How Technology Meshes with Second Language Acquisition
I will admit that these categories based upon the book “CALL Environments” by editors
Egbert & Hanson-Smith There are 8 aspects to good language teaching
and learning that interweave through a variety of theories.
And, they pulled those out to highlight them.
In this video, I want to review those SLA methods and give examples of how technology
can assist.
1.
First is Authentic Task.
Authentic task is best summarized by Carol Chapelle, who said “Learners need to be
involved in activities in the classroom which resemble what they will face in real life.”
Research indicates that adult learners need to be able to take what they learn in the
classroom and apply it the next day at work or home or the grocery store – anywhere
outside the classroom.
How can technology enhance an authentic task?
You can have them create travel plans using various websites, or they can check rating
apps, such as Yelp, to find the best local cafes.
Taking notes during a lecture on a tablet is real life, and you can invite guests into
the classroom to role-play job interviews.
2.
Next is Authentic Audience.
Authentic Audience says that learners will pay more attention to the language they are
learning when they have to produce it for an authentic, “real,” listener or listeners
or reader or readers.
It allows them to focus on MEANING rather than FORM.
“Classroom English” or “classroom French” is not the same as ordering a meal at a restaurant.
Have you ever heard comments like: “How come I can understand your English perfectly,
but when I go to the bank I can’t?”
Those kind of comments suggest that we as teachers alter our speech habits, whether
we plan to or not.
Personally, I feel that we do a disservice to our students if all we offer them is “teach
speech.”
At some time, we need to challenge them to stretch further and to produce real language
for real people.
Some teachers arrange with classrooms in another country or next town so that their students
can Skype together during class for real communication.
Maybe send students out into the community to record cultural interviews on their smart
phones or digital cameras.
An old standard that still works today is to create a class newsletter using Publisher
or a class blog.
These could even be distributed to family members back home.
3.
Interaction in the target language is next.
This suggests that more than passive listening and repeating is required.
It comes from Communicative Theory as well as Constructionism.
Constructionism says that knowledge is not something neatly packaged and handed down
to the students in a box.
Rather, knowledge is created when each learner brings what they know, and what they think
they know, together and share and interact with each other.
If our students are only interacting with the instructor in the target language, they
are missing out.
If they are only interacting with those in the classroom, they are missing out.
Through the Internet, we can have our students interact with experts in fields they are interested
in anywhere in the world.
The other part of this relates to production in the target language.
Production skills are writing and speaking while receiving skills are listening and reading.
One part of Krashen’s Learning Theory says that students will acquire the language best
when the input, or “I”, is one level above what they currently understand, or “+1.”
The idea is that if you teach them or give them input at their current level, they will
not grow or learn.
And, if you give them input below their level, they will be bored and won’t learn.
Likewise, if you give them material 3 or 4 levels above them, they will get bored and
maybe discouraged and won’t learn.
Input, such as listening and reading, should be just enough above the student to challenge
them and help them improve.
Swain later came up with the Output Hypothesis.
Swain agrees with the i + 1, but her research indicated that true language competency did
not occur until spoken output was produced.
Therefore, she revised the equation to i + 1 + o = SLA.
She suggested that sometimes students needed to be “pushed” to speak.
Now, she didn’t mean to push them by bullying them or shaming them, she meant by providing
strong intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
For example, if you ask students to record a presentation using a webcam, that is often
less scary than standing up in front of a class.
Or get students talking to each other to complete a task on the computer such as one is the
“driver” with the mouse and keyboard and the other is the “navigator” with the
instructions.
4.
#4 is Time and Feedback.
SLA theory suggests that some students need more time for comprehending the language than
others.
Also, some students need more repetition than others.
Lastly, Just-in-Time learning means that we teach students what they need when they need
it – even if that interrupts our lesson plan.
Research tells us that the faster feedback is given, the more valuable it is to the learner.
Also, they need consistent feedback.
