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1. PRODUCTION RECEPTION WRITTEN YES YES WRITING READING SPOKEN NO YES SPEAKING LISTENING FIGURE 1 While serving to improve listening comprehension computer controlled audio and video interfaces can promote other aspects of language learning First hearing the language with or without images makes it seem more natural and provides a context for any aspect of the language that is to be learned In addition the audio or information illustrate the visual component can offer cultural information illustrate the correspondence between the written and spoken language or serve as a stimulus for grammar and vocabulary learning Although the tape recorder and videodisc player the two interfaces concerned here can be used alone their effectiveness increases when combined with the computer The advantages of computer based learning in general interactivity student control individualization and verification enhance the value of audio and video materials in the learning experience In the language lab listening or viewing can easily become passive activities but the inherently interactive nature of the computer means that passive reception of computer delivered audio and video material is impossible since the computer progresses only in response to user action In addition the student control of audio and video peripherals when interfaced with a computer offers two advantages over using them alone First the intelli
2. 135 MacLang was developed by Dr Judith Frommer Department of Romance Languages and Literatures Harvard University and programmed by Harvard students David McKenzie David Maymudes and Scott Roy MacLang development hasbeen supported by the Harvard Committee to Fund Innovative Uses of Computers in Undergraduate Education the Andrew W Mellon Doundation The Consortium for Language Learning and Teaching Tandberg Educational Inc and Apple Computer Inc 7 Versions 3 and 3 2 of MacLang canbe used on a Macintosh 512K or larger VErsion 3 3 requires a minimum of 512KE System file 4 2 Finder 6 0 lesson is used to refer to a MacLang produced file which is not necessarily a traditional teaching lesson Whether MacLang files are lessons exercises or activities depends on the author s intentions and the content The MacLang Authoring System with two diskettes and a User s Manual is distributed by Kinko s Academic Courseware Exchange All MacLang answers are typed in an answer box A flashing cursor indicates to the students where the answer will appear An unpublished study of student response to CALL done at Harvard during the summer of 1984 found that students place high priority on being able to control their computer experience 1 MacLang 4 should be available in the fall of 1989 12 A complete program of first year Spanish MacLang audio exercisesby maria De Arenas and first year German MacLang audio exercises by Karl
3. Heinz Finken were created at Harvard with a grant from Tandberg Christopher Brumfit Communicative Methodology in Language Teaching The roles offluency and accuracy New York Cambridge University Press 1984 P 83 Wilga M Rivers Teaching French A Practical Guide 2nd edition Lincolnwood Illinois National Textbook Company 1988 pp 87 88 Elisabeth Lhote Comprendre en fran ais une approche paysagiste de l coute dans une langue trang re unpublished paper presented at the Colloque de Beijing Le fran ais et le d veloppement March 1989 Beijing China 16 Ibid p 4 CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 70 MacLang 4 will function with the same system requirements as MacLang 3 3 Macintosh 512KE or larger System file 4 2 or above Finder 6 0 or above 18 M S K Halliday Language as Social Semiotic Baltimore University Park Press 1978 p 61 Richard Marius quoted in an interview in the Harvard Gazette March 3 1989 p 5 20 Fran oise Massadier Kenny La Vid o Mode d emploi AATF National Bulletin 14 No 1 1988 10 12 Author s Biodata Judith Frommer developer of MacLang has also produced audio visual materials in French Her publications include textbooks Face Face La France et la francophonie and articles on language teaching and computer assisted instruction Author s Address Judith Frommer Boylston 214 Harvard University Cambridge MA 02138 CALICO Journal Volume 6 Numb
4. MacLang 4 can provide a variety of activities for videodiscs being capable of doing all that was explained in the examples for the audio interface especially in the categories of acquisition of listening skills listening for information and creative listening Simulations of conversations as explained under Creative Listening could be done even more effectively with a videodisc Using the conditional branching feature students can create their own stories or adventure games given a videodisc with a number of scenes that do not tell a linear story The comprehension of films on videodiscs can be verified since MacLang4 can create activities in which students can see short scenes that focus on essential details can refer back to scenes already viewed and be directed to special segments for remediation The multi format type exercise is particularly well suited to implementation of videodiscs of feature films a fill in question might be appropriate for a scene with minimal dialog while the multiple choice format would be more effective in a scene with a lengthy conversation Conclusion Although this article began with the contention that listening and looking while both integral aspects of communication are often ignored misrepresented or used as entertainment or diversions these essential aspects of the language learning process have been receiving more attention lately People are even realizing that the conventional laboratory tape reco
