Teaching Language Online: Balancing An Understanding of the Online Learner with Course Design

Professor Carolin McManusCollege of Southern Maryland

Leonardtown campus

Who are our online or distance learners?

What is the motivation for selecting an online course?

Necessity or freedom of scheduling(work, childcare, transportation, studying from a remote location)

Control over the pacing of the material (speed through familiar material, spend extra time on difficult concepts)

Gravitation toward a perceived short-cut. Online courses are perceived as having less time commitment and as being less difficult than traditional courses

Availability of less commonly taught languages

SLA: Second Language Acquisition

Learning a language other than your mother tongue (L1) requires years of intense study

The Foreign Service Institute estimates that it takes 700-1,320 hours of full-time instruction to reach a level of high fluency

Most college students spend 140-150 hours per academic year studying a second language

Not only is the exposure to the target language at issue, but quality of input is also a variable

The ideal learning environment

Immersion in the society and culture of the target language is the most efficient SLA method.

It is also the most expensive and disruptive to family life.

Less than 3% of college students go abroad.

CSM's travel study offerings

Can technology fill the gap?

In the last 5-10 years we’ve enjoyed a mushrooming of computer technology that we can harness to begin to fill the gap

-audio components linked to comprehension exercises, such as those found on Vistas Supersite

-video components with interactive transcripts-two-way (asynchronous or synchronous) voice

recording -voice recognition software-network-based communication (e-mail, user

groups, chat programs, blogs, wikis)-the web: (sixty-eight percent of the postings on

the web are non-English pages, YouTube audio/visual, e.g, a cartoon in the target language)

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is already showing promise

– asynchronous exchanges• written exercises• recorded exercise• e-mail• blogs• wikis

-synchronous exchangeswritten, recorded, and visual exchanges, parts of which can be archived

Synchronous CMC creates a community of inclusivity

– chats (synchronous written communication)• mode is comfortable for entering students• students write more (but with less linguistic accuracy)• task-based activities can be used (recommended)

– voice boards (can be archived), e.g., Wimba tools– bimodal (sound and chat) Breeze ($)– trimodal (sound and visual and text) Skype (cannot be

archived)• implications for international, cross-cultural exchange, such

as the MIT's Cultura Project

CMC and best practice

American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language (ACTFL) Standards: The Five Cs

CommunicationCommunicate in Languages Other Than EnglishACTFL 5Cs Communication Std 1.1: Students engage in

conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.

ACTFL 5Cs Communication Std 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics.

ACTFL 5Cs Communication Std 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics.

Communication

Cultures and Connections

CulturesGain Knowledge and Understanding of Other CulturesACTFL 5Cs Cultures Std 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding

of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied.

ACTFL 5Cs Cultures Std 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the culture studied.

ConnectionsConnect with Other Disciplines and Acquire InformationACTFL 5Cs Connections Std 3.1: Students reinforce and further their

knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language.ACTFL 5Cs Connections Std 3.2: Students acquire information and

recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures.

Comparisons and CommunitiesComparisonsDevelop Insight into the Nature of Language and CultureACTFL 5Cs Comparisons Std 4.1: Students demonstrate

understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own.

ACTFL 5Cs Comparisons Std 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.

CommunitiesParticipate in Multilingual Communities at Home & Around the WorldACTFL 5Cs Communities Std 5.1: Students use the language both

within and beyond the school setting.ACTFL 5Cs Communities Std 5.2: Students show evidence of

becoming life-long learners by using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment.

CMC and best practice

• Goals of CMC exchanges– negotiating meaning– working collaboratively– noticing gaps– directing the discourse to their own learning

needs (student driven)– allowing intercultural reflection

Challenges for language teachers• “Egbert, Paulus, and Kakamichi (2002) observe that

language teachers frequently incorporate into the curriculum only those technologies that they use outside of the school environment in their personal lives, despite whatever pre-service or in-service training courses they have received on CALL [computer-assisted language learning].

• The tendency is to gravitate toward new technology that fits current practices rather than transforming practice through the application of new technology.” (Blake 2008)

• Technology is constantly changing• Integrating new practices is time consuming and labor

intensive• Most of the training is self-directed• Trial and error

Despite the challenges, the effectiveness of CALL is backed up by

the SLA literature

What does the future bring?

From CALL to MALL

Mobile Assisted Language Learning

iPod

cell phone

PDA

microcomputer