For example, if you correct their issue with he and she sometimes but not others, they
are possibly going to get confused unless you explain your reasoning to them.
Also, the best feedback is tailored to the student.
Just noting correct or incorrect is not as useful as letting them know why it is correct
or incorrect.
Technology assists with this.
It is well on its way to being available anytime and anywhere.
Which means that it can be there for the student when the student is ready to learn instead
of when the teacher is ready to teach.
Online exercises are easy to repeat and tech has infinite patience.
The example I always give pertains to pronunciation software.
In the class if I am asked to pronounce “assistance” I will say “assistance.”
The student goes, excuse me, could you say that again?
Now, according to pronunciation rules and changes to “old information,” I say “ASSIST-ance.”
I have already changed the pronunciation.
When the student asks again, I’m practically yelling “A-SSIST-ANCE.”
Another pronunciation change.
On the other hand, the computer does not get annoyed by repetitive asks and does not change
the pronunciation each time.
As for Feedback, technology has sped it up in a few ways.
One, many online exercises are answered immediately.
And, two, because students can email or text their teacher any time with a question instead
of waiting for class the next week.
Also, it is relatively easy for instructors to set up online feedback that explains what
is correct and what is not and why.
5.
Next is providing a Variety of language.
Of course, we use all kinds of language styles in real communication.
The problem is that our textbooks often focus only on one style such as academic language
or tourist vocabulary.
On the Internet, we have the opportunity to expose our students to a wide variety of language,
such as news stories, personal opinions, research articles, job openings, financial statements,
comics, apartments for rent, or bus schedules.
But you don’t have to just have students read and listen to a variety of language,
you can ask them to produce a variety of language.
They can use sites or apps to create comics or presentation.
Or have them produce surveys and interpret the results.
6.
#6 involves Learning styles & Motivation.
The current theory of Differentiated Instruction is based upon the idea of teaching different
students differently, based upon their learning preferences.
As you can imagine, when students get information in ways that appeal to them, their intrinsic
motivation increases.
Tech can appeal to a variety of learning styles such as projects that require images, audio,
video, schedules and/or financial plans.
Research has shown most students would prefer to spend 20 hours creating a video for class
than 10 hours writing a paper.
That doesn’t mean to get rid of all writing assignments, I just want you to really evaluate
how much learning your students are doing and whether they might learn more with a different
task.
7.
Second to last is Ideal Stress.
There is something called “ideal stress” which suggests that most of us need at least
a little pressure in our lives to prompt learning.
On the other hand, there is the extreme anxiety experienced by people who have some concerns
about using computers and other technology.
We want to limit bad stress and maintain appropriate stress.
How do you help lessen your students’ anxiety?
Similar to in a regular classroom, be very patient and reassure them that computers really
are pretty resilient and durable.
Furthermore, research indicates that the more someone uses the technology, the less anxious
they will be.
So, you are helping them become more comfortable with tech by using it in the classroom.
Also, you can put advanced techies with beginners on projects, and add tech gradually to the
class.
8.
Lastly, Learner Autonomy.
This is my favorite method.
As teachers, we have to move our students from dependence upon us to independence--or
autonomy.
This does not mean dropping them into a project without having already taught them the skills
and language they need.
You need to teach them how to be independent learners.
At the beginning of the semester, provide lots of scaffolding and support.
As the semester goes along, change your teaching so that you are letting the students have
more and more control and choice.
Maybe by the end of the semester they are ready to do a project completely autonomously.
In terms of technology, it means that you start with very detailed instructions for
your “baby” learners.
Then you start pre-teaching skills and not giving such detailed instruction for your
“toddlers.”
Once they have reached the “teenage stage,” at the end of the semester, you can require
multiple deadlines and multiple tasks as part of their independent project.
I strongly believe that if you are teaching the same way at the end of the semester as
you did at the beginning of the semester, you are doing it wrong.
We need to adjust our teaching methods as our learners grow.