last. 11. Note that only one word per word family appears on the list. 12. To explain why a threshold of five encounters was chosen, I refer back to the Saragi, et al. (1978) study which showed a significant increase in learning when a new word was encountered five times, and an even greater increase for six encounters. A more recent study by Rott (1999) showed a significant increase in learning for students exposed to a word six times, compared to students exposed to the word two or four times. These results, like those of the Saragi et al. study, suggest a threshold somewhere in the vicinity of five or six encounters. Other studies have placed this threshold higher, at eight exposures (e.g., Horst, Cobb, & Meara, 1998), or even twenty (Herman, Anderson, Pearson, & Nagy, 1987). However, a very recent study by Zahar, Cobb, & Spada (2001) suggests that the minimum number of exposures necessary for learning is dependent on the student's prior vocabulary size, the reasoning being that if the reader is familiar with the words surrounding the word in question, then the exposure will lead to better acquisition. TextLadder's incremental approach to vocabulary introduction and its system of privileging highencounter words attempt to ensure that students will already be familiar with most of the words that form the context of low-encounter words. For this reason, a threshold of five encounters was provisionally chosen, which TextLadder allows to be increased to six. A summary of the results obtained with a threshold of six, rather than five, is available in Appendix A. It should not be taken for granted, however, that encountering a word five or six times over an extended period of time (e.g., one or two semesters) will result in acquisition of the word. The studies mentioned above all involved studying vocabulary acquisition over a relatively short time period. The question of whether five or six encounters will suffice for acquisition, for TextLadder-processed texts read over an extended period of time, will have to be determined by future research. See Note #8 for details on how TextLadder might be modified to decrease the interval between word encounters and thereby perhaps increase the likelihood of acquisition. 13. The new combination of lists provided 96% token coverage (including proper nouns) for 88% of domain texts tested. 14. The process of selecting low-frequency (list) words for learning is described here in more detail. As mentioned, TextLadder focuses on texts where ignored low-frequency words up make up more than 1% of tokens. From those texts, it selects words that occur four times throughout the selected texts for learning. It then checks to see whether any texts remain in which ignored low-frequency words make up more than 1% of tokens. If so, it focuses on those texts, selecting low-frequency words that occur three times throughout the selected texts. Once again, it checks to see how many +1% texts remain, then focuses on those texts and selects low-frequency words that occur two times throughout the selected texts. It checks again, then repeats, selecting words that occur once throughout the texts. At any point, if TextLadder finds no remaining texts in which ignored low-frequency words make up more than 1% of tokens, the selection process is stopped. 15. i.e., greater than 1% and less than 10% 16. This assumes that acquisition of a word after 5 or 6 encounters is possible when extended time intervals between encounters are involved. See Note #12.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sina Ghadirian holds a BA in English and a certificate in TESL. He has taught ESL in Canada and Thailand, and is currently completing a MA in Second Language Education at McGill University (Montreal, Canada). His research interests include vocabulary acquisition and computer-assisted language learning (CALL). E-mail: sina.ghadirian@mail.mcgill.ca REFERENCES Bauer, L., & Nation, I. S. P. (1993). Word families. International Journal of Lexicography, 6(4), 253-279. Carroll, J. B., Davies, P., & Richman, H. (1971). Word frequency book. New York: Houghton Mifflin. Cobb, T., & Horst, M. (2001). Reading academic English: Carrying learners across the lexical threshold. In J. Flowerdew, & M. Peacock (Eds.), Research perspectives on English for academic purposes (pp. 315-329). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213-238. Flowerdew, J. (1993). Concordancing as a tool in course design. System, 21(2), 231-244. Ghadirian, S. (2000). TextLadder [Computer software]. Available from http://www.readingenglish.net/. Groot, P. (2000). Computer assisted second language vocabulary acquisition. Language Learning & Technology, 4(1), 60-81. Retrieved February 27, 2001, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol4num1/groot/default.html. Harrison, R. (1997). Vital English Vocabulary word list. Retrieved February 27, 2001, from http://www.rick.harrison.net/langlab/vitaleng.html. Herman, P. A., Anderson, R. C., Pearson, P .D., & Nagy, W. E. (1987). Incidental acquisition of word meaning from expositions with varied text features. Reading Research Quarterly, 22(3), 263-284. Hirsh, D., & Nation, I. S. P. (1992). What vocabulary size is needed to read unsimplified texts for pleasure? Reading in a Foreign Language, 8(2), 689-696. Horst, M., Cobb, T., & Meara, P. (1998). Beyond a clockwork orange: Acquiring second language vocabulary through reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 11(2), 207-223. Hulstijn, J., Hollander, M., & Greidanus, T. (1996). Incidental vocabulary learning by advanced foreign language students: The influence of marginal glosses, dictionary use, and reoccurrence of unknown words. The Modern Language Journal, 80, 327-339. Krashen, S. D. (1989). We acquire vocabulary and spelling by reading: Additional evidence for the input hypothesis. The Modern Language Journal, 73, 440-464. Laufer, B. (1989). What percentage of lexis is essential for comprehension? In C. Lauren & M. Nordman (Eds.), Special language: From humans thinking to thinking machine (pp. 69-75). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Liu, N., & Nation, I. S. P. (1985). Factors affecting guessing vocabulary in context. RELC Journal, 16(1), 33-42. Nagy, W. E., & Herman, P .A. (1987). Breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge: Implications for acquisition and instruction. In M. G. McKeown & M. Curtis (Eds.), The nature of vocabulary acquisition (pp. 19-35). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. New York: Newbury House.
