2. Using Technology to Enhance Foreign Language Instruction Dr. Tim Xie California State University Long Beach txie@csulb.edu

3. Fun …  Some 93 million Americans sent about 335 million e-mails per day in 1999, according to Jupiter Communication.  It estimates that each e-mail recipient in the U.S. will receive an average of 1,600 commercial e-mails by 2005, in addition to the 4,000 other e-mails they’re blasted with from other sources. (http://www.leavcom.com/richmedia.htm)http://www.leavcom.com/richmedia.htm

4.  The average American sends or receives 26.4 e-mail messages each day according to eMarketer, a web research firm.  ePrompter – a free e-mail retrieval and notification program www.eprompter.com www.eprompter.com

5. Audrey (3 Com’s): create email: scribble out a handwritten message or include voice files ($499-599) http://www.3com.com/corpinfo/en_US/press box/press_release.jsp?INFO_ID=7379 http://www.3com.com/corpinfo/en_US/press box/press_release.jsp?INFO_ID=7379 AmikaFreedom ‘an email content highlighter’ reads mail, select key sentences, boils down a lengthy message ($ 29.95+shipping) www.amikanow.com http://www.amikanow.com/wireless/amikafre edom_outlook.asp www.amikanow.com http://www.amikanow.com/wireless/amikafre edom_outlook.asp

6. From CALL to TELL Today, the term CALL is rarely used. In many contexts, it has been replaced by TELL (Technology enhanced language learning), this way recognizing the massive use of CD-ROMs, the Internet and multimedia in classroom situations (see also E-learning).InternetmultimediaE-learning

7. Introduction Do we need it in teaching? What is available? How do we use them? Where to find or create them? What are the advantages and problems? What can we do in the future?

8. 1. Do we need it in teaching?

9. "The 'No Significant Difference' Phenomenon" by Thomas Russell (1997, available online) has collected research reports from 1928 through 1996 arguing that there is no significant difference between using and not using technology in teaching, thus pointing to the conclusion that using technology is equally as effective as traditional classroom teaching. Proponents:

10. Gary Staunch (director of Education for North America at Compaq Computer Corporation ) states, "in order to educate students to be life-long learners and successful contributors to the new global market, educators must change the way they teach and the way students learn. We need to remember that if we want to help students achieve a high level of competency and competitiveness, we have no choice but to make technology an integrated tool in the learning process". (Morrison, 1999).

11. Skepticism The Institute for Higher Education Policy has expresses doubts on the effectiveness of distance learning. In a recently published report, The Institute argues, "too many of the questions posed... are left unaddressed or unanswered in the research, while policy makers, faculty, and students need to make properly informed judgments about key issues in distance education." (IHEP, 1999).

12. Impediments Limited access to and experience with resources for web- based design, development, and delivery Uncertainties about status of intellectual property created for web-based courses Lack of a reward system tied to innovation in instruction (Passmore, David. L., Impediments to adoption of web-based course delivery among university faculty. ALN Magazine, Vol 4 No. 2, 2000)

13. My thoughts and experience… Multimedia language learning programs provide texts, sound, images and interactive drills in a convenient way. With the help of computer software and the Internet, learners can now study languages anywhere and anytime -- in classrooms, labs, at home or even on the go. Computers also help instructors to update and create their teaching materials more easily. They can also exchange and share their products, thoughts and ideas with their colleagues using e-mail, mailing lists, web sites and other tools through the Internet.

14. 2. What is available?

