Technology and Language Learning

Eng 3, Level 6
(4)
Technology Supports for Second Language Learning
Roles of Technology in Second Language Learning
When Internet emerged in 1990s, technology became ubiquitous.
Technology as a provider of content.
Technology as a learning management tool.
Technology as a communication tool.
When the computer presents learners with authentic listening and reading input, and
information on pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, it is acting as a carrier of
content.
When the computer provides opportunities for learners to practice a language by
doing spoken and written drills, completing comprehension questions, carrying out
grammar exercises, and so on, it is acting as an instructional tool.
The second major role for technology in classrooms is as a learning management tool
(Blackboard, Moodle).
They enable teachers to carry out many learning management tasks more
efficiently and effectively than more traditional face-to-face methods.
They administer and collate needs analysis data from students
They allow teachers to post course information, handouts, and other materials
for student to download;
They enable students to submit assignments, and teachers to grade and return
assignments, electronically;
They document student achievement and archive learner portfolios containing
samples of spoken and written language;
They administer, analyze, collate, and store the results of classroom quizzes;
They administer, collate, and present student evaluations of teachers.
The third major role for technology in language learning is as a communication tool.
One of the greatest frustrations for learners attempting to acquire another language in
a foreign-rather than second-language context is finding opportunities to activate or
modernize their language by interacting with other people in that language. One of the
greatest benefits of technology is that it can bridge distance and time, enabling
learners to interact with native speakers and other learners who are living, working
and learning in a wide range of cultural contexts in different parts of the world.
(email, text chat, webcam, skype).
Studies in online second-language learning suggest that this approach has a number of
benefits:
promotes a deep rather than surface approach to learning
stimulates active, constructivist learning rather than straight knowledge transfer
fosters students awareness of discourse-related aspects of communication
allows students to share perspectives and experiences, to establish relationships
and to seek assistance.
Social networking (Twitter)
Definition
Social networking is a network of social interactions and personal relationships which
enables users to communicate with each other by posting information, comments,
messages, images, etc..
Twitter is defined as a microblogging tool which combines features of SMS text
messages and blogs. It allows users to send very short messages (known as tweet)
to each other that are also readable by the rest of the web. A lot of people are talking
about it, and plenty are using it, including some presidential candidates, well-known
celebrities and stars. Also news agencies have a Twitter profile, such as CNN, which
posts new headlines with links to the full stories. In February 2009, Twitter had more
than 7 million visitors, among whom many teachers and students using the technology
worldwide who got into the habit of sending and receiving Tweets (i.e. messages in
Twitterspeak).
Function
Twitter keeps connected with a select group of colleagues and acquaintances through
a shared space. It makes people stay in touch virtually anywhere because it can work
with either cell phones or a PC. Like Facebook, twitter builds online communities of
people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the
interests and activities of others.
Frequent updates.
-What am I doing?
-What am I thinking?
Conversational writing.
 Connect students beyond class.
Unique & practical communication.
Twitter's functions for language teaching & learning
Reading
(a) read the incoming messages of their fellow students.
(b) Follow some major news organization like BBC, CNN, etc. with your
students, and have your students select Tweeted stories to read.
Writing
The students are asked to leave one Tweet question each before the beginning
of or during a lesson.
Write summaries based on reading or listening activities and send the message
to at least two other people in the class.
Start an opening for a story to all followers, and then ask them to continue the
story in tweets, collaborating with previous tweets
Twitter as a tool for language teaching:
Following conversations
Tweeting in a community
Correcting Tweets
Twitter conversation in class
In addition to English skills, Twitter helps to create a sense of cultural
awareness and acquiring cultural competence via the interaction with either
native or non-native speakers of English and the usage of English speaking
Web-services.
The benefits of twitter:
It facilitates active learning.
Foster interaction about a given topic instead of simply listening to an
instructor and taking notes.
It can increase metacongitive works or help teacher realize what the students
think about the lesson.
Think about and reflect on ones own learning.
It gets students thinking critically about the meaning of their message.
It increases the feeling of community among people.
Conclusion
Relevance: Students are familiar with it.
Quick and easy to use for developing our language skills including reading,
writing, listening, and speaking.
Search Engines, Data Bases and Research
Databases
What is a database?
A database is a large amount of information stored in a computer system in such a
way that it can be easily looked at or changed.
Databases are usually collections of journal and magazine articles, dissertations,
reviews, and abstracts.
A database consists of individual records. Each record contains all of the information
in the database for an individual item, which provides a brief description of that item.
Each record is composed of fields. A field defines the individual elements of each
record.
Why?
Why use a database?
Using a database allows users to search for information in an organized collection.
The user benefits from this organization because it provides more relevant results,
through the use of subject headings and descriptors. Users can also search for
keywords in specific fields, such as author and title, and limit their results using
various criteria.
Databases also provide information in known sources, for example, printed magazines
and journals. The content of databases has undergone a review process and the
information is more reliable than information found on the Internet. Often databases
provide access to full-text magazine and journal articles.
Examples
What are some examples of databases?
Samples of databases include Academic Search Premier,Academic
OneFile, Education Full Text, and PsycInfo. A more comprehensive list of databases
can be found on the Online Journals and Databases page.
Search Engines
What is a search engine?
A search engine is a service that utilizes a computer program to search the Internet
and identify items that match the characters and keywords entered by a user. It is used
for finding information on the Internet by looking for words which you have typed it.
Many studies have shown that between 40% and 80% of users found what they were
looking for by using the search engine feature of the Internet.
Why?
Why use a search engine?
Search engines are useful for finding information on organizations, groups, and
personal web pages related to a topic. They can also be used for finding articles, but it
can be difficult to narrow down results, find relevant material, and assess the
legitimacy of information found on the Internet. It is especially important to be wary,
not completely trust, when using Internet sources, as there is no quality control
mechanisms that verify the validity of information on individual web pages.
Examples
What are some examples of a search engine?
Examples of search engines include Google, Yahoo, and Bing. For more information
on how to use Google's Scholarly search engine.
To conclude, it can be said that:
Databases are specific, well-organized, and more reliable, while search engines are
general, not well-organized as in databases, and less reliable than databases.
 Web 1.0 VS Web 2.0
The overall goal is to present products to potential customers, such as a catalog or a
brochure (booklet) does only, with a website, you can also provide a method for
anyone in the world to purchase products.
The newly-introduced ability to contribute content and interact with other web users
has dramatically changed the landscape of the web in a short time.
Definition
Experts call the Internet before 1999 Read-Only web. The average internet users
role was limited to reading the information which was presented to him. There was no
active communication or information flow from consumer (of the information) to
producer (of the information). But the information age was born.
Web 1.0 (the early web)
Web 1.0 was an early stage of the conceptual evolution of the World Wide Web,
centered around a top-down approach to the use of the web and its user interface.
Socially,[clarification needed] users could only view webpages but not contribute to
the content of the webpages.
Web 1.0 allows us to search for information and read it. There was very little in the
way of user interaction or content contribution. It is closed to external editing.
Web 0.0 Developping the internet
Web 1.0 The shopping carts & static web.
Web 2.0
The lack of active interaction of common users with the web lead to the birth
of Web 2.0. The year 1999 marked the beginning of a Read-Write-Publish era with
notable contributions from LiveJournal (Launched in April, 1999) and Blogger
(Launched in August, 1999). Now even a non-technical user can actively interact &
contribute to the web using different blog platforms.
Web 2.0 is a term that is used to denote several different concepts: Web sites
based on a particular set of technologies such as AJAX; Web sites which incorporate a
strong social component, involving user profiles, friend links; Web sites which
encourage usergenerated content in the form of text, video, and photo postings along
with comments, tags, and ratings. Web 2.0 includes Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, e-
commerce, e-conference, e-shopping, e-bill, e-learning, etc. In Web 2.0, users are able
to interact with one another or contribute content.
 Web 2.0 is the second-generation of web companies, the rebirth after the dot-
com crash (collapse). What is, and what is not, Web 2.0 is subject to debate, but
here's a quick comparison to Web 1.0:

Web 2.0 VS Web 1.0

Web 1 Web 2
One-way (read only) Two-way (read-write)
Authoritarian (control or no freedom). Democratic
Pasive Active
static dynamic
close collaborative

One-way:
Most early sites were for one-way communication, with a company describing itself
in brochureware. Web 2.0 sites build interaction and community and shared content.
Authoritarian:
Too often Web 1.0 was authoritarian and top-down-"this is the way it is". Web 2.0 is
democratic and bottom-up. Instead of the New York Times 1.0 site telling you what
the important stories of the day were, Digg.com and Buzz.Yahoo.com shows the
stories users have voted the most important.
Passive VS Active:
Web 1.0 sites were simply to be read passively. Web 2.0 sites invite participation:
voting content up or down, rating it, commenting on it, submitting new posts. By
2000, Amazon.com was letting you review books, but these days you can participate
in many more ways: create lists of products (top 10 lists, lists of classics by certain
authors, etc.), write product guides and edit wiki articles (Amapedia). In 2000,
Amazon was using its sites to sell products it stocked; in the Web 2.0 world, Amazon
now lets you list and sell your own new and used books and products through their
site as well.
Static VS Dynamic:
Web 1.0 sites were static and rarely changed (except for news sites), where Web 2.0
sites are dynamic and change hourly or more often, reflecting all of those user
contributions.
Closed VS collaborative:
Web 1.0 sites were closed, but Web 2.0 sites are collaborative. Where CNN.com
quickly became the leading Web 1.0 news web site, CNN.com now has a sister site,
iReport.com, where videos are submitted by users. CNN then supplies this content
and fact-checks some videos for inclusion on CNN.com.
WEB 2.0/Language Learning
Interaction and immersion simulate the environment in which native languages are
learnt. There are approaches that emphasize the importance of social interaction and
collaboration in language learning.
Conditions for successful language learning:
Learners have opportunities to interact and to negotiate meaning.
Learners interact in the target language with an authentic audience.
Learners are involved in authentic tasks.
Learners are exposed to and encouraged to produce varied and creative
language.
Learners have sufficient time and feedback.
Learners work in an atmosphere with an ideal stress/anxiety level.
Learner autonomy is supported.
In this sense, I want show how Web 2.0 technologies can enhance language learning
by facilitating many of the key characteristics: intput/output, social interaction,
authenticity, exposure, feedback, and learner autonomy. Language learners have two
communities of learning: the learning community in the classroom, and the target
language community.
In many cases, communication occurs within the classroom, and is teacher-centred
(especially if classes are conducted in a country in which the target language is not
spoken). I hope to show how Web 2.0 applications can open up the classroom walls,
and provide a broader range of opportunities for authentic and varied language
interaction.
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 refers to the emergence of a set of applications on the web which facilitate a
more socially connected web where everyone is able to add to and edit information
online (Anderson2007).
These Web 2.0 applications has the following characteristic:
Power to the user
Web 2.0 is all about the user. Whereas Web 1.0 was dominated by content provided in
static pages, Web 2.0 applications have democratized the web by prioritizing user-
generated content, ownership and social connectivity.