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Nation, I. S. P., & Hwang, K. (1995). Where would general service vocabulary stop and special purposes vocabulary begin? System, 23(1), 35-41. Nation, I. S. P, & Wang, K. (1999). Graded readers and vocabulary. Reading in a Foreign Language, 12(2), 34-50. Rott, S. (1999) The effect of exposure frequency on intermediate language learners' incidental vocabulary acquisition and retention through reading. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21(4), 589-620. Saragi, T., Nation, I. S .P., & Meister, G. F. (1978). Vocabulary learning and reading. System, 6, 72-78. Scott, M. (1997). Guardian Word List [word frequency list based on nearly all of The Guardian newspaper text from 1991-1994]. Available at http://www.liv.ac.uk/~ms2928/ Singleton, D. (1999). Exploring the second language mental lexicon. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Sternberg, R. J. (1987). Most vocabulary is learned from context. In M. G. McKeown, & M. Curtis (Eds.), The nature of vocabulary acquisition (pp. 89-105). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Sutarsyah, C., Nation, I. S. P., & Kennedy, G. (1994). How useful is EAP vocabulary for ESP? A corpus based case study. RELC Journal, 25(2), 34-50. West, M. (1953). A general service list of English words. London: Longman, Green & Co. Worthington, D., & Nation, P. (1996). Using texts to sequence the introduction of new vocabulary in an EAP course. RELC Journal, 27(2), 1-11. Xue, G., & Nation, I. S. P. (1984). A university word list. Language Learning and Communication, 32, 215-219. Zahar, R., Cobb, T., & Spada N. (2001). Acquiring vocabulary through reading: Effects of frequency and contextual richness. Canadian Modern Language Review, 57(3), 541-572.
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Language Learning & Technology http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num1/steppgreany/
STUDENT PERCEPTIONS ON LANGUAGE LEARNING IN A TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM
Jonita Stepp-Greany Florida State University ABSTRACT This article presents survey data from beginning Spanish classes using a combination of technologies: Internet activities, CD-ROM, electronic pen pals, and threaded discussions. Goals of the study were to determine students' perceptions of (a) the role and importance of the instructor in technology-enhanced language learning (TELL), (b) the accessibility and relevance of the lab and the individual technological components in student learning, and (c) the effects of the technology on the foreign language learning experiences. Students attributed an important role to instructors and perceived that cultural knowledge, listening and reading skills, and independent learning skills were enhanced but were divided in their perceptions about the learning or interest values of the individual components. Implications are presented that may be useful to universities developing technology enhanced instruction.
INTRODUCTION The use of technology, specifically multimedia, for foreign language instruction has expanded rapidly in the United States during the last two decades. Studies of the effect of technology-enhanced instruction on achievement and studies of student attitudes regarding learning with technology have also increasingly been reported (Salaberry, 2001). However, most of these studies have examined the use of only one element of technology, and those regarding student perceptions have been largely concerned with the use of computer-mediated communication via e-mail or networking. (Beauvois, 1994, 1996, 1998; Cononelos & Oliva, 1993; Kern, 1996; Sanaoui & Lapkin, 1992; Warschauer, 1996) This article reports on a descriptive study of student perceptions about the use of a variety of multimedia components within one course. More specifically, it reports the perceptions of university students enrolled in basic Spanish classes during the first year of implementation of technology-enhanced language learning. These classes incorporated task-based Internet activities, an interactive, publisher-produced CD-ROM, electronic pen pals, and threaded discussions. (Many of the components described in this article can be accessed and viewed at http://www.fsu.edu/~modlang/divisions/spanish/spn1120.html.) A number of benefits for students related to the general use of technology in classrooms have been reported. These include increased motivation, improvement in self-concept and mastery of basic skills, more student-centered learning and engagement in the learning process, and more active processing, resulting in higher-order thinking skills and better recall (Brownlee-Conyers, 1996; Dwyer, 1996; McGrath, 1998; Weiss, 1994). Additionally, there seems to be a beneficial multimedia effect, especially for low achieving students, when it is used to illustrate concepts and organize factual information (Nowaczyk, 1998). Students also appear to gain confidence directing their own learning. In a project at one of California's Model Technology Schools, students who engaged in self-paced learning-by-doing within an interactive environment became independent le arners who were labeled "knowledge navigators" (Blackstock Junior High School, 1993).
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Student Perceptions on Language Learning
TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED LANGUAGE LEARNING (TELL) Affective Issues Positive affective benefits for students using technology are also reported in the foreign language classroom context. Sanaoui and Lapkin (1992) found that technology encouraged the development of independent learning characteristics in high school students of French. In an e-mail exchange project between these students and native French speakers, students assumed increased responsibility for their learning and broadened their cultural awareness. Beauvois (1998) found that students participating in a Local Area Network (LAN) writing project showed positive attitudes about learning in that setting. She concluded that students felt positive because the LAN represented a low-anxiety situation and because they had more control than in a traditional classroom. These results support findings from an earlier study (Beauvois, 1994) in which the researcher concluded that the LAN is an effective motivating force. Warschauer (1996) identified three common factors of student motivation provided by a technologyenhanced setting: communication, empowerment, and learning. "Communication" is represented by the finding that students liked the ability to communicate with others and to engage in real, as opposed to contrived, communicative acts. "Empowerment" describes the finding that students felt empowered in the technology environment since they felt less isolated and were le ss afraid to contact others. The "learning" factor describes the finding that students believed the computer gave them certain kinds of control over their learning by enabling them to learn faster and more independently and to write more creatively. Students in the computer- mediated communication project reported positive attitudes which could be attributed to these factors. Another study on computer-mediated instruction for English writing skills by Hartman, Neuwirth, Kiesler, Sproull, Cochran, Palmquist, and Zabrow (1995) concluded that the use of technology redistributes teacher and classmate attentions so that less able students can become more active participants in the class. In this study, networked sections showed more student-teacher communication than traditional classes. Additionally, Beauvois (1998) found more student-to-student interaction in networked classes than in traditional classes. Language Skills The use of technology in foreign language learning also appears to influence the development of linguistic skills. Several researchers have reported an improvement in student writing skills through the use of networked computers (Beauvois, 1998; Cononelos & Oliva, 1993; Warschauer, 1996). According to Beauvois, students in the networked writing project displayed more fluidity of conversation, more use of complex sentences, and more self-disclosure. She believes that the elimination of strong teacher dominance freed students to express themselves, resulting in a larger quantity and better quality of communication. There have been reports of improvement in reading as well. In Beauvois' 1994 study, 43% of the students reported that reading skills had improved. Lunde (1990) also reported that students of Japanese enrolled in a computer mediated communication project showed improvement in reading comprehension. Furthermore, in follow-up interviews in the Beauvois study (1994), many students expressed an increased confidence in speaking. The researcher speculates that the increased language use promoted by the LAN environment promoted this self-confidence. She implies that the conversational aspect of writing via the network helped students to routinize a certain number of expressions, promoting the development of automatic structures that aid speaking. She concludes more boldly in the later study (1998) that LAN writing supports oral language development. Sanaoui and Lapkin (1992) also found that "considerable
