• “English Language Learning on the (Hyper)Way: A Guided Tour of EFL Websites” by Cristina Pennarola
• “Designing Web-Based Multimedia Material” by Vida Zorko

The paradigm of online learning sketchily outlined above seems to drastically change when learners move from a formal course-based mode including supervision, assessment and completion of credits, to an informal mode where they freely access the materials and resources on the Web with no record of their work being kept (Broadbent, 2002, pp. 12-14). In this latter mode, learners are truly on their own, choosing activities and controlling their learning pathway, checking their intuitions against the corrections available in self-access mode and making their progress through closed activities and language notes. However, if the percentage of dropouts in online courses may be rather high given some demotivating factors such as the absence of “visible” control and the lack of physical contact (O'Connor, et al., 2003; Tait, 2000), the number of people dissatisfied with the language self-service provided by websites may be even higher.[1]

The present study sets out to investigate the pedagogical features and student-friendliness of EFL websites in comparison to online courses and self-access materials with a view to assessing their potential as self-learning tools and also suggesting ways of implementing and facilitating their use as out-of-class add-on instruction. The language websites examined are all open access, either manifestly commercial like the ones sponsoring coursebooks and materials such as Oxford and Longman, or institutional like those promoting the diffusion of English language and culture such as the British Council. They have been selected on the basis of their “credentials” (Walker, Hewer & Davies, 2006, pp. 10-13), attraction power and userfriendliness, and keeping a balance between British and American English websites (see also Krajka, 2002 for an evaluation matrix of EFL/ESL portal sites; ICT4LT Project, 2005; Son, 2003) [2].

What mostly differentiates an online course from the language practice offered by a website is evidently the teaching component:  while the online course sets a progression and is the result of teacher-student interaction, the website is simply a learning instrument which does not incorporate the tailored assistance provided by a tutor neither does it include a syllabus or spell out the set of objectives to be achieved. The menu metaphor used as an instruction in the British Council website well represents the kind of open and unsystematic learning fostered by websites:  “LearnEnglish is not a 'course'. It doesn't have Unit 1 followed by Unit 2, etc. Instead, LearnEnglish is a like a restaurant with a long menu of learning activities. Today you might want to practise some grammar. Tomorrow you might want to play one of our games or read a story. Soup, meat or fish - you'll find them all here.” http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-about-us-how-to-use-learnenglish.htm 

The interactive devices working as backchannel signals and ensuring a fruitful exchange of information mostly relate to the correction of closed exercises, an automatic operation which can hardly offer some personalised feedback to learners (Ciaffaroni, 2006). On the other hand, features such as forums and help desks do provide guidance and answer the specific queries put forward by the students, at the same time ensuring some degree of dialogic exchange both between students and tutors and among learners. Even if the questions generally revolve about specific language points which are then explained in few sentences, the very exchange represents for the learners a chance at real communication and a way of experiencing the range of stylistic modulations which can be conveyed in messages (e.g. informal expressions; slang; emoticons). Especially in forums, where learners have the opportunity to discuss the most disparate issues from gay rights to Harry Potter’s mysteries, the writing practice is extremely varied and motivating, although not all the websurfers may be aware of differences in register and of the language lapses common in EFL chat rooms.

The kind of supportive assessment provided by tutors online or face to face seems to be the feature most impervious to implementation in self-access mode and in fact seems to be missing in the websites examined. Whether, for instance, the learner shows a good control of language resources but poor interaction strategies or lacks the basics of English phonology, no kind of (hyper)technological tool will ever reveal as the very complexity of  assessment, based on intuition rather than on the application of some generally acknowledged principles, requires a flexible mind and cannot be replaced by  an automatic procedure (Bartram & Walton, 1991, p.105). In this respect, a language website is very much like a student’s workbook although, unlike this, it is not pitched at a specific level but quite confusingly can include them all, thus causing “cognitive overload” (King & Honeybone, 1996, p. 5).

Furthermore, the innovative technology of the Web does not easily accommodate actual conversations; these can indeed take place but require the implementation of costly software and equipment. For this reason, on the Internet, chatting has turned into a peculiar written to be spoken mode of communication – aka “interactive written discourse” (Shortis, 2001, pp. 92-97) – and spoken interaction has been reduced to a minimum.  Even in language learning, where speaking is considered a core language skill, the learners’ spoken abilities are hardly systematically tested or even exercised online apart from a few initiatives developing audiographic rather than text conferencing (Salmon, 2004, p. 71; see also Hill & Storey 2003 on the development of oral presentation skills online).

Despite these drawbacks largely related to the multiplicity of the learning routes in the absence of a guide, EFL websites can indeed offer great advantages to solo learners in terms of language activities and authentic materials, in addition to being an invaluable resource for teachers, who know how to best supplement their lessons.

