System support for teaching and learning foreign languages

As stated in section 6.3.1, Trial 1 aimed to establish Wiether the desktop conferencing system as a whole could support small group teaching and learning in foreign languages. The broad answer was tiiat it could. Support for this comes fi'om observer checklists, expert evaluator reports and teacher and student questionnaires and focus groups.

Expert evaluators (see Appendix 7.8) describe the learning as "effective and rapid" and the system as: "A valid, multimedia tool fo r language teaching" and "ideal fo r small group tutorials".

They say it offers:

"The potential fo r profound and accurate learning from tasks set during an individual learning session and fo r development and consolidation o f communication skills over an extended period o f teaching sessions. "

The teachers had identified a list of tasks to be supported (see section 6.9.1). Evaluators stated that these were all seen:

"A variety o f language tasks was used during the trials, including reading comprehension, explanation and practice o f grammar, gap-fill exercises, oral practice and development, vocabulary building, writing and spelling. "

This is supported by analysis of observers' checklists (see also the sample completed checklist in Figure 6.8). Table 7.1 shows that the system was able to support all the activities cm the teaches' list'. The table also shows the fi-equency of their occurrmce during Trial One. Language teachCTS might be surprised by the proportions here but the results are affected by the fact that Latin is not a modem foreign language and that the course was in reading Latin. Although words were spoken, conversation in the language did not take place. Another possible surprise is the fact that "Writing" appears to have taken place in only about half the sessions. This is because observers did not record every act of writing in this category. Whai single words were written, this was often recorded as "Spelling" or "Vocabulary". As has been stated already, the list is flawed as an analysis tool in that the categories are not mutually exclusive.

Activity No. of s e s s io n s In w hich

activity w a s o b se rv e d to ta k e place. Total n u m b e r of s e s s io n s o b se rv e d P e rc e n ta g e of s e s s io n s In w hich activity w as o b se rv e d to ta k e p lace Conversation 24 29 83 Grammar 19 29 66 Spelling 8 29 28 Gap-filling 5 29 17 Reading 20 29 69 Writing 15 29 52 Vocabulary 25 29 86 Pronunciation 29 29 100

Table 7.1: Teaching Activities - Teachers' list (Coded T1-T8, Figure 6.8)- Trial One

Further support comes fi’om students in the Advanced French class (Trial 2). They regarded the system as being as good as, or better than, their fece-to-fece experience for reading, discussing texts, gap-filling exercises, grammar and writing - but less good for oral work because of fluctuating (sometimes poor) audio quality.

The above should be qualified, however. All participants considered that the system needed improvements. In particular, fluctuating sound quality and dependence on the network were cited as problems. The physical working area needed to be redesigned to give more space for books and papa's.

which teachers and students still used. They disliked the heavy headsets and some found the headset cable restricting. Lighting was not always considered adequate and "sudden disappearances" when users moved out of the camera's field o f view’, were disconcerting.

It should also be said that not all activities were carried out with ease. The sample screenshots (Figures 7.3 and 7.6, for example) indicate this. Both the objective and subjective data show that the lack o f text wrap, the crudeness of the mouse as a drawing tool, an awkward page-changing mechanism and what was described as the "phantom click"^ made some activities awkward.

The final qualification concerns the way in which such a system is used. First, expert evaluators, teachers and students were all aware that the small group size had a mainly positive impact on the learning. They also raised the question o f how large a group such a system could support. Secondly, evaluators and teachers stress the need to develop appropriate teaching resources and methodology, in order to make best use o f the system, in the longer term.

O f the named, target activities, based on classroom observation (see section 5.3.3), only Caption activities were not seen. However, the range of "other activities" used in the remote lessons was narrower than in the face-to-face Spanish class. First, the virtual space in which the tutorials took place was not one in which participants could physically move around. This cut out activities which involved moving round the room. Second, it was not possible to split into pairs or change partners for activities involving speech, because all the participants shared a single channel and all speech was heard by everyone. Another aspect o f sharing also reduced the range o f activities: it was not possible for text to be concealed and then revealed, using the shared workspace. This eliminated a group o f activities which seemed, in the face-to- face Spanish classes (section 5.3.3), to be important. Finally, although almost every activity-type was seen, activities were unevenly dispersed with, for example, a very large number o f tabulating tasks observed in Trial 2.

.TOLEPAMÇE

limit»

OU ANT LA TOLERANCE ET OU COMMENCE L MNFFERANCE ? p»rmiBsivits b o m » v o t a n t » TOLÉRANT permiBEif lax a t . ÈmE TOLERANT aginns p as aga- conaantir paidarmar- aoceptar la pcaii • hcataroiind ihebush <^tD ia-naraiito u rd u p o T ^ ksauN ^ assimilar

This Is part of a them e-based series of lessons, including study of texts and discussion. This page is the basis of a discussion about different views of tolerance: it can be seen on one hand, as resulting from wisdom and benevolence,, or on the other as lax or permissive. Students are discussing with the teacher. Vocabulary extension is one object of this activity.

