Web-based Language Learning Research Articles

Website analysis as a tool for task-based language learning and higher order thinking in an EFL context

Besides focusing on grammar, writing skills, and web-based language learning, researchers in CALL and second language acquisition have also argued for the importance of promoting higher-order thinking skills in ESL (English as Second Language) and EFL (English as Foreign Language) classrooms. There is solid evidence supporting the effectiveness of teaching analytical skills and critical thinking skills in a language classroom. This article argues that website analysis exercises and related design education might be a possible way to get students involved in constructive writing practices, and for promoting critical thinking. Research evidence supports website design process as a potentially valuable and energizing experience, and a rhetorical exercise in the technical communication classroom. Twenty-eight students participated in this in-class experiment as reported in this article. The six-week experiment involved analyzing websites with open-ended questions, indirectly based on established design guidelines of the web user experience model as developed by Garrett (2011). Accuracy scores suggest that readers did reasonably well with questions on audience analysis and product goals, and showed promise analyzing questions on navigation/information/interface design, with enough indication that with more feedback and structured assessment mechanism, analytical ability of these non-native readers will improve, resulting in superior English text production and improved analytical ability. However, variability in accuracy scores across weeks also indicate that more practice, feedback, and contextual exposure are required for performance improvement.

The Effects of Web-based Language Learning on University Students’ Grammar Proficiency

Many believe that integrative grammar teaching is the best method to be used in teaching and learning English. Since Malaysian education system emphasizes on the application of ICT in all classes, many teachers and educators have integrated technology in their English classes, including the application of World Wide Web. Web-based language learning (WBLL) materials have been among the favorite materials to be used by English teachers since they are abundant, easily accessed, user-friendly and most importantly, they are provided for free. One of the objectives of the study is to determine the effects of learning passive voices in three different English classes which applied three different modes of teaching, which were the traditional face-to-face method, integrative method (traditional and web- based materials) and web-based learning method. Furthermore, it is aimed to investigate the effects of gender in each mode of teaching and also to determine the best method in learning grammar. The pretest-posttest study was conducted in a public university and it involved 93 semester two students (52 females and 41 males). All groups were exposed to one mode of teaching only for four weeks. The results indicated that there is significant difference in both tests for all modes used. Furthermore, it was found that gender did not give any effect on the students’ performance in the posttest when each mode of teaching was applied. Lastly, the integration method was found to be the best method to be used among all the three teaching modes.

ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS TOWARDS LEARNING OBJECTS IN WEB-BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING

Language education is important in the rapidly changing world. Every year much effort has spent on preparing teaching materials for language education. Since positive attitudes of learners towards a teaching material enhance the effectiveness of that material, it is important to determine the attitudes of learners towards the material used. Learning objects (LOs) are a new type of material on which many studies have been conducted in recent years. The aim of this study is to determine the attitudes of students towards LOs in web-based language learning. To this end, the study was conducted in English I Course at

Teaching Vocabulary through Web-Based Language Learning (WBLL) Approach

This study investigated the effect of Web-Based Language Learning (WBLL) and the Paper-based (conventional) approaches on vocabulary retention of Iranian foreign language learners. 300 participants were randomly assigned into two homogeneous groups; and then both groups were given a pre-test. The results of the pre-test underlined the homogeneity of the groups. Twelve expository passages selected by the researcher from CNN website after each session participants had to sit for an immediate quiz for the short term effect of the treatment and finally, at the end of the course and after a two-week interval, participants sat for their post-test as an indicator for the long term effect of the treatment. Findings revealed that there was a significant effect of the Web-Based Language Learning (WBLL) approach on the retention of vocabularies in the short term (p<.05). However, the post-test results indicated that the effect of the treatment in the long term has faded away.

A survey and analysis on learning strategies under a web-based learning environment

This study aims to investigate how non-English major students use language learning strategies (LLS) under the environment of web-based language learning in China. The result shows that students under the environment use language learning strategies at a moderately frequent level and that among these strategies, social strategies are used more frequently than others. The result further reveals that students with different English proficiency levels use language learning strategies with different types and frequencies. Among these strategies, metacognitive strategies are used most frequently by the students with the high proficiency level. The study concludes that despite computers and networks provide many advantages in language learning, they cannot substitute face-to-face human interactions. The teacher’s role cannot be replaced and students should be guided into using language learning strategies effectively.

