INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING

INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING
www.apacall.org
ASIA-PACIFIC ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTER-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING
APACALL Newsletter Series No. 6, December 2004
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

APACALL is an on-line association of CALL researchers and practitioners and its membership is free. It is unique and special. I point out this fact here as we are moving along well with our aims while seeing many organizational developments, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. We will continuously make contributions to CALL research and practice with our expertise in CALL.
I thank you all for a great effort this year and wish all the members of APACALL a happy festive season and a healthy and prosperous New Year.
Jeong-Bae Son
President
NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS (July – December 2004)
► Publications
□ Son, J.-B. (Ed.). (2004). Computer-assisted language learning: Concepts, contexts and practices. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse. Refer to: http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0595331262
□ Thang, S. M. (2004). Learning English in a multicultural Malaysia: Are learners motivated? Journal of Language Learning, 2(2), 142-153. Available: http://www.shakespeare.uk.net/journal/jllearn/2_2a/thang.htm
► Conference Presentations
○ Shin, H.-J., & Son, J.-B. (2004, October). Teacher perceptions on Internet-assisted English language teaching. Paper presented at the 12th Korea TESOL International Conference, Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, Korea.
○ Son, J.-B. (2004, April). Discussion group contribution in online teacher education. Paper presented at the 38th Annual TESOL Convention, Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, California, USA.
○ Thang, S.M. & Bidmeshki, L. (2004, December). An online English course for Malaysian Science and Technology undergraduates: Evaluating learners’ 1
responses. Paper presented at the CLaSIC 2004 incorporating PacCALL International Conference, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
○ Thang, S.M. & Olaybal, D. (2004, December). Creating and testing a science in English website for Malaysian Secondary One students. Paper presented at the CLaSIC 2004 incorporating PacCALL International Conference, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
○ Thang, S.M. & Wong F. F. (2004, December). Do teachers practise what they believe? A study of preferred teaching styles and actual teaching practices. Paper presented at the ILLC International, Science University of Malaysia, Penang.
► Appointments and movements
◊ Steve McCarty
Osaka Jogakuin College. For his net publications, visit the Website of the World Association for Online Education: http://www.waoe.org/steve/epublist.html
CONFERENCE REPORTS
EUROCALL 2004
TELL AND CALL IN THE MILLENNIUM:
PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES IN A GROWING EU-COMMUNITY
S. Kathleen Kitao (Doshisha Women’s College)
Kenji Kitao (Doshisha University)
The European Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning (EUROCALL) held its annual conference at the University of Vienna September 1-4, 2004. Its theme was "TELL and CALL in the Third Millennium: Pedagogical Approaches in a Growing EU-Community." The sub-themes of the conference were: pedagogical networking and dissemination "developing e-learning and collaborative learning strategies," "innovative technologies and their didactic application," "interactive e-learning vs distance learning?," "building e-learning architectures," "good practice concepts and examples" and "electronic publishing tools for e-learning." About 300 people attended the conference from more than 30 countries, including Austria, the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States, Spain, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Finland, Chile, Italy, the Republic of Ireland, Taiwan, Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Malaysia, France, Denmark, Canada, Ukraine, Israel, Slovakia, and South Africa.
On September 1, several pre-conference workshops were held. These included "Setting up International Research Projects and Practical Approaches," organized by Uschi Felix, Regine Hampel, Mirjam Hauck & Lesley Shield of Monash University, Australia & The Open University; Corpora in CALL, organized by Ylva Berglund of Oxford Text Archive; Hacking Hot Potatoes: An Introduction to Customizing Your Exercises, organized by Martin Holmes of the University of Victoria Humanities Computing and
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Media Centre; and Teaching Online with Moodle, organized by Przemyslaw Stencel of Warsaw School of Social Psychology, Czestochowa.