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growth occurred in French-speaking skills and possibly listening and reading comprehension as well, which implies that an explicit focus on one area can have an effect on the other skills" as well (p. 544). Videoconferencing and Language Learning In a study of student perceptions about a videoconferencing project between students of German and native speakers in Germany (Coverdale -Jones, 2000), the students cited two advantages for the use of the technology. These were a) the immediacy of communication with a real person from their own age group and b) the interactivity of the videoconferencing. However, these students also viewed the videoconferencing as a reduced form of communication in comparison to face-to-face interaction. Coverdale -Jones concludes that this technology makes a powerful contribution to communication authenticity, but cautions that "we cannot simply transfer typical classroom activities, where it is easier for the tutor to intervene and to direct the flow of the interaction, to the videoconference where communication factors are subject to external influences of technology/medium" (p. 36). In another study involving videoconferencing, Glisan, Dudt, and Howe (1998) found that this technology aided Spanish listening comprehension skills, but the variable time on task remained the key to achievement. They also found that students engaged in a more multi-modal approach to learning, noting that the role of teacher as facilitator is an important variable in the success of technology-mediated instruction. The implication was that a technological environment based on constructivist learning principals may be ideal for enhancing learner attitude and motivation. Changing Roles in Technology-Enhanced Classrooms Kern (1996) notes that a shift from the use of the computer for drill and tutorial purposes to a medium for extending education beyond the classroom and reorganizing instruction has resulted in role changes for both learners and teachers. Learners now view the computer as a medium through which they must negotiate meaning through interaction, interpretation, and collaboration rather than as a finite, authoritative informational base for carrying out a stipulated language task. Instead of delegating language instruction to the computer, teachers participate in students' communication and learning and "provide a scaffold for their students' learning with their own knowledge and experience -- even when they are not immediately involved in a communicative exchange" (Kern, 1996, p. 108). Context of the TELL Program Recently, the learning theory of constructivism has been proposed as a basis for the instructional design of technology (Lebow, 1993) and as a viable theory for language instruction (Blyth, 1997; Brooks & Brooks, 1993). This theory posits that students are not passive recipients of knowledge. Instead, they are active participants in the construction of new knowledge that is idiosyncratic and derived from the learner's prior experience and need to create equilibrium (i.e., find meaning or fill in an information gap) when faced with a new situation that creates cognitive dissonance. In this theory also, students assume responsibility for their learning, and the teacher is a facilitator rather than a purveyor of knowledge, fulfilling a role similar to that described by Kern (1996). Furthermore, whole language philosophy has recently formed the basis for strategies in second language instruction (Shrum & Glisan, 2000). Inspired by practice in first language classrooms, whole language theorists maintain that language learning moves from the whole to the part (Crawford, 1993; Weaver, 1990) and comprehending, speaking, reading, and writing skills are interrelated, reinforcing each other in complex ways. They reject the traditional view that language acquisition is a set of hierarchically ordered sub-skills which build toward comprehension and speaking or writing (Fountas & Hannigan, 1989; Weaver, 1990). Whole language philosophy incorporates constructivism theory and proposes that, by experiencing whole written or oral discourse in meaningful units, students learn to analyze the parts and construct new knowledge by reordering or synthesizing relationships between the parts. Language
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acquisition is, therefore, an active process in which the student focuses on cues and meaning and makes intelligent guesses. Since instructional design of the TELL program incorporated a constructivist and whole language philosophy, certain principles guided its planning and implementation. It was decided that the program would 1. use its lab activities to enrich the curriculum in holistic ways, rather than to achieve mastery of individual skills; 2. use Spanish as the medium of instruction; 3. create opportunities, through authentic texts and task-based activities, for students to use language as a vehicle for sending and receiving information; 4. create individual lessons with appropriate sequencing of activities to help students deconstruct and reconstruct complex texts and tasks; 5. facilitate and encourage problem solving by providing links to online resources; and 6. evaluate students' performance in the computer lab by using the products of the TELL environment, rather than by testing the material covered in the lab. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROGRAM Students participating in the present study were enrolled in first and second semester Spanish classes at Florida State University. TELL implementation for the first semester course occurred in the spring semester of 1998 and continued throughout the summer and fall semesters. TELL implementation for the second-semester course began in the fall of 1998. In all, 21 sections of technology-enhanced Spanish were offered, representing a little less than one-third of the basic courses. Both levels used the same text, completing either the first or second half of the text respectively. The particular computer instructional components were thus identical for both levels, although content varied to match level. Each week, students received face-to-face instruction three times. They also met 1 day in a traditional audio-video language lab and 1 day in a computer lab for a total of 5 days of instruction. Computerassisted instructional (CAI) components were as follows: 1. An interactive audio-visual CD-ROM with a high-interest mystery story format. 2. Internet activities that required students to visit Spanish-speaking sites and perform simulated real-life tasks, such as filling out a university schedule, ordering clothing, creating an itinerary, buying a house, and writing a job resum. 3. Threaded discussions among the classes in which students posted opinions and responses relating to a chapter theme. 4. Electronic pen pal communication with individuals from Hispanic cultures. 5. Online resources such as vocabulary lists, dictionaries, and grammar explanations. 6. An optional drill and tutorial program that corresponded to the text's grammar instruction. Threaded discussion assignments were posted every 2 weeks, and students posted their opinions and responses either inside or outside of the lab, whereas Internet and CD-ROM activities were generally completed in the lab. Furthermore, students alternated between activity types, with a component from the CD-ROM being assigned during a particular chapter's first week of study and an Internet activity during the second. CD-ROM activities were prescribed for the students, but students were allowed to select which Internet activities to complete, choosing one of three possibilities for each chapter. Pen pal letters were intended to be an out-of-lab activity, although some students used extra lab time for these assignments. Students used their own time to complete drill and tutorial activities and were awarded extra credit for them.
