Design, Development and Implementation of a Web-Based Support Material for English as Second Language

The Journal of Instructional Technologies &Teacher Education Vol.1 No1 (2012), 84-110 Design, Development and Implementation of a Web-Based Support Material for English as Second Language Levent Durdu 1 M. Yaşar Özden 2 Ömer Delialioğlu 3 Abstract Language learning, especially second language learning requires systematic practice and repetition. Students are introduced with the new words in class sessions and they practice them via traditional methods such as continuously writing the direct meaning of the word or using flash cards. Computers have the potential to bring more attractive and enjoyable features to instructional materials. This case study tries to contribute to the understanding of design, development and implication phases of computer-assisted language learning materials. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. With regard to the dictionary page most of the students preferred to listen to the pronunciation of most of the words, but conflictingly almost none of the students tried to repeat the pronunciation of the words after listening. More than half of the students (72.7%) thought that practicing by doing activities (crossword puzzles) and interacting with the web based tool was joyful. The pace and understandability of its speech were positively perceived by the students. Technology like Ms-Agent can be useful especially for improving listening. Moreover, it can be used as an online assistant as students perceived the internet character as functional in guiding them. Key Words: Computer assisted language learning; technology integration; interactive learning environments; computer-assisted instruction; web-based instruction Yrd. Doç. Dr. , Kocaeli Üniversitesi, Kocaeli Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri Eğitimi Bölümü, 1 Prof. Dr., Orta Doğu Teknik, Eğitim Fakültesi, Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri Eğitimi Bölümü, 3 Yrd. Doç. Dr. , Orta Doğu Teknik, Eğitim Fakültesi, Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri Eğitimi Bölümü, 2 84 JITTE, Vol.1 No.1 (2012) Design, Development and Implementation of a Web-Based Support... 1. Introduction The first applications of computer-assisted instruction were in the form of programmed instruction. Programmed instruction could be considered as the grandfather of the learning theory applications in computer environments. The studies of the B.F. Skinner were the most interesting studies which were ground on behaviorist theory and guided many researchers in the instructional technology field. In 1970’s with the rise of more humanistic learning theories and methods, research focused more deeply on language learning and teaching and the needs of the individual learners, their emotions and feelings. Nunan (1988, cited in Cecchetto and Stroinska, 1989) pointed to this movement by stating that in 1970’s there was a tendency from teacher centered to learner centered methodology. Especially the “individualization of the learning process” became the focus point in language learning (Cecchetto and Stroinska, 1989). Moreover, communicative language teaching emerged in those years (Hoven, 1999). After the development of microcomputers in 1973, special interest in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) increased and software for CALL were produced. The starting point of CALL can be traced to the Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations (PLATO) project initiated at the University of Illinois in 1960 (Levy, 1997; Ahmad, Corbett, Rogers and Sussex, 1989). PLATO aimed to provide interactive materials and let the learners work and learn in their own pace. It contained a simple e-mail system that the learners used to post messages to the teacher. This system provided communication opportunities for teacher and learners. Moreover, in the PLATO learner activities and information could be recorded. Reading, writing and listening activities and materials were within the focus of CALL. Another great project started in 1971 was the Time-shared, Interactive, Computer Controlled Information Television (TICCIT). It was designed to use television and computer technologies together. It could be thought as the first multimedia courseware example that combined text, audio and video. In later versions of TICCIT, which was named MicroTICCIT, learners were able to choose the context and the presentation of content. Learner control became more important in MicroTICCIT. This was the main advance making it different from the PLATO. In early 1980’s microcomputers became widespread and cheap, therefore teacherprogrammers started to produce CALL software especially using BASIC programming language. Storyboard, which was written by John Higgins, was well-known software of the 1980s. It aimed to reconstruct a text from a wide range of clues such as introductory materials and textual clues. In 1983, an eight –year research called Project Athena was established by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with funding of $50 million dollars. Within this project Athena Language Learning Project (ALLP) was established and mainly concentrated on creation of communication-based prototypes for various courses such as French, German and English as a Second Language. ALLP consisted of multimedia 85 JITTE, Vol.1 No.1 (2012) L. Durdu, M. Y. Özden, Ö. Delialioğlu authoring environments, hypertext and hypermedia systems, artificial intelligence techniques and simulations as language learning materials. In 1990’s internet had become the most important technologic development that brought many features with it. With the rapid development of internet, multimedia materials such as text, sound and video became widely used. CALL projects also started to use internet in different ways. Computer-Aided Multimedia Interactive Language Learning (CAMILLE) was started by participation of France, Spain, Netherlands and UK. The main purpose of the project was to give basic courses for Spanish and Dutch, and advanced courses in English and French. In CAMILLE project the learning environment was in the center of the design. Learning was more important than teaching and it provided tools to facilitate learning. These tools included learning activities, pronunciation of the words spoken by a native speaker in a dictionary, audio and video recordings and etc. A similar project was Oral Language Archive (OLA), started in 1994 at Carnegie Mellon University. Primary purpose of this project was to provide digitized sound recordings for foreign language learning over the internet. French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish were the main languages included in the project. Today, computers play a great role in creating activities and practice environments to learners. Gillespie and McKee (1999) suggested that if computer programs are going to be used within a computer based learning environment, they should concentrate on specific language skills, especially which can be helpful to develop language awareness such as translation a (...truncated)