5. corresponds to the sound as represented on the screen multiple choice question The student could hear the series of words tout bout cuve fou fut cou tu but and for each one see a following question box asking them to indicate whether they have heard the sound ou or u Figure 9 Qui mot oniende2z yous Tapiz 18 1AT dena d coee Pehieh word do gou hear Type the kalbar in tha bow m iout b it Figure 9 CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 60 Besides the question answer choices and answer box the question box contains three buttons that merit explanations All three buttons are based on the MacLang philosophy of providing maximum user friendliness and allowing maximum student control Intro calls up the introduction which can consist of directions for the exercise or include a complete explanation of the material on which the exercise is based this can be a grammatical explanation or background information relating to the content of the item whether a listening comprehension or reading comprehension passage or cultural information Since this button appears on all question boxes and students always have access to this information the introduction also serves as a help function Students can also always click the Quit button to escape from an activity another aspect of MacLang that gives student users control over their learning environment The most important button with regard to the audio interface is LISTEN
6. questions to see if they have understood the general idea This type of activity could take three forms 1 A fill in question in which the student does not have to use the same word as was used in the aural stimulus but can use any word that appropriately describes the situation For example if the Segment describes the disasters befalling students on a class trip the question could be The class went to New York and had a time where any adjective such as horrible horrendous or bad would be accepted as an appropriate answer 2 A multiple choice question in which the student identifies the Picture that most closely corresponds to the content of the listening segment The students could hear a story that takes place in bad weather and then see the picture and be asked the question that you see in Figure 12 3 A multiple choice question in which the student must choose the sentence that best summarizes what he or she has heard Listening for Information At all levels but especially at the advanced levels audio materials are used not only for practice but also for acquisition of content that will be used in follow up discussions in the classroom or in assignments outside of class In CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 64 these cases it is necessary for students to understand specific details about what they are listening to Many authentic sound documents often too difficult even for advanced students can become accessible wi
7. which when clicked activates the tape recorder so that the student can listen to the appropriate segment as determined by the author It is the student who decides when and how often to listen The complete control exercised by students reduces the tension usually associated with listening experiences and allows students to concentrate all of their attention on what they are hearing Regardless of the number of tries the students have for answering a question they can listen as often as they want within a single try This is an important difference between the computer controlled tape recorder and the usual language laboratory tape recorder Without the computer students and most normal people do not usually listen to items or tape portions a second time because it is too difficult to find a specific point on the tape However the computer provides instantaneous perhaps a few seconds wait if the segment is long replay of the segment associated with a question In fact as soon as the student clicks on the Listen button Listen becomes Stop This means that listening canbe terminated whenever the student wishes adding another element of student control to the learning environment in contrast to the usual classroom or lab situation in which the student is being channeled into certain behavior patterns The Stop button is especially useful with longer segments which the student may want to listen to more than once but not necessarily to the ent
8. 4 MacLang 4 CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 Heche Type Oy leranutany CFI fa Branka 56 Decisions regarding audio video graphics branching and lesson type can be made only at the beginning of the lesson creation process and are irreversible once the lesson format is determined it cannot be changed However the copy feature gives authors a second chance since any existing lesson can be copied into a new lesson that has different features When the OK button is clicked in the features dialog box Figures 3 and 4 the box disappears replaced by the MacLang Menu The parts of a MacLang exercise are created using the pulldown menu Figure 5 that appears when Lesson is clicked The menu consists of five elements Introduction System Error Messages Standard Error Messages Questions and Answers and Options Tostat Error Masneger Standard Crier Wiatbapet Mattlaas and antu Figure 5 The Options presented in a dialog box Figure 6 allow for randomized presentation of items removal of punctuation partial highlighting of answers from the leftmost incorrect character to the end of the answer and a flexible number of tries The options can be changed as often as the author wishes With the exception of Options all of the items in the Lesson menu are presented in windows and can be opened simultaneously Each element of an item question correct answers to the question each with its own explanation antic