Learning Spanish with Laura: the effects of a pedagogical agent

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an animated pedagogical agent on Spanish vocabulary learning. Furthermore, the study examined learners’ reactions and attitudes towards the presence of the pedagogical agent in the web-based environments. A total of 47 university students enrolled in two fourth-semester Spanish classes participated in this study. The data were collected through a demographic information questionnaire, a vocabulary pre-test and two vocabulary post-tests (an immediate post-test and a delayed post-test), and a learning experience questionnaire. Analysis of the quantitative data did not yield significant differences between the control and the experimental groups with respect to vocabulary learning outcomes. Analysis of the qualitative data revealed learners’ preferences with respect to features embedded in the web-based language learning environments.

Appraisalweb: an online platform for the pedagogical evaluation of Web-based Language Learning Resources

This paper presents APPRAISALWeb, a 2-year Research & Development project jointly funded by the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia and the regional government of Valencia (Spain), and developed by the CAMILLE Research Group at that university. In general terms, the project aims to suggest a comprehensive methodology for the pedagogical analysis of the Web as an environment for language learning. More specifically, a major objective of the project is to develop an online interactive platform that serves as a tool to analyze, classify and evaluate Web-based resources for language learning from a pedagogical point of view. As CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) research literature suggests, it is necessary to conduct a thorough pedagogical analysis of the Web and its CALL resources if we are to take full advantage of its many possibilities. Thus, the project meets two fundamental needs that have been extensively expressed in the area of CALL: the need for theoretical models and methodologies and the necessity of specific tools for analysing and searching for available Web-based CALL resources. First, the context of the project will be presented. Then the methodology behind APPRAISALWeb will be discussed. Finally, conclusions will be drawn from work in progress during the first stage of the project

Improving English Language and Computer Literacy Skills in an Adult Refugee Program

With a focus on ways of improving English language and computer literacy skills of adult refugees in Australia, the study reported in this article examines the usefulness of a community program offered for five female Sudanese refugees who had very limited English language proficiency and very little or no computer experience. Main teaching strategies used for this group were repetition, content and language integrated learning (CLIL) and computer-assisted language learning (CALL). By analysing data collected from questionnaires, interviews and tests, the study looks at and discusses the possibility and opportunity of using the computer as an educational tool during contact sessions and the participants' experience with Web-based language learning (WBLL) activities. The results of the study indicate that the computer can be used to encourage learners in a refugee program to engage with their learning and online activities are helpful for them in improving their English language and computer literacy skills.

Internet perceptions, online participation and language learning in Moodle forums: A case study on nursing students in Taiwan

This paper examined the interplay between learners’ Internet perceptions and their online participation in an online writing exchange program for nursing students. 47 students in a junior medical college in middle Taiwan participated in an Online Culture Exchange Writing Program in Moodle platform on a voluntary basis. They were encouraged to post their writings and make responses to the writings of students from other countries via discussion forums in this online program. The number of their postings was considered as their online participation in the program. Questionnaires regarding students’ perceptions, such as Internet self-efficacy and Internet attitude were completed before students had experienced the online program. Writing fluency tests before and after the program was also used to examine the students’ writing progress in the online program. Responses gathered from the questionnaires and results from the data analysis indicated that students with more positive Internet attitudes tended to participate more in the online forum. However, students’ higher Internet self-efficacy didn’t necessarily translate into more online participation. It was finally noted that students with more participation were more likely to make progress in writing fluency. Therefore, the role of learners’ Internet attitude, which is highly related to their online participation, in an effective web-based language learning program can be assured.

Effects of locus of control and learner-control on web-based language learning

The study explored the effects of students' locus of control and types of control over instruction on their self-efficacy and performance in a web-based language learning environment. A web-based interactive instructional program focusing on the comprehension of news articles for English language learners was developed in two versions: learner- and program-control. Following the web-based learning, the participants completed a content comprehension test and self-report measure of self-efficacy. Results showed that: (1) students with an internal locus of control performed better on the test and the self-efficacy measure than those with an external locus of control; (2) students learning from the learner-control version of the web-based instruction performed better on the test and the measure of self-efficacy than those learning from the program-control version; (3) students with an internal locus of control who learned from the learner-control version got the highest score on the test and the measure of self-efficacy, while students with an external locus of control who learned from the program-control version received the lowest score on the test and the measure of self-efficacy; and (4) students with an external locus of control who learned from the learner-control version outperformed students with an internal locus of control who learned from the program-control version on both academic performance and the measure of self-efficacy.