The structure of EFL websites

The EFL websites examined encourage learners to explore at their leisure a series of activities and materials complete with instructions and comments. The register used is still very much influenced by classroom discourse with sharp commands and brief comments punctuating the language exercises and activities. Each website has a distinctive design, which differently combines the “multiple literacies” fostered by new technologies (Stevens, 2005) and responds to the needs for visual appeal, comprehensibility, utility, efficacy, and navigability marking effective communication on the Internet (Shneiderman, 1997). The size varies from huge comprehensive websites such as the BBC English learning programme, to small, delimited sections like Longman’s ELT site. Authorship is also a differentiating feature between the websites created and updated by “regulars” indicated in the copyright notice (e.g. Dave’s ESL Café, www.manythings.org), those counting on the contributions of outside teachers and volunteers whose identities are made known (e.g. a4esl.org) and the ones which do not specify the contributors’ names as they are somehow incorporated into the organizations (e.g. the BBC; Oxford ELT).

However, they all provide a kind of thematic categorization which largely follows the traditional classification in language teaching: pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, skills, with further subdivisions taking into account the materials and activities proposed and depending on the size and inclusiveness of the website. Metalinguistic features such as usage notes, stylistic guidelines and forums may be also provided ensuring the surfers’ exposure to English language is reinforced by explanations and examples.

A system of internal and external links visible on the webpage points to explicit connections between language aspects (e.g. idioms, collocations and proverbs; verbs and tenses; nouns and determiners) offering learners immediate access to a variety of materials and activities, and possibly sensitizing them to the interrelatedness typical of any language system, whose intelligibility is the result of many concomitant factors pertaining to phonology, lexis, grammar and rhetoric, all encompassing natural discourse (McCarthy, 1991, p. 32).   Thus, the connectivity characteristic of the Internet seems to perfectly suit the language practice accommodated by the websites as their networked structure allowing many overlapping or criss-crossing routes not only stimulates a kind of global learning (something which many face to face courses or self-study materials do themselves) but also makes the necessary range of language skills and resources fully visible to learners.

Hypertextual coherence can be both local (intra and internodal) and global (hyperstructural) depending on the level of relatedness within a single node or webpage, between various nodes and within the whole system of links and nodes respectively (Engebretsen, 2000, p. 14). English language learning websites show a varying degree of coherence apparently related to their size and comprehensiveness: the ones opting for full language coverage (i.e. combining explanations and activities on all language aspects and skills) seem to be characterised by a more articulate cross-referential system. Thus learners are also encouraged to “network” their learning (process and outcome) in line with the constructivist pegagogy, which regards learners as builders in collaborative undertakings. For example, some notoriously irksome language point such as “funky phrasals” links up to a grammar explanation, a listening exercise, and a vocabulary quiz on the BBC website; and the tenses quiz on AboutESL.com leads up to other grammar tests on determiners, sentence structure, and time expressions.

Other websites, in particular the less extensive ones, seem instead to prefer individual presentations of language items arranged by category and consequently let the surfers create their own connections, as in Dave’s ESL café where each section (e.g. phrasal verbs; idioms; slang) is self-contained and does not include links to other sections. However, hyperstructural coherence is still high even in case of few internodal connections as all the topics dealt with – from phonemes to proverbs – relate to the very same macrotopic, that is the English language, and therefore show an intrinsic consistency, probably this time more reliant on the users than on the authors of the website.

The homepage, teasingly illustrating the website contents, can be regarded as a tourist’s map, indispensable for the travellers to arrange their language journey and organise what can turn out to be either pleasurable roaming or a straightforward excursion, depending on the learner’s objectives and the actual route undertaken. The details of the map are usually made known along the way as each “node” or crossroad displays the associated nodes only in case the websurfers manifest their interest by clicking onto it, inasmuch as the complete list of all the materials and resources available on the website would simply risk disorienting the prospective learners.

The sheer extension of the language can in fact be an overwhelming realization for most learners, who best build on their existing knowledge and competencies in a gradual, steady manner rather than fast and furiously as the Internet would allow. As a consequence, mechanisms of information filtering, such as scrolling menus or “serialised” lessons, are set up to narrow down the learners’ focus and encourage them to choose a specific pathway within the language website. However, the other routes which have not been chosen can still be accessed, by using either internal links or the menus usually placed on top of and aside the webpage. Thus hyperlinking preserves the abundance of material and multiplicity of pathways typically associated with the Internet and, at the same time, ensures that the information is packaged into manageable units.