9. Listening Looking and Learning with MacLang Judith Frommer Harvard University ABSTRACT This article describes how the capabilities of the MacLang authoring system allow the teacher to create computer assisted instruction that fulfills the listening needs of foreign language courses Examples are given of the use of audio and video interfaces which facilitate listening comprehension KEYWORDS branching context interactive audio interactive video listening comprehension MacLang user control authoring Fewer and fewer language teachers still resist the use of computers in language learning Today s problem is no longer to persuade colleagues to include computer materials in their courses but to influence them to base their utilization of computer based language learning on pedagogical rather than technical factors to choose technology for its effectiveness not the glitziness of either hardware or software Technology should not be merely a source of diversion or entertainment for students but should really serve to help them learn better As teachers we should first decide what we are not doing well and then see if the computer can remedy the situation For example one area of language learning that we are not addressing well and in some cases not addressing at all is listening comprehension the act of understanding the oral message of a speaker Although traditionally language learning is assumed to involve four skills writi
10. d be able to identify each word and attribute a specific meaning to it While it is true that attention to detail or the need for accuracy CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 63 has a place in fostering learners listening fluency and we have given examples of ways to do this there is a more important aspect to listening comprehension In fact when we listen in our native language we grasp meanings based on certain sound and semantic signals rather than hearing each word this is what we should be teaching students to do in the target language Instead of giving them long vocabulary lists scripts or subtitles in the case of video to use as crutches while listening we should be presenting them with opportunities to improve their global understanding We should be providing exercises in what Rivers calls macro language use and using what Elisabeth Lhote calls l approche paysagiste or the total landscape approach MacLang activities that could promote this skill even at the elementary levels are a The students listen to a sentence or a short segment of speech and answer multiple choice questions on the context in which the speech occurred This sensitizes them to the meaning of intonation For example Is the person who is speaking a asking a question b making a statement c giving an order Is the person who is speaking a angry b happy c sad b After listening to a short segment students could be asked
11. eously and more than one segment can be used for the same item or question It also means that recorded natural authentic conversations will be heard by students in their natural state Rationale and Examples Given the multiple exercise formats and features of MacLang determined by the author s choices made in the initial MacLang dialog box Figures 3 and 4 the author can create a variety of exercises and activities promoting the acquisition of listening competency from the elementary to the advanced levels Exercises can be constructed so that students acquire global understanding or so that they learn to identify discreet items such as phonemes or specific words Since a demonstration cannot be given in an article we will present descriptions of possible listening activities explaining how students would use them and the purposes they would serve We will start with simple exercises that can be implemented as early as the first week of the first year and proceed to more sophisticated activities that can be used at the advanced level These exercises are presented in five categories listening and pronunciation listening and grammar listening and vocabulary acquisition of listening skills listening for information and creative listening Listening and Pronunciation Minimal Pairs At the elementary and intermediate levels students can listen to minimal pairs and type the sound they hear fill in format or type the letter or number that
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13. es on peripheral interfaces suggested that having students operate more than one Chanta adattor trom the mony When yag have Tinlzted fp Pesachos you wade iodo Ree Holl fo PARE Long 5 3 S4ihhent Ti oh ea Nieje D Conglandtes D Fale cousodr D French Concutionael farman Baden Compra PE O iaman porab 5 bormas Werd teder D Sitka Feau Mase vs cmm Figure 7 CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 58 machine would be overwhelming In fact this is a problem in the minds of teachers but experience has shown that students have absolutely no difficulty operating more than one machine Audio Authoring Regardless of the type of exercise being prepared each MacLang question can have three audio segments associated with it the initial segment will be played the first time the question is asked the secondary selection is played every subsequent time except the last the final selection will be played on the student s last try To establish the parameters for these three segments the author listens to the appropriate tape on the Tandberg notes the time coordinates displayed on the tape recorder and enters them into the MacLang Audio Information dialog box Figure 8 hidis intarit For quealion 4 CLET FEN Speootargfalaccan 197 pa fiini Section fiat ise Figure 8 When the coordinates are entered the author clicks OK and the dialog box disappears These coordinates can be changed at any time even a