On the evening of September 1, a Welcome Reception was held. Participants were greeted by Arthur Mettinger, Vice-rector of the University of Vienna and Department of Educational and International Affairs; Bernd Ruschoff, the President of Eurocall, University of Essen; and Klaus Peters, the Eurocall Conference Organiser 2004 and the President CALL Austria.
The following morning, the opening ceremony was held. Participants were greeted by Arthur Mettinger, the vice-rector of the University of Vienna and Department of Educational and International Affairs; Susanne Brandsteidl, the acting president of Vienna’s Board of Education; Nikolaus Ritt, the head of Department of English Studies at the University of Vienna; Bernd Ruschoff of the University of Essen, the President of EUROCALL; and Klaus Peters, the EUROCALL 2004 Conference Organiser, the President CALL Austria.
The first plenary of the conference was "Old Dog Tricks Revisited - CALL: Past, Present, and Future" by Udo Jung of the University of Bayreuth. He described a database of more than 5000 CALL-related papers, including papers in 27 different languages, 40% in English, 20% in French, and 17% in German. Prof. Jung had analyzed this database in order to identify trends in CALL, for example, a progression from drills to more communicative and integrated uses of computers.
On September 3, there were two plenaries. In the first, Peter Baumgartner of the University Hagen, Department of Educational Science and Media Research) spoke on "e-Education -Educational Scenarios, Standards and Tools." He discussed four learning modes (presentation, problem solving, exploration and informal learning) and the learning environments and tools needed to support each mode.
In the second plenary, a paper by Jana Hromnikova of Comenius University in Bratislava on "On-line tutoring - training teachers for teaching in virtual learning environments" was presented by a colleague. As online learning expands, it is important to train teachers to integrate online and face-to-face methods of teaching. Hromnikova’s paper discussed technical, socio-economic, and cultural barriers. The final plenary of the conference, on September 4, was delivered by Norbert Pachler of the Institute of Education at the University of London spoke on "Technology-enhanced language (teacher) learning: doing old things in new ways or doing new things?" Prof. Pachler discussed recent trends in technology and language teaching/learning, with an emphasis on computer-mediated communication. He stressed the importance of a constructivist approach to learning, with an emphasis on social processes and students’ individual needs. In addition, he discussed teaching-related, student-related, and materials-related variables as well as three perspectives on learning (individual-cognitive, social-interactionist, and experimental-participatory) and how these interact with computer-assisted language learning.
In addition, there were almost 200 parallel sessions on a wide variety of CALL-related topics. One topic was corpora and language teaching, including "From pedagogically relevant corpora to authentic language learning contents" by Sabine Braun of the University of Tuebingen; "DIT-CALL (Digital Interactive Tools for CALL)" by Dermot F. Campbell, Marty Meinardi, and Ciaran McDonaill of the Dublin Institue of
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Technology; "Integrating corpus consultation in language studies" by Angela Chambers of the University of Limerick; "Corpora in language teacher education: perspectives from the users" by Fiona Farr of the University of Limerick; and "Computer corpora in the language classroom: a critical evaluation" by Gunther Kaltenbock and Barbara Mehlmauer-Larcher of the University of Vienna.
Presentations on how to use software included "Drag’n’drop Exercises Made Easy" by David Brett; "MaxAuthor Version 3: A Unicode based Authoring System for CALL Courseware" by Scott Brill of the University of Arizona; "Scribende - Optimal Pedagogics for Academic Writing" by Tineke Brunfaut and Kris Van de Poel; "An Automatic Collocation Writing Assistant for Taiwanese EFL Learners: Using Corpora for language teaching and learning based on NLP Technology" by Richard Chang, T-P Chen, and Jason S. Chang of National Tsing Hua University; and "Active web-based learning in second language learning demonstrated with Quandary" by Silvia Gstrein and Reinhard Rausch of the University of Innsburck.
