A web-based language learning environment: general architecture

ReCALL ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 11 (S1) ◽  
pp. 31-39
Author(s):  
Pierre-Yves Foucou ◽  
Natalie Kübler
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
General Architecture ◽  
The Web

In this paper, we present the Web-based CALL environment (or WALL) which is currently being experimented with at the University of Paris 13 in the Computer Science Department of the Institut Universitaire de Technologie. Our environment is being developed to teach computer science (CS) English to CS French-speaking students, and will be extended to other languages for specific purposes such as, for example, English or French for banking, law, economics or medicine, where on-line resources are available.English, and more precisely CS English is, for our students, a necessary tool, and not an object of study. The learning activities must therefore stimulate the students' interest and reflection about language phenomena. Our pedagogical objective, relying on research acquisition (Wokusch 1997) consists in linking various texts together with other documents, such as different types of dictionaries or other types of texts, so that knowledge can be acquired using various appropriate contexts.Language teachers are not supposed to be experts in fields such as computer sciences or economics. We aim at helping them to make use of the authentic documents that are related to the subject area in which they teach English. As shown in Foucou and Kübler (1998) the wide range of resources available on the Web can be processed to obtain corpora, i.e. teaching material. Our Web-based environment therefore provides teachers with a series of tools which enable them to access information about the selected specialist subject, select appropriate specialised texts, produce various types of learning activities and evaluate students' progress.Commonly used textbooks Tor specialised English offer a wide range of learning activities, but they are based on documents that very quickly become obsolete, and that are sometimes widely modified. Moreover, they are not adaptable to the various levels of language of the students. From the students' point of view, working on obsolete texts that are either too easy or too difficult can quickly become demotivating, not to say boring.In the next section, we present the general architecture of the teaching/learning environment; the method of accessing and using it, for teachers as well as for students, is then described. The following section deals with the actual production of exercises and their limits. We conclude and present some possible research directions.

Constructing a ‘third space’ for EFL learners: Where language and cultures meet

ReCALL ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
MEEI-LING LIAW
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Discussion Boards ◽  
Online Forums ◽  
Extensive Reading ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Web Based Learning ◽  
On Line ◽  
The Web

Efforts have been made by language educators and researchers to use computer technology to assist L2 learners’ growth in either linguistic or intercultural competence. Nonetheless, web-based environments devoted to developing both types of competences in tandem are new and experimental. The purpose of this project, which involves the collaboration of EFL educators and computer engineers in Taiwan, is to establish an innovative web-based environment to support students in tertiary levels to develop both types of competences. This web-based EFL learning environment experiments with a few main features: (1) instead of reading articles about a foreign culture, the users of this website read articles about their native culture; (2) two on-line computer-based support tools, a bilingual concordancer and a dictionary, are made available to provide students with contextual supports for language learning; and (3) discussion boards are provided for intercultural communication. The web-based learning environment contains several instructional units. While working on a unit, students read an article and then answer comprehension and vocabulary questions. After reading, students share their responses to the articles with intercultural conversation partners via online forums. To evaluate the effectiveness of the learning environment, the researcher recruited a group of Taiwanese university students to test-use the system. Frequencies of the uses of the two e-referencing tools were calculated. The students’ responses to a questionnaire were examined and informal interviews with the students were conducted. Finally, the students’ forum entries were analyzed. The findings revealed initial interest in using e-referencing tools but a dramatic decrease in use after the first few units had been completed. The students used the concordancer as a link to extensive reading materials and suggested adding pronunciation tools to the dictionary. Questionnaire findings showed that students were generally satisfied with the design of the web-based learning environment. An analysis of the students’ forum entries revealed increases in the length and complexity of sentences in their writings, as well as reductions in grammatical errors, as more units were completed. As for intercultural learning, the content analysis of the forum entries demonstrated different types of intercultural competences. Based on the findings, some implications for revision of the virtual environment to enable more effective learning of English as a foreign language and greater development of intercultural competence are drawn.