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The syllabus for the technology-enhanced classes contained a category under "grade" for Internet activities. If students completed the activity, they e-mailed it to their instructor and received credit, which was included as a percentage of their grade in the course. This practice corresponded with the preestablished principle that the products of the technology-enhanced instruction would serve as the evaluation of the students' lab performances, as opposed to formal testing of the material covered in lab. The other categories for grading were the same for the TELL classes as for the regular classes. These included oral evaluations, quizzes and tests, participation and homework, and writing assignments. Writing evaluation for the TELL classes was for the two pen pal letters rather than for traditional writing assignments. Completed CD-ROM activities were counted as part of the participation grade. The substantive nature of the TELL classes' exams was identical to those in the regular classes, except that they often covered two chapters at a time rather than one. Fewer assessments created extra time for accommodating the lab work and also allowed maximum face-to-face instruction during class. The standardized assessments measured listening comprehension, grammar, reading comprehension, and creative writing. THE STUDY At the ends of the spring, summer, and fall semesters of 1998, a questionnaire on student perceptions about technology use for language instruction was administered to students enrolled in the first-semester Spanish TELL classes. TELL was implemented in the second-semester classes for the first time in the fall, so students in the second-semester classes also completed the questionnaire in the fall. Twenty out of 21 sections completed the questionnaire. This included 16 sections of first-semester Spanish students and 4 sections of second semester Spanish students. The total of 358 students completed the questionnaire in the CAI classes out of an enrollment of 449 students. The study was designed to elicit answers to the following questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. What role did the instructor play in TELL, and how important was the instructor's presence? Were the lab and the online resources accessible and useful to students? What was the technology's perceived effect on the learning of subject matter and language skills? Did students enjoy the TELL activities and experience, and were the activities relevant to either their present or future use of Spanish? 5. Did students perceive that they gained confidence as a learner, gained technical skills, or improved their performance on class assessments as a result of the TELL experience? The questionnaire contained 45 statements with which students were asked to indicate whether they strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed, or strongly disagreed. These statements elicited information about students' perceptions in five categories: a) teachers' usefulness and facilitative behavior in the TELL environment, b) the usefulness and/or accessibility of the online resources or the lab environment itself, c) the effect of TELL on learning subject matter and skills, d) the effect of TELL on student interest and enjoyment of Spanish or the relevance of the activities to their present or future study of Spanish, e) the effect of TELL on students' confidence as learners, technical skills, and performance on class assessments. Two additional questions asked for information regarding students' perceptions about time commitment. Another question concerning the use of an online tutor was eliminated, since this feature was discontinued due to staffing problems.
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION For the purposes of this article, data are reported in numbers and percentages of student responses for each statement, as shown in the Appendix. The statements are ordered from those receiving the highest number to the lowest number of responses expressing agreement. Teacher Usefulness or Facilitation More than 89% of the students agreed or strongly agreed that the instructor interacted with the students to facilitate difficulties with the Spanish activities. Students also believed that the instructor provided other kinds of language assistance, with 88% agreeing (34% of the total respondents agreeing strongly) that the instructor provided vocabulary help. Over 85% agreed that the instructor interacted with them to facilitate difficulties in the computer use. Over 85% also agreed that having an instructor present during the lab increased learning potential in the class. Moreover, for a small majority of students, the need for instructor facilitation did not seem to decrease after initial learning curve demands were met. Over half (54.2%) disagreed with the statement, "Once I learned how to do the activities, the presence of the instructor was not necessary." Students strongly perceived that their instructors facilitated instruction and that they were important to the TELL environment. This perception corresponds to conclusions by other researchers (Becker, 1994; Glisan et al., 1998; Kern, 1996; McGrath, 1998) that the teacher's role is significant in technologymediated instruction. Glisan et al. conclude that teacher behaviors such as conducting review lessons, stimulating students to respond during lessons, and offering praise are important in the learning process. McGrath concludes that introducing technology resources alone into students' learning experience does not automatically result in improvement. He found that both the preparation and the knowledge of teachers about technology, as well as how to integrate and refine the lesson with technology, were the key to whether it was effective or not. Kern states that "the degree to which computer-mediated communication promotes language and content learning, cultural awareness, and critical reflection depends fundamentally on the teachers who coordinate its use" (p. 118). Access to Lab and Resources Most students (81.3%) agreed that they had adequate access to a computer. Additionally, they seemed to prefer a lab environment, with over 73% reporting that they liked the learning environment of a regularly scheduled lab. Less than half (46.1%) expressed a desire to do all the activities at their own computer without any lab access. Less than 35% expressed a preference for having access to the lab at any time, without any scheduled lab. These findings seem to lend support to the statements by students that indicated the importance of an instructor's facilitative presence. Perceptions Concerning the Effect on Learning Time Invested Almost 71% of the students felt that they invested more time on the technology-enhanced course than they would have in a regular Spanish class. Slightly over 36% "strongly agreed" with this response. Time on task may be considered to be a learning benefit, since it is frequently cited as a factor in achievement, and was found to be important in this respect in Glisan, Dudt, and Howe's study (1998). Learning of Culture Approximately two-thirds of the students perceived that they had learned more about Hispanic culture in the TELL environment than they would have in a regular class (67.6%) and that the information from the lab activities contributed greatly to their knowledge of Hispanic culture (65.4%). These findings corroborate Sanaoui and Lapkin's (1992) finding that the use of technology enhances cultural awareness. In spite of this increased cultural knowledge, in the present study, few students developed enough interest in culture to pursue it on their own. The statement that elicited the lowest agreement (17.0%) was, "I returned to Hispanic -related sites that I used or found on the Web to explore