The discussion also considers (as shown in red, top right) where tolerance ends and indifference begins. Here, an arrow has been drawn to indicate the link between this and the question of whether/when one ought to take action. Drawing has also been used to highlight the phrase, "tourner autour du pot", and to explain its meaning (to beat around the bush). The teacher has drawn an arrow to indicate a circling round the spot in the middle, much as one might gesture in the air.

Figure 7.1: Sample workspace page ( w b )

^ Som e ad ditional sy stem fe atu res req u ested by te a ch e rs and stu d en ts w ere a tim e r on th e interface, a reco rd a n d p lay b ack facility, a telep h o n e in th e ro o m , th e ab ility to share a u d io a n d v id eo files an d to zo o m in on a v id e o im ag e (to show th e lips, fo r instance). M ore in fo rm atio n ab o u t th ese can be found in th e a p p en d ices.

’ A p ro b lem sp ecific to th e SGI w o rk sta tio n s used; th e w h ite b o a rd 's c lick -to -ty p e m e c h an ism did not alw ay s w ork first tim e.

ry tlin ic d f f f rièi cs, le temps du ramadan, q u a ti d ^ n c sont pas l'o p in u n des iidèles cl le i cgime qu’il leur iau L La deuxième est que l’Mam m aindcni la femme dans un statut d ’infériorité insupportable à nos m urs cl à nos lois, jL a troisième est qu’il a développé dans certaines de ses undi Lions un 1 an alisme abominable. Ce n 'est pas tout à fait un hasard si aucun pays musulman ne pratique encore, A notre manière, la démocratie libérale. Un connaisseur. V.S. Naipaul, met le doigt sur l’essentiel. ’La religion, pour un musulman, écrit-il, n’est pas affaire de conscience et de pratiques privées comme le christinnisme peut l’être pour jt^t^Eurcpéen. Accepter l'islam, c'est accepter (. .. 1 un CCTtain

This is part of the sam e series of lessons as Figure 7.1. The text being discussed is about the Muslim festival of Ramadan. Students are working, with the teacher, to enum erate the key points/essential ideas in the text They underline and number these.

Everyone acts on the text, underlining, circling, drawing. A small red line has been used to indicate the division between points 2 and 3. Yellow circles highlight important words and phrases. An arrow is used to indicate relationship (that

"conscience " and "pratiques privées" are part of the European, Christian religion and not Islam).

Figure 7.2: Sample workspace page (wb)

J ai une voituro. Elio, alto routo. moi

lui im

.lo « ri« j5n»* Ip poinl « iK lw r U e. rKHK/cain velomants Null* autre poudr* a# laver est ggn^^uePer^l. loi, tu e s t e n re ta rd le s g e n s s o n t s u r le p o in t d 'e tr e tu a s n u lle a u tr e lle u r n 'e s t a u s s i t ^ l e s e td e s te s p e tite s a im e n t jo u e p a s I g jw 'ie l t^ q u i n e a e ptairalrait a ^ n t _ o a t » i t a u t*ar, a u ta n t o n re fu s e Moi, j'en v«n*

D c»t sui le petal d ' «cliever »cii but Nulle autre voiture s 'e s t a i s u rapide

lui, il a plus de courage que ses frères les problèmes sont sur le point d'être résolus / de se résoudre. au.ssi N ul#anlrc politicien n est im m ennuyeux JSenW l'hiver est si froid qu il peut neige r un A glaû qui n ’aime pas Beatles' Il est anglais.

Cast laiAnglaB.

^Autant on ntei| le chaufTage, autant on paie des factures très chérit

Autant on veil las garas, aUanI on refise las IIspes. j u t a n t on veut (g j ustice, autan ton devra

conduir plus lentement

The students are working on the use of pronouns (moi, lui, elle, nous etc ), listed by a student in yellow, with an addition from the teacher, whose text is blue.

The page has been divided with a line, to give separate working areas but this is simply a matter of organising space, unlike the use of tables, in which position carries meaning.

There are three students. They have written their own examples of pronoun usage. Corrections to syntax and spelling have been made, mainly by the teacher.

Figure 7.3: Sample workspace page (wb)

PHRASES COKXnONNELES SI + PRESENT + FUTURE

2J

81 + liyPARFAn- + C O W m O W g L P RESENT (R)

XI

SI + PLUS-QUE-PARFAIT + CONTmOFMEL PASSE (R)

This is an example of the use of the shared workspace to post

reference material, which students can use as they work. The page was also used as the basis for an explanation by the teacher. The teacher has displayed and explained a se t of simple rules governing use of conditional phrases in different sentences (eg.

If I do this I w ill.... If I dfd this I

w ould.... If I had done this I would

h a v e... etc.)

The yellow underlining is to reinforce a point about the number of parts to the verb (It is the sam e in both parts of the sentence; 2 in example 3 but 1 in the others). The (R) at the end of each example is to remind students that the correct form of the verb contains that letter.

