ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Emerging Affordances in Videoconferencing for Language Learning and Teaching
Author: Dey-Plissonneau, Aparajita
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Videoconferencing,Affordances,Computer Assisted Instruction,Second Language Instruction,Foreign Countries,Graduate Students,Undergraduate Students,French,Tutors,Second Language Learning,Interaction

The theory of affordances (Gibson, 1977) came into focus in humancomputer interactions and ecological interactive design to explore design strategies to support the actor in direct perception of action possibilities in the operation of things. However, few studies have analysed the basis of affordances in the cultural-historical development of human activity in systems that have substantial socio-cultural, pedagogical, and technological components. This study aims to identify the designed and emerging affordances in an asymmetrical (tutor-learner) videoconferencing environment for language learning. Following Engeström's (2014) Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and an ecological Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) perspective, I analyse interactions between the design for language learning and technology use at the macro, meso, and micro levels of a videoconferencing project between French tutors and Irish students. I investigate how the designed technological, linguistic, and educational affordances are perceived and acted upon by the tutor-learner activity systems triggering the emergence of new affordances. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
Online Study: Postgraduate Student Perceptions of Core Skills Development
Author: Grounds, Patricia E.
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Graduate Students,Student Attitudes,Skill Development,Electronic Learning,Qualitative Research,Learning Strategies,Thinking Skills,Communication Skills,Leadership Qualities,Responsibility,Technology Uses in Education,Communities of Practice,Computer Mediated Communication,Asynchronous Communication,Learning Processes,Self Esteem,Student Empowerment,Outcomes of Education,English Teachers,Language Teachers

In this qualitative study, we analyze postgraduate students' perceptions of strategic behaviors they developed during their online studies and their ability to extend this behavior to their own praxis. Findings suggest that strategic behavior centers around the development of four core skills: engaging in self-directed thinking; fostering effective communication; fostering leadership and shared responsibility; and using technology to reinforce, extend, and deepen learning. Through a dialogic process, where the presence of a supportive online community of practice plays a central role, participants appear to use these skills to engage in a process of un-learning and re-learning. The asynchronous modality of the online medium, allowing delayed rather than immediate responses, appeared to facilitate deeper, more considered constructions of new understandings. Ultimately, this online modality appears propitious in building self-confidence, thus empowering participants to act in their professional domain. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
How &quot;Blended&quot; Should &quot;Blended Learning&quot; Be?
Author: Ostrowski, Boguslaw
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Foreign Students,English for Academic Purposes,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,College Students,Blended Learning,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Synchronous Communication,Asynchronous Communication,Online Courses,Student Attitudes,Rating Scales,Critical Thinking

Concerns about progression rates of international students enrolled in an academic English course to prepare them for university studies led to the addition of an online teaching component, including both synchronous and asynchronous elements. Due to what appeared to be inconsistent student engagement with the online element, this study was initiated to investigate students' approaches to the new aspects of the course. Students were asked to rank the principal elements of the course according to their importance using diamond ranking, a critical thinking tool, and to make comments to explain their reasons for the rankings produced. What seems to emerge quite clearly from the initial data is (1) the need for closer coordination between the teachers who deliver the online course elements and students who are expected to engage in Blended Learning (BL), and (2) for them to have a clearer understanding of both the potential and the limitations of blended learning and teaching. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
OER Use in Intermediate Language Instruction: A Case Study
Author: Godwin-Jones, Robert
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Educational Resources,Case Studies,Multimedia Materials,Shared Resources and Services,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Student Centered Learning,Instructional Materials,Action Research,Grammar,Independent Study,Student Motivation,Intellectual Disciplines,Personal Autonomy,Language Styles,Guides,Reading Materials,German,Student Developed Materials

This paper reports on a case study in the experimental use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) in intermediate level language instruction. The resources come from three sources: the instructor, the students, and open content repositories. The objective of this action research project was to provide student-centered learning materials, enhance student motivation, and encourage learner autonomy. The content modules, designed to complement and supplement materials from the commercial textbook used, represent a variety of disciplines and genres. Grammar tutorials cover the structures typically introduced in intermediate language study. Also included are modules on language self-study, which feature annotated guides to online language resources. To accommodate further student personal or professional interest, students were asked to find and curate additional reading or multimedia content. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
The Comparison of the Impact of Storytelling and Digital Storytelling Assignments on Students&apos; Motivations for Learning
Author: Kasami, Naoko
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Foreign Countries,College Students,Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),Computer Assisted Instruction,Computer Mediated Communication,Story Telling,Assignments,Learning Motivation,Comparative Analysis,Instructional Effectiveness,Information Technology,Peer Evaluation,Outcomes of Education,Pretests Posttests,Questionnaires,Attention,Relevance (Education),Self Esteem,Student Satisfaction,Models,Statistical Analysis