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further on my own." This was a disappointing finding, as the course designers had hoped to influence students toward sustained learning goals involving Hispanic culture. Communication Skills Students seemed to believe that the lab activities were beneficial to their communicative skills, although the majority expressed only moderate agreement with these statements. Almost two-thirds agreed that their listening and reading skills had improved in Spanish as a result of the lab activities (65.9% and 63.4%, respectively). These perceptions of improved listening and reading skills with technology lend support to findings of improved listening skills reported by Glisan et al. (1998) and students' perceptions of improved reading skills reported by Beauvois (1994) and Lunde (1990). Value of Specific Components In response to questions about the learning benefits of specific components, a slight majority of students (52.2%) believed that they had learned a significant amount from the interactive CD-ROM. This finding seems to contradict students' reported perceptions about improved listening skills, since the CD-ROM was the only component with any degree of listening activity. Moreover, the CD-ROM also had a function that allowed audio texts to be visually displayed, permitting students to read texts to aid comprehension. Markham (1999) found that students showed increased listening comprehension of target language videos when there was target language captioning. If listening skills had improved, as students reported in the general questions, the increase would have to be attributed to the CD-ROM, in spite of the lukewarm beliefs about its learning value. Only 43% of the students reported that they had learned a significant amount from the Internet task-based activities, and, in spite of the real life nature of the tasks, only a small majority (54.2%) perceived them to be relevant to real-life needs in Spanish. The first finding seems to contradict student perceptions that reading skills had improved. In addition to written application tasks, the Internet activities required the students to read large amounts of authentic texts and complete reading comprehension activities. If reading skills had improved, it was likely that the increase was due largely to the Internet activities. Although it seems that students would have attributed their reported gains in cultural knowledge to the Internet activities, they did not seem to see a relationship between the Internet activities' authentic cultural and linguistic material and their improvement in cultural knowledge or reading skills. This linking failure is an area for further investigation. Writing Skills Only 50% of the students believed that their writing skills had improved when evaluating the general effect of technology-enhanced instruction on writing skills. Fewer felt that they had learned a considerable amount from the threaded discussion or pen pal activities (30.2% and 27.9%, respectively). Furthermore, since less than half of the students (43%) attributed learning value to the Internet activities, it appears that they did not believe that any of the writing activities (Internet, pen pal letters, or threaded discussion) contributed significantly to the development of writing skills. Conrad (1999) found that when compared to fourth semester students, first semester language students gave low priority value to writing skills. Therefore, since the large majority of students in this study were first semester students, this may explain our findings. Additionally, no explicit writing instruction took place in this study, nor was there any formal error correction, as in the study reported by Beauvois (1998). Instead, the experiential nature of the activities in this course more closely matched the activities suggested by Sanaoui and Lapkin (1992). In this e-mail project, "communication of meaning prevailed over error avoidance and accuracy in speaking and some components of writing practice" (p. 535). While students in this study improved aspects of their language use, researchers found that there was a "...need to emphasize the procedural aspects of writing through an explicit process-centered approach" (p. 544). They warned instructors that "...second language writing instruction directed mostly to the ... use of the second language will not necessarily improve learners' writing abilities" (p. 545). Moreover, in follow-up focus groups at Florida State University, the graduate teaching assistants (TAs) working in classes in the current study said that students often hurriedly put together their writing assignments in order to "get the job done." It appears that students rushed to complete their Internet
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activity before the end of lab, which probably resulted in lower quality work and, consequently, lower value attributed to the work. This represented a very different situation from the networking project reported by Beauvois (1994), where students reported feeling less time pressure and had plenty of time to carefully compose a response. In that project, students stated that the lab was not stressful and that they could take their time to monitor grammar and express ideas, responding at their own pace. Lastly, the grading procedure for the Internet and threaded discussion assignments did not discriminate for the quality of work done. No formal feedback took place, and students were automatically given credit if assignments were completed. Furthermore, although pen pal letters were graded, TAs felt that the habit of quickly writing responses to complete Internet and threaded discussion assignments was generalized to the pen pal activities. To summarize, in spite of the fact that two-thirds or more of the students reported that their listening and reading skills, as well as their cultural knowledge, had improved, none of the individual technology components were rated highly for their learning value. Less than half (45%) felt that they had learned more Spanish language skills than they would have learned in a regular Spanish course. The perceptions about the learning value of the individual components and the TELL experience in general may have been influenced by students' feelings of lack of control over time pressures, since they conveyed strongly that the technology-enhanced class required a significant amount of time investment. Although the majority said they completed their Internet activities in an hour or less, almost 37% disagreed. Many, therefore, felt pressured to finish during their lab time. Nowaczyk (1998) found that time pressures played a negative role in students' perceptions of the effectiveness of multimedia, particularly among low-achieving students. Enjoyment and Interest In spite of divided perceptions about the instructional value of the TELL, twothirds (66%) of the students agreed that the computer lab made the course more interesting, and slightly more than half (52%) said that they would take another technology-enhanced class in Spanish. Slightly less than half of the respondents (48%) said that, if given a choice between a regular Spanish class and a computer-assisted class, they would take the latter. Therefore, despite the fact that approximately twothirds of the students expressed a high interest level in the computer-assisted classes, almost half preferred traditional face-to-face instruction. This discrepancy may be due to the high time commitment required for the computer-assisted classes, or it may represent a need among certain groups of students for more personalized interaction with an instructor. Approximately two-thirds of the students (64%) found the CD-ROM to be enjoyable, not a surprising finding since it contained a highly engaging mystery story. Students also attributed more learning value to the CD-ROM than to the other components. It appears that they perceived that they had learned the most from that which they enjoyed the most, attributing both learning and interest value to one component. This observation differs from Nowaczyk's study (1998) in which college students differentiated between the effect of the multimedia instruction on their interest level and its effect on their understanding of the content. The students did not especially enjoy the TELL writing activities. Furthermore, less than half (41.3%) said they enjoyed the Internet activities, although slightly more (50%) found them interesting. Fewer (38%) reported that they enjoyed the pen pal or the threaded discussion activities (33%). These were surprising responses, since much of the work in the TELL classes involved authentic assignments that were expected to stimulate student interest and enjoyment. These divided responses may represent personality type preferences, for which there was no control in the study. In one study of personality types and TELL (Beauvois, 1996), it was shown that introverts perceived computer-mediated communication less positively, both linguistically and affectively, than did extroverts.