Prospective learners of English nosing about a language website would then be unlikely to lose their bearings as the many opportunities nicely prepackaged are mutually exclusive and can be fruitfully activated one at a time, although it is the very array of resources on display which can be daunting. While the very sequential structure of a book constrains learners into neat, identifiable reading pathways (even when the order of the units is subverted), the multisequentiality of a website, apparently discarding hierarchical orders with its many overlapping routes and opening windows, can prove a real challenge and encourage diverse reading strategies (Davies, 1997; Engebretsen, 2000; Foltz, 1996, p. 125; Moro, 1997; Shortis 2001, p. 11).

An outline of the language progression (expected if not actually achieved) can be provided as a direction to learners only with tools such as online courses, CD-ROMs or even books as long as they establish a learning pathway to be actualized and negotiated by the recipients but already there, so to speak. A language website, by contrast, can simply offer information and activities according to a thematic categorization but cannot impose an order to its users who are left free to explore and test the possibilities to their own liking. The difference between online courses, CD-ROMs and books, on the one hand, and free access websites, on the other, lies not so much in the way learning pathways are developed - systematically or randomly, by logical progression or by casual association, by the teacher or by the learner - but in the features of the communicative situation. While the former, in fact, make out the language profile of their addressees (e.g. beginner, intermediate, advanced with general or specific needs) and construct a hypothetical route even in the absence of the tutor, the latter not only often fail to specify the learners’ level (in accordance with the vast reach of Internet users) but also include multiple and mutually exclusive pathways.

Furthermore, unlike books and online courses, websites do not keep track of the learners’ pathways, which would forever disappear from memory unless the learners decide to save the tasks carried out in computer files and start to create their own portfolios or personalised grammar. The lack of retrieval devices is in fact the disadvantage of many language learning websites in that the transience of the webpage coupled with the very net structure of information make it difficult for the learners to accurately visualize their own route and identify their provisional points of arrival.

Practical implementations for language teachers

The question then remains how we can best put to use the vast and varied English language material available on the Internet taking into account both the advantages and the limitations imposed by the website format. In fact, although the websites appear to be designed for individual, autonomous use, the lack of student-tailored pathways and personal tutoring would apparently discourage most intermediate-level learners, who are the main targets and beneficiaries of the online activities, as they still need to improve language and skills but show enough proficiency to orientate themselves through the layers and intricacies of a self-help language website. To advise the students to simply go there, have a look and grab whatever they need or like for improving their language does not offer a satisfactory solution, although many academic services and language centers provide an annotated list of free language resources available on the Internet and include it in their own websites as hyperlinks [3]. The temptation to entrust some of the language tuition to reviewed open access websites is strong and may even at times appear overwhelming in some academic contexts where the demand for English lessons is not matched by adequate human and logistic resources and where the students themselves ask for more classes and more flexible or personalised course timetables. However, in my own experience of language teacher, the students’ responses to the all-inclusive self-directed instruction provided by EFL websites appears cautious and even ambivalent to some extent (Ladomery, 2002; Kavaliauskiene, 2003). Apparently, it is the very absence of a designed route together with the lack of “cognitively challenging activities” (Ciaffaroni, 2006) which may discourage students from systematically accessing and incorporating the website activities into their language routines beside, say, pronunciation drills and tenses revision.

            And yet, it seems a pity that such a wealth of attractively packaged and pedagogically sound language materials goes somehow wasted – or rather is not exploited to its full potential – all the more so as the systematic use of free access resources could significantly improve the students’ self-management skills beside their English language awareness and result in their personal empowerment.  Moreover, integrating EFL website activities into self-access resources such as the graded tasksheets or focused multimodal materials available in language centers would also prove useful to those students who are not able to attend their English classes, something hardly uncommon in Italian universities. How can we language teachers then use these materials, or rather, how can we get our students to use these materials and thus complement their book-based learning?

One way of addressing this question would probably entail some form of guidance such as graded tasksheets including general maps of the websites selected and spelling out the activities to be carried out and their language focus. This material, complete with a set of instructions orientating the students through the vast amount of learning materials available on the Web, would serve as an introduction to the website and as a teacher-designed pathway outlining the short-term and long-term objectives of the students’ website surfing. Some experimentation along these lines has already been carried out with positive results by Kung and Chuo (2002), who have tested their students’ involvement and satisfaction with selected EFL websites which had been previously presented to them and used as support of their homework assignments. The students had to complete a tasksheet in two weeks’ time and use five selected websites to carry out vocabulary exercises as well as activities focused on reading, writing and listening skills. Although only few of them (5 out of 46) kept on using the websites after the completion of their EFL programme, they all expressed satisfaction with the use of the language websites in their learning pathways and in particular with the strategies developed by their teachers to facilitate their website-based coursework (instructions for online navigation, selection of websites, introduction to the websites’ content, homework assignments). The findings of this study seem to suggest that students’ use of EFL websites in language learning needs to be facilitated and monitored (Kung & Chuo, 2002, p. 12), even though the material which they include may be primarily designed for self study.  