Other presentations were on theoretical considerations on the use of CALL. Among these were "Assessing the promise of CALL: Where is the teaching in blended learning?" by David Brooks of Kitasato University; "Language Learning in Academic and Adult Education: Open & On-line" by Susanna Buttaroni and Ilona Herbst of Johannes Kepler University; "Towards a LCMS for language learning: new issues in web based CALL" by Alessandra Corda of Leiden University; "E-Learning Pedagogy in the Third Millenium: The need for combining social and cognitive constructivist approaches" by Uschi Felix of Monash University; and "Inspectable Learner Models for Web-based Instruction" by Trude Heift of Simon Fraser University.
Presentations on teacher training and development included "Computer-Assisted Language Learning: An Area of Study and Teaching" by Robert Debski of the University of Melbourne; "Challenges to teacher training" by Michael Fitzgerald and Christina Rosalia of Kanda University of International Studies; "E-Learning in a Blended Teacher Training Course" by Rita Kupetz and Birgit Ziegenmeyer of the University of Hanover; and "Experiential learning and collaborative tasks as a subject and as a method in e-learning moduls for future foreign language teachers and software designers" by Dietmar Rosler and Susanne Schneider of Justus-Liebig University.
Presenters described various methods and techniques for using CALL in the classroom. These papers included "Collaborative Tasks for language teaching in new online learning spaces; Design and implementation" by Regine Hampel of the Open University, UK; "Data-driven learning (DDL) as a method for the acquisition of academic English" by Tony Harris and Fernando Serrano Valverde of the University of Granada; "Crossing the Sensory Divide: Reinforcing Grammar Through Music" by Archana Hinduja, C. Black, and S. Haddad of Wilfrid Laurier University; "Using Google as a tool for writing instruction" by Philip Hubbard of Stanford University; "A pilot hybrid course to acquire orality, reading and writing in a foreign language" by Ninette Cartes-Enriquez, Edith Larenas-San Martin, and Ines Solar-Rodriguez of Universidad de la Concepcion; and "On-Line Literacy Books for EFL Students" by Haruo Nishinoh of Doshisha University.
Among the presentations on using CALL to teach content and ESP were "Anywhere, Anytime: Online Professional Development in Content-Based Instruction" by Laurent Cammarata of the University of Minnesota; "Incorporation of technology-enabled
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sociocollaborative language projects into the ESL curriculum Adult Multicultural Education Services" by Sophie Cholewka; and "Designing ESP Materials for Distance Learning Students" by Camelia Dicu.
In addition to the Welcome Reception, there were two other social events. On Thursday evening, there was a cocktail reception sponsored by Verband Wiener Volksbildung, the umbrella organization of the Viennese Adult Education Centres. On Friday evening, there was a reception by and banquet with the Mayor of Vienna in the Knights’ Banquetting Hall (Rittersaal) of Vienna’s Town Hall Cellar (Rathauskeller).
ALTech.04’ Colloquium
AUTONOMOUS LEARNING IN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE:
PATHWAYS AND CHALLENGES
The IRPA Research Team
(Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia)
The researchers of an IRPA (the Intensified Research Priority Area) project comprising Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ruzy Suliza Hashim, Dr. Thang Siew Ming, Assoc.Prof. Dr. Lee Su Kim, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Koo Yew Lie, Dr. Gana Subramanian, Dr. Mohd. Sallehhudin Abd. Aziz and Nackeeran Sivapunniam from the School of Language Studies and Linguistics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), organized a colloquium entitled “Autonomous Learning in Language and Literature: Pathways and Challenges” (ALTech.04’) on September 28, 2004. The one-day event was held at the School of Language Studies and Linguistics, UKM, and was attended by approximately 150 participants comprising academics, schoolteachers, trainers, writers and students. The presenters of the colloquium included the IRPA researchers, postgraduate students, and invited speakers from various institutions and organizations. At the colloquium, outcomes of the IRPA research team as well as other experts in the relevant areas were presented. The papers presented focused on learner autonomy and technology in language and literature education, self-directed learning in language and literature education, as well as assessment, culture, literacy and identity in on-line learning.
