Several of the preliminary questions asked about ESL instruction in online environments. We (John, Evelyn, Jere and I) hope that these answers both provide some clarification and also stimulate further discussion. Leslie<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><b><i>How do the models provide ESL/ESOL instruction in
the four language skills: listening, speaking reading and writing? It seems
like a non-facilitated on-line course could address the two receptive skills
(listening, reading), but how does it address the two productive skills
(speaking, writing)?</i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">USAL provides lots of activities focused on listening and
reading, the two receptive language skills. Focused listening activities are
used throughout both First and Second Course.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Each course also offers a wide-range of reading activities.
Students will encounter realistic Life Skills reading tasks such as lists,
flyers, schedules, and rental agreements as well as informational prose reading
about life skill topics.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none">USAL offers two types of writing activities. In the first,
the writing task must have a single correct answer in order for the computer to
give feedback. An example of this is traditional dictation where students
listen to a prompt and are asked to write what they hear. Some activities pose
a question and ask for a written answer. Others ask students to type a sentence
using the words given on screen. Again, because there is only one correct
answer, the program is able to show the student his errors and allow
corrections. Not only are these types of writing activities very popular
with students, they help students make the connections between language they
hear and the written form. The grammar activities help students to write
sentences using correct syntax and put into practice the presented grammar point.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none">The second type of writing activity is a open-ended
question for which the computer can give no feedback. If a student is
studying USAL with a teacher or tutor, the teacher/tutor can provide feedback
on writing activities and communicate with the student through the system.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none">For the most part speaking activities in USAL allow the
student to repeat what she/he hears, record his/her voice, listen to the
playback and<i> </i><span style="font-style:normal">compare his/her
pronunciation to that of a native speaker. In First Course, there are some
"open ended" speaking activities in which students are asked a
personal question such as "When is your birthday?</span><i>" </i><span style="font-style:normal">In these types of questions, the student can playback
and self-assess his/her pronunciation, but can not compare it to a native
speaker's.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i>An important principle of second language acquisition
is negotiating meaning through interactivity. Classroom teachers
accomplish this through pair and group work, through task-based learning, and
project-based learning. How can a non-facilitated on-line learning system
or model address this principle of language acquisition?</i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is an excellent question, and one that we don't really
have an answer to at this stage in the development of USAL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In doing our usability testing, we did
notice that most of the students were very anxious to get other family members
involved in studying USAL with them; perhaps students who are studying
independently may develop their own opportunities in this regard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If students are registered in a class
through USAL, it may be possible for a <span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT">teacher/tutor
to provide ways for students to write emails to each other (or just to the
teacher/tutor) or for the tutor to contact the student via phone and talk about
the unit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Another possibility
might be the type of Learner's Circles that Theresa Pagano talked about earlier
in this discussion.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT">We'd love to
hear your thoughts about this.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT"><b><i>An
important function of a "live" teacher in the classroom is to provide
feedback to learners about their use of the language. Similarly, through pair
and group work, adult learners are made aware of when their English language
utterances are comprehensible to listeners and when there are communication
breakdowns</i></b></span><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT">. </span><b><i>How
does a non-facilitated on-line learning system provide feedback to learners about
the accuracy and success of their English utterances?</i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT">USAL (or
anything we've seen online) cannot compete with a live teacher in this regard.
The question refers specifically to the students "use of the
language." As we see with Speaking and Writing, the two
"productive" language skills, the computer cannot provide feedback on
anything that is not pre-determined. USAL can provide this type of feedback to
learners only </span>in the most limited ways (e.g., allowing them to hear
their speech played back and comparing it to a native speaker).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We can only hope that with the
abundance of listening activities students perform in the course of the
program, their ability to self-assess the sounds of their own language might
become more accurate. <span style="font-family:ArialMT;color:#510050"></span></p>
<br>-- <br>Leslie Petty, Ed.D.<br>Associate Director<br>Project IDEAL Support Center<br>University of Michigan<br>734-425-0748<br>
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