However, once the students get the knack of the website, know what to look for and where to find it, and especially realise the value of their Internet surfing, they can easily make it part of their daily (or weekly) language learning routines. This in turn would entail the teacher’s  prior “domestication” of the selected website(s) through the design of relevant student-focused activities: for example, the “News English” section hosted by the BBC Learning English and regularly updated at least twice a week would provide intermediate students of English with reading and listening activities on the latest news http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/index.shtml Similarly, the vocabulary section in selected websites could easily be exploited to familiarise the students with computer terminology, specialised jargon, phrasal verbs, idioms, formal and informal registers depending on target needs and interests [4].

            Yet a different case is represented by EFL coursebook supporting sites as they are usually structured according to the book series and the level of difficulty, and the range of follow-up activities further exploring the units of the book are neatly packaged for student reference (See Appendix). Particularly in this case, the focus is on the teacher as dispenser of content materials and learning facilitator (so much so that the label currently used for these website sections is Teacher Support), although the students would hardly find it difficult to find their way provided they did find the time and will to visit the website (Kung & Chuo, 2002, p. 8).

Concluding remarks

As a source of learning materials, a language website can indeed be invaluable as for scope, topicality and personalisation (Teeler & Gray, 2000, p. 36) in addition to providing a highly stimulating interactive multimedia environment; however, as a learning tool it presupposes on the part of the learner the same resourcefulness and language awareness required by self access materials (Evangelisti & Argondizzo, 2002; Gardner & Miller, 1999; Sanniti di Baja, 2004). It is up to the teacher then to provide guidance and support for the students approaching EFL websites by designing personalised pathways and/or suggesting homework activities which may be conducive to language routines. Learners should be encouraged to keep track of their English focused websurfing: 1. by keeping a log where they note down times and days of their language practice and specify the focus; 2. by storing the exercises and language notes most relevant to their needs in computer folders.

Even in technowise times, learning and mastering a foreign language remains a complex activity bringing into play various factors such as exposure, use, motivation, instruction (Willis, 1996, p. 11) and it cannot be achieved simply by accessing a network of multimedia material, although one can reasonably expect that all that surfing, scrolling, clicking and typing will make it more engaging, dynamic and fun than traditional classroom settings.

Notes

[1] According to a survey conducted by the author on a sample of around one hundred students at Naples University Federico II on the use of English language learning websites, the lack of a personal tutor would discourage most students from regular attendance, even if the activities are considered highly stimulating. A similar survey conducted at the University Roma Tre in March 2002 seems to confirm the students’ mixed feelings about online learning (Ladomery, 2002). Although the study by Kung and Chuo (2002) sounds a more positive note, it still highlights the students’ awkwardness in using Internet educational resources:  “[students] are not likely to visit these sites on their own unless they are told what to do with the information on the sites” (Kung & Chuo, 2002, p. 8).

I wish to thank Dr. Francesca Di Iorio for her helpful suggestions on the design of the questionnaire, which was distributed to the students in the Faculty of Political Science and the Language Centre of Naples University Federico II between March and October 2006.

[2] The following is the complete list of the English language websites used for the present study:

*       About English as a Second Language, http://esl.about.com/

*       Activities for ESL students, http://a4esl.org/

*       Dave’s ESL Café, http://www.eslcafe.com/

*       English Club, http://www.englishclub.com/learn-english.htm

*       Interesting Things for ESL Students, http://www.manythings.org/

*       Longman.com ELT Adults Resource Library  http://www.longman.com/adult/

*       Oxford University Press English Language Teaching http://www.oup.com/elt/students/?cc=gb

*       BBC Learning English http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

*       The British Council’s Learn English  http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/

Although it has been considered representative of English language learning websites, it does not mean to be an exhaustive list as other equally interesting websites have been inevitably left out.

[3] See, for example, the exhaustive list of TESOL/EFL related websites at http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~edumw/eltwww2.htm

[4] See the following Web addresses for a range of lexical resources and exercises:

http://esl.about.com/od/engilshvocabulary/ht/htvocab.htm

http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/computing.htm

http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/phrasal-verbs-quiz.htm

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-word-games-archive.htm

http://www.manythings.org/e/vocabulary.html

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Appendix  - An annotated list of some major EFL publisher supporting sites

Cambridge English Language Learning http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/

Cambridge University Press ESL website offers teacher-oriented material including suggestions, activities, exercises, and games complementing its leading titles: Touchstone, Interchange, In the Know, Let’s talk, Connect and Writers at Work. Most of the activities are openly downloadable while others may require the teacher’s registration.