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Perceptions Concerning Effect on Learner Confidence, Technical Skills, and Class Assessments Learner Confidence and Technical Skills For a clear majority of students, however, the CAI instruction appeared to have had certain benefits In spite of the fact that 57.8% of the students reported that they were initially frustrated by activities in the Spanish language, almost 72% agreed they had gained confidence in their ability to complete the complex, task-based activities. A majority (54%) also believed that they had gained confidence in their ability to use technology successfully. These reports corroborate research showing that CAI students gain confidence in language use as well as in the use of the computer (Beauvois, 1994; Cononelos & Oliva, 1993; Lunde, 1990; Sanaoui & Lapkin, 1992). Slightly more than 79% of students believed they had learned how to be resourceful in finding the meaning of difficult words or phrases on their own, and almost two-thirds (65%) expressed a gain in confidence as independent learners. These findings also relate to other studies in which learner control in a technology enhanced environment is cited as a motivating factor in increased language use. (Beauvois, 1994, 1998; Warschauer, 1996). Additionally, these perceptions support results from the Blackstock study (1993) which concluded that students engaged in technological interactive learning environments became independent "knowledge navigators." These beginning students successfully and independently negotiated the linguistically complex Internet and interactive CD-ROM environments. Findings of this study do not support Paul's (1990) contention that technology discourages the development of independent learners. Paul contends that prepackaged materials carry an intrinsic authority which is unquestioned by students, and that the use of prescribed online reference materials does not encourage research skills. It appears that a more open, complex learning environment, as opposed to the prepackaged, content-driven technology courses described by Paul, does provide students with the opportunity to become independent learners. Class Assessments Only 41% of the students stated that their general experiences in the computer lab helped them improve their scores. The tests and quizzes given in class did not contain questions to evaluate their lab work. Nowaczyk (1998) found that students attributed learning value primarily to those multimedia components that directly related to course examinations, regardless of the intrinsic learning value of the material. Warschauer (1996) also found that the degree to which computer-based projects were integrated into general course goals and structure correlated to differences in student motivation. The less than enthusiastic perceptions concerning the general experiences in the TELL classes may be due to the fact that there was no direct link between individual electronic components and classroom assessments and structure. On a more positive note, students generally did not feel that the TELL hurt their performance on class tests and quizzes. In fact, over 72% disagreed with the statement that the TELL was detrimental to their performance on class assessments. This may indirectly imply that the TELL contributed to the acquisition of the skills measured on the tests and quizzes, since these students had one day per week less of face to face instruction than students in the regular classes. This represents an area for further study, as there seems to be a dearth of data concerning the effect of technology enhanced instruction on regular class assessments in foreign language. Divided Perceptions The students' divided perceptions about both the learning as well as the enjoyment value of the individual lab components may be a reflection of the discomfort caused by a holistic learning environment. Here, the student must confront a certain level of ambiguity, engage in a wide array of learning choices, and make meaning out of material presented in a nonlinear fashion. Moreover, it may also be difficult for students in a whole language environment to realistically evaluate their own learning. In this study, holistic learning consisted of authentic texts, large amounts of linguistic material, and student engagement in the construction of complex knowledge evaluated through performance-based measures, as opposed to
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traditional testing. These students, however, did not appear to value the performance-based measures, as evidenced by both their responses and the TA comments. This was a real problem, since traditionally students regard tests as the measure of their achievement , and there was no other yardstick by which they could self assess their lab learning. Furthermore, the Internet activities were inherently more holistic and authentic than the CD-ROM, although the latter provided many internal supports, resources, and traditional building block reinforcement activities with its structured story line. The students preferred the CD-ROM, despite the fact that the Internet activities led them through a planned sequence of whole language exercises, including such features as advance organizers and recognition activities as well as exploration activities, to enable them to deconstruct texts, see relationships, and complete task-based activities. The preference for more traditional structure among these beginning students is consonant with a study by Conrad (1999) who found that first semester students in regular foreign language classes favored repetition and structured activities over more creative linguistic activities. Moreover, the majority of the students in this study were students who had little or no or no prior experience in the subject matter. In a 1986 study of university students, Young (1986) found that for those courses in which students have little background, specific sequencing contributes more to learner motivation, positive attitudes, and student success than in courses where students have a knowledge base. The lack of structure in the threaded discussions and Internet activities may have negatively affected student attitudes toward the learning as well as the interest value of these activities. Glisan et al. (1998) found that the capability of the delivery system itself to facilitate learner interaction is important in determining the effectiveness of the technology. Therefore, the lack of a strong endorsement for the learning and interest value of the CAI components may also be a reflection of insufficient facilitation within a complex learning environment. Additionally, in spite of the reported high level of teacher facilitation, the computer la b was primarily an independent learning environment. Videotaped observations demonstrated that there was generally less student-to-student interaction, and less teacher-to-student interaction in the lab than in the regular classroom, unlike the computer-mediated projects cited earlier (Beauvois, 1994, 1998; Hartman et al., 1995). Nowaczyk (1998) also found that the use of technology resulted in a reduction in the amount of person-to-person interaction in the class and in less willingness on the part of students to ask questions. Even in regular classrooms, Lee (1993) found that low achieving students greatly valued teacher interaction and that all students perceived consistent teacher interaction as a mark of caring behavior. Lee also found that the degree of perception of teacher caring behaviors correlated positively to students' sense of efficacy. In a technological environment, where interactions are reduced, this may be reduced, and some students may experience increased difficulties and blame the learning activities themselves. Pedagogical Implications and Conclusions This study implies that instructors have an important role in technology enhanced learning environments, especially those that incorporate complex learning paradigms involving constructivist or whole language principles. It corroborates other reports (Glisan, et al., 1998; Kern, 1996; McGrath, 1998; Weiss, 1994), which indicate that the role of an instructor as facilitator is important and complex in technologyenhanced environments and involves well-developed instructional skills. The issue of teacher facilitation must also be addressed in such environments. Although students in this study rated teacher interaction favorably, negative perceptions about the learning value of the instructional components may imply that instructor facilitation was still insufficient. This may be especially true for low ability students, who have needs for increased assistance, (Lee, 1993) and for students with little prior background (Young, 1986).