14. fter the exercise has been completed and used by students by repeating the procedure using LangWrite The possibility of having three segments for each question or item is advantageous for different types of activities With listening comprehension it is possible to base a content question on a one or two minute segment and then shorten the segment to focus on the more relevant material if the student s answer shows a lack of understanding i e if the answer is incorrect In exercises concentrating on grammar vocabulary or phonetics MacLang can use the last try to play the correct answer and at the same time to provide a written explanation It is important to note that since the MacLang Tandberg audio interface is based on time coordinates it is not necessary to have specially marked tapes an author can use any tape at his or her disposal as the basis for an exercise or activity Authors can also record their own material even if they do not have access to a recording studio or a sophisticated audio visual department in their institution They can use interviews recorded during their travels or use commercially recorded tapes without re recording or changing their format in any way This is important since re recording or changing commercially available tapes would be a violation of copyright laws This time based system allows for great flexibility since tape segmentation can be modified CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 59 instantan
15. gent computer allows the student to relocate specific tape segments in order to listen to them more than once often necessary for complete understanding The difficulty in CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 53 trying to do this with a simple tape recorder means that most students become frustrated and accept running through something just once without attempting to attain better understanding Secondly as will be shown below the computer provides feedback unavailable on a simple tape recorder VCR or videodisc player The computer of course can be used to interface peripherals only with specific software The remainder of this article will describe the capabilities of MacLang an authoring system for the creation of courseware for the Macintosh that allow it to fulfill the listening needs of foreign language courses A general introduction to MacLang will be followed by a discussion of the audio and then the videodisc interfaces with for each one a brief description of the hardware configuration an explanation of the authoring process and a rationale for the interface with examples of software General Description MacLang is an authoring system that allows language teachers even those inexperienced in computer use to prepare computer based language learning materials on a Macintosh computer With MacLang teachers can create software specifically tailored to their syllabi and to the needs of their students MacLang offers the
16. have been used on the tape The student s task would be to identify the specific word Combining vocabulary and minimal pairs distinction students could listen to a poem and be asked to fill in the rhyming words This could be done giving any degree of information For example the students could see only the blanks and none of the text of the poem or they could see the entire poem except for the last word of student each line In an activity that would reinforce understanding and writing of vocabulary while contributing to the acquisition of listening skills as described below students would listen to definitions in the target languge and then type the appropriate word The list of words among which they could choose could be given in the introduction A MacPaint document containing the list could also be accessed by clicking Picture onthe question box Figure 11 In this way they could refer to it but could not see it while typing their answer Note that authors can use ResEdit to change the button names for example from Picture to Glossary if they wish Listan to tha carleaeion oo Lh lapa Then a Le Lae mere rhat 14 derinad In ha bix Figure 11 Acquisition of Listening Skills One of the problems with our students ability to understand the target language is that they usually do not know how to listen in a foreign language That is they believe and unfortunately we teach in such a way as to foster this belief that they shoul
17. he hearer does not know what the speaker is going to say but because he does know He has abundant evidence both from his knowledge of the general properties of the linguistic system and from his sensibility to the particular cultural situational and verbal context and this enables him to make informed guesses about the meanings that are coming his 18 way CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 67 In fact students who have never seen the target language country nor interacted with native speakers do not have the knowledge of the particular cultural and situational context mentioned by Halliday and that is why they have difficulty making informed guesses that facilitate comprehension Videodiscs with authentic natural speech in authentic TL settings provide essential visual clues gestures body movements and facial expressions and cultural context everyday objects dress architecture to students who have never left their own country giving them a better understanding of the language Interactive videodisc has at least three advantages over simple videotape First by definition interactive videodisc demands active participation on the part of the student while video watching is often only a passive activity As one college English professor recently stated I don t believe people really think when they watch video As with interactive audio as described above when accompanied by appropriate software stude
