Final Project: Distance Language Learning and Voice-Over-Internet Tools

Tracy Cramer, allbeings724@yahoo.com
ENG 724, "Technology for TESOL"
Instructor: Karla Frizler Octavio
San Francisco State University
5/23/01

Report

Topic:

Until the advent of VoI tools, synchronous computer mediated distance language learning had been limited to text based communication. With this software (and the necessary hardware) language learners can now speak and listen to each over the Internet at little to no cost. This technology therefore makes possible communicative oral and aural fluency skills development because learners and instructors can interact with each other in real time.

For simplicity I apply the term "VoI tools" rather broadly to a variety of programs of which voice may only be a part. For the purposes of this report, then, my definition of VoI tools includes such diverse softwares as Microsoft's NetMeeting (NM) (which allows real time video), Open University’s Lyceum (which includes visual workspace tools like NM), as well as the "simple" voice chat client offered through Yahoo Messenger. In addition, I also include within the term "VoI tool" the web-based voice mail service of Wimba.com (even though it does not allow real time interaction) because it permits users to send their voices over the internet and can, therefore, be used for language instruction.

Relevance of Topic

Many of the students I am now teaching academic speaking and listening skills to intend to complete or further their university education in the United States after leaving the American Language Institute. But what if they wish to continue their language studies and practice once they leave the United States for either their homeland or another non-English speaking country? I believe VoI tools offer these and other foreign language learners an additional means of getting the oral fluency practice they might not otherwise be able to obtain.

Similarly, for interested teachers, these tools provide a low cost means of delivering synchronous oral instruction to physically dispersed learners. Both teachers and learners, then, will no longer be restricted to the same location, or limited by long distance telephone charges, for oral fluency work and practice, but will be able to collaborate with each other in a virtual learning environment.

In addition, for those teachers interested in teaching a language abroad, these tools make possible the distance learning of the language of their future host country. For example, I would like to teach in Europe some day. I'm still not sure which country I will eventually find myself in, but I expect I might take advantage of these tools as finding native French speakers online to chat with, for example, may prove more convenient, cost effective, and suited to my own learning goals, than what I could afford or find through traditional face to face instruction.

And finally, as an EFL teacher abroad some day, I would like to encourage my future students to avail themselves of this technology so that the conversations they have with a native speaker aren't just limited to those they have with me, the instructor. And if I am in a setting where there is institutional support, I would like to establish links with either a class or interested native English speakers abroad, so that collaborative cross-cultural projects might be pursued by the learners. I think this could contribute greatly to the students' motivation and level of participation.

Research Process

I began by using various Internet search engines to see what I might find regarding the use of CALL for the development of speaking and listening fluency skills. Perhaps I gave up too quickly, (maybe the keywords I was using to guide the search were too broad), but since nothing was coming up, I turned to the CALL branch, TESCLA-L, of the TESL listserv (and later, NETEACH-L) in my quest for answers.

Lesley Shield of Open University (UK) was the first to respond to my vague question about voice chat and language learning. OU's Department of Languages had been experimenting with audiographics technology as a way of developing oral and aural skills for several years. After reading her's and her colleagues papers, I was able to refine my research question sufficiently so that when I later posted it to the discussion list, I received more responses.

Responses led me to articles that led me to references that led to email exchanges with other educators and researchers, and then to additional postings. This, in turn, led to me more articles and references and individuals to contact. The research process had become a scavenger hunt, and at times I was as much motivated by the pursuit of pieces to add to the puzzle, as I was by the need to find the actual quantitative data I sought. Unfortunately, through none of these contacts could I find any quantitative data that specifically addressed my question of the effectiveness of VoI tools.

Two months into the search Ms. Shield told me that "I think you're unlikely to find much/any quantitative data at the moment because very few people are using VoI…" L. Shield (personal communication, April 25, 2001). But at this point I had made contact with others who were using the technology, and found this so interesting in and of itself, that I amended my initial question with the additional objective of cataloging how other educators make use of VoI tools for language learning.

In the end, all of the published data I could find came from articles describing how various language learning projects made use of a synchronous audio client (including videoconferencing projects), with the project results being either qualitative or anecdotal, and not quantitative. So I then supplemented this data with email interviews with Lesley Shield, Sub-Dean of Learning and Teaching Technologies at The Open University (UK), Eric Baber, Director of Studies of the private online language learning school NetLearn Languages, John Steele, Professor of English at University of Puerto Rico at Aguadilla, and Vance Stevens, founder of English for Webheads. And finally, through the kindness of NetLearn Languages, I was allowed to participate in a live online private English class. Teacher Jo Staniford, and English learner Amjad, allowed me to experience first hand the audiographics features of Microsoft's NetMeeting software, and see how this technology, in skilled hands, could be effectively used to create communicative language learning activities. (See my Observation Report Number 3, linked through my homepage).