Longman.com ELT Adults Resource Library http://www.longman.com/adult/

Longman promises free resources for learners of English on key vocabulary, grammar and skills (e.g.indicating dates; giving opinions; job vocabulary etc.), though the absence of the answer key makes them more similar to teacher support materials. In addition, it includes 70 companion websites to its key titles, including Cutting Edge, Total English and Language to Go.

Macmillan’s One Stop English   http://www.onestopenglish.com/

This teacher’s resource site run by Macmillan offers to all its users registered free of charge a wealth of resources and materials ranging from lesson plans to articles and teaching tips, including language-focused activities and cultural insights.

Oxford University Press English Language Teaching
http://www.oup.com/elt/students/?cc=gb

Oxford University Press provides a very wide range of language notes and activities as a supplement to its coursebooks for primary, adult and professional learners. However, it is also accessible to learners without any previous acquaintance of the books as the activities offered are self-contained and provide useful language focus. The first classification of materials points to the book or series (e.g. Headway; English File; Natural English), the language aspects under scrutiny (grammar; vocabulary; listening skills etc.) are specified only once the learners have actually “entered” the book. There is a wide range of materials as well as text and audio activities complete with answer key.  

Thomson ELT http://elt.thomson.com/namerica/en_us/index.html

This website offers samples of its catalogue books (e.g. worksheets, online activities, TESOL resources) together with demonstrations of technological tools such as Online Speaking Labs, aimed at improving pronunciation and  conversational skills, and Exam View, suitable for creating and customizing language tests. Much of its material is password protected and requires registration.

The multimedia software in question can be found on the teacher’s home page (http://www2.arnes.si/~vzorko/) containing links to resources for students learning English. By following the link English 2, Unit 1 – Globalisation  is reached. Unit 1 – Globalisation is the first of six topic-based units that correspond to those found in the English 2 student book. The multimedia materials, once finished, will complement class discussions on the six topics. At the time of writing this paper, only the web materials for the first unit, Unit 1 – Globalisation, had been completed and they form the focus of this paper. They are described below.

Description of Unit 1 – Globalisation multimedia materials

When students access the Unit 1 – Globalisation screen, they are presented with the title supported by an image of globalisation and a list of activities. The principal activity around which the tasks are structured is listening to an authentic lecture. It is a Reith lecture on globalisation given by Anthony Giddens and published by BBC.co.uk. A list of pre-, while- and post- listening activities is provided. These activities include the following:

-          Before you listen 1 - Questions: This activity contains five questions whose purpose is to raise interest and activate background knowledge. Three help links to resources are provided where the students can independently find the answers.

-          Before you listen 2 - Vocabulary: The activity includes four exercises that help the students learn or revise potentially problematic vocabulary that appears in the listening exercise. The first three exercises are of the drag-and-drop game-type and provide feedback with keys and scores. In the fourth task, the students write definitions of words in the space provided and can look for help in the linked resources.

-          While you listen – Note taking: The students are provided with an outline of the lecture and some headings that help them focus their listening more easily. The link to Giddens’s lecture on BBC.co.uk site is found below the outline.

-          After you listen 1 – The meaning of concepts: This activity checks whether the students have understood the main concepts introduced and illustrated in the lecture.

-          After you listen 2 – Vocabulary: The students fill in the sentences from the lecture with a list of potentially difficult words. Keys and scores are provided.

-          After you listen 3 – Paragraph coherence: Three paragraphs from the lecture are used in drag-and-drop exercises with a key to raise awareness of paragraph coherence. A link to help with coherence is provided.

-          After you listen 4 – Writing: In this activity the students are asked to write a short essay on globalisation to apply the knowledge they gained in the previous tasks. The link to the teacher's email address is provided as help.

-          After you listen 5 – Outline design: This is preparation for a class discussion. The students are asked to reflect on what they have learned and create an outline to help them participate actively in class.

-          After you listen 6 – Discussion forum: The students are provided with a link to a discussion forum on globalisation where they can actively participate with their own contributions.

-          After you listen 7 – Learning English Message Board: In this activity the students are invited to participate in a message board where they can ask questions related to learning English or share their experience with fellow learners around the world.

-          After you listen 8 – Further listening: The students are encouraged to do some further listening practice on related topics. A link to other Reith lectures on globalisation is given.

At the bottom of the page, the students find an invitation to send their feedback to the teacher using the given link.