18. ipated incorrect answers each with a corresponding error message is entered in its own window in any order eliminating the need on the part of the author to learn code or symbols or to conform to any restrictive procedures All of the author windows contain a Help button there is also a User s Manual with complete instructions Audio Interface Hardware Software Configuration The system requirements for the MacLang audio interface are a Macintosh 512KE or larger plus a Tandberg tape recorder models TCCR 530 TAL 812 or TCR 5800 The configuration is composed of three hardware elements computer tape recorder headset and two software items tape and diskette There is also a special cable connecting the computer to the Tandberg The student turns on the tape recorder and CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 57 The language for thia arbon fa French The eHartian type lc peragropht thort Ortar Firs Queadien In Onder Total toontlone Asked E bandom rise Pi kaitai Par guetta 1 Tries Solethed og lear D induttuer Scoring Como va Puncigaiian O bangurge Sprite Checking D Pertini Ansune Highitghitag Figure 6 inserts the tapes turns on the computer and inserts the MacLang diskette MacLang starts up automatically and the student has only to click on a menu item as in Figure 7 or if a hard disk is being used first click on an icon and then click on a menu item and from that point on all is automatic Early articl
19. ire segment Returning to the minimal pairs exercise since there are only two choices it would be meaningless to give students more than one try Instead the branching feature of MacLang 4 can be used to add additional questions to an exercise when students seem to be having difficulty Whenever students get an answer wrong they can be given a supplemental question In this way referring to the u ou discrimination exercise the basic exercise could consist of ten items with the weaker students doing more depending on their performance CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 61 Listening and Grammar Simple grammar exercises can be presented in such a way that the student cannot answer the question without a correct understanding of the aural stimulus This transforms the activity into a meaningful listening experience that by providing needed information serves an essential function A good example of this is a first year Spanish exercise on the distinction between ser and estar For each item the question box see Figure 10 contains the subject of the sentence followed by an answer blank Students hear the entire sentence with the exception of the verb and must choose between ser and estar based only on what they hear For example in one question the student sees Pablo y Teresa hears beep de vacaciones en Paris and therefore should type estan In another question seeing Ana but hearing beep de Guatemala the studen
20. istening to can proceed to a question that provides more comprehensible segments 3 A summary of the action in the target language can be included in the introduction 4 Difficult words or expressions can be included in a MacPaint document that can be accessed by the Picture button on any student question box see the explanation of Listening and Vocabulary above Providing the script in these ways is quite different from showing videotapes with subtitles that are always present on the screen blocking the students perception of the visual content and serving as a crutch With the MacLang approach although CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 68 students who are having trouble can see the text they must consciously perform an action to do so When they are viewing the videodisc on the monitor they are not distracted by subtitles and can concentrate on the total message transmitted by the words and the image as well Another way of facilitating comprehension is to allow students to listen to an alternate sound track of more comprehensible speech if one exists Although a second sound track can also be made available on a simple videocassette using it is much more difficult for the student because the inaccuracy of the counter on a VCR makes it difficult to review specific tape segments If the author wants students to concentrate on the words without being distracted by the image the videodisc can be played with the picture turned off
21. n or exercise can be preceded by an introduction of unlimited length that can contain instructions or background information or be transformed into a tutorial by the inclusion of a succinct review of a grammar point or a vocabulary topic CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 54 MacLang questions accept more than one response and can display appropriate and informative messages for all responses unanticipated by the author Since the program stores all unanticipated responses authors can continually update the unanticipated response file eventually creating a completely interactive exercise in which virtually all responses are anticipated Records of student performance number of tries number of correct answers number of incorrect answers can be kept depending on the author s preferences The program can be used at any level of proficiency in the target language since the author determines the degree of difficulty of the content MacLang is appropriate for listening activities as will be described below because it contains audio and videodisc interfaces which are enhanced by MacLang s static graphics capabilities Additional features of MacLang include accessibility from Hypercard stacks and conditional branching that allows for the creation of story trees Authoring MacLang is a menu driven system that uses dialog boxes and windows Authors can enter content directly into an exercise using the mouse to choose items from pulldown menu