The purpose of this study was to explore how a Digital StoryTelling (DST) assignment affected and changed students' motivations for learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in comparison with a StoryTelling (ST) assignment. A course entitled &quot;Information English&quot; was held for Japanese university students at a faculty of information and communications in the fall term of 2014. The study goal of the course was to acquire skills and knowledge to present ideas and messages effectively with the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and English. Students conducted ST tasks in the class as a midterm assignment, then created digital stories and peer-reviewed them as a final assignment. The impact of the DST assignment on students' motivations was analyzed by means of midterm and post-assessment questionnaires based on Keller's ARCS model (four categories of which are attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction) and compared to data collected for the ST assignment. The findings showed that most students were more motivated for learning with the DST assignment than the ST assignment. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
Listening Difficulty Detection to Foster Second Language Listening with a Partial and Synchronized Caption System
Author: Mirzaei, Maryam Sadat
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),Listening Comprehension,Listening Skills,Computer Mediated Communication,Synchronous Communication,Layout (Publications),Visual Aids,Identification,Automation,Assistive Technology,Speech Communication,Articulation (Speech),Word Recognition,Error Analysis (Language),Error Patterns,Experiments,Foreign Countries

This study proposes a method to detect problematic speech segments automatically for second language (L2) listeners, considering both lexical and acoustic aspects. It introduces a tool, Partial and Synchronized Caption (PSC), which provides assistance for language learners and fosters L2 listening skills. PSC presents purposively selected words along with a video in the form of synchronized text-to-speech captions. It uses corpus-based information and conducts speech-data analysis to detect difficulties in speech, thus achieving effective word selection. To this end, PSC uses an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) system as a model for L2 listeners to elucidate speech difficulties for these learners. In this method, misrecognized words by the ASR system are analyzed to find useful patterns that could signal problematic speech segments for L2 listeners. The identified patterns were evaluated by experiments to ensure that they cause difficulties for L2 listeners in the same way that they impede ASR performance. Experimental findings confirm that adding these instances to PSC significantly improves learners' recognition of the respective segments. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
Can You Understand Me? Speaking Robots and Accented Speech
Author: Moussalli, Souheila
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Speech,Dialects,Pronunciation,Robotics,Technology Uses in Education,Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),Accuracy,Interviews,Observation,Surveys,Behavior,Oral English

The results of our previous research on the pedagogical use of Speaking Robots (SRs) revealed positive effects on motivating students to practice their oral skills in a stress-free environment. However, our findings indicated that the SR was sometimes unable to understand students' foreign accented speech. In this paper, we report the results of a study that investigated the ability of an SR to recognize and process non-native English speech from different levels of accentedness. The analysis is based on how the SR handled the participants' speech in terms of accuracy, the number and types of communication breakdowns observed, and how the participants behaved to solve the interaction problems that they experienced with the SR. Based on the study's surveys, interviews, and observations of users' interactions with the device, the results emphasize SRs' potential to recognize different types of accented L2 speech and their use as pedagogical tools. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
Harnessing the Power of Informal Learning: Using WeChat, the Semi-Synchronous Group Chat, to Enhance Spoken Fluency in Chinese Learners
Author: Sadoux, Marion
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Second Language Learning,French,Informal Education,Computer Assisted Instruction,Computer Mediated Communication,Synchronous Communication,Language Fluency,Oral Language,Asynchronous Communication,Cooperative Learning,Learning Strategies,Semi Structured Interviews,Student Attitudes,Questionnaires

