Theoretical perspectives and new practices in audio-graphic conferencing for language learning

This article will start with the situation at the Open University, where languages are taught at a distance. Online tuition using an audio-graphic Internet-based conferencing system called Lyceum is one of the ways used to develop students' communicative skills. Following Garrett's call for an integration of research and practice at EUROCALL 1997 (Garrett, 1998) – a call which is still valid today – the present article proposes a conceptual framework which can support the use of conferencing systems such as Lyceum in language learning and teaching. In the first part of the article, I examine several pedagogical theories supporting language learning, that is, second language acquisition and sociocultural theories, and multimodality, and apply them to the practice of audio-graphic computer-mediated communication (CMC) as used at the Open University. I also build on previous research, which, however, is still dominated by written CMC. What Erben stated in 1999 is still true: that audio-graphic technology 'remains under-researched and under-theorised.� (Erben, 1999:230). Firstly, I therefore examine studies on written CMC and secondly those that have been conducted on audio-graphic CMC in order to identify the benefits and challenges of these media. Both the pedagogical theory and previous studies of CMC have informed the design and implementation of online tuition at the Open University. Thus the second part of the article reports on a research project on Lyceum, which took place in 2002. The goal of the project was to evaluate the use of audio-graphic conferencing in practice, and this in turn has instigated both improvements in the software used and in student support as well as further changes to the task design. I present some findings and discuss both the challenges of audio-graphic conferencing that were encountered and the benefits that were identified

Rethinking task design for the digital age: A framework for language teaching and learning in a synchronous online environment

This article discusses a framework for the development of tasks in a synchronous online environment used for language learning and teaching. It shows how a theoretical approach based on second language acquisition (SLA) principles, sociocultural and constructivist theories, and concepts taken from research on multimodality and new literacies, can influence the design and implementation of tasks for computer-mediated communication (CMC). The findings are based on a study conducted at the Open University, a study which examined all three levels of theory, design and implementation. The paper first presents the underlying theories in more detail before examining how these theories translated into the design of tasks for language tutorials via an audiographic conferencing tool. Finally it looks at how the design was implemented in practice by focusing on a number of issues such as student–student and student–tutor interaction, feedback, use of multimodal tools, and the differences between teaching face-to-face and online

Geosemiotics as a multiperspectivist lens: Theorizing L2 use of semiotic resources in negotiation of meaning with mobiles from outside the classroom

The theorization of how multimodal learning intersects with online teaching environments has emerged as a key research area in relationship to the creation of opportunities for L2 online interaction. However, there are few studies which have examined how cross-cultural dyads harness and orchestrate semiotic resources across mobile technologies from real-world locations. This paper reports on how the geosemiotics framework provided a multiperspectivist lens (i.e., one which allowed for multiple perspectives which included taking account of embodied communication, material place, and learners’ deployment of mobile devices and cameras to convey visuals). The theory of negotiation of meaning was also introduced to comprehend how L2 meaning is negotiated multimodally in ways potentially beneficial to second language acquisition. In this qualitative study, speaking tasks were supported by tablets and smartphones from outside the classroom. The aim was to foster negotiation of meaning through dyads locating and sharing public semiotic resources situated in places included cafés and museum. Findings show that learners co-deploy different semiotic resources to clarify task information and engage in word search and negotiation of lexis—with non-understanding also triggered by embodied and visual resources. Conclusions consider implications in fostering negotiation through pedagogic task design which harnesses semiotic resources in “place.

Fostering Student Interaction and Engagement in a Virtual Learning Environment: An Investigation into Activity Design and Implementation

Online tools, such as forums, wikis, and blogs lend themselves to learners negotiating meaning and co-constructing knowledge through interaction. However, not enough is known about how tasks need to be designed to make best use of the possibilities of complex virtual learning environments (VLEs) to motivate and support learners, foster interaction, and contribute to knowledge construction. This article reports on a twoyear study exploring the design and implementation cycle of online activities as an integral part of a distance language course. When the course was introduced in 2009, activities had been designed on the basis of second language acquisition principles as well as sociocultural theories, providing a basis for student interaction and taking into account the affordances of the environment, a Moodle-based VLE. After the end of the first year an evaluation was carried out that examined quantitative and qualitative data (Moodle user logs, learner surveys and learner interviews). It was found that students preferred forums to other tools and that assessment-related activities attracted higher participation rates than other tasks. It also highlighted a number of issues, including low participation in on-task discussions, a large gap between viewings and contributions, very large differences in individual engagement, low priority given to the online activities by some students, and varying levels of e-literacy amongst learners. Consequently, activities were re-designed and a number of changes were implemented in 2010 that included more teacher involvement, fewer tasks, a simpler structure, and a reduced number of tools. A comparison of learner participation across the two years shows that these changes had a positive impact on learner engagement

