FAX-Technology for Essay Exchanges with German Students as an Enhancement of "c"-Culture

Abstract

During the past few years, the advent of the so-called electronic has greatly enhanced teaching in the humanities. This is particularly true in foreign languages, and at The Pennsylvania State University an equipment grant from IBM helped establish a classroom equipped with state-of-the-art technology to enhance the writing process in the major languages offered. New rooms seat up to 24 students in clusters of three around computer stations that include interactive software to assist each group in the analysis of written work with the help of various programs. With these tools, students discuss and correct each group's assignments, which the instructor can then project onto a screen for further, plenary analysis. Since all our students now have a computer account, e-mail communication among participants in intermediate language courses as well as between student and teacher has become an integral part of instruction at this level and provides the foundation for frequent exchange of and feedbackon written work and on student queries.1 Beyond such intra-institutional use of e-mail communication, access to the Internet has facilitated the teaming up of entire language classes at numerous schools and institutions all across the US with peer groups in the target language country, thereby adding a new dimension to writing in the foreign language that allows for almost instant response. Such e-mail exchanges have greatly increased students' interest in the fourth and most difficult skill in linguistic instruction; the motivation to communicate with partners on a different continent in the target language has strongly enhanced the relevance of foreign language teaching.2 Despite the opportunities inherent in such exchanges, there are drawbacks to the use of e-mail, especially in lower-level language instruction where the correct use of the German diacritical marks is important. The lack of these languagespecific signs, the less than ideal page layout, and the lack of transmitting facilities for anything like line drawings, pictures, or other signs of additional creative activity shown by participating students convinced me that the use of FAX transmissions in