This research is an exploratory study that seeks to evaluate the potentials of the Chinese app WeChat to enhance the spoken fluency of learners of French in China, who report having limited and insufficient opportunities to practice speaking in their daily life. WeChat is an extremely popular instant messenger facilitating communication through a media rich environment that can be used synchronously, asynchronously or semi-synchronously with voice or text messages. WeChat is widely used in China and a growing number of informal highly autonomous language learners join or form WeChat groups to learn and practice speaking languages in personal networks of learning. The study sought to bring together French learners and expert users to give them increased opportunities to practise their spoken French on a daily basis for a period of three months to support the development of spoken fluency. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
Designing for Ab Initio Blended Learning Environments: Identifying Systemic Contradictions
Author: Ó Doinn, Oisín
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Computer Assisted Instruction,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Blended Learning,Teaching Methods,Introductory Courses,Irish,College Students,Course Descriptions,Questionnaires,Student Attitudes,Instructional Design

In recent years, Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has become more accessible than ever before. This is largely due to the proliferation of mobile computing devices and the growth of open online language-learning resources. Additionally, since the beginning of the millennium there has been massive growth in the number of students studying a foreign language in the European Union (Eurostat, 2012). Unfortunately, according to the Education and Training Monitor 20162 , within formal education at all levels, there is a lack of guidance regarding the integration of CALL tools with face-to-face classroom instruction. This is particularly in relation to lower-level language instruction. This paper presents some preliminary findings of the author's doctoral research project that addresses the question: what contradictions and tensions emerge in ab initio blended language learning courses? Capturing the development of human activity in complex learning environments and the difficulties that manifest themselves therein is a challenging methodological task. This paper proposes that Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) is a useful conceptual tool for Blended Learning (BL) researchers in identifying emerging contradictions with complex learning environments. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
&quot;L2 Assessment and Testing&quot; Teacher Education: An Exploration of Alternative Assessment Approaches Using New Technologies
Author: Papadima-Sophocleous, Salomi
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Language Teachers,Teacher Education,Masters Programs,Computer Assisted Instruction,Student Evaluation,Evaluation Methods,Constructivism (Learning),Testing,Problem Solving,Questionnaires,Journal Writing,Web Based Instruction,Computer Mediated Communication,Action Research,Formative Evaluation

Most Second Language (L2) Teacher Training Assessment and Testing courses focus on testing. Through the development of a Master of Arts (MA) in a computer assisted language learning module (based on a constructivist and &quot;practise what you preach&quot; approach, entailing that the teachers experience firsthand the assessment types they were asked to develop), the instructor/researcher aimed to provide Computer Assisted Language Assessment and Testing (CALAT) teacher education, focusing on classroom assessment. The module was based on (1) current theories and practices; (2) participants' earlier assessment and testing background experiences as school students, and their assessment and testing experiences and current practices as L2 teachers; (3) participants' assessment experiences not as L2 teachers but as students of the MA assessment and testing module; (4) participants' L2 CALAT practising needs; and (5) problem-solving by constructing assessments suitable for their practising needs. This article draws on a small-scale questionnaire, participant in- and on-action reflective journal entries, and webinar chat notes to examine the extent to which these goals were achieved. Data analysis and discussion reveals that, the hands-on, technology-based, constructivist, and reflective approach applied enhanced participants' knowledge, skills and experiences in CALAT in general and in L2 classroom assessment in particular. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
MALL with WordBricks--Building Correct Sentences Brick by Brick
Author: Purgina, Marina
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Telecommunications,Handheld Devices,Computer Assisted Instruction,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Computer Software,Grammar,English (Second Language),Irish,Elementary School Students,Teaching Methods,Feedback (Response),Teacher Attitudes,Elementary School Teachers,Foreign Countries

Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) use is increasing and it is good to be able to provide language learners with new resources to enhance their language learning experience. One such resource is WordBricks, a non-commercial, educational app that facilitates the learning and reinforcement of grammar rules. It uses bricks and connectors of different colours and shapes for different parts of speech, and the learner can (only) form grammatically correct sentences. Learners can choose to form sentences from examples or create their own original sentences. Originally, WordBricks was designed for personalised, individual, out-of-classroom learning for English language learners. This paper provides an overview of research on the original WordBricks app for English. A version of WordBricks has been developed for Irish and adapted for use in the primary school setting. There are very few interactive resources available for Irish and the Irish WordBricks app is a new addition to the Irish Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) cannon. This paper reports on how the Irish WordBricks app was used by teachers and students in a primary school and the feedback received on the app. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
Language Students Learning to Manage Complex Pedagogic Situations in a Technology-Rich Environment
Author: Tumelius, Riikka
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Second Language Instruction,Case Studies,English (Second Language),Grade 5,Foreign Countries,Preservice Teachers,Computer Mediated Communication,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Teacher Education Programs,Student Projects,Online Courses,Teamwork,Synchronous Communication