The opening ceremony was officiated by the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rashila Ramli. Session One comprised five papers presented by the IRPA researchers. The head of the IRPA project, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ruzy Suliza Hashim, started the ball rolling by delivering the first paper entitled “Autonomous Learning in Language and Literature: An Overview of Pathways and Challenges”. The presentation discussed some of the pertinent theoretical issues related to the study. The paper laid the foundation to the other four papers.
The second paper entitled “Promoting Autonomous Language Learning through Online Learning: From Conceptualization to Actualization” was presented by Dr. Thang Siew Ming. In this paper which she co-wrote with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lee Su Kim and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Koo Yew Lie, she gave a brief conceptualization of the Language Learning component of the IRPA project and a summary of the initial studies undertaken. The third paper presented by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lee Su Kim and co-written by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Koo Yew Lie was entitled “Identity Constructions and Literacies in Multicultural Contexts”. The paper gave the profiles of five UKM students and discussed issues
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relating to their problems in using English. The third paper was presented by Nackeeran Sivapunniam. His paper entitled “Literature Learners and Their Engagement with Online Autonomous Literature Learning Material: Interim Research Findings”, highlighted significant features of the literature learners’ profile and how they have been taken into consideration in developing an introductory literature course taught at UKM. The fourth paper by Dr. Mohd. Sallehhudin Abd. Aziz which was entitled “Self-Assessment and Language Ability” discussed and highlighted the extent to which Malaysian learners are able to make accurate and meaningful contributions to their own self-evaluations in a self-access learning programme.
Session Two highlighted presentations by UKM postgraduates on the IRPA research findings. Azarina Alias delivered a paper on learner characteristics of Malaysian undergraduates from three institutions of higher learning in Malaysia to determine their readiness for online language learning. Leila Bidmeshki explored students’ reaction towards an online EST component for Malaysian undergraduates. The third paper presented by Fiona Lalitha Sadagopan entitled “An Analysis of Student Preferences for Online Learning of Literature at Undergraduate Level in UKM” explored the roles played by the society and socio-economic influences upon students’ perceptions and learning needs for Literature.
Presentations in Session Three focused on the roles of academics in enhancing autonomous learning in Languages and Literature. The papers included “Enhancing Autonomous Learning in Language and Literature: Are Academics Measuring Up in Online Interaction?” by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abtar Kaur from Open University Malaysia (OUM) and “The role of On-line Facilitators: Types of Assistance for Effective Computer-mediated Communication” by Tengku Putri Norishah Tengku Shariman’s from the Multimedia University Malaysia (MMU).
In the following session, UKM’s Pramela Krish delivered a paper entitled “Language Learning in the Virtual Classroom: Issues and Challenges” which gave insights into issues surrounding the teaching and learning of the online delivery of English courses at a Malaysian private institution of higher learning. Another paper was by Zaini bt. Amir from UKM. The paper which focused was entitled “Online Learning with Technology: The Learning Strategies and Perceptions of Language Learners in an Online Environment” revealed that online learners succeeded in developing and applying their self-knowledge as language learners. Another paper presented was by Lum Yoke Lin from the English Language Teaching Centre of Malaysia. Her paper entitled “Development of Self-direction through ETeMS” looked at how the English for Teaching Mathematics and Science (ETeMS) programme had helped the mathematics and science teachers in their self instruction.
The papers presented in Session Five were “Newsflash – ‘Teaching in English’ Internet Hypermarket Causes Shockwaves in Rural Perak” by Mark Baldwin, a District English Language Co-ordinator of Larut, Matang and Selama; and “Instructional Design” by Norzaiha Norhan from MMU. Apart from the presentation of papers, there was also a Forum Session. . The panelists were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Supyan Hussin, Tengku Putri Norishah Tengku Shariman and Dr. Thang Siew Ming. The discussion in the forum centered on the development of autonomous learning as well as the problems faced in the implementations of various self-directed learner programmes in the teaching and learning of languages in Malaysia. The ALTech.04’ colloquium was officially closed
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by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hazita Aman, the Chair of the School of Language Studies and Linguistics, UKM.