Blogging
A blog is a web application that displays a series of entries in reverse chronological
order, with a time and date stamp for each entry. Blogs also include a facility to
respond to blog posts using comments.
Advantages of Blogging
Blogging encourages learner independence, empowerment, reflection and autonomy.
For language learners, they provide an environment in which to reflect, comment,
question and review progress outside the classroom in an authentic environment.
Blogging can be used either for writing practice in the target language, and/or to
explore cultural dimensions of the target country (or countries).
Students also reported frequently looking back over their own and others students'
earlier blog postings, and the majority noticed significant progress in their writing
over time.
The asynchronous nature of blogging enables students to take their time over postings
in a low-pressure environment.
http://blogging-learningenglish.blogspot.com
The personal blog is graded on content and relevancy rather than linguistic accuracy,
which encourages students to focus on process, reflection and vocabulary, rather than
being inhibited by potentially inaccurate use of grammar.
http://eflinks.wikispaces.com/Our+students'+blogs

Wikis
Wiki (derived from the Hawaiian wiki for 'fast') is online software for creating simple
websites which support collaborative writing, the most well-known of which
is Wikipedia. While blogs tend to be written by an individual, and are therefore
personal in nature, wikis are more likely to be the result of a collaborative effort.
The goal of wiki sites is to become a 'shared repository of knowledge, with the
knowledge base growing over time', and they are 'expected to have some degree of
seriousness and permanence' (Godwin-Jones 2003). For this reason, the structure of
wikis tends to be very simple, with the focus being on content and collaboration rather
than design.
Another major feature of wikis is that the software usually tracks any changes, so
changes can generally be attributed, and previous versions can be retrieved.

The main differences between blogs and wikis

A blog is a sort of online journal. It is updated daily or weekly or whenever the author
desires. A wiki is a platform that is meant for anyone to update in real time. A blog is
owned by an individual whereas wiki is being updated by many people around the
world. For blogs, the timeline is more important. For wikis, when an article was
published matters less, because articles are supposed to be updated as new
information becomes available. Blog posts are usually one persons' opinion, followed
optionally by comments. Wiki articles represent consensus, but can have an associated
discussion/talk page. A wiki is a superset of a blog. A wiki can host a blog, but not
vice versa. Too emulate a blog in a wiki, the wiki page needs to be protected against
editing by other users than the author, and a comment widget (e.g. Disqus) needs to be
added to the page. A wiki allows multiple users to create, modify and organize web
page content in a collaborative manner. A blog is a Web site that maintains ongoing
posts. A blog is frequently updated, a personal Web site featuring diary-type
commentary and links to articles or other Web sites.
Wiki:
- Multiple Authors,
- Edited by a group or team,
- Contains links to other Wiki pages,
- Continuously changing and growing rapidly,
- Many-to-many communication.
Blogs:
- Usually a single author. Sometimes can have multiple contributors,
- Author posts, user comments,
- Opinion sharing, and
- one-to-many content.
Pedagogical Benefits
A wiki enables communication and knowledge construction beyond the classroom.
Students become contributors, rather than just recipients of knowledge.
As with blogging, wikis enable students to take part in distributed research
communities that extend spatially and temporally beyond the classroom or class
session (Mejias 2006).
Students build a sense of community by collaborating on a shared goal, and they learn
from observing the communal work being drafted, refined, and finalized.
Accountability is increased through exposure to peers or the wider internet audience,
which leads to greater care for linguistic accuracy. Additionally, as students learn to
author collectively, they also learn to overcome traditional Western educational
practices of promoting individual ownership (Guth 2007).
One of the major benefits of using wikis is to empower students to become more
autonomous in their learning. If tutors take too much control over input, they are
unlikely to see the full potential of using wikis as a learning device.
In the foreign-language classroom, wikis are generally used for class projects, or for a
project based on an exchange between international classes.