15. Types of TELL Programs Off-line vs. on-line programs (by media) Textbook-dependent vs. textbook- independent (by content)

16. Who made them? Professors and instructors Commercial dealers Amateurs, volunteers

17. On-line programs On-line language courses and/or interactive drills and exercises Communication programs (e-mail, discussion board, chat) Other resources related to language and culture

18. On-line language courses Chinese (East China Normal University, Online College of Chinese Language ) http://www.hanyu.com.cn/en/ http://www.hanyu.com.cn/en/ Online language courses page http://www.word2word.com/course.html http://www.word2word.com/course.html Online language courses http://www.worldwidelearn.com/language- courses/online-language-course.htm http://www.worldwidelearn.com/language- courses/online-language-course.htm Free and affordable distance and online language courses http://www.docnmail.com/learnmore/language.htm http://www.docnmail.com/learnmore/language.htm

19. Communication: e-mail, discussion forum and chat E-mail (text and voice) Discussion Forum Chinese Discussion ForumChinese Discussion Forum (text only) wimba.com wimba.com (voice discussion board) Chat

20. Interactive Drills and Exercises Format Multiple choice, true or false questions, fill-in-the blank, cloze test, short answers, essays Examples http://www.quia.com http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/PCRopen/selftest.htm

21. 3. How do we use them?

22. Three models Long distance course online Hybrid course Local web-supported course

23. Supplementary teaching aids Course content delivery - Providing course information, study guides and learning materials online (recording, video clips and exercises) Communication – Using e-mail, discussion board and chat to communicate with your students Self-Assessment – Drills and exercises for practice and self- assessment Do not just provide URLs! Assign tasks to accomplish. (Examples: to take Chinese names from the web, pronunciation exercises, grammar exercises as homework) My web supported courses at CSULB

24. 4. Where to find or how to create them?

25. Where to find them Use search engines to find related information: language, history, geography and culture. General search engines: TrackStar – http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/index.jsp http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/index.jsp Yahoo – http://yahoo.comhttp://yahoo.com Alta Vista – http://altavista.comhttp://altavista.com Lycos – http://lycos.comhttp://lycos.com Excite – http://excite.comhttp://excite.com Google – http://google.comhttp://google.com

26. Language specific directories: French Voila - http://www.voila.frhttp://www.voila.fr La Toile du Quebec – http://www.toile.qc.cahttp://www.toile.qc.ca Francite – http://www.francite.comhttp://www.francite.com Multilingual Euroseek – http://www.euroseek.comhttp://www.euroseek.com Spanish Hispavista – http://www.hispavista.comhttp://www.hispavista.com German Web.de – http://web.dehttp://web.de Italian Arianna – http://arianna.iol.ithttp://arianna.iol.it

27. How to create: You may ask tech people for help. You may also use the authoring tools to create them by yourself. Multimedia programs PhotoshopLE (graphics), GifConstruction (animation), RealProducer (sound), Director Web pages Netscape composer (web pages), Adobe Page Mill, FrontPage, Dreamweaver, Blackboard (course management program online)Blackboard Discussion forums http://www.forumco.com (free) http://www.forumco.com Interactive exercises quia, U Penn Lang Center quiaU Penn Lang Center To find more: http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/tools.html http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/tools.html

28. 5. What are the advantages and problems?

29. Advantages Students have anytime anywhere access to course materialsStudents have anytime anywhere access to course materials Enhanced instructor-student, student-student communicationEnhanced instructor-student, student-student communication Students have more exposure to languagesStudents have more exposure to languages Data easily re-purposedData easily re-purposed Examination and quiz generation and grading greatly facilitatedExamination and quiz generation and grading greatly facilitated

30. Problems and difficulties Access to computers: technological difficulties Access to computers: technological difficulties Students’ motivation: desire and habits of using computers Students’ motivation: desire and habits of using computers Instructors’ dedication and computer knowledge: time investment and new teaching methods Instructors’ dedication and computer knowledge: time investment and new teaching methods

31. 6. What can we do in the future?

32. What can we do in the future? Computer aided language teaching and learning is still in the beginning stage. Language educators need to continue to explore possibilities and the feasibility of using computers to teach languages.

33. What can we do in the future? 1. Develop more listening materials. 2. Develop more reading materials at various levels. 3. Develop adaptive placement and proficiency tests on CD or online. 4. Establish online tutoring center. 5. Watch closely on the development of speech synthesizing and automatic translation technology.

34. Thank You! Contact info: Dr. Tianwei Xie California State University Long Beach txie@csulb.edu