Qualitative research in CALL

This introduction to the Special Issue of the CALICO journal positions research in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in the wider field of qualitative and quantitative approaches to research. It discusses the merits of the different approaches and links them to research paradigms that dominate the different subject areas constituting CALL research. The authors put forward arguments for the use of qualitative and mixed-method studies in CALL, claiming that not only the richness of data gathered through qualitative and mixed studies but also the epistemological stance of hermeneutic ‘understanding’ of the learner and learning can add descriptive breadth and theoretical depth to research and advance the field of CALL

Computer-mediated language learning: Making meaning in multimodal virtual learning spaces

This article argues that when using Internet-based computer-mediated communication technologies for language teaching and learning (e.g., email, internet relay chat, or, more recently, instant messaging and audio-conferencing), it is not sufficient to see the new learning spaces as replicates of conventional face-to-face settings. We suggest that it may be useful to consider how meaning is made using the modes and media available in electronic environments. This approach offers a new framework for the investigation of both the limitations and the possibilities of the new information and communication media and the modes they afford. It incorporates notions of design, authorship and dissemination, and the increasing importance of modes other than writing in virtual language learning spaces and can thus also contribute to an enhanced understanding of the phenomenon of new literacies. In this article we seek to demonstrate how this framework can inform the development of language learning and teaching in Internet-based environments, using an audio-graphic conferencing application as an example. We examine some of the demands made on tutors and learners and consider ways of meeting the arising pedagogical challenges

Disruptive technologies and language learner identity in the digital age

Digital information and communication technologies are providing language learners and teachers with new opportunities, but they also are disrupting more traditional ways of learning. While many of the new online tools have the potential to foster communication and collaboration - crucial elements in successful language learning - the different materiality of the online medium is not only changing the nature of how we learn but it also has repercussions for language learners' identity. This article explores how notions of space, time and the body are differently conceptualized when language learning takes place online and at a distance, and how this has been changing our perception of what constitutes a language learner

Modelling typical online language learning activity

This article presents the methods and results of a four-year-long research project focusing on the language learning activity of individual learners using online tasks conducted at the University of Guanajuato (Mexico) in 2009-2013. An activity-theoretical model (Blin, 2010; Engeström, 1987) of the typical language learning activity was used to analyse and interpret data. The study revealed (1) problems for learners to move beyond the task’s objective (i.e. making a video) to attain the set language learning outcomes (e.g. developing speaking skills), and (2) the prevalence of orality over literacy in learning practices. Methodologically, a sample of 10 learners individually engaged with a purpose-built task. This was followed up by stimulated recall sessions (Gass & Mackey, 2000). The resulting video data was segmented using the concept of disturbances (Montoro & Hampel, 2011, p. 124; adapted from Engeström & Sannino, 2011), that is, deviations in learner behaviour from teacher expectations. Twenty-three dimensions and six processes were used to categorise data. A major systemic contradiction (Engeström, 2001), stemming from institutional and societal mass-production and efficiency-oriented practices, emerged, which partly led learners to take an other-than-language-learning orientation associated with, for instance, their underuse of learning tools and an over reliance on memory, perception, oral instruction and private speech

A developmental framework for online language teaching skills

This article focuses on the need for teachers to develop online skills and describes how experiential, participant focused workshops can change the way in which language teachers can integrate technology into their teaching and help them to successfully implement these 21st century skills. It starts by briefly sketching the development of online language teaching in distance pedagogy and introducing the skills development for teachers and the necessity of online teaching skills before outlining previously developed frameworks in this area. The article then describes how – within a European context of increasing demands on language teachers’ technological competence – a dynamic framework for experiential teacher training workshops was developed that is based on a pyramid of online teaching skills. Bringing together insights from research and more than a decade of experience in online teacher training, this article sets out this developmental framework and argues for the need of participant focused, flexible and dynamic training opportunities for language teachers

Video conferencing and multimodal expression of voice: Children's conversations using Skype for second language development in a telecollaborative setting

This article explores how voice is expressed in a telecollaborative project using Skype to connect two groups of primary age English language learners across two countries. Voice is understood as the ways in which language and other semiotic means are used for communication (Blommaert, 2008). This theoretical view frames the qualitative study into how voice is expressed materially involving tools such as verbal language, body language, technology, and the spatial and temporal dimensions within which the children's conversation happens. A methodology for analysing the video recorded data was developed using Scollon and Scollon's concept of geosemiotics. This method of analysis investigates how language is materially assembled through interaction with others in the physical world. The study shows that telecollaborative conversations create particular conditions which affect the ways children express their voice. The implications discussed in the conclusion have the potential to initiate wider discussion in the context of early childhood education and language learning concerning the importance of a multimodal perspective on how children express voice to support their communication when using video conferencing