Findings

Many of the projects whose literature I surveyed reported results that I believe are of as much interest as the specific answers I found to my research questions. I have organized these results under the headings of Fluency, Community/Social Contact, and Confidence.

Fluency:

1. University of Hull/Castle Hall School Project (UK): Interaction: Teacher to Student. (Although this and the following school’s pilot projects used video-conferencing to deliver course content, the objective of the lesson’s activities was specifically to help learners prepare for the oral/aural component of their national exams). In 1996 University of Hull teacher-trainees individually tutored 31 Year 11 high school students in German and French. In a self-reported questionnaire filled out after several weeks of instruction, 74% of the students said that they had found the instruction helped them improve their vocabulary; 74% said that they had found the instruction helped them improve their listening; and, 51% said that they had found the instruction helped them improve their ability to reply. Researchers (Wright & Whitehead, 1998) concluded that the results are encouraging enough that "the use of video-conferencing offers a realistic further avenue for this dimension of language teaching and learning."
2. Monkskeaton Community High School (UK)/Lycee Europeen Montebello, Lille, France/Gesamtschule Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany: Interaction: Student to Student.

Results:

1. For Monkskeaton CHS students, researchers (Butler & Fawkes, 1999) found that in the program’s first year, 1996:

Of our nine Year 13 students who had 5 months of video-conferencing [with their French peers], six students showed a marked improvement in their spoken French in terms of accent, intonation, accuracy and fluency. An analysis of the of the group’s examination grades suggested an average improvement of one grade per candidate, but the results of the nine students in one year is not sufficient basis for statistical analysis.

2. The following year the program was widened to include German language students. (Butler & Fawkes, 1999) found that there was an "improvement in communication skills…and the students were much more proficient than their peers [who did not participate in the videoconferencing sessions] at asking questions."

Community/Social Contact: Distance learners are by definition isolated from one another. VoI tools, combined with task-based collaborative activities, provide learners with opportunities to interact with each other, thus reducing feelings of isolation.

1. Open University: Learner testimonials include comments such as the following: [This method of studying] "gave me the opportunity to talk to a group of people most of whom I had never met before in a purposeful way. It was enjoyable" (Hewer, S. & Shield, L., 2001). Another student referred to "…’feeling a team member’ - something which home-based distance learners may not experience very often during their studies" (Hewer, S . & Shield, L., 2001). Researchers further reported that "…learners also used Lyceum as a tool through which they were able to socialize with each other…" (Kötter, M. & Shield, L., 2000). And finally, in the project’s pilot studies, researchers noted examples in student comments of learners finding social support and companionship, making friends, and of feeling "…a responsibility toward each other" (Kötter, M. & Shield, L., 2000).
2. NLL: For NLL learners, community also promotes confidence and autonomy. Eric Baber notes that:

Within a group, a community feeling builds very quickly. In many cases course participants contact each other outside of class time either by e-mail or NetMeeting for social purposes. The fact that the learners can be in different countries is fascinating to them; they often study with students who live in countries they've never visited before and have little knowledge of. This fascination results in a high level of motivation and seems to encourage them to use English to contact each other socially, so to say." E. Baber (personal communication, April 2, 2001).

3. English for Webheads (EFW): Central to the cohesion of this voluntary group is the friendships the learners have developed by means of various online multimedia tools. VoI tools such as voice chat and voice email are only two of these tools, but according to one teacher (Coghlan, 2000), they are a part of what helps create an experience of community: "Few but the very independent and highly motivated will do well in an online environment that does not seek to replace the lack of face to face contact with some sense of interaction and community". He goes on to report how for teachers and students alike "The sound of the human voice has brought some of us much closer very quickly." and cites this comment from a student in Taiwan as an example: "This is my dream to be able to speak to you like this."

Confidence: Language teachers know the affective element of confidence plays a significant role in language acquisition. Learner confidence was one of the most frequently cited outcomes in the studies already mentioned.