Tools used to design the Unit 1 - Globalisation software

The multimedia software for Unit 1 – Globalisation was designed using various tools. The page layout was designed with Web Builder 2. The language exercises were created with Hot Potatoes 6. Both the tools are free and very simple to use. The photographs, which were obtained from a friend, were edited in Adobe Photoshop 6.0.

How the multimedia material will be used

The Unit 1 – Globalisation multimedia software will be used to complement the student book and class sessions. The activities will be optional but highly recommended. The students will be encouraged by the teacher to start doing the activities a few weeks before the corresponding class sessions to be prepared for the class discussion. The multimedia activities will be done autonomously, at home or using the faculty’s facilities. The students will do the tasks in either the suggested or in their preferred order. They will be able to repeat any of the activities as many times as they need or like.

Objectives of the multimedia material

The multimedia material was designed with the following primary objectives in mind:

-          To help the students to improve their skills in listening to lectures: The needs analysis of Sociology students’ target needs carried out among Sociology students, ex-students and lecturers showed that listening to lectures and speeches was a high priority. The research also revealed that students found listening to recorded English lectures in class the least useful and least likeable classroom activity. They listed various reasons such as long recordings being too difficult to follow, the noise in the large and crowded classrooms being too distracting, and not having the possibility to repeat the listening as many times as needed. It therefore seemed reasonable to include listening to lectures in autonomous web-based learning because the students would be able to listen to it at home without any distracting noise and would be able to stop, pause or repeat it whenever necessary.

-          To prepare the students to actively participate in the class discussion on the topic of globalisation: The listening and accompanying tasks help to activate the students’ background knowledge and to acquire new knowledge on the topic as well as revising and learning the vocabulary needed to talk about it. Doing similar activities in class would take up too much valuable discussion time.

-          To give the students the opportunity to use a wide range of quality authentic online resources and become familiar with using them independently: The preparation of the material was heavily influenced by considerations of authenticity and a Reith lecture was chosen because it is an excellent example of authentic spoken discourse relevant to Sociology students. Similarly, the links to online information on globalisation, famous lecturers, dictionaries, forums, discussion boards etc. are all useful authentic resources.

-          To give the students an opportunity to produce linguistic output and receive feedback: Every task offers opportunities for online output (writing definitions, notes, explanations of concepts, outlines, expressing opinions, sharing experiences, asking questions and doing exercises). The output in class is active participation in the discussion of globalisation. The email output is an essay. Each of these forms of output includes feedback. This may be the teacher in the computer (exercise key and scores, online resources such as dictionaries etc.), the teacher (essay correction and general help), participants in the forums (responding to students’ messages), as well as peers and the teacher (class discussion).

-          To provide the students with an opportunity to engage in authentic communication: Links are provided to discussion forums where the students can engage in authentic communication with people from all around the world. The class discussion will provide another opportunity for authentic communication.

Theoretical bases for the software design

This section presents some theoretical views that were considered when creating the Unit 1 – Globalisation  multimedia material and helped the teacher to decide on an appropriate teaching strategy, create favourable conditions for language acquisition, and design some learner-based, interactive and efficient multimedia software.

Teaching strategy

The teaching strategy used in the design of materials involves a combination of what Kennedy and McNaught (1997) termed ‘pre-emptive’ methods that provide help in pre-empted problem areas, and ‘transformative’ educational methods that promote students’ active construction of knowledge.

-          Pre-emptive methods are used, for instance, in the language exercises which contain vocabulary with which students typically have difficulty. Moreover, most activities contain help links to previously selected relevant online resources where the students can easily find the answers.

-          Transformative methods are reflected in:

o        activities that allow the students to construct their own knowledge freely, e.g. the activities After you listen 5, 6, 7 and 8;

o        activities that encourage deep learning, e.g. Before you listen 1;

o        the flexibility of the material that enables the students to determine and balance their workload, e.g. the students can choose which activity to do and when. Such an appropriate workload contributes to teaching quality (Kennedy & McNaught, 1997).

o        the students’ participation with suggestions and questions in the design process, which ensures good teaching practice (Kennedy & McNaught, 1997).

o        activities that encourage the development of students’ personal views on the issue of globalisation, e.g. Before you listen 1 and After you listen 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Language acquisition

In determining the extent to which the material would facilitate language acquisition, I evaluated it on the basis of Chapelle’s hypotheses about second language acquisition (Chapelle, 1998, p.23) and found that:

-          The material facilitates the perception of problematic vocabulary in the lecture through the pre-listening vocabulary exercises.

-          The material provides help with vocabulary, concepts and paragraph cohesion in the form of true or false answers, hints, teacher’s email address and links to online resources. Using the links to relevant online resources such as dictionaries, terminological databases etc. also encourages the students to get used to these resources because they will need them to perform other tasks, e.g. problem-based learning projects in English, English text analysis in other major courses etc.