scholarly journals The Web-Based Online Virtual Language Center

2004 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-62
Author(s):  
Peter Yang
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Self Service ◽  
Networked Multimedia ◽  
The Web

The Web-based virtual language center (VLC) has become areality for language learning on many campuses. It offersstudents obvious convenience of time and location. Theycan attend lab at any time they want (it is open 24 hours aday, 7 days a week) and from any location where they havea networked multimedia computer.However, the decision about which language center servicesshould migrate to Web-based delivery is a difficult onebecause the VLC is "self-service" without lab assistants andis based on emulating the existing physical languagelearning environment. There are many open theoretical andpractical issues concerning its validity as a languagelearning environment and its establishment andmaintenance. Furthermore, it has not yet proven to be anideal learning environment for oral communication activitiesbetween students and the instructor and among the students.This article will attempt to address some of these basicissues. Although it is not intended to give the reader a readymademodel of the VLC, the author hopes to be able toprovide those who are interested in setting up a Web-basedlanguage center with some practical suggestions. It is alsothe author's desire that this article stimulate those who areexperienced with the VLC to open a broader discussion ofrelated issues, such as aspects that must be considered forsetting up such a center and the ways in which existingVLCs could be further improved.

scholarly journals Features of development and implementation of courses of the educational field «Mathematics» in distance education system

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-171
Author(s):  
Elena Leonidovna Makarova ◽  
Olga Isaakovna Pugach
Keyword(s):  
Computer Science ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
E Learning

Effective application of distance technologies, even at the level of individual courses in most universities is faced with a number of organizational, methodological problems. The final design of the regulatory framework the problem of implementation of these technologies in the field of theoretical research and experimental work in the practical implementation of the plane. The authors consider a wide range of problems arising from the mass introduction of e-learning in educational practice, their classification on various grounds. When the authors of the work are based on practical experience in the development of the course Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science for students training areas Teacher Education profiles Informatics and Computer Science and Foreign Language on the basis of a learning management system Moodle. Also studied a number of aspects related to the characteristics of the studied subject area (in Mathematics example of educational area). We formulate the necessary conditions for effective use of e-learning technologies. These conditions, from the point of view of the authors, speakers, among others participated in the implementation of the university administration, the formation of a uniform by the level of the basic mathematical training a group of students, the formation of a thesaurus (semantic web) course in the classroom working with students, as well as a phased approach to solving complex text assignments, requiring the construction of a formal mathematical model in the subject area. We offer some simple criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of (increased performance and students' motivation, optimization of time working teachers, reducing the number of chronic debtors in the discipline).

AWLA

2006 ◽  
pp. 254-270
Author(s):  
Manuel O. Cantero ◽  
Pedro P. Sanchez-Villalon
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Interactive Systems ◽  
Web Based ◽  
The Core ◽  
Learning Content ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Constructivist Perspective ◽  
Enhanced Learning ◽  
The Web

As e-learning gets more widespread, its definition is becoming more distinctive, implying the use of the Web for learning. The Web’s original functionality was to provide access to materials located in servers. This has been the core strategy for e-learning. However, the Web is becoming more versatile. The new interactive Web functionalities are organized in services offered to users. The content-based Learning Management Systems are evolving into more interactive systems providing agent-like learning services rather than only learning content. By designing an interactive environment with a learning objective, we can develop an effective e-learning appliance: the application of strategic Web functionalities on a technologically enhanced learning environment. Designed under the constructivist perspective, A Writing e-learning Appliance (AWLA) is an organized set of interactive Web-based utilities that, when applied in a technologically enhanced learning environment, allow learners to develop their writing skill in language learning and fulfil writing activities in any other discipline, both individually and in collaboration.

scholarly journals Empirical verifications of web-learning environment to enhance learning effectiveness and motivation in mechanical drawing

