scholarly journals Hot Potatoes activities to improve grammatical accuracy across different proficiency courses

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Izaskun Villarreal ◽  
Esther Gómez Lacabex ◽  
Francisco Gallardo del Puerto ◽  
María Martínez Adrián ◽  
Juncal Gutiérrez Mangado

Few studies have gauged the effects of Computer Assisted Language Learning –CALL– on the verbal accuracy of students. The current study explores the use of Hot Potatoes JCloze-type exercises as supplementary classroom work to enhance the English tense accuracy of university students enrolled in three EFL proficiency level courses -high-intermediate (B2) and advanced (C1 and C2). Tense marking was measured before and after a period of autonomous, self-paced CALL work in which students could access theoretical information and practiced with Hot Potatoes exercises. The comparisons revealed that the experience was mainly beneficial for the C1 level course group, the other two experimenting non-significant gains. Results only partially support a boosting effect of CALL additional practice. They also suggest that proficiency should be taken into consideration as it can affect the effect of treatment as not all the proficiency level courses experienced advantages. Alternatives to improve effectiveness are then suggested.

Author(s):  
Zaida K. Ulangkaya

The study aimed to determine the impact of Computer Assisted Language Learning Activities to the oral English Proficiency of JEEP 1 students. The students' pre and post mean scores were compared to determine the significant improvement in their oral English proficiency. This research made used of the experimental research design with pre and post-test design with 58 randomly selected students from different year levels who were enrolled at Mindanao State University- Maguindanao and currently taking the subject JEEP 1 of the S.Y. 2014-2015. The instrument used covered four specific areas as Sentence Reading, Reading and Pronunciation, Comprehension and Structure, and Sentence Repetition. The following are the summary of the findings: 1. Before the CALL Activities in JEEP 1, the students’ oral English proficiency is lower elementary as indicated by the mean of 0.60; After engaging to the CALL Activities, the students’ oral English proficiency is still lower elementary as proven by the mean score of 0.79; and After comparing the results, it was found out that there is a substantial transformation in the students' oral English proficiency level before and after Computer Assisted Language Learning Activities in JEEP 1 as indicated by the t-Value of 2.84. Based on the results of the study, it was determined that CALL Activities have contributed slight improvement to the student’s oral English proficiency score. However, the said activities did not improve their oral English proficiency level possibly due to some unknown factors that might have affected them during the duration of the study.


Author(s):  
Atif Obaid M Alsuhaymi

The present study aims to research the influences of games through Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) compared to Teacher-Centered Instruction (TCI) on teenagers' achievement in English language education in Saudi Arabia. Two groups of students tested, before and after instruction, so to determine success of the application of pedagogies. The full sample consisted of 22 teenagers, divided randomly, into two equal groups. The first group was the control (TDI) group, which used a school textbook. The second group was the experimental group (CALL), which given a CALL application, based on the game ‘Kahoot.’ Two types of tests were conducted, a pre-test and a post-test, at each of two periods for each group. The pre-test administered before instruction, and the post-test taken after the instructional period. Findings indicate that both groups increased their proficiencies with English object pronouns. However, performance on the post-test by the experimental (CALL) group significantly exceeded that of the control (TCI) group.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-98
Author(s):  
Irena SRDANOVIĆ

In this paper, we explore presence of collocational relations in the computer-assisted language learning systems and other language resources for the Japanese language, on one side, and, in the Japanese language learning textbooks and wordlists, on the other side. After introducing how important it is to learn collocational relations in a foreign language, we examine their coverage in the various learners’ resources for the Japanese language. We particularly concentrate on a few collocations at the beginner’s level, where we demonstrate their treatment across various resources. A special attention is paid to what is referred to as unpredictable collocations, which have a bigger foreign language learning-burden than the predictable ones.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 46-64
Author(s):  
Adelina Castelo

This study aims at identifying which CALL (Computer-assisted Language Learning) materials should be made available to the Chinese learners of Portuguese as a Foreign Language (PFL) for them to improve their oral skills in a more autonomous way. Adopting an approach of needs analysis and clients’ views inquiry, it is based on an online questionnaire completed by 418 Chinese volunteer participants who were learners of PFL. The participants’ perceptions about (a) their own difficulties in pronunciation and oral understanding and (b) the CALL materials needed to address these oral skills were analysed in three ways: as a whole; according to the participants’ proficiency level in PFL; according to their geographical region. The results allowed to reflect on the relevance of using these inquiries and to propose a prioritisation list for the creation of new CALL materials, list that gives special importance to the tasks perceived as the most difficult by the participants (distinction of voicing, liquids and vowel height, understanding of text and word) and to the CALL types of materials considered the most needed (word recognition system, recorded rhymes, poems, tongue twisters, songs or texts with written transcription). 