Development of Igbo Language E-Learning System

E-Learning involves using a variety of computer and networking technologies to access training materials. The United Nations report, quoted in one of the Nigerian dailies towards the end of year 2006, says that most of the minor languages in the world would be extinct by the year 2050. African languages are curren tly suffering from discard by the original speakers of the languages as parents prefer to communicate with their children in English language or other languages rather than in their mother tongues. Although, there are Web-based language learning systems, this paper presents a standalone Igbo language learning system that enables prospective learners to learn the rudiments of the language at their convenience especially where there is limited or no Internet connectivity in order to arrest the extinction that looms over the language.

Using Web-Based Language Learning Activities in the ESL Classroom

This article looks at ways of using Web-based language learning (WBLL) activities and reports the results of a WBLL project that developed a Web site as a supplementary resource for teaching English as a second language (ESL) and tested the Web site with a group of students in an ESL context. The Web site provides WBLL session plans for ESL teachers, containing three types of WBLL activities: pre-created Web activities for grammar, vocabulary, reading and listening; task-based Web activities that require students to use the Web to produce certain outcomes; and teacher-made Web activities. Participants in WBLL sessions using the Web site showed positive attitudes toward WBLL and expressed the view that they would like to use more Web activities during and outside class time.

Guest Editor’s Introduction to Special Theme Issue: Contextualising CALL Locally and Globally

IntroductionThis special theme issue publishes a set of refereed papers from APACALL (http://www.apacall.org/) and the GLoCALL 2007 Conference, which was held at Hanoi University in Hanoi and SEAMEO RETRAC in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from 2 to 7 November 2007. It presents diverse engagements with computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in local and global contexts. In line with the aims of the GLoCALL conference (http://glocall.org/), particularly, the authors of the papers share their knowledge and experience on how to use computer technology to make language learning more effective and pleasant and how to adapt the technology to develop language teachers' professionalism in CALL.OverviewA total of nine anonymously peer reviewed articles have been selected for inclusion in this issue. The first article, by Peter Gobel, examines English as a foreign language (EFL) students' on-task and off-task behaviour using two intelligent tutoring systems in three CALL classrooms at a Japanese university. Through a study of the frequency and impact of different kinds of off-task behaviour, the author argues that the students' off-task behaviour is strongly correlated with their overall performance and post-test scores.In the second article, Steve Engler, Christopher Hoskins and Sylvan Payne report the results of two pilot projects involving Japanese university students' use of a specific software application supplementing academic readings in English courses. By analysing the students' scores on reading comprehension quizzes and their responses to questionnaires, the authors point out that computer-generated comics are helpful for comprehension of academic readings.Jeong-Bae Son uses the third article to explore Web-based language learning (WBLL) activities including pre-created Web activities, task-based Web activities and teacher-made Web activities. The author describes a language learning Website, which was originally developed for English as a second language (ESL) students at an Australian university, and recommends that the Website, as a supplementary resource, can be integrated into the ESL classroom.The fourth article, by Antonie Alm, looks at the use of authentic video and Internet technologies such as blogs, wikis and YouTube in a German language class at a New Zealand University. The author discusses the benefits of using a German soap opera, a class blog and a class wiki, while reporting that her students were motivated by the use of video and Internet tools and enjoyed the process of producing their own video clips collaboratively.In the fifth article, Mizuho Iinuma and Hiroaki Chiyokura make use of 3 dimensional computer graphics (3DCG) and a geographic information system (GIS) for content-based instruction (CBI) in an EFL course at a Japanese university. Through a post-questionnaire, the authors asked students in the course what they thought about the new technologies. The results of the study indicate that the students enjoyed the course with a feeling of gaining better understanding of Vietnam and 3D technology was highly effective in presenting spatial and visual information.The sixth article, by Zhihong Lu, Xiaohui Huang and Juan Sun, shifts the focus to teachers, with a case study of the teacher's roles in a computer-assisted speaking class in China. …

A development model of web-based English language learning programs

A development model of web-based English language learning programs

The case for dynamic exercise systems in language learning

Most existing web-based language learning exercises may be termed ‘static’ in that their content is fixed; the sentences exist in the form in which the developer wrote them, and the scope of the exercise and the variety of interactions can only be expanded by manually adding to the existing stock. One solution to this problem is an application which generates its content in response to user specifications. We believe that a dynamic application is suitable for situations where long-term, large scale development of CALL materials is foreseen, as the flexibility and usability of the product far exceed what is available with conventional web-based exercises. In this paper, we will outline the reasons language instructors might consider a dynamic or semi-dynamic system as a sound technological investment of time and money, discuss the advantages of designing a dynamic system, and illustrate some of the pitfalls to avoid in beginning that process.