-          The material gives the opportunity to produce comprehensible target language output in real communication in which the students will also be able to negotiate the meaning. This will occur, for example, in the discussion forums or in communication with colleagues in class discussions. The interaction will be good because it will be two-way and since the students will have a clear communication goal, e.g. to present their opinions, get an answer to their query, express something etc.

-          The material enables the students to notice and correct gaps in knowledge or skills while producing output, by receiving external or internal feedback in real communication with their colleagues or teacher in class, or through the people responding to their messages in the forums.

It can thus be concluded that the Unit 1 – Globalisation  material will facilitate language acquisition to a large extent.

Learner-based design

The design of the material is based on Watts’ learner-based model (Watts, 1997, p.3), according to which learners’ needs, situations and goals are of primary importance and determine the software development. Watts also provided guidelines to achieve this. The next three sections show how the material follows them.

Learner needs

In order to correspond to the learner’s needs, Watts (1997, p.4) suggested that multimedia software should offer students autonomy and mindful engagement in tasks, and encourage the development of their metacognitive and cognitive strategies. In line with his ideas, the Unit 1 – Globalisation material will achieve this through:

-          clearly defined links that enable an easy choice of activity;

-          visual cues that help the students tune into the topic (no more than two photographs were included in order not to slow the downloading of the pages);

-          offering a choice of activity and hyperlinked help resources; and

-          allowing the inclusion of students’ notes and answers in the hypertext.

According to Watts, the software should also be suitable for various learning styles. To ensure suitability, Felder and Henriques (1995, pp.28,29) advocated a balanced teaching style and recommended some techniques, five of which were applied to create materials that would address a variety of learning styles:

-          Motivation will be increased by teaching in context and relating the material to the students’ experiences, e.g. Before you listen 1 – Questions.

-          Concrete information will be balanced with conceptual information. For example, learning data on globalisation is balanced with the exercise of organising the paragraphs coherently.

-          The structured tasks are balanced with open-ended tasks. For example, drag-and-drop exercises and writing a short essay.

-          Drill-type exercises are provided, e.g. drag-and-drop exercises.

-          Elements that cater for all types of learners are included: a listening element in Giddens’s lecture, a visual element in the two photographs, an audio-visual element in the welcome video on the home page, a writing element in keying in notes and answers, and a kinesthetic element in the drag-and-drop exercises.

Learner situations

The Unit 1 – Globalisation  material is suitable for various learner situations. These are partly formal because the students do interactive activities that have been systematically organised, and partly informal since the students have many opportunities to learn the new language accidentally, e.g. while reading about Anthony Giddens on the linked page. The learner context is predominantly individual because the students will use the materials autonomously, but it can also be co-operative if the students do the tasks in groups of two or three around one computer, e.g. preparing together at a student’s home. Considering Watts’s suggestions (1997, p.6), the material meets the requirements of these learner situations in the following ways:

-          the activities are designed in a versatile way;

-          not only language activities but also activities in which the students use language to access areas of knowledge are included;

-          drag-and-drop activities are incorporated to provide an informal learning element;

-          the uncomplicated on-screen instructions and uncluttered screens with a clear display of the learning contents are suitable for the easy navigation of individual users;

-          the language exercises offer immediate and appropriate feedback on student performance;

-          the sequences in the materials are not predetermined and the activities can be done as many times as needed in a self-paced way. The software leads the students by suggesting the preferred pathway. However, they are free to navigate and choose the order of doing the tasks independently. Such independence ensures the better teaching quality of the material (Ramsden in Kennedy & McNaught, 1997); and

-          a short video clip of the teacher welcoming the students to the resources reduces the impersonality of the technology.

Learner goals

Learner goals such as e.g. improved listening comprehension, acquisition of knowledge on globalisation to be used in classroom discussions, familiarity with and use of various online resources and improvement of Internet skills will be better attained if the materials are motivating. Watts’s suggestions (1997, p.6) as well as Davies and Crowther’s recommendations on increasing motivation (Davies & Crowther, 1996) were taken into consideration to make the material more motivational in these ways:

-          the students have freedom to choose content areas according to their goals;

-          the students can follow their own paths to achieve their goals, e.g. they can spend more time on listening to the lectures or participate more in the forum;

-          it includes tasks that accommodate different language skills: listening to a lecture, writing (notes, on the forums, essay), reading, thinking and speaking in class;

-          the interfaces are user-friendly and do not discourage the students from working with computers;

-          activities are varied, innovative, intellectually challenging and stimulate active learning;

-          a wide range of authentic documents is included;

-          the students can access data that give them additional information on the related topics;

-          the students are informed of the benefits of the tasks and the goals that will be achieved by completing them. Familiarity with the clearly stated goals published in the course outline and displayed on the faculty web pages contributes to better teaching quality (Ramsden in Kennedy & McNaught, 1997);

-          the content and type of tasks is based on previous primary research into what motivates students. For example, the matching drag-and-drop type of exercise has been found to be the most motivating way of learning and revising vocabulary; and

-          the students have an opportunity to participate in real-life activities. They use real-life links with real-life contents, for example, the Reith lectures are published on the BBC web page for a general audience. Participating in the forums enables real-life communication.