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Instructors working in learning environments mediated by technology need support and preparation to adopt new roles. Paul (1990) states that there is frequently role confusion and ambivalence among instructors working with students using technology, noting that there is internal conflict between the notion of creating an independent learner and natural instructor feelings of responsibility. Professional development must include those skills necessary for the instructor to function appropriately as a facilitator and co-learner, rather than as an information purveyor. The development of professional skills must also include new pedagogical as well as technical and routine management skills. In addition to the facilitative teaching skills by Glisan et al. (1998) which were cited earlier, instructors must learn to negotiate meaning with students in an unpredictable environment in which any question may be asked at any moment. Such unpredictability precludes the extensive preparation and resulting customary security of a structured lesson in a regular classroom. Instructors must learn to encourage students (and themselves) to engage in a holistic, rather than linear, learning process, thus allowing students to ask grammar questions "out of order," and answering such questions in a way that encourages elaboration. They must also learn to create opportunities for increased person-toperson interaction within a lab environment, and at the same time, manage these interactions and keep them task-focused. Issues dealing with the design of the curriculum must also be addressed. Some structured activities and scaffolding activities that activate background knowledge or provide advance organizers should be carefully sequenced within a holistic curriculum to enable every learner to negotiate the environment in a positive manner. Less able learners appear to learn more from drill and tutorial programs than more able learners (Rockman, in Weiss, 1994) and beginning students, in general, appear to value a certain amount of repetition and structure (Conrad, 1999). Paul (1990) draws attention to the conflict that exists between structured, mastery-based learning that dissuades the development of the independent learner and the challenging environments that enable students to take responsibility for their own learning. This tension must be considered in making curricular instructional design decisions for TELL. Additionally, the pace of the curriculum must be addressed to accommodate time constraints and feelings of student control, especially for low achieving students. The issue of writing skills within the TELL curriculum must also be addressed. Simply writing for real needs did not increase the motivation and performance of the majority of the students in this study. The basic level of the students' grammar and vocabulary knowledge may have played a role in both their motivation and performance; however, time pressures and non-graded performance-based assignments appeared to be the inhibiting factors. To encourage quality work, the number of writing assignments must be manageable, freedom from overly limiting time constraints must be given within the lab period, and explicit procedural aspects must be emphasized. A system of evaluation that differentiates quality in lab assignments and threaded discussions must also be implemented. The development of a writing mentoring program with foreign language experts similar to that described by Mather (1997) might be considered as a means to improve students' writing as well. Lastly, accountability for lab work must extend beyond performance-based measures. In spite of reported gains in listening and reading skills, students did not seem to link these achievements to the performancebased activities of the TELL components, nor did they highly value these activities. Since students appear to value multimedia components that directly relate to exams (Nowazcyk, 1998), measures must be implemented that link TELL activities to regular assessments, so that students attribute relevancy and educational benefits to technology-enhanced instruction. CONCLUSION This descriptive study has illustrated the perceptions of one group of university students about language learning in a technology environment. These were beginning language learners who perhaps had limited
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Spanish skills as well as limited motivation and performance. The students' perceptions regarding the effect of technology-enhanced instruction on their learning of Spanish requires follow-up study. Reports in the research note that teachers' jobs are harder in the early stages of a technology's implementation, that positive changes from technology are more evolutionary than revolutionary, and that these changes occur as teachers become more experienced with the technology (Weiss, 1994). Data has been collected for the year following this study and is currently being compiled to determine whether the staff's increased experience, as well as the absence of routine initial problems, such as computer glitches, planning issues, and scheduling and reporting proble ms, positively affect student perceptions. The TELL classes described in this article have continued to the present, with some modifications indicated by the feedback provided by the students in this study. This study has several limitations. The information is self-reported, and factors that may influence student perceptions such as student ability, prior experience with technology, prior background in Spanish, and personality type, were not considered. Also, due to the descriptive, rather than statistical, nature of the data, results may not be generalized to other TELL programs. Nevertheless, since little research is available on student perceptions about language learning using a variety of multimedia, this study may provide insights to universities currently implementing or contemplating the implementation of technology enhanced instruction. More empirical studies should be conducted concerning the effect of multimedia instruction on student perceptions and the relationship between such perceptions and the actual achievement of specific skills. In addition, studies should be conducted to compare second language learning in a holistic, constructivist TELL environment as opposed to more structured TELL environments. Studies should be conducted concerning the role of the instructor in the TELL environment, in order to identify those teacher behaviors and interactions most favorable to students' second language acquisition. Such studies may contribute to a future knowledge base that will shape and improve curriculum and instruction mediated by technology. APPENDIX Category 1 -- Perceptions Concerning Teacher Role and Facilitation
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Category 2 -- Perceptions Concerning Access to Lab and Computers
Category 3 -- Perceptions Concerning Effect on Learning
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Category 4 -- Perceptions on Interest and Relevance
Category 5 -- Perceptions Concerning Effect on Confidence as a Learner, Technical Skills, and Class Assessments
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jonita Stepp-Greany is the Spanish Language Program Director in the Department of Modern Languages at Florida State University. She has coordinated and assisted in the design of electronic components for basic and intermediate Spanish and Spanish for Careers and has served as a curriculum consultant and provider of foreign language teacher professional development in the State of Florida. E-mail: jstepp@mailer.fsu.edu REFERENCES Beauvois, M. (1994). E-talk: Attitudes and motivation in computer-assisted classroom discussion. Computers and the Humanities, 28(1), 177-190. Beauvois, M. (1996). Personality types and megabytes: Student attitudes toward computer mediated communication (CMC) in the language classroom. CALICO Journal, 13(2-3), 27-45. Beauvois, M. (1998) Conversations in slow motion: Computer-mediated communication in the foreign language classroom. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 54(2), 198-217. Becker, H. J. (1994). How our best computer-using teachers differ from other teachers: implications for realizing the potential of computers in schools. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 26(3), 291-321. Blackstock Junior High School: Multimedia technology drives smart school (1993). Technology and Learning, 14(1), 41-44. Blyth, C. (1997). A constructivist approach to grammar: Teaching teachers to teach aspect. The Modern Language Journal, 81(1), 50-66. Brooks, J., & Brooks, M. (1993). The case for constructivist classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Brownlee-Conyers, J. (1996). Voices from networked classrooms. Educational Leadership, 54(3), 34-37. Cononelos, T., & Oliva, M. (1993). Using computer networks to enhance foreign language/culture education. Foreign Language Annals, 26(4), 527-533. Conrad, D. (1999). The student view on effective practices in the college elementary and intermediate foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 32(4), 494-512. Coverdale -Jones, T. (2000). The use of video-conferencing as a communication tool for language learning: Issues and considerations. IALL Journal, 32(1), 27-40. Crawford, J. (1993). The effects of whole language instruction on community college learners. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Florida, 1993). Dissertation Abstracts International, 55, 136A. Dwyer, D. (1996). A response to Douglas Noble: We're in this together. Educational Leadership, 54(3), 24-27. Fountas, I., & Hannigan, I. (1989). Making sense of whole language. Childhood Education, 65, 133-137.