Being a language teacher in the modern world requires sensitivity to complexity, which may pose challenges for student teachers and teachers in the field accustomed to classroom-based learning and teaching. This study examines how language students are managing complex pedagogic situations in a technologyrich environment while exploring new ways of being language teachers. The case context of the study is a university course, which entailed the students designing and carrying out an online English language project for fifth-graders in two Finnish schools. The project activities included online chat sessions, which the students and the course teacher administered from the teacher's office at the university. The office was an important site for the participants to negotiate and process pedagogic issues and practical matters that arose in the course of the work. The research approach draws on nexus analysis (Scollon &amp; Scollon, 2004) and multimodal (inter)action analysis (Norris, 2004). Video recordings from the office as well as the researchers' participatory observations are the primary materials for the analysis. The study provides implications for developing language teacher education. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
Developing Multimedia Supplementary Materials to Support Learning Beginning Level Chinese Characters
Author: Xu, Lisha
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Chinese,Multimedia Materials,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Instructional Materials,Orthographic Symbols

Studies investigating beginner Chinese learners' character learning strategies found that learners considered orthographic knowledge the most useful factor (Ke, 1998; Shen, 2005). Orthographic recognition correlates with character identification and production and can be used by advanced learners to solve word identification problems (Everson, 2007). The central question, then, is how learners and educators can develop this ability. Component analysis and semantic radical instruction throughout the process of teaching beginner learners of non-character background can help learners create meaningful content out of seemingly disconnected information (Zahradníková, 2016). The multimedia material presented in this paper is specially designed with this in mind. A future research study will be conducted to understand the efficacy of modules and practices. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
Construction and Evaluation of an Integrated Formal/Informal Learning Environment for Foreign Language Learning across Real and Virtual Spaces
Author: Waragai, Ikumi
Date: 2017-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Computer Simulation,Computer Assisted Instruction,Informal Education,Information Technology,Cognitive Style,Writing Evaluation,Sentences,German,College Students,Telecommunications,Handheld Devices,Foreign Countries,Computer Software,Error Correction,Teaching Methods,Writing Instruction,Writing Processes,Interviews

This paper presents the prototype of a foreign language learning space, based on the construction of an integrated formal/informal learning environment. Before the background of the continued innovation of information technology that places conventional learning styles and educational methods into new contexts based on new value-standards, environment models of foreign language learning constantly face the necessity to change. A structured environment for foreign language learning can be created only when the learning environment in the real space, which is constructed in many forms outside the classroom, constantly connects with the formal learning environment inside the classroom. This study assumes two axes of a learning environment--formal/informal and real/cyber space--and attempts to integrate them to create a circulating four-dimensional model. Integrating formal and informal environments connects real space, which depends on the physical location and situation, with cyber space, which does not. In this study, sentences written in a foreign language by language learners will be auto-collected and analyzed in cyber space, which plays a great role in students' daily lives. Thus, a 4D foreign language learning environment, which automatically delivers practical knowledge to the learner by a comprehensive analysis of formal and informal learning between real and cyber space, will be constructed. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]
Exploring AI Language Assistants with Primary EFL Students
Author: Underwood, Joshua
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: English (Second Language),Elementary School Students,FLES,Second Language Learning,Artificial Intelligence,Class Activities,Technology Uses in Education

The main objective of this study was to identify ways to incorporate voice-driven Artificial Intelligence (AI) effectively in classroom language learning. This nine month teacher-led design research study employed technology probes (Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, Google voice search) and co-design methods with a class of primary age English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students to explore and develop ideas for classroom activities using AI language assistants. Speaking to AI assistants was considered highly engaging by all students. Students were observed to speak more English when using AI assistants in group work, and to spontaneously reformulate, self-correct, and joyfully and playfully persist with speaking English in their attempts to get AI assistants to do what they wanted them to do. [For the complete volume, see ED578177.]