Interactivity

An important aspect of multimedia learning software is interactivity. According to Sims (1999), interactivity is present if the independent learner has control over the structure and content of the materials, if the programme responds to the student’s choice and if the learner is actively engaged in the material. Interactive multimedia materials will bring ‘better experiences, more active learning, enhanced interest and motivation’ (Sims, 1999). In order to achieve interactivity, he suggests following Fenrich’s guidelines (Fenrich in Sims, 1999). These include thought provoking questions, active participation, feedback, building on current knowledge, learner control of the pace, learner comments and annotations and learner modifications to the computer programme. The material in question provides for interactivity in the following way:

-          thought provoking questions can be found, for example, in the activity ‘Before you listen 1’;

-          the students have the opportunity to actively participate in the discussion forums as well as in class discussions;

-          feedback is provided in all activities, for example in the form of right/wrong answers and scores, the teachers’ email feedback on the essay and help with general problems, responses in the forum etc. The feedback also offers appropriate assessment which Kennedy and McNaught (1997) list among the criteria for teaching quality;

-          the students can build on their knowledge and experience while comparing their predictions and solutions because the material is contextualised and relates to the students’ prior knowledge and life-world experiences, which characterises good teaching practice (Kennedy & McNaught, 1997); 

-          the students have control over the pace and sequencing of the learning; and

-          the materials allow the students’ comments and notes to be included and analysed later. 

Efficiency

Davies and Crowther (1996) believed that multimedia software should be efficient and that the designers should examine considering efficiency before developing the educational courseware. The Unit 1 – Globalisation  material is highly efficient in terms of:

-          the teacher’s time needed to design the materials: highly simple and user-friendly tools were used to design the materials around an authentic lecture for which there were no copyright problems since it will be accessed at the original location on the Internet;

-          the teacher’s time in the classroom: more time will be left in the classroom for communicative activities and problem-based learning;

-          the students’ time and money to access authentic text, audio and video materials: the students can access the materials immediately without having to go to the library, bookshop or newsagent etc.; and

-          the faculty’s money: no faculty resources were required to create the material.

      This section has shown which theoretical issues influenced the development and design of the material and how they informed the decision on the appropriate teaching strategy, facilitation of language acquisition as well as the design of learner-based, interactive and efficient software.

Conclusion

This paper has described some web-based multimedia software that will complement the corresponding English class sessions for second-year Sociology students at the FSS. It has attempted to show that the material’s combination of various channels of communication and its interactive nature will make it particularly useful and motivating in an autonomous web-based learning environment. The paper has presented some theoretical views by some experts in the field of education and multimedia, and illustrated how they informed the design of the Unit 1 – Globalisation  material. In the near future, similar multimedia materials will be created for the remaining five topics that form the core of the English for Sociology Students 2 course.

References

Chapelle, C. A. (1998). Multimedia CALL: Lessons to be learned from research on Instructed SLA.  Language Learning & Technology, 2 (1), 22-34. Retrieved February 3, 2007 from http://llt.msu.edu/vol2num1/article1/index.html.

Davies, M. and Crowther, D. (1996). The benefits of using multimedia in higher education: myths and realities. Active Learning, 3, 3-6.

Felder, R. M. and Henriques, E. R. (1995). Learning and teaching styles in foreign and second language education. Foreign Language Annals, 28 (1), 21-31.

Fenrich, P. (1997). Practical Guidelines for Creating Instructional Multimedia Applications. Fort Worth, TX: Dryden Press. 

Kennedy, D. M. and McNaught, C. (1997). Design elements for interactive multimedia. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 13 (1), 1-22. Retrieved February 3, 2007 from http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet13/kennedy.html.

Ramsden, P. (1992). Learning to Teach in Higher Education. London: Routledge.

Sims, R. (1999). Interactivity on stage - strategies for learner-designer communication. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 15 (3), 257-272. Retrieved February 3, 2007 from http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet15/sims.html.

Watts, N. (1997). A learner-based design model for interactive multimedia language learning packages. System, 25 (1), 1-8.