Developing and Implementing an Online Chinese Program

The virtual language classroom is becoming more commonplace, and for many instructors it is even a requirement. This chapter aims to present a virtual language classroom case study and to propose a prototype for instructors to develop and implement fully online entry-level language classes, as well as to provide guidelines and recommendations for their reference as they redesign traditional face-to-face language courses to fit the online modality. As the case study progressed, the authors discovered that this new modality of online language instruction poses many challenges. Their research aims to answer questions, such as: 1) is the online instruction in the case study comparable to the face-to-face class? and 2) how can one best balance synchronous and asynchronous components in an entry-level online language (Chinese in specific) course?

Using a Virtual Learning Environment to Promote Autonomous Language Learning for Chinese Students

This chapter examines a semester-long Moodle-based programme of monitored quizzes designed to encourage first-year Chinese students at an English medium university in China to engage in English language self-study and autonomous learning. Usage statistics and questionnaire data were collected and analysed in order to investigate overall quiz participation rates, usage patterns across the semester, and the extent to which the programme affected students’ attitudes towards self-study. The results indicated that participation rates in the quizzes were high, although activity on the programme pages did decline as the semester progressed. Students also reported via the questionnaire that the programme had helped them learn how to organise their own self-study. However, statistics from Moodle revealed that many participants were not taking the quizzes on a regular, weekly basis, as had been intended, suggesting that the programme may have only been partially successful in fostering autonomous study skills.

Practising Language Interaction via Social Networking Sites

This chapter reports on the evaluation of language learning SNSs carried out by “expert students” who are training to become Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. While stressing the positive features available on these sites and novel ways in which they can enable personalised language learning, this study also focuses on some troublesome aspects that occur when learners engage with Web 2.0 tools. It discusses how initial motivation towards these tools can turn into frustration, mirroring the results of a previous autoethnographic study carried out on SNSs. It also illustrates how these global ubiquitous platforms pose a dilemma for language practitioners who work within institutional teaching settings. Teachers recognize the language learning potential of these tools, but are also worried by the ethical threat they can pose, which can normally be avoided, or at least moderated, within institutional proprietary and “less exciting” platforms.

Engendering Interaction, Collaboration, and Reflection in the Design of Online Assessment in Language Learning

As suggested by its title, this chapter situates online assessment in language learning in complete online mode as opposed to blended learning (i.e., campus-based learning supported by online components), or traditional distance language learning with no online components. Online language learning discussed in this study has its own inherent characteristics. Typically, this type of learning features the physical separation of learners from one another and from their education providers. Consequently, without the support of sophisticated online educational technologies, the provision of interaction, collaboration, and reflection, the fundamental elements in modern education would be problematic. This chapter discusses the framework developed for the design of online assessment that engenders interaction, collaboration, and reflection, by taking advantage of advanced online educational technologies. Examples of online assessment design drawn from the assessments implemented in an online Chinese program at Griffith University, Australia, are evaluated to establish the validity of the proposed design framework. These discussions also lead to recommendations for online assessment design for online language learning.

Computer-Based Perceptual Training as a Major Component of Adult Instruction in a Foreign Language

Millions of adult learners have acquired good-to-excellent literacy in English, but most of them continue to have difficulty with oral communication in that language. The more obvious their problem is with pronunciation, which varies from just noticeably “foreign” to very difficult to understand, the less apparent, but possibly fundamental to their overall skill level in English, is their difficulty in recognizing spoken sounds, words, and phrases of that language. Contemporary research has shown that adults are capable of learning to perceive a new language quite accurately, through systematic training. Perceptual skills acquired through such training are likely to contribute to continuing improvement in pronunciation and to an increasing vocabulary. Such a training program is described in this chapter, the Speech Perception Assessment and Training Program for ESL (SPATS-ESL). After 20-30 hours of training with this program, most ESL students are shown to achieve near-native recognition of the sounds of English and of words in sentences spoken at normal conversational rates.

Getting Smart about Split Attention

This chapter examines second language (L2) listening and note-taking tasks performed by international students in university settings, guided by Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) and the split attention effect. It provides a background of the cognitive aspects of L2 listening processes, academic lecture listening, and note-taking, as they interface with temporal, physical, and affective forms of split attention to compromise information decoding and learning outcomes for L2 learners. While this work does not present new findings in the field, it reviews existing studies that provide insight into the Echo SmartpenTM by Livescribe as a mobile e-learning tool for alleviating the split attention effect, and enhancing the encoding and external storage functions of note-taking for L2 learners.

Facebook Comparison Research

This chapter discusses the adoption of the social networking site Facebook for use in foreign language courses. By comparing university faculty and student perceptions, the study presented aims to determine if faculty and students view the potential of using Facebook for foreign languages differently. It also aims to determine if there is specific reasoning behind the current relative lack of use of Facebook for foreign languages. Data was collected via faculty and student surveys modeled after the work of Roblyer, McDaniel, Webb, Herman, and Witty (2010) in addition to follow-up interviews. The survey responses from the foreign language faculty (n=29) and students (n=152) indicate that both faculty and students utilize Facebook for personal use; however, the nature of this use varies. In addition, although students are more likely to have used Facebook previously for academic purposes than were the foreign language faculty members, there were mixed results in both groups concerning the use of Facebook for foreign language courses. Last, the results of follow-up interviews reveal that both faculty and students feel there is an array of potentially useful tools available on Facebook for language learning and teaching; however, faculty indicated a need for further training to implement these tools in their teaching. Based on these findings, the chapter ends with a discussion of practical implications and directions for future research.

Language Economy in Computer-Mediated Communication

This chapter presents an analysis of economised language in textchat data from non-native English-speaking students in an MA programme in English Linguistics. Previous research by the author demonstrated that forms clipped or otherwise reduced from their full version can be considered evidence that an Internet community of practice has formed. The author argues here that this implies that the learners are exhibiting autonomy, and he also demonstrates that the same can be concluded for the ellipsis. The functions of the ellipsis are identified, which demonstrates that students are interacting, and therefore, are at least in the process of forming a social learning community.

A Wiki Platform for Language and Intercultural Communication

This chapter studies a wiki project that electronically links English students learning Business Chinese in the UK and Chinese students learning Business English in China. The focus is placed upon enhancing English/Chinese language skills and intercultural communication competence. Students’ messages on the wiki illustrate that cultural values and cultural competence are important parts of business communication. The results of a questionnaire survey and a focus group interview indicate that the interaction between language learners and native speakers not only helped students improve each other’s language, but also allowed them to understand the business norms and behaviours in another culture. The chapter concludes with a proposal that wikis can be a platform for enhancing language output and intercultural communication competence, if well designed and monitored.

Computer-Assisted Pronunciation Training and Assessment (CAPTA) Programs

Pedagogical support for pronunciation tends to fall behind other areas of applied linguistics and CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning) due to technological difficulty in speech recognition and the lack of knowledge in phonetics of both language teachers and learners. This chapter discusses the gap between the need for pronunciation training and the capacity of CAPTA programs in terms of phonetic and phonological development of second-language (L2) learners. Pronunciation difficulties experienced by L2 learners will be explained cross-linguistically, and the most recent developments in the production of CAPTA programs will be discussed in relation to the type of pronunciation errors dealt with by these programs. Considering that native-like pronunciation is no longer required in the current multi-lingual society, the author proposes achievable and pedagogically sound goals for the development of CAPTA programs as well as for L2 learners.