Exploring many-to-one speech-to-text correlation for web-based language learning

This article investigates the correlations between multimedia objects (particularly speech and text) involved in language lectures in order to design an effective presentation mechanism for web-based learning. The cross-media correlations are classified into implicit relations (retrieved by computing) and explicit relations (recorded during the preprocessing stage). The implicit temporal correlation between speech and text is primarily to help to negotiate supplementary lecture navigations like tele-pointer movement, lips-sync movement, and content scrolling. We propose a speech-text alignment framework, using an iterative algorithm based on local alignment, to probe many-to-one temporal correlations, and not the one-to-one only. The proposed framework is a more practical method for analyzing general language lectures, and the algorithm's time complexity conforms to the best-possible computation cost, O(nm) , without introducing additional computation. In addition, we have shown the feasibility of creating vivid presentations by exploiting implicit relations and artificially simulating some explicit media. To facilitate the navigation of integrated multimedia documents, we develop several visualization techniques for describing media correlations, including guidelines for speech-text correlations, visible-automatic scrolling, and levels of detail of timeline, to provide intuitive and easy-to-use random access mechanisms. We evaluated the performance of the analysis method and human perceptions of the synchronized presentation. The overall performance of the analysis method is that about 99.5% of the words analyzed are of a temporal error within 0.5 sec and the subjective evaluation result shows that the synchronized presentation is highly acceptable to human beings.

Learner experiences in web-based language learning

The World Wide Web offers a global database of authentic materials that can enhance language learning and teaching. This study examines the use of the web for language learning through a study of English as a second language (ESL) learners' experiences in web-based language learning (WBLL) activities in an English language intensive course for overseas students (ELICOS) context. It observes ESL learners performing selected activities on the web and investigates their perceptions and attitudes toward the web activities. A group of students was guided to utilise the web to complete two types of web activities (i.e., pre-created web activities and task-based web activities). Data collected demonstrate that the web is a useful tool and a supplementary resource for learning ESL. The students' engagement in the suggested activities was observed and their attitudes toward the activities were found to be positive. Further studies are recommended to increase our understanding and knowledge of how WBLL can be best used for specific learners in specific contexts.

Multiplying modalities: Opening up the fourth dimension to the online learner

Computer-mediated communication in educational settings has come a long way in the last decade, culminating in pedagogically sound communities of inquiry. However, oral activities (the fourth dimension) are still conspicuously absent in these environments, and students’ complaints about this usually head the list of disadvantages associated with Web-based language learning (Felix, 2001). Addressing this problem, practitioners have begun to incorporate sophisticated audio-based applications in the form of voiced bulletin boards (Wimba), voiced chats (Traveler) and audiographics (Lyceum). This paper explores what these applications have to offer in the context of creating meaningful social constructivist activities in online language education and their potential role in addressing the fundamental problem of performance anxiety in language learning. The paper provides practical examples of establishing contexts for communities of enquiry in which participants move between real and imaginary worlds and are engaged in authentic tasks and interactions.

Language learning

Language learning

Inspectable learner reports for web-based language learning

In this paper we present the Report Manager of our Web-based tutoring system for German – an interface to a persistent learner report that students can inspect and manipulate. The learner report collects and retains information on the learner’s progress and performance that is saved between visits. It also provides access to a journaling system that records prior inputs along with detailed error analysis, and a bookmarking system that tracks exercise completion. Finally, results can be printed or emailed to an instructor. In the Fall semester 2003, we conducted a study with 87 learners of German to investigate how their study habits are affected by an inspectable learner report. Our study indicates that students reviewed their learner profiles frequently – 33 times on average over the course of a semester – and that 70% of the students repeated exercises after having inspected their learner profile. So, while detailed user profiles and performance tracking are invaluable tools for CALL researchers, our study suggests that students also utilize and are influenced by the information.