Figure 7.4: Sample workspace page (wb)

2. Exigé. UOUBfXifiSSQg

anaWanoman* ,d « 4 6 » « , n , b.

fin du HBWrnalmnf Brimürei »= «e

b fa c u lté d e s 'lâeajHlIGGB'- N o u s q u e 9 a s e n l e t i s rem p lace dblogy», dJxjBjréritabto^o^éra^on ggleggug^étudbntSL

a g i ! YK, I irtfUTi ti redMKlK, b

yral triYiyi m « m m iin ramniarMi

e n fin b j g d g g ^ ^ j A l g g l e d e s a m p h ith é â tre s . N o u s ex ig eo n s q u e le s q u ’il ta ille

1

v euille voidiorK c ’e s t d o m m a g e q u ’il n e s o it p a s v e n u n o u s e x ig e o n s q u e i e n w ig n e m e n i illu so ire e t s c le r o s a n t tir a s s e n t

n o u s e x ig e o n s q u e la p a te rn a lism e p r iir a lr e e t le fait d 'a v o ir d e s o ie s g av e s a o U r e m p la c e p a r u n reel d ia lo g i e t u n e v e rlfa td e c o o p e ra tio n p ro ll

p o ie n t

In this example, the text on the left hand side is being used to teach grammar points. The text contains examples of use of the subjunctive. Teaching and reference points (subjunctive verb endings and irregular forms) are written opposite the text. Lines are used to draw attention to two of these. The phrase that introduces these uses of the subjunctive is underlined in blue (Nous exigeons que) with the need for "que" highlighted on the right of the text. This is compared with the use of "nous exigeons" (without "que"), which is followed by a noun rather than a verb.

In the lower right hand corner students have extracted and adapted parts of the text to make use of the subjunctive verb.

Figure 7.5: Sample workspace page (wb)

le p o rt d u voile a u th o rise ' TOLERENCE

m u s u lm a n s non-musulmans

> JJn s a n s » a u Ils penserqn« les s 'in té g r e r d a n s musnlmans ne veulent pas la v le ^ s c o la lre s 'L a tc ^ r d a n s I a société (ran g p ise el francMsp

a u mêm e te m p s la c ô n n a ls a a n c e d e s Ils peuvent ; a u tr e s e l le po u v o ir p ra c tic e r le u rs d 'a c c e p te r le s ^ tra d itio n s. c u ltu re s d iffé re n te Us v o n ^ y d i q n ' I

ils ont e t f bien acneillis en iTagcei on un pays quclco4]uc. d e s le pndquar le p o n a u voue iniercai INTOLERENCE musulmans üs vont devoir SMez sopareÿos ^ancaia et ü s lM i jinl iie tlti-.

vont se metier d'eux la v io len ce e t d e s s e n tim e n ts tr è s negatü^ps. n o rv m u - .u n e g e n e ra tio n d e s je u n e s q id vont o p te r p o u r le P »l'SMiîJgaLpril

.tout le monde qui a des orientations politiques ?droit% afkre content

Prior to this activity the group had read an article about disputes relating to Muslim girls' wearing a veil.

The teacher has drawn the table with two main headings: tolerance and intolerance of the wearing of the veil. Under the subheadings, the students write what they think the implications of each attitude are for Muslims and non-Muslims.

This was followed by work on language use.

Figui^ 7.6: Sample workspace page D«s sdlons 4DX 6tat«-#ajorm d'ntraprÎM , Lea

ftm m es françaises ont t ou] oars su se faire entendre des hommes « iUi XVIIe siècle, la préciosité fut 1 'ejqiresaion a6m des valeurs féminines, remarque Ilisahcth Badinter. Molière s'est moqoé des précieuses, mais i l n esyWw que les honsies se sont alxgpnés. Ils ont cessé de se moncher dns lenrs doigts et de roter en pidilic. # Aniourd'hui qu'elles ont investi las bureaux directonaix. les f cames propagent des valeurs différentes dans le noaaqtment. « On e n tiquait hier le côté tdkonqemit et affect i f des femmes,

i l faut avoir d

« nous sommes

W BOT

ON HfiNVBl

multiples facettes pour savoir gérer la oosplesite. La flexibilité fésanixie est me râleur en/// ‘hstsse Reste, pour les PDO. à la découvrir...

Hisia n. TTKe siècle, période « clair-obscur, le droit à la parole a'a jamais été dénié au « bean saxe ». « J 'ai tetxouvé des manuels de savoir-nvre à l'usage des jeuies filles d ata t de cette époque.

PRISIOENT-OIKECTrai GENERAL

«btendes-vous?

This is quite a long article, taking a historical and sociological approach to the role and position of women in society. It was imported into the text editor but students had also been asked

In document A shared workspace for text-based teaching and learning: Design requirements and pedagogical benefits (Page 112-117)