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Glisan, G., Dudt, K., & Howe, M. (1998). Teaching Spanish through distance education: Implications of a pilot study. Foreign Language Annals, 31, 48-66. Hartman, K., Neuwirth, C., Kiesler, S., Sproull, L., Cochran, C., Palmquist, M., & Zabrow, D. (1995). Patterns of social interaction and learning to write: Some effects of network technologies. In Z. Berge & M. Collins (Eds.), Computer-mediated communication and the online classroom (pp. 47-78). Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc. Kern, R. (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Using E-mail exchanges to explore personal histories in two cultures. In M. Warschauer (Ed.), Telecollaboration in foreign language learning: Proceedings of the Hawai'i symposium (pp. 105-109). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i, Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center. Lebow, D. (1993). Constructivist values for instructional systems design: Five principles toward a new mindset. Educational Technology Research and Development: ETR&D, 41(3), 104-116. Lee, P. K. (1993). A case study: students' perceptions of caring manners of educational le aders and its relation to their learning outcomes. (Doctoral dissertation, Florida State University, 1993). Dissertation Abstracts International, 54, 377A Lunde, K (1990). Using electronic mail as a medium for foreign language study and instruction. CALICO Journal, 7(3), 68-78. Markham, P. (1999). Captioned videotapes and second-language listening word recognition. Foreign Language Annals, 32, 321-328. Mather, M. (1997). Mentoring, digital style. Technology and Learning, 18(4), 16-21. McGrath, B. (1998). Partners in learning: twelve ways technology changes the teacher-student relationship. Technological Horizon In Education, 25(9), 58-62. Nowaczyk, R. (1998). Student perception of multimedia in the undergraduate classroom. International Journal of Instructional Media, 25, 367-368. Paul, R. (1990). Open learning and open management. London: Kogan Page Ltd. Salaberry, M. (2001). The use of technology for second language learning and teaching: a retrospective. The Modern Language Journal, 85(1), 41-56. Sanaoui, R., & Lapkin, S. (1992). A case study of an FSL senior secondary course integrating computer networking. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 43(3), 524-552. Schrum, J., & Glisan, E. (2000). Teacher's Handbook: Contextualized Language Instruction. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle. Warschauer, M. (1996). Motivational aspects of using computers for writing and communication. In M. Warschauer (Ed.), Telecollaboration in foreign language learning: Proceedings of the Hawai'i symposium (Technical Report # 12; pp. 29-46). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i, Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center. Weaver, C. (1990). Understanding whole language. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books. Weiss, J. (1994). Keeping up with the research. Technology and Learning, 14(5), 30-34. Young, J. (1986). The effects of three different sequences of instruction on student performance and attitudes in a teacher education course (Doctoral dissertation, Florida State University, 1986). Dissertation Abstracts International, 47, 244.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF REVIEWERS
Language Learning & Technology would like to acknowledge and thank the following people who reviewed manuscripts for us during the production of Volume 5 and throughout the 2001 production year. Their contribution has helped make this journal a continued success. Jayne Abrate Maria Jose Alvarez-Torres Guy Aston Dalila Ayoun Lyle Bachman Peggy Beauvois Hank Becker Ylva Berglund Brian Bielenberg Daniel Blaine Robert Blake Carl Blyth Tim Boswood Klaus Brandl George Broadwell JD Brown Jack Cain John Clark Joseph Collentine Bernard Cornu Averil Coxhead Sandra Crespo Graham Crookes Gary Cziko Beatrice Daille Christiane Dalton-Puffer Boyd Davis Jim Davis Micheline Chalhoub-Deville Ivy Doak Patricia Dunkel Charles Elster Francis Favereau Lynne Flowerdew Norbert Francis Glenn Fulcher Smiljka Gee Chris Gledhill Ricki Goldman-Segall Victor Golla Margaret Gonglewsky Manuela Gonzalez-Bueno Paul Gruba Joan Kelly Hall Elizabeth Hanson-Smith Lucinda Hart-Gonzalez Kazumi Hatasa Volker Hegelheimer Monica Hill Peter Howarth Phil Hubbard Jan Hulstijn Ken Hyland Sophie Ioannou-Georgiou Mark Kaiser Bernhard Kettemann Philip King Celeste Kinginger Claudia Kost Steve Koziol Katherine Kulick B. Kumaravadivelu Joan Jamieson Elizabeth Joiner Przemyslaw Kaszubski Paul Kroskrity Marie-Noelle Lamy Karen Landahl Batia Laufer Glenn Levine Mike Levy Louise Lockard Lara Lomicka Gunter Lorenz Averil Loveless Allan Luke Mary Ann Lyman-Hager Alison Mackey Alesia Maltz Richard McCallum Carla Meskill Fanny Meunier Lydie Meunier Jef Moonen Andreas Mueller-Hartman Tim Murphy Paul Nation Hilary Nesi Catherine Nickerson Lourdes Ortega Francine Patterson Jill Pellettieri Jan Plass Vicki Purcell-Gates Randi Reppen Cameron Richards Richard Robin Warren Roby Robert Roseberry Jenise Rowekamp Michael Rundell Rafael Salaberry Josef Schmied Thomas Schullian Peter Schultz Mike Scott Leslie Sheldon Todor Shopov Claire Bradin Siskin Irena Bilc Slivar Gary Smith Anders Soderlund Susana Sotillo Robert St. Clair Masatoshi Sugiura Laura Sujo de Montes John Swales Henry Szymonik Maija Tammelin Paul Thompson Steve Thorne Thomas Upton Raf Uzar Leo van Lier Margaret van Naerssen Donald Weasenforth Glyn Williams Elizabeth Willis Weiping Wu Yong Zhao Eve Zyzik

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Volume 6, Number 1 January 2002

Feature Articles Columns

Social Dimensions of Telecollaborative Foreign Language Study

Effects of Students' Participation in Authoring of Multimedia Materials on Student Acquisition of Vocabulary

Acknowledgement of LLT Reviewers, Volume 5

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