The ALTech.04’ proceedings will be published early next year.
The ASIACALL Conference
COMPUTER-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING AND
COLLABORATION IN ASIA
Pramela Krish
(Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia)
The third Asia Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning (ASIACALL) held its annual conference at the Park Royal Hotel, Penang, Malaysia on the 24th and 25th of November 2004. This event was jointly organized by ASIACALL and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). The overall theme of the conference was Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Collaboration in Asia. The sub-themes included the following:
Computer-Assisted Language Learning; Multimedia-Assisted Language Learning; Technology-Enhanced Language Learning; Web-based Language Instruction; Distance Language Instruction; Mobile-Assisted Language Learning; Literature, Culture and Multimedia; CALL & Less commonly taught environments; CALL & Collaboration; CALL & Multiple Intelligences.
About 200 people from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines, Indonesia, Finland, Korea, Lebanon, Kuwait, Taiwan, New Zealand, China, Australia, Japan, Iran and Saudi Arabia attended the conference.
The conference commenced with an opening ceremony where the Guest of Honour was the Vice Chancellor of USM. This was followed by a book launch (Proceedings ASIACAL 2003).
Five distinguished speakers were invited to deliver their papers at the plenary sessions.
There were two plenary sessions on the first day and three others were held the next day. The first paper entitled ‘Multicultural Expert Identity and Social Shaping, Network Society Strategy” was presented by Ritva Rapila from Vassa Polytechnic, Finland. The second paper on “The e-Challenge in Malaysia: Impact on Technology-Based Language Learning” was presented by Zoraini Wati Abbas from Open University Malaysia.
In the third plenary, Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid from Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia presented a paper entitled “Peeking at the Drama of Meaning Making in the Mental Universe of New Communication Technology Users: The New Prufrock and Multiliteracies. The fourth plenary was on CALL Rules: When It Should Collaborate by Christine Sabieh from Notre Dame University, Beirut, Lebanon. The final plenary of the conference was delivered by Larry Chong from Gyeongju University, R.O Korea who is also the president of ASIACALL. He spoke on “Multiple Intelligences and Collaborative Writing: Theory and Practice in CALL”.
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There were altogether nine parallel sessions with approximately 55 papers presented on a wide variety of CALL related topics and CALL based on sociocultural perspectives. Some of the papers of interest were “Innovations in Computer-Assisted Assessment: What Busy Teachers really want”, “Comparing Synchronous Computer-assisted and Face-to-face Interactions: a pilot study and “Situated Computer Assisted Language Learning: Exploring Sociocultural Contexts of Literacy for Tertiary Contexts in Changing Worlds.
There were three workshops and two special presentations. The first workshop was on “How to Develop Quick Interactive Web-Based Language Learning Packages” .The second workshop was on “Translation Studies and Multimedia Application”. The last workshop was on “Integrating Technology in the Language Classroom through Pedagogy of engagement”.
The special presentations were by I-Tech Forecast Innovations Sdn. Bhd. on English in Multimedia and A Study of Student Perceptions of MY Access! As an Instructional Writing Tool.
ASIACALL 2005 will be held in Korea.
CLaSIC 2004 incorporating PacCALL Conference
CURRENT PERSPECTIVES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN
FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING
Siew Ming Thang and Leila Bidmeshki
(Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia)
CLaSIC 2004 incorporating PacCALL held its annual conference at the National University of Singapore from 1st to 3rd of December 2004. The conference was attended by approximately 200 people from more than 24 countries. The opening address was given by Associate Prof Tan Tai Yong, the Dean of the faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the National University of Singapore (NUS). The welcoming speeches were given by Prof. Peter Reeves, the Director of the Center for Language Studies of NUS and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Stephen Culhane, the President of Pacific CALL Association.