22. ng reading speaking and listening many teachers concentrate on only the first three often forgetting that comprehension and production are indissoluble partners that conversation is interactive with speech and represents at most one half of communication Such teachers courses produce students who may be able to request directions to the hospital but probably will not understand the answer with the risk of dire consequences The order in which the four skills are introduced into a language course varies depending on the grade level at which the language learning occurs In elementary schools foreign language instruction often consists of one or two hours each week during which songs poems or simple sentences are taught CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 51 Although listening is involved it is usually for the purpose of learning sounds in order to be able to repeat them there is little listening for meaning with the purpose of engaging in conversation Most junior high and high schools have until recently used a conventional grammar approach to language instruction Reading and writing are the principal activities with speaking often restricted to the recitation of written exercises Listening activities may take place on occasional trips to the language laboratory but students rarely hear authentic natural speech in the target language Certainly the advent of oral proficiency has modified the approach to the teaching
23. nts must intervene actively in the implementation of an interactive videodisc making it impossible for them to doze while supposedly listening or watching Secondly because it can be randomly accessed the computer interfaced interactive videodisc unlike a videotape offers non linear viewing The third advantage of the computer controlled interactive videodisc is its ability to facilitate students appreciation and comprehension of authentic natural speech by providing on line explanations and translations without resorting to subtitles MacLang video implementation allows authors to choose among a few solutions to this problem In MacLang video activities questions or screens are presented to students successively with a Look button on each screen so that students can see the video segment associated with the question or screen As was true with the Listen button in the audio interface students can click Look as often as they want and Look becomes Stop as soon as it is clicked so that students can always escape Authors can make a videodisc segment more accessible to students in four ways 1 The script of the segment can be put in the explanation that appears automatically when students choose an inappropriate response or that they can choose to see if they get the answer right 2 Using the conditional branching capabilities the questions can be written is such a way that students who do not understand the content of the segment they are l
24. of speech production but the place of listening comprehension has not changed significantly At the college level the situation improves In general language labs are better equipped and staffed faculty is more aware of the importance of the lab materials are more readily available and students being older have a greater ability to use the lab independently Nonetheless listening comprehension is still rarely emphasized Nearly all first year courses include an audio component but these usually concentrate on pronunciation and grammar At the intermediate level audio tape series are often accompanied by scripts and videotapes when used have subtitles Changes seem to be occurring at least in French since it is now possible to acquire non subtitled videotapes at reasonable prices The question is whether or not teachers will implement them in such a way as to promote listening comprehension The question of integrating a listening component into language courses is of major importance In spite of the lack of attention paid to listening comprehension there are a number of linguists who observing that listening seems to be the first step in learning one s native language have developed approaches imitating the process starting with listening and delaying speaking reading and writing Regardless of their validity and effectiveness such methods are difficult to adapt to our established educational system In addition since these me
25. oftware we can divide the two types of activities into internalization activities and exploratory activities CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 65 Thus far in this article we have concentrated on internalization type activities that can be created with MacLang 3 2 or 3 3 MacLang 4 because of its conditional branching capabilities can be used to create activities of an exploratory nature First in the framework of a multiple choice format TL conversations can be simulated by having the student choose a reply in response to what the speaker says on the tape For example Tape Would you like to go to the movies tonight Possible rejoinders as presented on the screen to the student a Yes I would What would you like to see b No I don t feel well c No I d rather go out to eat Depending on the student s answer the tape would be advanced to the appropriate reply If the student chose a the tape could reply with a suggestion Tape There s a Woody Allen festival Do you like him Rejoinder choices presented on the computer screen a I prefer serious films b I ve seen them all and I don t want to see them again c I love him d It depends Which one do you want to see Rather than being right or wrong answers the rejoinders are continuations of a meaningful conversation By asking students to report in class on the outcome of their computer conversation the computer activity can be linked to classroom activity and pr
