Tracy Cramer

5/2/01

Institution: NetLearn Languages, London, England

Class: Private Session

Instructor: Jo Staniford

Skill Level: Advanced

Observations Number Three

NetLearn Languages http://www.nll.co.uk/ is a private online language school whose Director of Studies, Eric Baber, was kind enough to arrange an "observation" for me of one of their online class sessions. In order for me to take part in this class, I first had to download a copy of Microsoft's NetMeeting, a free software package that allows users to speak with each other in real time, (as well as to send graphics, transfer files, chat in text, and, with the proper equipment, send video images). From NLL, I was then sent the URL to call their receptionist, who then helped me adjust my speaker and microphone settings, as well as lead me through a brief tutorial of the software's whiteboard feature.(Whiteboard is a graphics interface that appears on the computer screen that allows users to insert text, photos, and other files, as well as draw lines and manipulate icons).

On 5/1, ten minutes before the class was set to begin, (8:00 AM, or 4:00 PM UK time), I went to the URL I had been emailed early that morning that was to take me to the classroom site, and received the message that "This Page Cannot be Displayed". After checking my other email account I found out that their server was down, and that I was to go to another site. Once there, I clicked on the audio connection to the teacher and the student, (who turned out to be Amjad, the NLL receptionist whom I spoke to the day before!). The sound quality was initially rather spotty, and I had a lot of static on my end. After repeated attempts, it became apparent that the data transfer connection that permits the use of the whiteboard was not functioning, so we agreed, speaking to each other in real time, to meet at the same time the next day.

When we met the next day there was no static, and the overall sound quality was better than the day before. We were, however, having trouble connecting the data transfer link again, so while the teacher, Jo, worked on her end, Amjad and I chatted. We talked about ourselves, (he is from Palestine and has worked for NLL for three years in London), the NLL office, and the high cost of living in our respective cities.

Jo returned and had fixed the problem. Class was now running 15 minutes behind schedule, but to me it did not feel like time wasted for the student because at least he was interacting with a native speaker. I can see, though, that if this were a one-on-one session, and the student had nothing to do as the teacher dealt with a technical issue, that time would have been lost if he or the teacher had to end class at the scheduled time. But with more than one student taking part in the class, as was the case by my being there, the learners can at least interact with each through the audio link while waiting. Perhaps in this event, if I had really been one of her students, she may have specifically assigned task to us so that we could have worked on our conversational skills.

After our chat, we opened our whiteboards, and after some more introductions, Jo told us the day's topic would be travel and tourism. A little schema activation and warm-up took place when Jo asked Amjad where he had traveled to in the past, and where he might one day like to travel to. Eric Baber had warned me that I might be asked to participate in the lesson, for after Amjad spoke, she asked me the same thing. I realized then that she was going to treat me as though I were a language student so that I could get the full experience of the technology.

A box with the questions: "What's happening in this picture? Describe the women's appearance. Which country do you think this could be? Why? and How much do you think the visitors will learn about the country?" appeared at the bottom of the screen. A photograph of some older white and sunburned people in colorful clothing, walking a past a group of dark skinned musicians on a dock, then appeared on the screen. Jo could not hear us very well, so she asked that we type our responses in different colored font on the screen. Audio returned a moment later, and we resumed speaking. After the questions had been answered, she asked if we thought these people would learn much about the culture as tourists, along with some other questions.

Page two of the whiteboard was a nearly identical activity, but this time it was a picture of white European mountain climbers taking a break atop a mountain with their darker skinned guide.

Page three was a series of text questions about what the differences were between a tourist and a traveler. At that moment we lost our audio and we had to text chat and dial in again; something that took less than a minute. We then had a short conversation about the advantages and disadvantages to being a tourist vs. a traveler, to travelling alone vs. with a companion or with a group, and whether travel can broaden the mind.

Page four was a one page long reflective essay by an English journalist about his experiences as a traveler. The reading level was equal to that of anything that might appear in the New Yorker Magazine. She gave us a few minutes to read it. She then gave Amjad a few more minutes to go through the text and underline any word he did not know, which simultaneously appeared on my screen. (I scrolled up and down the screen and found out that I was changing Amjad's screen as well. Jo later told me that she could send copies to each of us to keep that from happening, if I had been a real student).

Jo then typed out the meaning of each word, (such as meandering, non-sequitir, and hankering), in the margins next to where the word appeared in the text. She would ask Amjad to say the word and provide feedback on his pronunciation.

Page five was a multiple choice comprehension check of the meaning of the essay. Each of the five statements had four possible answers to choose from. The differences between some of the choices was really rather subtle, and to be able to answer correctly required some real understanding. She asked that we work on it together. I asked Amjad to read each question aloud and tell me what he thought and why, (since I wasn't really the student). Some of this, however, really did require some negotiation between us as I wanted to understand the reasons for his choices. He would then circle the correct letter, and Jo would put a check next to the statement if it were correct or not. On the last one we had a genuine disagreement, with each of us explaining our reasons to the other. It turned out that Amjad had the correct answer.

After discussing the essay for a few minutes more, we ran out of time. Jo explained that in the fifteen minutes we lost due to the technical problem, she had one more activity where both of us were to open another browser, go to the Lonely Planet web site whose address she had typed onto the screen, find a place we both wanted to go, and be prepared to discuss the reasons why.

Instead, Jo assigned Amjad his homework on Page 6. On the page was a scanned clipping of a short ad that had appeared in a newspaper, advertising a dream vacation. The assignment was to play the role of a dissatisfied customer who felt compelled to write a letter to the editor of the paper, informing him that the ad was "seriously misleading", and urging him to not accept the ad in future editions. Included were additional directions about what to consider when planning and writing the letter.

My overall impression of the lesson was that it was well integrated. It covered the four skills in an authentic and communicative manner. In a communicative schema activating activity we began with a short conversation about our travel experiences and interests. Here Amjad developed his fluency skills. The next two activities consisted of a descriptive task that generated the vocabulary and language to discuss the differences between a traveler and a tourist. This was a listening and speaking activity that required some reading. The next task required the student to read an authentic essay that further developed the topic of travelers, tourists and how the different mindsets and attitudes of each produce different experiences, just as Amjad and I had touched on in our discussion of the pictures. This was followed by a pair work comprehension check where we had to articulate and explain our reasons for our answers; followed by the jettisoned pair work activity of visiting the Lonely Planet site. And finally, the homework assignment to write a letter. The homework presented the kind of real world scenario that called for the kind of writing skills that a learner might likely need to develop as a basic living skill.

If I were to teach this lesson, I would probably do the same thing she did, but for a two small exceptions. I would have included more rationale so that the purposes behind the activities were clearer. I would also have asked the student to try to guess at the meaning of the unknown vocabulary from the journalist's essay, rather than just providing the answers. Above all I was most impressed by how much speaking and listening was needed to realize each activity. Oral fluency skills around the lesson's topic stands out, for me, as the most prominent outcome of this lesson.