Author(s):  
Mozhgan Sedaghatkar

Vocabulary learning is essential for language acquisition; however, it is considered problematic for the second language learners. As a teacher of General English Course, I witness majority of students state that "It’s difficult for me to remember long words", "I rapidly forget new words", "I frequently repeat words", etc. As a matter of fact, learning vocabulary is one of the most boring tasks that language learners face with. Hence, different ways have been tried towards making vocabulary learning easier. In this regard, recent years have shown an interest in using computers for foreign language teaching and learning. A previous decade, the use of computers in the language classroom was of concern only to a small number of specialists. However, with the introduction of multimedia computing and the Internet, the role of computers in language teaching has now become a key issue that great numbers of language teachers throughout the world face with. In this regard, the present study sought to investigate the effect of computer assisted language learning (CALL) on immediate and delayed retention of vocabularies among Iranian university students in General English Course. In this regard, 58 students from Payam Noor University of Aradan and Garmsar, Iran, were selected at random on the basis of Nelson test and then were divided into experimental and control groups each one including 29 students. A vocabulary test (as a pretest) was administered to the subjects in both groups. The goal was to check what words were unknown to the subjects in both groups. After the administration of the vocabulary test, about 21 words out of 114 new words were omitted since these words were known to the subjects in both groups. During the study, the researcher taught each group in 3 sessions (each session 90 minutes). After completion of each session, both groups were assessed through an immediate posttest. The subjects were also assessed for delayed posttest one month after teaching sessions (posttest 2). The results obtained throughout the study indicated that there was a significant difference between CALL users and nonusers in favor of the experimental group (p<0.05). It was also concluded that the university students had a positive attitude toward using CALL for learning vocabulary. In light of the findings of the study, the effectiveness of CALL on immediate and delayed retention of vocabularies was approved. 


Author(s):  
Bart Penning de Vries ◽  
Catia Cucchiarini ◽  
Stephen Bodnar ◽  
Helmer Strik ◽  
Roeland van Hout

AbstractThis paper presents a detailed study on the role of corrective feedback (CF) in the development of second language (L2) oral proficiency. Learners practiced speaking with a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) system that employs automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology to provide CF. The system tracks learner behaviour by logging the system-user interactions. Two language learning conditions are compared. In the CF condition learners received immediate, automatic CF on the grammaticality of their spoken output. In theOCF condition, learners practiced speaking with the option to self-correct. The target structure under investigation is Dutch verb second (V2) in the main clause. The results show that learner proficiency improved in both conditions. The CF condition shows an additional benefit for learning that is related to the learner’s initial knowledge of the target structure (which we call V2 proficiency). Learners at a lower V2 proficiency level benefitted more from practice with CF than learners in the NOCF condition. Learner evaluations are in line with these results: both the CF and the NOCF groups positively evaluated practice with the system, but the CF condition was preferred by learners starting at a lower V2 proficiency level. For more information on these outcome measures, we investigated the learners’ behaviour during practice. The two groups were found to receive equal amounts of input, but learners in the CF condition produced more (grammatically correct) output during treatment. We found that the CF group repaired their errors in fewer attempts as they progressed through practice. Learners in the NOCF condition generally did not (attempt to) repair their errors. However, the learners answered correctly more often as they progressed in the training. The log data, therefore, shows learning of the target structure in both conditions. We discuss these results and how learning outcome is related to learner behaviour.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramia DIRAR SHEHADEH MUSMAR

Integrating scaffolding-learning technologies has been recognized for its potential to create intellectual and engaging classroom interactions. In the United Arab Emirates, having language teachers employ computers as a medium of new pedagogical instrument for teaching second languages generated the idea of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) as a medium of an innovative pedagogical instrument for facilitating and scaffolding language learning, with an aspiration that it will lead to improved English language attainment and better assessment results. This study aims at investigating the perspectives of students and teachers on the advantageous and disadvantageous impacts of CALL on learning and teaching English as a second language in one public school in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The results show that CALL has a facilitating role in L2 classroom and that using CALL activities is advantageous in reducing English learning tension, boosting motivation, catering for student diversity, promoting self-directed language learning and scaffolding while learning English. The results additionally report that numerous aspects like time constraints, teachers’ unsatisfactory computer skills, insufficient computer facilities, and inflexible school courses undesirably affect the implementation of CALL in English classrooms. It is recommended that further studies should be undertaken to investigate the actual effect of CALL on students’ language proficiency. 


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