26. ovide students with real information to share with their classmates This same type of tape branching can be used for an oral adventure game The students could hear the story rather than seeing it on the screen as they do in most commercially available adventure games Students would use the fill in format with a specified list of commands which are given in the introduction and could always be refered to and a graphic for each step of the game With this information students could base their moves on what they hear on the tape The listening would acquire a real purpose rather than being an academic exercise Videodisc Interface Hardware Software Configuration The videodisc interface is available only with MacLang4 The current version can be used with a Sony 1500 videodisc player but the final version will offer the choice between the Sony and the Pioneer 4200 The hardware configuration consists of the Macintosh computer the videodisc player a monitor and the appropriate cables The software items are MacLang and a CAV videodiscs look like records but consist of 55 000 individually numbered frames with image and sound Videodisc Authoring When using LangWrite authors choose Video on the New Lesson dialog box Figure 4 If Video is selected an additional item on the menu bar Video located between Lesson and Record on the menu bar Figure CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 66 5 makes it possible for the author to view any
27. possibility of using English and any one of eleven languages French German Greek Latin Italian Portuguese Romanian Spanish Russian Soviet or phonetic keyboards Turkish and Japanese Kana to produce materials in five different formats Two of the formats vocabulary and jumbles sentence word order are appropriate for specific learning tasks while the other three fill ins paragraphs and multiple choice can be adapted to a variety of activities For example since the fill ins format allows for one blank of up to 57 characters in length it can be adapted for short answer questions as well as for more conventional fill ins and can be utilized for a number of purposes verification of comprehension or acquisition of facts or skills The paragraphs format which supports up to nineteen blanks multiple blanks inserted at will or a cloze passage in which every nth word is omitted is suitable for listening and reading comprehension and other contextualized activities In the most recent version of MacLang all five formats can be used within a single MacLang file this multi format activity type is extremely useful for videodisc implementation Options available in the MacLang Authoring System assure that MacLang courseware provides students with the immediate feedback and individual learning experience that are the main advantages of the computer as a learning aid over the traditional paper based environment Each activity lesso
28. rders and VCR s are not solving the problem and more and more schools and colleges are turning to computer interfaced tape recorders and videodisc players and more and more foreign language videodiscs are also becoming available As this happens teachers will want to adapt audio and videodisc materials to their own teaching and learning environments MacLang while less powerful than some other authoring systems or Hypercard fosters the acquisition of listening and looking skills and offers flexibility diversity and a simplicity for both author and student user that can often be an advantage CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 69 Notes 1 Wilga M Rivers Comprehension and Production in Interactive Lqnguge Teaching Modern Language Journal 70 i 1986 p 2 T am sure that there are exceptions to this pattern and in the past few years these exceptions may have increased However I am equally sure that the approach I am describing here is unfortunately the dominant one One exception is the tape program for Face Face Steele and Frommer D C Heath 1985 in which each of the twenty lessons includes a listening comprehension activity based on an authentic natural conversation recorded in France John H Underwood Linguistics Computers and the Language Teacher Rowley Massachusetts Newbury House 1984 ch 3 5 Ahmad et al Computers Language Learning and Language Teaching New York Cambridge University Press 1985 129
29. s or to click on buttons to bring up the appropriate question answer or error message box It is not necessary to learn any code or symbols anyone who can click on a mouse can use MacLang Materials creation with MacLang is quite simple even for computer novices MacLang actually consists of two applications 1 LangWrite a scriptwriter and 2 LangRead a scriptrunner rl Laon feted Nawagaon H tiilerion 0 Cinta LaauA eH Figure 2 When LangWrite is opened a menu bar Figure 2 appears allowing users after they have clicked on File to choose to work on a new lesson or to modify an old lesson if a new lesson is chosen a dialog box appears Figure 3 MacLang CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 55 3 3 Figure 4 MacLang 4 that allows the author to choose the features mentioned above Romon Mamie tampia Lose Langeege 10 ofa O Engity at Franch T ipanu earan ES Italiat Porge G faman G Areata iP Erbiak 7 Auaglon TA Oliatin 7 Turid CdA Paragropha J Muttlpte Chola 2 doubtag Footure CH eraphdes mi EE Figure 3 MacLang 3 3 doaquego io yaar O Erliak French A panliti Ca Garman 9 tall Pert ues i Aiomaniqn C Altlar FY G ireak C hussian 7 tedin Turkikh Capanase Enaria Types C Vera buterg Ce FAI a Benka C Faragragh F Miudtipte Cholea Tumble CMU Faotured El araphles C udk A Bides El Branching Figure