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 179
Author(s):  
Tsutomu Sekine
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Learning Motivation ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Web Learning ◽  
The Web

In mechanical drawing class, it is a problem that a lecturer has students get a wide range of knowledge and skills in a class whose time and place are limited in a semester. The situation surrounding the classes has led to insufficient understanding of students. Accordingly, it has been desired to reveal an effective learning method in mechanical drawing class. In this study, a web-learning environment was created on the basis of motivation-oriented teaching method using ARCS model and Gagne’s 9 events of instruction. Then, the web-learning environment was introduced into mechanical drawing class, and the effectiveness was investigated with the comparison of results from paper-based and web-based tests. After that, learning motivation was also assessed using ARCS evaluation sheet. From the results, there existed the advantage of using web-learning environment. In addition, it was remarkable that attention-related factors greatly contributed the enhancement of learning motivation.

Investigating Chinese University Students’ Enjoyment in a Web-Based Language Learning Environment: Validation of the Online Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale

2021 ◽  
pp. 003151252110417
Author(s):  
Xin Wang ◽  
Yang Wang ◽  
Yizhi Yang ◽  
Lu Wang
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
First Language ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Chinese University ◽  
Confirmatory Factor

The revolution in web-based technologies has enriched pedagogical practices and motivated scholars to address learners’ positive and negative emotions in the web-based language learning environment. In this study, we first examined the psychometric properties of the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (FLES) and then developed the Online Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (OFLES). We adopted a mixed-method approach using a sample of 383 first language Chinese EFL undergraduates. In stage one of the research, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis supported an 11-item and 4-factor OFLES structure with an ideal model fit. The four sub-domains of the new enjoyment construct were OFLES- Teacher, Private, Interaction, and Competence. The Teacher domain accounted for most variance. In stage two, the qualitative analyses of feedback on an open-ended question concerning enjoyable episodes from 56 of the 383 participants revealed various sources of enjoyment for Chinese university EFL learners attending online English courses. Our findings contribute to an emerging wave of research examining the cross-contextual application of the FLES and provide important pedagogical implications for L2 practitioners and researchers. We discuss suggestions for future research.

scholarly journals Development of a Web-Based Supportive Care Program for Patients With Head and Neck Cancer

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Y. Fang ◽  
Thomas J. Galloway ◽  
Brian L. Egleston ◽  
Jessica R. Bauman ◽  
Barbara Ebersole ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Head And Neck Cancer ◽  
Supportive Care ◽  
Head And Neck ◽  
Neck Cancer ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Radiation Treatment ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Coping With Cancer ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Web

Patients undergoing radiation treatment for head and neck cancer experience significant side-effects that can impact a wide range of daily activities. Patients often report receiving insufficient information during and after treatment, which could impede rehabilitation efforts; they may also encounter practical and logistical barriers to receipt of supportive care. Thus, we developed a web-based program, My Journey Ahead, to provide information and strategies for managing symptom-focused concerns, which may be easily accessed from the patient’s home. The purpose of this study was to evaluate patient acceptability and satisfaction with the My Journey Ahead program. In Phase 1, five patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) reviewed the web-based program and provided initial feedback, which informed program modifications. In Phase 2, 55 patients were recruited to evaluate the program. Patient assessments were obtained prior to and after use of the web-based program, and included measures of psychological distress, self-efficacy in coping with cancer-related issues, and satisfaction with the website. Among the 55 patients enrolled, 44 logged in and viewed the web-based program. Participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the information received, and indicated that the website was interesting and easy to use. Older age and higher levels of self-efficacy in coping were each associated with higher levels of satisfaction with the website. In summary, the web-based program was well-received by patients, the majority of whom found it to be informative and useful. An easy-to-use web-based program, particularly for older patients who may have difficulty locating reliable evidence-based information on the internet, may be helpful in addressing survivors’ needs in symptom management and coping with cancer.Clinical Trial Registrationhttps://clinicaltrials.gov/, NCT02442336

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