Week 3: March 21 Issues & Features of CALL I: Interactive I

Issues & Features of CALL I: Interactive I

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think e-learning environment is more interactive? Why or why not? and also how? Tell us how the articles say about it.

I believe e-learning environment fosters more interactive and extended practices for language learners in general, enabling them to acquire communication, social and intercultural competencies. With the rapid development of information and communication technologies in recent years, language learners can engage in both synchronous and asynchronous computer mediated communication (CMC) mediums to enhance and further extend learning and practices in target languages (TL) beyond their classrooms. Studies have shown higher levels of learner participation and of turn-taking initiation in the computer assisted classroom; students with varied learning styles will develop learner autonomy whilst using more authentic and meaningful TL contexts in freer and more global CMC setting.

This week’s reading assignments introduce various types of CMC modes with both the quantitative and qualitative research data that justify why and how students can benefit from e-learning with teachers taking on the role of effective facilitators. According to these articles both the asynchronous CMC via email lists and discussion forum (Activity Room) and synchronous CMC online chat facilitate various pedagogical benefits of learning and teaching languages and establish contexts for real-world communication and authentic interaction among learners. I believe the success of e-learning depends heavily on how the teacher plays the role as facilitator; constant evaluation of engagement process involving T-Ss and S-S is essential as well as developing ways and means to assist the learners to become more independent and interdependent and reflective participants in language learning.

2. Most students are neither active nor interactive on the discussion board if it is designed for study. How can English teachers encourage their spontaneous participation? Discuss the suggested ideas and your own experiences.

As it is in the case of off-line learning, most learners tend to be passive often lacking in confidence to assert themselves in the learning process. I believe, encouraging spontaneous participation in the e-learning environment is more challenging and demands more attentive ‘guidance’ of a teacher whilst taking on the role as facilitator versus authoritative figure. Dorit Maor, through her Activity Room research introduces how the ‘four hats’ metaphor of pedagogical, social, managerial and technical actions of the instructor was applied to achieve interactive and collaborative teaching and learning on the discussion board with her students. Based on my own experience, the methodology of requiring mandatory student contributions and discussions directly accounting for a significant portion of the assessment is necessary for most learners. Unless the given tasks affect the final grades, it is very difficult (if not near impossible) to motivate the students to become readily active participants. Peer evaluation is also an effective measure to ensure more active and quality contributions from the students.

Delivering clear goal and objectives of the course to the students from the beginning is essential which will enable better understanding of the teacher’s expectations. Also, getting the students to become responsible for own learning via giving specific leader type role is truly effective to encourage student-centered learning environment where they learn to work in more communicative and collaborative setting.

Tasks should be carefully designed and structured to appeal to learners; text books often fail to present practical and meaningful contextualized contents that are relevant to learners needs. Constant evaluation of learning process is necessary for timely intervention for support and instruction. In addition, although teacher-expectation should be idealistic, students need to be continuously challenged to thrive for more in terms of input and output of language learning process.

Even with the cutting edge communication technology in the future, e-learning would not totally replace the off-line learning environment. Instead, by combining effective features and benefits of the two learning environments, the students would become true competent communicators in TL.