The first plenary lecturer entitled ‘Preparing language teachers to teach learning strategies’ was presented by Professor Dr. Anna Uhl Chamot. It discussed the learning strategies and techniques that could be used by students to assist their learning and the challenges faced by teacher educators in incorporating learning strategy instruction into their courses.
In the second plenary lecture, Prof. Dr. Carol Chapelle spoke on ‘Hints about CALL use from research’. She discussed pedagogical hints on CALL use that were extrapolated from research results. She proposed that “the more modes in which learners receive linguistic input, the better for learning and she quipped that “Online Help can help learners”.
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In the third plenary lecture given on the second day, Prof. Dr. Mayumi Usami delivered his paper entitled: ‘Discourse politeness theory and language learning’ and in the fourth plenary lecture, Hermann Funk discussed ‘the concept of autoimmunization – implications for foreign language teaching and textbooks’. On the final day, Assoc. Prof. Li Ying-Che presented his paper entitled ‘The analysis of function word and content word from a pedagogical perspective’.
Altogether 127 papers were presented at the parallel sessions. The topics were derived from the following sub-themes:
Foreign language teaching methodologies; Theories in second language acquisition; Innovations in language teaching; PacCALL / ICT, Multimedia and foreign language learning; Innovations in language teaching; Teacher education and professional development; Syllabus design and curriculum development; and Linguistics theories and language learning.
Some of the interesting parallel sessions include “Adopting IT in the EFL classroom: Perceptions of South Korean Secondary EFL Teachers” by Li Defeng; “How look-up frequency affects EFL learning: An empirical study on the use of handheld-electronic dictionary” by Toshiko Koyama and Osamu Takeuchi; “Placement testing and audio quiz-making with open source software” by Don Hinkleman; “Efficacy of Online Pronunciation Activities in Beginner TESL” by Alan Harper; “Creating and testing a Science in English Website” by Thang Siew Ming and Delia Olaybal; “The Development of a Simple Online Stress-Time Training Software” by Alistair Campbell; “Online learning and intergenerational student interaction” by Barry Natusch, “Using Web Pages to Teach Writing” by Kenji Kitao; “Iconic information maps” by Lawrie Hunter and “Creating organizational environments supporting CALL teachers: a one-point perspective" by Renata Chylinski.
In addition, the electronic journal e-FLT of the Center for Language Studies of NUS was officially launched. CLaSIC also organized a Poster Presentations session whereas PacCALL organized a forum. The panelists at the forum were Professor Carolle Chapelle, Kim In-Seok, Chuang, Yuang Shan , and Tom Robb. Martin Dougiamas was also there to grace the occasion by sharing ideas on how to use the open source software “Moodle” which was designed by him.
The closing ceremony was held at the Guild House and this was followed by a photo gallery presentation.
FORTHCOMING WORKSHOP
♦ Vance Stevens is facilitating a session entitled ‘Establishing and maintaining Web presence’ at the Electronic Village Online 2005 sessions organized by the CALL Internet Section of TESOL. These 6-weeks Internet-based sessions run from Monday, January 17 to Sunday, February 27, 2005. For more information please access: http://sites.hsprofessional.com/vstevens/files/efi/papers/tesol/evo2005/webpresence.htm. 9
NEWSLETTER EDITOR’S NOTE
Many thanks to all contributors to this newsletter! I look forward to receiving more contributions in 2005. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish all APACALL members ‘a Wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year’.
Siew Ming Thang
ADDITIONAL NOTES
● Members are encouraged to join the APACALL E-list that provides a communication channel for exchanging e-mail messages directly with other members. Please refer to the ‘About APACALL’ page of the APACALL Web site.
● Members are invited to send APACALL Webmaster their names and personal homepage addresses to be listed on the ‘Resources’ page of the APACALL Web site.
● Your contributions to this newsletter are always welcome. Please send your news items to the Newsletter Editor, Siew Ming Thang (thang@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my).
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