30. single frame or sequence of frames of the videodisc while creating the lesson in order to determine the parameters of a segment for a given question Once the parameters or frame numbers for the question have been identified the author clicks on the Video button on the question entry box in LangWrite and enters them into the Video Information dialog box Figure 13 It is also possible to choose between two sound tracks or to turn the picture off As in the MacLang audio interface it is possible to have three segments associated with any one question and to change the parameters at any time Kian lofonmakin for Buone TA Inita TACOLBTATH H a tegmeni 4 Taponst tet or an E m GRET tad Ainge Frame ree Oechemnn 3 mie E Ooae F GE Channel t E maalt Bihat 2 O Fk iam HT Eflum off Diiue dir Figure 13 Rationale and Implementation A videodisc interface has been added to MacLang4 because of the contribution that this medium can make to language learning While the interfacing of the computer and the tape recorder provides a rich learning experience for the student as described above the linking of the computer and the videodisc player vastly expands the linguistic and cultural environment for learning the target language The videodisc supplies the background information that according to Halliday is necessary for an individual to understand a message From a sociolinguistic standpoint a text is meaningful not so much because t
31. t would have to type es In this exercise students work on three aspects of the language at once grammar because they are learning the correct usage of ser and estar writing because they must type the verb correctly and listening because they must identify the clue de vacaciones en Paris or de Guatemala to choose the appropriate verb aurally With this type of exercise students are associating reception and production in the early stages of their language learning experience something rarely done in mot language courses It is obvious that for this type of exercise to be effective the author must write the questions in such a way that the student cannot answer them without listening to and understanding the question Esmuche la orecidn y priba e varia Sar estar EN 1d PTS AD ECU f Caa Figure 10 Listening and Vocabulary A variation of the approach presented above could be used for vocabulary learning The students could listen to a story that appears on the screen with words omitted In each case there could be a possibility of more than one word CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 62 that would make sense in the given context otherwise the students could do the exercise without listening For example in a hypothetical ESL activity the blank in the sentence The way playing in the snow couldbe replaced by any one of a number of words such as boy girl child or dog but only one word would
32. th interactive audio howe fies Rect Alor BP CTaepe the answer bee Hic boo Figure 12 Comprehension of tapes of authentic natural target Language TL speech such as interviews songs poems or radio broadcasts can be verified by asking students to answer general or specific questions about them The possibility of playing three different segments for each question is especially useful in this case With the second and third tries the segment can be shortened to concentrate on the part response The author can provide partial or complete on line that contains the information most relevant to the appropriate transcripts or written hints for the students with the MacLang error message and answer explanation features Creative Listening Originally described as computer assisted language instruction CALI or computer assisted language learning CALL most foreign language courseware until recently presented students with traditional learning tasks stressing the learning of concepts or skills or the acquisition of data the aim was to use Rivers s terms more skill getting than skill using While skill getting that is the understanding of the structure of the language and the internalization of language production rules is essential to language acquisition educators have realized that students need more opportunities for skill using that is experimentation with using the language in active communication When applied to s
33. thods all eventually include the other skills they do not eliminate the need for finding a better way of integrating listening into our language courses not only for teaching listening comprehension but listening associated with the teaching of writing and speaking as well The computer when interfaced with an audio or video component can be used efficiently to develop students listening skills That listening can be improved by the computer is supported by Ahmad et al in a chart that divides language into production and reception both oral and written and omits only speaking as a computer supported activity see Figure 1 Especially in the case of listening comprehension the computer actually does something that it is almost impossible for the teacher to do with the class as a whole Receiving and processing an oral message is a complicated process that CALICO Journal Volume 6 Number 4 52 involves syntax semantics possession of previous knowledge interpretation and inferencing Since each student will do this differently encountering different problems verification of comprehension is not effective in class and is too time consuming to be done on an individual basis The computer on the other hand can identify individually what a student does or does not understand it can also interact with a student based on the latter s listening skills THE COMPUTER S POTENTIAL FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING WRITING READING LISTENING

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