1. University of Hull/Castle Hall School Project (UK): In the same questionnaire that the students reported improvements in vocabulary, listening and ability to reply, 87% also commented that the online videoconferencing sessions helped improve their confidence when speaking in the target language (Wright, N., & Whitehead, M., 1998).
2. Monkskeaton Community High School (UK)/Lycee Europeen Montebello, Lille, France/Gesamtschule Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany: (Butler & Fawkes, 1999) report that nine of the 13 students who videoconferenced with peers their French peers, had "…also improved their confidence in speaking, which is, of course, highly important in terms of performing in an exam situation."
3. Open University (UK): (Kötter, M. & Shield, L., 2000) report that:

Students across languages and project phases reported that their confidence in their ability to communicate in the target language had received a massive boost. In fact, the following comment is rather typical of the feedback student offered in the final questionnaires: I felt obliged to participate, and the practice boosted my confidence. I was amazed how much I could keep going off the cuff so to speak when I felt other members of the group were expecting my input. (First level German student)

In summing up this particular outcome of OU's work with Lyceum, Lesley Shield remarked that " the vast majority (around 95%) reported that their confidence in using the target language had improved tremendously". She paraphrases one student's comment to illustrate her point: "I am no longer afraid of making mistakes when I speak" L. Shield (personal communication, March 31, 2001).

4. NLL: And finally, regarding learner confidence, Eric Baber observes that:

Recommendations for Instructors & Students

Perhaps this is because educators are still unaware that these tools exist; or believe that the software and hardware is prohibitively expensive; or think that the technology is too complicated to use, or (if they have had some experience with it) were disappointed with the sound quality or by technical failures.

Indeed, my own familiarity with the subject is pretty superficial. There is a lot I don’t understand. If I were to consider becoming an online language instructor, I would want to receive some training in how to make effective use of these tools, as well as how to organize and conduct an online class.

On the other hand, my experience in participating in and observing the NLL class left me with the feeling that many of NM features were fairly intuitive to use. And although I am not very technically inclined, it did not take me long to adjust to fact that even though I could not see the instructor or other student, I could feel their presence through the combination of hearing their voices and seeing images, text, and other icons being manipulated on the screen by them in real time.

NM is a free downloadable software. (See Appendix). It allows users to share any Windows-based application or folder with several other users. It also has a whiteboard, (or digital equivalent to a whiteboard or flipchart, with tools for scribbling free form shapes, plus tools for typing and drawing shapes) text-based chat, audio conferencing and file transfer capabilities.

If you are considering using NM for videoconferencing with other learners in a collaborative project through the school you are teaching at, you will need institutional support, as this feature requires a lot of bandwidth. (I’ve read that because the video component is such a bandwidth hungry feature, users frequently turn it off, retaining just a still picture of the other user).

Sound quality is another consideration. It is not up to the standards of telephone technology. The voices sound a little distant, but they are also clear and intelligible. I could hear the English accent of the NLL instructor just fine, and I think it is up to the task of allowing pronunciation work. In my estimation, it is important, however, to use a microphone and speaker head set to maximize the quality. (I purchased one for fifteen dollars, and it can also be purchased through Yahoo.com’s shopping site).

Recently I experimented with Yahoo Messenger’s Voice Chat Client. (See Appendix). The sound quality was a little tinny, but again more than adequate. To my surprise, the latest version of this free downloadable software includes some of the same data conferencing tools that NM does. The other user and myself were able to transfer files (photographs and documents) as we spoke. Like NM, it also includes text chat, and this proved useful at those times when we lost the audio link and had to call each other again, (as also happened during the NLL English class that I observed). Yahoo Messenger claims that up to 10 users at time can participate in a group audio/data conference.

Wimba.com (See Appendix) is another useful free downloadable (but asynchronous) voice tool that allows users to post voice messages to a threaded discussion board. If you visit Wimba.com’s site, you can listen to an actual language lesson to hear how it can be used for distance learning. The sound quality is really quite good, and its asynchronous quality is well suited to pronunciation work.

Another free downloadable software that you might consider for online interactive language learning is Groupboard.com. (See Appendix). It is a scaled down visual workspace tool that allows multiple users to simultaneously scribble free form shapes, insert other shapes, as well as send text chat messages. Combined with Yahoo Messenger Voice Chat, one can create and direct simple communicative activities.

Regarding activities, teachers should take advantage of the synchronous nature of these tools. All the projects whose reports I surveyed used task-based and collaborative activities to promote meaningful language learning. These spanned the range from information gathering activities, (such as interviewing a peer in France to find out what his hometown is like, for example), to months long projects that required groups of students to collaborate outside of class hours as they assumed roles in the setting up of a subsidiary of an imaginary business in

another country. In other words, keeping in mind the communicative nature of VoI tools as you design activities that meet your particular learners’ needs will allow you to take maximum advantage of the medium and serve your students best.

A final consideration is the ephemeral nature of some of the companies and services they provide. For example, Excite.com offered a voice chat service that allowed instructors to create "virtual rooms" where they could meet with their students for office hours or class activities. Many teachers and virtual communities made use of it. Excite.com recently had to discontinue their voice chat service because the company that provided them with the voice client went out of business, (as have 90% of the industry’s other dotcoms in the last 6 months). In many ways the industry is still in its infancy, and teachers should therefore be prepared for these kinds of upsets. If you work for a school that will provide you with technical and institutional support, it would behoove you and the school to rent proprietary software (as OU does with Lyceum groupware) and designate server space to insure that you can provide your learners with the education they paid for.

Conclusion

I began my research with the following question: Can VoI tools be used to effectively promote the development of speaking and listening skills? Based on my findings under the heading of fluency, I believe the answer is yes. Even though the data I assembled is qualitative, Lesley Shield’s comments regarding their ongoing analysis of fluency discourse features, provide, I think, solid evidence of VoI tools’, (accompanied by audiographics) effectiveness in developing these skills.

I think I have also provided a sufficient overview of who and in what ways these tools are being used to give those interested some idea of what this area of language learning is like.

As for questions to pursue, I believe Lesley Shield gives those interested in how these tools can be used, something to think about:

Sources

Lesson Plan: Tourist or Traveler?

(See Attached NM Screen Shots)

Target Audience Level

Two low advanced English language learners (International students in their home countries) with an interest in developing the four skills, with an emphasis on oral fluency skills, in anticipation of traveling abroad.

Rationale

As (Egbert, et al., 1999) point out, "learning is essentially the result of interaction between learners and others". This lesson is therefore designed to create opportunities for the learners to interact and negotiate meaning, the first condition of an Optimal Language Learning Environment. The learners will do this, for example, by being asked to compare and explain their reasons for describing the picture as they did to each other, and then to me, in task one.

Condition 2, "Learners Interact in the Target Language With an Authentic Audience," will also be met in task one because their partner will be an "audience that is concerned exclusively with the meaning of the speaker’s message" (Johnston, 1999).

Condition 3, "Learners Are Involved in Authentic Tasks," will be met, for example, in the reading task when the learners are asked to read a piece of an authentic essay written by a travel journalist to find out how the writer prefers to travel. This is essentially a reading comprehension exercise.

Condition 4, "Learners Are Exposed to and Encouraged to Produce Varied and Creative Language," will be met through a number of activities that address some the learner’s different learning styles. For example, they will read a short travelogue essay to find out how and why the writer prefers to travel. They will then, after working alone on a multiple choice comprehension check, compare and explain their answers first to each other, then to the teacher. They will then visit the Lonelyplanet.com web site and find a place they would like to visit together (negotiating meaning) and report to me the place and reasons. And finally, they will write an imaginary letter to the editor of a newspaper.

Condition 5, "Learners Have Enough Time and Feedback". Since the focus is on oral fluency in this lesson, rather than accuracy, feedback on oral skills will only come if errors impede meaning, is requested, or, when appropriate, through teacher questioning, and then modeling of the correct form. Feedback will also come through teacher questioning of their responses to specific task questions, e.g., "why do you think the writer prefers to travel alone"?

Condition 6, "Learners are Guided to Attend Mindfully to the Learning Process". The teacher will ask them what kinds of reading skills they will use during the Lonelyplanet.com task, to get just the essential information (since they will not have much time).

Condition 7, "Learners Work in an Atmosphere With an Ideal Stress/Anxiety Level". This will be facilitated in part through the tasks having time limits, but will be open ended enough to allow for creative discussions. This condition will also be met by having set tasks with measurable outcomes.

Condition 8, "Learner Autonomy is Supported". This condition will be met by the teacher keeping mind that his or her "…role is to challenge learners’ thinking, not to attempt to dictate or attempt to regulate their thinking for them" (Egbert, 1999). She or he will do this in part by, for example, asking open ended questions such as "Can travel broaden the mind"? that have neither a right nor wrong answer, but rather an answer that will depend on the reasons the students offer to support their opinion.

Goals/Expected Outcomes

The students will acquire the the vocabulary, and develop the oral fluency skills necessary to hold conversations about the meaning and purpose of travel.

• Students will be able to identify and discuss the similarities of and differences between a tourist and a traveler.
• Students will be able to identify and explain their reasons for their travel destination choices.
• Students will identify new vocabulary in the reading.
• Students will practice skimming and scanning skills.
• Students will be able to write a letter to the editor of a newspaper.

Technologies & Materials Required

1. Microsoft NetMeeting software installed on teacher and student computers (computers, which will have to meet minimum specification requirements outlined at the NM website, found in Appendix).
2. An Internet connection.
3. 56K Modem.
4. Microphone and speaker headset.

Required Facilities

All lessons will ideally take place from the teacher’s and learners’ home computers so that any audio or software restrictions will not be an issue; otherwise, this will have to be arranged through the school’s network administrator.

Procedure

• This lesson assumes the teacher and students have already worked in NM; (and Yahoo Messenger Voice Chat and file transfer tools as back up). If not, the teacher will have to arrange a NM tutorial with the students before this lesson can take place.

• Connect to the Internet and open NM. Five minutes before the scheduled class time, T and Ss find each other through the NM directory. Invite students to a NM conference.
• Once T and Ss have audio, T opens whiteboard tool, then T invites Ss to do the same.
• Greetings and review of last class. (3 minutes).
• Warm-up and schemata activation: T asks students if they have traveled before. If so, where and when, if not, where would they like to travel to. T also participates. (5 minutes).
• Task One: Post picture of tourists and four questions (see attached page one) on whiteboard. Ask Ss to work as a pair to answer questions. Report, and discuss with teacher. (5 minutes).
• Task Two: Repeat procedure with picture of travelers. (Page 2). (5 minutes).
• Task Three: Post discussion questions. Ss work together, then report and discuss with T. (Page 3). (7 minutes).
• Task Four: Post essay and instructions. Ss read separately. Ss read it a second time, underlining any words they don’t know. Ask Ss to guess meaning from context, then T writes definitions on screen if still unclear. (Page 4). (7 minutes).
• Task Five: Post 5 multiple choice essay comprehension check questions. (Page 5). Students work individually, then compare answers, explaining their answers if different. (6 minutes).
• Task Six: Have Ss open another browser and post lonelyplanet.com URL. (Page 6). Ss go to site and find a place they both want to visit. (7 minutes). Ss report and explain why. (3 minutes).
• Task 7 (Homework): Post clipping from newspaper advertising a dream vacation, and writing instructions. (Page 7). Go over instructions with Ss. Ss are to imagine they sent for the vacation brochure, then went on the vacation, but had a highly unsatisfactory experience. Assignment: Ss are to write a 200-word letter (maximum) to the newspaper editor recounting their experience, the misleading ad, and to request that the editor not take any more ads from this company. (3 minutes).
• Elicit summary of what the Ss learned that day. (3 minutes).
• Total time: 56 minutes.

Alternative Plan

Since this is an online class, if someone loses their Internet connection, then the instructor can have a voice chat about travel with the other student until the other returns. If the other cannot reestablish their connection, then the class may have to be rescheduled. If the teacher loses their connection, then the lesson is over until the teacher and Ss can reschedule. The teacher should keep image and text files on his hardrive. If NM fails, invite the students to an audioconference through Yahoo Messenger. Use the file transfer tool to transfer images and text files and finish the lesson. If the file transfer tool does not work, then ask the students to go to the teacher’s homepage and link through to Groupboard A and have them draw and explain the landscape of the place they would like to visit and explain why, through the voice client. Alternatively, have them go to the lonelyplanet.com site and complete the task as described above.

Practical Considerations

• Losing the audio link is not uncommon. When this happens, switch to text-chat until whoever was disconnected can dial in again.

• The class will take place in a public space. Only by paying for server space can you insure privacy. Otherwise, be prepared for possible interruptions, and for how to handle them.
• Factor in time differences when setting class times. (You may have to get up early!)

To all readers in general, and to anyone in particular whose data I cited: If you think any of the information I provided could be clarified or amended, please let me know.

Special thanks go out to my guides in this research: Lesley Shield, Eric Baber, Vance Stevens and my instructor Karla "Frizzy" Octavio. Each of them gave far more of their time and experience than I have been able to thank them for. (And thanks to NLL instructor Jo Staniford for sharing this lesson plan with me, and to English learner Amjad for sharing his class time with me).

Tracy Cramer © 2001